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LGBTQ+ people flock to Florida for Gay Days Festival

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:24:34 GMT

By Mike Schneider | Associated PressORLANDO, Fla. — Tens of thousands of LGBTQ+ people are flocking to central Florida this weekend to go on theme park rides, mingle with costumed performers, dance at all-night parties and lounge poolside at hotels during Gay Days, a decades-long tradition.Even though Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida lawmakers have championed a slew of anti-LGBTQ+ laws — spurring the most prominent gay rights group in the U.S. and other civil rights organizations to issue warnings the Sunshine State may no longer be safe — Gay Days organizers are still encouraging visitors from around the world to come to one of Florida’s largest gay and lesbian celebrations.They say a large turnout will send a message that LGBTQ+ people are not going away in Florida, which is continually one of the most popular states for tourists to visit. If the hoped-for 150,000 or more visitors come to the half-week of pool parties, drag bingo and thrill rides at Orlando’s theme parks ...

Grammy-winning pop act supports No. 1 album with 3 California shows

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:24:34 GMT

Luke Smallbone clearly remembers his Steph Curry moment.It came right after he and his brother Joel — collectively known as the pop duo For King & Country — had sung the national anthem before a game between Curry’s Golden State Warriors and the Minnesota Timberwolves in Minneapolis.As he was walking off the court, Smallbone — a huge Warriors fan — happened to cross paths with the future Basketball Hall of Famer.“We walked by him and (Curry) kind of motioned like ‘Hey, good job’ or whatever. And I just looked at him and said, “Sup, man” and kept on walking,” said Smallbone, realizing that had blown his chance at looking cool in front of his sports hero. “That was my terrible Steph Curry story.”“Luke had never said ‘Sup, man’ before,” Joel Smallbone adds for emphasis.Bay Area fans will have the chance to say “Sup, men” to the brothers Smallbone when For King & Country performs June 8 at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. and tickets...

Single-family home sells in Oakland for $2 million

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:24:34 GMT

686 Mandana Boulevard – Google Street ViewThe spacious historic property located in the 600 block of Mandana Boulevard in Oakland was sold on April 21, 2023. The $1,953,000 purchase price works out to $854 per square foot. The house, built in 1915, has an interior space of 2,287 square feet. The property features five bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a garage. It sits on a 5,300-square-foot lot.Additional houses have recently been purchased nearby:On Longridge Road, Oakland, in June 2022, a 2,166-square-foot home was sold for $1,910,000, a price per square foot of $882. The home has 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.A 1,579-square-foot home on the 700 block of Santa Ray Avenue in Oakland sold in October 2022, for $1,815,000, a price per square foot of $1,149. The home has 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.In April 2023, a 2,473-square-foot home on Calmar Avenue in Oakland sold for $1,700,000, a price per square foot of $687. The home has 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. 

Oakland gunfire wounds young girl; she’s in stable condition

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:24:34 GMT

OAKLAND — Gunfire in East Oakland on Wednesday night injured a young girl, police said.Police were tight-lipped about the shooting and its victim, saying only that they were notified about 9 p.m. about the shooting in the 3400 block of 68th Avenue. Media reports indicated the girl was 4 years old and hit in the leg.Police said the girl was in stable condition at a hospital Thursday.Officers found the girl down when they arrived, police said. They confirmed she was suffering from a gunshot wound.Police asked the community to help them find the suspect in the shooting and urged anyone with information to contact 510-238-3426.Please check back for updates.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Blaming prior administration, Alameda DA dismisses 2 of 3 murder charges against Oakland man Crime and Public Safety | Bay Area man sentenced to federal prison for selling 60 lbs of meth to undercover agent Crime and Public Safety | Oakland hit ...

Mirra Andreeva is a teen who doesn’t like homework — and is winning easily at the French Open

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:24:34 GMT

PARIS (AP) — Mirra Andreeva is the latest teen sensation in tennis, a 16-year-old Russian who is the youngest player to win a match in the women’s main draw at the French Open since 2005.Do the math: That’s before she was born.The 143rd-ranked Andreeva made her way through qualifying rounds last week without dropping a set to earn her debut berth in the women’s bracket at a Grand Slam tournament — and she still is making things look easy so far at Roland Garros. A 6-1, 6-2 victory over Diane Perry of France in 77 minutes on Thursday put her in the third round; that followed a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Alison Riske-Amritraj of the U.S. that lasted 56 minutes.Next up could be a match against 2022 French Open runner-up Coco Gauff, who was scheduled to play later Thursday. Gauff is 19 and made her initial breakthrough by beating Venus Williams en route to the fourth round at Wimbledon at age 14.Before arriving in Paris, Andreeva showed what she can do by eliminating three players rank...

