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Disneyland guests take one last ride on Splash Mountain

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:01 GMT

Disneyland guests could wait hours in line to ride Splash Mountain one last time before its extensive transformation into “Tiana’s Bayou Adventure,” a “Princess and the Frog”-inspired attraction.Tuesday is the last day the ride will be operational before its official closure on May 31, according to Disneyland officials.While the attraction itself isn’t getting torn down, it will undergo a complete makeover and return re-themed as “Tiana’s Bayou Adventure,” which is scheduled to open in late 2024 at the U.S. Disney Parks. Disneyland’s Splash Mountain temporarily closes due to wildlife encounter Splash Mountain wait times at Disneyland could be about four hours long if Walt Disney World is any indication. When Florida's version of Splash Mountain closed in January, guests waited 220 minutes — over three hours long — on its final day of operation. The extra long wait times at Magic Kingdom set a new wait time record for the attraction.A previous record of 210 minutes was set in 2020,...

The Mars Bar To Enter Hollywood’s Orbit On Friday, June 2

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:01 GMT

To celebrate the the launch of FOX’s new unscripted competition series, Stars on Mars, The Mars Bar will land at the Scum & Villainy Cantina in Hollywood on Friday, June 2, and Saturday, June 3, for an exclusive hosted wine bar pop-up featuring the Red (Wine) Planet with series-inspired ‘Space Flights,’ astronaut charcuterie, exclusive content and “star” gazing in a fully immersive setting. Upon entering the celestial pop-up, there will be a curated selection of space-themed wines to honor the red planet, including robust reds and crisp whites from a mission specialist sommelier.The show, which premieres on Monday, June 5, will prepare celebrities for take-off to “Mars,” where they will live, eat, sleep, strategize and bond with each other in the same space station. During their stay, they will be faced with conditions that simulate life on Mars, and compete to outlast each other and claim the title of brightest star in the galaxy. The celebrities will compete in missions and vo...

Protesters, police clash near home of Senegal opposition leader

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:01 GMT

By Babacar Dione | Associated PressDAKAR, Senegal — Police fired tear gas and demonstrators burned cars Monday near the home of Senegal’s main opposition leader, as tensions rise in the capital days before a court verdict is expected on charges against the politician.Ousmane Sonko is being tried for rape and death threats against a woman working at a massage parlor, and could face up to 10 years in prison. If convicted, he would would be barred from running in next year’s presidential elections. Sonko and his supporters maintain his legal troubles are part of an effort by President Macky Sall’s government to derail his candidacy.The clashes came a day after police stopped Sonko’s “freedom caravan,” traveling from his hometown of Ziguinchor, in the south and where he is the mayor, to the capital, Dakar, where he was forced into a home he has in the city.The interior minister, Antoine Felix Diome, said Sonko had not been arrested but was caught brea...

Births decline in 35 states, continuing a long-term trend

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:01 GMT

Tim Henderson | Stateline.org (TNS)Fast-growing Texas and Florida had the biggest increases in the number of births last year, while a dozen other states — half of them in the South — continued to rebound from pandemic lows.In the United States as a whole, however, the number of births has plateaued after a modest increase following the worst of the pandemic, according to preliminary data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Births increased in only 15 states from 2021 to 2022, compared with growth in 43 states between 2020 and 2021. More detailed statistics, which could shift slightly, are due for release June 1.Overall, the new data shows the continuation of a long-term trend toward fewer births in the United States, said Phillip Levine, an economics professor at Wellesley College who studies birth trends. Births were down more than 650,000 or 15% over the past 15 years.“We’re back where we started before COVID hit,” Levine said. “Births are still declining,...

Kurtenbach: What made Bob Myers great also brought about his Warriors exit

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:01 GMT

The Golden State Warriors can’t replace Bob Myers.Sure, someone else will succeed him as the Warriors’ president of basketball operations — the head honcho in the front office. And perhaps that person can match Myers’ team-building aptitude.But no matter how smart, qualified, and affable that person (or persons) might be, they won’t come close to matching the soft skills Myers brought to his job.It was those soft skills that helped build a dynasty. It’s those same skills that are behind Myers’ exit on Tuesday.Myers is tired. Can you blame him?He has spent the last decade-plus building the Warriors into the greatest sports dynasty of the 21st century and the most valuable sports franchise in the world. The Warriors — the one-time laughingstock — became the organization that all others, no matter the sport, want to emulate.Myers did that with people skills.(Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group) Related ArticlesGolden State Warriors | Im...

