San Jose -The San Jose -sharks are too used to being out of the playoff picture right now of the season, and in recent times it has probably been guilty of just playing out the string.

While the last sharks are across the corner in the identical situation this season in the identical situation and the NHL trade period, such a lukewarm attitude of the condition of their reconstruction and the younger players on the squad-now is completely avoiding.

“We have 25 games to really do and be competitive,” said Shark's coach Ryan Warsofsky on Tuesday. “I thought there was only in recent years that you only get through the games and reached the end of the season. We try to take part in competitions. “

The story indicates that it will be a challenge, especially with the sharks (15-35-7), which is expected to discharge more corpses from 8-25-6.

Every year the Sharks experienced a defeat of nine games and lost nine games with three or more goals.

Although there is no guarantee that the shark's record will be better this season, they want to avoid at least the same moral, one -sided losses. Part of it is on the relative youth on the squad, including the development of rookies Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, Shakir Mukhamadullin, Collin Graf and other gene Z players such as William Eklund and Henry Thrun.

Nobody may be crushed regularly.

Warsofsky said this year's squad will be “probably younger if we get under control all week and in the next few weeks, and I am sure that we want to see some people who want to see (in the AHL) that We (in the AHL) want to see with the (Barracuda) before hopefully making your playoff run.

“So there will be mistakes. There will be puck play errors. There will be systematic errors. As a coaching employee, we will continue to teach and train you and drive them forward and promoting profit habits and basic habits. So if we arrive next year, you can (we can) run the ground. “

After the NHL held its schedule for the 4-nation view, the Sharks' practice marked the first time on Tuesday that they had been together on February 8 since its 8: 3 defeat against the Dallas Stars. The loss was the tenth in their last 11 games, since they fell in the overall ranking of the NHL in the overall ranking of the NHL.

The break was urgently needed – physically and mentally – since the sharks have only won five out of 27 games in the Colorado Avalanche since the Handelstorwart Mackenzie Blackwood on December 9th.

“It was great,” said Shark's Rookie Center Macklin Celebrini. “It certainly benefited me. I have the feeling that it helps to get a little time after the first half of the year to refresh a kind of refreshment. “

The sharks are supposed to practice every day this week before leaving seven games to a discouraging road trip on Saturday, which starts on Sunday with games in Calgary and on Monday Winnipeg.

On Tuesday morning, Warsofsky met with the Leadership Group of the Sharks and articulated its expectations for the last two months of the season.

“We are not here to play around. We want to try to get better every day, ”said Shark's winger Tyler Toffoli. “We said that every one yr round. We just need to make our game constant and it starts with the training. “

The sharks welcomed injured veteran centers Alexander Wennberg and Nico Sturm back to training on Tuesday. Sturm has missed eight games in the injured reserve in a row since January 22, and Wenberg missed four games in a row with a problem with the upper body. Both were complete participants in the training on Tuesday and are on the right track according to Warsofsky to play this weekend.

Wenberg and Sturm, who have 34 points together this season, will not solve all the problems of the sharks, but should be a numerous team that was the leading goal scorer Mikael Granlund and the top pair defender Cody Ceci.

In training on Tuesday, Wenberg centered the second line with Fabian Zetterlund and Will Smith on the wings, and Sturm, a pending Ufa, who could be on the move before the deadline, centered the third line with his wings Luke Kunin and Collin Graf.

“Loads has happened, Real the Blackwood would exchange,” said Warsofsky. “You exchange our start goalkeeper, then lose (granlund and ceci) and not only good players, but also good people, and that affects them. We hit our stomach there and influenced our game.

“Although we sometimes competed, we sometimes escape games. And now we have to reset. These boys moved on; We also have to continue. This is the business in which we are in. “

Increasing injury: Warsofsky said that striker Nikolai Kovenko (upper body) will probably be available to play again before defender Jan Rutta (lower body) can return. Kovenko, who had missed the last three games before the break, drove on Tuesday morning and if he was not on the team's flight to Calgary on Saturday, he could partially connect the team through the road trip, said Warsofsky.

