400 years ago

After two years and four months, and $68 million, the San Diego Zoo’s most ambitious attraction is now fully accessible to the public.The final section of Conrad Prebys Africa Rocks, which began admitting visitors this summer, opened in the last week of November.Recreating the Ethiopian highland, the section’s notable animal inhabitants include red-faced hamadryas baboons, grass-eating gelada monkeys, and fleet-footed Nubian ibexes.The exhibit houses 20 baboons, eight males and 12 females, said Rick Schwartz, ambassador for San Diego Zoo Global, the zoo’s conservation arm. They sauntered about in the mid-morning sun as visitors gathered to watch.One young baboon moved up to the glass, peering through it at another youngster, of the human species, who looked back.“They’ve been here for a while at an off-exhibit area, and now with this all opening, finally they’re out here enjoying one of the most beautiful exhibits we’ve built in a long … [Read more...] about Baboons, geladas and a 500-year-old tree: San Diego Zoo’s Africa Rocks is complete

Seventy years ago two brothers stood on a Welsh beach and drew the shape of a car in the sand. This is how the story of Maurice and Spencer Wilks begins. They created the first Land Rover, the car that debuted on the world stage on 30 April at the 1948 Amsterdam Motor Show. The launch vehicle went missing for the last 63 years before it was spotted in a garden two years ago. The company's experts in Coventry restored the famous vehicle in time to go on display in Whitley, UK, on 30 April, when Land Rover celebrated their 70th anniversary with a global broadcast. In 1992, the company claimed that 70% of all the vehicles they had built were still in use. In the last 70 years, Land Rover went from a utility model at the end of World War II, to becoming the iconic 4x4, with more than 7 million models sold of the Defender, Discovery and Range Rover. “Land Rover is so much more than just the most capable all-terrain vehicles. It connects people through a passion for adventure and … [Read more...] about Land Rover turns 70 years old

By Dana Guzzetti | Correspondent PUBLISHED: August 5, 2018 at 6:00 am | UPDATED: August 5, 2018 at 11:00 pm WALNUT CREEK — The joy on 8-year-old Sierra Griswold’s face showed no sign of the terrifying nights when she was rushed to the hospital with near-fatal seizures. Sierra and her family were celebrating their departure for Sierra’s Make-a-Wish trip to Disneyland at California Pizza Kitchen on Monday. It was really the double celebration of a family vacation following years of health challenges for the Griswolds. Just as Sierra was healthy enough for travel following the operation, her mother, Stephanie Zaccaro, was diagnosed with breast cancer. Sierra suffers from Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy. It is a rare form of the disease where death can occur during or immediately after a seizure. She was promised the trip before she had surgery to lessen her symptoms almost two years ago. Dr. Kurtis Auguste, director of Pediatric Epilepsy Surgery Program at UCSF … [Read more...] about Martinez: Make-A-Wish grants 8-year-old’s Disneyland dream

Sections SEARCH Skip to content Skip to site index Travel Subscribe Log In Subscribe Log In Today’s Paper Advertisement Supported by Update Though the city is ByShivani Vora Aug. 28, 2018 Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Houston just over a year ago, on Aug. 27. The accompanying flooding, which lasted through Sept. 3, caused an estimated $1.5 billion worth of damage to the city and forced thousands to be evacuated from their homes. The city had a record 21.8 million tourists in 2017 up until Harvey hit — compared with 20 million in 2016 and 17.5 million in 2015 — but the number of visitors dropped in the few months after the storm landed. Twelve months later, how is Houston’s tourism industry faring? Though the city is still suffering from the lasting effects of the storm, tourists are more likely to experience a city in the midst of recovery. “If you visited Houston, you would see a city that … [Read more...] about A Year After Hurricane Harvey, Houston’s Tourism Industry Is Shaken but Recovering

By Erika Carlson | [email protected] | Santa Cruz Sentinel PUBLISHED: November 5, 2018 at 5:44 am | UPDATED: November 5, 2018 at 5:48 am SANTA CRUZ — Beachgoers, hold your breaths. Cowell Beach has a shot at freeing itself from its nine-year streak on the dreaded “Beach Bummer” list. Cowell was ranked eighth on the list in June, based on water quality data from the previous summer. But Nik Strong-Cvetich, the director of the local environmental group Save the Waves, is optimistic that Cowell next year will be taken off the list, a widely publicized ranking of California’s top 10 bacteria-infested beaches by the environmental group Heal the Bay. According to Strong-Cvetich, the water at Cowell Beach this past summer — tested near the wharf, where bacteria levels have historically been the highest — had about half of the bacteria levels of the summer of 2017. A group of government and nonprofit officials working on cleaning up the … [Read more...] about Santa Cruz: Cowell Beach might be dropped from ‘Beach Bummer’ list next year