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The Iron Claw: An American Tragedy on the Lighted Stage

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:31 GMT

A24’s The Iron Claw is not your typical sports movie. You won’t be rooting for the hero to score a championship belt, pin a villain to the mat, or sprint through his hometown while the town cheers him on. Thank God. Instead, writer/director Sean Durkin unspools the true story of the Von Erich brothers and their rise to wrestling fame with a mounting anxiety that’s downright Kubrickian. At first glance, this movie might look like a straightforward biography, but it’s so much more. Thanks to Durkin’s uncanny filmmaking, the story takes on several gradations, working as both an intimate portrait of a family in crisis and a searing indictment on good ol’ American ambition.Named after the Von Erich brothers’ signature move, The Iron Claw opens on the sweaty, bulging  visage of Fritz Von Erich (Holt McCallany), the family patriarch, as he struggles to break free from an opponent. It’s a haunting glimpse into the boiling rage that’ll eventually ravage his family like a virus. It’s the earl...

The link between a California military base and Chuck Berry’s ‘Run Rudolph Run’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:31 GMT

In 1958, Chuck Berry came out with a Christmas song called “Run Rudolph Run,” which has become a perennial favorite and has been played all over the radio every December since.But the song’s connection to March Air Force Base near Riverside has not been realized before now.In the fourth verse of the song, it says, as many of you will remember:“Said Santa to a girl child, ‘What would please you most to get?’‘A little baby doll that can cry, sleep, drink and wet.’And then away went Rudolph, whizzin’ like a Saber jet.”It just so happens, on March 11, 1949, the Riverside Daily Press reported that the newest jet in the United States air fleet was officially named the “Sabre” by the 94th Fighter Squadron, 1st Fighter group, at March Air Force Base. The North American Aviation F-86 jet fighter received the name after a vote by the men in this fighter group. (Note, the spelling of the actual jet name was slightly different from the one in the song lyrics.)The Sabre name was one of 79 ideas ...

UN: More than 25% of people in Gaza starving because of war

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:31 GMT

By Najib Jobain, Jack Jeffery and Colleen Barry | Associated PressRAFAH, Gaza Strip — More than half a million people in Gaza — a quarter of the population — are starving, according to a report Thursday by the U.N. and other agencies that highlights the humanitarian crisis caused by Israel’s bombardment and siege on the territory in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.The extent of the population’s hunger eclipsed even the near-famines in Afghanistan and Yemen of recent years, according to figures in the report. The report warned that the risk of famine is “increasing each day,” blaming the hunger on insufficient aid entering Gaza.“It doesn’t get any worse,” said Arif Husain, chief economist for the U.N.’s World Food Program. “I have never seen something at the scale that is happening in Gaza. And at this speed.”Israel says it is in the final stages of clearing out Hamas militants from northern Gaza, but that months of f...

Can police avoid hurting individuals with autism? Florida cops learn how

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:31 GMT

Donna Lorman wanted her son’s green pop tube, so she tried to take it from him. Drew Lorman, a 31-year-old man with autism, protected it, pushing his mother back harder with each attempt to yank the toy out his hands.“No,” he said during one try. “Move away,” he said in another.Drew Lorman easily could have thrown his mother to the ground, or worse, had it not been for years of behavioral analysis Donna Lorman said brought him down from 96 aggressive episodes an hour to two or fewer in a month. But he could potentially face lethal force if a police officer tried to detain him without knowing that Drew, who stands over six feet tall and weighs more than 300 pounds, has the cognitive age of a 7-year-old.That’s the kind of situation Donna Lorman, president of the Autistic Society of Greater Orlando and Osceola, said she hopes to prevent for her son and others with autism as she spoke before law enforcement officers from across the Central Florida region on Tuesday at the Kissimmee Civi...

Giuliani files for bankruptcy after $148 million judgment

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:31 GMT

By Hannah Rabinowitz | CNNRudy Giuliani filed for bankruptcy in federal court in New York on Thursday, just days after a jury ordered him to pay nearly $150 million to two former Georgia election workers for defamation.According to the filing, Giuliani listed debts between $100 million and $500 million, and assets worth up to $10 million.The bankruptcy declaration is another setback for the former New York City mayor, federal prosecutor and one-time front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, all stemming from his time as Donald Trump’s attorney after the 2020 presidential election.Related ArticlesNational News | Judge: Ex-election workers can go after Giuliani’s assets immediately National News | French: Behold, MAGA Man — whoever he once was is gone National News | Some of Trump’s 2020 fake electors have roles in 2024 races National News | Judge: Oregon lawmakers who walked out can’t run agai...

