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How California firefighters are using AI to help spot wildfires

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:20:14 GMT

California firefighters are now relying on artificial intelligence to help them spot and respond to wildfires more effectively.The new initiative is part of a pilot program in collaboration with the University of San Diego’s Alert California program, which monitors 1,039 cameras placed throughout the state to keep track of potential active wildfires and other natural disasters. Humans to blame for about 90% of wildfire ignitions, report finds The AI constantly monitors the camera feeds in search of any abnormalities, such as smoke and will alert Cal Fire of the situation.The goal of the collaboration is to improve firefighting capabilities and response times, according to a news release.  The San Bernardino, Sonoma-Lake-Napa, Madera-Mariposa-Merced, Nevada Yuba Placer, Shasta-Trinity and San Luis Obispo units will participate in the program’s trial phase.The trial program makes Cal Fire the first and only firefighter agency in the world to have such a system in place, accordi...

SoulPhil Comes To Redbird And The BBQ Feast at Smorgasburg – Here’s What’s Popping Up

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:20:14 GMT

LA native Tiana Gee will bring her pop-up brunch SoulPhil to Redbird in DTLA on Sunday, Aug. 27. The Black Filipina chef celebrates her heritage with dishes like Sasawan glazed prawns with summer succotash, corn grits and okra chips, as well as chicken and waffles, adobo short rib hash and banana pudding French toast – coconut pudding stuff brioche bites, Nilla wafers, banana caramel, whipped cream and more bananas.Gee, who started her culinary journey at age 17, had a handful of successful dinner pop-ups and has spent time working at Republique, Tartine, Hearth and Hound, and as the sous chef at Marcus Samuelssons’ Red Rooster in Harlem. Courtesy Maple BlockSmorgasburg will celebrate its 7th Annual BBQ Day on Sunday, Aug. 27, with a stellar lineup that includes Maple Block & Maple Block Chicken (bringing its huge custom-built horizontal rotisserie back to the market, the “Cambodian Cowboy” from Long Beach, Battambong BBQ, and Texas Armenian pop-up III Ma...

Two women shot — one while walking her dog — in Oakland’s Fruitvale district

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:20:14 GMT

OAKLAND — A woman walking her dog and another woman were shot Wednesday night in the Fruitvale district, authorities said.Both women, one aged 18 and the other 23, were later reported to be in stable condition at a hospital.Police said they did not know each other.The shooting was reported about 8:46 p.m. Wednesday in the 3400 block of International Boulevard.The 18-year-old woman told police she had been walking her dog in the area and was sitting down on a bench when she heard what she thought were fireworks but then realized she had been shot in the shoulder. Her dog was not hurt.The 23-year-old woman told police she was walking from the Fruitvale BART Station when she heard what she also first thought were fireworks but then saw she had been shot in the leg.No other people were found injured.Police were trying to determine a motive for the shooting. It was not immediately known whether either woman was an intended target or if they were hit by stray bullets. No arrests wer...

Cal coach Wilcox names starting QB for opener at North Texas

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:20:14 GMT

BERKELEY — Sam Jackson V, announced Thursday as Cal’s starting quarterback, wasn’t feeling good about things early this month as fall camp began.So he sat down with new offensive coordinator Jake Spavital to get a road map to the starting job.“I had a rough start to fall camp,” Jackson said. “They just told me they wanted me to play quarterback.”Specifically, Spavital instructed the redshirt sophomore transfer from TCU to stay in the pocket, go through his progressions and make the right play. Every snap didn’t have to lead to a home run.“That was the biggest jump I’ve made,” Jackson said. “Honestly, I was pretty uncomfortable at the beginning because I’ve really never done it.“My high school films show me just scrambling around. I was just playing backyard football in high school. There were some growing pains with it but it’s helped me feel more confident.”Jackson got the nod over North Carolina State transfer Ben Finley and redshirt freshman Fernando Mendoza, the team’s only quar...

Girls flag football: Familiar names coaching Pittsburg, Freedom

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:20:14 GMT

For many years, Victor Galli and Kevin Hartwig matched X’s and O’s on high school football fields in East Contra Costa County.Galli led Pittsburg for 21 years, stepping down last fall; Hartwig guided Freedom for 16 years, resigning in 2017.They’re back at it again.Only now as girls flag football coaches, a sport that is being introduced this school year after getting the green light last winter from the California Interscholastic Federation.Galli is coaching Pittsburg. Hartwig, who was an assistant at Heritage for a few years while his son played there, is back coaching Freedom.“He and I both came in together in 2002,” Galli told the Bay Area News Group on Thursday. “It’s funny that we’re back together.”Early signs indicate that the girls game is going to be a hit.Pittsburg had nearly 80 players try out for the sport in which seven players per side are on the field and pulling a flag from a ballcarrier’s waist blows a play dead. Freedom had about 50.Both had to cut dozens of p...

