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Why Memorial Day celebrations remain controversial

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:01 GMT

Memorial Day is supposed to be about mourning the nation’s fallen service members, but it’s come to anchor the unofficial start of summer and a long weekend of discounts on anything from mattresses to lawn mowers.Auto club AAA said in a travel forecast that this holiday weekend could be “one for the record books, especially at airports,” with more than 42 million Americans projected to travel 50 miles (80 kilometers) or more. Federal officials said Friday that the number of air travelers had already hit a pandemic-era high.But for Manuel Castañeda Jr., 58, the day will be a quiet one in Durand, Illinois, outside Rockford. He lost his father, a U.S. Marine who served in Vietnam, in an accident in California while training other Marines in 1966.“Memorial Day is very personal,” said Castañeda, who also served in the Marines and Army National Guard, from which he knew men who died in combat. “It isn’t just the specials. It isn’t just the barbecue.”But he tries not to judge others who sp...

CIF state track and field championships: De La Salle’s Udeh caps prep career in style

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:01 GMT

When De La Salle track and field star Chukwunonso Udeh won three individual events and finished second in a relay at last week’s North Coast Section Meet of Champions, he was asked how he would get ready for the state meet.“I’ll probably do workouts that are not too intense but make sure my body still gets the same movement,” the senior said. “I reckon it will be pretty light so I could explode at state.”Saturday night, Udeh made quite the explosion at state.He took home medals in all four of his events at the California Interscholastic Federation state championships in Clovis, winning the long jump and finishing fifth in the 110 high hurdles, high jump and 4×100 relay.The Top 6 in each event receive a medal.Counting relays, 25 competitors from the Bay Area News Group’s coverage area made the medal stand at Buchanan High’s Veterans Stadium, including seven that finished among the top three.Udeh was the only state champion in that ...

Presentation grads recognized for achievements in high school, community

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:01 GMT

This year’s winner of Presentation High School’s Nano Nagle Award has followed the example set by the founder of the Willow Glen private girls school, for whom the award is named.As president of the Associated Student Body, Grace Gallegos led Presentation’s annual Fall Food Drive. Students contribute food to the drive, but they also canvas their neighborhood for donations.“Each year we collect canned food and frozen turkeys over a period of months to benefit Sacred Heart Community Service,” said. Gallegos, who is valedictorian of the Class of 2023. “Every year, it is always hard to keep motivation going during the drive. We have to continually emphasize the reason as to why we do this.”Nano Nagle was motivated by the poverty she saw in her native Ireland, where she provided food and medicine to the infirm. She founded the first Presentation Convent in Cork, Ireland, in 1775.To help keep Presentation students healthy, Gallegos collected data to help them create a work-life balance. “...

Sunnyvale celebrates milestone in 20-year Cleanwater Program

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:01 GMT

Having secured $635 million in federal loans for Sunnyvale’s 20-year Cleanwater Program, city staff on May 24 took the opportunity to show federal and local environmental officials what they’ve achieved with the funding so far.The low-interest loans are being used to rebuild Sunnyvale’s aging wastewater treatment plant, which was originally built in 1956 and is one of the oldest on the West Coast.“Today we’re celebrating the completion of stage 1 and the beginning of stage 2,” said Mayor Larry Klein to the small group that toured the Donald M. Somers Water Pollution Control Plant at the end of Borregas Avenue.The tour highlighted projects that have received federal funds through the Clean Water State Revolving Fund and the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 2014.Radhika Fox, the Environmental Protection Agency’s assistant administrator for water, said Sunnyvale is a “power user” of federal funding.“Because of the president’s vision and leadership, this is an example ...

‘Sunday,’ ‘Steel’ among Peninsula theater offerings in June

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:01 GMT

Peninsula theater companies are finding something to sing about this summer, staging myriad musicals with a few straight plays thrown into the mix in June.Los Altos Stage Company is staging the Stephen Sondheim/James Lapine musical “Sunday in the Park with George” June 2-25 at Bus Barn Theater in Los Altos.The original production won the 1985 Pulitzer Prize for drama and was nominated for two Tony Awards. It’s inspired by the French pointillist painter George Seurat’s “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.”Tickets are $20-$40 at www.losaltosstage.org or 650-941-0551.The Ragazzi Boys Chorus will perform a newly commissioned piece called “Created for Joy” for its spring concert on June 4 at 4 p.m. at Aragon High School in San Mateo. Tickets are $25-$45 at www.ragazzi.org or 650-362-4425.After several preview performances, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley opens Robert Harling’s “Steel Magnolias” at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday, June 10. It runs...

