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Review: ‘Nun II’ is a horror film in need of a good startling

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:01:40 GMT

By Mark Kennedy | Associated Press“The Conjuring” Universe celebrates 10 years in business this fall with the dull “The Nun II,” a movie that seems destined to pound a nail into this franchise’s undead coffin.A new directing and writing team fails to shock or scare with a color-by-numbers plot and a meandering, languid wannabe frightfest. A few audience members fired up their phones halfway through a recent preview, a bad sign for anyone hoping for a gripping experience.A sequel to “The Nun” — the top-earning film in the franchise, with more than $366 million worldwide — was never going to be denied and the sequel hews carefully to the previous success. You could even say it’s haunted by its better precedent.This time it is 1956 — four years after the events of “The Nun” — and a demon is once again stalking Europe. It’s the same horrific Valak we met last time and suspected didn’t die, despite being splashed by ...

Soaring chronic absenteeism in California schools is at ‘pivotal moment’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:01:40 GMT

As a new school year gets underway in California, districts are desperately trying to lure thousands of missing, tardy and truant students back to the classroom in what many view as a pivotal moment for education in California.In 2021-22, 30% of students in California’s public schools were chronically absent, an all-time high and more than three times the pre-pandemic rate. Advocates fear that unless schools can reverse the trend, so many students will fall behind that they may never catch up.“This is a crisis, and it’s not going to change until we do everything we can to get kids back in school 100%,” said Heather Hough, director of Policy Analysis for California Education. “What we all fear is that this will become the new normal.… It is hard to overstate the importance of this issue, and it is absolutely a pivotal moment.”Before the pandemic, about 10% of students in California’s public schools missed at least 10% (or 18 days) in a school year, which the state defines as chronica...

Rainbow riot: Santa Cruz County dahlia farm offers respite amid fire recovery

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:01:40 GMT

BEN LOMOND — For Karla DeLong, the 3-year-old memory of how the CZU Lightning Complex fires scoured both her family’s land and the greater community seems like a lifetime ago.Colorful dahlias are harvested at Beeline Blooms dahlia farm in Ben Lomond. (Shmuel Thaler – Santa Cruz Sentinel) “And in some regards, it feels like no time at all,” DeLong said during a visit late last month.DeLong, offering a tour of her Stephens Lane property, pointed to where the forest line had receded, revealing what is now a sunny and sprawling mountain meadow. The fire inadvertently cleared space for what is now home to Beeline Blooms Flower Farm, co-run by DeLong and sister Katrina London. The farm’s name, in part, was inspired by DeLong’s many beehives on the property and paid for through insurance money from the farm’s fire-demolished barn.“The fire, it came within 3 feet of the house,” recalled DeLong, who has shared land with what was once a Christmas tree farm for the past 16 years. “We went...

Opinion: Why televising Donald Trump’s trials would be a mistake

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:01:40 GMT

I’ll admit to being troubled by the Aug. 31 ruling by the judge in Donald Trump’s upcoming Georgia trial that the proceedings will be televised and live-streamed. With all due respect, I’d like to offer a brief dissent. I’m no fan of former President Trump. But I’ve long agreed with Chief Justice Earl Warren, who argued a bit over a half-century ago that criminal defendants should be able to veto cameras at their trials.Defense lawyers have argued for decades that the intrusion of cameras might alter the behavior of witnesses, counsel, perhaps even judge and jury. Though the evidence thus far hasn’t borne out this worry, the issue remains hotly contested. But my own concern is less about whether televised trials are fair to the defendant than about the effect they might have on the audience.The case in favor of televising Trump’s trial is most clearly put in the recent letter from leading Democrats to the Judicial Conference of the United States, seeking waiver or reconsiderat...

One adult, three children arrested with vehicle stole out of Oakland

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:01:40 GMT

Fairfield police apprehended the driver of a stolen vehicle out of Oakland on Sunday.California Highway Patrol broadcasted a BOL for the vehicle around 10:22 p.m., and Fairfield police saw it shortly after traveling at a high rate of speed eastbound on I-80 near Red Top Road. The vehicle exited on Airbase Parkway, before heading westbound on I-80, where officers lost visual contact.Later, the vehicle was captured on a Flock camera near Lopes Road and I-80. An officer saw a group of people walking northbound on Lopes Road and detained them, while another officer found the car empty.Related ArticlesCalifornia News | Three juveniles arrested in connection with shooting at Oakland’s Skyline High School California News | Police say they’ve solved the mystery of who killed East Bay woman and dumped her body along the shore California News | Supervisors embrace reforms for Alameda County criminal justice — but they won’t be...

