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Amazon Fresh refresh: smarter shopping cart, more selection

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 11:22:25 GMT

A refresh for Amazon Fresh!It’s been 3 years since the Amazon opened their first grocery store in Woodland HIlls. Back then, the big draw was a smart shopping cart.But the company has learned a lot about selling groceries since then.Now, it's time for a revamp.Stores in Irvine, Pasadena, Woodland Hills and around the nation are getting a remodel with a lighter, brigher look that's easier to navigate. They're also stocked with a much wider selection of products."We’ve worked every hard on selection, 3000 products have come into this store," said Claire Peters, Vice President at Amazon Fresh. "Customers told us that from a selection point of view, they want all the products for a main grocery shop."Recnetly, I met up with Peters to get a look at the new and improved Woodland Hills location, which now has a Krispy Kreme inside, too.One big change: Grocery delivery and pickup, once reserved for Prime members, is now open to anyone with an Amazon account.Deliveries might have a fee, but ...

10 Freeway closed: Mayor Bass, Gov. Newsom address fire, investigation

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 11:22:25 GMT

California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass held a joint news conference Sunday regarding the fire that destroyed part of the 10 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles.The blaze was first reported around 12:30 a.m. Saturday morning in a storage yard near East 14th and Alameda streets. Flames quickly spread to a neighboring storage yard and eventually engulfed the freeway overpass above.The fire was so hot that it melted some of the freeway's steel guardrails and concrete pillars, fire officials said. It eventually spread to eight acres before being contained.No homes were affected as the area is largely industrial but the traffic impacts are severe for thousands of commuters, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass said. Photos: Massive fire torches 10 Freeway in downtown L.A. Gov. Newsom declared a local state of emergency Saturday, and on Sunday, it was announced that the freeway would remain closed until further notice. Mayor Bass noted that the structural damage sustained by the fr...

Photos: Massive fire torches 10 Freeway in downtown L.A.

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 11:22:25 GMT

A large fire that broke out underneath the 10 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday has led to the full closure of part of the highway and a state of emergency being issued. Photos of the fire can be viewed below: The aftermath of a large fire that destroyed part of the 10 Freeway in Los Angeles on Nov. 11, 2023. The aftermath of a large fire that destroyed part of the 10 Freeway in Los Angeles on Nov. 11, 2023. (Caltrans)The aftermath of a large fire that destroyed part of the 10 Freeway in Los Angeles on Nov. 11, 2023. The aftermath of a large fire that destroyed part of the 10 Freeway in Los Angeles on Nov. 11, 2023. The aftermath of a large fire that destroyed part of the 10 Freeway in Los Angeles on Nov. 11, 2023. The aftermath of a large fire that destroyed part of the 10 Freeway in Los Angeles on Nov. 11, 2023. (KTLA)The aftermath of a large fire that destroyed part of the 10 Freeway in Los Angeles on Nov. 11, 2023. (Caltrans)L.A. Mayor Karen Bass assesses the...

Biblioteka and Their Wild Planet

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 11:22:25 GMT

The B-52’sWild Planet (Warner Bros.)Biblioteka and Their Wild Planet: Mary Robins of Seattle garage-punk trio Biblioteka told us about her love for a B-52’s classic.(Warner Bros.)Mary Robins: If I had to pick an album that really changed my life, I would say it’s Wild Planet by the B-52’s. This record rocks from front to back. It ignited a spark in me to get into really cool music.I started a band after hearing “Private Idaho.” The melodies, the upbeat rock, and the nonsensical elements showed me a new way of bringing humor and personality into songwriting.“Give Me Back My Man” has a feminine sound to rock and roll which I really love (fun fact: this track is one of the top picks for our DJ sets). I’m a ’90s baby, so growing up I played out Gwen Stefani’s Love Angel Music Baby, which was my first CD actually.Growing up in Seattle, I got really into Kathleen Hanna and Courtney Love after watching the riot grrrl documentary The Punk Singer. I’...

Photos: Stunning Bay Area wildlife

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 11:22:25 GMT

The Bay Area is teeming with wildlife, not just in the rugged wilderness of Mount Diablo and Big Basin, but in the parks and open spaces that dot our urban and suburban landscapes. You’re guaranteed to see wild creatures at places like Año Nuevo, where gargantuan elephant seals famously loll about on the sand, and the Sunol Regional Wilderness, where raptors of every feather fly overhead.Unexpected treasures, however, await if you have a good eye and the patience to wait, as our Bay Area News Group photographers show in this stunning array of images.“Often it also takes a bit of luck and good timing,” staff photographer Jane Tyska said about spending a day at the Foothills Nature Preserve in the Palo Alto hills in hopes of capturing a photo of one of the preserve’s elusive mountain lions. Her wait was rewarded with a coyote sighting instead, and she also “lucked” into seeing another coyote — near San Francisco’s Coit Tower, where the a...

