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12 great Bay Area pizza joints — and 12 reasons why you should eat there

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:28 GMT

The hottest, buzziest new whatever is always fun. We’ll never say no to gourmet pizza toppings or 72-hour dough fermentation. But there are times when our Italian food cravings are more, shall we say, niche — Detroit-style pizza, say, or a pizzeria where you don’t have to decide between barbecue and pepperoni. Or a pizza joint with an entire wall of microbrews.Here are a dozen fantastic Bay Area pizzerias for any and all occasions.Rocco’s Ristorante Pizzeria, Walnut Creek: When you want La Dolce Vita with your pizzaA Vespa scooter hangs from the ceiling at Rocco’s Pizzeria in Walnut Creek. The family-owned restaurant has been operating for over 23 years. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group) The vintage Vespa hanging from the ceiling tells you everything you need to know about owner Rocco Biale’s love of great food and pop culture and his family’s Italian heritage.The Vespa appeared in Federico Fellini’s classic 1960 film, “La Dolce Vita.” Owner Rocco Biale purchas...

Joe Biden’s brother says the president is ‘very open-minded’ about psychedelics for medical treatment

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:28 GMT

By AAMER MADHANI and JESSE BEDAYN | Associated PressWASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s youngest brother said in a radio interview Wednesday that the president has been “very open-minded” in conversations the two have had about the benefits of psychedelics as a form of medical treatment.Frank Biden made the comments during a call into The Michael Smerconish Program on SiriusXM. The host had just interviewed a Wall Street Journal reporter who recently wrote about powerful Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and employees who believe the use of psychedelics and similar substances can help lead to business breakthroughs.“He is very open-minded,” Frank Biden said when asked by Smerconish about conversations he’s had with the president on the topic. “Put it that way. I don’t want to speak, I’m talking brother-to-brother. Brother-to-brother,” the younger Biden said. “The question is, is the world, is the U.S. ready for this? My opinion is that we are on the cusp of a consciousness that needs to b...

San Jose men arrested for storage building fireworks explosion

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:28 GMT

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KRON) -- Two San Jose men who allegedly caused an explosive fire at a public storage facility with illegal fireworks were identified on Friday. The June 14 inferno at Public Storage on Blossom Hill Road in San Jose exploded and spread so rapidly that witnesses said the blaze looked like something out of a "Call Of Duty" video game. Witnesses reported hearing "popping" sounds emanating from the three-alarm fire. San Jose Police Department Sgt. Jorge Garibay wrote, "The fire was a result of multiple illegal fireworks igniting in a storage unit. The large amount of fireworks stored in the unit caused the entire building to catch fire resulting in everything stored inside to be completely lost and unsalvageable."Investigators discovered that someone had stockpiled nearly 40,000 pounds of illegal fireworks ahead of the July 4 holiday. San Jose Fire Department arson investigators and SJPD police detectives identified two suspects: Anthony Dasilva, 45, of San Jose, a...

Exploring California State Parks just got easier -- it's as simple as three words

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:28 GMT

(KSWB) -- Whether it's picking a meetup location for a hike, choosing a campground from miles away or finding help if you strayed off the beaten path, California State Parks has announced a new tool that's as simple as three words.New innovative location technology -- known as what3words -- will now be used throughout the state parks system. This revolutionary technology pinpoints exact locations through the app, giving users the ability to communicate precisely where they are or intend to be.The main objective of this tool, according to California State Parks, is to keep parkgoers safe. The technology provides dispatchers with three dictionary words that represent an exact location. This is then used to quickly help lost or stranded visitors find their way. In some instances, it may improve response times in situations where emergency services are needed. How does it work?Through what3words technology, the entire world has been divided into a grid of 10 feet by 10 feet squares...

Supreme Court: Affirmative Action Is OK — If the Students Are Getting Sent to Die in Wars

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:28 GMT

Affirmative action supporters and counterprotesters shout at each outside of the Supreme Court on June 29, 2023, in Washington, D.C.Photo: Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty ImagesIn what is being described as a victory for a merit-based and colorblind approach to college admissions, the Supreme Court Thursday struck down affirmative action as a tool to redress race-based inequalities. The ruling by the court’s conservative majority dealt with affirmative action programs at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina, but would apply across the country.The precedent set by the court’s decision is primed to transform college admissions standards around the country, yet there is one area where the law mandating diversity in recruitment is remaining conspicuously unchanged: U.S. military academies.When it comes to national priorities, the defense establishment has long been treated with kid gloves and afforded its own perks and protections. Think of the way fisca...

