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San Francisco Chronicle
16 hours ago
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
A prime Napa Valley winery hits the market for $65 million
A high-end Napa Valley winery with 13,000 square feet of caves is for sale for $65 million. Founded in 1989 within the St. Helena hillsides, Vineyard 29 is selling its high-tech winery, visitor center and caves; three vineyards totaling 38 acres; an additional tasting room; two brands; and inventory, as first reported by the Sacramento Bee. The sale also includes the estate's 2,700-square-foot residence with a pool. Vineyard 29 (2929 Hwy 29, St. Helena) is the latest in a string of high-profile winery sales taking place amid a historic, global downturn in wine sales. Just last week, legacy estate William Harrison Vineyards & Winery sold to two longtime Napa Valley wine families. But owner Chuck McMinn said industry headwinds weren't a factor in his and his wife Anne McMinn's decision to sell. 'My kids have other lives and we decided over the last year that they need to pursue what their passions are,' Chuck McMinn said. 'It's time to look for somebody else, who hopefully shares the same passion we do.' Like the William Harrison deal, Chuck McMinn admitted he'd prefer another family to take over the property instead of a corporate entity. 'We're really looking for someone willing to spend time in the community and with our customers,' he said, 'someone who will treat them like family.' The winery is set on coveted grape growing soil on the slopes of the Mayacamas Mountains, which it shares with several revered neighbors, including Grace Family Vineyards and Colgin Cellars' Tychson Hill property. Vineyard 29 is best known for its Cabernet Sauvignon, which was once awarded 100 points by wine critic Robert Parker and sells for roughly $200 a bottle. When the McMinns acquired the winery and its small Cabernet vineyard from its founders in 2000, they embarked on a major expansion, building the sleek, ultra-high-tech winery complete with caves, a wine library and tasting spaces boasting panoramic views. The family purchased two additional vineyards in St. Helena and later launched a second, more accessible label, Cru, which helped grow Vineyard 29's production from 500 cases when the McMinn's acquired it to roughly 10,000 cases a year. In 2017, the McMinns opened a more casual tasting room next to Napa's Oxbow Public Market to showcase Cru. That eventually closed, but in 2021, Vineyard 29 opened a luxe tasting room on downtown Napa's First Street. The new owner will have the option to extend the lease on the space, which expires next spring. Chuck McMinn, a former tech executive, retired in 2022 and appointed Vineyard 29's longtime winemaker, Keith Emerson, president and CEO. Emerson, who joined the winery in 2005, said he initially explored organizing a group that could purchase Vineyard 29, but is now 'open to helping whoever the new owner is.' 'We're running on all cylinders,' he said. 'The future is bright, and I'd like to stay on.' Vineyard 29's two tasting rooms will remain open to visitors throughout the sale process, and Chuck McMinn said he plans to send an offer to his mailing list customers for complimentary tastings through the end of the year. Chuck McMinn is also the founder of the Napa Valley Vine Trail Coalition, which recently completed a major section of the planned 47-mile Napa Valley Vine Trail.
Los Angeles Times
23-07-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
California taxpayers will pay $15 million to hire journalists
California lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom jammed through a $322-billion budget last month. The biggest headline: Spending to provide healthcare for many undocumented immigrants went away. But there's a nugget that you might have lost in the fine print: Taxpayers will fork out $15 million to hire, train and deploy dozens of journalists around the state. Yes, we're all in the publishing business, together! It's actually been this way since 2023, when state Sen. Steve Glazer of the Bay Area town of Orinda secured $25 million to start the California Local News Fellowship program. That paid for the first three years of the program, and the hiring of about three dozen journalists in 2023 and again in 2024, and soon in 2025, to cover subjects like education, healthcare, the environment, social services and the criminal justice system. The new spending approved last week will create a fourth round of reporters in 2026 (each cohort is hired for two years) and launch a new program to help train news editors. The expenditure once again puts California into stark contrast with Republicans and the Trump administration, which last week slashed $1.1 billion over two years in support for public ratio and television. (You might have noticed local stations like LAist and KCRW cranking up their fundraising appeals to backfill the missing funds.) Paying to support one of America's least popular professions might strike some as a) foolhardy b) wasteful c) unjust. But I am going to go with d) wise. Specifically, penny-wise. Here's why: Accurate news and information has become an increasingly fleeting resource. But it's one that should rank not far behind clean air, food and water on the list of things we need