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Why New Zealand greenstone is the perfect holiday gift

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:21 GMT

Editor’s note: This is part of The Know’s series, Staff Favorites. Each week, we will offer our opinions on the best that Colorado has to offer for dining, shopping, entertainment, outdoor activities and more. (We’ll also let you in on some hidden gems).Travelers flock to New Zealand to experience its lush mountainscapes, jaw-droppingly blue waters and world-renowned wines. Even if the Instagrammable landscapes are the impetus for a trip, those who visit receive complimentary schooling on the country’s native Māori culture, which shows up prominently in language and local traditions notwithstanding the history of colonialism there.As far back as the late 1300s, Polynesian settlers inhabited the islands that comprise New Zealand and formed that distinct Māori culture. When British colonialists arrived in the 1800s, they signed an agreement with the Indigenous people known as the Treaty of Waitangi setting the stage for the Māori to maintain sovereignty over their lands and villages.B...

What's the Merriam-Webster word of the year for 2023?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:21 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — In an age of deepfakes and post-truth, as artificial intelligence rose and Elon Musk turned Twitter into X, the Merriam-Webster word of the year for 2023 is “authentic.”Authentic cuisine. Authentic voice. Authentic self. Authenticity as artifice. Lookups for the word are routinely heavy on the dictionary company's site but were boosted to new heights throughout the year, editor at large Peter Sokolowski told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview.“We see in 2023 a kind of crisis of authenticity,” he said ahead of Monday's announcement of this year's word. “What we realize is that when we question authenticity, we value it even more.”Sokolowski and his team don't delve into the reasons people head for dictionaries and websites in search of specific words. Rather, they chase the data on lookup spikes and world events that correlate. This time around, there was no particularly huge boost at any given time but a constancy to the increased inte...

Boys soccer preview 2023-24: Rankings, players to watch, more

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:21 GMT

WHO IS NO. 1?Mountain View is our pick for No. 1. The Spartans had a thrilling run through the Central Coast Section Open Division playoffs last season, beating second-seeded St. Francis in the first round, third-seeded Sacred Heart Prep in the semifinals and top-seeded Alisal in the championship match. It was the program’s first CCS title. Mountain View returns its best player from last season, midfielder Sola Nishimura, who shared MVP honors in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League’s De Anza Division with Palo Alto senior Dinu Deshpande. Mountain View opens the new season on Tuesday at Milpitas. STORYLINESBellarmine, which won CCS Division I and NorCal Division II championships last winter, had three players make the West Catholic Athletic League’s first team and two make the second team. All were seniors. The Bells typically reload, which we suspect will happen again this winter. The Bells open at No. 7 in our rankings. … Monte Vista won its fourth NCS championship last season a...

With mortgage rates near 8%, October home purchases slow, but prices stay high

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:21 GMT

Bay Area home sales remained sluggish in October as the supply dwindled and high interest rates kept potential sellers from listing.Sales of existing homes in California fell nearly 12% from last year, according to new data from the California Association of Realtors. That comes as interest rates hit a peak of 7.79% in the last week of October — the highest rate in two decades. Since then, rates have declined, but only modestly, to 7.44%.Even with slowing sales, most buyers aren’t withdrawing from the market solely because of interest rates. Real estate agents say flagging sales reflect a lack of inventory more than waning buyer interest.Jim Hamilton, president of the Silicon Valley Association of Realtors, said buyers “are getting accustomed to those higher interest rates.”“It’s a pretty dramatic jump, but it didn’t happen overnight either,” Hamilton said. Since last year, the Federal Reserve has repeatedly raised its key interest rate in a...

Girls soccer preview 2023-24: Rankings, players to watch, more

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:21 GMT

WHO IS OUR PRESEASON No. 1?St. Francis dominated last season en-route to the CCS Open Division title and a NorCal Division I championship, allowing just eight goals and winning 15 matches by at least two goals. While the Lancers graduated the 2022-23 Gatorade California player of the year Charlotte Kohler and a slew of other contributors, the cupboard is far from bare in Mountain View. Kamryn Rosa and Sophie Murdock bring back all-WCAL talent in midfield and defense. Further bolstering that back-line are a pair of juniors, Gianna Nurisso and Natalie Chan, who both made second-team all-WCAL a year ago. Carondelet and Mountain View are set to challenge St. Francis, but the Lancers should once again be the class of the WCAL and challenge for another NorCal title. STORYLINESCarondelet was a few minutes away from taking St. Francis to extra-time in the NorCal Open Division title game, and brings back Joy Casselman, Victoria Alessandrini and Kaya Durkee. The Cougars will start their seaso...

