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The History Guy's rise from a cubicle to YouTube sensation

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:58 GMT

O'FALLON, Ill. -- "The History Guy" on YouTube retells lost stories, educating and entertaining audiences with his dedication to accuracy. The channel has 1.2 million subscribers. It started after he lost his job working in a cubicle and a dream of doing something more. Lance Geiger, known as "The History Guy," began his passion for storytelling in high school, leading to his successful YouTube content creation in his 50s.“We produce an episode every couple of days. We publish every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Essentially three mini history documentaries a week," said Geiger. "What's rewarding to me is if we take a piece of history that was kind of fading into obscure. And we bring back some attention to it so that people remember a person or people who did heroic things, they deserve to be remembered. They deserve not to be lost to history.” Geiger, an entertainer, aims to teach people about history through entertaining stories. His channel covers a wide range of time periods, ...

Search for suspect underway after ‘bright and smart’ 16-year-old fatally shot outside South L.A. party

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:58 GMT

Authorities are searching for a suspect after a teenager was shot and killed outside of a party in the Manchester Square neighborhood of South Los Angeles. According to LAPD, a shots fired call came in around 11:45 p.m. Saturday evening from the area of 74th Street and Western Avenue. When officers arrived on scene, they discovered a 16-year-old Black male lying dead on the sidewalk in front of homes on 74th Street east of Western Avenue. Preliminary reports suggest that organizers of a high school flyer party at a rental hall on Western Avenue were charging a cover charge to get in, and that the teen was walking away from the party when he was shot and killed.  CHP Patrol cars slam into La Puente home during high-speed pursuit “It does seem that nothing really occurred at the party inside,” said LAPD Lieutenant Victoria Lim. “Everything happened outside.” KTLA 5's Annie Rose Ramos spoke to the aunt of the victim, who described him as "a person who was goi...

Massive four-alarm fire destroys construction site in San Gabriel 

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:58 GMT

A four-alarm fire broke out and destroyed a construction site in San Gabriel early Sunday morning. Firefighters were dispatched to the 400 block of East Valley Boulevard around 3:30 a.m., according to a Verdugo Fire Department spokesperson. At least 90 firefighters were seen fighting the blaze, which forced the evacuation of two nearby buildings. A four-alarm fire broke out at a construction site in San Gabriel early Sunday morning. (Citizen App)A four-alarm fire broke out at a construction site in San Gabriel early Sunday morning. (Citizen App)A four-alarm fire broke out at a construction site in San Gabriel early Sunday morning. (Citizen App)The fire burned for about two hours and damaged power lines in the area, but fire crews appeared to have had the blaze under control by 6 a.m. (KTLA) Video captures armored truck robbed at gunpoint in Hyde Park The fire burned for about two hours and damaged power lines in the area, but fire crews appeared to have had the blaz...

The show must go on: Putting on a Tony Awards telecast during a writers' strike

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:58 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — New location? No script? No rehearsal? No sweat. Welcome to the 2023 Tony Awards, a show with an extra jolt of electricity this time due to the Hollywood writers’ strike.Unpredictability has been inserted into what is usually an upbeat, safe and chummy night. The strike has left Broadway’s biggest night without a script, in a new venue far from the theater district. A 1 1/2-hour pre-show on Pluto TV from 6:30-8 p.m. Eastern, hosted by Julianne Hough and Skylar Astin, will then throw to the three-hour main event led by Ariana DeBose on CBS and Paramount+ starting at 8 p.m. Eastern.A total of 26 Tony Awards will be handed out Sunday for a season that had 40 new productions — 15 musicals, 24 plays and one special engagement during the first post-pandemic full season. Broadway had some very serious works this season, like the new plays “Cost of Living” and “The Kite Runner” and revivals of “Topdog/Underdog” and “Death of a Salesman,” led by Wendell Pierce. A revival of “...

Chefs at Santana Row’s Oveja Negra turn to heritage to create menu

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:58 GMT

The restaurant with the black ram as its masthead is once again fully open at Hotel Valencia in Santana Row.Oveja Negra – Spanish for black sheep – is the mainstay of this boutique hotel in the middle of a shopping and residential center. Now with two chefs at the helm, Pedro Jose Calvo and Martelle Lorenz, the Oveja Negra menu is studded with influences from their diverse backgrounds.There’s “The Spaniard” on the daily breakfast menu: a Spanish-style tortilla with local white fish, potatoes, green peppers, caramelized onion and toasted baguette, courtesy of Calvo; and “The Southerner,” an omelet with smoked gouda and Black Forest ham, and “The Frenchie,” a brioche loaf with vanilla bean cream and caramelized bananas foster syrup, both courtesy of Lorenz.Chef Calvo is from Ordizia in the Basque country of Spain, 20 minutes from San Sebastian, where he attended culinary school. He describes working for three Michelin-star Chef Nacho Manzano, his mentor, as “life changing, epic.”Calvo...

