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Rainy weather spoil a vacation? You can now get your money back

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:40:15 GMT

By Lebawit Lily Girma | BloombergSudden downpours on a planned big city weekend, a family glamping getaway or tee time with friends: We’ve all experienced weather ruining our vacations. With climate change growing more unpredictable by the year, Los Angeles-based Sensible Weather Co. is offering a hedge: supplemental insurance coverage that automatically sends you a refund if the weather turns bad.The climate tech and insurance startup currently partners with a small range of travel and recreation companies, from resorts to theme parks, to offer a weather guarantee as an add-on to reservations. The cost ranges from 8% to 12% of the total booking price.Founded just before the Covid-19 pandemic hit, Sensible Weather obtained $12 million in Series A funding in 2022 from San Francisco-based Infinity Ventures, including Certares Ventures and executives from Airbnb, Pacaso, Plaid and Toast. Its latest investor is EP Golf Ventures, a partnership fund between the Professional Golfers Associ...

Former California Grubhub driver wins $65 in 8-year-fight to be called employee

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:40:15 GMT

By Robert Burnson | BloombergA former Grubhub Inc. driver in Los Angeles won a federal court ruling that won’t make him rich but may have a big impact the gig economy.“Raef Lawson is the first gig worker in America to be declared an employee by a court for wage law purposes,” said the driver’s lawyer, Shannon Liss-Riordan.US Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley ruled Thursday that the aspiring actor was in fact a Grubhub employee, not an independent contractor, when he briefly drove of the food-delivery service in 2015 and 2016. She ordered Grubhub to pay him $65.11 for minimum wage violations but said he was due nothing on overtime because he hadn’t worked more than 40 hours in any one week.The eight-year-old case has been closely watched in the gig economy industry. Experts have said the outcome may determine whether drivers qualify under California’s law to be reimbursed for their personal vehicle expenses and make claims retroactively.Related ArticlesBusiness | So...

Pac-12 recruiting: USC lands five-star tight end, Stanford starts well, an elite QB heads on West Coast swing

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:40:15 GMT

The Hotline is delighted to provide Pac-12 fans with a weekly dive into the recruiting process through the eyes and ears of Brandon Huffman, the Seattle-based national recruiting analyst for 247Sports.The following information, in his words, was provided to the Hotline on March 30 …*** While the 2023-24 recruiting cycle is underway with the spring evaluation period set to start in two weeks, there is still one final piece to the 2023 puzzle. And Lincoln Riley found that magical piece with the commitment of five-star tight end Duce Robinson to USC on Thursday evening.This is a major development. Robinson, from Phoenix, is the No. 1 tight end in the high school senior class, the No. 19 player overall and the top prospect at any position in Arizona.His commitment enhances a USC recruiting class that’s already talented. With Robinson, Malachi Nelson and Zachariah Branch, the Trojans have the No. 1 tight end, the No. 1 receiver and the No. 5 quarterback in the country.For a long time, it...

California Symphony ready to celebrate Gershwin in big a way

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:40:15 GMT

Two world premieres, three commissioned works, and a centenary celebration of George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” are among the highlights of the California Symphony’s 2023-24 season.The season, announced by the Walnut Creek-based orchestra’s music director, Donato Cabrera, is set to run Sept. 30 to May 5, 2024, and features five subscription programs, beginning with “Copland — American Traditions” (Sept. 30-Oct. 1), featuring Copland’s Suite from “Appalachian Spring.” Also on the program: Wynton Marsalis’s Violin Concerto in D, Ruth Crawford Seeger’s “Rissolty Rossolty” and Juan Pablo Contreras’ “MeChicano,” a California Symphony co-commission.Programs continue with “Handel — Rivers of Inspiration” (Nov. 11-12, 2023), featuring Handel’s “Water Music,” Suites 1 and 2; Robert Schumann’s “Rhenish” Symphony, and “Chance of Rain” by Viet Cuong, California Symphony’s 2020-23 American Composer-in-Residence.2024 programs begin with “Gershwin in New York” (Jan. 27-28), fe...

Prep baseball roundup: Nathan Tichy helps Pioneer cool off Branham

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:40:15 GMT

Pioneer had lost three of its previous four games entering play Thursday. Branham had won seven in a row.So much for that script.Pioneer scored three in the visitor’s half of the fourth inning to break a 2-2 tie, added two in the fifth and another in the sixth on its way to an 8-3 victory in a Blossom Valley Athletic League Mt. Hamilton Division game.Nathan Tichy had three hits and two RBIs and allowed one earned run in six innings, Derek Izumi had two hits, scored two runs and drove in two runs and Noah Morales knocked in two runs as Pioneer improved to 6-3-1 overall and 2-2 in the league.Jason Armer had two hits and scored a run and Evan Williams and Brady Edwards each drove in a run for Branham, the Bay Area News Group’s fifth-ranked team.Pioneer’s Ryan Haun (12) score a run off of a double hit by Pioneer starting pitcher Nathan Tichy (14) against Branham High School in the fifth inning at Branham High School in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, March 30, 2023. (Nhat V. ...

