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Crested Butte firefighters say fraudster Steve Bachar impersonated them after rejection

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:15:26 GMT

On Jan. 19, 2022, a man applied to be a volunteer firefighter in Crested Butte.On his application, he provided character references but wrote “n/a” under employment and “n/a” again when asked about his first responder experience. Crucially, he checked the “yes” box beside the question, “May we check your criminal history report?”“We do our due diligence to make sure that we catch this before we invite folks into the fire district,” said Veronica Jarolimek, volunteer coordinator at the Crested Butte Fire Protection District. “Because it’s not my fire department, it’s the community’s fire department.”The applicant on that cold, dry winter day in the mountains was Steven Charles Bachar, a then-56-year-old former lawyer and businessman facing theft charges in Denver who has defied court orders to pay millions of dollars to companies that he took money from.The Crested Butte Fire Protection District runs background checks on volunteer applicants. In April 2022, that check came back showi...

1 dead in possible road rage shooting in Venice; suspect on the run

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:15:26 GMT

At least one person is dead following a shooting that happened at a busy intersection in Venice Monday afternoon.It happened around 12:15 p.m., near the intersection of the 90 Freeway and Lincoln Boulevard, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.Video from Sky5 showed a dark-colored Volkswagen sedan parked in the roadway with a white investigation tent partially covering the vehicle. Those tents are often seen at the site of homicides. Several cars damaged in Woodland Hills road-rage incident (video) Details are limited at this time, but police confirmed that one person was killed.The suspect in the shooting was believed to be driving a black four-door Kia that was last seen driving northbound on Lincoln Boulevard. Although the motive for the shooting is under investigation, LAPD said road rage may have played a role.Lincoln Boulevard was closed as part of the investigation, with no estimated time for reopening.

Family loses toy elephant with son's ashes during Walt Disney World vacation

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:15:26 GMT

A family from Iowa says they are in desperate need of help after losing a precious toy elephant while visiting Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida last week.On Saturday, Liz Atkinson made an impassioned post on Facebook asking for help after losing a stuffed elephant that once belonged to her late son Gabryel.Pictured here: Sebastyan Atkinson carries the stuffed elephant that once belonged to his late brother Gabryel. His mother, Liz Atkinson, says they lost the toy while on a trip to Disney World. (Liz Atkinson)Atkinson said the elephant, named Bruce, was given to her son when he was in the NICU and was with him for over 50 surgical procedures that were done to save his life. Unfortunately, Gabryel did not survive."He slept with it every night and since his passing my husband and I have had it in our bed with us," Atkinson said.To honor their son's memory, the Atkinson family took their surviving son, Sebastyan, to Disney World on Gabryel's birthday. Active field search ends fo...

Oakland A’s send top pitching prospect home to get ailing elbow examined

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:15:26 GMT

Rookie right-hander Mason Miller, a rare bright spot for the A’s this season and the franchise’s potential future ace, is headed back to Oakland after experiencing tightness in his throwing elbow.The 24-year-old Miller held the Seattle Mariners hitless for seven innings on May 2, his third big league start, and then followed that up Sunday by allowing five hits and two runs with five strikeouts in six innings at Kansas City on Sunday. Miller felt tightness in his elbow during his outing against the Royals, manager Mark Kotsay told reporters on Monday before the A’s opened a three-game series against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium.“Rather than wait, he’s not scheduled to pitch for four days, we’re going to send him back to Oakland and have him get evaluated tomorrow,” Kotsay said. “From our end, and just the trainers doing the evaluation, it looks more to be like a flexor muscle as opposed to anything else. But we’re going to go th...

Is ChatGPT a sommelier in the making?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:15:26 GMT

By Peg Melnik, The Press Democrat (TNS)Mar. 24—Are wine professionals intimidated by ChatGPT, that upstart chatbot that recently passed three Master Sommelier theory exams?Chatbots are software designed to interact conversationally with humans. Think of the customer service pop-ups you see when you log onto your cell phone account.Launched in November 2022, ChatGPT is trained to respond to questions with a detailed answer or offer a solution.“GPT-4 is a large multimodal model (accepting image and text inputs, emitting text outputs) that, while less capable than humans in many real-world scenarios, exhibits human-level performance on various professional and academic benchmarks,” according to OpenAI, which developed the software and launched it in partnership with Microsoft.The rigorous Master Sommelier exam is split into theory and practical sections. Wine professionals study for months to pass it.The questions are detailed, covering alternative methods of production for...

