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How Serra’s James Outman went from SF Giants fan to Dodgers sensation

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 15:45:01 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO — It took one at-bat for Dodgers rookie James Outman to get the better of a hero from his Bay Area childhood.The Redwood City native and Serra High alum launched the first Madison Bumgarner pitch he saw over Arizona’s right-field wall for a solo home run on Friday. The violent swing displayed the strength that made Outman a multi-sport star at his high school in San Mateo nearly a decade ago. He was the West Catholic Athletic League’s co-football player of the year in 2014.“In football, you’re always turning it up,” Outman said Monday, adding that baseball requires him to be more passive sometimes. “It’s a balance, but I’ve been trying to hone it.”Outman, tapping into the aggression that was his hallmark as a high school middle linebacker, is making an early bid as baseball’s top rookie. The 25-year-old outfielder is hitting .300 with three home runs and nine RBIs in 11 games. His 1.262 OPS ranks third in MLB.The highlights that continue to pile...

California has a new take on mezcal and tequila. How Sacramento-area farmers are leading it

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 15:45:01 GMT

By Benjy Egel—The Sacramento BeeOn a recent brisk March morning in Woodland’s rolling hills, Raul “Reppo” Chavez was already covered in sweat.Chavez and his cousin Antonio had spent the last half-hour hacking away at their agave plants — monstrous pineapple-looking beasts whose spiky leaves are all that can be seen above the soil.The jimadors, as the farmers of the unique succulent are called, were harvesting agave that they planted six to eight years ago. After a stormy weekend, they will roast the 100-pound agave hearts (known as piñas) for five to seven days in an 8-foot-deep pit covered with pumice and volcanic rocks from around Mount Lassen.This is where the burgeoning “Mezcalifornia” movement begins. It ends up in small-batch agave spirits produced by craft distilleries throughout the state.But don’t call it call it tequila or mezcal. That distinction is specific only to agave spirits produced in certain parts of Mexico.Regardless of the name, it’s still a very niche, craft dr...

Chicago selected site of 2024 Democratic National Convention

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 15:45:01 GMT

Rick Pearson | (TNS) Chicago TribuneCHICAGO — Chicago has been selected the host of the 2024 Democratic National Convention, a huge economic and prestigious boon to the city, national Democratic Party officials announced Tuesday.Chicago was selected over Atlanta and New York among the finalists to host the anticipated re-nomination of President Joe Biden. Though the choice was announced by the Democratic National Committee, the selection rested with Biden.The convention is tentatively scheduled to run from Aug. 19 through Aug. 22 next year.In announcing Chicago as the host city, the DNC cited the Midwestern “blue wall” of states — Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota — as crucial to Biden’s 2020 victory and to Democratic midterm victories last year.”Chicago is a great choice to host the 2024 Democratic National Convention,” said Biden said in a statement.”Democrats will gather to showcase our historic progress including building an economy from the middle out and bottom up, not from the...

Twitter becomes X Corp as Elon Musk advances ‘everything app’ hopes

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 15:45:01 GMT

By Low De Wei and Marika Katanuma | BloombergTwitter Inc. has ceased to be an independent company after merging with a newly formed shell firm called X Corp., driving speculation about what Elon Musk intends for the social media platform.Twitter “no longer exists” after being merged with X Corp., according to an April 4 document submitted in a California court for a lawsuit filed against the company and its former chief executive officer, Jack Dorsey, last year by conservative activist Laura Loomer.It’s unclear what the change means for Twitter, which has seen a sweeping overhaul since Musk bought the company for $44 billion last year. The billionaire owner has in the past suggested that buying Twitter would be an “accelerant” for creating X — which he dubbed an “everything app.” Musk tweeted about the move Tuesday with the single character “X”.The world’s second-richest man has professed his desire to make X similar to China’s WeChat, a super-app owned by Tencent Holdings Ltd. used...

Niles: Here’s how Knott’s, Six Flags and SeaWorld can compete with Disney and Universal

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 15:45:01 GMT

Ever since the lockdowns ended, it might seem that Disney and Universal have widened the gap between themselves and the rest of the theme and amusement park business. In both California and Orlando, Disney and Universal are coming off huge Spring Break seasons, drawing massive crowds that far overshadowed attendance at rival parks.Without access to billion-dollar parent companies with large archives of intellectual property, Six Flags, SeaWorld and Cedar Fair might not seem like they have a path forward to challenge Disney and Universal for theme park attendance and revenue. But just because other park operators do not access to the cash necessary to follow the same path as Disney and Universal does not mean that there is no way for them to succeed.Inspiring attractions do not have to cost billions of dollars. Disney and Universal have spent that kind of money to create immersive new franchise-driven lands such as Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and mos...