Rutta, a pending Ufa, missed the last six games before the break, and his injury lasts longer than expected. Warsofsky said it was too early to say whether Rutta on the journey, which lasts until March 6, can join the sharks in some unspecified time in the future.

Remarkable: The sharks remembered by Graf and Jack Thompson from Barracuda on Tuesday. Thompson was combined with Shakir Mukhamadullin during training.

Originally published: February 18, 2025 at 6:31 p.m. PST

Not long after Bay Area News Outlets reported that Ayesha Curry concludes her sweet July shop in Oakland: “In order to prioritize the security of customers and workers”, the story in publications that the town is so overrun, nationally of publications which might be shown by the town. Crime and chaos that triggered one among its hottest celebrity entrepreneurs.

Perhaps Curry, a protracted -time advocate of the town, has unintentionally contributed to the negative narrative, because the Daily Mail describes “Lawless Oakland”. This doesn’t sit well with some residents and business owners who say that the town made positive changes last 12 months With a registered 33% waste in violent and ownership crimes in 2024 from the previous 12 months.

You also wonder if Curry's Uptown Home Goods Store and Cafe needed to struggle for other reasons as crime and “security”, including what they are saying, was an absence of customer support price on the twenty third Street location between Broadway and Telegraph Avenue.

“Just because (the sweet store in July) does not mean that it has something to do with crimes,” said Ken Houston, managing director of the non -profit beautification council, the areas around warehouse. “It could be financially. It could not work (only). Just because she is a curry does not mean that her business was financially viable. “

“Things change, but people like the negative one because they have to have an ugly duckling and try to make Oakland an ugly duckling.”

The entrepreneurial woman of the Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry opened the flagship and the Café in Oakland in 2021 for its sweet July retail brand. At that point she said that the inpatient space was her “love letter” to the “love letter” to the “” love letter “to the” city that hugged and supported and supported it. “The cookbook creator, restaurateur, TV chef and lifestyle influencer also explained that the name of the brand dates from the month of their wedding to Steph Curry and the month during which three of their 4 children were born. In an interview, Curry said that she selected a store front in a two-block corridor between Broadway and Telegraph because other firms were black women within the region. She aimed that her business is a life-style “hub” and “community” and offered products and concepts “for the house and the self”, on quite a lot of topics, including “food, beauty, wellness, faith, style, Female authorization and entrepreneurship. “

But 4 years later, the Oakland Storefront Dream from Sweet July ended when the corporate announced on Instagram that “the difficult decision had made the location” From February ninthBecause of “security concerns”. The post says: “We loved being a part of Oakland and are grateful for the community that opened her arms and hugged us. It was an honor to serve them. “

Representatives of Ayesha Curry and Sweet July did not respond to a request for information on certain incidents that carried out security concerns. The Oakland police reported an incident, a slump in October 1, 2022, in which a thief smashed a glass window and took several objects out of the store. The statistics of the Oakland police at the end of 2024 or 51%.

In the meantime, it seems that Curry apparently apparently be one to open her second sweet July café. She opened a café in the luxury regent hotel in Santa Monica. Essence registered.

The Store Closeure has stimulated a number of reactions, online and in response to queries of this news organization. Some complained of this crime or what they perceive as a lack of support in the city would have played a role in closing the business. “Your beautiful room was an urgently needed light light in the town of Oakland,” said one person.

Clothing designer Taylor Jay expressed sympathy for the situation of the business, as she said Two break-ins Forced her to close the inpatient location of her brand in Rockridge in 2024. She said that the loss of Sweet July and other nearby shops in black ownership on Broadway represent more than economic losses. “They are cultural losses and strips of Oakland from precisely the essence that has made it into such a energetic and communal city,” said Jay.

While Jay recognized that the departure of top -class companies creates perception that the city is “a lost thing”, she said that this narrative was not the entire picture. She opened the doors at her Broadway location, about a block from Sweet July, “not only as a business, but also as a pillar of resilience for the community. I believe in this city and I know that thriving here with the right support is still possible. “

Others expressed trouble that the sweet July falsely blamed the town for its suffering. A critic said that that they had operated two successful retail stores in Oakland for nearly twenty years and wrote that Oakland is “a great city with an incredible business”. This person also said: “Shame about @Sweetjuly because he beat up our city!”

