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Peek inside Joe Biden’s fundraisers, where big money mingles with old jokes in swanky California homes

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:15:38 GMT

By CHRIS MEGERIAN and WILL WEISSERT  | Associated PressLOS ANGELES   — If you’re a Democrat with money to burn and friends in high places, you can spend thousands on tickets to a fundraiser with President Joe Biden. If not, keep reading to see what you’re missing.With an election year around the corner, Biden is accelerating his fundraising to prepare for an astronomically expensive campaign. (Think billions, not millions.) In this rarefied world, money equals access, and supporters regularly pay top dollar for a personal glimpse of the world’s most powerful man.Biden is collecting cash across the Los Angeles area this weekend, and his first stop was a sprawling West L.A. estate where the host joked “it’s just a normal Friday at our house” as hundreds of donors sipped wine in the backyard.“You’re the reason why we’re gonna win, God willing, in 2024,” Biden told the audience.“I’m the only thing standing between you and Lenny Kravitz,” Biden joked before yielding the stage for a perfo...

T.J. Holmes and Amy Robach ‘fume’ while their exes leave for romantic weekend: reports

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:15:38 GMT

As Andrew Shue and Marilee Fiebig loaded their cats into a Jeep Wrangler Friday morning to reportedly take off for romantic weekend, their scandalous exes, Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes, were said to be “livid” over the startling news that Shue and Fiebig are dating.The former “GMA:3” co-hosts were said to be “fuming” because they feared that this news about Shue and Fiebig overshadowed Tuesday’s launch of their eponymous podcast, Page Six reported. Indeed, the news, first reported by Page Six, broke several hours after Robach and Holmes released the first episode of their “Amy and T.J. Podcast.” Page Six quoted one source who said that Robach suspected that her ex, Andrew Shue, the former “Melrose Place” star, may have leaked the news, thinking he “is trying to steal her thunder.”“She’s convinced he did this to coincide with the debut of her podcast,” the source said.In their first podcast episode, Robach an...

Photos: Bay Area high school 2023 CIF State Football Championships

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:15:38 GMT

 Mission Viejo 24, De La Salle 14See a photo you like? Click Here to see these and more and to purchase high-quality prints or a keepsake photos on mugs, buttons, greeting cards, and more.De La Salle’s Keon Harris (29), left, and Anthony Dean (26) get their ankles taped before their game against Mission Viejo during their CIF state football championship Division 1-AA game at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, Calif., on Friday, Dec. 8, 2023. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group) De La Salle’s Kaleo Augustin (24) wears a t-shirt in memory of former De La Salle defensive line coach Steve Jacoby before their CIF state football championship Division 1-AA game at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, Calif., on Friday, Dec. 8, 2023. Jacoby died suddenly in October of this year. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group) De La Salle head coach Justin Alumbaugh speaks to his players before the start of their CIF state football championship Division 1-AA game ...

Santa Clara Council approves plan to revive downtown

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:15:38 GMT

(BCN) -- Santa Clara is planning a major facelift of its five-acre downtown after years of neglect, thanks to a determined group of residents.The Santa Clara City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved rezoning for a new downtown plan and environmental impact report. Mayor Lisa Gillmor recused herself. The plan revitalizes the downtown grid, which can accommodate up to 1,071 new homes and more than 700,000 square feet of commercial space. Concord apartments have been without water for 3 days The redevelopment will be a mix of streets and public spaces that are pedestrian and service oriented, laid out in a restored grid pattern with at least one new bike lane. The new zoning allows increased heights for mixed-use development of residential and commercial projects."It will be the beginning of our downtown," resident Mary Grizzle said at the meeting.Grizzle is a leading member of Reclaiming Our Downtown, a grassroots group formed about three years ago to kick-start a community-led ...

Icy conditions cause traffic issues on mountain roads

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:15:38 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- Slick road conditions caused traffic issues, especially for people trying to get into the mountains Saturday morning, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation.A crash on westbound Interstate 70 west of Idaho Springs closed the right shoulder, causing major traffic issues. Colorado snow totals for Dec. 8-9 The right shoulder was still closed as of 10 a.m., according to CDOT.The westbound lane of U.S. Highway 6 west of Golden was also closed for a semi-truck crash.The lane was still closed as of 10 a.m.

