#bay-area

#bay-area

It's Sunday evening and dozens of people are ping-ponging around the room at Berkeley's Ashkenaz Music & Dance Community Center. It's the end of a three-day traveling music festival called " Dare to Be Square West," and folks are whirling, stomping and otherwise having a ball. A man who's perched like a shepherd eyeing his flock calls out instructions from the stage. "Take your partner and promenade!" he hollers, as people form lines, part and reintegrate.

This week's storm pummeling the Bay Area has already unleashed pouring rain, more than 500 lightning strikes, snowy peaks and reports of hail. And more is on the way - rain will fall all week on the coastal region, with frigid temperatures in the North and South Bay Area, and plenty of snow in the Sierra Nevada by the end of the week.

The shower activity is going to continue throughout the day, National Weather Service meteorologist Lamont Bain said. As it pertains to thunderstorm risk, there's probably a 10-to-15 percent chance. There is a lot of instability between the upper low pressure and the lower air. That upper low is going to spin out there and not move much, and that's why the rain showers are going to be scattered throughout the day and why the best chances for thunder are out over the ocean.

Michelle Paulin dances while instructing youth at the Dulce Tricolor Venezolano dance group at the Ariel Dance Studio in Campbell on Jan. 25, 2026. Dulce Tricolor, a Bay Area Venezuelan dance group founded in 2019, teaches children traditional folk dances while preserving culture, building community and offering a sense of home amid Venezuela's ongoing political and economic crisis. (Josie Lepe for KQED)

"Consumers don't have all the information at once," Griffin Li, the app's 19-year-old creator, told SFGATE. "They have to sort of make suboptimal decisions and spend more money. And this is just a way to help."

"Mentally, it's definitely taking a toll," she said.

Blue Oak Brewing Co has become a staple of the Bay Area. Blue Oak is notorious for their award winning beer, but did you know that Blue Oak also hosts an Incredible Stand-Up Comedy Show!? Once a month, in their event space The "Ales & Tales" Comedy Show takes place. This show consistently draws a good audience and has an underground following.

Essential Properties Realty Trust paid a combined $10 million for the four Bay Area restaurant sites, the real estate documents show. The sales were all formally completed on Jan. 26 with the filing of several grant deeds. We acquire, own and manage single-tenant properties that are net leased to middle-market companies operating in service-oriented or experience-based businesses, Essential Properties Realty Trust states on its website.

For Staller, foraging is a "precious" and "simple" activity that one can do to connect with nature. They can experience a sense of mindfulness from gathering together, looking for food and then cooking the bounty, she said. "We are returning to the most basic part of being a human, which is eating food and celebrating it," Staller said. "It's a lost artform."

During the Great Depression, the New Deal put millions of Americans to work building parks, schools, bridges, housing, murals, and civic spaces that continue to serve the public nearly a century later. KALW and Living New Dealinvite you to an evening exploring the lasting imprints of this ambitious era here in the Bay Area. Through film screenings and a community conversation led by Sheryl Kaskowitz, creator of The Public Works,

There is a type of rhododendron which makes a superb container plant, and even performs greatly when pot bound, since many species are epiphytes in nature. https://growplumeriafrangipani.blogspot.com/2011/04/tropical-rhododendron-vireya.html These are vireya rhododendrons. https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JARS/v32n1/v32n1-leach.htm https://rhododendron.org/vireya/index.html https://rhododendron.org/vireya/gallery.htm https://www.rhododendron.org/vireya/archive/StevensNRBGE85.pdf https://www.rhododendron.org/vireya/archive/CallardRSF2011.pdf https://www.rhododendron.org/vireya/history.htm http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JARS/v46n1/v46n1-moynier.htm Many vireya hybrids were created in the Bay Area, especially at the San Francisco Botanical Garden which was the Strybing Arboretum. https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JARS/v45n1/v45n1-morebeck.htm

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- You may get a chance to see the northern lights in the Bay Area skies Monday night! Experts say the auroras - or northern lights - might be seen as far south as Northern California.

