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California’s tough, fast-growing, drought-tolerant golden wildflower, the poppy

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:06:52 GMT

California poppies are common along Marin’s rocky slopes, bluffs and roadsides. The California poppy, Eschscholzia californica, is a tough, fast-growing, drought-tolerant, self-seeding California native wildflower. It is indigenous to western North America.In 1816, a ship from the Imperial Russian Navy arrived in San Francisco Bay. Aboard was a Russian naturalist named Adelbert von Chamisso. He wrote about the California poppy he saw in the Presidio, giving it the name Eschscholzia californica after his friend Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz, a physician on the ship.Early Spanish settlers called the plant “copa del oro,” or cup of gold, after a legend that said the petals filled the soil with gold.In 1903, the California poppy became the official state flower of California. Perhaps it represented the “fields of gold” sought during the Gold Rush. It is commonly seen blooming in spring and summer along country roads and freeways, rocky slopes, maritime bluffs and dunes, making i...

Protesters demand action in probe of controversial arrest in Marin County

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:06:52 GMT

Demonstrators rally at San Rafael City Hall in support of Julio Jimenez Lopez, who they allege was the victim of police brutality last summer, during a Cesar Chavez Day rally in San Rafael on Friday, March 31, 2023. Demonstrators marched from the Marin Civic Center and Pickleweed Park calling for Marin County District Attorney Lori Frugoli to criminally charge the officers involved. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)Emilio Pineda, center, and other marchers head up D Street to a rally in support of Julio Jimenez Lopez, who demonstrators allege was the victim of police brutality last summer, during a Cesar Chavez Day rally at City Hall in San Rafael on Friday, March 31, 2023. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)Organizer Cesar Lagleva applauds a speaker during a Cesar Chavez Day rally at San Rafael City Hall in San Rafael on Friday, March 31, 2023. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)Marchers arrive at a Cesar Chavez Day rally outside San Rafael City Hall in support ...

State pursues receivership for Big Basin Water

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:06:52 GMT

BIG BASIN — After years of unreliable service, code violations and failures to respond to regional authorities in a timely manner, the California Water Resources Control Board Division of Drinking Water says it has engaged the Office of Enforcement to begin the process of pursuing a receivership for Big Basin Water Co.According to a letter sent by the control board to the company’s private owners Jim and Shirley Moore in late February, the company has been falling short of its duty to consistently provide safe, potable water to its customers in the Santa Cruz Mountains.“BBWC (Big Basin Water Company) is not currently satisfying that obligation as it does not have the technical, managerial, and financial capacity to operate a public water system, and it is unresponsive to the rules and orders of the Division,” wrote Office of Enforcement attorney Laura Mooney in the letter.Mooney concluded the seven-page report by stating: “In our view, a receiver should be appointed to assume posses...

Many electric vehicles to lose big tax credit with new rules effective this month

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:06:52 GMT

By Tom Krisher, Fatima Hussein and Matthew Daly | The Associated PressFewer new electric vehicles will qualify for a full $7,500 federal tax credit later this year, and many will get only half that, under rules proposed Friday by the U.S. Treasury Department.The rules, required under last year’s Inflation Reduction Act, are likely to slow consumer acceptance of electric vehicles and could delay President Joe Biden’s ambitious goal that half of new passenger vehicles sold in the U.S. run on electricity by 2030.The new rules take effect April 18 and are aimed at reducing U.S. dependence on China and other countries for battery supply chains for electric vehicles.Electric vehicles now cost an average of more than $58,000, according to Kelley Blue Book, a price that’s beyond the reach of many U.S. households. The tax credits are designed to bring prices down and attract more buyers. But $3,750, half the full credit, may not be enough to entice them away from less-costly gasoline-powered...

This drought-tolerant plant is eye-catching and easy to grow

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:06:52 GMT

My amole (Beschorneria yuccoides) is blooming and as it is adjacent to the sidewalk, passersby stop and stare. There really is no parallel to amole in the plant kingdom and it is seldom seen – although it is ridiculously easy to grow, being stoutly drought tolerant.The flower is incredibly unique and evokes Audrey, the carnivorous plant in “Little Shop of Horrors.” Each flower stalk can grow up to six feet in length with small pendant flower clusters appearing every few inches as each section of the stalk opens up. Although related to yuccas and agaves, amole foliage is soft and smooth. And although it produces pups like agaves do, it is not monocarpic; that is, it does not die after flowering but persists for years.In the language of the Aztecs, “amole” means detergent or soap and refers to the fact that this plant’s roots, in the manner of agave and yucca roots generally, have cleansing properties. San Marcos Growers has four types of Beschorneria in stock; to find a nursery near ...