UK government refuses to hand over Boris Johnson’s unredacted messages to coronavirus inquiry

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:24:34 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The British government on Thursday refused an order to hand over a sheaf of Boris Johnson’s personal messages to a COVID-19 pandemic inquiry that the former prime minister himself set up when he was the U.K.’s leader. The head of the probe, retired judge Heather Hallett, asked to see notebooks, diaries and WhatsApp messages between Johnson and other officials that represent key evidence in the inquiry. The government provided incomplete versions, saying it cut personal and private information that was “unambiguously irrelevant” to the investigation. Hallett, who has the power to summon evidence and question witnesses under oath, wants to judge for herself, and set a deadline of 4 p.m. (1500 GMT) Thursday for the government to hand over the unredacted documents, covering a two-year period from early 2020.Soon after the deadline passed, the government said it would seek to challenge the order in court.“The Cabinet Office has today sought leave to bring a judicial r...

Residents of collapsed Iowa building allowed to stay as reports noted crumbling wall

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:24:34 GMT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A structural engineer report issued just days before an Iowa apartment building partially collapsed indicated a wall of the century-old structure was in imminent risk of crumbling, yet officials did not order residents to leave and said Thursday they relied on the engineer’s assurances that the building remained safe.Three residents of the six-story building in the eastern Iowa city of Davenport are still unaccounted for and there are no immediate plans to demolish what remains of the extremely unstable structure, according to local officials. Crews were using drones to scan the building and consulting with experts about how to safely bring down the structure while being respectful of bodies that could be buried in a debris pile, Mayor Mike Matson said.“It’s dangerous, and it’s shifting,” Matson said.The six-story building partially collapsed shortly before 5 p.m. Sunday. Rescue crews pulled seven people from the building in their initial re...

Desaparición de la niña Maddie: fiscalía alemana analizará objetos hallados en reciente búsqueda

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:24:34 GMT

BERLÍN — La fiscalía alemana analizará varios objetos encontrados la semana pasada en una operación de búsqueda en Portugal relacionada con la desaparición de Madeleine McCann, según indicaron los fiscales el jueves, aunque señalaron que todavía no podían decir si estaban relacionados con la niña británica desaparecida en 2007.La semana pasada, los investigadores buscaron pistas durante tres días en torno a un embalse a unas 30 millas del complejo turístico de Praia da Luz donde fue vista por última vez la niña, que entonces tenía tres años.La nueva búsqueda respondía a una petición de la fiscalía en Braunschweig, Alemania, que investiga a un hombre alemán en relación con la desaparición. Sin rastros de Maddie: terminan la búsqueda de la niña que desapareció hace 16 años mientras dormía ¿Dónde está Maddie? Nueva pista reactiva el caso de “la niña más buscada del mundo” En un breve comunicado el jueves, la fiscalía dijo que “se co...

New footprints revive hope in Colombia of finding four children missing in jungle

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:24:34 GMT

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — The discovery in recent days of small footprints in a southern jungle-covered part of Colombia has rekindled hope of finding alive four children who survived a small plane crash and went missing a month ago.Searchers found footprints Tuesday about 2 miles ( 3.2 kilometers) northwest of where the plane crashed May 1 with three adults and four indigenous children aged 13, 9 and 4 and 11 months, Gen. Pedro Sánchez, commander of the Joint Command of Special Operations said in an interview with The Associated Press. The searchers believe they were of the oldest child, a girl, and the new clue may indicate that the group has changed course. More than 100 members of Colombia’s special forces and more than 70 indigenous people from the area have joined the search through virgin jungle in the Colombia Amazon. Some soldiers have walked nearly 1000 miles (nealy 1,500 kilometers), or almost the distance from Lisbon to Paris, Sánchez said.“We have a 100% expectation of fi...

Book Review: ‘The Celebrants’ by Steven Rowley will make you want to call an old friend

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:24:34 GMT

“The Celebrants” by Steven Rowley (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)Steven Rowley is one of those authors where if you read one of his novels, his name gets added to a mental “TBR” (to-be read) list. That is, of course, if you love rich characters written with love and humor that you’d like to know in real life. Each of his books is so uniquely different in plot and beautifully told.Rowley’s “The Guncle” was a favorite of 2021 and his newest offering, “The Celebrants,” doesn’t disappoint. It follows a group of longtime friends from college who make a point to take time out of their separate busy lives and celebrate one other with “living funerals,” so nothing is left unsaid.These gatherings sometimes come at difficult points, divorces, times of loss, and surprises, but no matter what they provide a tonic for life’s tribulations that is often found with those you have a history with.Rowley keenly taps into the vibe of old friendships. Old friends can go a long t...