In interviews with this news organization, several individuals who live or operate shops nearby saw the neighborhood as insecure, even with a close-by camp for courted people. “It's a beautiful community,” said Nanette Mervin, the owner of Cord and society Vintage furniture store on the corner of twenty third Street and Telegraph. “We had our problems, but I didn't see a rise in crime. I just have the sensation that the media shout away the people in front of Oakland. “

Isaac Pena, the deputy community director of Gallery 459, who manages several residential buildings in the area, including one next to the sweet July, said that he had not noticed anything “outside of the peculiar” crime. In fact, Pena said that he thought Sweet July spoke to his concerns by regularly publishing security personnel in business.

A sales and marketing manager who has lived in the same block as Sweet July since its opening, she never had the feeling that the business tried to integrate into the neighborhood. She has accused the business of not always running regular business hours and calculating “ridiculous” prices for some goods such as 130 US dollars for a hoodie with the sweet July logo. She added that Curry didn't seem to be a big presence and only reminded that she turned up when the shop relaxed the street so that she did a photo shoot.

Sweet July has not shared whether other factors played a role in deciding to close, including challenges that many inpatient retailers had. Journalists have also recorded how the connection of a company with a famous name does not guarantee success, reports on a over -saturated global market for stars sponsored brands and found that even Gwyneth Paltrow, the original Celebrity Lifestyle Guru, has struggled in recent years Discharges and closures of the warehouse in their Goop Company.

Others wonder whether Curry is so much on an abundance of industries in a wealth of industries. She is known for her cookbooks, TV appearances, the international smoke restaurant partnership with chef Michael Mina and her philanthropy with Steph Curry on behalf of the Oakland Schools. In the meantime, their sweet July brand includes a production company, a publisher, a quarterly magazine and A Skin care products. Haute Beauty registered in January That she might want to act something. Two days after the sweet July, the business announced that she and her sister-in-law were Sydel Curry-Lee presented in bon apetiteBalancing with the luxurious domain curry Winery.

Critics also pointed out that Curry's shops are not always successful, with her and Minas International Rowing Imperium Five locations have been closed since 2016. T.The latest closure on the MGM Grand was in Las Vegas Announced at the start of this monthOnly leave the San Francisco restaurant.

Originally published: February 5, 2025 at 1:05 p.m. PST

When I wrote in regards to the closing of a Barnes & Noble bookstore in San Jose, I didn't know the way many other people felt a way of loss. But I heard from several readers who were very sad to see the shop close its doors on January nineteenth.

“I cannot imagine how I will exist without my Almaden Barnes & Noble store,” wrote Barbara Carmichael. “Real book lovers know that you don't just order a title – you have to pick it up, turn it over, read a page or two, and then decide. I'm grieving a great loss here. “

Mary Stradner wrote a letter to the company expressing her disappointment at the loss of the only large, full-service bookstore in South San Jose. “It's sad to see another closing of a book deal, especially one in such an accessible location,” she said in an email to me. “I didn't get a very hopeful response about a new place.”

Margaret Hengel, who serves with me on the Silicon Valley-Reads Community Advisory Board, said the store is also one of her treasures. “I walked in yesterday and left with tears streaming down my face.”

Then the opposite shoe dropped when Books Inc. announced its bankruptcy bid just a few days later. (At least the “we're trying to survive” sort of bankruptcy despite the fact that the Berkeley store is closing.) Luckily, as Carol Zink jogged my memory, there are still books inc. -Locations in Campbell, Mountain View and Palo Alto.

And while I listed a few of the denizens of brick-and-mortar bookstores in bookstores that may still patronize, I didn't get all of them. Joyce Gross jogged my memory of a neighborhood treasure in Saratoga: Book go roundwhich has been around and selling books, records, CDs and DVDs since 1983. Even higher, the non-profit nonprofit store on Oak Street is the Saratoga Library (which is an excellent reminder of this one for favoritism too).