How to make your outdoor space a refuge of biodiversity

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 11:22:25 GMT

A green hummingbird hovers among the branches of a sage bush, dipping its long beak into the purple blossoms as the sun gleams on its metallic-pink neck feathers. A tiny brown lizard darts from behind a rock. Mourning doves coo from a bottlebrush shrub but are soon drowned out by squirrels chattering angrily at each other.As the sky darkens, a family of raccoons digs in the turf at the base of a tree, looking for worms and grubs. And as the moon rises, a coyote howls in the distance.This isn’t happening in some idyllic country retreat, but in a tiny back yard a block from a major freeway. And if you think it’s unusual for such a small space to have such varied wildlife, think again.California is the most biodiverse state in the country and one of the most biodiverse on the planet. The Bay Area offers so many species of flora and fauna — birds, fish, mammals, amphibians and invertebrates — UNESCO designated the region the Golden Gate Biosphere Reserve in 1988.Even Los Ang...

Why McClymonds football coach Michael Peters, a four-time state champ, is stepping down

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 11:22:25 GMT

OAKLAND — The public found out something in a social media post over the weekend that the McClymonds program had known since August: head coach Michael Peters will step down after the 2023 season.And before Peters, 55, told the team he has led since 2013, his family was the first to know. “They could see it,” Peters told the Bay Area News Group on Sunday, one day after the post on X, the site formerly known as Twitter. “They can see that I’m tired.”“I’m not getting any younger, and I’ve got to really concentrate on getting myself healthy because football is stressful,” Peters later said. “It’s been a long time at this school, a school I love.”So why announce his impending retirement now at the start of the playoffs?“It’s the last home game unless we get a regional game,” Peters said. “I wanted to announce it now so I could appreciate the guys and fans who stood by me. And I’ll get all my players coming back, and I’ve been in contact with guys who were ever on my coaching staff...

TasteFood: Roast (or grill) the ultimate Thanksgiving turkey

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 11:22:25 GMT

It’s time to tame the bird. There are many ways to cook a turkey, and choosing your method is the first step to a seamless Thanksgiving dinner. To brine or not to brine? Dry or wet? Roast, smoke or grill? Let’s start by saying there are no wrong answers, and all methods will deliver a flavorful turkey.This recipe is for a dry-brined whole turkey cooked on the grill. I rely on my gas grill for the holiday, so I can free up my oven for other dishes to cook. If you don’t have a grill, or weather does not permit, that’s no problem; there are instructions for oven roasting provided as well.Dry brines are simple: just salt and dry seasonings. They are less messy and cumbersome than liquid brines, which require refrigerating a hefty bird submerged in unwieldy liquid for multiple days. You do need to start the dry-brining process ahead, at least two days before serving, with a good salt rub. The salt acts as a cure and draws the moisture out of the turkey, creating a...

Walk on the Wild Side: Birding and wildlife watching in California’s coastal redwood forest

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 11:22:25 GMT

This past spring, I was hiking solo on a little-known trail high above Mill Valley’s Cascade Canyon. This dense, shady coastal redwood forest is just over the ridge from the famous old-growth redwood trees of the Muir Woods National Monument in Marin County.Despite being a neighborhood of sorts, the canyon is also a wildlife haven. Dozens of species of resident and migratory birds, animals, insects, amphibians, mollusks and even crustaceans make this magical forest their home. And you never know what you’re going to see on a stroll in the redwoods.Rounding a bend into a deep, shady ravine, I heard a slight hooting sound. I paused to locate the sound and continued walking just a bit further up the trail. To my astonishment, I had lucked into an encounter with some of the rarest creatures in the redwoods: Northern spotted owls, a threatened species that lives mostly in the old growth coastal redwoods and the forests of the Northwest.Amazingly, right above the trail in the hollow of a ...

Have Alameda brown pelicans lost their ability to fly in formation?

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 11:22:25 GMT

DEAR JOAN: From my morning coffee perch across from Alameda Beach, I have watched the morning activities of the brown pelicans for years. They fly from west to east every morning in large numbers, 30 to 125 per flock, stopping to feed when the tide is right.Up until last year, each group flew in a single line, forming a sine wave in perfect formation. Each exactly follows the bird ahead. They flap their wings to rise 30 to 40 feet, then at the top, they glide down to skim the surface so closely that their wing tips dimple the surface of the water as they again flap their wings to rise.But for the past two years, they have nearly completely lost this precision. They straggle in irregular groups, some large, some small. Sometimes a semblance of the old formation happens. What do you think happened? Did they lose their leader?  Did homeschooling fail? Did they decide to become free to fly without regimentation?It’s an existential crisis.— Roger Ecker, AlamedaDEAR ROGER: Maybe the...