How Robin Williams and TheatreWorks put Jessica Chastain on path to stardom

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:20:14 GMT

Academy Award-winning Jessica Chastain recently acknowledged some game-changing moments in her life and career, including professional boosts she received from Robin Williams and from the Palo Alto-based TheaterWorks Silicon Valley.Chastain, who was born and reared in Sacramento, talked on a recent episode of Marc Maron’s WTF podcast about one of her first professional roles, playing Juliet in a 1998 TheatreWorks production of Romeo and Juliet. For reasons explained below, that role in Shakespeare’s classic, in turn, led Chastain to study drama at the prestigious Julliard School in New York City, where she received the Robin Williams Scholarship.These two events, involving one of the Bay Area’s most famous cultural figures and one of its cornerstone theater companies (albeit one that is undergoing a desperate fundraising campaign to keep from closing), helped affect the course of Chastain’s path to film stardom, as she explained in the interview, which was taped in...

Tough Mudder racers report rash, illness after Sonoma event

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:20:14 GMT

The muddy course at last weekend’s Tough Mudder race is a possible factor in participants’ reports of pain and illness, Sonoma County’s health department said.“Multiple reports” have been received of rash and other painful symptoms, the agency said in an advisory Wednesday, Aug. 23.Tough Mudder, which took place Aug. 19-20 at the Sonoma Raceway, put participants on an obstacle course of 3 to 9 miles that “involved extensive skin exposure to mud,” in the agency’s words.Symptoms reported as appearing 12 to 48 hours after the event included pustular rash, fever, muscle pain, headache, nausea and vomiting, the agency said. They could be caused by “swimmers’ itch” — an allergic reaction to microscopic parasites — but might also indicate infection by Staphylococcus or Aeromonas bacteria.The agency advised any participant who is having such symptoms to see a doctor or go to an emergency room.Related ArticlesHealt...

What to watch: ‘Bottoms’ is the bonkers comedy we need now

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:20:14 GMT

What looks good this week?Our engines rev up for “Bottoms,” a racy comedy costarring a hilarious Marshawn Lynch, and for “Wanted: The Escape of Carlos Ghosn,” a sharp, incisive docuseries about the uber-wealthy former head of Nissan and Renault who absconds from authorities. It drops on Apple TV+But you can pass on sales-pitchy “Gran Turismo,” and the well-intentioned by long and repetitive “The Hill.”As for East Bay-set “Fremont,” it’s so good we wrote a separate review on that.Here’s our roundup.“Bottoms”: If you thought the uncouth hard-R-rated “Strays” wore out its potty-mouth welcome halfway through — which it did — check out this irreverent bit of rambunctious from one of our most exciting new comedic filmmakers, Emma Seligman. On a par with the outrageous female-backed comedy “Joyride,” this one pins itself to a daring premise — two unpopular high school friends PJ (Rachel Sennott, who co wrote the screenplay) and Josie (Ayo Ede...

Man shot to death at homeless camp underneath Oakland freeway

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:20:14 GMT

OAKLAND — A man was shot to death early Thursday at a homeless encampment underneath an Oakland freeway, authorities said.Authorities are trying to confirm the man’s identity.The fatal shooting, which is being investigated by the California Highway Patrol, happened about 2:45 a.m. Thursday at an encampment on state property underneath Interstate 580 near the 3400 block of Telegraph Avenue.The man was pronounced dead at the camp.Oakland police initially responded to the shooting but the CHP later took over the investigation.Authorities have not said if the man lived at the camp or was visiting someone there.A motive for the killing is under investigation and no arrests have been made, the CHP said.Anyone with information about the killing is asked to call the CHP tip line at 707-917-4491.

Bay Area Brewery Tour: San Francisco’s Bernal Heights and Dogpatch neighborhoods

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:20:14 GMT

This month, my Bay Area brewery tour took me to three beer destinations in San Francisco’s Bernal Heights and Dogpatch neighborhoods: Hop Oast Pub & Brewery, Barebottle Brewing and Harmonic Brewing. Each is worth a visit – here’s why.Hop Oast Pub & BreweryVeteran Bay Area brewer Aron Deorsey founded Hop Oast Pub & Brewery five years ago. (Courtesy Jay R. Brooks.) Founded five years ago by veteran Bay Area brewer Aron Deorsey (Pyramid, Steelhead Brewing, Beach Chalet) and named after an “oast,” the kiln used to dry hops used for brewing, this brewery taproom is a small oasis. There’s an L-shaped bar and a few tables and a kitchen that serves up sausages,  grilled cheese sandwiches, housemade pretzels and beer-pickled veggies.Deorsey keeps about a dozen different beers on tap including his flagship Invicta IPA, a tasty West Coast IPA. Other popular beers include El Pachuco Mexican Lager, Bones Brigade Session IPA and, naturally, a Hazed & Confuse...