And bookstores aren’t all created equal, as Bruce Tritch identified. His Spacecat comic store shared a wall with the Barnes & Noble in Westgate Mall, until the massive store's corporate suits made it clear they didn't like having a “rival” as a neighbor. “Perhaps the lack of a giant corporate entity is good for small business bookstores in San Jose in the long run,” Tritch said.

We can all hope that that is true.

On the campaign trail: The race can be for San Jose's District 3's latest representative on the City Council, which covers downtown and areas around it. Seven candidates qualify for the April 8 election.

With just over two months to go, attending to know the candidates is more vital than ever, which is why three major San Jose organizations – the Chamber of Commerce, the San Jose Downtown Association and the Rotary Club of San Jose – have teamed up for a candidate forum on February twelfth hold off.

It is predicted The Fourth Street Parking Garage downtown. You can register to go to Participate below www.sjdowntown.com/d3.

Good deed department: Good Samaritan Hospital's success was a fantastic donation for West Valley Community Services, which received a $10,000 donation from the medical center to support its Park-It Market mobile food pantry. Patrick Rohan, CEO of Good Samaritan Hospital, said San Jose Hospital is honored to assist with Cupertino's mission to be certain that nobody in the neighborhood goes hungry.

How did this generosity come about? For the second yr within the series, Good Samaritan took first place in HCA Healthcare's annual sculpture competition, allowing them to donate $10,000 to a neighborhood nonprofit organization. Their winning entry, the Good Sam Can Van, was inspired by Park-It Market and created with greater than 1,500 cans of food, which may also be donated.

WVCS Executive Director Sujatha Venkatraman said the donation will make a giant difference for families facing food insecurity. “It helps us bring fresh, healthy food directly to those who need it most, removing barriers and strengthening our community,” she said.

Music to our ears: The Mission Chamber Orchestra will perform Feb. 2 on the Italian American Heritage Foundation Cultural Center on North Fourth Street in San Jose. And you possibly can bet this system “Sounds of the Motherland” can be more Italian than the Tower of Pisa. Composers include Gioachino Rossini, Alessandro Marchello and Jeremy Cavaterra – together with a reputation most of you’ll immediately hum, Vince Guaraldi.

Longtime IAHF member Ken Borelli notes that not only was Guaraldi an Italian American, but he also hailed from San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood and this yr marks the sixtieth anniversary of perhaps his best-known play, famously featured in “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” became . “” Unfortunately, the nice jazz pianist died far too young, suffering a fatal heart attack in 1976 on the age of 47 after playing a set at Butterfield's, a nightclub in Menlo Park.

Tickets for the three:30 PM concert can be found at www.missionchamber.org.

AUTHOR! AUTHOR!: Since we began with books, let's wind up with the women of the Meet the Author charity on February third. The featured author is Sam Carlino, the owner of Sam's Bar-B-Que on Bascom Avenue, who wrote about his grandfather's infamous history with organized crime in “Colorado's Carlino Brothers: A Bootlegging Empire.” I used to be lucky enough to listen to these stories from Sam just a few years ago when he was working on the book, and it's a tremendous, well-told story.

The 9:30 a.m. event can be held at St. Thomas of Canterbury Church, 1522 McCoy Ave. in San Jose. Tickets are $40 each (with proceeds going toward scholarships for middle school patrons attending Children of Sacred Heart and Our Lady of Grace schools). Go to www.ladiesofcharitySanjose.org More information.

Originally published: January 25, 2025 at 6:45am PST

The Bay Area workforce reductions are expected to eliminate about 600 jobs within the retail, grocery, technology, biotech and grocery industries, official state labor releases show.

Safeway, Draeger's Supermarkets, AppLovin, IGM Biosciences, Aurora Solar and Columbus Manufacturing have announced plans for job cuts that can impact staff across the region, based on WARN letters sent to the state Department of Employment Development .

All told, the cuts will eliminate 599 jobs within the Bay Area, documents show. Here are the small print of the recent staff cuts:

— Safeway, 156 job cuts at two office locations in Pleasanton. These are all corporate positions and none are positioned in Safeway supermarkets. The layoffs are scheduled to happen on February twenty second.

— Columbus Manufacturing, a meat producer, 125 layoffs in Hayward to happen March 15.

