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A flaky cheese pie with much meaning

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:59 GMT

By Joan Nathan, The New York TimesFor the members of New York’s Aleppan Jewish community, the tinier the meat- or cheese-filled pastry, the better the cook.At Hanukkah, which this year begins Thursday evening, they take as much pride in their distinctive tradition of using two candles rather than one to light the menorah — representing both the miracle of light and the welcome they received from Syrians after fleeing the Inquisition — as they do in those small meat- or cheese-filled pastries.Rachel Harary Gindi, 92, who was born into this close-knit community, based in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, remembers her mother gathering with her friends to make sambousek, served at holidays. Gindi especially adored the ones filled with cheese, reserved for Sunday evenings when her family traditionally ate a dairy meal.“You couldn’t order them from anywhere,” she said at a recent sambousek-making session at her apartment, which overlooks the Century City neighborhood of Los Angeles. So the on...

Love Has Won documentary drew attention to Colorado cult. But does it make light of cult dangers?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:59 GMT

A documentary series on the Love Has Won cult, which was based in Colorado until its leader died in 2021, is bringing increased attention to its bizarre teachings about 5D ascensions, galactic communications from Robin Williams and the dangerous use of colloidal silver to cure diseases.But a group working to expose the cult’s falsehoods and rescue those trapped in it says the documentary fell short in debunking the myths and explaining how dangerous cults truly are.Amanda Ray, whose brother escaped Love Has Won after becoming entangled in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic, said there were missed opportunities to show how abusive Amy Carlson, who led Love Has Won and called herself Mother God, was toward her followers.RELATED: A primer on Love Has Won, the Colorado cult featured in HBO’s new docu-series“It really was a documentary that shared the stories of the current followers just a few weeks after Amy passed,” Ray said. “They were victims of mind contro...

Help! spcaLA issues urgent appeal for pet food donations

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:59 GMT

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is asking the public to donate pet food after a year of "surging animal intake."The shelters are asking for donations of pet food, or funds for canned and dry pet food for kittens, cats, puppies and dogs so they can meet the nutritional needs of the animals.“With the increasing number of homeless and abandoned pets in our care, we find ourselves facing a critical shortage,” says spcaLA President, Madeline Bernstein. “We need about 33 tons of food to make it through a year.”The spcaLA shared the following ways to help:Monetary Donations: Make a tax-deductible donation at spcaLA.comPet Food Donations: Shop and ship needed items from spcaLA’s wish lists or pick up a few items for shelter pets while out shopping this holiday season and drop-off to any spcaLA location during business hours.spcaLA South Bay Pet Adoption Center:12910 Yukon Ave.Hawthorne, CA 90250Wednesday-Sunday: 11am-3pmspcaLA P.D. Pitchford Companion Animal Village &am...

Redondo Beach school reopens after 2 gun incidents

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:59 GMT

Redondo Union High School reopened on Thursday after a closure focused on improving campus safety in the wake of two armed students being arrested on campus.Two separate 15-year-old 10th-graders were caught with loaded guns on Monday and Tuesday, resulting in a Wednesday closure to "provide optimal conditions for our district team and RBPD to work together to conduct a comprehensive review of our safety measures and implement strategies to amplify this important work," school officials and the Redondo Beach Police Department said in a joint statement Tuesday. Redondo Beach school closed after back-to-back gun incidents “The two back-to-back incidents are something we would never have imagined,” school officials said in the statement. “We are going to need to work together to solve the issue of access to guns. Understandably, our school community will demand and expect RBUSD to ensure student safety each and every day. Pointing fingers and placing blame is not the solution…The real...

Mother, 2 young children found safe after disappearing in Fontana

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:59 GMT

A mother and her two young children were found safe just hours after Fontana Police issued an alert about their disappearance.Elizabeth Castrejon, 33, was reported missing after leaving her home near Wabash and Palmetto avenues without her phone or wallet late Wednesday night. She was last seen pushing her children, aged 9 and 2, in a wagon.Around 7:30 a.m. Thursday, police announced that Castrejon and her children were found in Highland and were "doing well.""Thank you everyone for your assistance," police said.No further information was released.

