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Automate your festive holiday mood-setting with these smart light upgrades

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:45 GMT

BestReviews is reader-supported and may earn an affiliate commission. Details.Sleighbells and lighting, make your holiday festive and excitingIt seems like the year has been racing toward the end at a breakneck pace. In just a few weeks, there will be plenty of holidays upon us, making it the perfect time to spend with friends and family while reflecting on the past 12 months. While Christmas Day is an important event on the Christian calendar, people also get excited about Thanksgiving. Both usually involve decorations to celebrate the season. Lights are a particularly popular holiday decoration. You can make managing your light displays easier with just a few products and tips. Shop this article: Kasa Smart Color-changing Dimmable Bulbs, TP-Link Tapo Smart LED Light Strip, Philips Hue Bridge and Outdoor Lily Lights Bundle.Why automate your holiday lights?It’s incredibly fun to plan your seasonal decorations, ensuring...

Austin-based Black Mamas Village debuts new community hub

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:45 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin-based community organization Black Mamas Village celebrated the grand opening of The Village Place, according to a Saturday news release. Located at 8401 North Interstate 35, The Village Space is a 6,500-square-foot community hub facilitated to cover a variety of needs community members have. Black Mamas Village was first created as a Facebook group in June 2019 and "emerged to address the isolating effects of Austin's rapid growth," per the release. Located at 8401 North Interstate 35, The Village Space is a 6,500-square-foot community hub facilitated to cover a variety of needs community members have. (KXAN Photo/Lauren Ryan) Located at 8401 North Interstate 35, The Village Space is a 6,500-square-foot community hub facilitated to cover a variety of needs community members have. (KXAN Photo/Lauren Ryan) Located at 8401 North Interstate 35, The Village Space is a 6,500-square-foot community hub facilitated to cover a variety of needs community members have. (...

Wild’s Jared Spurgeon inching closer to return

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:45 GMT

The Wild gave fans a treat on Sunday. Instead of the usual drills in what has become an annual outdoor fall practice, Minnesota staged a 3-on-3 scrimmage at the Recreation Outdoor Center in St. Louis Park.As an additional surprise, the overflow crowd got to see Jared Spurgeon on the rink, skating in competitive hockey.Spurgeon’s white jerseys, featuring teammates as Kirill Kaprizov, Mats Zucarello and Jonas Brodin, rallied from a 5-2 deficit to edge a green team featuring Matt Boldy, Ryan Hartman and Joel Eriksson Ek, 6-5.It was the first time since preseason games that any fans were able to see Spurgeon competing, and the veteran defenseman is set to travel to New York on Monday for a three-game road trip.That doesn’t mean he’ll play against the Islanders on Tuesday night.“I don’t know,” coach Dean Evason said. “Obviously, he’s progressing to the point he can be out there playing this (but) he’s still not in contract drills, so we’ll see how he progresses. … We’ll obviously have to...

1 killed, 1 injured in Compton drive-by shooting

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:45 GMT

A drive-by shooting has left one person dead and another hospitalized in Compton on Saturday. Deputies responded to reports of a shooting at the intersection of McMillan Street and Lime Avenue around 2 p.m., according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.Arriving officers found the victim, identified only as a 23-year-old man, suffering from an apparent gunshot to his upper torso. He was found in an alleyway just off the intersection.Although paramedics treated the man, he was pronounced dead at the scene, said LASD.Further south in the alleyway, a second victim was found. The 22-year-old victim had also sustained a gunshot wound to his upper torso, authorities said.He was transported to a local hospital where he remains in stable condition.  Southern California woman disappears in Guatemala Investigators believe the shooting appeared to be gang-related. No suspects were located at the scene and both victims were on foot at the time of the drive-by.The deadly incident re...

Bay Area men’s college basketball: Season previews for SCU, SJSU and USF

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:45 GMT

Santa Clara coach Herb Sendek doesn’t know yet whether he has another Jalen Williams or Brandin Podziemski, surprise college stars who were selected in the first round of the past two NBA Drafts.But he knows what those two have meant to the Broncos.“It definitely raises the profile of our program,” Sendek said. “It fortifies the guys who are with us now, adds to their confidence. At the same time, it improves our position in recruiting.“It also helps galvanize the university, the campus, the community at large around our program. There’s a lot of excitement and momentum as a result.”A year after Williams was selected 12th by the Oklahoma City Thunder, Podziemski arrived as a transfer from Illinois, averaged 19.9 points and 8.8 rebounds and was named co-West Coast Conference Player of the Year. The Warriors selected him at No. 19.Santa Clara’s Brandin Podziemski (22) dribbles against Sam Houston’s Donte Powers (24) in the first ha...

