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Still waiting for an invite to Casa Bonita? Some diners have been more than once.

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:24 GMT

More than four months after reopening, Lakewood’s famed Casa Bonita remains in its soft opening phase – or “beta testing,” as it touts on the restaurant website. The only way to visit is to sign up for its email list and get selected via a random lottery for a chance to buy tickets.While many fans await a coveted invite to see what “South Park” creators-turned-restaurant owners Matt Stone and Trey Parker have done with the famous property, some lucky locals have already dined there more than once.Boulder resident Alex Sierra, for example, went twice in July. The first time, he was invited to join a friend who was selected in the lottery. (Each lottery recipient can book a table for up to eight guests.) About a week later, Sierra received an email notification that he was a lucky lottery winner.“I was fine with waiting for whenever I got my invite, but some of my friends really wanted to go,” said Sierra, who moved to Colorado in 1999 and frequently visited to Casa Bonita before it s...

Kiszla: Avs’ quest to regain championship mojo begins with defenseman Cale Makar

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:24 GMT

Truth be known, the Avs’ defense of their glorious NHL championship in 2022 ended at the victory parade.After taking long and glorious gulps from the Stanley Cup, the Avalanche could never shake the hangover.Gabe Landeskog, the best captain any hockey team could want, came up with a lame knee that stubbornly refused to heal.Nazem Kadri took a well-deserved payday in free agency and took his mess-around-and-find-out attitude with him to Calgary.Rather than getting down to the difficult task of building a dynasty, coach Jared Bednar was stuck endlessly trying to patch cracks in his lineup.Although the Avs never surrendered to the grind, they also never regained that championship mojo, and after making a late run to win the Central Division, it felt like this team was already out of gas before the playoffs even began.“We were kind of like a loaded gun. I felt like we weren’t ready to fire all year. We were always just reloading,” Cale Makar told me Monday, reminiscing about the failure...

How Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon can carve his own path to legendary NHL legacy

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:24 GMT

Nathan MacKinnon has spent most of his life living in the shadow of one of the best hockey players of all time.When he was younger, the obvious comparison was Sidney Crosby. MacKinnon grew up in the same town, and Crosby was one of his idols. The stories about MacKinnon’s rise to amateur hockey stardom are as mythical in Nova Scotia as Crosby’s.There’s the one about how he would challenge coaches, not teammates, to shooting competitions at 11 years old. Then there was the day when Hockey Canada didn’t invite a 16-year-old MacKinnon to its world junior championships tryout camp. He responded the next game by scoring five goals in five different ways against Quebec, with coach Patrick Roy watching from behind the Ramparts bench.“The way I try to describe him is to tell anybody who has coached youth sports to take the best athlete they’ve ever seen at a certain age and then you combine that with the fiercest competitor you’ve ever met at any age. That’s what you got there with Nate,” s...

Broncos Roundtable: Does Sean Payton win another game before the bye week?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:24 GMT

Parker Gabriel, Broncos reporter: Alright, guys, short week, so let’s keep this tidy. Nathaniel Hackett strolled into Empower Field with pockets full of Walton buyout money and strolled out with a win and a game ball. The Broncos are 1-4 and have three games to go before their bye week: At Kansas City on Thursday night, vs. Green Bay on Oct. 22 and Kansas City at home Oct. 29. So, simple question: Do they get a win? I’m going to say yes and take the easy route with the Packers. That team has young talent and Jordan Love has shown flashes, but he’s struggled the past two weeks. They’ll be coming off their bye week, but Denver at least gets a couple extra days of prep. The Packers’ defense has struggled despite a bevy of first-round picks and the young core offensively is far from a finished product. So, let’s say 2-6 at the bye with a 17-game skid to Kansas City.Ryan McFadden, Broncos reporter:  You would think the answer is yes. It’s hard to envis...

Myers: Hamas attack tore Israel’s veneer of invincibility

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:24 GMT

Fifty years ago, almost to the day in 1973, Egyptian and Syrian forces invaded Israel in a surprise attack on the holiest day of the Jewish year, Yom Kippur. Not only were many Israelis unprepared because they were in synagogue or otherwise marking the solemn fast day, but Israeli intelligence agencies had failed to take seriously the threat of an attack by Egypt, Israel’s largest neighbor and foe.The prevailing “concept” (known in Hebrew as the “konceptzia”) was that Arab armies would not undertake a war that they were not certain to win. This turned out to be a colossal mistake, as Egyptian and Syrian forces overwhelmed Israeli defenses for three days, inflicting heavy losses on the army and leading many to believe that Israel’s end had come.And now in 2023, a major enemy of Israel, Hamas, launched a stunning attack on a day marked by the convergence of the Jewish sabbath and the holiday of Simchat Torah (one of the most celebratory days in the Jewish calendar). Unlike in 1973, th...

