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TOBi or not TOBi: L.A.-based rapper and singer offers Panic, but also hope

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:11:54 GMT

TOBi or not TOBi: It seems like everything L.A.-based rapper and singer TOBi puts his name to of late turns to gold. His Shall I Continue? and Elements Vol. 1 releases saw the Juno Awards fly in as his stock rose. His still-blossoming success is fully deserved, too; TOBi’s melodic, soulful, genre-blending hip-hop transcends trends as the artist focuses on his art.“I started writing music when I was 8 years old,” he says. “It started off as poetry in response to my environment, and then I started recording music myself at 13. And then I became a professional artist I’d say when I was 24, after I finished university and was working for a little bit. That was 2016.”TOBi majored in biology and minored in psychology at uni and he says that while he took a different career path, his studies make their way into his music.“It does, because it shapes my world view,” he says. “It shapes how I look at the world around me. I look at things from a material standpoint, as well. Because science is...

Prep roundup: Las Lomas girls water polo punches ticket to title game with quintuple-overtime victory

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:11:54 GMT

Girls water poloLas Lomas 13, San Ramon Valley 12Las Lomas advanced to the NCS Division I final after it earned a five-overtime victory over San Ramon Valley. The Knights lost the two regular season matches to the Wolves, but won when it counted to advance to its third consecutive title game.Sierra Brown scored three goals, her third being the game-winner in sudden death. Lily Palma was also spectacular for Las Lomas, putting in seven goals to go along with five exclusions drawn, one assist and a steal.Teagan Claus scored one goal and dished out four assists, and Rachel Eger and Sydney Walburg both scored a goal each. Geneva Reese saved 13 shots in goal for Las Lomas. San Ramon Valley had plenty of standouts in the loss. Morgan Hoffman had two backhand cross-cage goals out of set, and freshman Daphne Mundelius had six goals. Fellow freshman Olivia Anderson had three assists, and Natalie Buck scored two goals.Brooke Temkin scored a goal for SRV, and seniors Rachel Kral and Katie Libe...

Four takeaways from the Warriors’ road trip: On Wiggins’ struggle, Paul’s role and more

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:11:54 GMT

DENVER — The Warriors rounded out a tough eight-city, eight-game trip around the country with a 6-3 record. All three of those losses came down to the wire, and two of their wins came on game-winners from Steph Curry and Klay Thompson.Nearly every night after games Curry speaks to the media and shares clues about Golden State’s “togetherness” and “competitive spirit” and why he’s excited to see it so early in the season while they’re still ironing kinks and getting acquainted with the playbook and new faces. But Curry stopped his sentence short when comparing their road success this year to last year’s woes.“I’m not going talking about last year,” he said. “I’m gonna stop.”But last year provides good context for what went wrong then and, now, what looks right and wrong this year in comparison.The Warriors play their next six games at home, but here are four takeaways from the Warriors’ fi...

Reflective clothing might not look ‘cool’ on the road, but it hopefully will get you noticed: Roadshow

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:11:54 GMT

Q: Motorcyclists, as well as cyclists and pedestrians, are made safer when wearing bright, reflective clothing. Maybe it’s not a “cool” look, but you’ll be more visible and live longer.Craig KingA: Motorcyclist visibility is essential. I’m not the right person to comment on the “coolness” of bright, reflective clothing for motorcyclists, so will leave that to others.Q: Most pedestrian deaths are at night. This can be fixed quite easily. Cell phones come with flashlights. I’d suggest we have a law requiring you to use a flashlight or your cell phone’s flashlight when you’re crossing the street at night.It’s just common sense.Jim WissickA: Using a flashlight while crossing the street at night is a good idea, even without a lawQ: A bicyclist can be in the traffic lane for many valid reasons. Perhaps they are planning to make a left turn. Or there may be obstacles in the bike lane which make the bike lane unusable for a stretch. (A pile of leave...

Bay Area man gets 65 years to life for child sex assaults

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:11:54 GMT

A Solano County Superior Court judge on Wednesday sentenced a Vacaville man to 65 years to life for five sex crimes with a child.Todd Cole Sampson Jr., 27, found guilty in July, heard Judge John B. Ellis hand down the state prison term during the morning session in Department 23 in the Justice Center in Fairfield.Shackled at the waist and wearing a striped jail jumpsuit, Sampson, more than 6 feet tall with short brown hair slicked back, sat slightly slumped in a chair at the defense table as Ellis tallied up the punishment for three counts of sodomy with a child under 10 and two counts of oral copulation with a child under 10.The judge cited 50 years to life for two of the sodomy counts, and 15 years to life for one oral copulation count, with punishment for one sodomy and one oral copulation count to be served concurrently.Ellis also noted that after release from prison, Sampson would serve a minimum of three years probation and be required to register as a sex offender for the res...

