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For a memorable holiday party, personalize the punch

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:42 GMT

By Rebekah Peppler, The New York TimesHoliday party drinks can take many forms: punch bowls, batched cocktails, a bathtub of bubbles, a tray of shots. What unifies them is a festal shared experience for guests to gather around. This year, keep the communal theme, but drop the one-drink-fits-all approach.“To me, hosting parties is really about making everyone happy,” said Estelle Bossy, the beverage director at Le Rock in New York City. “Rather than tell everyone what I think is delicious, I like to empower people to find their own version of their favorite thing,” she added.To maintain a through line among different drinks, you need a deeply flavorful base. Making a batch of a single base and placing it on the table, alongside a bucket of ice and a few different spirited and nonalcoholic bottles, lets drinkers choose their own holiday cheers.One of Bossy’s favorite bases for holiday drinks is a shrub, and while early versions in the 18th century leaned closer to a concentrated punch...

Stoney’s Cantina closes after two years on South Broadway

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:42 GMT

Stoney Jesseph said adios to a restaurant he opened on South Broadway in 2021.The restaurateur, who owns three remaining Stoney’s locations around Colorado, said the one at 30 S. Broadway branded Stoney’s Cantina never made a profit.The biggest culprit: a year of road and sidewalk construction on the bustling commercial strip.“You can’t ride. You can’t walk down a whole block. It’s a nightmare down here. You can’t get anywhere,” Jesseph said, adding that sales fell by 60 percent once construction commenced.“From what I hear, everyone (on the retail strip) has seen business slow down considerably,” Jesseph said.“It doesn’t have the same walk-in traffic it used to have. It’s not the same neighborhood at night, either.”Related ArticlesRestaurants, Food and Drink | Apple Blossom will close after two years in downtown Denver hotel Restaurants, Food and Drink | Stranahan’s whiskey returns to mountain-town roots with new taproom Restaurants, Food and D...

CVS' new pricing plan isn't exactly a breakthrough

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:42 GMT

CVS Health excitedly announced Tuesday that it will change how it reimburses pharmacies for sales of prescription drugs to introduce more transparency to the market.It presented the change, which won't be implemented until 2025, as a breakthrough for customers.Prem Shah, CVS' chief pharmacy officer, said in a statement that the switch represents "a foundational step towards more pricing clarity for consumers."That remains to be seen.Currently, pharmacy reimbursement reflects the opaque pricing of industry middlemen who may pay little heed to how much a drug actually costs. This popular condiment could boost your memory Under CVS' new plan, reimbursements will be based on a drug's wholesale price, with a set markup for customers and a set fee for middlemen.Which is to say, CVS will operate pretty much how most other businesses have been operating for centuries -- adding a profit margin to wholesale costs.So the new approach isn't so much revolutionary as a fallback to a business mo...

LAX is among the worst airport to have a layover at, data suggests

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:42 GMT

Traveling during the holiday season can be stressful in and of itself, and layovers – whether planned or unplanned – can make or break your journey. Whether it’s a short layover that forces you to sprint through the terminal or a long layover that seems to go on forever, certain U.S. airports are better suited for layovers than others, new data suggest. Researchers with MarketWatch Guides analyzed 20 different metrics, ranging from food and beverage prices to how easy it is to log in to the airport’s WiFi, to determine which major airports provide the best overall layover experience, plus the top layover spots for frequent fliers and families. For more information on MarketWatch Guide's metrics, click here.  Spirit Airlines offers $20 flights for Black Friday The data found that the overall best airport to be stuck in is George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, which had high ratings in food and beverage choice, shop selection and stores per passenger per hour. “...

Boy Scouts honor Sprig Electric founder with a hoedown at Levi’s Stadium

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:42 GMT

The Distinguished Citizen Dinner, a fundraiser for the Silicon Valley Monterey Bay Council of the Boy Scouts of America, has recently tended to lean into the personality of the honoree. There have been rock ‘n’ roll shows, carnivals and art-oriented soirees. So to honor Spring Electric founder Pepper Snyder, it made sense that the 49th annual event at Levi’s Stadium was a regular hoedown.There were cowboy boots and hats galore, lots of denim and quite a bit of fringe on display from the 275 guests at the stadium’s swanky BNY Mellon Club. And in case the message wasn’t received that Snyder, the longtime president of the Grassland Water District in Los Banos, didn’t want some stuffy dinner in his honor, the event was rebranded as the Distinguished Citizen Party.Country music singer and songwriter Mitch Rossell performs at Levi’s Stadium for the Silicon Valley Monterey Bay Council of the Boy Scouts of America’s Distinguished Citizen Party...