Cinco de Mayo traffic diversions were ‘strategic’ and ‘not new,’ San Jose police say

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:15:26 GMT

San Jose officials on Monday defended their choice to cut off freeway access to the city’s downtown for much of Cinco de Mayo weekend, saying the move was necessary to preserve safety, even while others criticized it as “racist” and “blatantly unconstitutional.”Speaking to the Bay Area News Group, San Jose police spokesman Ofc. Steven Aponte said that police leaders reached out to Caltrans and the California Highway Patrol to make requests for freeway off-ramp closures over Cinco de Mayo weekend.  The list of closures included northbound and southbound off-ramps from U.S. 101 at four different exits, as well as four exits from northbound Highway 87 and one exit in each direction from Interstate 280.The closures were in effect for huge stretches of the weekend, starting at 7 p.m. Friday and 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, and lasting until 2 a.m. the following morning on each day.In a statement last week, CalTrans cited public safety and an “organized ...

After release on bail in harrowing family abduction case, Las Vegas man allegedly sought hitman to kidnap family from Oakland or Fresno

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:15:26 GMT

FRESNO — Last October, Las Vegas resident Justin Junius Carter was arrested and charged with kidnapping his entire family at knifepoint and moving them to another city in Nevada, an alleged crime that authorities say was only thwarted because his estranged wife was able to sneak a 911 call in the moving vehicle without Carter noticing.But according to federal prosecutors, Carter’s arrest wasn’t enough to deter him. After posting $500,000 bail to secure his release on an ankle monitor with pending charges in Clark County, Nevada, Carter allegedly got online and offered a hitman $29,000 to once again abduct his wife and children.Now, Carter is facing federal charges of attempted kidnapping, to go with the ongoing kidnapping, burglary, and dissuading a witness state charges in Nevada. According to the federal criminal complaint, Homeland Security Investigations received a tip back in November from an unnamed “foreign law enforcement agency” stating Carter ...

Police ID Antioch man found fatally shot while driving in Oakland

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:15:26 GMT

OAKLAND — A 27-year-old Antioch man fatally shot as he was driving in East Oakland Saturday morning was identified by police Monday as Mitchell Monroe.Monroe, the father of two young daughters, was found just before 4 a.m. Saturday in the 3900 block of Keller Avenue, near where his car had crashed after the shooting, authorities said. He died later at a hospital.Investigators don’t have a motive yet for the killing and are trying to confirm why Monroe was in Oakland. No arrests have been made.Police said they were told Monroe had just gotten his barber’s license.In a GoFundMe account set up by relatives to cover funeral expenses and help his daughters, Monroe was described as “a loving father, a devoted brother, and a cherished friend who had a heart full of warmth and generosity.” His daughters  “were the center of his world, and he made it his life’s mission to ensure they felt loved and protected every single day,” the narrative say...

Sale closed in Milpitas: $1.7 million for a three-bedroom home

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:15:26 GMT

296 Summerfield Drive – Google Street ViewThe property located in the 200 block of Summerfield Drive in Milpitas was sold on April 20, 2023. The $1,725,000 purchase price works out to $941 per square foot. The house, built in 1998, has an interior space of 1,833 square feet. The property features three bedrooms, three baths, a garage, and two parking spaces. There’s also a pool in the backyard. The unit sits on a 4,294-square-foot lot.These nearby houses have also recently changed hands:In August 2022, a 1,824-square-foot home on Moonbeam Way in Milpitas sold for $1,700,000, a price per square foot of $932. The home has 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.On Woodland Way, Milpitas, in March 2023, a 1,247-square-foot home was sold for $1,155,000, a price per square foot of $926. The home has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.A 2,170-square-foot home on the first block of Greentree Circle in Milpitas sold in October 2022, for $1,700,500, a price per square foot of $784. The home has 4 bedrooms and 2 ...

Wine 101: Tasting room tips

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:15:26 GMT

By Peg Melnik, The Press Democrat (TNS)Wine tasting rooms entered the mainstream back in 2004 when Miles (played by Paul Giamatti) had a meltdown and drank from a spit bucket in the hit film “Sideways.”From then on, everyone knew exactly what not to do.The best wineries will walk you through a tasting without making you feel awkward. But here are 10 tips to help you feel comfortable and get the most out of a tasting room experience.1. Research which wineries you want to visit based on location and your favorite varietals. Choose two or three for the day and pick wineries that are relatively near and that produce varietals that appeal to you.2. Keep in mind if you love Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, you’ll want to gravitate to wineries in the Russian River Valley, the Carneros and the Sonoma Coast. If it’s Cabernet Sauvignon you fancy, you’ll want to target the Alexander Valley. Meanwhile, the Dry Creek Valley has made a name for itself with Zinfandel and Sa...