As classy as the whole thing looked on screen, Julie Andrews has revealed that “a few Anglo-Saxon swear words” were used during a botched harness stunt during the filming of “Mary Poppins.”

Andrews appeared on Stephen Colbert's “The Late Show” in the US when she revealed the near-catastrophic incident.

“There was a very dangerous day at the very end of filming when I was in this unbearably painful harness,” she said.

“And I spent the longest time hanging up there with the umbrella.

(Source: CBS)

“I thought I felt the wire give way and fall about six inches. I was nervous… and very tired.

“So I called down and said, 'Excuse me, if you let me down, could you let me down very gently because I feel like I'm slipping and I just don't feel very safe up here.'”

And what happened next?

“I fell on the stage. I did. And then there was a terrible silence for a minute and I must admit that a few Anglo-Saxon swear words flew from my soul.”

Arguably the most classic Disney musical, it came out 53 years ago when Andrews – now 83 – was 28.

The sequel, “Mary Poppins Returns,” is planned for 2018, with Emily Blunt in the role of the magical nanny.

At her side are Ben Whishaw as the adult Michael Banks, Emily Mortimer as his adult sister Jane, as well as Meryl Streep, Colin Firth, Angela Lansbury and Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Dick Van Dyke, who of course played chimney sweep Burt in the original, will also have a cameo appearance.

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The city has not yet announced exactly when the new parking restrictions will go into effect, but new signs have already been put up reducing parking times. Residents living in RVs in the area received a flier stating that “enforcement of the four-hour parking time limit will begin soon.”

“We can't pay the rent,” Leticia, who lives in a mobile home on Winston Drive with her two children, said at Tuesday's SFMTA meeting. “We need a safe place. We have nowhere else to go. My two daughters go to school and I need a safe place for both of them.”

Marlon Arostegui speaks at an SFMTA board meeting at San Francisco City Hall on April 16, 2024. (Martin do Nascimento/KQED)

However, during the SFMTA board meeting on Tuesday, Director Jeffrey Tumlin said the city will not “take any action to enforce these new signs” until a street paving program nearby is completed and the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing can conduct additional rounds of education with mobile home residents.

Parking and traffic safety enforcement will be increased throughout the city in the coming weeks as the city hires more parking attendants, Tumlin said.

Several speakers protested the decision on Tuesday, saying they were unable to move their vehicles because they were at work during the day. Others needed help repairing a mechanical problem in order to drive.

Many said they cannot afford the $92 fine the city imposes for cars that are not running, and they fear the tickets could exacerbate their housing problems.

SFMTA Board Chair Amanda Eaken (center right) and others listen to comments from the public during an SFMTA board meeting at San Francisco City Hall on April 16, 2024. (Martin do Nascimento/KQED)

Across San Francisco, RV residents are facing similar problems. About 35 RV residents faced displacement when the city announced it would enforce parking restrictions near Bernal Heights Park.

Some neighbors complained that the vehicles were clogging the street and sidewalk around the park, but a group of neighbors who already have homes have also banded together to delay enforcement until residents find an alternative place to go.

The San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing has been working with people living in mobile homes on Winston Avenue for months to find housing and other solutions for people who want to stay in their mobile homes.

The department had previously told KQED that it was looking into possible locations where Winstron residents could safely park their RVs, but no such location has yet been found.

An SFMTA street cleaning ticket sits on the windshield of a motorhome on Winston Drive in San Francisco, California, near San Francisco State University, on Oct. 17, 2023. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)

“They're going to displace a lot of families. They say this is for public safety. But where are these people going to go after they're displaced? We're not thinking about that,” Yessica Hernandez, an organizer who has worked with families in Winston Drive, said during the public hearing. “We have a huge homelessness problem in San Francisco and we're not going to get rid of it by implementing four-hour parking restrictions.”

Many residents who spoke at City Hall on Tuesday said they felt helpless and had few options left.

“We need you to give us a safe place to move to,” Walter Mejia, who has lived in a mobile home on Winston Dr. for three years, said through a Spanish translator during Tuesday's board meeting. “We don't have the resources to pay these tickets.”

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Joe Rosswho began the Washington Nationals' road trip with a 9.85 ERA in 19 games, one start and 24 2⁄3 innings pitched this season, was scoreless through 11 1⁄3 after going six innings on the mound in the series finale with San Francisco's Giants at Oracle Park.

Ross held the Giants to two walks and three hits in the scoreless appearance and threw 99 pitches, including 59 strikes, which ultimately led to a 4-1 victory that gave the Nationals a sweep of the three-game set in the City blessed bay.

Horse against the Giants: Joe Ross He walked five batters last time out but held the Arizona D-Backs from the field for over 5 1⁄3 IP and allowed just one hit in a 3-0 win at Chase Field.

