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Taste-Off: The best vegetarian black bean chili at Bay Area markets

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 12:55:57 GMT

As temperatures take a dive and days grow shorter, we start to crave comfort food — and there are fewer things more comforting than a bowl of chili of any variety, including spicy black bean. Made right, a vegetarian chili is hearty, satisfying, low in fat and so nutrient-dense it will fuel any snowy adventure or brisk fall walk.Unlike popular brands of pinto bean chili, the black bean version is typically vegetarian-friendly, and it often leans gourmet. The big question is, how does the storebought version taste?Black beans are grown all over the world, but they’re native to Central and South America and popular not only for their intense color, but their meaty, mushroomlike flavor and almost chewy texture. Black beans are common in Caribbean, Spanish and Mexican cuisines, but the sturdy little beans are also a delicious addition to American-style chili, as they hold up well to the long cooking time required to build great flavors.Good black bean chili boasts a perfectl...

The tragic history of the Bay Area’s forgotten zoos

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 12:55:57 GMT

Perhaps the earliest zoo in San Francisco – “zoo” in a very loose sense – was the Mountaineer Museum run by John Capen Adams, aka Grizzly Adams. Located in a basement in what’s now the Financial District, the 1850s museum boasted the “largest collection of wild animals ever brought together in California,” according to a contemporary news report, including grizzly bears, eagles, elk, a lion, a tiger and an “enormous HOG, 800 pounds, from Monterey.”Adams was a failed gold miner-turned-animal trainer whose antics with wild bears sound like something from television (which it was, in the 1970s). After shooting a mother bear in the wild, he captured her cubs and trained them to walk on leashes and carry his packs. Visitors paying 25 cents to the Mountaineer Museum could watch Grizzly wrestle and ride around on top of his bears. In karmic turnaround, bears caused his downfall – he got mauled so much, it left his brain tissue exposed, and he died in 1860 of suspected meningitis.“Gri...

Lindsay Wildlife Experience: Where animals teach humans about their life in the wild

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 12:55:57 GMT

In some ways, the daily scene outside this specialty E.R. resembles other hospitals, with cars rushing into the parking lot to bring in sick and injured patients.But at Walnut Creek’s Lindsay Wildlife Experience, a nationally renowned museum and wildlife hospital, the arriving patients are native birds, small mammals, reptiles and amphibians, tucked in cardboard boxes or wrapped in towels and blankets and carried by humans. On a recent day, it was a worker for a tree-trimming company who delivered a young, severely injured red-tailed hawk.The veterinary staff meet the patients outside, assess their condition, then bring them into the hospital, where they do all they can to save them. If the animals make it through the first 24 hours, they have an 80 percent chance of survival. Staff aim to rehabilitate and return these patients to their habitats, al though some won’t be able to go back, due to injuries, such as damaged wings, that would make it impossible for them to hunt or t...

How abortion lifted Democrats: 7 takeaways from Tuesday’s election

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 12:55:57 GMT

The political potency of abortion rights proved more powerful than the drag of President Joe Biden’s approval ratings in Tuesday’s off-year elections, as Ohioans enshrined a right to abortion in their state’s constitution, and Democrats took control of both chambers of the Virginia General Assembly while holding on to Kentucky’s governorship.The night’s results showed the durability of Democrats’ political momentum since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and ended the constitutional right to an abortion in 2022. It may also, at least temporarily, stem the latest round of Democratic fretting from a series of polls demonstrating Biden’s political weakness.After a strong midterm showing last year, a blowout victory in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race in April and a series of special election wins, Democrats head into Biden’s reelection contest with the wind at their backs. The question for the party is how they can translate that momentum to Biden, who remains unpopular while ot...

Fremont celebrated as sales tax revenue ballooned by $37 million. Now the state wants it back.

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 12:55:57 GMT

The City of Fremont will have to repay tens of millions of sales tax dollars to the state of California after an accounting blunder gave it a financial windfall that some say they should have immediately identified as an error.The mistake highlights the challenges of local budget planning amid a delicate relationship between cities and the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, a state agency charged with collecting sales tax from businesses.“It’s not a particularly unique circumstance. This happens all the time,” said David Persselin, Fremont’s finance director. “But it’s usually smaller numbers.”Related ArticlesEconomy | Santa Clara County could see a sales tax increase in the next five years Economy | Krugman: Holding national security hostage to help tax cheats Economy | Philp: California fire victims may be taxed for their suffering Economy | East Bay city prevails in long battle over property tax to...

