importance Archives - Los Gatos News And Events

Two weekend fires reinforce significance of chimney upkeep – Motion Information Jax

Mon, 18 Apr 2022 05:49:19 +0000

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Two homes caught fire due to fireplace chimneys this past Saturday.

Fortunately, no one was hurt in either fire, but these fires serve as a reminder to properly maintain your chimney.

Some Jacksonville residents decided to keep warm by using fireplaces, but once their chimney fires started, they quickly spread.

“Both of them were the result of cracks in the mortar which then get inside and burn the wood,” JFRD spokesperson Eric Prosswimmer said.

RELATED >>> Red Cross called for 3 adults, 1 child after chimney fire

JFRD is reminding folks that even though we may only use our chimneys once or twice a year – they still need to be properly taken care of.

“It’s really important to have your chimney checked regularly, maintained and cleaned,” Prosswimmer said.

It’s not only about your chimney structure, but what you burn at the bottom. Officials told us fires can start from a buildup of creosote or from cracks and loose bricks.

“Make sure you’re burning seasoned firewood. Seasoned firewood is a lot dryer, burns hotter,” Prosswimmer said.

Firefighters said to make sure you have a cap on top of your chimney so no debris or wild animals get inside.

They said it’s also important the flue is open for proper ventilation.

RELATED >>> Apartment fire in Jacksonville’s New Town neighborhood

Even if you live in Florida, remember:

Make sure your chimney is inspected annually by a professional.
Do not use flammable liquids.
Never leave a fire unattended.
If you have normal chimney soot, head to your local hardware store for a chimney sweep. However, if there is serious buildup inside your chimney, JFRD urges you to let a professional handle it.

The post Two weekend fires reinforce significance of chimney upkeep – Motion Information Jax appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

The significance of Halloween in San Francisco

Wed, 15 Dec 2021 10:19:01 +0000

The delta variant dissolves. The city opens again. Halloween was largely canceled in 2020, but this year – thanks to vaccinations and the willingness of the San Franciscans – trick or treating is hot, along with events like Terror Vault’s “Immortal Reckoning,” a spooky, campy haunted house in the San Francisco Mint and curated by Peaches Christ and her costume colleagues.

Joshua Grannell, also known as Peaches Christ, has been busy this Halloween season. The drag performer and filmmaker presented “Devilish Inspirations: Summoning Witches, Demons, and Black Magic at the Piano” on Thursday, an online event co-hosted with Edwin Outwater, music director at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. (The celebration of the piano repertoire’s most haunted moments is still available online, post-event donations are welcome.) Saturday also marked the end of the month-long occupation of the Old Mint by Terror Vault.

Peaches Christ says her favorite Halloween season was in 2018 when she opened the haunted Terror Vault in the San Francisco Mint. (Courtesy Ash Danielson)

The Examiner emailed Peaches Christ about why Halloween has long been popular with the San Franciscans.

Why is Halloween a popular holiday in San Francisco, among young and old, straight and gays?

People call Halloween “Gay Christmas” and because SF is such a culturally queer city I think it really has become an important holiday for everyone because queers are throwing the best parties and somehow showing the wider population how to do it funniest time makes year. Fortunately, we live in a city where events that “straight people” are open to become queer next door.

Can you tell your favorite Halloween in The City? What happened and what were you wearing?

I think my favorite Halloween season had to be 2018, when I was able to realize my lifelong dream of opening our enchanted attraction “Terror Vault” in the old building of the San Francisco Mint. I played a satanic priestess on the show and appeared from above in my scene in an elevator that went down dramatically with dry ice fog. It was very inspired by Frank-N-Furter’s iconic appearance.

A closet full of costumes is quite common among the residents of our city. Why? Is it the Burning Man effect or something else?

I would also pay tribute to the gays who came here and ran away from the most boring places to dress up and be free. Other people saw how much fun they were having and integrated into their own stuff, like Bay to Breakers.

