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Cookies and corpses: Inside the world’s biggest death convention

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:25 GMT

Jason Bracelin | (TNS) Las Vegas Review-JournalIt’s just past noon, and we’re learning how we can keep a dead relative in our pocket.“The average person is about 40-80 stones,” notes Justin Crowe, the slim, mustachioed founder and CEO of Parting Stone, a company that turns the remains of the deceased into rock-like formations of various shapes and sizes that you can hold in your hands without getting ashes on your fingertips, or maybe skip the dearly departed across their favorite lake some day.But a few feet away, Garrett Ozar details how his business turns human remains into gemstones.“What we do is we get a small amount of remains or hair from a family,” begins Ozar, co-founder and co-CEO of Eterneva, which creates memorial diamonds. “We extract carbon from that inside of a machine that emulates the Earth’s crust — it’s like 600,000 pounds of pressure, 3,000 degrees in temperature — and the carbon atoms literally bond together in a real diamond.”Over the P.A. system, a woman’s vo...

$10K Depression-era bill sells for $480,000

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:25 GMT

By Amarachi Orie | CNNA rare $10,000 bill dating back to the Great Depression has sold for $480,000 at auction.Issued in 1934, the Federal Reserve note was certified by Paper Money Guaranty (PMG) and was Exceptional Paper Quality (EPQ) graded, according to Dallas-based auction house Heritage Auctions.The Boston note, which features the face of then-President Lincoln’s Secretary of the Treasury, Salmon P. Chase, topped the house’s Long Beach Expo currency auction after selling for the record-breaking figure on Friday.“Large-denomination notes always have drawn the interest of collectors of all levels,” said Dustin Johnston, vice president of currency at Heritage Auctions, in a press release Monday.“The $10,000 trails only the $100,000 gold certificate issued in 1934, and of the 18 examples graded by PMG, this example is tied for the highest-graded,” he continued.The most a 1934 $10,000 bill had sold for previously was $384,000 in September 2020, a spokesman for the auction house told...

49ers sign radio color commentator Tim Ryan to extension

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:25 GMT

Coming off back-to-back NFC title game appearances, the 49ers still look like a contender that’s built to be one of the NFL’s best for a while.Now, the red and gold have locked up their team in the broadcast booth for a while, too.Tim Ryan, the 49ers’ longtime color commentator for their radio broadcasts, has signed an extension to stay in the booth through 2028, the team announced on Wednesday.Ryan is in his 10th season as the 49ers’ radio analyst and has worked alongside play-by-play man Greg Papa since 2019. Both Ryan and Papa are now under contract with the 49ers through 2028.Ryan was a standout offensive and defensive lineman at Oak Grove-San Jose before playing defensive tackle collegiately at USC. A third-round pick in the 1990 NFL Draft, he played for four years with the Chicago Bears before retiring and moving into broadcasting.Related ArticlesSan Francisco 49ers | Kurtenbach: The 49ers’ defense is figuring it out on the fly San Francisco 49ers | ...

World’s 50 best hotels for 2023 revealed

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:25 GMT

By Tamara Hardingham-Gill | CNNLondon  — It opened just over a year ago, but a luxurious 24-key Italian property has already been named the best hotel in the world.Passalacqua, which overlooks Lake Como, beat off stiff competition to receive the top spot on the first-ever edition of the World’s 50 Best Hotels list, which was announced at an awards ceremony in the UK on Tuesday night.Open since June 2022, the boutique hotel owned by the De Santis family – local hoteliers – was one of 21 Europe-based hotels included on the list, along with the Four Seasons Firenze in Florence, which came in ninth place.Asia also did well in the rankings, with 18 hotels from the region making the list, including second, third, fourth and fifth place, awarded to Rosewood Hong Kong, Four Seasons Bangkok at Chao Phraya River, The Upper House in Hong Kong and Aman Tokyo, respectively.‘Big recognition’Capello Bangkok took the No.11 spot and was also named Best New Hotel.( Capella Bangkok via CNN) Takin...

I went to Scare School to become a Knott’s Scary Farm monster

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:25 GMT

It’s been a lifelong dream to work alongside the undead monsters who roam the streets of Calico Ghost Town during Knott’s Scary Farm with a shared single-minded mission: Scare the living daylights out of anyone who dares wander into the fog.I’m finally going to get my chance to suit up with the Ghost Town monsters this Halloween — but first I had to make it through Scare School at the Buena Park theme park.The Ghost Town Streets scare zone is the premier playground of Knott’s Scary Farm monsters and the birthplace of the annual Halloween event that celebrates its 50th anniversary this Halloween season.If you can make it in Ghost Town, you’ve reached the pinnacle of Scary Farm monsterdom.Ghost Town “scareactors” go through slider certification during Scare School for Knott’s Scary Farm. (Photo by Brady MacDonald, Orange County Register/SCNG) SEE ALSO: Knott’s Scary Farm pays tribute to 4 former mazes with Cinema SlasherThe best of the best Ghost Town monsters are part of the Sli...