– IGM Biosciences, 100 job cuts planned for March 10 in Mountain View.

— AppLovin, 89 job cuts in Palo Alto. The terminations took place on January fifteenth.

— Draeger's Supermarkets, 71 layoffs in San Mateo. The cuts are related to the food market closure and are scheduled to happen March 10.

— Aurora Solar, 58 downsizing in San Francisco. The solar system design software provider said the workforce cuts occurred on Jan. 10.

The latest workforce cuts extend a difficult begin to 2025 for retailers across multiple industries.

Earlier this month, Macy's, Rite Aide and Kohl's announced plans for job cuts within the Bay Area stemming from their respective decisions to shut multiple stores. Retailers have also cut jobs in other parts of California.

The most up-to-date rounds of layoffs were all described as everlasting, based on WARN notices.

However, in two cases it is feasible that some staff who lose their jobs will tackle other roles inside their respective firms.

Draeger officials stated in the corporate's WARN letter that some staff may find a way to seek out jobs at other locations of the food company.

“Certain employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement with United Food and Commercial Workers Local 5 may have the right to increase their seniority level, allowing them to transfer to another store,” Draeger’s wrote within the WARN letter.

Columbus Manufacturing said a few of its employees may proceed to work for the corporate.

“Approximately 34 employees whose positions terminate at the San Antonio Street location (in Hayward) will be offered continued employment at the company’s location at 3190 Corporate Place in Hayward,” Columbus Manufacturing wrote in its WARN letter.

Originally published: January 17, 2025 at 1:55 pm PST

For a U.S. retailer that brightened up birthdays, anniversaries, baby showers and weddings for a long time, the party is over.

Party City Holdco's chief executive told company employees Friday that the corporate would close all stores. based on a report from CNN.

The nation's largest party supplies retailer is affected by declining sales, putting pressure on the corporate to pay its rent at about 800 locations. There are at the least 80 locations in California.

See also: Big Lots faces liquidation after plan to sell to Nexus Capital falls through

The last day of labor for company employees is Friday, based on CNN. No severance pay is anticipated.

Bloomberg reported earlier this week that the corporate plans to file one other bankruptcy in the following two weeks. This process would likely have resulted within the closure of its branches. The New Jersey-based company last emerged from bankruptcy in October 2023.

Party City, founded in 1986, is considered one of several struggling retailers.

Bankrupt retailer Big Lots announced earlier this week that it could not complete the sale of its assets to Nexus Capital Management. The company will begin selling its businesses in the approaching days to guard the worth of its real estate, Bloomberg reported.

The Container Store is preparing to file for bankruptcy in the approaching weeks after months of losses.

Originally published: December 20, 2024 at 11:43 am PST

policy

NEW YORK (AP) — In the shadows of the White House, seven days before the ultimate vote of the 2024 election, Kamala Harris vowed to place country above party and warned that Donald Trump is obsessive about revenge and his own personal interests.

Less than 48 hours earlier, Trump called his Democratic opponent at Madison Square Garden “a train wreck who has destroyed everything in her path.” His allies on stage called Puerto Rico a “floating island of trash” and baselessly claimed that Harris, a former prosecutor and senator searching for to develop into the primary woman elected president, began her profession as a prostitute.

The dueling closing arguments, held two nights and 200 miles apart, outlined in stark terms the selection facing U.S. voters on November 5 as they weigh two very different visions of leadership and America's future.

Trump's raucous rally, marked by crude and racist insults, highlighted the uglier elements of his coalition. But other parts of it underscored the previous businessman's appeal as someone who desires to fix the economy and the border, and as a political outsider who desires to defy convention despite the risks.

Harris, who has served as vice chairman for the past 4 years, selected a more formal setting — the grassy ellipse near the White House — to underscore the seriousness of this moment in American history and the threat Trump poses to democracy. She faced an enormous audience at the identical venue where Trump spoke to 1000’s of his supporters on January 6, 2021, before they stormed the US Capitol in one among the darkest days in modern history.

But Harris' remarks not only reminded voters of the threat Trump poses to US democracy, but additionally sought to focus on her opponent's track record of putting his personal interests above those of the nation.