Who has the cheapest beer in the Major Leagues?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:40:15 GMT

There’s no confusing the price difference between a happy hour beer in downtown Denver and a frothy pour at Coors Field — or any big sports venue, for that matter.But Colorado Rockies fans lamenting the fact that the team has the worst odds (or the second worse or third worst, depending on who you ask) of winning their World Series, they can at least rejoice in a new survey claiming that Denver’s ballpark also serves the cheapest beer.The average cost of a beer at Coors Field is $3, according to NJ.bet, an online casino and betting website. By comparison, a beer at Citi Field in New York costs an average of $12, while a beer at Minute Maid Park — home of last year’s World Series-winning Houston Astros — is $7.50.We’re not sure where NJ.bet is finding these $3 beers at Coors Field, but if we had to place a wager, so to speak, it would be on the party deck during a Tuesday day game against the A’s (one of the other teams to have the lowest odds to win the World Series in 2023).Here’s ...

Prep softball roundup: Monte Vista stuns Foothill – ‘Any given game, anything can happen’

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:40:15 GMT

PLEASANTON – The demeanor in Monte Vista’s dugout during its 5-4 stunner at East Bay Athletic League rival Foothill was anything but icy on a cold and blustery Thursday in Pleasanton. Shouts of encouragement, cheers and smiles beamed through the freezing winds as first-year coach Maureen “Mo” Duddy notched the biggest win of her young career.Foothill is ranked No. 2 by the Bay Area News Group. “Any given game, anything can happen,” Duddy said. “If we play the way we know we can, we can win games like this.”LAFAYETTE – Monte Vista baserunner Jasmine Chao stretches out to tag second base. Monte Vista and Foothill played in the high school softball game at Foothill high school in Pleasanton, Calif. on Friday, Mar. 30, 2023 (Joseph Dycus/Bay Area News Group) The Mustangs, playing on Foothill’s JV field since the varsity facility was still waterlogged, scored two runs in the first inning off singles by junior Ella Stolarzyk and senior Rian Prichard. Prichard, who went 1 ...

Suspect arrested in connection with commercial burglaries in San Carlos

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:40:15 GMT

(BCN) -- The San Mateo County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday arrested a suspect in connection with a commercial burglary in San Carlos. Danny Lynn Simpson Jr., 52, of Burlingame, was arrested on suspicion of commercial burglary and possession of stolen property, deputies said. On March 19, two suspects forced entry into a commercial building in the 100 block of Glenn Way and stole more than $10,000 in property, deputies said. Investigators were able to identify the vehicle used in the burglary, and that vehicle was later found in South San Francisco with property from the burglary inside. The driver of the vehicle was identified as Simpson Jr. On March 22, sheriff's detectives obtained a search warrant for a storage locker in Simpson Jr.'s name, and a large amount of stolen property was found inside the locker, according to the Sheriff's Office. Simpson Jr. was subsequently arrested. Investigators are still looking into the identity of the second suspect involved in the b...

New census estimates show these Bay Area counties are losing residents

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:40:15 GMT

California's population continues to shrink, according to United States Census Bureau data.For the third straight year, people left California, according to government estimates. Since the decline began in 2020, the state's population has shrunk by about 500,000 people. For reference, the population of Wyoming is a bit more than 580,000.In new data published by the Census Bureau this week, it's estimated that California's population shrunk by approximately 113,649 people from July 2021 to July 2022.There was a net gain across the state in "Natural Change," the number of births (420,000) and deaths (318,000) during that time frame. But a net loss of more than 217,000 people was recorded as people left the state to move elsewhere. More than half of California's 58 counties lost population during that timeframe.Many of the counties seeing a reduction in population are in Southern California and the Bay Area; two regions in the state that experience some of the highest costs of living i...

Oddsmakers skeptical of scoring spike from MLB’s new rules

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:40:15 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Here’s one baseball fans might not have bet on: at least one prominent oddsmaker thinks starting pitchers will go deeper into games this season.Eric Biggio, baseball lead trader for Caesars Sportsbook, thinks Major League Baseball’s new rules — including a pitch clock and limits on infield shifts — could hedge the trend of managers going early and often to their bullpens. That goes against conventional thinking that a clock meant to hurry pitchers would likely aid hitters.Starters’ innings have been drastically reduced in recent years in favor of a parade of hard-throwing relievers. The strategy has contributed to a decrease in scoring and lack of action in games, part of what prompted MLB to make the changes.There were some indications in spring training that pitchers may try weaponizing the clock, which gives players 30 seconds to resume play between at-bats, 15 seconds between pitches with nobody on and 20 seconds with runners on base. Batters m...