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Homegrown take on Orwell’s classic ‘1984’ finally gets Bay Area staging

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:30:10 GMT

If Bay Area theatergoers don’t know Michael Gene Sullivan by now, they must not be paying attention.As an actor, the San Francisco native is a frequent and outstanding presence on prominent stages all around the Bay, from TheatreWorks Silicon Valley to Marin Theatre Company. As a playwright, he’s written most of the San Francisco Mime Troupe’s yearly activist musical comedies since 2000, and other local companies have produced his plays such as “The Great Khan” at San Francisco Playhouse.And yet Sullivan’s most successful play, his adaptation of the influential George Orwell novel “1984,” is only now making its official Bay Area premiere with Aurora Theatre Company, 20 years after he wrote it.The Actors’ Gang in Los Angeles premiered the play in 2006, directed by that company’s artistic director, stage and screen star Tim Robbins. Since then it’s been translated into six languages and been performed all over the country and the world.“I’d sent it to different theaters in the B...

Will.i.am receives Tech for Global Good humanitarian award

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:30:10 GMT

You’re probably familiar with will.i.am because of his work as a musician and music producer. But it was for  his work in philanthropy and as a tech entrepreneur that the Tech for Global Good presented the Black Eyed Peas founder with the James C. Morgan Global Humanitarian Award on Saturday night.In a wide-ranging on-stage conversation with LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, will.i.am talked about his interest in technology and artificial intelligence — he’s more optimistic than fearful of the new technology — as well as his i.am Angel Foundation, which supports STEAM — science, technology, engineering, arts and math — education programs for disadvantaged school kids in Los Angeles.“My family, we’ve been doing philanthropy in the hood before we knew the word philanthropy,” said will.i.am, who grew up in Boyle Heights. “I would be doing this even if I wasn’t successful.”The award, presented by the Tech Interactiv...

Health officials urge further testing after syphilis cases in US newborns soared in 2022

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:30:10 GMT

By Mike Stobbe and Kenya Hunter | Associated PressNEW YORK — Alarmed by yet another jump in syphilis cases in newborns, U.S. health officials are calling for stepped-up prevention measures, including encouraging millions of women of childbearing age and their partners to get tested for the sexually transmitted disease.More than 3,700 babies were born with congenital syphilis in 2022 — 10 times more than a decade ago and a 32% increase from 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday. Syphilis caused 282 stillbirth and infant deaths, nearly 16 times more than the 2012 deaths.The 2022 count was the most in more than 30 years, CDC officials said, and in more than half of the congenital syphilis cases, the mothers tested positive during pregnancy but did not get properly treated.The rise in congenital syphilis comes despite repeated warnings by public health agencies and it’s tied to the surge in primary and secondary cases of syphilis in adults, CDC officials said...

Oakland’s Ale Industries shuts down, blames ‘rising rate of crime’

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:30:10 GMT

Oakland’s Ale Industries, the Fruitvale brewery known for its “tea beer” and collaborations with the Oakland Zoo, is shutting down.Cofounder Morgan Cox said on Monday that the brewery made the decision after being hit by rent increases and rising crime, including five break-ins this past year, as first reported by Berkeleyside.True to its name, Ale Industries is located in a gritty, industrial sector of Oakland, which added to its charm, when people entered and found a warm and welcoming haven. But perhaps its out-of-the-way location served to its detriment, too, judging from its recent record of burglary.Here’s how Cox put it on Facebook:“This year we have seen a 50% rent increase, soaring costs of business across the board, and even more unfortunate, the rising rate of crime in our hometown. We have been broken into 5 separate times in the last year. Each time we increase our security, and each time the break-ins get bolder. All these challenges have ...

Former SF Giants manager Bruce Bochy explains why he came out of retirement to manage the Texas Rangers

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:30:10 GMT

Bruce Bochy really needed three years off.Bochy, who last week completed a remarkable feat by winning a World Series in his first year managing a Texas Rangers team that lost 94 games in 2022, went on KNBR-AM’s “Murph and Mac” radio show on Tuesday and revealed why he needed to retire after managing the San Francisco Giants for the last time in 2019.He needed to rest, mentally and physically, he said.“I’m still recovering from all the work I had done,” he said. “I’m a little bit like Frankenstein. Once I retired in San Francisco, I had back surgery and a couple hips and a knee replaced. That was the biggest thing I had to do to be able to come back.”In San Francisco, Bochy won three World Series titles to go with 1,052 regular season wins and a .500 winning percentage over 13 years managing the Giants from 2007 through ‘19.He told “Murph and Mac” that he wasn’t sure if he’d ever manage again.“I didn’t know if I’d be able to come back, I didn’t,” he said. “I took three years off. I n...