In two starts prior to today in 2019, the 26-year-old right-hander was (1-1) batting .237/.356/.316 with a 2.53 ERA, seven walks, nine strikeouts and a line in 10 1⁄3 IP , after struggling in a backup role earlier in the season and being sent to the ground and stretched out.

To build on his performance against the Diamondbacks, Ross appeared today against the Giants in the series finale in San Francisco, throwing four scoreless throws on 61 pitches, working to a 4-0 lead and limiting the home team to one hit and a walk.

Kevin Pillar And Brandon Crawford hit back-to-back singles against Ross in the first two pitches of the fifth. Pillar went to third on a one-out fly ball up the middle Brandon Beltand a two-out walk to Austin Slater Preload the bases Mike Yastrzemskiwhich popped out just to the right and secured third in Ross' fifth scoreless frame.

A 13-pitch, 1-2-3 sixth ended Ross' outing, leaving him with 99 total pitches and a total of 11 1⁄3 scoreless innings on the mound in two starts on the Nationals' road trip…

Joe Ross's line: 6.0 IP, 3H, 0R, 0ER, 2BB, 5KS, 99P, 59S, 5/5GO/FO.

Anderson vs. the Nats: Shaun AndersonThe 24-year-old was actually drafted in the 40th round in 2013 by the Nats but didn't sign, and he was eventually drafted by the Boston Red Sox in 2016, signed, and then traded to the Giants in July 2017 in a deal for Eduardo Nunez.

Anderson was called up to make his MLB debut in mid-May, and heading into today's series finale against the Nationals at Oracle Park, the right-hander (3-3) had made 15 starts, with a 5.08 ERA, 28 walks, 53 Ks, 11 HRs allowed and a .293/.353/.467 line against it in 79 2⁄3 IP.

Two hits in a row Trea Turner And Adam Eaton started Anderson's first career game against the Nationals, and both runners moved up by one Anthony Rendon Groundout to second before Turner hit an RBI groundout from Juan Soto1-0.

Eaton hit a single to start the top of the third inning and Juan Soto Went down with one before Gerardo Parra hit an 0-1 fastball the other way for a three-run home run that made the Nationals 4-0. Parras 7th, doo doo doo doo doo doo doo.

Shaun Anderson's line: 3.0 IP, 4H, 4R, 4ER, 3BB, 2KS, 1HR, 66P, 39S, 4/1 GO/FO.

Power on + JuOn SotOBP: Before today's game, the leader of the Nationals Trea Turner had a 15-game on-base streak in which he was 20 for 62 (.323/.400/.548) with three doubles, one triple, three home runs, six RBIs, eight walks and 12 runs scored 15 games.

Turner extended his streak to 16 in a row with a runaway single in the first at-bat of the game and scored the Nationals' only run in the first inning.

Juan Soto came into the finale at Oracle Park with a 13-game on-base streak in which he was 12 for 46 (.261/.417/.565) with two doubles, four home runs and 13 walks.

Soto successfully singled out Giants right winger Shaun Anderson the first time around and managed a 14-game streak on base the second time around.

BULLPEN ACTION: Andrew Suarezan unsigned 2014 second-round pick of the Nationals took the mound for the Giants in the fourth round and allowed back-to-back 2-out hits Turner and Eaton, who were 5-6 overall at the time. Suarez scored Anthony Rendon to load the bases with two outs*, but got out of the jam when Steven Duggar made a diving catch in the gap in right-center to rob Juan Soto of additional bases. Still 4-0 Nats.

Suarez was eliminated from the Nationals in the fifth game of the series.

Sam Coonrod came on for the Giants in the sixth, with the score still 4-0 in favor of the Nats, and eliminated the Nationals in order.

[ed. note: * = Anthony Rendon left the game with a sore toe a couple innings after he was hit by a pitch in the fourth. He stayed in through the top of the fifth before leaving.”]

Tanner Rainey took over for Joe Ross in the bottom of the seventh and moved the side back in order in a 16-pitch frame.

Williams Jerez worked around a single by Asdrúbal Cabrera to secure a scoreless eighth-quarter lead.

Hiking serum reached the round of 16 for the Nationals and earned a two-out single by Buster Posey and a double by Evan Longoria in a scoreless 26-pitch frame.

Reyes Moronta gave up a one-out double to center off a pinch hitter Andrew Stevenson in the bottom of the ninth, but failed as the only runner to reach base.

Daniel Hudson Scored the ninth for the Nationals, 4-0, hitting Kevin Pillar with one out before getting an RBI double to right-center from Brandon Crawford, 4-1.

That's all the Giants have. Ball game.

Final result: 4-1 Nats.

