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Just competing on Food Network show was a win for Aurora’s Banh & Butter Bakery

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:15:23 GMT

Thoa Nguyen struggles with the feeling that she disappointed her family “by leaving the family business that was built for me,” she said Monday on the final episode of “Holiday Baking Championship,” a competition show that has been airing on the Food Network.But after making it into the final four — and garnering praise from celebrity chef judges Carla Hall, Duff Goldman and Nancy Fuller — the owner of Aurora’s Banh & Butter Bakery Cafe is starting to feel like the risk she took to open her own business is paying off.Nguyen didn’t take the crown, but she put up a good fight, racking up small wins along the way.“I never really got to show my family that this was all for a good reason before, but this makes it all worth it,” Nguyen said. “If I didn’t branch out, I would never have had the confidence to be on a show like this. Winning it would have just been a cherry on top.”Nguyen’s parents owned New Saigon Vietnamese restaurant for 30 years. But before sel...

Denver’s historic El Jebel temple to get new life as special events venue

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:15:23 GMT

In Denver, there are much taller buildings than the five-story, rectangular Mosque of the El Jebel Shrine in Uptown. But there are few that are as eye-catching. Or historic. Or intriguing.Those are among the qualities that caught the attention of Non Plus Ultra, a company that looks for settings where its clients can hold events: product launches, concerts, corporate holiday parties. The San Francisco-based company has added the El Jebel building to its Denver portfolio and is getting it ready for the next chapter of its 117-year existence.“What we really shoot for is something that has history or is iconic or has architectural significance. El Jebel strikes all of those,” said Jordan Langer, Non Plus Ultra founder and CEO.The Mosque of the El Jebel Shrine, which was constructed in 1907, located in Denver, Colorado on Monday, December 12, 2023. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)The company works with the owners of venues that many times have been sitting idle and &#...

SoCal braces for 3 days of rain, potential t-storms and flooding

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:15:23 GMT

The second storm of the week, a much stronger but slower-moving system, began dropping rain on the Southland overnight. The heaviest showers remained north of Los Angeles County Wednesday morning, with most areas seeing only light to moderate rain.“But remember, the storm itself is still well to the north … I anticipate the heavier rain actually moving in late today. Tomorrow will be a very active day for us, ” KTLA Meteorologist Henry DiCarlo said. The National Weather Service called for severe weather through Friday. (NWS/Unsplash)Forecasters are calling for the most dangerous conditions, including a chance of thunderstorms, to arrive Wednesday afternoon and continue through Thursday night. “This is already a slow-moving system, so if these cells stay over you for 15 minutes, maybe 30 minutes, you could get a half-inch of rain,” Henry said. KTLA Weather Home The National Weather Service warned of dangerous lightning, strong damaging winds and small hail.“There’s even a slight ri...

Prep roundup: Mitty’s dominance in girls basketball on full display at national tournament

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:15:23 GMT

Girls basketballNike TOC: Mitty rolls into semifinalsThis is supposed to be a big test for Archbishop Mitty’s girls basketball team. So far, the Monarchs are treating it like every other exam on the schedule.A+, A+.Mitty blew out a second consecutive opponent in the top division at the Nike Tournament of Champions in Arizona on Tuesday behind more excellence from super sophomore McKenna Woliczko and UConn-bound senior Morgan Cheli.The Monarchs routed Xavier College Prep of Arizona 72-42 one day after they cruised past Miami Country Day 62-35.Mitty, the Bay Area News Group’s top-ranked team, will play Crestwood Preparatory College of Toronto in the semifinals on Wednesday. Crestwood rolled over Mater Dei-Santa Ana 70-51 in the first round and defeated Lone Peak of Utah 59-53 on Tuesday.In the Monarchs’ win Xavier College Prep, Woliczko had 24 points, seven rebounds, two steals and a block. Cheli added 21 points and Lehigh-bound Belle Bramer finished with nine points...

XBB.1.5, BA.2.86, JN.1: How to understand the coronavirus alphabet soup

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:15:23 GMT

By Jen Christensen | CNNThe virus that causes Covid-19 has more letters to describe its many derivatives than a bowl of alphabet soup.Omicron and Delta were names for the coronavirus that people quickly learned and used in the height of the pandemic. But at this point, most non-scientists probably could not name the version of the virus that’s set to become the next dominant one around the world. (It’s JN.1, by the way.)Although the common cold doesn’t get as many names – at least not the ones that make headlines – the specificity with which scientists talk about SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, matters because it is still such a problem.A virus like this one has a lot of different names because it is changing constantly, and scientists need a common language to talk about a specific version that they’re seeing in a particular community or that they’re working with to develop treatments, vaccines and tests.“Bob the Virus” or “Susan the Variant” would probably be easier to...

