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What are the Jewish High Holy Days?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:21 GMT

(The Conversation) - In this time of year, Jewish people observe the High Holy Days in the month of Tishrei in the Jewish calendar, usually in September and October. These holidays commemorate concepts such as renewal, forgiveness, freedom and joy.As a scholar of the Bible and the ancient world, I am continually impressed with how the history of these festivals offers consolation and encourages people toward living well, even during uncertain and troubled times.What are the High Holy Days?Of the two main High Holy Days, also called the High Holidays, the first is Rosh Hashanah, or the New Year celebration. It is one of two new year celebrations in Judaism, the other being Passover in the spring.The second High Holiday is Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement.In addition to the main Holy Days, there are other celebrations that occur as part of the festival season. One is Sukkot, or the Festival of the Booths, during which meals and rituals take place in a “sukk...

More thunderstorms today

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:21 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Mason and San Saba Counties will be under a Severe Thunderstorm Watch until 11 a.m. At this time there is no severe weather in these counties.Possible severe storms this morning in San Saba and Mason CountiesTwo rounds of showers and thunderstorms will add to to the rain the area has received in the past week. There will be a few showers and thunderstorms for the Hill Country this morning.A much better chance of showers and thunderstorms arrives this afternoon with the potential for heavy downpours. This round of precipitation makes it to the Hill Country between 1 and 2 p.m. Storms on the interstate late this afternoonThe rain and storms march east to the interstate between 4 and 5 p.m. Off they go to the east between 6 and 8 p.m. The Weather Prediction Center has a Marginal flash flood threat for much of our viewing area. Marginal flood riskThe Storm Prediction Center also has a Slight Risk for severe weather from I-35 to the Hill Country. The main threats come fr...

New Minnesota law lets anyone use crossbows for archery deer season

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:21 GMT

Minnesota’s archery deer season starts Saturday, Sept. 16, and, for the first time, anyone who wants to hunt with a crossbow can use one.Legislators last spring changed the state law, which previously limited crossbow use during archery season only to people over age 60 or who had a physical impairment that would prevent them from using a traditional bow.Minnesota Department of Natural Resources officials will be monitoring crossbow use over three seasons and are then required to report back to lawmakers on whether the expansion causes any major issues.The law allowing crossbows for everyone sunsets, or ends, after three years, after which point the Legislature would have to reapprove it to keep it going.If other states that have allowed unlimited crossbow use are any example, tens of thousands of Minnesota hunters are expected to eventually pick up and use crossbows for their archery season deer hunting over the next three seasons. And it’s not hard to see why. Crossbows are more l...

Colorado employers ramp up hiring in August, easing fears of a slowdown

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:21 GMT

Colorado employers ramped up hiring in August, but it wasn’t enough to keep the state’s unemployment rate from rising above 3% for the first time in 15 months.Colorado’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate rose from 2.9% in July to 3.1% in August, and the number of unemployed workers rose by 4,700 last month. The U.S. unemployment rate rose from 3.5% to 3.8% over the same period.The state added a net 5,600 new nonfarm jobs last month, with the private sector adding 9,100 jobs and government employers shed 3,500 jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis.July’s job gains, which initially came in at an anemic 800, were revised sharply higher to a gain of 3,400.“The resiliency of the labor market may mean that Colorado will avoid a recession or significant downturn. That is great news as we head into the fourth quarter in a couple of weeks,” said Broomfield economist Gary Horvath in an email.Senior state labor economist Ryan Gedney said in a news call Fri...

How to navigate Apple’s shift from Lightning to USB-C

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:21 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO — The iPhone 15 (technically, the 17th iteration of the iconic Apple phone) has arrived with a big change that is sure to annoy many of us. Eventually, however, we’ll breathe a sigh of relief.Allow me to unpack that. To comply with recent European regulations, the iPhone 15, unveiled Tuesday, will abandon the Lightning connector that has been the method for charging iPhones for 11 years. In its place will be a different oval-shaped connector: USB-C.For the average tech user, change isn’t fun. This all means that when Apple customers buy their next iPhones, they will no longer be able to plug in all the Lightning accessories they have collected, such as charging cables, speaker docks and earbuds. They will have to replace those with new products that use USB-C connectors to plug into the new iPhones.This transition feels like a bit of déjà vu. In 2012, Apple killed the relatively bulky 30-pin connector on iPhones to switch to Lightning, a slimmer and faster charging tec...

