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Map: Bay Area’s best picnic spots

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:59:34 GMT

Our writers have rounded up a half-dozen of the best places for picnicking in the San Francisco Bay Area. Click the links below for a full report on each, including how to get there and where to pick up a meal on the way.1 / Marin French Cheese Co. “Set amid rolling hills on a 700-acre dairy farm, its cheese shop and expansive picnic grounds offer a vision of West Marin pastoral heaven.”2 / Angel Island. “It’s an everyman’s island getaway, an ideal spot for a Bay Area mini-vacation that won’t set you back an entire paycheck.”3 / Presidio Tunnel Tops. “If you took that old Joni Mitchell lyric – ‘They paved paradise and put up a parking lot’ – and turned it on its head, you’d get San Francisco’s stunning new green space.”4 / Mount Diablo. “From the summit on a clear day, you can see 40 of California’s 58 counties.”5 / Concannon Vineyard. “Take a table under the grape arbor dripping with tokai table grape vines or a perc...

All lanes on Bay Bridge open heading into San Francisco

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:59:34 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- There is heavy police presence on the Bay Bridge Thursday morning near westbound 80 and the Treasure Island offramp, according to the California Highway Patrol incident page. Traffic has been backed up since around midnight Thursday and is now impacting Thursday's morning commute.As of 7 a.m., CHP reported that all westbound lanes on the Bay Bridge have been reopened. Expect residual delays.As an alternate route, take the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge to the Golden Gate Bridge, the San Mateo Bridge, BART or the ferry to get into San Francisco. Around 10 p.m. Wednesday, someone climbed on to the railing of the Bay Bridge.CHP responded to the scene and said the person was on the westbound lanes just east of the center anchorage. Crews were able to safely remove the person around 6:26 a.m. Thursday and take them into custody.About an hour later around 11:15 p.m. Wednesday, CHP said there was a three-vehicle collision on the westbound incline with those i...

When will it stop raining in California? Here's what meteorologists are saying

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:59:34 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – Californians desperate for a break in the rain will find a glimmer of hope in a new forecast released Thursday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center. The outlook for the month of April leans toward below average chances of rain and snow for the state. But don't put away your umbrellas just yet – there are a few caveats to mention. New atmospheric river heading for California next week, likely impact zone of Bay Area to San Diego First off, there's more rain in story before we even get to April. The next 10 days are likely to be very wet, as there's already another atmospheric river lurking off the coast and heading our way.(Map: NOAA)Next week's atmospheric river will probably peak Tuesday or Wednesday, National Weather Service meteorologist Dalton Behringer said. It's too soon to say exactly which part of the state will be hardest hit, but state climatologist Michael Anderson said earlier this week that the storm...

"Trauma Never Goes Away": As America Forgets, Iraq War Stays With U.S. Veterans

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:59:34 GMT

Tim McLaughlin commanded a Marine Corps tank platoon that took part in some of the earliest fighting of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Like many veterans, the experience left him with post-traumatic stress and conflicted feelings about the war. In an attempt to process his experiences, after his service, McLaughlin left the U.S. and moved to Bosnia, where he lived for nine months in a home looking over the old city of Sarajevo — a place that, like Iraq, had been the site of terrible violence.“I just wanted to be able to go to a country that had experienced mass trauma and to see how people dealt with it,” McLaughlin said. “What I learnt is that for people who experience it, trauma never goes away.”Twenty years since U.S. troops first invaded, the U.S. war in Iraq has become a faded memory to many Americans. For Iraqis themselves, the consequences of the war are still an unavoidable part of their daily lives. But trauma also lingers for a group of Americans unlikely to forget the war as ...

Ringgold, Everett, Vendler to be honored by arts academy

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:59:34 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Author-visual artist Faith Ringgold, poetry critic Helen Hennessy Vendler and photographer Susan Unterberg will be honored this spring at the American Academy of Arts and Letters ‘ annual awards and induction ceremony.The academy, an honorary society based in Upper Manhattan, announced the awards Thursday.Ringgold, known for her paintings, sculpture and intricate narrative quilts and her themes of social justice, will receive a Gold Medal for Painting. Vendler, who has been cited for championing the works of Seamus Heaney, Jorie Graham and many others, will be given a Gold Medal for Belles Lettres and Criticism. Unterberg will be presented an award for Distinguished Service to the Arts, in recognition of her founding the organization Anonymous Was a Woman, which since 1996 has provided grants to artists who identify as women.“In addition to their own remarkable talent as creative artists, these three recipients have dedicated parts of their careers to fur...

