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Opera on the Lake’s ‘Die Csárdásfürstin’ is breezy summertime fare

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:01 GMT

Opera on the Lake has returned to St. Paul’s Como Lakeside Pavilion for its annual summer production, this year taking on a Viennese operetta called “Die Csárdásfürstin,” or “The Csardas Princess,” by Hungarian composer Emmerich Kálmán. The title evokes a kind of Hungarian folk dance tune, and you can hear that influence in the score. With cabaret revelry, mistaken identities, hidden pasts and helpful notaries, the piece is a treat.Kálmán was a widely popular composer based in Vienna, with “Die Csárdásfürstin” being one of his most celebrated works. He was also from a Jewish family, and was forced to flee at the start of World War II, first to Paris, and then to the United States. Bela Jenbach, who composed the libretto with Leo Stein, was not so lucky: he would spend three years hiding in a cellar beginning in 1940 before admitting to himself into a sanitarium, where he died of cancer.For Opera on the Lake’s production, founder and creative director Anne Wieben, originally fr...

Theater Mu wraps a blockbuster summer movie into its blockbuster ‘Kung Fu Zombies Saga’

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:01 GMT

You don’t have to hit the cinema to enjoy a blast of action, adventure, romance and a dash of insight this summer. Theater Mu has just the thing.It’s currently premiering a very fun and ultimately touching theater piece quite unlike anything else seen on a local stage in recent years. “The Kung Fu Zombies Saga: Shaman Warrior & Cannibals” has everything you’d want in a summer movie, save computer-generated animation. It’s a whimsical and campy romp, sending up several cinematic genres, including martial arts movies, zombie horror and the kind of quests with spiritual undertones that used to drive the “Star Wars” movies.Yet playwright Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay has considerably more substantial things to say than most action flicks offer. She’s clearly comfortable shouldering the responsibility of being American theater’s chief spokesperson for those who immigrated to the U.S. from Laos, and she takes the opportunity to inform audiences of the traditions and traumas of her pe...

CU’s timeline in the Pac-12: From joining with high hopes, to bolting from crumbling conference back to Big 12

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:01 GMT

A look at the timeline of CU’s trajectory in the Pac-12 as the Buffs head back to the Big 12 Conference.June 10, 2010: CU announces the school is leaving the Big 12, a conference the Buffs had belonged to for 63 years, for the newly-expanded Pac-12. Utah is the other new member.Dec. 6, 2010: Former Buff Jon Embree is hired as head football coach by then-athletic director Mike Bohn following the firing of Dan Hawkins. Embree posts a 4-21 record in CU’s first two seasons in the Pac-12 before being fired himself and replaced by Mike MacIntyre on Dec. 10, 2012.June 30, 2011: The Buffs officially become a member of the Pac-12, and commemorate the move by having the bells of two buildings on campus ring 12 times at noon.March 2012: In their first season in the Pac-12, Tad Boyle’s men’s basketball team makes the first of three straight NCAA Tournament appearances, putting the program on the map as one of the conference’s top programs.Aug. 15, 2012: The confere...

Father and son from Highlands Ranch arrested in connection with Jan. 6 attack on U.S. Capitol

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:01 GMT

A father and son from Highlands Ranch are facing federal charges in connection with the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.David Christian Tyner and his son, Christian Peter Tyner, were arrested on June 21 on charges of knowingly entering a restricted building; disorderly conduct in a restricted building; disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds; and demonstrating in a Capitol building, according to a U.S. Department of Justice database of Capitol breach cases.The two men entered the Capitol from an east Rotunda door shortly after 3 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2021 — after it was breached by rioters, according to court documents.David Tyner was wearing a red bandana wrapped around his face, goggles and a black beanie, according to an FBI document that outlines the accusations. Christian Tyner wore a Trump-branded beanie and a red bandana as a facemask, along with tinted ski goggles.David Tyner twice confronted a line of police officers that was pushing people out of the building, and th...

Lawsuit filed a year after deputy accidentally fires into vehicle during Paramount traffic stop

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:01 GMT

Los Angeles County has been hit with a federal civil rights lawsuit more than a year after the controversial arrests of three black teens in Paramount was caught on video.During the traffic stop last June, three people apparently on a joyride were pulled over by two L.A. County Sheriff’s Department deputies. At one point, while their guns were drawn, the female deputy accidentally fired into the vehicle the teens were in.“Dude I totally A-D’d, Jesus Christ” the female deputy could be heard saying in the bodycam video referring to the accidental discharge.“How many people are in the car? You guys all right?” a male deputy called out.Before the teens, two of them minors, were ordered out of the vehicle, several pops are heard in the video.“Dude what the hell is going on?” the female deputy asks as sirens are heard in the background.“They’re throwing off firecrackers behind us,” another deputy responds.“All right, are we going to start extracting the driver?” the female deputy continue...