“Donald Trump has spent a decade dividing the American people and making them fear each other. That's him. But America, I'm here tonight to say: This is not who we are,” Harris said. “I promise to be a president for all Americans – to always put country before party and before self.”

Senior adviser Jen O'Malley Dillon noted that Harris' closing argument is geared toward reaching the narrow segment of undecided voters; including many moderate Republicans.

“We know there are still many voters who are still thinking about who to support — or whether to vote at all,” O'Malley Dillon said. “And this race is extremely close. We are talking about a race for error rate. We know it will be closed in this final week.”

Trump's team is more focused on strengthening his partisan base and reaching rare voters across the political spectrum who’re frustrated with the direction of the country and searching for change.

Still, Trump has framed his comments in recent days with a straightforward query that cuts across political lines, asking voters whether or not they are higher off now than they were 4 years ago at the tip of his first term. The country was still within the midst of the pandemic when Trump left office, but polls show that almost all voters are actually dissatisfied with the country's development.

Trump has vowed to perform the biggest deportation operation in U.S. history and impose sweeping tariffs to lift revenue and boost American manufacturing.

Despite criticism from even some Republicans, Trump on Tuesday called his event at Madison Square Garden “a lovefest” and didn’t address comments from pro-Trump comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.” Hinchcliffe also made demeaning jokes about blacks, other Latinos, Palestinians and Jews in his routine before Trump took the stage.

“No one has ever had love like this,” Trump said of Sunday’s hourlong event attended by his relations and top surrogates and supporters, including billionaire Elon Musk and tv psychologist “Dr. Phil” McGraw and former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson. “It was truly love for our country.”

The Republican former president also offered a bleak assessment of Harris' leadership on Tuesday. He said it “obliterated” the country’s borders, “decimated the middle class,” brought “bloodshed and misery” to major cities and “unleashed war and chaos across the world.”

“No one who has caused so much destruction and death at home and abroad should ever be allowed to be president of the United States,” Trump told dozens of supporters gathered at his Florida estate.

Trump senior adviser Jason Miller said Trump has made clear his plans to repair the economy, secure the southern border and “improve people's daily lives.”

“Kamala Harris did none of this,” he said. “It's a message of desperation, personal attacks and nothing from Harris or her campaign about what they will actually do to help Americans. So it’s a huge contrast.”

Harris has largely moved away from the “joyful” campaign style that characterised her entry into the presidential race this summer. She promised unity on Tuesday evening, but additionally portrayed Trump as someone driven more by revenge and resentment than by commitment to the people.

“This is someone who is unstable, obsessed with revenge, consumed by resentment and seeking uncontrolled power,” Harris said. “This is not a presidential candidate thinking about how to improve his life.”

She spoke on to Republican voters at times and promised, if elected, that she would hearken to those that didn’t vote for her. Harris previously said she would add a Republican to her Cabinet.

“Unlike Donald Trump, I don’t believe that people who disagree with me are the enemy,” she said. “He wants to put her in prison. I give them a seat at the table.”

Going into the speech, the Democrat's campaign was cognizant of criticism from her party's far-left base that she had focused an excessive amount of on courting moderate Republican voters. They called on Harris to focus more on the priorities of the working class than on the threat Trump poses to US democracy.

Ultimately, the vice chairman's speech was designed to tie each topics together. She warned that Trump was endangering democratic norms and promised to tackle high food prices and help first-time home buyers pay a down payment.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a key Harris ally, said voters can “walk and chew gum at the same time — which means they can hear an argument about freedom and something that affects their wallets.” And I feel she is fully able to pursuing each cases at the identical time.”

Sisters Michelle Detwiler and Renee Newell drove from Virginia to attend Harris' talks on the Ellipse Temple.

“We both have daughters and we’re both there for them,” Newell said. Detwiler said the situation of the event was a “great counterpoint to the images from January 6th. DC is a great city for peaceful public gatherings.”

“We are so happy to be here and experience the joy,” she said.

Vice President Kamala Harris outlined a proposal to make this possible for Medicare Expand home health care coverage for older Americans. The Democratic presidential candidate announced this plan on the tv talk show “The View.”