Larry Magid: Turning ordinary small appliances into smart ones

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:59 GMT

Like many households, my wife and I have a fair number of small appliances like room fans, space heaters and kitchen appliances including an air fryer, microwave and indoor grill.  Some of these, like our Atomi space heater, our Cosari Air Fryer, our Bosch stove top and our Toshiba microwave are “smart,” in that they have a WiFi connection and an app that reports their current state such as whether they’re on or off, their temperature and time left before shut-off).Related ArticlesBusiness | Magid: Using a personal computer to read and send texts Business | Larry Magid: Using ChatGPT for holiday gift ideas and cards Business | Larry Magid: Survey sheds light on parent, teen feelings about Generative AI Business | Magid: White House order provides guidance on AI safety Some let you use the app or your voice (via Amazon Alexa, Google Home or Apple Siri) to turn them on and off or set a temperature, but others don’t. The a...

Northern California substitute teacher accused of baring his buttocks to sixth-graders

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:59 GMT

A substitute teacher at Anderson Middle School was arrested after allegedly exposing his buttocks to a class of sixth-graders.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Where does all the surplus stuff from tech companies go? To schools, thanks to RAFT Crime and Public Safety | “This is just the beginning”: Pro-Palestinian teach-in held at dozens of Oakland schools Crime and Public Safety | Oakland Unified pushes back against unsanctioned ‘teach-in’ on ‘Palestinian struggle’ Crime and Public Safety | Reading scores climb after targeted intervention at California’s worst-performing schools Crime and Public Safety | South Bay high school district holding workshops on trustee elections The incident was reported to Anderson police around noon on Tuesday, Dec. 5.A vice principal at the school said two sixth-graders came to her office and said that the teacher’s jeans and underpant...

Woman who threw bowl of food at Chipotle worker sentenced to work 2 months in fast food job

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:59 GMT

By Chris Isidore | CNNNew York — A woman who threw a bowl of hot food in the face of a Chipotle worker has been sentenced to a month in jail — and two months working a fast food job.Videos of the woman, Rosemary Hayne, berating Chipotle worker Emily Russell on September 5 and then throwing the food in her face at close range, went viral after the incident. Hayne, a 39-year old mother of four, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge and received the sentence last week in the Parma, Ohio, municipal court. Judge Timothy Gilligan gave her the choice of a 90-day jail sentence or a 30-day sentence on top of 60 days working in a fast food job.“Do you want to walk in her shoes for two months and learn how people should treat people, or do you want to do your jail time?” Gilligan asked Hayne at the hearing.“I’d like to walk in her shoes,” Hayne responded.Hayne has yet to find the job, Gilligan and her attorney told CNN on Wednesday. Her attorney, Joseph O’Malley, said his client had n...

McDonald’s unveils spinoff CosMc’s, weirder than expected

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:59 GMT

Shedding light on its long-awaited and oddly secretive CosMc’s concept, McDonald’s on Wednesday finally shared more about the café pilot, which seems to be its answer to Starbucks.Related ArticlesRestaurants, Food and Drink | 7 amazing Bay Area things to do this weekend Restaurants, Food and Drink | Michelin Bib Gourmand Mexican restaurant Flores opens in San Mateo Restaurants, Food and Drink | Map: 7 new Bay Area restaurants, and 3 that are closing Restaurants, Food and Drink | Panera hit with another wrongful death suit over its caffeinated ‘charged lemonade’ Restaurants, Food and Drink | San Jose baker to compete on Food Network’s Christmas Cookie Challenge It was weirder than expected.Over the summer, McDonald’s teased the test of a new restaurant concept.We knew then that CosMc’s is named for a little-known McDonald’s character, an alien introduced in the 1980s. We also learned that CosMc’s “i...

California rent 5% off peak as vacancies hit 32-month high

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:59 GMT

“Rent Watch” tracks what’s happening at the intersection of landlords and tenants – who is paying what and where.Buzz: California rents are down four straight months – and modestly off all-time highs – as the number of empty units hit a 32-month high.Source: My trusty spreadsheet looked into ApartmentList’s tally of rent and vacancy rates across California. The math based on a combination of Census surveys of what renters are paying and landlord’s listing data that tracks a mix of units with varying numbers of bedrooms and bathrooms.ToplineThe typical California rent was $1,917 a month in November, by this math, part of an ongoing slide since July. Yes, it’s a slow period for landlords, but average rents are now 5% off peak pricing seen in August 2022 – back when the pandemic pushed tenants to find larger living spaces.Why the recent price dip? Well, life has returned to near-normalcy and the lofty cost of renting plus the state’s shrinking population a...