Nationals now 61-53

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FILE – Houston Astros catcher Martin Maldonado and Texas Rangers’ Adolis Garcia, second from right, argue as the benches clear following Garcia’s grand slam during the fifth inning of a baseball game July 26, 2023, in Houston. Everything is certainly bigger deep in the heart of Texas this baseball postseason, with a Lone Star State matchup for a spot in the World Series. The Astros are in their seventh straight ALCS, this time against the Rangers for the first time. (AP Photo/Kevin M. Cox, File)

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Everything is certainly bigger deep in the heart of Texas this baseball postseason, with a Lone Star State showdown for a spot in the World Series.

Defending world champion Houston is no stranger to playing long into October, now getting ready for its seventh consecutive American League Championship Series. This time, the Astros play the up-and-coming Texas Rangers, who led them in the AL West standings for most of the season but again didn’t fare well in the head-to-head matchups.

Both benches and bullpens cleared the last time the two teams played in Houston, where the ALCS opener will be played Sunday night.

“There’s a lot of intensity. … I’d say we’re rivals,” first-year Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said Thursday. “That’s the way baseball should be, I guess. They’re your opponent, so I don’t think it should be a lovefest out there.”

Especially with so much at stake when the instate rivals meet in the playoffs for the first time.

This will be only the 10th postseason series featuring teams from the same state in baseball’s divisional era (since 1969). It will be the first outside of California since the New York Mets and New York Yankees played in the 2000 World Series, which was a year before the Astros and Rangers had even met in a regular-season game.

Hall of Fame strikeout king Nolan Ryan pitched for both teams, finishing his career with the Rangers and later was part of the ownership group for their only World Series and ALCS appearances in 2010 and 2011. Their respective 40,000-seat retractable-roof stadiums are about 250 miles apart — Minute Maid Park in Houston opened in 2000, and Globe Life Field is in its fourth season.

Houston’s Dusty Baker and Bochy are the winningest active managers, both with more than 2,000 wins in 26 seasons managing in the big leagues. Bochy won three World Series titles with the San Francisco Giants and Baker finally got his first championship last season.

“Now me and Bruce Bochy need to battle,” the 74-year-old Baker said. ”I know Bruce and he knows me.”

They have gone head-to-head 214 times. Their only playoff meeting was the 2012 NLDS that Bochy’s Giants won in five games over Baker’s Cincinnati Reds.

Houston has dominated the AL West since the Rangers won the division in 2016, their last winning season before this year. The Astros have since been to the World Series four times, winning two of them, and the only time without a division title was the abbreviated 60-game regular season during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when as a wild-card team they lost a seven-game ALCS to Tampa Bay.

“They are the reigning champions, so you have to give them a respect for that,” Rangers catcher-designated hitter Mitch Garver said. “I’d say we have equally as good a chance to win as they did.”

Texas led the AL West for 148 of the first 149 days this season, and 159 overall. But when the Rangers lost at Seattle on the final day of the regular season, a day after clinching a playoff spot, and Houston won to match them at 90 wins, the Astros had another division title and a first-round playoff bye.

“A lot of people were wondering what it was gonna be like if the ’Stros didn’t win the division,” third baseman Alex Bregman said at the start of their champagne celebration after the regular-season finale. “I guess we’ll never know.”

The Rangers became a wild card and had to fly across the country — going over North Texas on the way — before sweeping the AL’s winningest teams from the regular season, Tampa Bay and Baltimore.

Houston, which won its ALDS over Minnesota in four games, had the division tiebreaker because of its 9-4 record against the Rangers this year. The Astros had clinched the season series even before their obliterating three-game sweep with 16 homers and 39 runs in Arlington from Sept. 4-6. That is the only time they have played since the benches cleared July 26, after the Astros won the previous two nights to move within a game of the division lead.

Yordan Alvarez got hit by a pitch right after Bregman homered in the first inning of that series finale, and Texas second baseman Marcus Semien took a retaliatory plunk in the third. Semien hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the fourth, and exchanged words with catcher Martin Maldonado. An inning later, Semien scored on a grand slam by Adolis García, who was face-to-face with the catcher when the benches cleared, though no punches were thrown.

“It’s a heated rivalry. I understand why there’s some animosity,” Rangers first baseman Nathaniel Lowe said.

Bochy was drafted by Houston and began his nine seasons as a big league catcher with the Astros from 1978-80, when they were still in the National League. Their first World Series came as National League champions in 2005.

Interleague play began in 1997 with NL and AL teams from corresponding divisions playing each other. Well, the Astros were in the NL Central and it wasn’t until 2001 that MLB changed things so they could play annually. They became division foes when Houston moved to the AL West in 2013.

“Sometimes it takes time to build that (rivalry). But you can see it developing here,” Bochy said. “You’re in the same state, so no, I’m not surprised how quickly it’s developing.”