Single family residence sells for $3 million in Palo Alto

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:25 GMT

3980 Bibbits Drive – Google Street ViewThe property located in the 3900 block of Bibbits Drive in Palo Alto was sold on Aug. 24, 2023. The $3,000,000 purchase price works out to $1,747 per square foot. The house, built in 1957, has an interior space of 1,717 square feet. This single-story home offers a capacious living environment with its four bedrooms and two bathrooms. Inside, a fireplace enhances the ambiance of the living area. In addition, the home features an attached one-car garage.These nearby houses have also recently been sold:In March 2023, a 1,255-square-foot home on East Charleston Road in Palo Alto sold for $2,470,500, a price per square foot of $1,969. The home has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.On Gailen Avenue, Palo Alto, in November 2022, a 2,325-square-foot home was sold for $3,025,000, a price per square foot of $1,301. The home has 5 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.A 3,073-square-foot home on the 700 block of Charleston Court in Palo Alto sold in June 2023, for $4,000,000...

Why US hotels are missing more than 238,000 employees

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:25 GMT

Augusta Saraiva | BloombergTourism is back in the US — but hotel workers are not.Hotels and resorts learned to operate with leaner staffing models during the pandemic. Three years later, Covid-era band-aids like self-service kiosks and less frequent housekeeping have now become the new normal for many firms seeking to cope with rising labor costs and perpetual vacancies.While employment in a variety of industries has now surpassed 2020 levels, the accommodation industry currently employs about 238,000 fewer workers than before the health crisis — a hole that’s likely to persist.Companies are seeing these initiatives “as a solution to the efficiency issues,” said Alexi Khajavi, president for hospitality, travel and wellness at Questex, an information services firm. But there’s “also just simply the fact that they don’t think that the labor issues are going to be fixed anytime soon.”Nowhere in the US is the fallout more apparent than in Las Vegas, where one in four people are employed...

In plea agreement, Hayward man found not guilty of killing father by reason of insanity

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:25 GMT

OAKLAND — Three years after fatally stabbing his father inside their Hayward home, a 25-year-old man has been found not guilty of manslaughter by reason of insanity, court records show.In an agreement between prosecuting and defense attorneys, William East-McCormack first pleaded no contest to a charge of manslaughter in the death of Michael McCormack, 57, then entered a subsequent plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. Prosecutors dropped murder, attempted murder and threats charges against him in exchange for his pleas.At the same August court hearing, Judge Amy Sekany found “by a preponderance of the evidence” that East-McCormack was insane at the time of the 2020 stabbing. Prosecutors didn’t contest East-McCormack’s sanity.The father was killed on March 18, 2020, inside the family’s home in Hayward. At the time of the stabbing, police said East-McCormack had “medically documented psychiatric issues.” He also allegedly stabbed an...

Air quality updates: Bay Area schools deal with smoky air

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:25 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- Plumes of smoke from wildfires in Northern California and Oregon have covered the Bay Area starting Tuesday. On Wednesday, a Spare the Air Alert was issued through Thursday due to the higher levels of particulate matter in the air, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District announced. Residents have been advised to avoid exposure if the smell of smoke is present by staying indoors and closing all doors and windows.Follow our live blog for the latest updates.Bay Area air quality updates:10:36 a.m. -- Oakland Zoo closed WednesdayThe Oakland Zoo announced on X that it will be closed Wednesday due to poor air quality. The zoo added that its animal care team is "making sure all of our animals are comfortable and healthy."9:57 a.m. -- Oakland school district issues "poor air quality" protocolsThe Oakland Unified School District said Wednesday the air quality in Oakland is on the edge of the Environmental Protection Agency's categories of "Unhealthy for Sensitive ...

San Jose PD investigating homicide Tuesday near Capitol Flea Market

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:25 GMT

(BCN) -- San Jose detectives are investigating a shooting near the Capitol Flea Market on Tuesday as a homicide, police said. The shooting occurred in the area of East Capitol Expressway and Monterey Highway around 12:45 p.m. Tuesday, the San Jose Police Department said on social media Wednesday. Bay Area air quality advisory extended through Thursday Police said officers found a man suffering from at least one gunshot wound in the area. This is the 27th homicide case in San Jose this year, police said. Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc.