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CAAMfest returns to S.F. with maybe its splashiest lineup yet

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:00:10 GMT

In an encouraging indicator that Hollywood might, just might, be responding to increased demand for high-profile, high-quality films concentrated on the Asian experience, this year’s CAAMFest — billed as the world’s largest showcase for Asian and Asian American movies — contains a few hyped studio features within its lineup.The most eye-catching are the raucous R-rated opening night feature “Joy Ride” — a wild comedy that receives a huge theatrical release July 7 — and the Disney+ streaming series “American Born Chinese,” adapted from the award-winning graphic novel by the East Bay’s own Gene Luen Yang.But let’s not get too ecstatic about how Hollywood is making up for its prior shortcomings. And there’s still room for improvement given that there are numerous worthwhile shorts, documentaries and narrative features, most of which haven’t caught the eye of big studios yet.As for CAAMFest, it kicks off May 11 off in a splashy and tremendous way with...

GOP megadonor Harlan Crow refuses to provide details on Clarence Thomas’ gifts, trips

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:00:10 GMT

By Ariane de Vogue, Shawna Mizelle, Lauren Fox and Tierney Sneed | CNNHarlan Crow, the GOP megadonor who paid for luxury travel for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, declined to answer questions raised by a key Democratic senator who is examining whether those trips and a private real estate deal could have triggered violations of US tax law.“We have serious concerns about the scope of and authority for this inquiry,” Michael D. Bopp, a lawyer for Crow, said in a letter to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden on Monday evening and obtained by CNN.“Given the Letter’s timing and focus, this inquiry appears to be a component of a broader campaign against Justice Thomas and, now, Mr. Crow, rather than an investigation that furthers a valid legislative purpose,” Bopp wrote.Wyden sent a series of questions to Crow in a letter last month, inquiring about trips over the years that the megadonor paid for on his private plane and super yacht that Thom...

Three-bedroom home sells for $1.7 million in Oakland

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:00:10 GMT

5435 Locksley Avenue – Google Street ViewA 1,600-square-foot house built in 1912 has changed hands. The historic property located in the 5400 block of Locksley Avenue in Oakland was sold on March 24, 2023, for $1,700,000, or $1,063 per square foot. The property features three bedrooms and two bathrooms. It sits on an 8,008-square-foot lot.Additional houses have recently been purchased nearby:A 2,605-square-foot home on the 5300 block of Lawton Avenue in Oakland sold in February 2023, for $2,825,000, a price per square foot of $1,084. The home has 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.On Ayala Avenue, Oakland, in February 2023, a 2,189-square-foot home was sold for $2,510,000, a price per square foot of $1,147. The home has 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.In December 2022, a 1,281-square-foot home on Shafter Avenue in Oakland sold for $1,375,000, a price per square foot of $1,073. The home has 2 bedrooms and 1 bathrooms. 

Silicon Valley Bank regulators failed to assess collapsed bank’s risks: report

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:00:10 GMT

SANTA CLARA — Silicon Valley Bank regulators failed to identify and assess fast-expanding risks that ultimately doomed the collapsed financial high-flyer that catered to the tech sector, a new state report says.State regulators exhibited a sluggish and ineffective response to the hazards that arose from the failed bank’s dramatic growth, uninsured deposits and other problems, according to the report released by the state Financial Protection & Innovation Department — a report that was a self-assessment of the state agency’s missteps.The state financial agency’s report identified several deficiencies on the part of California bank examiners.Among the key findings and recommendations arising from the Silicon Valley Bank failure:The bank failed to address problems and state regulators didn’t push hard enough to address themThe state failed to assess risks unleashed by the bank’s rapid growthState financial officials should better scrutinize...

Bicyclist dead in Hayward’s fifth traffic fatality of 2023

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:00:10 GMT

HAYWARD — A bicyclist died Sunday night after a collision with a person driving a vehicle, police said.The fatal encounter happened about 10:30 p.m. on eastbound Tennyson Road east of the Interstate 880 on-ramp, according to a statement from Hayward police. Officers arrived to find the bicyclist down.Medics pronounced him dead at the scene. Authorities on Tuesday identified him as Christopher Cassel, 29, of Salinas.The death is the fifth traffic fatality investigated by Hayward police this year.Police spoke with the 27-year-old driver and said alcohol or drug impairment do not appear to be factors.Related ArticlesCrashes and Disasters | Pedestrian killed in hit-and-run in San Jose Crashes and Disasters | One person dead after crash in Livermore on Saturday night Crashes and Disasters | SUV driver hits crowd at Texas bus stop near border; 7 dead Crashes and Disasters | US probes complaint that woman died after being tra...