Is the pandemic increasing or dampening the stakes in costuming?

I think it’s a plus because we’re all hungry for fun and tradition and the things that were stolen from us in 2020.

What advice do you have for those who are still torn about what to “be”?

Get creative! Think outside the box and put together a costume using whatever is available. Do NOT let your indecision lead to inaction. Create a costume today.

The post The significance of Halloween in San Francisco appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

South Bay Well being Officers Tout Significance of COVID Booster, Assessments and Warning – CBS San Francisco

Sat, 11 Dec 2021 15:31:26 +0000

SAN JOSE (KPIX) – A dramatic spike in Santa Clara County’s COVID-19 cases, as well as the discovery of the county’s first Omicron case, has led health professionals to double health logs, especially before the holidays.

“Vaccinate and freshen up, mask, test, ventilate and distance,” said Dr. Sara Cody, Santa Clara County Health Officer, during a news conference Friday.

In exactly two weeks, millions will be gathering with their families and friends on Christmas Eve. Health experts urge people not to be on guard about the pandemic.

“We have to be careful not to panic, but we shouldn’t downplay the potential of this new wave, the Omicron wave,” said Dr. Jorge Salinas, epidemiologist at Stanford University Hospital. “There are signs that the number of cases will increase and they could increase very quickly.”

He said that other countries that discovered the Omicron variant before the US had seen a sharp rise in cases and that America could be following the same pattern.

Positive COVID cases have already increased in the Bay Area, possibly the result of Thanksgiving gatherings.

University of San Francisco, Prof. of Medicine Dr. Peter Chin-Hong advised that vacation plans for vaccinated people could continue, but with caution.

“If you aren’t vaccinated, you really have to navigate the world very carefully because we have a much more transmissible variant than we did a year ago,” said Dr. Chin-Hong. “We should always control this work of COVID safely and carefully and we will continue to do so. But personally I am vaccinated and vaccinated. I feel very safe to move. When it is really full, I wear a mask. “

Both doctors said the COVID-19 roller coaster might be our new normal for at least a while. In particular, there will be a decline after a spike, they said.

Dr. Salinas said that people should be careful when congregating for the holidays as it appears that the Omicron variant, despite immunity, is more transmissible than the Delta variant, both naturally and through the vaccine.

The doctor said if there were a large number of positive cases, the economic impact on the workforce could be significant if people were quarantined and potentially exposed people were also isolated.

Ruth Hurtado, who was quarantined last year after being exposed to someone with COVID, will be with her family this Christmas. She said they are all vaccinated and she plans to get tested before they meet.

“You are excited. It’s been a tough year for us so we’re excited to spend the holidays together, ”said Hurtado. “I haven’t seen her in a long time, so I look forward to getting together with my mom, dad, brother, and sister.”

The post South Bay Well being Officers Tout Significance of COVID Booster, Assessments and Warning – CBS San Francisco appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

Vitality Effectivity Grows in Significance for HVAC Property Selections | 2021-10-26

Wed, 27 Oct 2021 01:58:29 +0000

Energy efficiency is an important factor in making decisions about HVAC properties | 2021-10-26 | ACHR news

This website needs certain cookies to function and uses different cookies to give you the best experience. When you visit this website, certain cookies have already been set that you can delete and block. By closing this message or continuing to use our website, you consent to the use of cookies. Visit our updated Privacy and Cookie Policy to find out more.

This site uses cookies
By closing this message or continuing to use our website, you consent to our cookie policy. Learn more
This website needs certain cookies to function and uses different cookies to give you the best experience. When you visit this website, certain cookies have already been set that you can delete and block. By closing this message or continuing to use our website, you consent to the use of cookies. Visit our updated Privacy and Cookie Policy to find out more.

