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Roadkill for supper? How a Bay Area tech worker went back to the Stone Age

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:24:13 GMT

When former Silicon Valley marketer Jessica Carew Kraft picked up a smelly dead fox from the side of U.S. 101, she knew she was on her way to the new life that beckoned from thousands of years in the past.She was returning to the Bay Area from Santa Barbara after a weekend workshop that taught survival and subsistence skills such as making food, clothing and tools out of animals — including roadkill.“When it materialized on the roadside, I had no plan,” Kraft writes in her new book “Why We Need to Be Wild.” “It was more like the fox grabbed me, offering the opportunity to transform myself, which I desperately wanted to do.”Arriving home with her daughters, she stashed the critter’s corpse in the garage after swearing the girls, 7 and 9, to secrecy. Her husband, a lawyer, supported her initial explorations into a more primitive, nature-connected life, but only to a point.In order to skin the fox, she snuck into the garage on a pretext, ...

NFC playoff outlook: 49ers hit the wall before bye, with nine games left to play

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:24:13 GMT

Look out below!The 49ers dropped from No. 1 to No. 6 in the conference standings, the result of falling a half-game behind the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC West.With both games remaining on the schedule against Seattle, it is within the 49ers’ power to wind up winning the division and the guess here is they will regardless of a three-game losing streak heading into the bye.Yet this nugget from coach Kyle Shanahan Monday was more than a little alarming:“What sticks out on tape to me the most is just how slow and tired we looked,” Shanahan said on a conference call. “When that happens, it leads to bigger holes, it leads to more mistakes, it leads to more missed tackles. I could see on tape a different type of energy that was disappointing, but I also know that they need this rest. That showed the most.”The 49ers hit the wall after eight games. Their coach came out and said it. After the bye, nine games remain. I’m not great with math, but that’...

Walters: Gavin Newsom’s trip to Israel and China tinged with hypocrisy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:24:13 GMT

So what should Californians glean from their governor’s global gallivanting last week?We learned that Gavin Newsom won’t let tinges of hypocrisy impede his obsession with becoming a national, or even international, political figure.Newsom’s hastily arranged first stop was in Israel, where he spent a day commiserating about the bloody assault by Hamas terrorists. His visit included a chat with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, some conversation with victims’ families about living with the constant threat of violence, and watching a video that depicted the carnage.“The worst part about it — the actual video, I saw heads, beheaded people, their bodies, lay there, dead. To see someone’s eyes and mouth being poked to see if they were alive, to find out they were alive after being shot on the ground,” he said later. “It connects to an understanding of the emotion of the Israelis about the atrocities that occurred, and about the 1,400 lives lost. It’s not intellectual any lo...

Project of 100-plus homes is floated for north San Jose office site

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:24:13 GMT

SAN JOSE — A veteran homebuilder is eyeing the development of more than 100 homes on the site of an older office and research building in north San Jose, a fresh example of a shifting Bay Area real estate market.SummerHill Homes has submitted a very preliminary proposal to develop residences on a site at the corner of East Tasman Drive and Baypointe Drive, documents on file with San Jose city planners show.90 East Tasman Drive, an office and research building in north San Jose, shown within the outline. Boundaries are approximate. (Google Maps)A growing number of developers and property owners have begun to ponder the potential of replacing existing office sites with housing projects.Related ArticlesHousing | Vast housing development is eyed at former Fry’s Electronics site in San Jose Housing | Emeryville: Dedication of newest open space at Huchiun Park honors city’s past and future Housing | Elias: California’...

Gov. Newsom plays hardball in China, collides with student during schoolyard basketball game

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:24:13 GMT

By MICHAEL R. BLOOD | AP Political WriterLOS ANGELES — Politicians have long sought to project vitality, youth and a common touch by staging photo shoots spotlighting their athletic prowess. California Gov. Gavin Newsom is the latest to find out that plans for a confident jump shot can turn into a torrent of online potshots.On a trip to China, the two-term Democrat took a detour from his official meetings on climate change to join a group of Beijing schoolkids for a game of basketball. Before long, he was on his backside after accidentally steamrolling a grade-school defender.No one was injured, but Newsom joins a long line of political figures whose attempts at a sporty glamour shot didn’t work out as planned. In a similar scene, British politician Boris Johnson, then mayor of London, knocked down a 10-year-old boy while playing a friendly game of rugby on a trip to Japan.Bill Clinton and Al Gore were needled for photos of them jogging in snug short-shorts while in office. In the 2...