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

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Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry, left, greets Los Angeles Lakers’ Anthony Davis, center, and LeBron James, right, after an NBA preseason basketball game in San Francisco, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Karl-Anthony Towns and Naz Reid each scored 14 points, and the Minnesota Timberwolves topped the Dallas Mavericks 104-96 on Saturday to complete a two-game sweep of the NBA Abu Dhabi Games.

Anthony Edwards, who missed the first game on Thursday with an ankle issue, scored 13 for Minnesota.

Luka Doncic had 18 points, six assists and five rebounds in 19 minutes for Dallas, which was without Kyrie Irving (left groin), Seth Curry (illness) and Markieff Morris (left ankle).

Jaden Hardy led the Mavericks with 22 points and eight rebounds in a game where the majority of starters didn’t appear in the second half.

Dallas never led in Thursday’s preseason opener; it had the lead only three times on Saturday — 3-0, 6-5 and 13-11. Those stints with the lead were all short-lived, lasting a combined 2:13 and all coming in the game’s opening six minutes.

Other than that, Minnesota — riding the strength of a 27-7 run over a 10-minute stretch of the first half — was up the whole way. Dallas got within two in the fourth, with both teams deep into their benches at that point.

The Mavericks now head to Spain where they’ll play Real Madrid — Doncic’s former team — on Tuesday.

Doncic signed with Real Madrid when he was 13 and went on to become the youngest EuroLeague and EuroLeague Final Four MVP when he led the club to that title as a 19-year-old in 2018.

Minnesota doesn’t play again until Oct. 14 at New York.

WARRIORS 125, LAKERS 108

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Jonathan Kuminga had 24 points and Moses Moody had 15 as Golden State beat Los Angeles, which was without LeBron James and Austin Reaves.

James said earlier this week that he would probably play in only half of the Lakers’ six preseason contests, while Reaves is being rested following his appearance with Team USA at this summer’s FIBA World Cup.

With the Warriors limiting the playing time of stars Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, Kuminga shot 8 for 14 from the field and 4 of 5 from the line, and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.

Thompson had 10 points and Curry had 8 in limited first-half action. Veteran Chris Paul, making his Golden State debut after he was acquired in the offseason from Washington, had 6 points. Draymond Green hurt his ankle this week and did not play.

Anthony Davis, D’Angelo Russell and Max Christie had 15 points each to lead the Lakers, but Davis and Russell played only limited first-half minutes.

It was the first meeting of the teams since the Lakers ousted the Warriors in the second round of last season’s playoffs.

The Lakers take on the Brooklyn Nets in Las Vegas on Monday. The Warriors play Friday against the Lakers again in Los Angeles.

___

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

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FILE – Houston Astros catcher Martin Maldonado and Texas Rangers’ Adolis Garcia, second from right, argue as the benches clear following Garcia’s grand slam during the fifth inning of a baseball game July 26, 2023, in Houston. Everything is certainly bigger deep in the heart of Texas this baseball postseason, with a Lone Star State matchup for a spot in the World Series. The Astros are in their seventh straight ALCS, this time against the Rangers for the first time. (AP Photo/Kevin M. Cox, File)

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Everything is certainly bigger deep in the heart of Texas this baseball postseason, with a Lone Star State showdown for a spot in the World Series.

Defending world champion Houston is no stranger to playing long into October, now getting ready for its seventh consecutive American League Championship Series. This time, the Astros play the up-and-coming Texas Rangers, who led them in the AL West standings for most of the season but again didn’t fare well in the head-to-head matchups.

Both benches and bullpens cleared the last time the two teams played in Houston, where the ALCS opener will be played Sunday night.

“There’s a lot of intensity. … I’d say we’re rivals,” first-year Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said Thursday. “That’s the way baseball should be, I guess. They’re your opponent, so I don’t think it should be a lovefest out there.”

Especially with so much at stake when the instate rivals meet in the playoffs for the first time.

This will be only the 10th postseason series featuring teams from the same state in baseball’s divisional era (since 1969). It will be the first outside of California since the New York Mets and New York Yankees played in the 2000 World Series, which was a year before the Astros and Rangers had even met in a regular-season game.

Hall of Fame strikeout king Nolan Ryan pitched for both teams, finishing his career with the Rangers and later was part of the ownership group for their only World Series and ALCS appearances in 2010 and 2011. Their respective 40,000-seat retractable-roof stadiums are about 250 miles apart — Minute Maid Park in Houston opened in 2000, and Globe Life Field is in its fourth season.

Houston’s Dusty Baker and Bochy are the winningest active managers, both with more than 2,000 wins in 26 seasons managing in the big leagues. Bochy won three World Series titles with the San Francisco Giants and Baker finally got his first championship last season.

“Now me and Bruce Bochy need to battle,” the 74-year-old Baker said. ”I know Bruce and he knows me.”

