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Feeling festive: 12 wonderful ways to get into the spirit of the season

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:08 GMT

Getting excited about the winter holidays can be tough, what with the Halloween season starting nowadays in August and Thanksgiving, Christmas and Hanukkah not long after that. So we’ve pulled together a dozen ideas for putting you in the mood, from historic homes decked out for the season in Hayward, Campbell and Walnut Creek to lots of latkes in Foster City to wintry theme park fun in Santa Clara, Vallejo and Gilroy. Find more events, plus holiday music and theater performances, at www.mercurynews.com/things-to-do.d’Lightful cacti, Walnut CreekA family stops to take a photo during the Garden of D’Lights event held at the Ruth Bancroft Garden and Nursery in Walnut Creek. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group File) There are so many twinkle lights and illuminations across the Bay Area this year, we’re betting you can see the glow from space. There’s Glowfari at the Oakland Zoo, the Fantasy of Lights in Los Gatos and San Jose’s Enchant at PayPal ...

Travel Troubleshooter: I had to clean my Airbnb rental. Can I get the cleaning fee back?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:08 GMT

DEAR TRAVEL TROUBLESHOOTER: I recently rented a home in Jacksonville, Florida, for three nights through Airbnb. The pictures posted by the host did not match the property. The home was damaged and dirty. The sofa in the living room was peeling and dilapidated. One of the exterior doors had mold growing on it and would not close all the way. And the toilets were filthy.Christopher Elliott, the Travel Troubleshooter I filed a complaint with Airbnb, and a representative told me that they contacted the host about a refund. But the host had refused. Airbnb offered me a $14 credit, but I was not satisfied because I had paid $649 for the rental.I had to buy candles to kill the horrible odor and a Swiffer mop to clean the floor, and I also had to wash the dishes.After Airbnb didn’t solve the matter, I spoke with Discover about a credit card dispute, but Discover recommended that I try to resolve this with Airbnb. Can you help?— Tyson Love, Jacksonville, FloridaANSWER: No qu...

Wish You Were Here: A splashy trip to Bath

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:08 GMT

Our readers have traveled to destinations near and far this last year, biking Oregon’s trails cruising in Ireland, exploring the Galapagos and more. And they’ve shared their stories and plenty of travel tips along the way.Here’s the latest installment, this time from the United Kingdom.WISH YOU WERE HERESanta Cruz residents Sean and Elizabeth Seman’s United Kingdom travels included a stop in Bath, where they visited the Roman Baths. (Courtesy of the Seman Family) ENGLAND: Santa Cruz residents Sean and Elizabeth Seman spent a month’s holiday in the UK that began with “a whirlwind week in London,” Elizabeth says, before they hopped a train from Paddington Station to Bath. “Bath is a legendary UNESCO World Heritage site, a picturesque city in which Georgian architecture rules, the Bath Abbey reigns supreme and Jane Austen has had an inimitable imprint.“We took our time in this completely walkable city to enjoy the Bath city wal...

Jill On Money: Will holiday spending pump up or peter out?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:08 GMT

The misleading headline, “2023 Holiday to Reach Record Spending Levels” from the National Retail Federation (NRF), might lead you to think that the 2023 holiday season will be a smash hit.Related ArticlesBusiness | How to give wisely and not get suckered this holiday season Business | One way to reduce holiday stress: reframe gift traditions Business | Jill On Money: The Fed’s last mile Business | 5 strategies for navigating today’s digital tipping culture Business | Adult children discuss the trials of caring for their aging parents Before anyone pops the early-holiday champagne corks, investment guru Barry Ritholtz has long noted how flawed the NRF survey has been. He says that there have always been problems with the annual NRF holiday projections, because “the trade group, full of biases, randomly surveys shoppers on what they plan to spend this holiday season, and what they spent last year … W...

SF Mission District street vendor ban in effect, vendors protest

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:08 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- The ban on street vendors in the Mission District began on Monday. Street vendors in San Francisco's Mission District will not be allowed to sell on the sidewalks for the next 90 days.San Francisco officials say safety and health risks are the leading factors of the ban. Supervisor Hillary Ronen, who is behind the ban, says many unpermitted vendors have come into the Mission District, selling stolen goods and terrorizing people."I recently learned that DPW workers who enforce the law have been assaulted and had their lives threatened by individuals selling stolen goods on the street," Ronen said in her newsletter this month. "I also found out that DPW workers are wearing bulletproof vests to work and that many workers filed grievances through their union so they no longer had to work in the Mission because they feared for their safety."  Coastal flood advisory issued for parts of Bay Area The city wants to move the permitted vendors to two designated l...