County supervisors uphold eminent domain, killing plan for estate house in scenic Coyote Valley

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:30:10 GMT

A plan to build a two-story, 8,465 square-foot estate home in Coyote Valley, a rural expanse of farmland and open space between San Jose and Morgan Hill that has been the source of battles over development for decades, was killed Tuesday by county leaders.Siding with environmental groups and open space advocates, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted 4-0 to allow the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority to acquire the vacant 4.6-acre property though eminent domain.Edgar Andrade, a 33-year-old owner of a heating and air conditioning company in Morgan Hill, bought the property at the corner of Santa Teresa Boulevard and Richmond Avenue two years ago. He proposed building the house, along with a 3-car garage, a secondary house, and three water tanks, for his family.After the ruling, Andrade said he was being unfairly treated.“I’m extremely disappointed,” Andrade said after the vote. “I feel betrayed.”But the open space authority, a government agen...

Two arrested in Orinda residential burglary, one still at large

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:30:10 GMT

ORINDA, Calif. (KRON) -- Police in Orinda are still searching for a residential burglary suspect in a neighborhood on Lloyd Lane off Moraga Way Tuesday. Two other suspects were arrested in connection to the same incident, KRON4 has confirmed.Units from the Orinda Police Department were dispatched at about 8:23 a.m. Tuesday on a report of a suspicious person on Knickerbocker Lane. Officers located a vehicle associated with the subject in a driveway at a residence on Lloyd Lane, according to the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office. Series of violent robberies leaves Walnut Creek residents on edge Officers went to check the vehicle and confronted three suspects exiting the residence's front door carrying multiple items stolen from the residence, allegedly. The suspects immediately dropped the items and fled, police said.One of the suspects was apprehended immediately. He was identified as 30-year-old Dennis Windham of San Francisco. He was booked at the Martinez Detention Facility o...

VIDEO: Thieves use backhoe to break into Oakland convenience store

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:30:10 GMT

(KRON) -- Video from a crime scene in Oakland shows a backhoe's shovel inside a convenience store after a burglary early Monday morning. The victimized store is an Ampm convenience store located at 889 West Grand Ave. in West Oakland. The Oakland Police Department said the burglary happened just after 2:15 a.m. Officers were dispatched by a burglary alarm and arrived to find part of the backhoe inside the store. Nobody was inside the store. "During the preliminary investigation, officers determined an unknown number of individuals forced entry into the business through the front window. The individuals exited the business with an unknown amount of loss and fled the scene in a vehicle," OPD said.Another video from the scene shows the shovel busting through the window and crushing an ATM. A suspect later enters the store to steal from the machine. One dead after Oakland shooting involving an officer OPD asks anyone with information about this burglary to call (510) 238-3...

DA: More than 500 accused San Francisco drug dealers failed to show up in court

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:30:10 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced eight people were charged in connection to suspected drug dealing in the Tenderloin following a joint federal and local law enforcement operation on November 1.Six of the accused drug dealers pleaded not guilty in court this week, while two failed to appear in court for arraignment.As of this month, there are 535 suspected drug dealers with open bench warrants who failed toshow up in court to face narcotics sales charges. Judges granted their freedom from custody pending trial. Nearly 140 of the 535 suspects have been arrested and released from jail, multiple times, the DA's Office said. The District Attorney’s Office said it filed 316 motions to detain the most egregious drug dealingsuspects because of the "extreme public safety risk they pose." San Francisco judges only granted 32 of those motions to keep the suspects in custody. "My office will continue to do everything we can to hold suspected drug ...

What is APEC? Here's what you need to know about APEC SF 2023

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:30:10 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- The APEC Economic Leaders Week meeting is coming to San Francisco next week. The meeting is a regional economic forum put on by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) that will see world and economic leaders descend on SF for several days.APEC gets underway on Saturday, Nov. 11 and will continue through Friday, Nov. 17.What is APEC?APEC was established in 1989 and serves as an economic platform for the U.S. to advance economic trading policies in the Asia-Pacific region. The meeting is about promoting trade between APEC members, which are distinguished as "economies" rather than nations. Samurai sword beheading: Landaeta refuses to attend own murder trial The San Francisco meeting next week is the final APEC meeting of 2023. Other APEC meetings over the course of the year have focused on "regional economic issues, including sustainability, digitalization, women's economic empowerment, trade facilitation, energy security, food security, and health," ac...