Shot teen Ralph Yarl walks in brain injury awareness event

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:01 GMT

Associated PressKANSAS CITY, Mo. — Ralph Yarl — a Black teenager who was shot in the head and arm after mistakenly ringing the wrong doorbell — walked at a brain injury awareness event in his first major public appearance since the shooting.The 17-year-old suffered a traumatic brain injury when he was shot while trying to pick up his younger brothers in April, the Kansas City Star reported.Yarl walked with family, friends and other brain injury survivors Monday at Going the Distance for Brain Injury, a yearly Memorial Day race at Loose Park in Kansas City, Missouri.“It takes a community. It takes a family. It takes a support group, all of that,” Yarl’s mother, Cleo Nagbe, said ahead of the race, adding: “Let’s raise more awareness to stop the things that cause brain injuries and should not be causing them, especially gun violence.”As many as 1,000 people raced through the park, including many in neon green T-shirts who registered to be part of ...

Rufus Wainwright gives himself the most amazing present for 50th birthday

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:01 GMT

Rufus Wainwright is turning the big 5-0.And the singer-songwriter is marking the occasion with the release of “Folkocracy,” a new 15-song set featuring contributions from Brandi Carlile, John Legend, David Byrne, Sheryl Crow, Nicole Scherzinger, Chaka Khan, Andrew Bird, ANOHNI, Susanna Hoffs, Van Dyke Parks, Madison Cunningham and other artists.“The guests on the album are all people whose music and voices I have admired for years,” says Wainwright, who is known for such acclaimed efforts as 2001’s “Poses” and 2003’s “Want One.” “Having them on the album is a bit like a birthday present to myself.”The new album, which leans into Wainwright’s folk roots as the child of Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle, is due out June 2 — the same day he launches his tour with a star-studded show featuring Khan, Cunningham, Hoffs and other special guests at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.Wainwrig...

Bob Myers stepping down as Warriors GM

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:01 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- Golden State Warriors General Manager Bob Myers is stepping down from his position, the Associated Press has confirmed. The news was first reported on Tuesday morning by ESPN. Myers, a two-time executive of the year, has been with the Warriors for 12 years and helped guide the team to four NBA Championships. Astros mock A’s attendance in now-deleted tweet "It's just time," Myers reportedly told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. Myers' contract was set to expire at the end of June and there has been speculation for some time about his future, given that the sides had yet to reach an agreement on an extension or a new deal. Myers, 48, grew up in suburban Danville and played basketball at UCLA. Before becoming a top NBA executive, he was an agent. Myers was known for maintaining a close working relationship with Warriors coach Steve Kerr and would sometimes talk to players during games, something rare for an NBA GM to do. That included working to calm down fiery forw...

Inmate allegedly stabs deputies with 'jail-made' knife at Santa Clara County main jail

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:01 GMT

(BCN) -- Two Santa Clara County sheriff's deputies were stabbed by an inmate at the Main Jail in an alleged unprovoked attack Sunday, according to sheriff's officials. At about 7:20 p.m., the inmate allegedly left his cell in Module 6B and attacked the deputies with a "jail-made" knife. He was eventually restrained with the help of additional deputies but not before allegedly stabbing the first two in their hands and shoulders. The deputies were taken to a hospital and treated for moderate lacerations and puncture wounds, according to the Sheriff's Office. Elizabeth Holmes enters Texas prison to begin 11-year sentence for notorious blood-testing hoax The names of the inmate and deputies weren't released. The attack is being investigated by Sheriff's Office homicide detectives and crime scene investigators. "Our correctional deputies play a critical role in maintaining law and order within the correctional facilities and this attack serves as a stark reminder of the ris...

Brazil president proposes South America currency, as he hosts summit to rebuild regional bloc

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:01 GMT

BRASILIA (AP) — Brazil’s president proposed the creation of a regional trade currency to rival the U.S. dollar on Tuesday as he hosted a regional summit in a bid to revive a bloc of South America’s 12 politically polarized countries.The Union of South American Nations, or Unasur, was launched in 2008 to boost cooperation, but became largely defunct about a decade later in disputes over leadership. Countries with right-leaning leaders at the time — including Brazil — saw the bloc as having a leftist bent and objected especially to the inclusion of Venezuela’s authoritarian leftist President Nicolás Maduro.Brazil’s new leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has proposed restarting the bloc now that the region has a greater number of leftist and centrist leaders. He called a South America Summit in Brasilia that has drawn all but one of the region’s presidents.In his opening speech, Lula said the group should discuss creating a currency to challenge the hegemony of the U.S. dollar...