The top 10 most expensive home sales in Hayward, reported the week of Sep. 25

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:24 GMT

A house that sold for $2.8 million tops the list of the most expensive residential real estate sales in Hayward in the past week.In total, 10 residential real estate sales were recorded in the area during the past week, with an average price of $1.4 million, $575 per square foot.The prices in the list below concern real estate sales where the title was recorded during the week of Sep. 25 even if the property may have been sold earlier.10. $900,000, single-family residence in the 16900 block of Meekland Ave.The 1,199 square-foot single-family residence in the 16900 block of Meekland Ave. in Hayward has been sold. The transfer of ownership was settled in August and the total purchase price was $900,000, $751 per square foot. The house was built in 1948. The house features two bedrooms and one bathrooms.Meekland Avenue9. $950,000, single-family house in the 3300 block of East Ave.The sale of the single family residence in the 3300 block of East Ave. in Hayward has been finalized. The p...

The biggest winners in the Disneyland Magic Key settlement aren’t annual passholders

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:24 GMT

The biggest winners in the $9.5 million Magic Key class action lawsuit weren’t Disneyland annual passholders, but rather the plaintiff, the settlement administration firm and the lawyers.Disney agreed in September to settle a federal lawsuit alleging that annual passholders who purchased the $1,399 Dream Key in 2021 were unable to make theme park reservations at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure despite the promise of “no blockout dates.”As a result of the class action suit, each of the 103,435 Dream Key annual passholders will get $67.41.Magic Key passholders will get about $7 million of the $9.5 million settlement. The other $2.5 million will go to fees related to the case.Related ArticlesBusiness | Pixar’s ‘Turning Red’ boy band 4*Town is coming to Disneyland — but for what? Business | Disneyland offers deep discounts on kids’ tickets in early 2024 Business | Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk announces new rides opening next spring ...

Palm Springs ‘Swiss Miss’ house by Charles Du Bois relists for $2.5 million

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:24 GMT

View from the foyer. (Photo by Kelly Peak)The great room. (Photo by Kelly Peak)The backyard. (Photo by Kelly Peak)Show Caption of ExpandA Swiss Miss house, one of 15 designed by modernist architect Charles Du Bois to stand out from its neighbors in Palm Springs’ Vista Las Palmas enclave, is back on the market.The asking price is $2.498 million.Completed in 1958, the 2,132-square-foot Polynesian-inspired double A-frame known as “Alohaus” has four bedrooms and three bathrooms. It sits on a third-acre-plus lot at the end of the street.The property hit the market for the first time in 20 years in September 2022 for $2.995 million but was quickly removed by the longtime owners. Records show they bought it for $580,000 in January 2003.“The sellers could not find a suitable replacement property that was worthy enough of giving up this house,” said Scott Histed of Bennion Deville Homes, the listing agent.That has since changed.Related ArticlesReal Estate | Photos: $76 million Ste...

Kaiser Permanente unions lay groundwork for another strike in November

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:24 GMT

Executives at Kaiser Permanente have received notice of another potential strike just days after 75,000 employees ended a three-day walkout.The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions issued a 10-day strike notice Monday, Oct. 9, warning of a possible strike Nov. 1-8 if the healthcare giant fails to address “an acute and dire” staffing crisis and continues to outsource jobs.Union contracts expired Sept. 30 and bargaining between the two sides is set to resume Thursday, Oct. 12 and Friday, Oct. 13.Frontline healthcare workers say they’ll wait until Nov. 1 for any potential strike action, when an additional contract covering workers in Seattle expires. The delay is intended to give Kaiser executives more time to craft viable proposals.The Seattle contract’s expiration Oct. 31 would enable another 3,000 healthcare workers also affected by the Kaiser short-staffing crisis to join strike lines.In a statement issued Tuesday, Kaiser said it is “committed to reaching an agreement that is good...

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried hoped to be US president someday, says ex-girlfriend/hedge-fund CEO

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:24 GMT

By KEN SWEET and LARRY NEUMEISTER | Associated PressNEW YORK — Caroline Ellison, the tech executive who ran Sam Bankman-Fried ‘s hedge fund while sometimes dating him, testified Tuesday that he directed her to commit crimes before his cryptocurrency empire collapsed last November. She also revealed that her former boss thought he might be U.S. president someday.With Bankman-Fried watching from his courtroom seat, Ellison, 28, said at the New York City trial that she committed fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud and money laundering with Bankman-Fried and others as they stole from customers and investors in FTX, a company Bankman-Fried started, and lenders to his hedge fund, Alameda Research.“He directed me to commit these crimes,” she said of Bankman-Fried.Repeatedly, Ellison made clear that Bankman-Fried was behind the biggest financial moves in his companies, to the point that bitcoins he created were sometimes called “Sam’s coins.”She described him as “very ambitious” and envisioni...