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Bay Area native and international master hopes to inspire next generation of chess lovers

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:00:38 GMT

Growing up in Tiburon, Ladia Jirasek felt like an outsider who didn’t quite fit in with other kids his age who were more interested in playing sports than chess, which he began learning when he was 9 years old.That is, until he began participating in the after-school programs and tournaments offered by Marin Scholastic Chess. He began to feel part the fabric of Marin’s chess world.Now 23, Jirasek is an international master, the second-highest title in chess awarded by the International Chess Federation, and is on a mission to pay it forward and inspire the next generation of chess players in Marin and beyond.Courtesy of Ladia JirasekLadia Jirasek is an international master in chess. A longtime chess coach, he wrote 2021’s “How to Chess,” a guide for beginners. When he’s not mentoring or playing chess, the UC Berkeley graduate works as junior quantitative trader.Q What got you into this?A The first time I saw it the wizard chess scene in “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.” ...

Elon Musk’s X sues California over content moderation law

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:00:38 GMT

By JOEL ROSENBLATT | BloombergElon Musk’s X Corp. sued California over a law requiring social media companies to explain how their content is moderated.The company that operates the social network that used to be known as Twitter argues the measure, AB 587, interferes with its editorial judgments protected as free speech under the Constitution.When California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the bill last year, he said it was designed to protect the public by requiring social media companies to reveal their policies on hate speech, disinformation, harassment and extremism on their platforms, and report data on their enforcement of the policies.But the law’s true intent is “to pressure social media platforms to ‘eliminate’ certain constitutionally protected content viewed by the state as problematic,” according to the complaint.Advertisers have fled the platform since Musk bought it for $44 billion last year and started making changes, including reinstating formerly banned users and firi...

California mother of 6-year-old boy accused of manslaughter after her car hits and kills him

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:00:38 GMT

A 42-year-old Corona resident was arrested on Thursday, Sept. 7, after police say she fatally ran over her 6-year-old son as he ran alongside the car while attempting to open the door.Dunar Larson died at a hospital after being struck on Aug. 22 on Sallie Jeffreys Way, the Corona Police Department said.Investigators learned that Melissa Ann Damron locked Dunar out of her car as she drove away from their home on Clemence Court that morning.“Duner chased after the vehicle and attempted to open her car door.  Melissa continued driving, and Duner fell into the roadway, where he was run over by the car.  Evidence showed Melissa knew Duner was close enough to the vehicle to present a hazard, and she drove with gross negligence, causing her son’s death,” police wrote in a news release.Damron did not appear to be impaired, police said.After a two-week investigation, Damron was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and child endangerment causing death. She posted $50,000 bail and w...

Google, local leaders say huge downtown San Jose village will be built

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:00:38 GMT

SAN JOSE — A top executive of Google owner Alphabet joined a block party this weekend and made it clear the tech titan aims to build a huge mixed-use neighborhood in downtown San Jose.Ruth Porat, president and chief investment officer with Alphabet, which owns Google, was a featured speaker at the first of what’s expected to be a series of Creekside Socials block parties that Google and real estate firm Jamestown are planning to help create lively activities ahead of the actual construction of the search giant’s downtown San Jose transit village.Ruth Porat, president and chief investment officer of Google owner Alphabet, talks to people gathered at the Creekside Socials block party in the footprint of Google’s proposed transit-oriented village near the Diridon train station in downtown San Jose. (George Avalos/Bay Area News Group)Downtown West, as the future neighborhood is known, would sprout near the Diridon train station and SAP Center on the western ...

Photos: Paul Anka lists his six-acre California estate for $10 million

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:00:38 GMT

Pop legend Paul Anka has put his Thousand Oaks estate on the market for $10 million.Decorated with Anka’s gold records in MLS photos, this 7,791-square-foot French-style residence features four bedrooms and six bathrooms. It sits at the end of a long driveway on nearly six acres, making it one of the “largest privately gated lots” in Sherwood Country Club, as the listing notes, and offers mountain views.Records show the “Put Your Head on My Shoulder” crooner bought the newer property in 2007 for $3.96 million.The living room. (Photo by Shawn Cordon)The family room. (Photo by Shawn Cordon)The reimagined gourmet kitchen and pantry. (Photo by Shawn Cordon)The formal dining room. (Photo by Shawn Cordon)The billiard room. (Photo by Shawn Cordon)The recording studio. (Photo by Shawn Cordon)The primary bedroom. (Photo by Shawn Cordon)The infinity-edge pool. (Photo by Shawn Cordon)The glass structure that houses the air-conditioned gym. (Photo by Shawn Cordon)The house sits at the end of a ...