Salmon have returned to the East Bay’s water source in record numbers. What does it mean?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:21 GMT

The Mokelumne River, a 95-mile waterway that supplies a majority of drinking water to the East Bay, earned its name because of the abundance of salmon in its waters. Local legend has it that, many years ago, the rivers were so packed with salmon you could walk from shore to shore along their backs.Today, after 100 years of industrialization, the Mokelumne (pronounced muh-kaa-luh-mee), which flows from the Sierra Nevada to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, is a much different river. Salmon now exist there primarily because of human intervention — hatcheries raise many of the salmon that return to its waters.Related ArticlesEnvironment | There’s good news and bad news about the gray whale migration Environment | See the regrowth: Big Basin time-lapse video shows remarkable recovery of redwood forest from massive wildfire Environment | When people move out, wildlife moves in: 10 abandoned places reclaimed by nature Environment | ...

Fairfield police arrest man after brief chase for allegedly having gun in car

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:21 GMT

(BCN) -- After a short chase, Fairfield police arrested a man who allegedly had a gun in his car early Saturday morning. About 3 a.m., an officer conducted a traffic stop at Pacific and Tabor avenues. AR pistol found in 21-year-old Vallejo resident’s truck in American Canyon The driver, 21-year-old Fairfield resident Davion Donegan, was removed from the vehicle and detained after the officer allegedly saw an open container of marijuana. As he was about to search the vehicle, Donegan allegedly fled. After a foot chase of about 200 yards, though, Donegan was taken into custody, police said. Officers said a loaded firearm was located in the glove box. Donegan was arrested and booked into Solano County Jail. Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc.

Respiratory illnesses spiking in Santa Clara County

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:21 GMT

(BCN) -- A dramatic increase in influenza-like illnesses and emergency room visits in Santa Clara County has prompted health officials to urge residents to get vaccinated.County data focused on local wastewater readings this month shows a rise in RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, as well as influenza and COVID-19. The concentration of RSV in wastewater has almost doubled in the last week in Gilroy, Palo Alto and Sunnyvale and in the last month in San Jose, according to the county's public health department. Hospitalizations countywide for RSV in the last two weeks are about three times higher than mid-October, data shows, which has led to a countywide push for vaccinations to protect residents. Grandfather, granddaughter swept out to sea: 1 dead, 1 missing Sarah Rudman, deputy health officer for Santa Clara County Public Health Department, said wastewater readings for RSV are higher than this time last year--and COVID-19 wastewater readings have shot up in the last couple of we...

2 DC natives tackling food insecurity in Philadelphia with a new grocery store

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:21 GMT

D.C. natives Eli Moraru and Alex Imbot (center) with community partners, breaking ground for the Community Grocer in West Philadelphia. (Courtesy Eli Moraru) D.C. natives Eli Moraru and Alex Imbot (center) with community partners, breaking ground for the Community Grocer in West Philadelphia. (Courtesy Eli Moraru) Two D.C. natives are helping to tackle food insecurity in Philadelphia with a new type of community grocery store. They hope the idea will catch on around the country, including in their hometown.During the pandemic, Eli Moraru and Alexandre Imbot, founders of the Community Grocer, were volunteers distributing USDA food boxes to neighbors in need in the Grays Ferry neighborhood of Philadelphia. While w...

Stock market today: Wall Street ticks down early ahead of spending, inflation reports

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:21 GMT

Wall Street retreated modestly early Monday as investors look ahead to updates on consumer spending and inflation in the U.S. and other nations. Futures for the Dow Jones industrials and the S&P 500 each ticked down less than 0.2% before the bell.Markets were mostly quiet coming off a holiday shortened week, the fourth straight winning week for Wall Street.Traders have recently grown cautiously optimistic that inflation has cooled enough for the Federal Reserve to finally be done with its market-crunching hikes to interest rates.The Fed will get another big update this week when the government on Thursday releases its October report for a key inflation measure tracked by the central bank.Tuesday’s consumer confidence report from the Conference Board will give economists data on how Americans are feeling about the economy as the holiday shopping season gets underway.Elsewhere, in Europe at midday France’s CAC 40 edged 0.1%, Germany’s DAX fell 0.2% and Britain...