Caltrans office in San Rafael damaged by fire Monday

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:08 GMT

(BCN) -- A fire damaged a Caltrans office in San Rafael on Monday morning, police and fire officials said. The fire was reported shortly after 6 a.m. in the 700 block of Francisco Boulevard West, located near the junction of U.S. Highway 101 and Interstate Highway 580. Grandfather, granddaughter swept out to sea: 1 dead, 1 missing The fire was contained to the office in a double-wide mobile structure and was extinguished by shortly before 6:45 a.m., according to the San Rafael Fire Department. Police said no one was injured in the fire, which is under investigation.Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc.

Hyattsville residents arrested for $14K fraud throughout Maryland

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:08 GMT

Two people were arrested after allegedly committing at least $14,000 worth of felony fraud throughout Maryland before assaulting a sheriff’s deputy.The Frederick County Sheriff’s Office said deputies were called to Fulton Bank in Frederick on Saturday after a man was identified “as committing fraudulent transactions throughout the state,” according to a statement from the department.Upon arrival, deputies tried to arrest 37-year-old DeWight Aaron Gilbert and 32-year-old Morgan Michelle Milligan, both residents of Hyattsville.Deputies tired to detain Gilbert in handcuffs and in the process of doing that, Milligan fled the scene, the sheriff’s office said, adding that Gilbert “assaulted the remaining deputy and then fled on foot.”The sheriff’s office also said deputies were able to arrest Milligan without incident, but the same was not true for Gilbert.He “ran toward a vehicle parked across the street, to elude deputies, and a depu...

2023 NCAA Women’s Div I Volleyball Tournament Glance

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:08 GMT

All Times ESTFirst RoundThursday, Nov. 30Auburn vs. W. Michigan, 4 p.m.Georgia Tech vs. S. Alabama, 4:30 p.m.James Madison vs. Baylor, 4:30 p.m.Marquette vs. E. Illinois, 4:30 p.m.SMU vs. Texas St., 5 p.m.Penn St. vs. Yale, 5:30 p.m.N. Iowa vs. Miami, 6 p.m.Florida vs. Florida Gulf Coast, 7 p.m.Iowa St. vs. Hawaii, 7 p.m.Louisville vs. Wright St., 7 p.m.Purdue vs. Fairfield, 7 p.m.Texas vs. Texas A&M, 7 p.m.Kentucky vs. Wofford, 7:30 p.m.Kansas vs. Omaha, 8 p.m.Wisconsin vs. Jackson St., 8:30 p.m.Oregon vs. SE Louisiana, 10 p.m.Friday, Dec. 1Southern Cal vs. UMBC, 4 p.m.W. Kentucky vs. Coastal Carolina, 4:30 p.m.Houston vs. UC Santa Barbara, 7:30 p.m.Utah vs. Minnesota, 5 p.m.Florida St. vs. TCU, 5:30 p.m.Missouri vs. Delaware, 5:30 p.m.Arizona St. vs. Georgia, 6:30 p.m.Tennessee vs. High Point, 6:30 p.m.Dayton vs. Pepperdine, 7 p.m.Pittsburgh vs. Coppin St., 7 p.m.Creighton vs. Colgate, 7:30 p.m.Arkansas vs. Stephen F. Austin, 8 p.m.Nebraska vs. LIU, 8 p.m.BYU vs. Webser St., 9...

Veev CEO sees modular homebuilding as key to tackling U.S. housing shortage

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:08 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Most traditional homebuilders in America follow a construction process that’s hardly changed in decades, and which typically takes about four to six months, if not longer, to deliver a completed single-family home.Modular homebuilders fabricate walls, roofing and other segments of a home in a factory and then deliver the finished sections to the homesite for assembly in a process that takes just a few weeks to complete.Veev, a modular homebuilder based in Hayward, California, has built more than 170 townhomes, single-family houses, condos and other types of dwellings around the Bay Area and has set its sights on building 300 more single-family houses in Northern California by the end of 2025.CEO Amit Haller, who co-founded Veev in 2008, recently spoke to The Associated Press about how more modular home construction could help tackle the nation’s chronic shortage of new homes. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.Q: What are some of the major ...

Rescuers are using hand-held drills to free 41 workers trapped in a tunnel for over 2 weeks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:08 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — Rescuers in India began digging manually Monday in hopes of reaching 41 construction workers who have been trapped in a collapsed mountain tunnel in the country’s north for over two weeks. Kirti Panwar, a state government spokesperson, said a dozen men were taking turns burrowing into the debris with hand-held drilling tools for what was hoped would be the final stretch. They had dug nearly 1 meter (3.2 feet) and had up to 11 more meters (36 feet) to go, he said. Rescuers have also started to create a vertical channel with a newly replaced drilling machine, officials said. They drilled horizontally for a week but the mountainous terrain proved too much for the machine, which broke down repeatedly before it was damaged irreparably on Friday, officials said. The work being done now is designed to create a passageway for evacuating the trapped workers. Rescue teams have inserted pipes into dug-out areas and welded them together so the men can be brought out on wheeled ...