The post Vitality Effectivity Grows in Significance for HVAC Property Selections | 2021-10-26 appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

Significance of Celebrating Delight – San Francisco Bay Occasions

Fri, 11 Jun 2021 00:15:53 +0000

Michael Günther

By Michael Günther –

Every year in June we have the opportunity to come together as a community to celebrate LGBTQ + Pride, to commemorate our community, to stand up for our rights and to recognize our individualism. However, I feel that over the years we have lost the core roots of the Pride celebrations. Pride started out as a form of advocacy but seems to have evolved into a corporate marketing and party celebration over time. Don’t get me wrong now; Pride events are always fun and energetic, but let’s not lose the core elements of how it started.

I believe that advocacy must be the foundation of our Pride events. Over the years we struggled for health needs during the AIDS crisis. We had to fight to serve openly in the military. We had to fight to marry the people we love. We continue to fight for equal protection in employment, housing and equally important trans rights.

As business leaders, we need to make sure we advocate our community beyond Pride. We can introduce anti-discrimination policies in our offices and require the purchase of goods and services from various suppliers. We can be open about who we are at work and at home, and support our community through organizations like the Golden Gate Business Association as well as a variety of nonprofits that support our community. Eventually, with our elected officials at the local, state, and federal levels, we can become advocates for politics.

We know from statistics that even though we are living in 2021, discrimination against our community is still an ongoing problem. So I beg you to evaluate how you can celebrate Pride, not just this month, but every month throughout the year. Through your active intent to celebrate who you are and stand up for our community, you can influence those in our community who are uncomfortable with being their authentic selves or who feel alone in an unwelcome home or work environment.

Our community is stronger today than it was 60 years ago when the Stonewall Riots sparked the LGBTQ + movement, but we as business leaders have an obligation to use our influence and activism to promote the Pride Torch. The rights and privileges we have today were a gift to us from those who stood up and died for our rights for decades, fighting for equal rights while driving to be heard.

Our resilience and strength as a community is increased when we all come together to celebrate where we have arrived and where we are going. So I ask you to evaluate how advocacy can help you become a champion of our community so that future generations of all skin colors and faiths will be better off than we are today to attend their future Pride events.

Michael Gunther is a board member and president of the Golden Gate Business Association and managing partner of Collaboration Business Consulting, a team of highly skilled business professionals dedicated to helping proactive individuals build scalable, profitable businesses.

Published on June 10, 2021

The post Significance of Celebrating Delight – San Francisco Bay Occasions appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

Finest man toasts significance of friendship earlier than scamming $500,000 from groom and visitors’ life financial savings | The Impartial

Thu, 08 Apr 2021 05:52:58 +0000

As the best man at a classmate’s wedding, chosen over two brothers, Brian Sapp gave a toast to the importance of friendship.

He went on to steal half-a-million dollars from the groom and the life savings of several people present.

Among his victims were the father of a severely disabled child, the parents of his godchildren and a man dying of pancreatic cancer – whose widow Sapp asked for $75,000 (£57,500) just days after the funeral.

For his four-year, $1.8m (£1.4m) real estate scam, Sapp, 38, was sentenced last week to nine years in prison.

“I am not a criminal mastermind who manipulates people with no remorse,” Sapp told Judge Anthony Trenga in federal court in suburban Alexandria, Virginia. “I was too weak, too desperate, too proud.”

21 September 2020

22 August 2020

Sapp told the judge he has been reading self-help books and engaging in “self affirmations”.

He had claimed to his friends and their families he had contacts who could help him find distressed properties at great prices in the Washington area.

In reality, after quitting his job as a construction manager in 2012, he never flipped a single house. The only money his business made was a “finder’s fee” for scouting a few properties.

He went on to steal the name of the Alexandria home builder he had worked with, signing it to fake settlement documents to make his scheme appear legitimate.

Some victims even paid taxes on their illusory profits, which Sapp often convinced them to reinvest in his next venture.

Friends told the court Sapp claimed he was “dominating” the real estate market, “killing it” and “crushing it”. He needed more money only because he was planning to expand from residential to big commercial real estate products, he told them.