Harris said her goal was to exonerate the members of the “organization.”Sandwich generation“who look after their children and aging parents at the identical time. She said the fee of this extra paid care might be paid for with the cash the federal government would save by negotiating with drug corporations to scale back Medicare prescription drug costs.

The Conversation US asked Jane Tavares And Marc CohenLong-term care scientists to evaluate what is understood in regards to the plan to date.

Why is long-term care vital?

Long-term services and support are amongst the most important expenses for older adults. They range from nonmedical assistance with food preparation, bathing, dressing, and other activities of day by day living to medical care in a talented nursing facility.

Today's 65-year-olds have one The probability of needing long-term care sooner or later is 70% with age, and 20% will are depending on long-term look after greater than five years.

The costs related to year-long long-term care may prove prohibitive for most individuals. In 2023, the common annual cost of a personal room in a nursing home was $116,796 and that of a house health aide is $33 per hour. That's $96,360 per 12 months for eight hours of day by day home care.

The National Council on Aging found that 80% of older adults couldn’t deal with a financial shock – similar to the necessity for long-term care – without becoming impoverished themselves. The council found that 20% of older adults had no assets in any respect and one other 60% wouldn’t give you the chance to afford greater than two years of care in a nursing home or in their very own homes. The The average length of a nursing stay is just over three years.

Medicare doesn’t currently cover long-term care, nevertheless it does cover short-term skilled home care to get better from a qualifying illness or injury for as much as 21 days and a a maximum of 100 days in a talented nursing facility after a qualifying hospital stay.

Currently Medicaid covers roughly 61% of the country's total long-term care costsOver 70% of this comes from home services. However, Medicaid has strict income and asset eligibility requirements. Although Medicaid eligibility and coverage varies by state, those that qualify for this system are in or near Medicaid Federal poverty line and have lower than $2,000 in individual assets or $3,000 as a pair.

Only 15% of Americans 65 and older had Medicaid coverage from 2022.

In addition to the challenge, there may be one other one Shortage of nursing staff. In 2022 About 700,000 people were on Medicaid waiting lists for home and community-based servicesAnd 10% of those with medical supplies waited in hospitals for the opening of places in nursing homes.

What impact would it not have if more older people received care?

An estimate 77% of older Americans wish to stay of their homes with age, nonetheless One in five needs help with activities of day by day living. Given the high costs of long-term care and the few insurance options, unpaid family caregivers normally offer this care.

Expanding Medicare coverage to skilled long-term home care, as Harris proposes, would make it easier for older adults to remain at home without becoming impoverished. It could also help provide relief Burdens of unpaid family caregivers.

Although it will rely upon details that weren’t immediately available, expanding long-term care beyond those enrolled in Medicaid has the potential to assist many at-risk older adults.

For example, in search of skilled help with eating or bathing could prevent health complications related to malnutrition or poor hygiene. And this care wouldn’t come on the expense of a family caregiver who might otherwise need to quit their job or tackle additional physical and mental stress to supply this care.

How much will this cost the federal government?

Of course, the prices related to any latest program rely upon many aspects. What matters most is who qualifies for this system, under what circumstances they might receive advantages, and the way generous those advantages are.

Harris has indicated that her proposed latest Medicare home care profit could be funded by savings from reducing Medicare drug costs. A comparatively recent estimate for these savings in 2026 is $6.3 billion. If that is the first payment method for this system, it could only fund a really modest home care service.

Other long-term care proposals recommend by researchers and policymakers include increasing the Medicare tax to fund expanded access to the service. How much money must be raised relies on how comprehensive this system ought to be. Researcher on Brookings Institution It is estimated that providing long-term care more widely to Medicare enrollees would likely cost about $40 billion.

Why doesn't Medicare cover home care yet?

When it originally got here out in 1966, that was Medicare program was intended to cover acute medical care services. Back then, life expectancy was lower than it’s today – that’s Fewer Americans over 65 were eligible for the advantages and would live long enough to require long-term care.

Over the following six many years, no public insurance program like Medicare has emerged to assist people pay for this care.