Half Moon Bay resident arrested for felony elder abuse 

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:45 GMT

(KRON) The San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office arrested a 49-year-old Half Moon Bay resident for felony elder abuse.Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to Elderberry Road, in Unincorporated Half Moon Bay on Nov. 4 at approximately 7:00 p.m. Deputies were alerted that Ramon Ramirez Perez, 49, was allegedly threatening his elderly parents and was actively destroying their residence.Upon deputies' arrival, Ramirez Perez was heard yelling intelligibly in Spanish and was seen breaking the glass out of the windows, according to deputies. Ramirez Perez’s parents informed deputies that he was threatening to “kill his father by ripping his heart out of his chest” and that they believed he was on drugs, deputies said.  2 robberies in downtown Walnut Creek, police ask for community assistance  Deputies say they set up a perimeter to keep community members at a safe distance. SMCAlert was also sent to advise those in the surrounding area to avoid the ongoing incident. Deputies utilized a Sp...

Blinken shuttles from the West Bank to Iraq trying to contain the fallout from the Israel-Hamas war

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:45 GMT

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken waves as he boards his plane to depart after meetings, amid the conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Amman, Jordan, Sunday, Nov. 5, 2023. (Jonathan Ernst/Pool Photo via AP)(AP/Jonathan Ernst) U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken waves as he boards his plane to depart after meetings, amid the conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Amman, Jordan, Sunday, Nov. 5, 2023. (Jonathan Ernst/Pool Photo via AP)(AP/Jonathan Ernst) RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken took his diplomatic push on the Israel-Hamas war to the occupied West Bank on Sunday, trying to assure Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that the Biden administration was intensifying efforts...

Verstappen wins Brazilian Grand Prix, Perez distances from Hamilton in fight for runner-up

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:45 GMT

SAO PAULO (AP) — Three-time champion Max Verstappen led from the start and won the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday. Sergio Perez of Red Bull finished in fourth place, distancing himself from Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in one of the few competitions left this season — a position for runner-up.Perez nearly took the podium position from third-place Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin, but the Spaniard saw the checkered flag 0.053 seconds before the Mexican.The two raced for the position in the three final laps of the race, with the Red Bull driver overtaking Alonso once and then losing the position.“For me, it was like 30 laps,” Alonso said after being chased by Perez. “I had the pressure from Checo but when he passed me two laps to the end, I thought. ‘Okay, this is gone, the podium is not possible.’ Then he braked a bit late into turn 1.”McLaren’s Lando Norris was second at Interlagos.Perez will leave South America 32 points ahead of Hamilton with two races left — Las Vegas on Nov. 19...

Nepal villagers cremate loved ones who perished in an earthquake that killed 157 people

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:45 GMT

This handout photo provided by Nepal Prime Minister's Office shows an earthquake-affected area in northwestern Nepal, Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023. Helicopters and ground troops rushed to help people hurt in a strong earthquake that shook northwestern Nepal districts just before midnight Friday, killing more than 100 people and injuring dozens dozens more, officials said Saturday. (Nepal Prime Minister's Office via AP) This handout photo provided by Nepal Prime Minister's Office shows an earthquake-affected area in northwestern Nepal, Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023. Helicopters and ground troops rushed to help people hurt in a strong earthquake that shook northwestern Nepal districts just before midnight Friday, killing more than 100 people and injuring dozens dozens more, offi...

“Libertad para papá”: el mensaje de Luis Díaz tras anotar gol en su regreso a las canchas con Liverpool

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:45 GMT

(CNN Español) — El Liverpool de Inglaterra empató este domingo 1-1 frente al recién ascendido Luton Town en partido correspondiente a la jornada 11 de la Premier League. Sin embargo, el empate pasó a segundo término por la situación que nos regaló el encuentro: el regreso del colombiano Luis Díaz a las canchas, con gol incluido y con un mensaje para su papá secuestrado por el Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN) en Colombia.Al inicio, el partido parecía que sería sencillo para el conjunto de Jürgen Klopp, pero el club de Bedfordshire terminó asegurando un punto vital para sus aspiraciones de quedarse en la primera división del fútbol inglés.De hecho, el Luton Town estuvo a unos minutos de llevarse la victoria. Al minuto 80, el delantero neerlandés Tahith Chong abrió el marcador para su equipo, que estalló en júbilo junto a las miles de personas en el pequeño de estadio Kenilworth Road.El Liverpool no encontraba espacios para conseguir el empate y el enfrentamiento parecía dec...