‘Court got this wrong’: AG Bonta to appeal judge’s decision blocking California’s concealed carry law

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:31 GMT

By Nouran Salahieh, Cindy Von Quednow and Josh Campbell | CNNA federal judge on Wednesday blocked parts of a California law that would have banned carrying concealed firearms in certain “sensitive places,” including places of worship, public libraries, amusement parks, zoos and sporting events.California is planning to file an appeal of the decision, Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Wednesday, adding that “the court got this wrong.”The law, among a series of gun control measures signed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom in September, applies to those with licenses to carry a concealed weapon.US District Judge Cormac Carney granted a preliminary injunction, and indicated that provisions of Senate Bill 2 that were being challenged “unconstitutionally deprive” concealed carry holders of their rights to carry a handgun.The judge called the coverage of California’s law “sweeping, repugnant to the Second Amendment, and openly defiant of the Supreme Court.”“SB2 turns nearly every public p...

Review: ACT’s long-running ‘Christmas Carol’ goes out with a bang, and a tear

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:31 GMT

What the Dickens! After 18 years of banishing the bah-humbugs, ACT’s current incarnation of “A Christmas Carol” is taking its final bow.To be sure the classics always get reinvented for a new generation but I’ll admit that the news made this theater critic quite wistful. Not to carbon date myself too much but I actually remember when this iteration was brand new, having grown up on the shadowy magic of the previous version, which was unabashedly bleak and political, a product of its age. Long ago, I even played one of the plucky little Cratchit children under the tutelage of Dakin Matthew’s marvelously mischievous Scrooge.Truth be told, I loved the intricate narration that framed that deep and dark production, which was adapted by Dennis Powers and Laird Williamson.The sparklier current version, written by Carey Perloff and Paul Walsh, by contrast, has far more music and more colorful set pieces, a nod to its more ebullient era.Two venerable Bay Area actors, James Carpenter and Anth...

Bay Area New Year’s Eve 2023: Here are 3 best bets for music fans on Dec. 31

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:31 GMT

Here are three shows worth checking out on New Year’s Eve:Lee FieldsThe R&B great has been in the game for a long time, having released the debut single “Bewildered” (with a flip side of “Tell Her I Love Her”) way back in 1969. He’s still going strong more than a half century later, drawing new fans and finding critical acclaim with such efforts as 2019’s “It Rains Love” and 2022’s “Sentimental Fool.” The vocalist ends the year with two shows, Dec. 30-31, at the Chapel in San Francisco.Details: 9 p.m. Dec. 30, $35; 9:30 p.m. Dec. 31, $75; thechapelsf.comBig Head Todd and the MonstersTodd Mohr is a first-rate vocalist-guitarist. He’s also, if we are to take the band’s name as fact, a guy with a pretty large noggin. We expect the former detail to be the more relevant of the two when Mohr leads his platinum-selling Colorado blues-rock band in concert Dec. 30-31 at the Guild Theatre in Menlo Park. He...

Vallemar Elementary School lockdown lifted

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:31 GMT

(KRON) -- A lockdown at Vallemar Elementary School in Pacifica Thursday morning due to police activity has been lifted. The school is located at 377 Reina Del Mar Avenue and is part of the Pacifica School District. Serial Bay Area shoplifter arrested 90 times As of 9:48 a.m., the Pacifica Police Department said the investigation remained active but that the suspect is no longer believed to be in the area. There is no immediate threat to public safety, police said.This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

51-year-old man dead after car strikes tree in Santa Clara Wednesday night

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:31 GMT

(BCN) -- A 51-year-old man died when his vehicle hit a tree near a U.S. Highway 101 off-ramp in Santa Clara on Wednesday night, according to the California Highway Patrol. The crash was reported at 8:53 p.m. at the Montague Expressway off-ramp from northbound Highway 101. Serial Bay Area shoplifter arrested 90 times Officers responded and determined that a 2000 Mercedes-Benz ML430 went off the off-ramp and struck a tree. The 51-year-old, a resident of Santa Clara and the sole occupant of the vehicle, was pronounced dead, CHP officials said.Investigators said alcohol appears to be a factor in the crash. The name of the driver who died was not immediately available.Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc.