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Taste-Off: The best andouille available in Bay Area markets

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:23:51 GMT

When a recipe calls for andouille sausage, don’t even think about using a substitute. Andouille isn’t mild, like a Polish kielbasa. It’s spicy, but not like a hot link. It’s a full-on, flavor-packed bite of smoke, red pepper, garlic and thyme.Andouille, a fully-cooked sausage that originated in France, is integral to traditional Cajun dishes such as gumbo, jambalaya and shrimp and grits. But you can use it so many ways — in soup, stuffing, red beans, cassoulet, mac and cheese or omelets.In France, the sausage is made with oddball parts of the pig, but here in the U.S., it’s typically made with smoked pork shoulder — there are a few chicken versions as well — that’s heavily seasoned, then smoked again to build its distinctive texture and flavor.Great andouille sausage is slightly chewy, thanks to minimal grinding of the meat, and notably dense due to the double-smoke process. A single bite should deliver a blast of flavor that’s bold, but balanced....

Could a new bill make it harder to suspend kids?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:23:51 GMT

A proposed state bill could end suspensions for students who defy teachers’ orders, disrupt school activities, or engage in other types of behavioral misconduct – requiring teachers to de-escalate such incidents instead of forcing a child from the classroom.The bill, which was introduced by State Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) earlier this year and will be heard by the appropriations committee next month, would extend an existing ban on so-called “willful defiance” suspensions.Today, such a ban only applies to students in kindergarten through fifth grade. Senate Bill 274 would add middle and high schoolers to the mix, and dissolve the existing ban’s expiration date of 2025.“SB 274 is based on a simple premise: Students belong in school,” said Skinner. “Suspending youth from school for low-level behavior issues leads to significant harm, including learning loss and a higher likelihood that affected students will drop out of school completely.”When – and how – to suspend ...

BitStarz Casino Review (Updated for 2023): Pros & Cons, BitStarz Casino Bonuses, Games – and More

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:23:51 GMT

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A clown delivering balloons killed a Florida woman. Now her widower’s new wife has pleaded guilty.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:23:51 GMT

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A clown came to Marlene Warren’s door on a May morning in 1990, handed her carnations and balloons and then shot her dead in front of her son. On Tuesday, her husband’s second wife pleaded guilty to being the killer, closing a case that is strange even by Florida standards.Sheila Keen-Warren in 2017. (Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office via AP, File) Sheila Keen-Warren, 59, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in a deal that will likely see her released from prison in no more than two years. Long suspected of being the shooter, Keen-Warren has been jailed awaiting trial for first-degree murder since 2017, when Palm Beach County sheriff’s investigators said improvements in DNA technology revealed that a hair found in the clown’s getaway car came from her.Keen-Warren still insists, however, that she is not the killer.“The State of Florida originally wanted to execute her, but now she is going home in 10 months,” said her attorney, Greg Rosenfel...

Are tinted windows legal in California?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:23:51 GMT

SAN DIEGO (KSWB) -- Window tinting is popular among many drivers. But what's legal and what's not in California?"The purpose of having the window tint law is basically, you don't drive at night with your sunglasses on, and that's essentially what you're doing with 40% of your vision," California Highway Patrol Sgt. Brian Pennings told FOX 5 Wednesday.Pennings says tinted windows have been a factor in collisions due to drivers being unable to see out of their vehicles. Debate continues over Concord High School mascot "It's a safety issue, and lawmakers in California have decided to keep this law on our books," Pennings added.Rear windowsDrivers can tint their rear windows as long as their vehicle has two side mirrors, not including the rearview mirror, Pennings said. Front windowsWhen it comes to front windows, California law states drivers must have 70% transparency, meaning they can have 30% tint, Pennings said. ‘Brake checking’ a tailgater: Is it legal in California? What wind...

Louisville shooter’s parents recount mental health struggle

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:23:51 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A man who opened fire at a Louisville bank, killing five co-workers, had confronted mental health problems over the last year but the situation appeared to be managed until just days before the shooting, his mother said.In an interview with NBC’s “Today” show that aired Thursday, Lisa Sturgeon said her 25-year-old son, Connor, called her April 4, six days before the shooting at the Old National Bank in the city’s downtown. He said a panic attack forced him to leave work, and he thought he should take time off for a while. Lisa and Todd Sturgeon said their son’s mental health struggle began a year earlier with panic attacks, anxiety and a suicide attempt, but he was seeing a psychiatrist and taking medication, TODAY reported. Lisa Sturgeon said they had lunch the day after he called, and she set up an psychiatrist appointment and joined him there.“We thought he was coming out of the crisis,” Lisa Sturgeon said. When the Sturgeons saw their son for the last time at a f...

Stock market today: Surge for Meta powers Wall Street rally

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:23:51 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is rising Thursday after Meta Platforms became the latest Big Tech company to blow past profit expectations and reports painted a mixed picture of the U.S. economy. The S&P 500 was 1.1% higher in midday trading and on pace for its first gain in three days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 233 points, or 0.7%, at 33,535, as of 11:30 a.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was leading the market with a 1.6% gain. Facebook’s parent company was doing the heaviest lifting, and it jumped 14.4%. Not only did Meta beat analysts’ estimates for profit during the first three months of the year, it also gave a forecast for revenue that topped expectations. The majority of companies have been beating forecasts so far this earnings reporting season. Hasbro climbed 11.6%, and Comcast rose 7.8% after they also topped Wall Street’s estimates. But expectations were broadly low coming into this reporting season because of still-high inflation, much higher i...

Grains lower,Livstock higher.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:23:51 GMT

dCHICAGO (AP) — Grain futures lower Thursday in early trading on the Chicago Board of Trade. Wheat for May declined 21.50 cents at $6.18 a bushel; May corn was off 11.75 cents at $6.33750 a bushel; May oats lost 11.25 cents at $3.2350 a bushel; while May soybeans was up .50 cent at $14.45 a bushel.Beef and pork were higher on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.Apr. live cattle rose .15 cent at $1.7442 a pound; May feeder cattle was up .12 cent at $2.0217 a pound; May. lean hogs was off .88 cent at $.7657 a pound.Source

US to open foreign centers in bid to stop migration surge

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:23:51 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration will open migration centers in Guatemala and Colombia for asylum seekers heading to the U.S.-Mexico border, in a bid to slow what’s expected to be a surge of migrants seeking to cross as pandemic-era immigration restrictions end, U.S. officials said Thursday.The migration centers are part of an intense effort to try to prevent thousands of people from making the often-dangerous journey to the southern border when the restrictions end May 11. But it is unclear whether the processing centers and other measures, including expedited processing for asylum seekers and crackdowns on human smuggling networks, will do much to slow the tide of migrants fleeing from countries marred by political and economic strife.The Biden administration, under attack by Republicans eager to paint the border as wide open under his leadership, has repeatedly warned that the end of the pandemic-era immigration restrictions does not mean that migrants should try to com...

India accuses China of violating border agreements

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:23:51 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s defense minister accused China on Thursday of eroding the “entire basis” of ties between the countries by violating bilateral agreements, a reference to a nearly 3-year-old standoff involving thousands of soldiers stationed along their disputed border in the eastern Ladakh region.Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh met with visiting Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu and “had frank discussions about the developments in the India-China border areas as well as bilateral relations,” India’s Defense Ministry said.Singh told Li that “development of relations between India and China is premised on the prevalence of peace and tranqulity at the borders,” and that all border issues need to be resolved in accordance with existing agreements and commitments, the ministry said in a statement.There was no immediate comment on the talks by the Chinese side.India says the deployment of a large number of Chinese troops, their aggressive behavior and att...