Military chief says US will defend Indo-Pacific freedoms

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:59:34 GMT

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — United States Indo-Pacific Command chief Adm. John Aquilino said Thursday that Washington does not seek to contain China, nor seek conflicts in the region, but it would take action to support the region against coercion and bullying by authoritarian regimes.Speaking at a lecture in Singapore, Aquilino said the era of globalization has evolved into one of “renewed great power competition” where the security environment influences economics, trade and investment. “My concern is that this foundation of this rules-based international order … is under direct assault by authoritarian regimes,” he said, without naming any nations, though he noted recent actions by China to “grab a foothold” in the Solomon Islands. A security alliance between China and the Solomon Islands a year ago sent shudders throughout the South Pacific, with many worried it could set off a large-scale military buildup.Aquilino also addressed China’s protests over U.S. vessels and ai...

Toney gets England call-up as potential gambling ban looms

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:59:34 GMT

With a possible suspension looming for apparently breaching multiple gambling rules, Ivan Toney was called up by England for its upcoming European Championship qualifiers as a reward for being the third-leading scorer in the Premier League.It is the second time the Brentford striker has been summoned by England. The first was ahead of Nations League qualifiers in September but he didn’t get onto the field and failed to make the squad for the World Cup a few weeks later.Toney has scored 16 league goals for Brentford this season — only Erling Haaland and England striker Harry Kane have more — but his future is clouded after being charged with a total of 262 breaches of the Football Association’s gambling laws, dating back to 2017.Sections of the British media reported this month that Toney has admitted to the majority of the breaches and was facing a lengthy spell out of the game. That led to Toney criticizing the FA about the process behind his impending disciplinary hearing an...

March Madness: Top teams tip off, how to watch first round

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:59:34 GMT

March Madness is here! Here is what to know, including the favorites and underdogs as well as key games and how to watch the NCAA Tournament. Oh, and how to fill out your brackets!HOW TO WATCHEvery game of the men’s tournament will be aired — here is a schedule — either on CBS, TBS, TNT or TruTV and their digital platforms. CBS, which also has a handy schedule that includes announcing teams, will handle the Final Four semifinals and national title game this year. The NCAA will again stream games via its March Madness Live option and CBS games will be streamed on Paramount+.Fans of longtime play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz should soak up every moment: It’s his final NCAA Tournament.TOP SEEDSThe top four seeds in the tournament are Alabama, Houston, Kansas, and Purdue. Each is in a region, some tougher than others (on paper), and each has had its share of headaches to set up what could be a chaotic tournament. We break them down for you:EAST REGION: The Boilermakers got a No. 1 seed f...

Brothers Khéphren and Marcus Thuram are both in France squad

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:59:34 GMT

PARIS (AP) — Brothers Khéphren and Marcus Thuram were called up by France coach Didier Deschamps on Thursday for upcoming European Championship qualifiers against the Netherlands and Ireland.They are the sons of former France defender Lilian Thuram, who played alongside Deschamps when France won the World Cup in 1998 and the European Championship in 2000.It is the second time Deschamps has selected brothers in his squad, with Lucas and Théo Hernandez playing for France at the World Cup in Qatar last year, along with forward Marcus Thuram.Marcus Thuram is the elder brother of the 21-year-old midfielder Khéphren, who was called up for the first time after impressing with French club Nice this season.France hosts the Netherlands at Stade de France on March 24 and plays Ireland in Dublin three days later.France lost the 2022 World Cup final on penalty kicks following a 3-3 draw with Argentina, which beat the Netherlands on penalties in a tense quarterfinal match.Veteran goalkeeper Hugo ...

Microsoft is bringing ChatGPT technology to Word, Excel and Outlook

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:59:34 GMT

(CNN) — Microsoft on Thursday outlined its plans to bring artificial intelligence to its most recognizable productivity tools, including Outlook, PowerPoint, Excel and Word, with the promise of changing how millions do their work every day.At an event on Thursday, the company announced that Microsoft 365 users will soon be able to use what the company is calling an AI “Co-pilot,” which will help edit, summarize, create and compare documents. The upcoming features will be powered by the same technology that underpins the viral chatbot tool, ChatGPT.With the new features, users will, for example, be able to type a request to create a specific chart in Excel or turn all of the titles in a PowerPoint presentation the color green. Microsoft is also introducing a concept called Business Chat, an agent that essentially rides along with the user as they work and tries to understand and make sense of their Microsoft 365 data.But don’t call these tools Clippy. The new ...