They have gone head-to-head 214 times. Their only playoff meeting was the 2012 NLDS that Bochy’s Giants won in five games over Baker’s Cincinnati Reds.

Houston has dominated the AL West since the Rangers won the division in 2016, their last winning season before this year. The Astros have since been to the World Series four times, winning two of them, and the only time without a division title was the abbreviated 60-game regular season during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when as a wild-card team they lost a seven-game ALCS to Tampa Bay.

“They are the reigning champions, so you have to give them a respect for that,” Rangers catcher-designated hitter Mitch Garver said. “I’d say we have equally as good a chance to win as they did.”

Texas led the AL West for 148 of the first 149 days this season, and 159 overall. But when the Rangers lost at Seattle on the final day of the regular season, a day after clinching a playoff spot, and Houston won to match them at 90 wins, the Astros had another division title and a first-round playoff bye.

“A lot of people were wondering what it was gonna be like if the ’Stros didn’t win the division,” third baseman Alex Bregman said at the start of their champagne celebration after the regular-season finale. “I guess we’ll never know.”

The Rangers became a wild card and had to fly across the country — going over North Texas on the way — before sweeping the AL’s winningest teams from the regular season, Tampa Bay and Baltimore.

Houston, which won its ALDS over Minnesota in four games, had the division tiebreaker because of its 9-4 record against the Rangers this year. The Astros had clinched the season series even before their obliterating three-game sweep with 16 homers and 39 runs in Arlington from Sept. 4-6. That is the only time they have played since the benches cleared July 26, after the Astros won the previous two nights to move within a game of the division lead.

Yordan Alvarez got hit by a pitch right after Bregman homered in the first inning of that series finale, and Texas second baseman Marcus Semien took a retaliatory plunk in the third. Semien hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the fourth, and exchanged words with catcher Martin Maldonado. An inning later, Semien scored on a grand slam by Adolis García, who was face-to-face with the catcher when the benches cleared, though no punches were thrown.

“It’s a heated rivalry. I understand why there’s some animosity,” Rangers first baseman Nathaniel Lowe said.

Bochy was drafted by Houston and began his nine seasons as a big league catcher with the Astros from 1978-80, when they were still in the National League. Their first World Series came as National League champions in 2005.

Interleague play began in 1997 with NL and AL teams from corresponding divisions playing each other. Well, the Astros were in the NL Central and it wasn’t until 2001 that MLB changed things so they could play annually. They became division foes when Houston moved to the AL West in 2013.

“Sometimes it takes time to build that (rivalry). But you can see it developing here,” Bochy said. “You’re in the same state, so no, I’m not surprised how quickly it’s developing.”

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

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• High chance most of California will see at least one inch of rain, with LA residents warned they could see six inches or more
• The wintry conditions are due to sweep in from Monday and last until Friday
• Torrential rain has been linked to an atmospheric river, a massive band of water vapor which can cause extreme precipitation 

California is set to be pelted with heavy rain from Los Angeles to San Francisco as an ‘atmospheric river’ engulfs the Golden State. 

The City of Angels could be lashed by more than six inches of rain, while the Bay Area could see up to four inches.

The predicted deluge is due to a weather phenomenon known as an atmospheric river, a band of water vapor that can stretch 1,000 miles long and 350 miles wide.

As the moisture moves inland, it can bring extreme snow and rainfall, as well as the possibility of flooding.

The squall is set to batter the Golden State from Monday through to Friday, with experts warning the conditions could be the first ‘significant’ storm of the season.

California is set to be battered by up to six inches of rain in parts as an ‘atmospheric river’ sweeps in from Monday. The City of Angels could be lashed by more than six inches of rain, while the Bay Area could see up to four inches Forecasters said there is a high chance most of the state will see at least one inch of rain with many parts expected to receive the most precipitation since the start of this year’s rainy season. Modelling for the full impact is still uncertain, but there is a high chance most of California will see at least one inch or more of rain, according to The Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes The expected deluge is linked to an atmospheric river, an airborne band of moisture which can cause extreme rainfall as it moves in. This aerial view shows a damaged pier in Capitola, California, on January 9, 2023 following an atmospheric river earlier this year.

‘This is really our first winter storm,’ Todd Hall, a meteorologist with the weather service’s Los Angeles office told SF Gate.

‘We’ve had rain but it hasn’t amounted to much. It has ingredients to be a very significant storm system for this early in the season. It seems very similar to something we usually see in January and February.’ 

Residents in Los Angeles have already been urged to clean out their gutters amid warnings of ‘potential for flooding, heavy snow about 6,000ft, strong southerly winds and large surf’.

Elsewhere, in the north where it is expected to be wettest, up to five inches of rain have been forecast. 

The state is set to be drenched by the most rain it has seen since the start of the wintry season last month. 