California attorney claims husband pressured her to gamble millions owed to loan company

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:06:52 GMT

A Newport Beach attorney who allegedly scammed a lender out of $10.2 million in 2022 to fund a six-month stay at a swanky Las Vegas resort where she frequented casinos around-the-clock now claims her husband pressured her to gamble millions in an effort to win enough to repay the loans.Sara Jacqueline King, 39, who operates King Family Lending and is a partner of the King Reuben law firm, was sued in February by LDR International Limited, based in the British Virgin Islands, for breach of contract, fraud and theft.LDR International allegedly extended 97 loans to King Lending for third-party borrowers from January to October 2022. The borrowers’ loans purportedly were secured by collateral that included luxury automobiles, boats, yachts, jewelry, watches, valuable coins, and earnings from guaranteed professional sports contracts.However, in each instance, King allegedly provided LDR International with phony title documents, appraisals, photographs, and contracts, as well as proof of ...

The Queen Mary is officially open for public tours — sparking excitement about what’s to come

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:06:52 GMT

Tour guide Paul Knox talks about engine room 2 on Saturday, Apr. 1, 2023, as visitors board the Queen Mary in Long Beach on Saturday, Apr. 1, 2023. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)Tour guide Paul Knox tells visitors about the aft steering area on Saturday, Apr. 1, 2023, as visitors tour the Queen Mary in Long Beach for the first time in about three years on Saturday, Apr. 1, 2023. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)Visitors tour one of the engine rooms on Saturday, Apr. 1, 2023, aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach on Saturday, Apr. 1, 2023. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)A youngster mans the aft steering wheel during a tour of the Queen Mary in Long Beach on Saturday, Apr. 1, 2023. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)Visitors tour one of the engine rooms on Saturday, Apr. 1, 2023, aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach on Saturday, Apr. 1, 2023. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)Visitors to...

Nothing could be easier to make than Aunt Rosie’s Eggplant Parmesan

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:06:52 GMT

By Carla Vigos | Laguna Woods GlobeMy Aunt Rose was a key influence for me at the beginning of my love of cooking. My mother died unexpectedly when I was 20, and even though I was always her sous chef, I never had the recipes because she cooked without them.My Aunt Rose, who never had children, became my teacher. She taught me how to make sauces, beans, marinated crab, lentils, fava and pasta, chicken soup, baked chicken and so much more.She also showed me a simpler eggplant parmesan without all the typical breading. She did fry her eggplant first, but I altered it to a healthier version by baking the eggplant before adding the toppings. I make a simple marinara, but you can buy your favorite pasta sauce instead.Carla Vigos, Laguna Woods Globe cooking columnist(Courtesy photo)Laguna Woods Globe cooking columnist Carla Vigos’ Aunt Rose made eggplant parmesan with both parmesan and mozzarella cheese.(Photo by Jeff Sinclair)Show Caption of ExpandAunt Rosie’s Eggplant ParmesanINGR...

Here are some new ways thieves are scamming people

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:06:52 GMT

Don’t get fooledApril Fools’ Day was Saturday, April 1, but schemers and scammers are out to get your money year-round. Here are the statistics for past years and how technology is helping the swindlers.You can report fraud and theft to the Federal Trade Commission here.A few things to look out and listen up for:According to the Federal Trade Commission, scammers are making more than ever. In 2022, the number of people who got scammed was down, but the amount of money lost is estimated to be $8.8 billion, more than any year.If that’s not bad enough, the type of scams are more diabolical too. If you’re familiar with the “Help me Grandma” scams where an impostor calls saying they need money to help a grandchild, now it’s gone high tech.New generative artificial intelligence tools with just a snippet of someone’s voice to work with can create speech that sounds convincingly like a particular person. If thieves can find 30 seconds of your voice somewhere online such as Instagram, there’...

After Two Decades of U.S. Military Support, Terror Attacks Are Worse Than Ever in Niger

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:06:52 GMT

NIAMEY, Niger — The look on Miriam’s face was abject fear. Her pink, white, and green veil had mostly slipped from her head, and her dark eyes grew wide as she stared down at her lavender smartphone. In a flash, she pulled it to her ear. “Allo!” she said, her pitch rising as her other hand nervously cradled her chin.In the courtyard of her family’s tree-lined compound in a well-to-do neighborhood in Niger’s capital, members of Miriam’s ethnic group had been describing jihadist attacks on their historic community in a rural region to the north. Now, the six or seven men wearing tagelmusts — a combination of turban and scarf worn by Tuareg men to provide protection from sun and dust — were also glued to their phones as chimes announced incoming texts and calls. Voices on the phones sounded panicked. There were gunshots, and a familiar roar rumbled through the desert scrubland 100 miles away. At any moment, relatives warned, they expected an attack by the “motorcycle guys.”Over the las...