Kokrak shared LIV lead with DJ after wild travel plan to Spain

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:28 GMT

SOTOGRANDE, Spain (AP) — Jason Kokrak had to go through four countries over three days to reach Spain and then managed a 4-under 67 to share the lead with Dustin Johnson in LIV Golf-Valderrama.Johnson was coming off a tie for 10th in the U.S. Open two weeks ago for his best finish in a major this year. He played bogey-free over his last 16 holes at Valderrama as he goes for his second LIV win this year.Kokrak was supposed to leave his home in northern Ohio on Monday until flight cancellations led to an unusual itinerary. He wound up going from Cleveland to Detroit to Amsterdam to Frankfurt, Germany, and then on to Malaga in the south of Spain. He arrived Wednesday morning. His golf clubs got there Thursday evening.He played Valderrama for the first time with six birdies and a pair of bogeys.Anirban Lahiri was one shot behind after a 68. Valderrama previously hosted the 1997 Ryder Cup, a pair of World Golf Championships and was a European tour event until it switched to LIV Golf.“You...

Betts joins Rodríguez and Guerrero in July 10 Home Run Derby at Seattle

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:28 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers’ Mookie Betts will compete in the All-Star Home Run Derby at Seattle’s T-Mobile Park on July 10, joining Seattle’s Julio Rodríguez and Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero in the eight-man competition.Elected to start in the All-Star Game for the National League, Betts leads the Dodgers with 20 home runs. Betts announced Friday he will make his first derby appearance.Juan Soto won last year’s derby at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, edging Rodríguez 19-18 in the final round.The Dodgers have never had a derby winner. Joc Pederson reached the final round in 2015 at Cincinnati, losing to Todd Frazier.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_SportsSource

New Denver Public Schools safety plan includes school resource officers in some buildings

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:28 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) – Some Denver students can expect to see school resource officers return to their high schools under a new plan released Friday.The announcement is part of a 57-page long-term safety plan from Denver Public Schools that was released on Friday. Read a PDF of the full Denver Public Schools long-term safety plan This new plan stems from a shooting at East High School in March that ended with two staff members in the hospital. Those staff members were searching a student who was required to be checked after being expelled from another district. During the search, they found a handgun and the teen shot them. The teen ran away from the school and was found later to have killed himself.This incident resulted in school resource officers immediately being returned to a variety of schools across the district, a reversal of a 2020 decision to remove them, and the decision to conduct a full review and create a new plan for district safety.“Safety is a layered approach that encom...

Prison nurse sentenced to 6 years for smuggling drugs into Miami federal detention center

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:28 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — A former prison nurse has been sentenced to six years in federal prison for smuggling drugs and other contraband into a federal detention center in Miami.Ruben Montanez-Mirabal, 33, was sentenced Wednesday in Miami federal court, according to court records. He pleaded guilty in March to conspiring to receive bribes and introduce prohibited objects into a federal prison and to introducing prohibited objects into a federal prison.According to a criminal complaint, Montanez-Mirabal took illegal payments from FDC Miami inmates in exchange for bringing in and delivering to them prohibited objects, including sheets of paper soaked with synthetic cannabinoids, from November 2021 to August 2022. Montanez-Mirabal accepted thousands of dollars in bribes, as well as other items of value, including the free use of a Lamborghini and a Rolls-Royce, prosecutors said.Over several months, Montanez-Mirabal smuggled more than 100 drug-soaked pages that he would deliver directly to inmates...

Deputy’s acquittal in Parkland school massacre case shows holes in the law, attorneys say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:28 GMT

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — When Florida prosecutors charged former Deputy Scot Peterson for his alleged inaction during the 2018 Parkland school massacre, they faced a major hurdle: no law precisely fit.So it was not a surprise to legal observers that Peterson was acquitted Thursday of child neglect and other charges for failing to confront the shooter who killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.Without an on-point statute to base their case upon, prosecutors tried to make the law fit the facts instead of the facts fit the law, lawyers said. That is always a tougher courtroom battle to win.The Peterson case “has always been an uphill climb for the prosecutors,” Miami criminal defense attorney David S. Weinstein said. “I feel bad for the victims and their families. Their pain will last for a lifetime. For them, the disappointment in the system continues. It was compounded by the state pushing forward on this case, despite the high odds of obtaining a conviction.”Bu...