Man involved in confrontation with Jewish protester who died called 911, cooperated with Southern California police

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 12:55:57 GMT

By STEFANIE DAZIO and JULIE WATSON | Associated PressTHOUSAND OAKS — Southern California authorities investigating the death of a Jewish man following a confrontation with a pro-Palestinian demonstrator over the Israel-Hamas war haven’t determined whether a crime occurred and on Tuesday asked for the public’s help to unravel what happened.Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryhoff said deputies determined that Paul Kessler, 69, who died early Monday at a hospital, had fallen backward and struck his head on the ground at a pro-Palestinian demonstration Sunday afternoon in Thousands Oaks, a suburb northwest of Los Angeles.The pro-Palestinian demonstrator stayed at the scene and told deputies he had called 911, Fryhoff said.Fryhoff said investigators were getting conflicting information from witnesses on both sides about what took place before the fall and had not ruled out the possibility of a hate crime. No arrests have been made, and officials were asking for people to provide video footage...

Pac-12 picks ATS: Utah faces a must-win game at Washington with its three-peat chances at stake

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 12:55:57 GMT

Almost two years to the day that Utah took control of the Pac-12, the two-time defending champs make their last stand.If the Utes lose Saturday in Seattle, the odds of a three-peat would grow longer than their injury list.A riveting run of success that effectively began with a demolition of Oregon in Nov. 2021 would come to an end.The Utes are 4-2 in conference play, two games behind Washington. A head-to-head loss this weekend would create a three-game gap with two remaining and mathematically eliminate Utah from the No. 1 seed in the Pac-12 championship game.The likelihood of claiming the No. 2 seed would depend largely on the outcome of the Oregon-USC game.The combination of a Utes loss and Ducks (5-1) victory would push Utah two games behind Oregon with two remaining, plus a head-to-head loss.What’s more, the Utes would be a game back of Oregon State, which also has the head-to-head tiebreaker advantage.At that point, they would need to beat Arizona and Colorado and hope f...

Meta’s Facebook and Instagram will require disclosure for political and social issue ads that use AI

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 12:55:57 GMT

By Aisha Counts | BloombergMeta Platforms Inc. will soon require advertisers to disclose when political or social issue ads have been created or altered by artificial intelligence, aiming to prevent users from being fooled by misinformation.The rules, which go into effect in 2024, will require advertisers to disclose when AI or other digital tools are used in Facebook or Instagram ads on social issues, elections or politics, Nick Clegg, the company’s vice president of global affairs, announced Wednesday in a blog post. Advertisers will need to say when AI is used to depict real people doing or saying something they didn’t actually do or when a digitally created person or event is made to look realistic, among other cases.If advertisers fail to disclose when they are using AI or other digital tools in these types of ads, Meta will reject the message. After repeated failures to disclose the use of these tools, the company can issue penalties against the advertiser. The policy doesn’t ...

Daylight saving time change can bring increased drowsiness, driving risk: Roadshow

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 12:55:57 GMT

Q: Is the time change dangerous for drivers?AnonymousA: It can be. The CHP and National Sleep Foundation recognize Nov. 5-11 as Drowsy Driving Prevention Week. Time changes and insufficient sleep can affect drivers’ ability to drive safely.Preliminary 2023 data from CHP traffic records show that there have been more than 4,000 crashes in California this year involving a drowsy driver.The CHP reminds drivers to pull safely off the road whenever they feel drowsy. If you’re looking for a rest area, check Caltrans QuickMap. The CHP also cautions drivers against stopping on the side of the road where they risk getting hit by another car.Q: Your recent column on blocked bike lanes included a great series of comments.Did you know that the trash collection companies request or require that garbage cans be placed 18 inches from the curb? This puts cans squarely in the bike path in many locations.Steve BrockA: Jennie-the-city-Environmental-Services-spokesperson for San Jose provid...

18 sex trafficking victims rescued from Colombian-based syndicate in the South Bay

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 12:55:57 GMT

(BCN) -- A joint operation by law enforcement agencies led to the rescue of 18 victims from a Colombian-based sex trafficking ring that operated brothels at hotels in the South Bay, Santa Clara County prosecutors said.Nine people suspected of working for the syndicate were also arrested in the operation, the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office said in a statement Tuesday.Officers seized over $200,000 in cash from the suspects and froze their assets, including cryptocurrency, prosecutors said.Investigation into the sex trafficking ring began in March 2022 when authorities became suspicious of the activities of a Colombian couple who were previously charged with human trafficking-related crimes but were out on bail. Samurai sword beheading: Landaeta refuses to attend own murder trial Through a wiretap, investigators looked into around 30,000 text messages and calls to a dispatch number. Evidence showed that the number was being used to arrange "dates" between sex workers a...