TikTok popularizes products. Can it sell them, too?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:21 GMT

TikTok wooed marketers from companies like Madewell, H&M and Gucci on Wednesday as part of New York Fashion Week, transforming the stylish East Village restaurant Cathédrale with a video wall showcasing fashion trends like “little luxuries” and tall mannequins wearing TikTok-inspired styles.TikTok has cemented itself as an essential advertising venue for brands aiming to reach its young users. But at the party, the marketers were abuzz about TikTok’s efforts to sell products from the app itself.The reason: After nearly a year of testing, speculation and some internal upheaval, TikTok this week is rolling out TikTok Shop for all users in the United States. The company will expand the rollout of a Shop button on the app’s home screen, which sends people to a marketplace, and drive traffic to videos that contain Shop buttons for specific products. Both enable users to buy products in a few clicks without leaving the app.E-commerce is a significant bet for the company, which is hopi...

49ers’ Sam Darnold spends his week as a Matthew Stafford doppelganger

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:21 GMT

SANTA CLARA — This is the week Sam Darnold channeled his inner Matthew Stafford.As the backup to Brock Purdy, Darnold simulated running the offense of the Los Angeles Rams to prepare the 49ers defense for Sunday’s NFC West matchup at SoFi Field.It was Purdy’s job last season when he was No. 2 behind Jimmy Garoppolo, with the 49ers beating the Rams decisively in both games. It carries with it the responsibility of the football version of method acting, where the scout team quarterback does his best to assume the personality and skillset of the weekly opponent.Last week Darnold was Pittsburgh’s Kenny Pickett before taking a seat on game day to watch Purdy run the offense. It was just the second time in 57 NFL games with the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers that Darnold did not start.“I take it very seriously,” Darnold said Thursday. “I go out and play against a very good defense every single day, and watching some of Stafford’s film t...

Editorial: User trust in Google takes another hit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:21 GMT

Users’ trust in Google took yet another hit Thursday.The tech titan agreed to a $93 million settlement with the state of California resolving allegations that its location-privacy practices violated the state’s consumer protection laws. The accord follows a $391.5 million settlement with 40 states, reached last November, after an investigation into how the company tracked users’ locations since at least 2014.Specifically, the California Department of Justice and other states had determined that Google was deceiving users by collecting, storing and using their location data for consumer profiling and advertising purposes without users’ informed consent.It’s an appalling practice that further erodes the tech industry’s reputation when it can least afford it, given the rapid innovations brought about by artificial intelligence.In order to build trust in AI, it’s imperative that people believe that tech companies are heavily invested in protecting con...

Opinion: How California can improve safety of privately run bio labs

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:21 GMT

The discovery of an illegally operating bio lab in the Central Valley was disturbing to many — and especially frightening to the Reedley community living and working around the lab. Investigation of the samples and mice found in the facility revealed improperly stored pathogenic material, including coronavirus, malaria, dengue and HIV.Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and officials who investigated the Prestige Biotech lab do not suspect it was creating weaponized materials, if it was working with “live” or infectious pathogens such as coronaviruses, it should have been operating at biosafety level 3, or BSL-3, the second-highest tier of protection.Biosafety levels are defined by the CDC according to what pathogens are stored and used in a lab’s work and what procedures are being done with those pathogens. They also describe what protective measures are needed to keep laboratory workers, the environment and local residents safe.The levels are not legal ma...

Silver Creek dials up late-game option to turn back Piedmont Hills

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:21 GMT

SAN JOSE — Silver Creek’s identity is as a power-counter, power-read running team. But when the Raiders needed a wrinkle after watching Piedmont Hills rally to take the lead in the fourth quarter, they transitioned to an option play out of the veer and saw it work to perfection.Quarterback Trajan Sinatra faked to a running back plunging up the middle and circled around left end. That’s where he pitched to trailing back Dominic Lim, who took it 34 yards for the game-winning touchdown as Silver Creek registered a 24-20 victory in a Blossom Valley Athletic League Santa Teresa-Foothill Division opener for both teams.“When defenses aren’t playing us honest, that’s when we do to the veer,” Silver Creek coach Eric Luescher said.That same play was used in the first quarter with Gabe Lim gaining 33 yards to set up a 15-yard touchdown pass from Sinatra to Austin Price.Silver Creek High’s Dominic Lim (19) celebrates his game-winning touchdown wit...