Public warned of toxic algae bloom at Los Angeles County lake

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:01 GMT

A dangerous algae bloom at a lake near Castaic has led to the California Department of Water Resources urging people to avoid swimming or eating fish caught at the lake.Pyramid Lake in northwest Los Angeles County is currently under a "Danger Advisory" after blue-green algae was found to be present in the water. The lake's Vaquero Swim Beach is closed and its Emigrant Landing Beach has an algal bloom advisoryBlue-green algae is toxic to humans and can cause eye irritation, rash, mouth ulcers, vomiting, diarrhea and flu-like symptoms. Pets are also considered to be at increased risk of getting sick from exposure, because they often drink water and lick their fur after getting wet.The CDWR urged people to avoid physical contact with the lake water, as well as avoid eating any fish or shellfish pulled from the lake.Boating is allowed, but winds and waves can move the bloom to different regions of the reservoir and algae can build up in mats and scum, as well as form foam at the surface...

Portion of 118 Freeway closed after crews put out brush fire in Granada Hills

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:01 GMT

Firefighters battled a brush fire that broke out in the San Fernando Valley Thursday afternoon, forcing the closure of the 118 Freeway.The fire was first reported around 2:02 p.m. in Granada Hills, just off of the freeway at Balboa Boulevard.Video from Sky5 showed large plumes of white smoke billowing from active flames as Los Angeles Fire Department helicopters dropped water from above.According to the California Highway Patrol online incident log, multiple trees and brush were on fire, with flames burning on both sides of the freeway. Aerial video from overhead confirmed there were two plumes of smoke. CHP was working to close the Balboa off-ramp on the eastbound side of the freeway. The Fire Department later requested all lanes of the freeway to be stopped.At 3 p.m. the eastbound side of the 118 Freeway was closed at Hayvenhurst Avenue, while the westbound side was closed at Balboa Boulevard. Drivers were urged to avoid the area if possible and take an alternate route. There was ...

Randy Meisner dies at 77; Eagles co-founder sang ‘Take It to the Limit’

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:01 GMT

By Hillel Italie | Associated PressNEW YORK — Randy Meisner, a founding member of the Eagles who added high harmonies to such favorites as “Take It Easy” and “The Best of My Love” and stepped out front for the waltz-time ballad “Take It to the Limit,” has died, the band said Thursday.Meisner died Wednesday night in Los Angeles of complications from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the Eagles said in a statement. He was 77.The bassist had endured numerous afflictions in recent years and personal tragedy in 2016 when his wife, Lana Rae Meisner, accidentally shot herself and died. Meanwhile, Randy Meisner had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and had severe issues with alcohol, according to court records and comments made during a 2015 hearing in which a judge ordered Meisner to receive constant medical care.Called “the sweetest man in the music business” by former bandmate Don Felder, the baby-faced Meisner joined Don Henley, Glenn Frey and Bernie Leadon in the early 1970s to...

Sale closed in Alameda: $1.6 million for a three-bedroom home

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:01 GMT

1309 Eastshore Drive – Google Street ViewThe property located in the 1300 block of Eastshore Drive in Alameda was sold on June 8, 2023. The $1,600,000 purchase price works out to $811 per square foot. The house, built in 1959, has an interior space of 1,973 square feet. The layout of this single-story house consists of three bedrooms and two bathrooms. Additionally, the home is equipped with a garage. The property is situated on a lot spanning 4,900 square feet.These nearby houses have also recently been sold:On Eastshore Drive, Alameda, in June 2023, a 3,485-square-foot home was sold for $2,860,000, a price per square foot of $821. The home has 4 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms.A 1,124-square-foot home on the 1200 block of Peach Street in Alameda sold in January 2023, for $1,200,000, a price per square foot of $1,068. The home has 2 bedrooms 1 bathroom.In May 2023, a 2,552-square-foot home on Washington Court in Alameda sold for $2,600,000, a price per square foot of $1,019. The home has ...

Scientists say July is already hottest the month on record

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:01 GMT

By Seth Borenstein | Associated PressWASHINGTON — July has been so hot thus far that scientists calculate that this month will be the hottest globally on record and likely the warmest human civilization has seen, even though there are several days left to sweat through.The World Meteorological Organization and the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service on Thursday proclaimed July’s heat is beyond record-smashing. They said Earth’s temperature has been temporarily passing over a key warming threshold: the internationally accepted goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degree Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit).Temperatures were 1.5 degrees warmer than pre-industrial times for a record 16 days this month, but the Paris climate accord aims to keep the 20- or 30-year global temperature average to 1.5 degrees. A few days of temporarily beating that threshold have happened before, but never in July.July has been so off-the-charts hot with heat waves blistering t...