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Denver Book Club: “The Vaster Wilds,” Tom Hanks’ novel and more short reviews from readers

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 07:00:24 GMT

Editor’s note: The opinions of the smart, well-read women in my Denver book club mean a lot, and often determine what the rest of us choose to pile onto our bedside tables. Sure, you could read advertising blurbs on Amazon, but wouldn’t you be more likely to believe a neighbor with no skin in the game over a corporation being fed words by publishers? So in this series, we are sharing these mini-reviews with you. Have any to offer? Email [email protected].“The Vaster Wilds,” by Lauren Groff (Riverhead Books, September 2023)“The Vaster Wilds,” by Lauren Groff (Riverhead Books, September 2023)Related ArticlesBooks | “The Bitter Past” and two other mystery novels to read right now Books | Short book reviews: “People of the Book,” “Liar’s Dictionary” and more Books | “Trust,” “The Deep Sky” and more short book reviews from Denver readers Books | “Le...

AI brings the robot wingman to aerial combat

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 07:00:24 GMT

By Eric Lipton, The New York TimesEGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. — It is powered into flight by a rocket engine. It can fly a distance equal to the width of China. It has a stealthy design and is capable of carrying missiles that can hit enemy targets far beyond its visual range.But what really distinguishes the Air Force’s pilotless XQ-58A Valkyrie experimental aircraft is that it is run by artificial intelligence, putting it at the forefront of efforts by the U.S. military to harness the capacities of an emerging technology whose vast potential benefits are tempered by deep concerns about how much autonomy to grant to a lethal weapon.Essentially a next-generation drone, the Valkyrie is a prototype for what the Air Force hopes can become a potent supplement to its fleet of traditional fighter jets, giving human pilots a swarm of highly capable robot wingmen to deploy in battle. Its mission is to marry artificial intelligence and its sensors to identify and evaluate enemy threats ...

A new lease on life: Denver unveils 16 office towers best suited for conversion to residential

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 07:00:24 GMT

The city of Denver now has a clearer picture of what distressed downtown office buildings would make the best candidates to switch over to residences, part of a larger effort to make it easier for investors and developers to take on the task.Denver has designated 16 buildings as prime candidates for conversion and behind them another 13 that score highly in terms of their convertibility, according to a study that Denver commissioned the global architectural firm Gensler to conduct.“Downtown towers are a different animal to demolish. It would be a shame to waste them,” said Jennifer Ramsey, adaptive reuse administrator at Denver’s Department of Community Planning and Development.Fewer employees are going to the office after the big shift to remote work during the pandemic and in Denver employee counts downtown in June were only at 60% of the levels seen in 2019, according to the High Frequency Economic Update from the Downtown Denver Partnership.While that rebound b...

Man shot, killed in Palmdale; suspect on the loose 

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 07:00:24 GMT

An investigation is being launched into what led up to the shooting death of a man in Palmdale. According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, deputies with the Palmdale Station responded to a residence in the 37500 block of Sabal Street regarding a “hang up and assault” call around 9 p.m. Sunday evening. Upon arriving on scene, deputies discovered a man with a gunshot wound inside the home.  The victim, who has not been identified, was pronounced deceased at the scene, LASD said.   Driver runs from car after crash, gets struck by multiple vehicles and killed Authorities have identified the alleged shooter as 20-year-old Andrew Plancarte. He fled the scene in an unknown direction after the shooting. A firearm was recovered at the location, deputies said. Anyone with information surrounding this shooting is asked to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. 

Google makes it easier to remove personal info

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 07:00:24 GMT

Google recently updated a powerful privacy feature called Results About You. The improvements make it even easier to find and remove your personal information from Google Search Results.This can include information like your phone number, email and home address."We know people would like to have more peace of mind about how their personal contact information appears online. So, this new Results About You dashboard is designed to make the process easier," said Danny Sullivan, Google's Public Liaison for Search.Follow Tech Reporter Rich DeMuro on Instagram for more tech tips, news and reviews.Here's how it works:Once you sign up for the free service, Google will monitor the internet for mentions of your name, address, email and phone number. It will alert you when a new page pops up with your information.Then, in just one click, you can request to have the web page removed from Google's search results.Keep in mind, while Google can remove the link from its search results, it "can't ta...