San Jose celebrates Winchester Mystery House Day June 30

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:58 GMT

Mysterious centennialTo celebrate 100 years as a tourist attraction, the Winchester Mystery House has a lineup of events starting Friday, June 30, with a proclamation ceremony to recognize the date as Winchester Mystery House Day in San Jose.A time capsule featuring a collection of Winchester Mystery House mementos and memorabilia will be filled and then entombed within the house. A special live performance by Symphony San Jose will take place in the front garden, featuring a string quartet performing music from the Roaring ’20s.Guests will also get a first look at the Centennial Exhibit that explores the Winchester Mystery House’s effect on pop culture and features original marketing materials, photos and never-before-seen artifacts curated by the estate’s historian. Vintage photo opportunities harkening back to 1923 will be available throughout the property.Winchester Mystery House will remain open that day for 13 hours of tours, from 11 a.m. to midnight. The number 13 was importa...

Cupertino gets $3.2M grant for road safety improvements

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:58 GMT

Road safety grantThe transportation division of Cupertino’s Public Works Department has been awarded a $3.2 million Highway Safety Improvement Program grant to make safety improvements along 15 roadway corridors in the city. These corridors include segments of De Anza Boulevard; Homestead, Wolfe, Bollinger, McClellan, Stelling and Bubb roads; Mariani, Mary, Tantau, Miller and Blaney avenues; and Rainbow, Valley Green and Calvert drives.Safety improvements include striping enhancements, high-friction surface treatments and radar speed feedback signs. These improvements are intended to reduce unsafe speed violations and rear-end collisions along the corridors. The grant funding covers 90% of the estimated total project cost of $3.56 million. Improvements are expected to be begin in 2025.Parents’ Nights OutQuinlan Community Center is hosting Parents’ Night Out Saturday, June 17, and Friday, June 30, 6-10 p.m. Parents in need of a respite can drop off children ages 3-12 for a night of g...

Milpitas Housing Element gets state certification

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:58 GMT

Housing Element approvedMilpitas’ Housing Element update was certified last month by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), making it the first city in Santa Clara County and one few cities in the region to have met state mandates for new housing construction.The Housing Element will shape and guide housing development in the city through 2031, helping ensure that Milpitas can adequately address housing needs across diverse groups and income levels. The certification of the city’s Housing Element will enable Milpitas to apply for HCD’s Prohousing Designation Program and access additional state funding for housing programs to help maximize the development of affordable housing and provide housing for special needs populations.I am extremely proud that Milpitas has the distinction of being the first city in Santa Clara County to comply with State Housing Element law,” Mayor Carmen Montano said in a statement. “It is a critical step in ensuring that our c...

‘Lockheed in Sunnyvale’ exhibit highlights how company changed the city

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:58 GMT

Mega-size Lockheed exhibitThe archivists at the Sunnyvale Heritage Park Museum have been digging deep into the Lockheed archives to put together a new display. Opening June 25, “Lockheed in Sunnyvale, 1956 to 2023” will highlight how the company’s arrival changed the city and the surrounding Santa Clara Valley.While the museum still boasts a permanent Lockheed exhibit, the new temporary exhibit will feature items acquired more recently as well as other materials that have never been on public view. According to museum director Laura Babcock, the exhibit will also provide an overview of the various divisions within Lockheed and the work accomplished there through the years.Sunnyvale Historical Society will be hosting receptions Sunday, June 25, and Thursday, June 29, 12:30-3:30 p.m. both days, when even more Lockheed memorabilia will be displayed. Opening remarks are at 1 p.m. It is hoped that the receptions will also provide a means for collecting memories from former employees, rec...

Campbell teen wins national book award

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:58 GMT

Westmont High School graduating senior Maddon Hoh-Choi, 17, has been named a 2023 Silver Nautilus Book Award winner for a book he wrote with his mother, Tina Choi, to teach children about Chinese-American businessman Andrew Yang, who ran for president in 2020.“Fighting for Change,” which was honored in the category for middle grade nonfiction (ages 8-12; grades 4-7), teaches the basics of Universal Basic Income (UBI) and how it addresses issues including unemployment, poverty and homelessness. It also describes the childhood trials and triumphs of Yang, a child of immigrant parents, who grew up in a small New York town.Maddon, who will attend UC Berkeley this fall, has always been interested in politics and history. He closely followed the 2020 Presidential election and was among the millions who called themselves part of the “Yang Gang” — those who supported Yang and his plan for UBI.Maddon was the recipient of the Class of 2023 Thomas Jefferson Award as chosen by Westmont High’s s...