Defunct Sovereign Health to pay $11 million to settle wrongful death lawsuit

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:00:38 GMT

Brandon Nelson was an outstanding student at Santa Monica High School. (Courtesy of the Nelson family) Was it lies and sins of omission that killed Brandon Nelson?The promise of a professional mental health team’s care — psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists — that turned out to include guys with experience in furniture moving and construction and credit card processing and house painting, who took online CPR classes, who were too freaked out by his body dangling from the ceiling to recall the address for the 911 dispatcher?Perhaps it was that the company was imploding financially and workers were fleeing. Or that the “facility” where Sovereign Health placed him was little more than a tract home in San Clemente. Or that no one “treating” him on that final day had any clue about his medical history, his psychotic breaks, his desire to die.The powerful anti-psychotic medications he required twice daily were slow to be filled and forgotten on a desk in a corporate office — Nels...

Man dies after being shot, hit by car in Oakland

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:00:38 GMT

(BCN) -- A man was killed early Sunday morning in Oakland when he was shot right before being hit by a vehicle. Oakland police said they received multiple ShotSpotter activations just before 2:30 a.m. in the 300 block of 14th Street. Responding officers found an Oakland man suffering from injuries consistent with being struck by a vehicle and gunfire. 'Rough doing business in Oakland': Cafe closes after 22 years Medical personnel responded and transported the man to an area hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. The victim's name is being withheld by authorities pending notification of his next of kin. Anyone with information about the homicide is asked to contact Oakland police homicide detectives at (510)238-3821. Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc.

Man brandishes pickaxe at several students at UC Berkeley

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:00:38 GMT

(KRON) -- UC Berkeley police sent out a public advisory Sunday night warning students and residents of a man reportedly waving a pickaxe at several students. Pigeon coup fire at Lafayette home contained The alleged incident occurred at College Avenue and Haste Street around 8 p.m. The man is described as a white male and was wearing dark clothing and a large black backpack. The suspect fled the scene before police arrived.

Pigeon coup fire at Lafayette home contained

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:00:38 GMT

(KRON) -- A fire in the backyard of a home was contained Sunday night in a Lafayette neighborhood just off of Highway 24, according to the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District.Around 8 p.m., a fire started in two large pigeon coups in the backyard of a home on Sierra Vista Way. The fire spread to trees and backyard debris, Battalion Chief Ross Macumber said.Photo: Contra Costa County Fire Protection DistrictThe fire was eventually contained with the home and backyard able to be saved by fire crews. One pigeon coup was destroyed and the other suffered minor damages.According to the fire department, the fire was able to be contained quickly due to no wind being present at the time. The cause of how the fire started is currently unknown.

Gov. Youngkin pardons sexual assault victim’s father after Loudoun Co. school board meeting arrest

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:00:38 GMT

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin granted a pardon Sunday to a father arrested at a Loudoun County School Board meeting in 2021 after his daughter was sexually assaulted in a school bathroom.The man’s daughter was raped at Stone Bridge High School — leading to the father’s arrest for disrupting a contentious June 22, 2021 school board meeting.The man, whom WTOP is not naming to avoid indirectly identifying the teenager who was sexually assaulted, had been arrested and convicted in District Court of disorderly conduct and obstruction of justice, both misdemeanors.Youngkin called him “a dedicated parent who’s faced unwarranted charges in his pursuit to protect his daughter” in a news release, after the father disrupted a comment period on transgender policy at the school board meeting and resisted arrest.“In Virginia, parents matter and my resolve to empower parents in unwavering,” Youngkin said. “A parent’s fundamental right to be involved in their chil...