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Once the ‘Magic Kingdom before Disney,’ Tupperware faces dire future

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:15:24 GMT

The year was 1954, and Tupperware was having a party.The company’s new Osceola County headquarters in Florida was dedicated by famed Tupperware executive Brownie Wise during a five-day “jubilee” that also featured hundreds of women digging for buried prizes, the Orlando Sentinel reported. Two Cadillacs and five Fords were won by Tupperware distributors during the fun.“Some 220 women shut their eyes, rubbed their hands on a block of polyethylene, and wished – that they might sell more Tupperware,” the newspaper reported.Tupperware would become a draw for visitors to Central Florida and a vital part of the community, said Bob Kealing, author of “Life of the Party,” a book about Wise and Tupperware.“They were the Magic Kingdom before Disney,” Kealing said.Now, those partying days might be over.Tupperware Brands warned last month it might not have enough cash to survive in the near term and said there was “substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern.”Financial adv...

Yes, slavery existed in California, historian says

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:15:24 GMT

As a free state before the Civil War, California would seem untouched by slavery and the debates around it. Yet the real picture is more nuanced.An estimated 500 to 1,500 Black people were “forcibly imported” into California as slaves by their owners, historian Kevin Waite told an audience at Redlands’ A.K. Smiley Library on Tuesday night, May 2. He’s the author of “West of Slavery: The Southern Dream of a Transcontinental Empire.”While even 1,500 is a small number compared to the 4 million slaves in the United States in the 1850s, it’s not zero, is it?Waite asked that we imagine the effort it took not only for a White slave owner to travel by horse-drawn wagon across much of the country, but to smuggle in slaves. That, he said, showed how valuable the slaves must have been.The most famous may be Biddy Mason, who was brought from Georgia to Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1848, and from there to the Mormon colony in San Bernardino in 1851. She had to walk, driving the animals, across the M...

17 arrested after California phone stores robbed of $500,000 in merchandise, authorities say

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:15:24 GMT

Seventeen people from the Inland Empire, including seven minors, have been arrested in connection with a three-county, cellphone-store-robbery spree that netted thieves a half-million dollars in merchandise, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said.Cellphones, computer tablets and smart watches were stolen from stores in San Bernardino, Riverside and Los Angeles counties from October to April, authorities said.The suspects robbed the stores during business hours and would either wield or simulate handguns, said Sgt. Deirdre Vickers, a Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman.In March, several people were arrested after robberies in Jurupa Valley and Lake Elsinore. That led to additional arrests after search warrants were served and stolen property was recovered in Adelanto, Rialto and San Bernardino, a sheriff’s news release said.The arrest adults were 18 to 24 years old and lived in San Bernardino, Adelanto, Moreno Valley, Banning and Riverside.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety...

Tornado damages buildings in Southern California; snow falls on mountains

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:15:24 GMT

Workers sift through damage on a roof in Carson caused by a small tornado on Thursday, May 4. Photo: OC HawkWorkers sift through damage on a roof in Carson caused by a small tornado on Thursday, May 4. Photo: OC HawkWorkers sift through damage on a roof in Carson caused by a small tornado on Thursday, May 4. Photo: OC HawkShow Caption of ExpandA storm doused much of Southern California on Thursday, May 4, with rain, blanketed mountain communities with snow — and unleashed a small tornado that damaged some commercial buildings in Carson.Before 9 a.m., that tornado swirled through Carson and Compton, with a rating of EF0, the weakest level, still behind a short path of minor damage to buildings and trees. At least two structures, along Avalon Boulevard, suffered holes in rooftops. There were no reported injuries.Tornado in carson ca !?? pic.twitter.com/bY6p7gKcpd— Joel Mendez (@JoelMendez310) May 4, 2023 “Oftentimes, weak tornadoes in California start out as water spouts o...

California county paid $1.1 million ransom to hacker of Sheriff’s Department computers

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:15:24 GMT

San Bernardino County acknowledged this week that it has paid a $1.1 million ransom to a hacker who uploaded malware to the Sheriff’s Department’s computer system.In a ransomware attack, a criminal enters a system and encrypts the data, leaving the owner unable to access it. If a ransom is paid, usually in cryptocurrency, the criminal will provide a decryption key to unlock the data.For weeks, the county said little publicly about the hack, other than to call it a “network disruption.”David Wert, a county spokesman, said the county had anticipated such a computer invasion and had taken out insurance. He said that of the $1.1 million payout, the county’s share was $511,852 and that the insurance company paid the rest.Sheriff Shannon Dicus said Wednesday that the cyberattack did not compromise public safety but workarounds were required for certain tasks. For instance, he said, deputies could not access the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System, which can tell deputies ...

