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Florissant Valley of Flowers Festival celebrates 61st year with "Kentucky Derby" theme

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:41 GMT

ST. LOUIS -- The Valley of the Flowers Festival returns to Florissant today. It's traditionally the first spring festival in the metro St. Louis area. This is the 61st year for the event.This year's theme is "the Kentucky Derby.". During the three-day festival, there will be culturally diverse performances, an aerial circus, a vendor craft fair, a pretty baby photo contest, and plenty of musical entertainment. On Saturday, it's the second annual washers tourney. And Sunday kicks off the grand parade.Anyone under 18 years old must be accompanied by an adult. To learn more, head to florissantvalleyofflowers.com.

Ask Amy: A new diagnosis inspires important questions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:41 GMT

Dear Amy: I am a 45-year-old woman who was just diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum.I never suspected I might be autistic until last year, when a friend discovered that she was autistic and sent me some articles about the non-stereotypical ways autism can present itself in women.After going through the professional evaluation process and learning more about autism, I am almost certain that both my older sister and my 80-year-old mother are on the spectrum, too.Should I tell them about my diagnosis and suspicions about them? If so, how? We are a family that never discusses emotions or meaningful experiences, but I am in almost daily text-message contact with both of them (about trivial things like cooking or sharing photos of our dogs).I would be uncomfortable even bringing up my diagnosis because it is virtually taboo to discuss our inner lives within the family.In my teens and early 20s, my mother bluntly told me she didn’t want to discuss the hard parts of my life, and that ...

The Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for Journalism - Call for submission of entries 

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:41 GMT

On 3 May, the World Press Freedom Day, the European Parliament officially launched the call for submissions for entries to the Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for Journalism.The Prize rewards on a yearly basis outstanding journalism that promotes or defends the core principles and values of the European Union such as human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, rule of law, and human rights.European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said: “The reality is that journalists investigating uncomfortable truths are being targeted for doing their job. While everything was done to silence Daphne, she will never be forgotten. Every year, the Prize bearing Daphne's name honours her memory. It is a powerful reminder of the European Parliament’s commitment to safeguard press freedom and the safety of journalists”.The Prize is open to professional journalists and teams of professional journalists of any nationality to submit in-depth pieces that have been published or broadcast by media based in...

Charming central Piedmont

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:41 GMT

This recently remodeled Monterey Colonial comes with exquisite details and high-end finishes, reviving its earlier fine grandeur.This lovingly renovated beauty features random-plank oak hardwood floors, crystal sconces and chandeliers. Walk through the foyer to the formal living room with an ambient fireplace, natural light, French windows and a sliding door to a private deck shared with the formal dining room. Enjoy elegant wainscoting ceiling/scalloped molding, hardwood floors and crystal chandeliers.The cheerful kitchen comes with granite counters, breakfast bar, Dutch door to the backyard and a bright breakfast nook with a bay window and wainscoting walls.Upstairs are three bedrooms, two with an adjoining bathroom. The primary suite with balcony and San Francisco views boasts a luxurious remodeled bathroom and dressing room with Carrera marble, a large shower and custom cabinetry.Downstairs is a sizable family room/in-law area with a fireplace, wet bar with fridge, separate...

Once the ‘Magic Kingdom before Disney,’ Tupperware faces dire future

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:41 GMT

The year was 1954, and Tupperware was having a party.The company’s new Osceola County headquarters in Florida was dedicated by famed Tupperware executive Brownie Wise during a five-day “jubilee” that also featured hundreds of women digging for buried prizes, the Orlando Sentinel reported. Two Cadillacs and five Fords were won by Tupperware distributors during the fun.“Some 220 women shut their eyes, rubbed their hands on a block of polyethylene, and wished – that they might sell more Tupperware,” the newspaper reported.Tupperware would become a draw for visitors to Central Florida and a vital part of the community, said Bob Kealing, author of “Life of the Party,” a book about Wise and Tupperware.“They were the Magic Kingdom before Disney,” Kealing said.Now, those partying days might be over.Tupperware Brands warned last month it might not have enough cash to survive in the near term and said there was “substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern.”Financial adv...