Casey and Ron DeSantis play cleanup over Iowa caucus remarks

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:15:38 GMT

West Des Moines, Iowa (CNN) — Casey and Ron DeSantis are seeking to clarify comments the Florida first lady made on Friday that appeared to encourage out-of-state voters to participate in the Iowa caucuses.“We’re asking all of these moms and grandmoms to come from wherever it might be, North Carolina, South Carolina and to descend upon the state of Iowa to be a part of the caucus, because you do not have to be a resident of Iowa to be able to participate in the caucus. So, moms and grandmas are going to be able to come and be a part and let their voice be heard in support of Ron DeSantis,” Casey said, in a side-by-side interview on Fox News with her husband ahead of a “Mamas for DeSantis” event in West Des Moines.After the Fox News appearance, Casey DeSantis clarified on X that by participating in the Iowa caucuses, she didn’t mean voting.“While voting in the Iowa caucus is limited to registered voters in Iowa, there is a way for others to participate. I’m calling on mamas...

Accused military secrets leaker Jack Teixeira back in court Monday

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:15:38 GMT

The case of accused Massachusetts military secrets leaker Jack Teixeira will return to federal court on Monday for a status conference.Federal prosecutors say that Teixeira, either 21 or 22, abused his security clearance as a Massachusetts Air National Guardsman to share more than 40 images of classified documents largely regarding the war in Ukraine to the roughly 50 members of a Discord server he led. A “server” is what the gaming-dominated social media platform Discord calls individual groups or forums.The images were said to have been posted to the group between December 2022 and March, according to court documents. The alleged sharing “endangered our national security,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland would later say.Teixeira was arrested April 13 at the North Dighton home of one of his parents and was charged with two counts: unauthorized removal and transmission of national defense information and unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or material...

Charlie McAvoy out, Linus Ullmark starts again for Bruins

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:15:38 GMT

Charlie McAvoy will not be available when the Bruins take on the Arizona Coyotes this afternoon (1 p.m.) at the Garden after taking a high hit on Thursday night from Buffalo’s J.J. Peterka.“There’s been significant improvement, but we’re not risking today,” said coach Jim Montgomery.The exact nature of the injury has not been divulged, but Montgomery said on Friday that it is not a head injury. McAvoy’s status is day-to-day.Ian Mitchell will take McAvoy’s place in the lineup while Hampus Lindholm will jump in his spot on the first power-play unit.Linus Ullmark will get his second straight start for the first time this year as Jeremy Swayman gets over the illness that kept him out of Thursday’s game.“If someone’s not near 100 percent, we’re going to go with the other guy, just like we did in Florida when (Ullmark) had an upper body injury,” said Montgomery.Up front, Jakub Lauko will be a healthy scratch. Montgomery said it was a good ti...

Brazil’s Lula takes heat on oil plans at UN climate talks, a turnaround after hero status last year

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:15:38 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Fresh off election victory, a year ago Brazilian President-elect Inacio Lula da Silva was the star of the annual U.N. climate talks.Lula promised to crack down on deforestation and turn Brazil into an environmental leader, a complete turnaround after President Jair Bolsonaro rolled back regulations and encouraged land-grabbing in the Amazon.“Lula! Lula! Lula!” many onlookers screamed during Lula’s many events at COP27 in Egypt.What a difference a year makes.Just as Lula addressed world leaders at COP28 in Dubai, it was announced that Brazil would join OPEC+, a group of big oil-exporting countries, including Russia. At one event during the conference, Lula tried to explain the decision by saying that, once on the inside, the South American nation would push other oil-producing countries to transition to green energy—a curious explanation given that state-run oil company Petrobras is focused on further oil exploration. Lula later clarified that Brazi...

A Soviet-era statue of a Red Army commander taken down in Kyiv

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:15:38 GMT

KYIV (AP) — City workers in Kyiv on Saturday dismantled an equestrian statue of a Red Army commander, the latest Soviet monument to be removed in the Ukrainian capital since Russia launched its full-scale invasion last year.The statue of Mykola Shchors on horseback, erected in the 1950s, was taken down from a pedestal in downtown Kyiv to the applause of a small group of onlookers. City officials said it will be stored in the State Aviation Museum.“Derussification and decommunization are continuing. We have already dismantled more than 60 monuments related to the history and culture of Russia and the Soviet Union,” Mykhailo Budilov, director of the city’s Department of Territorial Control, said in a statement.An effort to remove symbols of the Soviet era, which many Ukrainians equate with Russian imperialism, accelerated after Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022.In August of this year, officials removed a hammer-and-sickle symbol from the Mother Ukraine statue in Kyiv — o...