‘We’re looking at rainfall starting to increase in aerial coverage in Northern California and pretty much down toward the Bay Area by Tuesday morning,’ Richard Bann, a meteorologist with the weather service’s Weather Prediction Center told SF Gate.

‘And then as we go through the day Tuesday and into Wednesday, the area of rainfall covers much of Northern California and now even into the Central portion.’

Southern California is likely to feel the impact from Wednesday until Friday.

Modelling for the full impact is still uncertain, but there is a high chance most of California will see at least one inch or more of rain, according to The Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes. 

The center added that some parts could see ‘fairly high’ snowfall, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecasting service predicting a 80 per cent chance of 12 inches of new snow across the Sierras. 

Atmospheric rivers can stretch 1,000 miles long and 350 miles wide, a strong AR transports an amount of water vapor roughly equivalent to 7.5¿15 times the average flow of liquid water at the mouth of the Mississippi River Atmospheric rivers regularly occur across the United States during the winter months, and account for 50 per cent of all rain and snow in the West of the country. Pictured: A mudslide which flooded parts of Studio City, California following an atmospheric river in January The weather feature is due to move in from Monday and last until Friday (file photo of the Golden Gate Bridge)

The National Weather Service Forecast Office in Sacramento is warning locals of ‘potential heavy mountain snow’ between Monday and Friday.

However, Bann did not think the storm would bring as much snowfall.

‘In the northern end of the Sierras, we’re probably looking at perhaps an inch to an inch and a half of liquid,’ he added.

‘At this point, I don’t have a real good feel what the snow levels will be, but I know with the altitude of the elevations involved, certainly some of that could be in the form of snow.’

While this atmospheric river is not expected to be particularly strong, at their peak they can transport an amount of water vapor roughly equivalent to 7.5–15 times the average flow of liquid water at the mouth of the Mississippi River.

Last winter, California was battered by 12 atmospheric rivers which claimed the lives of 22 people and wrought havoc due to widespread flooding and landslides.

In December, a winter storm shut down mountain highways, toppled trees and triggered flood and avalanche warnings from the coast of Northern California to Lake Tahoe.

Last winter’s atmospheric rivers resulted in extreme snowfall and led to highways being closed down due to the whiteout conditions such as those seen here at this rest stop in the  Sierra Nevadas

A month later, a state of emergency was declared after more than 10 days of storms across the state resulted in the deaths of 14 people.

Torrential downpours caused rivers to overflow, submerged vehicles and sparked mass power outages. 

The state faced the brunt of two overlapping weather systems – atmospheric rivers and bomb cyclones, causing extreme weather phenomena. 

While in March, 27,000 people were put under evacuation orders after 16 major rivers in the state to overflowed.

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FILE – President Joe Biden, right, and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands before their meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit meeting, Nov. 14, 2022, in Nusa Dua, in Bali, Indonesia. As President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping prepare to meet at the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco, basic information has remained guarded. That could ratchet up the pressure on how each side negotiates, down to the smallest detail. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — When President Joe Biden meets Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Wednesday, there will be no such thing as a small detail.

How they greet? If they eat? Where they sit? Will there be flowers? Bottled water or in a glass? “Pretty intense,” senior administration officials say of navigating delicate protocols.

Any encounter involving the president and a foreign leader means managing tricky logistics, political and cultural, and every occurrence or utterance can potentially jolt the world order. But few nations are more attuned to etiquette than the Chinese, and the often-conflicting interests between Washington and Beijing might mean the seemingly trivial becomes meaningful.

There’s probably “very detailed planning of the actual choreography of who enters a room where, if there will be pictures taken and all of that,” said Bonny Lin, senior fellow for Asian security and director of the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Biden and Xi will meet while both attend next week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco. So far, even basic information has remained closely guarded. Statements Friday by China’s government didn’t mention the day or location. The White House, citing security concerns, says only that the meeting will be held “in the Bay area.”

That could only increase the pressure as both sides potentially haggle over everything from meeting time and length to who enters the room first. Will they use a table or easy chairs? What about security presence and interpreter access?

Then there is the more obviously substantive: Will there be a joint statement after the meeting and how much of the session will be in public view?

The plan is to set aside enough time for in-depth conversations on issues that will be divided into different sessions, senior administration officials say. That recalls Biden’s nearly three-hour meeting with Xi before the start of last year’s G-20 summit in Bali.

The officials also noted that this will be Xi’s first trip to the United States in six years, and his first to San Francisco since he was a provincial Communist Party secretary.

Victor Cha, former director for Asian Affairs on the White House’s National Security Council, said organizing such meetings at APEC is easier than at a formal location. But, he said, hammering out talks on summit sidelines is still “a logistics nightmare.”