49ers mailbag: Ghost of Christmas past could haunt another playoff run

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:15:23 GMT

SANTA CLARA – Making a list, checking it twice, time to find out which letters are naughty and nice into our weekly 49ers mailbag:Do you know when was the last time the 49ers played on Christmas Day? (@juniorvalencia408)It was 1993. The 49ers clinched the NFC West in their previous game, as they did this past Sunday. And they hosted an AFC powerhouse in the Houston Oilers, whereas this Monday night they’ll be hosting the AFC-leading Baltimore Ravens. So the turnover-prone 49ers lost 10-7 in that penultimate game of the 1993 regular season at Candlestick Park. Coach George Seifert pulled NFL passing leader Steve Young in the third quarter, seeing how the 49ers’ had already clinched a first-round playoff bye the previous week and were longshots to claim the No. 1 seed over Dallas. The 49ers went on to lose the NFC Championship Game in Dallas, and the Oilers lost their playoff opener to Kansas City.What is your best-case playoff scenario, game by game? (@all4dg3)After the wild-card bye...

The story behind Trayce Jackson-Davis’ momentum-shifting block on Jaylen Brown

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:15:23 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO — Trayce Jackson-Davis saw everything he needed to see in a split second.Jaylen Brown had the ball at the top of the key with every intention of driving to the rim. It was overtime, the Warriors up four with 2:30 minutes remaining and Klay Thompson the only body directly in front of him.Brown bumped Thompson, burst around him, switched the ball to his weaker left hand and began to levitate for what would have been an easy layup.Jackson-Davis was one step ahead of the All-Star, meeting Brown at the apex to swipe the ball off the backboard. His teammates’ hyped screams registered muffled as Jackson-Davis let his muscle memory take him back to the other end.He blacked out.“A momentum shifter,” Jackson-Davis said. “I don’t even know what happened on the next play.”The rookie’s block was just one chord in a comeback chorus, the needed defensive precursor to Steph Curry’s high-arching dagger 3 to clinch a 132-126 overtime...

Walters: How California’s school ‘dashboard’ obscures poor performance

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:15:23 GMT

When then-Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature created the Local Control Funding Formula a decade ago, their professed goal was to close the achievement gap separating poor and English-learner K-12 students from their more privileged contemporaries by providing more targeted instructional money.Education reform and civil rights groups applauded the effort but worried aloud about Brown’s unwillingness to provide accountability for whether the extra spending would, in fact, narrow the gap. He said he trusted local school officials to do the right thing.The education establishment liked Brown’s hands-off attitude but the criticism continued. Several years later, the state school board responded with a “dashboard.”  Schools and school districts would receive color-coded grades on a variety of factors, of which proficiency in language arts, math and other academic skills would have parity with other less important areas.Critics remained skeptical — with good reason.“Under this syst...

Sutter Health eyes huge Santa Clara lease in boost for office market

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:15:23 GMT

SANTA CLARA — Sutter Health has struck a deal to lease a huge amount of office space at a high-profile Santa Clara campus in a deal that bolsters the Bay Area’s wobbly commercial property sector.The health services titan has agreed to lease three buildings in Mission Technology Park, a four-building office complex in Santa Clara is owned by Sobrato Investments, a legendary Bay Area real estate firm.2441 Mission College Boulevard in Santa Clara, a building that totals 103,500 square feet. (Google Maps)Sutter Health is renting well over 300,000 square feet in the office buildings, according to several commercial property experts familiar with the transaction.The buildings that Sutter Health has agreed to lease are all located on Mission College Boulevard next to California’s Great America amusement park in Santa Clara.2431 Mission College Boulevard, a Santa Clara office building totaling 84,700 square feet. (Google Maps)The three office buildings that Sutte...

AG Bonta: ‘Insufficient evidence’ found for Vallejo police officer who killed Sean Monterrosa

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:15:23 GMT

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Tuesday there is “insufficient evidence” to support criminal charges against a Vallejo police officer in the 2020 shooting of Sean Monterrosa.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | California police must tell drivers why they’re being stopped starting next year under new law Crime and Public Safety | As foundation for ‘excited delirium’ diagnosis cracks, fallout spreads Crime and Public Safety | Defense lawyers say retired police officer who held Pleasant Hill cops at bay during two standoffs ‘did not intend to kill anyone’ Crime and Public Safety | Alameda reaches settlements with Mario Gonzalez’s estate, mother Crime and Public Safety | Santa Clara County supervisors back direct access to non-police mental health team The conclusion of the California Department of Justice’s review of the shooting focused solely on potential criminal liabili...