Case fizzles against Bay Area man suspected of vehicular manslaughter?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:01:40 GMT

A 60-year-old Fairfield man apparently has made bail after being booked late last month into Solano County Jail on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter while under the influence of drugs, but there are no official records indicating he faces additional pending court dates, The Reporter has learned.Willie Gene Weaver Jr. was suspected of the crimes when he was arrested on Aug. 30 by Fairfield police after allegedly striking and killing a man at the intersection of Travis Boulevard and Clay Street just before 10:45 p.m.While in jail, Weaver was scheduled for a 1:30 p.m. Tuesday court appearance, then made bail of $115,000. However, a search of Solano County Superior Court records on Thursday showed Weaver did not appear in court, was not cited, and wasn’t the subject of a bench warrant. Additionally, there is no record that the District Attorney’s Office has filed a criminal complaint against Weaver.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | East Bay motorcycle crash le...

Climate change means Californians need flood insurance now, too

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:01:40 GMT

By Todd Woody | BloombergCalifornians know wildfires and earthquakes; hurricanes, not so much. So when Tropical Storm Hilary inundated Southern California in normally bone-dry August, it showed just how exposed homeowners are to a growing financial risk from unpredictable climate-driven flooding.Standard homeowners insurance policies don’t cover flooding and fewer than 2% of California households have flood insurance, even as intensifying winter storms overflow rivers and levees, batter the coast and drench the desert.As Hilary, the first tropical storm to strike the Golden State in 84 years, passed over Palm Springs on Aug. 20, it dumped nearly a year’s worth of rain in a day on the desert community, causing widespread flooding in the surrounding Coachella Valley.RELATED: Home insurer exodus: Are California lawmakers weighing a secret deal to keep Big Insurance from bailing on homeowners?“Nowhere is safe from flooding in California today,” says Firas Saleh, director of product mana...

California religious leaders march with striking writers, actors outside Warner Bros. studios

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:01:40 GMT

Southern California religious leaders held a rally and prayer service outside Warner Bros. studios in Burbank on Thursday, Sept. 7 in a show of support for striking Hollywood writers and actors.The interdenominational leaders, who numbered nearly 40, marched and wielded picket signs alongside the workers as their strikes continue to drag on.The gathering included representatives from the Hollywood Prayer Network, Clergy & Laity United for Economic Justice, All Saints Church in Pasadena, Mount Hollywood United Church of Christ and Temple Ner Tamid in Downey, among others.Karen Covell, founding director of the 22,000-member Hollywood Prayer Network and an independent film and TV producer, said she wants to create a bridge between the two worlds.“The Christians don’t like some of the morals and content that come out of Hollywood, and Hollywood doesn’t always understand Christians,” she said.Still, Covell said the strikers appreciated the support shown to them Thursday.“They were ve...

Lawmakers approve 11% tax for guns and ammunition, bill now heads to Gov. Newsom

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:01:40 GMT

By ADAM BEAM | Associated PressCalifornia lawmakers on Thursday voted to raise taxes on guns and ammunition to pay for security improvements at public schools and gun violence prevention programs.The federal government already taxes the sale of guns and ammunition nationwide. The government gives that money to the states, which spend it on wildlife conservation and hunter safety programs.California’s proposed tax, if it becomes law, would be 11% — matching the highest tax imposed by the federal government on guns.“Don’t let politics stand in the way of saving the lives of our children and providing mental health care in our school districts,” Democratic state Sen. Anthony Portantino said. “Fear should not be on the brow of a parent when they send their kids to school.”Most states don’t have a special tax just for guns. Pennsylvania collects a $3 surcharge on gun sales and uses the money to pay for background checks. Fees in California total more than $37 on gun sales, with most of t...

Player of the Week: Hayfield Secondary School’s Ethan Osburn

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:01:40 GMT

Each week, WTOP is picking one student athlete to be featured on air and online as our Player of the Week. This week’s WTOP Player of the Week is Ethan Osburn of Hayfield Secondary School in Alexandria, Virginia.Osburn is a two-way player for the Hawks varsity football team, playing as a defensive lineman and tight end. During preseason scrimmages, Ethan has shown promise as a starter on the defense.The junior has also excelled as a wrestler, placing first in the Virginia State Freestyle and Greco-Roman tournaments to qualify for the USA Wrestling Junior and 16U National Championships in Fargo, North Dakota, this past summer.During that tournament, representing Team Virginia’s 16U team at the 182 lbs. class, Osburn competed in both freestyle and Greco-Roman tournaments. He took on the top wrestlers in the nation, and earned a 5-4 record. He is also a part of Hayfield’s wrestling team.Osburn has also excelled as a student, earning a 3.7 GPA and taking honors classes. He i...