How ‘High Desert’ brought Patricia Arquette, Matt Dillon and Bernadette Peters together

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:00:10 GMT

When Patricia Arquette read the script for “High Desert,” the actress knew she wanted to star in the offbeat TV series about a Yucca Valley woman who decides to reinvent herself as a private investigator.“Their voice was very clear,” Arquette says of the “High Desert” creators’ vision. “And they were incredible with comedy and black comedy, and that sort of weird sense of humor that I have. So that was the beginning of this thing.”That was in 2016, a year after Arquette won an Oscar, Golden Globe, and an armful of other prizes for her acting in Richard Linklater’s “Boyhood.” And even though she went on to make such acclaimed TV series as “Escape at Dannemora,” “The Act,” and “Severance” in the years that followed, Arquette never abandoned “High Desert.”Patricia Arquette stars as Peggy in the new Apple TV+ series “High Desert.” (Photo courtesy of Apple TV+)Bernadette Peters, right, stars as Ginger Fox, a not-all-that-successful actress from the ’70s, who also shares...

A loving Australian father has been exposed as a convicted American killer who lived life on the run

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:00:10 GMT

By Hilary Whiteman | CNNThe bare facts of the case cast American teenager William Leslie Arnold as a murderous villain who shot his parents because they refused to let him take their car to a drive-in in 1958.Then just 16 years old, Arnold buried their bodies in the backyard of the family’s home in Omaha, Nebraska, and went about life as normal for two weeks, until he was confronted and confessed to a crime that saw him sentenced to life in prison.From there, Arnold’s story could have followed the familiar path of a lifer — decades of incarceration before a death noted by some and mourned by few.But Arnold’s escape from prison, while still a young man in 1967, led to a totally different outcome that ended incongruously in Australia, and the death of a man by a different name, who was known as a loving father to a family who had no idea about his secret life.The murdersBlack and white press images from the 1950s show a slight boy being led into the garden of h...

SF supervisor accuses DA of 'contradiction' in handling of Banko Brown case

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:00:10 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- One day after San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced that the Bank Brown homicide case is not closed, San Francisco Supervisor Shamann Walton has responded and accused the DA of a "contradiction" in handling the case. Jenkins put out a statement Monday implying that the Walgreens security guard who shot Brown on April 27 could be charged if additional evidence is found. Man who allegedly used clock to record women while they were changing charged by SF DA In a statement Tuesday, Brown said his office had sent a Letter of Inquiry to the DA asking that video footage showing circumstances around Brown's shooting be released, and asking the DA to reconsider not bringing charges against the security guard. The guard, identified as 33-year-old Michael Earl-Wayne Anthony, reportedly shot Brown, a 24-year-old unhoused transgender Black man, in a confrontation over shoplifting.Anthony shot Brown because be "believed he was in mortal danger," accord...

Martinez Amtrak station still closed after mercury found in parking lot Monday

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:00:10 GMT

Contra Costa Health (CCH) as of Tuesday morning doesn't have an estimated time for the reopening of the Amtrak station in Martinez after it was closed Monday evening when mercury was discovered in the parking lot. The county's hazardous materials team was at the site doing assessment and cleanup overnight and was scheduled to return Tuesday morning. Man who allegedly used clock to record women while they were changing charged by SF DA CCH confirmed the presence of mercury in the parking lot of the train station at 6:57 p.m. Monday after investigating a reported hazardous spill there around 5:45 p.m. CCH said it had no information that anyone has been harmed. The train station closed and passengers disembarked, the agency said. Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc.

Posts show Texas mall gunman researched attack for weeks

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:00:10 GMT

ALLEN, Texas (AP) — Posts by Mauricio Garcia on a Russian social networking site suggest that he planned for weeks before he opened fire at a suburban Dallas shopping mall last weekend, killing eight people and wounding seven others.Garcia, 33, researched when the mall in Allen was busiest — Saturday afternoons — and posted photos on social media in mid-April of a store near where he ultimately started his attack last Saturday, which ended with police killing him. Among the dead were two elementary school-age sisters, a couple and their 3-year-old son, and a security guard.His online activity also betrayed a fascination with white supremacy and mass shootings, which he described as sport. Photos Garcia posted showed large Nazi tattoos on his arm and torso, including a swastika and the SS lightning bolt logo of Hitler’s paramilitary forces.The online activity have contributed to an emerging picture of Garcia. He was discharged from the Army in 2008 because of mental health issues and...