Lake Tahoe's water clarity is the best it's been in four decades, study shows

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 15:45:01 GMT

(KTXL) — The famous blue water of Lake Tahoe is the clearest it has been since the 1980s, and it's all thanks to a tiny animal whose population has made a resurgence, according to a new report. The 2022 Lake Tahoe Clarity Report was released Monday, and it shows that the clarity of the water greatly improved from 2021, but the findings during the last five months of 2022 show that the water reached the clearest level in four decades. The clarity of the water is measured by the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center. Park officials list best ‘super bloom’ hot spots in South Bay Scientists attach a white, 10-inch disk called a 'Secchi disk' to the end of a rope and see how low that disk can go into the water before it can no longer be seen from the surface. In 2022, the average annual clarity was 71.7 feet, meaning that the disk was still visible when it was that deep in the water. In 2021, the average annual clarity was 61 feet. (UC Davis TERC)However, it was between August ...

Ukraine resumes electricity exports despite Russian attacks

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 15:45:01 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine began resuming electricity exports to European countries on Tuesday, its energy minister said, a dramatic turnaround from six months ago when fierce Russian bombardment of power stations plunged much of the country into darkness in a bid to demoralize the population.The announcement by Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko that Ukraine was not only meeting domestic consumption demands but also ready to restart exports to its neighbors was a clear message that Moscow’s attempt to weaken Ukraine by targeting its infrastructure did not work.Ukraine’s domestic energy demand is “100%” supplied, he told The Associated Press in an interview, and it has reserves to export due to the “titanic work” of its engineers and international partners. Russia ramped up infrastructure attacks in September, when waves of missiles and exploding drones destroyed about half of Ukraine’s energy system. Power cuts were common across the country as temperatures dro...

AUTO RACING: Bell emerging as a star; IndyCar to Long Beach

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 15:45:01 GMT

All Times Eastern NASCAR CUP SERIES NOCO 400Site: Martinsville, Virginia.Schedule: Saturday, practice, 4:35 p.m., and qualifying, 5:20 p.m.; Sunday, race, 3 p.m. (FS1).Track: Martinsville Speedway.Race distance: 400 laps, 210 miles.Last year: William Byron won after starting fifth.Last race: Christopher Bell held off Tyler Reddick until a caution flag on the final lap made him the winner on the dirt at Bristol.Fast facts: Bell became the sixth different winner through seven races and moved from third to first in the point standings, 13 ahead of Ross Chastain and 26 ahead of Kevin Harvick. … Bell leads all drivers with five top-five finishes and is tied with Alex Bowman with six top-10 finishes. … Bowman dropped to 11th in points and Byron, the only two-time winner this season, dropped to 14th after both were docked 60 points and five playoff points for illegal modifications to their cars at Richmond. … Chastain is the only driver in the top six who has been running...

Tasha Butts hired as Georgetown’s women’s basketball coach

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 15:45:01 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Longtime college assistant Tasha Butts was hired as the head coach of Georgetown’s women’s basketball team on Tuesday.Butts replaces James Howard, whose contract was not renewed last month after four consecutive losing seasons at the school.Butts joins Ed Cooley as new basketball coaches at Georgetown; Cooley took over the men’s team last month after Patrick Ewing was dismissed.Butts has been at Georgia Tech since April 2019, serving as an associate head coach and an assistant coach. Before that, Butts spent eight seasons at LSU. She also coached worked at UCLA and Duquesne. Butts played college basketball at Tennessee from 2000-04 and played professionally in the WNBA and overseas. Howard went 66-108, a .379 winning percentage, during six years at Georgetown. The team this season went 14-17 and lost by 30 points to UConn in the Big East Conference Tournament quarterfinals on March 4.___AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball...

National Philharmonic spring season includes Beethoven, NASA, violinist from Jordan Peele’s ‘Us’

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 15:45:01 GMT

toggle audio on and off change volume download audio WTOP's Jason Fraley previews the National Philharmonic (Part 1) $(function () { $('.wtop-audio-container .fa-play').on('click', function(){ var audio_filename = $('div.wtop-audio-file').data("mp3-url"); ga('send', 'event', 'Audio', 'play', audio_filename); }); }); The spring season is blossoming with orchestral music around the nation’s capital.It’s the perfect time to enjoy the National Philharmonic in Maryland and Virginia.“People are coming back to the concerts,” National Philharmonic Music Director & Conductor Piotr Gajewski told WTOP. ...