Yes, slavery existed in California, historian says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:41 GMT

As a free state before the Civil War, California would seem untouched by slavery and the debates around it. Yet the real picture is more nuanced.An estimated 500 to 1,500 Black people were “forcibly imported” into California as slaves by their owners, historian Kevin Waite told an audience at Redlands’ A.K. Smiley Library on Tuesday night, May 2. He’s the author of “West of Slavery: The Southern Dream of a Transcontinental Empire.”While even 1,500 is a small number compared to the 4 million slaves in the United States in the 1850s, it’s not zero, is it?Waite asked that we imagine the effort it took not only for a White slave owner to travel by horse-drawn wagon across much of the country, but to smuggle in slaves. That, he said, showed how valuable the slaves must have been.The most famous may be Biddy Mason, who was brought from Georgia to Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1848, and from there to the Mormon colony in San Bernardino in 1851. She had to walk, driving the animals, across the M...

17 arrested after California phone stores robbed of $500,000 in merchandise, authorities say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:41 GMT

Seventeen people from the Inland Empire, including seven minors, have been arrested in connection with a three-county, cellphone-store-robbery spree that netted thieves a half-million dollars in merchandise, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said.Cellphones, computer tablets and smart watches were stolen from stores in San Bernardino, Riverside and Los Angeles counties from October to April, authorities said.The suspects robbed the stores during business hours and would either wield or simulate handguns, said Sgt. Deirdre Vickers, a Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman.In March, several people were arrested after robberies in Jurupa Valley and Lake Elsinore. That led to additional arrests after search warrants were served and stolen property was recovered in Adelanto, Rialto and San Bernardino, a sheriff’s news release said.The arrest adults were 18 to 24 years old and lived in San Bernardino, Adelanto, Moreno Valley, Banning and Riverside.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety...

Tornado damages buildings in Southern California; snow falls on mountains

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:41 GMT

Workers sift through damage on a roof in Carson caused by a small tornado on Thursday, May 4. Photo: OC HawkWorkers sift through damage on a roof in Carson caused by a small tornado on Thursday, May 4. Photo: OC HawkWorkers sift through damage on a roof in Carson caused by a small tornado on Thursday, May 4. Photo: OC HawkShow Caption of ExpandA storm doused much of Southern California on Thursday, May 4, with rain, blanketed mountain communities with snow — and unleashed a small tornado that damaged some commercial buildings in Carson.Before 9 a.m., that tornado swirled through Carson and Compton, with a rating of EF0, the weakest level, still behind a short path of minor damage to buildings and trees. At least two structures, along Avalon Boulevard, suffered holes in rooftops. There were no reported injuries.Tornado in carson ca !?? pic.twitter.com/bY6p7gKcpd— Joel Mendez (@JoelMendez310) May 4, 2023 “Oftentimes, weak tornadoes in California start out as water spouts o...

California county paid $1.1 million ransom to hacker of Sheriff’s Department computers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:41 GMT

San Bernardino County acknowledged this week that it has paid a $1.1 million ransom to a hacker who uploaded malware to the Sheriff’s Department’s computer system.In a ransomware attack, a criminal enters a system and encrypts the data, leaving the owner unable to access it. If a ransom is paid, usually in cryptocurrency, the criminal will provide a decryption key to unlock the data.For weeks, the county said little publicly about the hack, other than to call it a “network disruption.”David Wert, a county spokesman, said the county had anticipated such a computer invasion and had taken out insurance. He said that of the $1.1 million payout, the county’s share was $511,852 and that the insurance company paid the rest.Sheriff Shannon Dicus said Wednesday that the cyberattack did not compromise public safety but workarounds were required for certain tasks. For instance, he said, deputies could not access the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System, which can tell deputies ...

Family of slain California police officer sues DA for not following ‘three-strikes’ law

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:41 GMT

The family of slain El Monte police Officer Joseph Santana has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, alleging his disregard for California’s “three-strikes” law enabled a convicted felon to commit the 2022 double homicide that also claimed the life of another officer.The suit, filed Wednesday, May 3, in Los Angeles Superior Court by the officer’s wife, Sasha Santana, along with his three children and parents, also names the county Probation Department and Siesta Inn in East Los Angeles as defendants. It seeks unspecified monetary damages.“Gascón and the probation department need to be held accountable for their failures that resulted in Joseph’s death,” Santana’s family said in a statement. “No family should ever have to endure the pain we’ve been through since the tragic passing of our loving son, father and husband.”On June 14, 2022, Santana, 31, and El Monte police Cpl. Michael Paredes, 42, responded to a report of a stabbing a...