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Job growth slows sharply in Bay Area and California amid tech layoffs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:33:10 GMT

San Jose skyline, seen in 2021. (George Avalos/Bay Area News Group)The pace of job growth slowed sharply in the Bay Area and California in February, government officials disclosed Friday in a disquieting report that arrives on the heels of several months of widening tech and biotech layoffs.The Bay Area added 6,500 jobs in February, but those gains represented a drastic slowdown from the increase of 19,000 jobs in January, a report posted on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics website shows.California, in a similar pattern, gained 32,300 jobs in February, but that was far fewer than the 67,600 jobs added statewide in January, according to the federal labor agency’s report. All of the numbers statewide and in the Bay Area were adjusted for seasonal volatility.The statewide unemployment rate worsened in February to 4.3%, up from 4.2% in January. The California unemployment rate has now increased for two consecutive months. The state achieved a record-low jobless rate of 3.8...

Meet the titan of beer-brewing broadcasting, coming to you live from a Concord taproom

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:33:10 GMT

Justin Crossley’s rise to beer-media stardom at the Brewing Network began almost two decades ago with a gift from a girlfriend: a homebrewing kit he didn’t know how to use.“Living in the Bay Area, I realized I was surrounded by brewers,” he recalls. “And if I could ask them all my dumb questions and record the answers, I’d be helping homebrewers out.”Having studied broadcasting in college, Crossley set up an online-streaming station in his Pacheco garage. He staffed it with beer-loving buds – a dentist who knew the science of brewing, a funny-sidekick homebrewer, his girlfriend who had the “added advantage of being German” – and started taking calls.“On our first show in June 2005, we had so many listeners tuning in live that we crashed my servers,” he says.Today, the Brewing Network is a titan in the beer-broadcasting world. From its studio inside Concord’s Hop Grenade taproom, the network produces podcasts, live-streaming radio and video content about home ...

Is Mexico safe for U.S. travelers?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:33:10 GMT

By Nikki Ekstein | BloombergWhen the US Department of State released a spring break travel advisory on March 13 warning travelers to take extra caution when visiting Mexico, the message rippled far, wide and fast. Broadcast news disseminated scary stories of illegal drugs and gang crime as reasons to reconsider vacation plans—most tragically, the early March kidnapping of four American medical tourists in Matamoros, on the Texas border, two of whom were found dead.“It’s like clockwork,” says Zachary Rabinor, the American founder of travel agency Journey Mexico. “Every year preceding spring break we get the same wave of sensationalism. People need eyeballs, and what better way than fearmongering? In some ways it’s the clearest sign yet that we’re done worrying about the pandemic.”In reality, he says, no new travel advisories to Mexico have been issued by the State Department since last October, in which the updates to the existing warning related to additional public-health informati...

'My heart is crushed': JV's wife releases heartbreaking statement

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:33:10 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- After a month of searching, the body of beloved WiLD 94.9 morning show host Jeffrey "JV" Vandergrift was found in the water near Pier 39 in San Francisco Wednesday. When the news broke, his radio station remembered JV as a "Bay Area icon," and loyal listeners went into mourning. JV's wife, Natasha Yi, released a statement on social media Friday:"I struggle to write this to you as I can barely breathe or see through the pain and tears. As many of you have already heard, the SFPD found JV."Every moment he was missing was agonizing for me. But the pain I feel now is something I have never felt before. My heart is crushed, and I cannot see myself ever moving forward, ever feeling joy or being at peace."Out of respect for JV and his entire family, I will not share too many details right now."I am devastated that the love of my life is gone. But what I do know is that JV loved his work and he loved connecting with all of you. He loved his family, and I know he love...

Another strong storm likely next week

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:33:10 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Confidence was growing Friday in the likelihood of another strong storm arriving in soggy, snow-laden California early next week, forecasters said.The outlook for more winter-like weather increased as the state turned windy and cold, with residual rain and mountain snow showers in the aftermath of the most recent storm. The next one was expected to arrive Monday. Storm destroys Taj Mahal houseboat in Sausalito “All the threats we've been mentioning for the March Storms so far will still be in play next week ... downed trees, power outages, flooding, rises in creeks/streams,” the San Francisco Bay Area weather office wrote.California has been battered by storm after storm since late December.States of emergency have been declared in 43 counties. As of Thursday, more than 700 people were being housed in 16 shelters in eight counties, according to the Governor's Office of Emergency Services.KRON On is streaming live news now.embed-container { posit...