As part of the politics and public affairs team, he covered the assassinations of George Moscone and Harvey Milk, the kidnapping of Patty Hearst and the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.

Construction of hotels has plunged in the Bay Area, a nosedive that was unleashed by stubborn problems for hotel financing and elevated construction costs, a new report from Atlas Hospitality Group shows. An estimated 15 hotels with an aggregate 1,610 rooms were under construction in the Bay Area during 2025, representing a sharp decline from the equivalent totals in 2024, according to the report from Atlas Hospitality. This news organization derived the totals from figures that Atlas Hospitality compiled for its report.

Yes, I would say it is, That's a fair thing to say.

Belinda Ricklefs, a ballroom dance and Lindy hop instructor in the Bay Area since 1975, and the founder of Sunday Swing at the Lake Merritt Dance Center and Live Oak Park, passed away on Nov. 7, 2025, at her care home in Pinole. She was 89. Born in Los Angeles in 1936, Belinda lived a long and varied life. She started dancing at age 5, and did her first jitterbugging as a teenager at Friday night socials in a church basement. She graduated from Stanford University with a BA in Asian History (and was a Phi Beta Kappa member) in 1957.

Editor's note: We prohibit the use of bots and any other artificial methods of voting. Suspicious activity could lead to the disqualification of candidates and a permanent suspension of the Athlete of the Week poll. No voting by email: Votes by email and after 5 p.m. Wednesday are not counted. For the entire academic year, we will provide a list of candidates who stood out over the previous week and allow you, the reader, to vote for the winner.

Authorities are investigating an incident caught on video of a man assaulting someone trying to protect a fellow Caltrain passenger whom the attacker was verbally harassing. The incident took place on December 23 at the San Carlos station, and the Good Samaritan was taken to the hospital with facial fractures. [KTVU] Parts of Marin County experienced heavy flooding Friday, and a flood advisory was in effect along the coast of the Bay Area through Sunday.

The third round of king tides since November arrived Friday, coinciding with a set of storms that started to drop rain Wednesday and won't stop doing so until Monday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service. The region also saw king tides in early November, and another round of them in early December. That said, these king tides are expected to be in a class of their own.

9:00 am Japanese Tea Garden's Free NYE Admission Hour (Golden Gate Park) FREE* *Free from 9-10am on Monday, Wednesday and Friday; otherwise non-resident admission is $12 - $16 depending on the season. San Francisco residents are always free with valid ID 9:00 am Noon Year's Eve at Bay Area Discovery Museum (2025) $28* *Free for Bay Area Discovery Museum members 9:30 am Free Kwanzaa & Noon Year's Eve 2025/2026 at SF's Thrive City (Chase Center) FREE*

Prolonged exposure to the cold conditions will lead to hypothermia for people, pets, and livestock. Cold conditions may damage or kill sensitive crops, plants, and vegetation if appropriate precautions are not taken, according to the NWS. Ensure portable heaters are working properly and are used correctly to avoid sparking a fire indoors. Do not use generators or grills inside as carbon monoxide poisoning can result.

Cold conditions with temperatures as low as 34 degrees expected. Cold conditions will be hazardous to sensitive populations such as unhoused individuals. Prolonged exposure to the cold conditions will lead to hypothermia for people, pets, and livestock. Cold conditions may damage or kill sensitive crops, plants, and vegetation if appropriate precautions are not taken, according to the NWS. Ensure portable heaters are working properly and are used correctly to avoid sparking a fire indoors.

In response to a survey asking, "Which of the following do you think have increased the most in cost for you over the past year?" groceries and food topped the list at 64%, followed by housing at 50%, utilities at 33%, restaurants and entertainment at 28%, taxes at 25%, health care at 23% and home insurance at 22%. Joint Venture conducted its poll in August, surveying 1,750 residents from Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, San Francisco and San Mateo counties.