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New production of ‘1776’ declares independence from casting strictures

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:49 GMT

While the script hasn’t changed, the voices telling the story of “1776” in the national touring production are quite different than those of the Continental Congress members portrayed in the Tony-winning musical.The cast of this production, coming to the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts May 16-21, is made up of women, nonbinary and transgender actors playing mostly male characters. (Abigail Adams and Martha Jefferson are the two female characters in the show.) The cast is also more diverse, with a majority of people of color, in contrast to the all-white cast of the 1969 premiere production.“This cast wouldn’t have been considered when the Declaration of Independence was written,” says Liz Mikel, who plays Ben Franklin. “All these people were here then, (and we) reflect what America looks like today.”In researching Franklin, Mikel discovered that he was a master chess player.“He was always three steps ahead of everyone else,” she says. “He was always one of the wisest people ...

Campbell homeowner gets maintenance help on Rebuilding Day

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:49 GMT

Rebuilding DayVolunteers from Los Gatos Morning Rotary did yard work and other home maintenance projects at a house on Shadle Avenue in Campbell during National Rebuilding Day Saturday, April 29. Rebuilding Together Silicon Valley coordinated more than 450 volunteers to perform home maintenance and repairs at 20 project sites across Santa Clara County.Rebuilding Together is looking for volunteers for its Fall Rebuilding Day in October. Email Alaina at [email protected] for older adultsBay Area Older Adults (BAOA) is offering a variety of hikes, tours and seminars in May.Older adults can take an expert-led walking tour of the Silicon Valley water purification center on May 12 to see firsthand via interactive exhibits how waste water can cost-effectively be transformed into drinking water Santa Clara County residents. For more information and to register for Event 4, visit https://www.bayareaolderadults.org/bao-culture.Dr. Merav Vonshak will lead a virtual seminar on ant ecology ...

Latest line: A good week for Kevin McCarthy, a bad week for London Breed

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:49 GMT

Kevin McCarthyBakersfield Republican speaker’s chances of keeping GOP House majority next year increase as state Sen. Dave Min, the leading Democrat in the closely held fight for a key Southern California district, is busted for DUI.    London BreedSan Francisco mayor left with a big challenge after Nordstrom’s flagship store on Market Street closes this summer, following Office Depot, Athleta, Saks, Whole Foods and other nearby businesses, hurt by crime and remote work.   FirefightersHuge Sierra snowpack will delay the start of fire season. But PG&E power lines, climate-driven heat waves, and dry lightning storms can make any summer in California a potentially bad one for wildfires. 

CCS, NCS swim championships: Ethan Harrington’s banner meet lifts Palo Alto to team crown

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:49 GMT

Central Coast SectionBoysEthan Harrington had himself a day at the Central Coast Section swim championships.The Palo Alto junior broke his own meet record in the 50-yard freestyle, touching the wall at Hollister High on Saturday in a blistering 19.57 seconds to eclipse the record-breaking time of 19.73 that he achieved last year.But freshening up the record book was only part of his story,He led off the meet by swimming the anchor leg as Palo Alto won the 200 medley relay in 1:32.13.From there, he followed up his win in the 50 free by finishing first in the 100 free in another sizzling time, 43.53. He just missed the meet record of 43.52 that Bellarmine’s Max Saunders set in 2019.Harrington finished the day by swimming the opening leg on Palo Alto’s 400 freestyle relay team, which placed first in 3:02.67.When the meet ended, he got to celebrate with teammates as Palo Alto easily repeated as team champion with 334 points. Gunn finished second with 252.Arthur Balva also ha...

They said it: Coming clean

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:49 GMT

“I am a White person who has incorrectly identified as Native my whole life.”— Elizabeth Hoover, associate professor of environmental science, policy and management at the University of California, Berkeley, in a statement last week on her personal website acknowledging she had benefited from bogus family claims of tribal ancestry.

Pamela Price wants to reshape Alameda County’s justice system. So far, it’s been messy.

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:49 GMT

​​New Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price arrived at a courtroom last month with a novel idea: Lop nearly a century off the prison sentence of a man who had been convicted of murder as a juvenile.The request had little precedent in Alameda County: Should a man sentenced to 114 years for his role in the killing a 15-year-old girl be allowed to walk free after just a decade behind bars?But before a judge could even take the bench, Price found herself in a pitched confrontation with an unexpected courtroom guest — a prosecutor whom she had placed on administrative leave, but who decided to appear anyway, an apparent act of defiance against Price’s new sentencing recommendation. In a remarkable scene, Price ordered the man to leave the gallery — a demand he flatly refused.The surprise encounter underscored the messy nature of Price’s first four months in office. Facing off against the entrenched interests of the criminal justice system — and occasionally undone by messy manage...

