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Silicon Valley Bank: Now what? How Northern California wine is faring after the fallout

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:31 GMT

Siduri Wines and Clarice Wine Company founder Adam Lee was on a plane, midair over New Orleans last week, when he heard the news that his bank of 26 years was in trouble.But it wasn’t anger or fear that gripped him. Yes, he was nervous. He had a $70,000 balance with Silicon Valley Bank, the leading bank for California wineries, which collapsed Friday, creating the biggest bank failure since the Great Recession in 2008.But the overwhelming feeling, Lee says, was sadness and even worry about losing the critical and wide-ranging support the bank had offered him and others in the industry. Working with a bank with a Santa Rosa branch and a dedicated wine division of nearly 30 years meant those bankers cared about Lee’s day-to-day. They showed up, harvest after harvest, to sort grapes and feed the crew. His kids babysat wine division head Jed Taborski’s kids.“It was a relationship,” says Lee, who sold his Healdsburg winery, Siduri, to Jackson Family Wines in...

Gilroy: City considers allowing digital billboards despite resident opposition

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:31 GMT

Gilroy may soon allow two digital billboards to pop up along Highway 101 — a move some residents, environmentalists and astronomers aren’t too happy about.Digital advertising company Outfront Media and property owner Mike Conrotto want to build a billboard that would tower 75 feet on Conrotto’s land on the 6400 block of Automall Parkway. After the city’s planning commission denied their proposal, Outfront Media and Conrotto filed an appeal.On Monday evening, the Gilroy City Council will make the final decision.Residents concerned about the digital billboards complain they would be a distraction for drivers, add to light pollution, compete with local businesses and change Gilroy’s rural landscape. But Outfront Media and Conrotto assert the jumbo signs could be a boom for local businesses and tax revenue and “would not compromise the city’s culture and small-town quality.”In a Feb. 10 letter to the council, Conrotto said denying the appe...

Facing arrest warrant, Russia’s Putin visits annexed Crimea

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:31 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to Crimea to mark the ninth anniversary of the Black Sea peninsula’s annexation from Ukraine on Saturday, the day after the International Criminal Court’ issued an arrest warrant for the Russian leader accusing him of war crimes. Putin visited an art school and a children’s center, locations that appeared to have been chosen in response to the court’s action on Friday. The court specifically accused him Friday of bearing personal responsibility for the abductions of children from Ukraine during Russia’s full-scale invasion of the neighboring country that started almost 13 months ago. Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, a move that most of the world denounced as illegal. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has demanded that Russia withdraw from the peninsula as well as the areas it has occupied since last year. Putin has shown no intention of relinquishing the Kremlin’s gains. Instead, he stressed ...

DC cherry blossom season could be spoiled by wind, freezing temps

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:31 GMT

D.C.’s National Cherry Blossom Festival kicks off on Saturday and while the trees are expected to bloom early this year, cold temperatures over the weekend could spoil the fun.“The critical temperature we’re looking at is about 27 [degrees] for the cherry blossoms and there could be some damage below that,” said Storm Team4 Meteorologist Mike Stinneford.More Cherry Blossom NewsMore DC NewsMore Local NewsFrigid temperatures are expected to sweep across the D.C. region on Saturday and Sunday night.“A couple of things are going to happen Sunday night that I’m worried about one thing it’s going to be very windy and the air is going to be very dry,” Stinneford told WTOP. “That wind along with a very dry air, some dew points will be below zero, we could actually see the cherry blossoms get dried out and actually freeze dry.”The blossoms are currently in their peduncle elongation stage which is just before the beautiful puffy white blossoms appear — “and that ...