Pliny the Younger 2023 will be released today

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:33:10 GMT

(KRON) -- Beer fans are already lined up for Pliny the Younger, which will be available on tap and in bottles starting today, Friday March 24, according to the Russian River Brewing Company website. Pliny the Younger will be available at the brewery's Santa Rosa and Windsor pubs from March 24 through April 6, 2023, the brewery said.This will mark the second year in a row the brewery has released the coveted IPA on a spring date. In 2022, Russian River Brewing was forced to postpone the beer's usual February release due to a lack of staffing stemming from COVID. Another storm coming to Bay Area to bring more rain Monday Moving the Pliny the Younger release date back ended up "being a happy accident," according to the brewery. "Not only were we more prepared, but the weather was better and the days longer."The brewery said releasing the beer in March was also helpful for their overall production schedule and many of those polled in an Economic Impact survey preferred the new date.Th...

Oakland man convicted of producing child porn, sex trafficking

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:33:10 GMT

(KRON) -- An Oakland man was convicted Thursday for producing child pornography and sex trafficking a minor, the Northern District of California's Attorney's Office announced.After a week-long jury trial, evidence showed that Kenneth Orlando Sparks, 36, had produced child pornography by recording himself having sex multiple times with a minor, and enticing the minor to engage in sex work on "the Blade," a term used to describe sex work strips in both Oakland and San Francisco, the Attorney's Office said. Officials said text messages showed Sparks provided transportation and housing for the minor, as well as advice while working on "the Blade." Officials also said evidence showed Sparks was aware the victim was a minor and still carried out the crimes regardless. Mother of twin 6-year-olds killed by suspect fleeing police in stolen car The investigation began when the San Francsico Police Department stopped Sparks and the minor for a traffic stop in July 2019. Officers said they fo...

Exclusive: Two Koch-Backed Groups Speak Out Against Ron DeSantis’s Attack on Journalists

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:33:10 GMT

After Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called for “media accountability,” the Republican-controlled state House and Senate introduced a pair of bills that would make it easier to sue journalists, a familiar culture war target. Conservative opposition to the legislation on First Amendment grounds, however, suggests the removal of limitations in defamation laws isn’t a straightforward partisan matter.Americans for Prosperity, the flagship conservative political advocacy group funded by billionaire businessman Charles Koch and his late brother David, has lobbied on the legislation, according to state lobbying disclosures reviewed by The Intercept — though not in support of it.“AFP works to make it easier for all Americans to speak up and hold political leaders accountable.”“AFP works to make it easier for all Americans to speak up and hold political leaders accountable,” a spokesperson for Americans for Prosperity told The Intercept after being asked about the lobbying. “One of the ways we do...

Northern Lights make rare sighting in DC region

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:33:10 GMT

Thursday night, Mother Nature delivered a rare sight in the skies of Virginia (and perhaps the whole D.C. region): the Northern Lights or Aurora.Social media was posting pics from various locations around the world, including the U.S., and Virginia.The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center issued alerts throughout the evening for ongoing G3 and G4 (Severe and highest level) Geomagnetic Storms. For the G4 Alert issued just after midnight, NOAA stated, “Aurora – Aurora may be seen as low as Alabama and northern California.”I was able to photograph the Aurora from my backyard in Central Virginia using my iPhone Pro Max 13 in “Night Sky Mode.” I really couldn’t see the Aurora visually, but could using the iPhone.It is possible the Aurora will be visible again Friday night, but the terrestrial weather and the D.C. area’s more southerly location isn’t very promising for clear skies .More Science NewsThe Space PlaceThis is ...

Ford’s Tenn. plant could make 500K electric pickups per year

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:33:10 GMT

STANTON, Tenn. (AP) — A new Ford assembly plant being built in western Tennessee will be able to build up to 500,000 electric pickup trucks per year at full production, the company said Friday. The Dearborn, Michigan, automaker announced in September of 2021 that it would build the plant and a battery factory on a 3,600-acre (1,460-hectare) parcel of land in rural Stanton, northeast of Memphis. Known as the Memphis Regional Megasite, the land designated by the state for industrial development sat unused for years before Ford decided to move in. Construction on the site, named BlueOval City, began last year. Ford has said it plans to start production by 2025, and it said Friday that timetable remains in place. The automaker also said its second-generation electric truck is “code named Project T3.” Ford’s assembly plant and a battery plant run by a joint venture called BlueOvalSK will employ about 6,000 people with an investment of roughly $5.6 billion, Ford said.BlueOvalSK will...