to maintain a healthy and fair society. You might have noticed that information you can trust is becoming as rare as a parking space in San Francisco's North Beach. That's largely because one-third of California's newsrooms have closed in the last 25 years, and more than 65% of journalists have lost their jobs, Glazer noted in a Sacramento Bee op-ed. That's meant 'leaving many communities exposed to unchecked misinformation and government opacity,' Glazer wrote, along with Martin G. Reynolds, co-executive director of the Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education. That's the institute that will be helping train editors to meld the next generation of journalists. The first-rate journalism school at UC Berkeley has overseen the fellowship program and matched journalists, who make $60,000 to $65,000 a year, with news outlets. I haven't had a chance to review all the work of the dozens of journalists who have been deployed around California. But I have seen that one reporter, assigned to the Modesto Bee, wrote about a small community's struggle to get safe drinking water. KVCR radio in the Inland Empire got a news fellow who has doggedly reported on the reaction to recent immigration raids. Another of the fellows wrote about how inflation and food insecurity had pushed more people to seek food from nonprofits in Chico. All of this, and a lot more, has been produced for a relative pittance, 0.005% of a state budget of $322 billion. Make no mistake, funding of a few dozen fellowships, alone, will not solve the information crisis. A much bigger investment will be required. That's why the Legislature has been looking toward the information economy's biggest companies as a potential source of support for journalism. Internet giants like Google — with a recent annual revenue of $359 billion — have been enriched by high-quality news content while news outlets have been cutting staff. Some in the state want the digital giants to pay to support outlets that employ reporters, editors and photographers. They're the ones, after all, who provide the stories that often pop up at the end of Web searches. But the final outcome of that fight remains to be decided. Alexandra says, 'I don't know if it's pampering per se, but my furry angel Oliver has enrolled in sheep-herding classes in Malibu, swim classes when he was a baby, and last year he got a David Bowie-themed lightning bolt tattoo from the WeHo spa Dogue for a birthday party.' Email us at essentialcalifornia@ and your response might appear in the newsletter this week. Today's great photo is from Times contributor Mariah Tauger at the property of Lindsay and Daniel Sheron, who designed and built their own home on a vacant hillside lot in Mount Washington over the course of three years. Jim Rainey, staff writerDiamy Wang, homepage internIzzy Nunes, audience internKevinisha Walker, multiplatform editorAndrew Campa, Sunday writerKarim Doumar, head of newsletters How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@ Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on
Hindustan Times
21-07-2025
- Climate
- Hindustan Times
Northern California gets coastal flood warning, Is Cape Fear River in Cumberland County still under watch?
The National Weather Service (NWS) San Francisco CA issued a coastal flood alert ory on Monday at 2:06 a.m., which is in effect from 7 pm until Tuesday at midnight. San Francisco County, the San Francisco Bay Shoreline, and the North Bay Interior Valleys in Northern California are all under the advisory. North California Coastal flood warning: The NWS notes that flooding may impact highways and parks with some road closures(Unsplash) 'Minor coastal flooding expected,' the NWS reported as per Sacramento Bee. In low-lying places close to coastlines and tidal streams, flooding may take place up to one foot above ground level. High tide is predicted to be 1.04 feet over normal (6.88 feet MLLW) at 9:02 pm on Monday at the San Francisco tidal gauge. High tide can occur anywhere in the Bay and along the coast up to two hours earlier or later. The NWS notes that flooding may impact highways and parks with some road closures. 'If travel is required, allow extra time as some roads may be closed. Do not drive around barricades or through water of unknown depth. Take the necessary actions to protect flood-prone property. This advisory is in effect until Tuesday at midnight.' Also Read: What happened to Melina Frattolin? Canadian dad held as daughter found dead in NY after Lake George Amber Alert Is Cape Fear River in Cumberland County under watch? On Friday, the Wilmington NWS office declared a flood warning for Cumberland and Bladen counties along the Cape Fear River at the William O. Huske Locke and Dam 3. NWS Wilmington reported that Cape Fear River's water levels have slightly crept above 42 feet, causing moderate flooding in the area near the east bank of the river. As of now, the river is not under any monitoring. Meanwhile, NWS Raleigh had released a flood watch for areas in central North Carolina in response to thunderstorms that could create flash floods owing to excessive rainfall. Wake, Durham, Edgecombe, Franklin, Granville, Orange, Johnston, Wayne, Chatham, Halifax, Harnett, Moore, Nash, Person, Vance, Warren, and Wilson are among the counties that are on flood warning.