Russian President Vladimir Putin visits Crimea to mark anniversary of Black Sea peninsula’s annexation from Ukraine

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:31 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin visits Crimea to mark anniversary of Black Sea peninsula’s annexation from Ukraine.Source

Rock ‘n’ Roll half marathon closes DC roads Saturday

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:31 GMT

Runners will be rocking and rolling through D.C. on Saturday, meaning if you’re headed to the District, you should look out for several road closures.The Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon and 5K will take place Saturday, with parking restrictions taking effect 6 p.m. Friday.Police will be out helping drivers navigate the roads, but are telling drivers not to wait on crossing the running route and to instead plan ahead and go around the road closures.More DC NewsMore Transportation NewsRunners take part in the 2023 Rock ‘n’ Roll series runs on Saturday. (WTOP/Dave Dildine)Parking will not be allowed on the following streets from 6 p.m. on Friday, March 17, to 6 p.m. on Saturday, March 18:Pennsylvania Avenue from 3rd Street to 7th Street, NW3rd Street from Constitution Avenue to Independence Avenue, NW4th Street from Madison Drive to Pennsylvania Avenue, NWDrivers will not be able to park on Constitution Avenue from 9th Street to 15th Street, NW on Saturday from 3 a.m. to ...

Prince William data center revenue hits $100M mark

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:31 GMT

This article was written by WTOP’s news partner InsideNoVa.com and republished with permission. Sign up for InsideNoVa.com’s free email subscription today.Data centers are projected to pump over $100 million into Prince William County coffers during the 2023 fiscal year, up 18% over last year, with more than $40 million projected to come directly from the county’s computer equipment and peripherals tax.Michelle Attreed, the county’s chief financial officer, put the industry’s remarkable growth into raw numbers during a recent presentation to the Board of County Supervisors.The figures come in the wake of heightened and vehement scrutiny of new data center projects and accompanying board votes.Just 10 years ago, with the industry in its infancy, the county pulled in $6.2 million from taxes on data centers. It was the first year the county began tracking the industry’s total tax bill. Since then, data center tax revenue has grown by 1,535% to $101.41 million in the current fiscal year...

Denver weather: Dry and cool conditions this weekend

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:31 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- There will be a little warm-up this weekend, with Denver Weather staying dry until moisture returns to the state Monday.Dry and cool weekend We have a little warm-up this weekend with highs getting into the low 40s today and into the lower 50s tomorrow. We should typically be around 57 this time of year.Mostly sunny Saturday and Sunday and staying dry this weekend. Work Week: Snow in the mountains, rain showers in the metro Moisture returns to the state starting Monday.Light snow showers will develop in the mountains Monday afternoon and Monday night.Monday night, there’s a slight chance of a rain shower in the Foothills and along the I-25 corridor. Tuesday and Wednesday are shaping up to be warmer with highs near 60. Another system moves in Tuesday night increasing snow chances in the mountains. There is a chance of a rain shower for the I-25 corridor Tuesday night into Wednesday.Snow chances continue in the mountains Thursday and...

Trump suggests he will be arrested Tuesday, calls for supporters to ‘protest, take our nation back!’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:31 GMT

Former President Trump suggested he will be arrested on Tuesday as Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg appears to be close to deciding whether to charge him in the probe into a hush-money payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential election. Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Saturday that “illegal leaks” indicate that “the far & away leading Republican candidate & former president of the United States of America, will be arrested on Tuesday of next week.” “Protest, take our nation back!” Trump continued, calling on supporters to protest his potential arrest. The post comes as multiple recent signs appear to point to the grand jury Bragg organized being close to possibly filing charges against Trump.Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen testified before the grand jury earlier this week, and Daniels met with Manhattan prosecutors. With Cohen’s testimony, almost every major figure involved...

Ukraine grain export deal extended for 120 days

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:31 GMT

A deal allowing Ukrainian grain exports to pass through the blockaded Black Sea has been extended for 120 days, Ukraine’s Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov announced Saturday.Kubrakov thanked “all our partners for sticking to the agreements,” said in a tweet Saturday afternoon. The announcement comes after a week of wrangling following Moscow’s announcement Monday that it had agreed to extend the Black Sea grain initiative but only for 60 days — which drew immediate objections from Kyiv and reminders from the United Nations and Turkey that the original agreement foresees a minimum 120-day extension.  The deal — described by aid groups as a lifeline for food insecure countries — was due to expire on Saturday. Initially brokered by the U.N. and Turkey last July after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 fueled a global food crisis, the pact was extended in November for 120 days. Some 24 million tons of Ukrainian produce have ...