A massive Mormon temple is headed for San Jose. But where?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:49 GMT

Nestled in the Oakland Hills and soaring 170 feet high into the heavens, the granite temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints serves as the single most important site for religious rituals for the Bay Area’s estimated 100,000 Mormons.But the East Bay city’s dominance as the center of the LDS community will soon change. By the end of the decade, San Jose is set to get its own temple, the first of its kind in Silicon Valley and destined to become a major architectural and spiritual landmark, attracting tens of thousands of adherents.The moon rises behind the Oakland hills and the Mormon Temple in Oakland in 2022. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group) Announced in April by the church’s 98-year-old president, Russell M. Nelson, the project is one of nearly 150 new LDS temples planned across the world in the coming years, a testament to the religion’s vast financial resources and push to have a presence in all corners of the globe, stretching from...

‘Our training is our lived experience’: One woman’s journey from homelessness to advocacy

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:49 GMT

RICHMOND – With clipboard in hand and neon green safety vest on, Amanda Jenkins calls out to a gray-bearded man sweeping the road at the Castro Street homeless encampment under Richmond Parkway.“Will you fill out this survey?” she asks. “It’s for our meeting in Sacramento next month.”Surrounded by trailers and old cars covered with blue tarps and billboard posters (“They’re great at keeping the rain out – you’d only know if you’ve lived outside!”), she makes her way to the next person she finds at the quiet encampment.He is busy loading big black bags of trash onto a truck when she greets him with a fond punch in the shoulder and rattles off the questions on the survey.“How long were you homeless?” “Where do you live?” “Do you think every citizen should get universal basic income?”He answers. She jots. Well-versed with the uncertainty of life on the streets, Jenkins is a volunteer leader for the nonprofit Faith in Action East Bay and was collecting responses from current or fo...

Today in Sports – NY Knicks win their first NBA championship

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:49 GMT

May 81907 — Canadian Tommy Burns retains his world heavyweight boxing title after beating ‘Philadelphia’ Jack O’Brien on points in 20 rounds.1915 — Regret, ridden by Joe Notter, becomes the first filly to win the Kentucky Derby, with a 2-length wire-to-wire victory over Pebbles.1937 — War Admiral, the favorite ridden by Charles Kurtsinger, wins the Kentucky Derby by 1 3/4 lengths over Pompoon.1943 — Count Fleet, ridden by Johnny Longden, wins the Preakness Stakes by 8 lengths over Blue Swords.1954 — World record holder William Parry O’Brien becomes the first man to throw the shot put more than 60 feet with a 60-5¼ toss at a meet in Los Angeles.1967 — Muhammad Ali is indicted for refusing induction in U.S. Army.1968 — Jim “Catfish” Hunter of the Oakland A’s pitches a perfect game, beating the Minnesota Twins 4-0. It is the first perfect game in the American League regular season in 46 seasons.1970 — Walt Frazier scores 36 points to lead the New York Knicks to a 113-99 victory over th...

Sports on TV for Monday, May 8

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:49 GMT

(All times Eastern)Schedule subject to change and/or blackoutsMonday, May 8COLLEGE GOLF4:30 p.m.GOLF — The PGA WORKS Collegiate Championships: First Round, Shoal Creek Club & Bent Brook Golf Course, Shoal Creek, Ala.MLB BASEBALL7:30 p.m.MLBN — Regional Coverage: St. Louis at Chicago Cubs OR LA Dodgers at MilwaukeeNBA BASKETBALL7:30 p.m.TNT — Eastern Conference Semifinal: New York at Miami, Game 410 p.m.TNT — Western Conference Semifinal: Golden State at LA Lakers, Game 4NHL HOCKEY8 p.m.ESPN — 2023 NHL Draft Lottery8:30 p.m.ESPN — Western Conference Semifinal: Vegas at Edmonton, Game 3SOCCER (MEN’S)9:55 a.m.ESPN2 — English League Championship: Blackburn Rovers at Millwall10 a.m.USA — Premier League: Leicester City at Fulham12:30 p.m.USA — Premier League: Everton at Brighton & Hove Albion3 p.m.USA — Premier League: Southampton at Nottingham ForestTENNIS5 a.m. (Tuesday)TENNIS — Italian Open-WTA Early Rounds6 a.m. (Tuesday)TENNIS — Italian Open-WTA Early Rounds_____Source