“China, normally, if they come to United States, they want everything. They want all the pomp and circumstance. They want the highest possible respect that can be paid to them,” Cha said. “That is politically not possible. And so, having APEC in San Francisco solves that problem in the sense that it’s not the official White House that’s hosting the meeting.”

Even informal settings can bring high stakes.

When President Richard Nixon visited China in 1972, aiming to ease decades of animosity, he brought a new pair of shoes with rubber soles to climb the Great Wall.

President Barack Obama and Xi didn’t wear ties during their 2013 meeting at Sunnylands, a modernist mansion in Rancho Mirage near Palm Springs, California. It was news then that Obama stayed overnight there while the Chinese delegation returned to a nearby hotel.

President Donald Trump and Xi wore dark suits for dinner at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida four years later. The meal featured what Trump called “the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake.”

Bonnie Glaser, managing director of the Indo-Pacific program at the German Marshall Fund, said that, for the upcoming meeting, Xi’s team likely pushed for a venue away from the APEC site and talks lasting longer than those in Bali.

“The Chinese want a separate summit,” she said.

The Chinese attach importance to the location, which this time may be more like Sunnylands than Anchorage, Alaska, where top U.S. and Chinese officials held rather tense 2021 talks. Chinese state media might fixate on the weather as a barometer for bilateral relations. Early forecasts are calling for rain with a high in the mid-60s for San Francisco.

Even on-site flowers could be important, as certain choices can symbolize harmony in Chinese culture. Plum blossom is a well-liked flower known in China for persevering amid harshness, while lotuses convey peace in the Chinese language. Chrysanthemums, by contrast, are associated with death.

Xi may expect Biden to greet him upon arrival. Xi’s team could also want the leaders photographed together without staff to convey a personal relationship.

“Chinese officials will want to project to their domestic audience that Xi is received by Biden with dignity and respect,” said Ryan Hass, director of the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institute. He suggested that required “imagery of both leaders interacting on a personal basis, beyond the customary handshake in front of a bank of flags in a hotel conference room.”

That could be as simple as a short walk together, Hass said. The Chinese also tend to emphasize food and might push for a meal.

During Nixon’s 1971 visit, a military honor guard greeted him at the airport, but the much-watched series of toasts from both sides came later, only after a shark fin banquet dish was served. China offered a Texas-style barbecue at a luxury Beijing hotel to fete President George H.W. Bush in 1989, but blocked his invitation of Fang Lizhi, then the country’s best-known dissident.

The APEC setting precludes a formal dinner. But lunch is possible. That’s despite Xi scheduling his trips down to the minute and often packing in so much that there’s no time to eat, according to a documentary on its diplomatic principles China released in 2017.

Both sides also always have security concerns. Obama wrote in his memoir of his 2009 China trip that his team was “instructed to leave any non-governmental electronic devices on the plane” and to operate assuming “that our communications were being monitored” and hotel rooms had hidden cameras.

Hillary Clinton’s 1995 Beijing visit as first lady turned heads for a different reason when she declared that “human rights are women’s rights, and women’s rights are human rights.” So did then-first lady Laura Bush’s 2008 trip to the Olympics in Beijing after she stopped in Thailand and visited a refugee camp for people fleeing the government of China-backed Myanmar.

But protocols around U.S.-China leader interactions don’t always have to address espionage threats or human rights matters.

Obama’s daughter Sasha was 9 and studying Mandarin in school when she practiced a few phrases during a 2011 White House welcome ceremony for Chinese President Hu Jintao. When she and her sister Malia visited China with their mother, Michelle, on a goodwill tour three years later, the Chinese press dubbed the then-first lady “Mrs. Diplomatic.”

That trip featured a toboggan ride away from the press after a Great Wall visit, and a game of table tennis where Michelle Obama joked that her husband played the game and “thinks he’s better than he really is.” Yet what unfolded felt stiff to some. The write-up in The New York Times carried the headline: “Even With Ping-Pong, a Formal Meeting in China.”

___

Associated Press writer Colleen Long contributed to this report.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — When President Joe Biden meets Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Wednesday, there will be no such thing as a small detail.

How they greet? If they eat? Where they sit? Will there be flowers? Bottled water or in a glass? “Pretty intense,” senior administration officials say of navigating delicate protocols.

Any encounter involving the president and a foreign leader means managing tricky logistics, political and cultural, and every occurrence or utterance can potentially jolt the world order. But few nations are more attuned to etiquette than the Chinese, and the often-conflicting interests between Washington and Beijing might mean the seemingly trivial becomes meaningful.

There’s probably “very detailed planning of the actual choreography of who enters a room where, if there will be pictures taken and all of that,” said Bonny Lin, senior fellow for Asian security and director of the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Biden and Xi will meet while both attend next week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco. So far, even basic information has remained closely guarded. Statements Friday by China’s government didn’t mention the day or location. The White House, citing security concerns, says only that the meeting will be held “in the Bay area.”