‘Transformative leader’ tapped as new Foothill-De Anza chancellor

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:01 GMT

Calling him a “transformative leader,” the Foothill-De Anza Community College District named Lee Lambert as its eighth chancellor.Lambert, currently chancellor of Pima Community College in Arizona, will start in his new role Aug. 1.In selecting Lambert, district officials cited his “impressive record of accomplishments.”“I am so grateful to know that I am leaving Foothill-De Anza in good hands,” said chancellor Judy C. Miner, who is retiring after 35 years with the district and eight years as its top executive. “Under Lee Lambert’s leadership, Pima Community College emerged from accreditation and financial challenges to national recognition for its innovative workforce education programs and partnerships.“His demonstrated skill at collaborating with campus and community partners to focus on the needs of students will serve him well here,” Miner added.Lambert will work with Miner prior to her Sept. 5 retirement to help ensure a smooth transition.While at Pima, Lambert launched a nati...

Milpitas ceremony honors families for Raising a Reader

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:01 GMT

Randall Elementary School and the Josephine Guerrero Family Resource Center on May 22 honored Milpitas families who completed the Raising a Reader program.The Raising a Reader program gives families the tools to cultivate a habit of reading together with their children to enhance the children’s literacy skills and instill in them a passion for reading. The program is also designed to help children excel in school, work and society.As their names were read out in Randall’s gymnasium, each kindergartener who had completed the program marched to the podium. Their eyes looked for their proud parents in the audience as they received their medal and certificate, a new set of books to read, a flower trophy featuring their photo and an inspirational cartoon reading, “A child who reads will be an adult who thinks.”The children then read a book with Catholic Charities active member Orlando Salcedo, and danced with Catholic Charities community worker Maria Estella Perez.The celebration was spo...

Cupertino Symphonic Band to perform free outdoor concert on June 15

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:01 GMT

Cupertino Symphonic Band concertThe Cupertino Symphonic Band is performing a free outdoor concert on Thursday, June 15, at 6:30 p.m. at Cupertino’s Memorial Park Amphitheater, 21121 Stevens Creek Blvd. Parking is available on nearby Mary Avenue and Alves Drive.Attendees should bring a lawn chair or blanket to sit on. Donations of canned goods will benefit West Valley Community Services.For more information, visit www.cupertinosymphonicband.org.‘Find Your Voice’ at libraryThe Santa Clara County Library District invites patrons to “Find Your Voice” during the district’s free summer reading program.Throughout June and July, district libraries will be hosting a lineup of programs for children, teens and adults featuring performers, arts and crafts, book clubs and speakers.The program is designed for patrons to discovering different ways to express themselves.“According to the California State Library, summer reading programs can help children develop skills in art, science, math, techno...

Sunnyvale Historical Society hosts Moffett Field talk

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:01 GMT

Moffett Field history lessonTom Spink and Matt Sturges from the Moffett Field Historical Society Museum will present “A History of Moffett Field” on Monday, June 5, at 7:15 p.m. at Sunnyvale’s Heritage Park Museum, 570 E. Remington Drive.Attendees at this talk, presented by the Sunnyvale Historical Society, can learn more about the development of aviation in Sunnyvale and about the Naval Air Station commissioned in the early 1930s that brought the dirigible Macon—the first aircraft carriers—to the West Coast.For more information, visit https://heritageparkmuseum.org.Public works awardsTwo Sunnyvale projects won awards from the American Public Works Association Silicon Valley’s 2023 Award Program.The Fair Oaks Avenue Overhead Bridge Rehabilitation Project received the award for structures over $25 million. The project design began in 2012 and opened in September 2022. Built in 1967, the Fair Oaks bridge is a four-lane, 10-span bridge over Caltrain tracks. The project replaced an obso...

Esto contiene el acuerdo sobre el techo de la deuda en EE.UU.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:01 GMT

(CNN) — Tras varias semanas de tensas negociaciones, el presidente de Estados Unidos, Joe Biden, y los republicanos de la Cámara de Representantes alcanzaron un principio de acuerdo para elevar el techo de la deuda y limitar el gasto.La Casa Blanca y los republicanos de la Cámara llegan a un principio de acuerdo para elevar el techo de la deudaPero el drama no ha terminado. Los líderes de ambos partidos en el Congreso tienen que convencer a un número suficiente de sus miembros para que voten a favor del acuerdo, que contiene disposiciones que los legisladores de cada lado del pasillo no apoyan.Aún no se conocen todos los detalles del acuerdo. Y la información que se hizo pública la noche de este sábado muestra algunas discrepancias. Está previsto que el texto del proyecto de ley se haga público este domingo.¿Cómo van las negociaciones sobre el techo de la deuda? 0:59Esto es lo que sabemos del acuerdo, según una hoja informativa distribuida por los republicanos de la Cámara de...