If it seems like there are a lot of acorns this fall, you might be seeing a `mast’ year

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:24:13 GMT

Has your car been getting pelted with acorns? Have you found yourself running through a hailstorm of walnuts with your hands protecting your head? Chances are the trees in your region are experiencing a mast year.Nut-bearing trees, like black walnuts, beeches and those acorn-producing oaks, have “on” and “off” years. “On” years, called mast years, see vigorous production of nuts across an entire species throughout a region.During mast years, a single oak can drop thousands of acorns, forcing you to rake your lawn even before any leaves drop, or sweep your driveway to avoid twisting your ankle while navigating a blanket of marbles.After expending all that energy on an abundant crop, the trees take a break, producing few if any nuts during “off” years.The cycles for mature red oaks and black walnuts typically run two to five years; pecans tend to alternate between boom and bust, often taking just one year off. Most fruit and nut trees undergo these cycles, although each species has it...

King Charles III is in Kenya for a state visit and will acknowledge ‘painful aspects’ of the past

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:24:13 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — King Charles III is in Kenya for his first state visit to a Commonwealth country as monarch. He will acknowledge the “painful aspects” of the countries’ shared history while underscoring his commitment to an organization that’s been central to Britain’s global power since World War II.The four-day visit is full of symbolism. Charles’ mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, learned that she had become the U.K. monarch while visiting a game preserve in the East African nation, at the time a British colony, in 1952.The king and Queen Camilla touched down in the capital, Nairobi, late Monday and were given a ceremonial welcome Tuesday by Kenyan President William Ruto at State House. Charles later planted an African fern tree seedling in its lawn.The royal couple also visited the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior at gardens named Uhuru, which is Swahili for freedom. The king and Ruto laid wreaths, then proceeded to the site of the declaration of Kenya’s independe...

‘Like Amazon or Netflix’: Virginia doctor offers primary health care by subscription

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:24:13 GMT

Health care is expensive — especially for people who don’t have insurance.A Spotsylvania County, Virginia, doctor is rethinking the business model for primary care  physicians: “Patients have the ability to subscribe to my services with a monthly fixed payment, without worrying about how many times they can visit, and how long they can visit,” said Dr. Abhijeet Nakave, who recently opened Smart Prime Care.For a monthly subscription of $125, patients between the ages of 18 and 54 can be seen up to three times a month for their primary care needs.“Even after hours, we are available via text. We do televisits. And the biggest gain for the patient is that I promise to see them within 48 hours,” Nakave said.A primary care physician typically treats long-term conditions, including acid reflux, acne, high blood pressure, sinus and urinary tract infections. Smart Prime Care doesn’t provide emergency services.Since COVID-19, telemedicine technology has imp...

La FDA advierte que 26 productos de colirios, incluidos los de grandes marcas, podrían provocar infecciones oculares y pérdida de la visión

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:24:13 GMT

(CNN) —  Veintiséis productos de colirios de venta libre, incluidos los que se venden con marcas comerciales como CVS, Target y Rite Aid, podrían provocar una infección ocular grave que generen pérdida de visión o ceguera, advierte la Administración de Alimentos y Medicamentos de EE. UU. (FDA, por sus silgas en inglés).La agencia encontró “condiciones insalubres en las instalaciones de fabricación y resultados positivos de pruebas bacterianas en el muestreo ambiental de áreas críticas de producción de medicamentos en las instalaciones” y recomienda que se retiren los productos.Se supone que las gotas para los ojos, vendidas bajo las marcas CVS Health, Rite Aid, Target Up&Up, Leader (Cardinal Health), Rugby (Cardinal Health) y Velocity Pharma, son estériles.No hay informes de lesiones por el uso de los productos en este momento, según la FDA, pero la agencia dice que cualquier persona “que tenga signos o síntomas de una infección ocular después de usar estos productos...

NexPoint Residential Trust Inc.: Q3 Earnings Snapshot

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:24:13 GMT

DALLAS (AP) — DALLAS (AP) — NexPoint Residential Trust Inc. (NXRT) on Tuesday reported a key measure of profitability in its third quarter.The Dallas-based real estate investment trust said it had funds from operations of $20 million, or 76 cents per share, in the period.Funds from operations is a closely watched measure in the REIT industry. It takes net income and adds back items such as depreciation and amortization.The company said it had net income of $33.7 million, or $1.28 per share.The real estate investment trust, based in Dallas, posted revenue of $69.8 million in the period, which fell short of Street forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $70.6 million._____This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on NXRT at https://www.zacks.com/ap/NXRTSource