On vacation with one pair of victims in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, he offered a hostess $75 (£57) to get them a better table, then bought them an expensive dinner, one testified.

He encouraged his victims to get their friends, families and co-workers to invest despite knowing he had already lost all of their savings and would be involving them in fraud.

One, who had named Sapp as his children’s legal guardian in the event he and his wife both died, quit a six-figure job to work with his childhood best friend.

His wife was five months pregnant with their fourth child when he learned they no longer had health insurance and would be getting none of the money they were promised.

The company was “entirely a fraud”, Assistant US Attorney Russell Carlberg wrote in a court filing, and the only “work” Sapp engaged in was “attending expensive wealth-building seminars and bloviating over golf matches”.

To stave off exposure as a charlatan, he used funds from newer victims to pay off older ones with what he claimed was interest on their investments.

He hired employees and bought advertising for a business that never made any actual profits. He went to high-priced conferences, where court documents show he was purporting to give advice to legitimate real estate developers.

The rest went to golf trips, vacations and Penn State tailgating parties at which he would roll up to State College in an $80,000 (£61,000) customised Mercedes van with a satellite television in the back.

He invited many of his victims to those parties; several testified at the sentencing hearing about the food he served them from a professional grilling station.

The defrauded groom, who asked not to be named because of the potential impact on his own career, said in court only a “psychopath” could enjoy the “sick pleasure” of pretending to host people with their own stolen life savings.

The FBI advised Sapp not to sell the van; he did. He has repaid none of the lost money and told his victims in court that there was nothing left – his parents went into debt to pay his defence attorney.

That attorney, Robert Jenkins, noted that Sapp freely and fully explained his scheme to the FBI and prosecutors before being charged with a crime, sharing with them thousands of falsified documents.

But that was only after one of his victims had gone to the authorities, making Sapp realise his con was over.

After his plea in December, prosecutors said, Sapp moved into the guesthouse of a friend in the real estate business and was working for him in exchange. But he was kicked out in February, according to the court filing, and since then has done no work.

“Apparently, the defendant spends his time cultivating friends on the telephone, cultivating people at the gym he frequents, and lobbying people to write letters of support for him based on incomplete and misleading information,” Carlberg wrote.

After learning more about the case from friends and court filings, three people who wrote such letters – including Sapp’s therapist – withdrew their support.

Chimney sweeps at weddings – in pictures

Show all 4

1/4Chimney sweeps at weddings – in pictures

Chimney sweeps at weddings – in pictures

Kevin Giddings has been a chimney sweep since he was 21

Chimney sweeps at weddings – in pictures

Giddings has been appearing at weddings to wish couples luck for over three decades

Chimney sweeps at weddings – in pictures

The sweep has had over 12 cats during his career

Chimney sweeps at weddings – in pictures

He admits some couples aren’t sure how to respond when he appears at their big day

One college friend, James Douglas, wrote the court that he “was not entirely surprised” to learn of the scam. Sapp had been forced out of Penn State’s architecture program because his grades were not good enough, Mr Douglas wrote.

“In the past I had seen Brian cope with failure by running from it and trying to hide it from his peers,” he wrote. “I believe Brian’s fear of being perceived as a failure crushed his self-confidence, polluted his thinking, and drove him to create a facade of success at the great expense of many others.”

Sapp said in court he was committed to repaying his victims, and his remaining friends wrote that he had shared plans for doing so.

Mr Calberg told the judge that FBI agent Jeff Weeks called one of those friends during a break in the sentencing.

Scott Deardorff relayed that Sapp had pitched him on a new real estate investment project.

He wasn’t allowed to contact investors himself, Sapp told Mr Deardorff, but he would coach his new business partner – he knew just what to say.

The Washington Post

The post Finest man toasts significance of friendship earlier than scamming $500,000 from groom and visitors’ life financial savings | The Impartial appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.