Photos: End of an era in Monterey County, LaPorte Mansion being torn down

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 07:00:24 GMT

Flames billow from the attic of Victorian home on the corner of 17 Mile Drive and Lighthouse Avenue as firefighters battle the blaze in Pacific Grove on Friday. (David Royal — Herald Correspondent)Crews were out Friday morning clearing out and tearing down the historic LaPorte Mansion, after a fire destroyed the home in May (Molly Gibbs – Monterey Herald).Crews were out Friday morning clearing out and tearing down the historic LaPorte Mansion, after a fire destroyed the home in May (Molly Gibbs – Monterey Herald).A fire captain works at a hydrant while battling a blaze in the Victorian home on the corner of 17 Mile Drive and Lighthouse Avenue in Pacific Grove on Friday. (David Royal — Herald Correspondent)Firefighters saturate a first-story room with water while battling a blaze in the Victorian home on the corner of 17 Mile Drive and Lighthouse Avenue in Pacific Grove on Friday. (David Royal — Herald Correspondent)Crowds look on as firefighters battle ...

A Bay Area couple turns their Eichler into a lush oasis

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 07:00:24 GMT

Terry Bremer grew up in a New York apartment in Queens. “The only plant I could identify was a hedge,” she quips.Things would change once she moved to Marin after spending two decades in San Francisco, where as a legal secretary she met and eventually married her boss, attorney David Bremer. Today, they both still work together in his San Rafael law practice.“I began gardening when I lived in the Sunset District of San Francisco,” she recalls. “I had a tiny yard, but I made the best of it, learning what would grow in that cold, foggy climate.”When they purchased one of the coveted Lucas Valley Eichler homes, on a large corner lot and a quiet cul-de-sac, they also got a generous quarter-of-an-acre spot in which to garden with a backyard, two side yards and a courtyard.A concrete block wall, which had originally separated the courtyard from the front yard, had been removed by a previous owner, and the fenced-in area enlarged, thus creating a more open space. The previous owner had als...

Livermore makes list of hottest ZIP codes in U.S. for home buyers — but Bakersfield has it beat

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 07:00:24 GMT

Despite soaring mortgage rates that have dampened sales for existing homes, at least one Bay Area city is still considered a hotspot for buyer demand.Livermore ranked 44th on a list of the 50 hottest ZIP codes in the country, according to a new report by Realtor.com. The Tri-Valley city was one of two California cities that made the list. Bakersfield in Kern County, north of Los Angeles, came in at No. 24.What’s the hottest ZIP code in the country? It’s 43230, perhaps better known as Gahanna, Ohio, in the Columbus metropolitan area. The median listing price on the real estate website for a home there in June was $351,000.Affordability, location and bang for your home-buying buck are what’s driving the highest concentration of buyer interest across the country, according to the report, with markets in the Midwest and Northeast ranking highest.Livermore — with a median listing price of $1.4 million — was the highest-priced ZIP code on the top 50 list, said Hannah Jones, se...

A dozen rare California condors explore Diablo Range

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 07:00:24 GMT

A dozen condors were recorded flying over the Diablo Range this week, suggesting the rare species is exploring new territory in the Bay Area’s rolling grasslands, plateaus and peaks.“It’s the most condors we’ve seen in that area at one time, ever,” said Kelly Sorenson, executive director of the Ventana Wildlife Society, which reintroduces captive-bred condors to their historic Central Coast habitat. “The population is growing in size, and it’s also expanding its range.”On Thursday, two of the birds were spotted soaring over Mount Hamilton, only 20 miles east of downtown San Jose, sending astronomers and other Lick Observatory staffers rushing outside, eyes to the sky, after a radio announcement.“It was so exciting. They’re just such huge majestic birds,” said Observatory astronomer Elinor Gates, who raced out of her residence with binoculars and cameras.The pair – one released in the mountains near the coast of San Simeon a...

Who’d shoulder higher Bay Area bridge tolls to bail out transit? Backers say the rich, critics the poor. Who’s right?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 07:00:24 GMT

When state lawmakers this past week put the brakes on a plan to rescue BART and other ailing transit systems, a key concern was that the proposed toll increases at Bay Area bridges to pay for the bailout would wallop low-paid workers who cross those spans to get to their jobs.But the question of who would bear the burden of a $1.50 bridge toll hike — the working poor or the well-off — is hardly settled, as both sides of the debate point to data and arguments that back their claims. The answer will be key to selling the bailout plan as legislative advocates strategize a fresh pitch for early next year.In a letter this month to Gov. Gavin Newsom and state legislative leaders, seven Bay Area congressional representatives with deep reservations about the toll hike plan demanded an analysis of its impact on “low-income or car-dependent commuters.”The congressional delegation cited Metropolitan Transportation Commission data that 59% of bridge toll payers come from Alameda, Co...