San Lorenzo family party leads to attempted murder charges for one attendee

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:42 GMT

SAN LORENZO — A 31-year-old Oakland man is facing charges of attempted murder and more after he allegedly responded to a request to leave a family party by using his car to run down four women, breaking one woman’s leg, according to authorities and court records.In addition to four counts of attempted murder in the incident late last month, Leandro Angelo Torres is also charged with four counts of assault with a deadly weapon and one count of leaving the scene of an accident that resulted in serious bodily injury.He was arrested Nov. 29 and is being held without bail at Santa Rita Jail.According to court records, at the time of the latest incident, Torres was on probation in Alameda County for a February 2022 conviction of shooting at an unoccupied vehicle. He is scheduled to enter a plea Thursday.According to authorities, Torres got into a disruptive dispute at a family party on Nov. 25 in the 16000 block of Via Alamitos in San Lorenzo and was asked to leave.He did, but...

Single-family home in Oakland sells for $2.2 million

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:42 GMT

901 Longridge Road – Google Street ViewThe spacious historic property located in the 900 block of Longridge Road in Oakland was sold on Oct. 11, 2023. The $2,200,000 purchase price works out to $791 per square foot. The house, built in 1926, has an interior space of 2,780 square feet. This two-story house offers a roomy layout with five bedrooms and three bathrooms. On the exterior, the home features composition shingles on the roof. Inside, a fireplace adds character to the home. In addition, the home comes with a one-car garage.Additional houses have recently been purchased nearby:A 1,858-square-foot home on the 900 block of Rosemount Road in Oakland sold in June 2022, for $1,800,000, a price per square foot of $969. The home has 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.On Longridge Road, Oakland, in July 2023, a 2,285-square-foot home was sold for $1,875,000, a price per square foot of $821. The home has 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.In October 2022, a 2,267-square-foot home on Northvale Road in ...

49ers add Super Bowl champ Logan Ryan; cut running back Ty Davis-Price

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:42 GMT

SANTA CLARA — Safety Logan Ryan, a two-time Super Bowl champion, could be headed for a third ring now that he has signed with the 49ers.The NFC West-leading 49ers (9-3) signed Ryan on Tuesday. Running back Ty Davis-Price, a 2022 third-round draft pick, was waived in a corresponding move.Ryan brings veteran experience for a unit lacking depth following last month’s injuries to Talanoa Hufanga (knee) and George Odum (biceps).Rookie Ji’Ayir Brown replaced Hufanga in the starting lineup the past two games to pair with veteran Tashaun Gipson Sr.Ryan, 32, won the Super Bowl with the 2014 New England Patriots as a second-year reserve and he started on their 2016 championship team that rallied in the Super Bowl to defeat the Atlanta Falcons and offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, now the 49ers’ coach. Ryan went on to play three seasons with the Tennessee Titans, two with the New York Giants, and last season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, for whom he made a season-hi...

Warriors: Chris Paul, Andrew Wiggins probable to play against Portland

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:42 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO — Chris Paul and Andrew Wiggins are expected to play Wednesday against the Portland Trail Blazers, Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.Paul, 38, sat out the Warriors’ last two games against the Los Angeles Clippers with a left leg nerve contusion that sidelined him early in the Warriors’ meltdown loss to the Sacramento Kings last week. Wiggins, 28, sat out the two Clippers games after slamming his index finger in a car door on Thursday morning.Both came out unscathed after a Tuesday practice, which included a light scrimmage, Kerr said.The Warriors split their two-game home-and-home series with Clippers, their loss in Los Angeles the product of a blown 22-point lead in the second half. But in Paul, Wiggins and Gary Payton II’s injury absences emerged an opportunity for bench players who’d fallen out of the rotation to shine.Payton is out with a strained calf suffered in Sacramento until at least Thursday, though his absence could be longer.The ...

Off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot accused of trying to cut plane engines indicted on 84 charges

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:42 GMT

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – An off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot accused of attempting to shut down the engines of a plane mid-flight was indicted on 84 charges on Tuesday, the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office announced.Joseph Emerson, 44, was indicted by a grand jury on one count of endangering aircraft and 83 counts of recklessly endangering another person. Federal documents show on Oct. 22, Emerson had been riding in the flight deck jumpseat – not piloting the plane – when a pilot saw him “throw his headset across the cockpit and announce, ‘I am not okay’…before allegedly grabbing the plane’s engine shut-off handles.” Satellite images: Developing ‘Pineapple Express’ hits Pacific Northwest The pilot told investigators he wrestled with Emerson to stop him, adding that if he had been successful, “it would have shut down the hydraulics and the fuel to the engines – turning the aircraft into a glider within seconds.”When Emerson was out of the cockpit, flight attendant...