49ers take aim at former ‘generational’ QB talent in Jaguars’ Trevor Lawrence

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:11:54 GMT

SANTA CLARA — The first thing that struck Clelin Ferrell about Clemson freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence was the same thing NFL teams and draft analysts would be salivating over three years later.“The thing that jumped out was the talent,” Ferrell said Wednesday as the 49ers began preparations for a road game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. “Regardless of the X’s, O’s or scheme, you just saw this natural arm talent. Big, tall and can run too. Things didn’t have to be perfect for him to have an effect on the game.”Austin Bryant, like Ferrell a standout defensive end for Clemson, remembered Lawrence for his maturity. Lawrence, one of the nation’s top recruits out of Cartersville, Ga., was a four-year high school varsity starter and stepped right into the starting lineup for Clemson.“I remember his poise,” said Bryant, a 49ers practice squad lineman who has played in two games this season. “He came in as a you...

Walters: California’s first real U.S. Senate race in a generation

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:11:54 GMT

California has seen some humdinger contests for its U.S. Senate seats, but none worthy of note in this century.Two women, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, captured the two seats 31 years ago and held them for decades. Republicans haven’t mounted a serious Senate drive for a quarter-century, and the state’s current senators, Democrats Alex Padilla and Laphonza Butler, were appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.Republicans are still frozen out by their retreat into irrelevancy and a very lopsided Democratic voter majority. However, a year from now California voters will be electing a new senator, almost certainly another Democrat, and the contest is likely to become heated.Butler’s decision not to run for the Senate after filling out the brief remainder of the recently deceased Feinstein’s final term solidified what could have been a truly chaotic scenario should she have made a bid.Her decision left three Democratic members of Congress vying to finish Nos. 1-2 in the March primary electi...

Walmart agrees to huge South Bay sublease deal, in lift for office market

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:11:54 GMT

SUNNYVALE — Walmart’s digital unit has struck a deal to sublease a huge tech campus in Sunnyvale in a deal that could potentially provide a big-time boost to a wobbly Silicon Valley office market.The Sunnyvale office sublease by Walmart.com was confirmed by several commercial property sources, including some with direct knowledge of the transaction, who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to officially discuss the deal.Walmart.com agreed to sublease all of a tech campus known as Moffett Green, a four-building office complex that totals 719,000 square feet, according to real estate sources familiar with the rental deal.Moffett Green tech campus, located on Crossman Avenue in Sunnyvale. (Jeff Peters/Vantage Point Photography)The office complex that Walmart.com is subleasing is located near the corner of Crossman Avenue and Caribbean Drive in northern Sunnyvale. The property also fronts on East Java Drive.In 2021, Facebook app owner Meta Platforms le...

Santa Cruz County jury returns first-degree verdicts in double homicide trial

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:11:54 GMT

SANTA CRUZ — Violet Guzman broke away from a crowd of teary-eyed loved ones Wednesday afternoon to declare that “justice was served today.”Mario Lozano Just minutes earlier, inside the Santa Cruz County Superior Courtroom of Judge Syda Cogliati, a jury had found Mario Lozano guilty of two counts of first-degree murder, plus two additional counts of witness intimidation. The jury, which deliberated for about a day, may have opted to find Lozano guilty of lesser charges in the homicides, with both second-degree and voluntary manslaughter on the table.Lozano, 37, showed no visible reaction as the verdict was read aloud after a month-long trial. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole and is scheduled for sentencing Jan. 29.Guzman and her family have waited 19 years for the killer of their 17-year-old family member, Isaac Guzman, to face a penalty for the Watsonville stabbing. Family members attended the daily trial hearings, despite the often graphic testimony...

Netflix’s Egyptian Theatre reopens after $70 million renovation of 101-year-old Hollywood landmark

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:11:54 GMT

Rick Nicita smiled broadly as he walked out of the newly restored Egyptian Theatre and into the late afternoon sun of its courtyard on Hollywood Boulevard.The chairman of the American Cinematheque, which for 23 years owned and programmed the 101-year-old movie palace, had just spent a few hours inside the freshly renovated theater, and he was beaming.“I thought it was terrific,” Nicita said, standing in the forecourt of the theater. “I mean, I’ve seen prospective photographs, but that never does the trick.“It felt right,” he said. “That’s what it was. It’s an imagining of how an old movie palace should be now.”Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre opened Oct. 18, 1922 with the Douglas Fairbanks silent film “Robin Hood.” Its Egyptian Revival-inspired design was influenced by the popularity of the Egyptology in the early 20th century which peaked a few weeks after the movie palace opened with the discover of King Tut’s tomb. (Photo courtesy of Neflix)The Egyptian Theatre ...