Family of slain California police officer sues DA for not following ‘three-strikes’ law

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:15:24 GMT

The family of slain El Monte police Officer Joseph Santana has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, alleging his disregard for California’s “three-strikes” law enabled a convicted felon to commit the 2022 double homicide that also claimed the life of another officer.The suit, filed Wednesday, May 3, in Los Angeles Superior Court by the officer’s wife, Sasha Santana, along with his three children and parents, also names the county Probation Department and Siesta Inn in East Los Angeles as defendants. It seeks unspecified monetary damages.“Gascón and the probation department need to be held accountable for their failures that resulted in Joseph’s death,” Santana’s family said in a statement. “No family should ever have to endure the pain we’ve been through since the tragic passing of our loving son, father and husband.”On June 14, 2022, Santana, 31, and El Monte police Cpl. Michael Paredes, 42, responded to a report of a stabbing a...

Single-family home in Palo Alto sells for $2.4 million

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:15:24 GMT

1026 Amarillo Avenue – Google Street ViewA 1,069-square-foot house built in 1951 has changed hands. The property located in the 1000 block of Amarillo Avenue in Palo Alto was sold on April 5, 2023, for $2,363,000, or $2,210 per square foot. The property features three bedrooms, one bath, a garage, and two parking spaces. It sits on a 6,050-square-foot lot, which also has a pool.Additional houses have recently been purchased nearby:In September 2022, a 1,702-square-foot home on Metro Circle in Palo Alto sold for $3,280,000, a price per square foot of $1,927. The home has 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.A 1,368-square-foot home on the 1000 block of Moffett Circle in Palo Alto sold in January 2023, for $2,201,000, a price per square foot of $1,609. The home has 3 bedrooms and 1 bathrooms.On Moffett Circle, Palo Alto, in January 2023, a 1,676-square-foot home was sold for $2,580,000, a price per square foot of $1,539. The home has 4 bedrooms and 1 bathrooms. 

Word Game: May 5, 2023

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:15:24 GMT

TODAY’S WORD — PREDATE (PREDATE: pree-DATE: To designate with a date earlier than the actual one.)Average mark 30 wordsTime limit 45 minutesCan you find 40 or more words in PREDATE? The list will be published tomorrow.YESTERDAY’S WORD — EMBARRASS mare maser mass mesa mess bare barer barre base baser bass beam bear berm brass bream abase abeam amass amber ameba area rare ream rear rearm rebar saber sabra samba same seam sear smearTo purchase the Word Game book, visit WordGameBooks.com. Order it now for just $5 while supplies last!RULES OF THE GAME:1. Words must be of four or more letters.2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed.3. Additional words made by adding a “d” or an “s” may not be used. For example, if “bake” is used, “baked” or “bakes” are not allowed, but “bake” and “baking” are admissible.4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed.Contact Word Game cr...

Bridge: May 5, 2023

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:15:24 GMT

Unlucky Louie has raised nine children. He says 80 percent of parenting involves moving your kid’s glass away from the edge of the table.You would think Louie knew about playing safe as declarer. When he was today’s South, West led a heart against 6NT, and in the blink of an eye, Louie captured East’s queen and took the A-K of diamonds. Unlucky! East discarded, and Louie had to lose two diamonds.Careful play succeeds. A safety play is available in diamonds, but Louie needs entries to his hand. On the first heart, he should play dummy’s jack: queen, king.PLAYS LOWLouie then leads a diamond to dummy’s ace, returns a heart to his ten and leads the eight of diamonds. If West plays low — playing the ten won’t help him — Louie lets the eight ride.If East won, Louie would be sure of four diamonds and 12 tricks in all. When the eight wins, Louie takes the king, returns a club to his king and concedes a diamond. He has four diamonds, four clubs...

The Government Created a New Disinformation Office to Oversee All the Other Ones

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:15:24 GMT

Within the federal government, offices dedicated to fighting foreign disinformation are springing up like daisies, from the Pentagon’s new Influence and Perception Management Office to at least four organizations inside the Department of Homeland Security alone, as well as ones inside the FBI and State Department.To oversee the growing efforts — which arose in response to concerns about the impact of Russian meddling in the 2016 election but have now expanded — the director of national intelligence has created a new office.In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee today, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines for the first time mentioned the creation of the Foreign Malign Influence Center, or FMIC. “Congress put into law that we should establish a Foreign Malign Influence Center in the intelligence community; we have stood that up,” Haines said, referring to legislation passed last year. “It encompasses our election threat work, essentially looking at foreign i...