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Life on Earth: Arts Calendar March 16-22

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:40 GMT

Art about hybrid lifeforms in web3, theater about aliens helping us leave Earth, artists make feature films, artists make experimental music, actors make questionable choices; paintings celebrate SoCal color, drawings celebrate L.A. noir; comedy gets shady, tap dance gets loud, college students takeover the museum, artists open their studios to the public.Lauren Lee McCarthy: still from Good Morning (2023–Ongoing) at Vellum LAThursday, March 16LIFELIKE at Vellum LA. A new group exhibition in collaboration with EPOCH, curated by Katie Peyton Hofstadter, explores the work of ten artists logging biological, genetic, and behavioral information on a digital ledger, invoking a conversation about body sovereignty in Web3. These artists are interested in what it will mean, and how it will feel, to have a body in a future where wetware (living tissue) serves as a foundation for technology, where medical implants monitor our hearts and minds, and where decisions are made by programs none of u...

Did the pandemic cost California 638,100 jobs?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:40 GMT

”Survey says” looks at various rankings and scorecards judging geographic locations while noting these grades are best seen as a mix of artful interpretation and data.Buzz: While California now has more jobs than in its pre-pandemic days, the statewide hiring pace has slowed dramatically.Source: My trusty spreadsheet analyzed recently revised state job counts from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, comparing job creation in the pandemic era (three years ended December 2022) vs. the hiring boom of the pre-coronavirus times, the three years ended December 2019.ToplineYes, California has more than replaced the jobs it lost in the early days of the pandemic.The state had 300,600 more workers at year-end 2022 vs. three years earlier. That was the third-largest job gain among the states in the period.But that’s a sharp cooling of hiring from the previous three years when California ranked No. 1 with 938,700 added workers.So, the 638,100 drop in hiring pace – one could call it a loss of...

Review: Fantastic SZA SOS Tour is now the show to beat in 2023

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:40 GMT

With just two full-length albums to her credit, SZA was nonetheless able to deliver a masterclass in how to put on a thoroughly entertaining and engaging concert on Tuesday night at an absolutely packed Oakland Arena.The show was visually stunning and resonated emotionally from start to finish. There was a well-developed theme to the production and a sense of purpose to basically everything happening on the stage. SZA’s vocal work was brilliant and she exuded not just superstar power — but also the kind of aura that can only come when an artist has just taken her career to a towering new level.Whoa.It’s almost scary to think where this 33-year-old soul singer can go from here.But why rush things? As it currently stands, SZA is touring with what appears to be the show to beat in 2023.The sold-out Oakland gig was SZA’s second big performance in the Bay Area over the last sevenths months or so. The first came when she delivered a headlining set at the Outside La...

East Bay reservoirs are full, but atmospheric rivers won’t end water worries

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:40 GMT

After 11 atmospheric rivers and counting this winter, reservoirs that supply water to the East Bay are brimming. As of today, four out of five local East Bay reservoirs are completely full.But despite concerns about capacity in other parts of the state during the current storms, water managers in the East Bay say local reservoirs are still safe. According to the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD), their total storage is currently at 87%.“That’s perfect. It means we have room in the reservoirs for the storm that’s coming in right now, and we’re creating space for the snowmelt,” said Andrea Pook, a spokesperson for EBMUD.SettingsSo far, the storms have been beneficial to East Bay watersheds, which have mainly avoided the types of catastrophic flooding that has wracked parts of the South Bay and Monterey County.  But even with the torrential rains over the last months, Pook warned that the region’s long-term water problems are far from over.“These last few years, i...

Crews close gap in Pajaro levee but keep working as floods keep Highway 1 shut

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:40 GMT

Crews closed what had been a 365-foot breach in the Pajaro River levee Tuesday evening that had opened up overnight during Saturday rains, but Highway 1 remains closed due to floodwater worries.The team of 24 contractors working on two 12-hour shifts completed the first phase of the levee work around 5 p.m. Tuesday using 39 trucks, 3 large excavators, and 3 tracked dump trucks to drop boulders, two-to-four-ton rock and gravel. Work will continue to completely secure both exposed ends of the levee at the breach, and then to raise the repair to full levee height..The town of Pajaro remains under evacuation order, with more than 300 people housed in emergency shelter, mostly at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds across the river in Watsonville.Highway 1, the main corridor along the coast, remains closed between Watsonville and Moss Landing due to floodwater concerns around the Pajaro River. Caltrans said water flow from the upstream levee breach has eroded embankment material around the...