UPI
15-07-2025
- UPI
Ex-MLB pitcher Daniel Serafini guilty of father-in-law's 2021 murder
July 15 (UPI) -- A jury convicted ex-MLB player Daniel Serafini in the four-year-old murder of his father-in-law and attempted killing of his mother-in-law at their California home. On Monday, jurors in Placer County found Serafini, 51, guilty of first-degree murder, attempted murder and burglary in the community of Homewood on the west shore of Lake Tahoe where he shot the couple in June 2021. Robert Spohr, 70, was shot and killed execution-style, according to investigators. His wife, 70-year-old Wendy Wood, was shot in the head twice but survived. However, she died a year later. Following a two-year investigation, Serafini was arrested in October 2023 with his nanny-turned-lover Samantha Scott, 33. Scott admitted to driving Serafini to his in-laws home. In February, she pleaded guilty after the fact to accessory but was released from custody and awaits sentencing. Serafini's wife, Erin Spohr, testified during the trial that she had an open marriage with her husband but still trusted him. Richard Miller, the assistant chief deputy DA who prosecuted Serafini, told jurors that Serafini hated his wife's well-off parents and allegedly told other people that he was willing to pay $20,000 to get them killed, the Sacramento Bee reported. Adrienne Spohr, her sister, has been pushing for justice in the case since the deadly attack. She commented Monday that the Placer County DA and sheriff's office "never gave up." "It's been four years since my mom and dad were shot, and it's been four years of just hell," she told CBS outside the courthouse. Serafini is a San Francisco-born native and in 1992 got selected by the Minnesota Twins in that year's MLB draft. In addition to a tour in Italy during the 2013 World Baseball Classic, he played for the Chicago Cubs, Colorado Rockies and in August 2003 was signed to join the Cincinnati Reds. He has a scheduled sentencing on August 18 and faces a max sentence of life in prison without a chance of parole.
San Francisco Chronicle
03-07-2025
- San Francisco Chronicle
Search continues for 7 missing after huge explosion at California fireworks factory
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Rescue crews were searching on Thursday for seven people still missing days after an explosion at a fireworks warehouse in Northern California shook a tiny farming community and forced the cancellation of nearby July Fourth celebrations. Family members gathered near a sheriff's checkpoint about a mile from the blast site in rural Esparto, hoping for news about their loved ones. Syanna Ruiz, who is pregnant, said her boyfriend, 18-year-old Jesus Ramos, was working his first day at the warehouse when the explosion occurred. 'I'm just praying to God that some way, somehow, they're OK,' Ruiz told the Sacramento Bee on Wednesday. People were urged to avoid the area after the Tuesday night blast, which set off a barrage of fireworks and caused a massive blaze that led to other spot fires and collapsed the building in Yolo County about 40 miles (64 kilometers) northwest of Sacramento. Two people were injured and received medical care, Esparto Fire Chief Curtis Lawrence said at a news conference Wednesday. Lawrence provided no further information other than to say the two were 'OK,' and it wasn't known if the victims worked at the facility. Emergency crews and investigators were working with the property's owner and monitoring the area using drones to find the missing individuals, said the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire. It was not immediately clear if those missing worked at the warehouse or lived nearby. The cause of the explosion was under investigation. In a statement, the management of the business, Devastating Pyrotechnics, thanked law enforcement and emergency personnel for their swift response. 'Our hearts and thoughts are with those we lost, their families, and everyone impacted in our community," the statement said. 'Our focus will remain on those directly impacted by this tragedy, and we will cooperate fully with the proper authorities in their investigation.' The property is owned by "an active pyrotechnic license holder,' Cal Fire said in a statement Wednesday. 'This type of incident is very rare, as facilities like this are required to not only follow our stringent California pyrotechnic requirements, but also federal explosive storage requirements.' The fire was held at nearly 80 acres (33 hectares) after scorching surrounding agricultural fields, officials said. Nisa Gutierrez told the Sacramento CBS affiliate KOVR-TV that the blast was so strong it blew open the doors of her home, damaging the door frames. She and her daughter were in their yard and were nearly knocked over as their pony and goats scattered. 'We hear like a big boom, and feel the wave,' Gutierrez said. 'I thought it was a bomb.' The scene remained hazardous, with explosions continuing into the evening on Wednesday, Cal Fire said in a statement. Crews including a team with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were working to enable safe access to the site 'to conduct recovery operations and bolster investigative efforts for the explosion investigation,' the statement said. Gov. Gavin Newsom's office said it was tracking what happened and that state ground and air resources were deployed. 'The State Fire Marshal has sent an arson and bomb investigation team, and stands ready to provide additional support as needed,' the governor's office said on the social site X. Officials in nearby Sutter and Yuba counties announced Wednesday that they were exploring alternatives for Fourth of July celebrations after their fireworks were destroyed in the blast. 'Devastating Pyrotechnics has been a trusted partner and a cherished part of our regional fireworks celebrations,' the Yuba-Sutter officials said in a statement. 'This tragic incident is a sobering reminder of the many hands behind the scenes who help create joy for others.'
