Do you believe that wearing a mask is an intrusion on your civil liberties?

Anti-vaccine protesters berated parents in an exclusive California neighborhood as they walked their children to an elementary school. Several dozen protesters gathered outside Hawthorne Elementary School in Beverly Hills and confronted parents and students about wearing masks.  Some of the protesters urged the parents to sue Beverly Hills School District, even though the state of California has mandated mask wearing.

Counties in the San Francisco Bay Area will start easing their requirements for people to wear masks inside many public spaces. A group of eight counties in the region said that the rules will be dropped when overall vaccination rates are above 80% and COVID-19 transmission rates and hospitalizations are low.

In San Francisco, where places like gyms and offices already require people to show proof of vaccination, some will be allowed to drop masks next week.

The Bay Area has the highest vaccination rates and lowest case rates in the nation. In August, counties had reinstated the indoor mask mandate as infections surged because of the highly contagious delta variant.

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Where can you walk on a beach full of broken pottery? What smells might you discover at the country's only perfume museum? Is there any evidence that BigFoot is real? It's no surprise that these are some of the questions that you might ask about California. In fact, the very title of this book, Secret California: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure, may seem like an oxymoron to those who live here and already know about the quirky sides of California's cities, beaches, wine regions, and mountains. Learn the fascinating tales behind all the points of interest and discover some new places to look for adventure. Watch silent movies at the theater that made Charlie Chaplin famous, or see your own name in lights at the first Neon Museum. Whether it's an ancient society's crypt or the second city underneath the Capital, this guide leaves no stone unturned. During the more than forty-six years author Ruth Carlson has lived in California she's made it a point to seek out the oddity's locals love and try to keep just for themselves. She's sharing them here with locals and visitors alike so that you too can experience all that California's been keeping a secret.

talkintravel.com  for more information

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Why did they cancel the all-white play?

When San Jose Playhouse announced in late August its cast for a holiday production of “Into the Woods,” critics on social media saw a big problem: All the actors were white.

An all-white cast might have been less of an issue in a show that offered fewer roles. Or one that’s not about fairy tale characters presumably free from real-world norms about race. Or one not produced in San Jose, where non-Hispanic and non-Latino whites make up just 25.7% of the population, according to the 2020 census.

But all these factors, combined with ongoing, passionate advocacy for racial justice in theater, both locally and across the country, made San Jose Playhouse’s production stand out to detractors.

In attempting to defend itself, San Jose Playhouse, led by married couple Shannon and Scott Evan Guggenheim, made more perceived mistakes, including posting, then deleting, a note that was meant to be private; as well as by recasting one actor with multiple others. That only further inflamed opposition, who asked why the theater was suddenly able to find actors of color now when it couldn’t before. By Sept. 12, San Jose Playhouse canceled the show.

The episode underscores how much casting norms in local theater have evolved. Even a decade ago, if a Bay Area theater had programmed all-white shows, criticism would probably have been much more muted, if it went public at all. It also highlights how outspoken that racial justice advocates have become.

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A Senate report on President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election offers new details about an Oval Office confrontation between Trump and the Justice Department, revealing the extent to which government lawyers threatened to resign en masse if the president removed his attorney general.

The interim report by the Senate Judiciary Committee was issued today. While Republicans on the panel offered their counter-findings, arguing that Trump did not subvert the justice system to remain in power, the majority report by the Democrats offers the most detailed account to date of the struggle inside the administration’s final, desperate days.

The report underscores the gaping political divide that has emerged in this country over one of the most basic functions of government — conducting free and fair elections. Democrats charge Trump nearly provoked a constitutional crisis, but for the steady hands of senior Justice Department officials; Republicans say Trump was “faithful” to his sworn duty as president in seeking assurances about voter integrity.

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Taiwan is committed to defending its democracy against an increasingly aggressive China, the island’s president has vowed, warning of “catastrophic consequences” for the region should it fall.

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Today, Los Angeles leaders approved one of the nation’s strictest vaccine mandates — a sweeping measure that would require the shots for everyone entering bars, restaurants, nail salons, gyms or even a Lakers game. The City Council voted 11-2 in favor of the ordinance that will require proof of full vaccination by Nov. 4.

Listeners requested the information about our caller Al, owner of Tony & Alba’s Pizza, 3137 Stevens Creek Blvd in Santa Clara

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A federal judge granted the Justice Department’s request to halt enforcement of the recently passed Texas law that bans nearly all abortions in the state while the legal battle over the statute makes its way through the federal courts.

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Shortly after news broke of a shooting inside a Dallas-area high school, liberal influencers demanded stricter gun control measures, even though Texas Gov. Greg Abbott explained that current state law prohibits an 18-year-old adult like the suspect from owning or purchasing the firearm in question.

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What are your impressions of Joe Biden’s presidency?

Also, does the source of your news matter?

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John says we must agree to disagree agreeably

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