But already in 1994 Lawmakers were working on proposals to cover long-term care. More recently, Lawmakers have introduced draft laws that would fill that gap. However, many Previous efforts have failed This is because there isn’t a consensus about how these advantages ought to be paid for and whether everyone ought to be entitled to them or only low-income people.

Because the federal government didn't help, Some states have implemented their very own guidelines.

Washington state is the furthest along on this effort. She created a public long-term care insurance program during which working Washington residents contribute a small percentage of their income to the fund after which access earned advantages to pay for services. Due to a Ballot measure As Washington voters could have their say within the November 2024 election, this system could develop into voluntary. We imagine that withdrawing from this system would likely render this program unsustainable.

California The company has also made progress, completing two feasibility studies to look at the potential for a nationwide long-term care insurance program. In 2024 also California Financial asset limits for Medicaid eligibility have been eliminated to assist expand this system to cover more of the state's older residents.

RICHMOND – Annie's Annuals & Perennials, considered one of the East Bay's hottest nursery and garden supply stores, abruptly closed Thursday, the owners announced in a notice posted on the corporate's website.

For 30 years, Annie's has been serving Annuals & Perennials, situated at 740 Market Ave. the Bay Area's plant lovers and already offers considered one of the most important selections of native California flowers, drought-resistant plants and quite a lot of other foliage, because of the nursery's “old-fashioned” growing approach, by which most plants are grown from seed.

But anyone on the lookout for the nursery's goods will likely be out of luck within the foreseeable future. Sarah Hundley, who purchased the shop from original owner Annie Hayes in 2021, closed the nursery on Oct. 3 on account of “serious and unexpected health issues,” in accordance with a notice to customers posted on the corporate's website.

“During this difficult time, I have worked tirelessly to explore every possible option to keep the kindergarten running. Unfortunately, despite my best efforts, the challenges – both personal and business – escalated much faster than I ever expected and I was no longer able to maintain business operations,” said Hundley.

Customers flocked to social media with their responses.

“I’m so sad to hear this,” Alisa Moore posted. “I have been buying your plants for decades, both at nurseries and in stores from Berkeley to San Leandro and now Sacramento. …You are such a popular figure in the community. I will never forget how much fun your open days were. I wish you all the best and a full recovery.”

The way forward for Annie's Annuals & Perennials is unclear. Discussions with potential buyers are ongoing and progressing, Hundley said, and any updates to a final decision will likely be shared with the community when possible.

In the meantime, pending orders are being checked. Customers are informed directly in regards to the status of their orders. Returns and recent online orders aren’t any longer accepted and gift cards and store credit can’t be redeemed.

“Even as I retire, I remain confident that Annie’s legacy can live on,” the note reads. “Even as our doors close, I hope the plants and memories you brought home will continue to grow and thrive in your gardens for many years to come.”

Originally published: October 5, 2024 at 4:18 p.m

SAN RAMON – A partial closure of a portion of I-680 in San Ramon began Friday evening over the weekend to permit emergency crews to repair damaged sections of the highway, the California Department of Transportation said.

Two of 4 southbound lanes shall be closed from Alcosta Boulevard in San Ramon to the I-580/I-680 interchange in Pleasanton until 4 a.m. Monday, Oct. 7. The connection stays open and isn’t affected by the development work. Two right lanes shall be opened to traffic, but Caltrans is recommending motorists take alternate routes to ease traffic congestion in San Ramon and Dublin.

Additionally, an expressway and the left shoulder of northbound I-680 shall be closed between Amador Valley Boulevard in Dublin and Alcosta Boulevard.

“Although the lanes will be open, it is best to avoid the area if possible. When entering the highway, please be aware of construction vehicles entering and exiting the construction zone and slow down toward the cone zone,” Caltrans’ closure notice said. “Caltrans recognizes that the closures will impact motorists and is taking steps to minimize inconvenience.”

The weekend closure will allow crews to rehabilitate a deteriorating section of road, increasing safety and reducing the variety of overnight closures required to finish the project. A weekend closure is similar to about 40 days of overnight closures, Caltrans said. Another partial closure of this portion of I-680 is planned for the weekend of October 18-21.

Originally published: October 5, 2024 at 10:25 am