Apple’s iPhone maker has $100 million of ‘indirect exposure’ to Silicon Valley Bank fallout

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:40 GMT

Debby Wu(Bloomberg) — Apple Inc.’s main iPhone-making partner has indirect exposure to Silicon Valley Bank’s meltdown of about $100 million, joining the ranks of finance and tech firms shaken by the startup linchpin’s failure.Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. parked capital with investment funds that in turn funneled money into startups that banked with the California lender, Chairman Young Liu said. It’s now going through its books carefully but anticipates minimal impact since the Fed has guaranteed SVB’s deposits, he told reporters after reporting results Wednesday.Related ArticlesTechnology | Credit Suisse in fight to win back confidence as shares plunge Technology | Editorial: SVB failure adds to tech industry’s greedy image Technology | Krugman: Silicon Valley Bank in 2023 isn’t Lehman Brothers in 2008 Technology | Collapse of SVB, Signature Bank explained: What to know Technology | Si...

Credit Suisse in fight to win back confidence as shares plunge

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:40 GMT

Yousef Gamal El-Din and Marion Halftermeyer(Bloomberg) — Credit Suisse Group AG’s fragile recovery is hitting wider market concerns about financial firms, leaving the bank’s leaders with an uphill battle to convince investors it can pull off an extensive turnaround.The Swiss bank’s stock plunged to the lowest level on record and its credit spreads surged as the company’s top shareholder ruled out increasing its stake because of regulatory constraints. That helped drag all European banks lower as investors show a quick trigger on shying away from risk after the turmoil of the past week.Credit Suisse is just a few months into a complex reshaping that will see it spin out the investment banking unit while focusing on its key wealth management business. Its second strategy pivot in as many years has so far failed to win over investors or halt client outflows, and the effort risks being further complicated by market unease across financials after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.Chief...

Inman: Free agency exodus hurts 49ers’ depth, while starting units keep them contenders

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:40 GMT

SANTA CLARA — At first blush, NFL free agency cleaned out the top-caliber 49ers who hit the market.Nine players committed to becoming ex-Niners by the close of Tuesday’s unofficial business, ahead of today’s start of the signing period.That steady procession over the first 36 hours of contract talks, however, does not cripple the 49ers’ starting units. Not in the least.It does serve as a reminder that more depth is needed for a potential 24-game march over the NFC hump and to the Super Bowl.Even though they scored free agency’s greatest coup in signing defensive tackle Javon Hargrave away from Philadelphia, they’ll need reinforcements, both on the defensive front and at other spots.They’ll also need new leaders to join their still-strong remaining ensemble.Among those to leave are former captains at one time or another in their 49ers tenure: quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo (Raiders), Jimmie Ward (Texans), Mike McGlinchey (Broncos) and, possibly, kicker Robbie Gould (unsigned...

U.S. arrests business tycoon long sought by China, accusing him of $1 billion fraud

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:40 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. arrests business tycoon long sought by China, accusing him of $1 billion fraud.Source

Cuba beats Australia, reaches 1st WBC semifinal since 2006

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:40 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Cuba earned a 7,500-mile flight to Miami for a trip to the World Baseball Classic semifinals for the first time since 2006.“Cuban baseball fans are so emotional right now. They have been waiting for a long time at the moment,” manager Armando Johnson said after a 4-3 win over Australia on Wednesday night. “This is the new page, new chapter.”Alfredo Despaigne hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly and Yoelkis Guibert followed with a two-run single in three-run fifth inning.Using current major leaguers for the first time at the WBC, Cuba plays on Sunday in Marlins Park against the winner of a quarterfinal between Venezuela and the second-place team from Group C: Canada, Colombia, Mexico or the U.S.Former Phiadelphia Phillies prospect Rixon Wingrove, who led Australia with seven RBIs in the tournament, hit a go-ahead RBI sngle in the second and had a two-run homer in the sixth off the Chicago Cubs’ Roenis Elías. Australia got two on later in the sixth before Elías retired M...