That could only increase the pressure as both sides potentially haggle over everything from meeting time and length to who enters the room first. Will they use a table or easy chairs? What about security presence and interpreter access?

Then there is the more obviously substantive: Will there be a joint statement after the meeting and how much of the session will be in public view?

The plan is to set aside enough time for in-depth conversations on issues that will be divided into different sessions, senior administration officials say. That recalls Biden’s nearly three-hour meeting with Xi before the start of last year’s G-20 summit in Bali.

The officials also noted that this will be Xi’s first trip to the United States in six years, and his first to San Francisco since he was a provincial Communist Party secretary.

Victor Cha, former director for Asian Affairs on the White House’s National Security Council, said organizing such meetings at APEC is easier than at a formal location. But, he said, hammering out talks on summit sidelines is still “a logistics nightmare.”

“China, normally, if they come to United States, they want everything. They want all the pomp and circumstance. They want the highest possible respect that can be paid to them,” Cha said. “That is politically not possible. And so, having APEC in San Francisco solves that problem in the sense that it’s not the official White House that’s hosting the meeting.”

Even informal settings can bring high stakes.

When President Richard Nixon visited China in 1972, aiming to ease decades of animosity, he brought a new pair of shoes with rubber soles to climb the Great Wall.

President Barack Obama and Xi didn’t wear ties during their 2013 meeting at Sunnylands, a modernist mansion in Rancho Mirage near Palm Springs, California. It was news then that Obama stayed overnight there while the Chinese delegation returned to a nearby hotel.

President Donald Trump and Xi wore dark suits for dinner at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida four years later. The meal featured what Trump called “the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake.”

Bonnie Glaser, managing director of the Indo-Pacific program at the German Marshall Fund, said that, for the upcoming meeting, Xi’s team likely pushed for a venue away from the APEC site and talks lasting longer than those in Bali.

“The Chinese want a separate summit,” she said.

The Chinese attach importance to the location, which this time may be more like Sunnylands than Anchorage, Alaska, where top U.S. and Chinese officials held rather tense 2021 talks. Chinese state media might fixate on the weather as a barometer for bilateral relations. Early forecasts are calling for rain with a high in the mid-60s for San Francisco.

Even on-site flowers could be important, as certain choices can symbolize harmony in Chinese culture. Plum blossom is a well-liked flower known in China for persevering amid harshness, while lotuses convey peace in the Chinese language. Chrysanthemums, by contrast, are associated with death.

Xi may expect Biden to greet him upon arrival. Xi’s team could also want the leaders photographed together without staff to convey a personal relationship.

“Chinese officials will want to project to their domestic audience that Xi is received by Biden with dignity and respect,” said Ryan Hass, director of the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institute. He suggested that required “imagery of both leaders interacting on a personal basis, beyond the customary handshake in front of a bank of flags in a hotel conference room.”

That could be as simple as a short walk together, Hass said. The Chinese also tend to emphasize food and might push for a meal.

During Nixon’s 1971 visit, a military honor guard greeted him at the airport, but the much-watched series of toasts from both sides came later, only after a shark fin banquet dish was served. China offered a Texas-style barbecue at a luxury Beijing hotel to fete President George H.W. Bush in 1989, but blocked his invitation of Fang Lizhi, then the country’s best-known dissident.

The APEC setting precludes a formal dinner. But lunch is possible. That’s despite Xi scheduling his trips down to the minute and often packing in so much that there’s no time to eat, according to a documentary on its diplomatic principles China released in 2017.

Both sides also always have security concerns. Obama wrote in his memoir of his 2009 China trip that his team was “instructed to leave any non-governmental electronic devices on the plane” and to operate assuming “that our communications were being monitored” and hotel rooms had hidden cameras.

Hillary Clinton’s 1995 Beijing visit as first lady turned heads for a different reason when she declared that “human rights are women’s rights, and women’s rights are human rights.” So did then-first lady Laura Bush’s 2008 trip to the Olympics in Beijing after she stopped in Thailand and visited a refugee camp for people fleeing the government of China-backed Myanmar.

But protocols around U.S.-China leader interactions don’t always have to address espionage threats or human rights matters.

Obama’s daughter Sasha was 9 and studying Mandarin in school when she practiced a few phrases during a 2011 White House welcome ceremony for Chinese President Hu Jintao. When she and her sister Malia visited China with their mother, Michelle, on a goodwill tour three years later, the Chinese press dubbed the then-first lady “Mrs. Diplomatic.”

That trip featured a toboggan ride away from the press after a Great Wall visit, and a game of table tennis where Michelle Obama joked that her husband played the game and “thinks he’s better than he really is.” Yet what unfolded felt stiff to some. The write-up in The New York Times carried the headline: “Even With Ping-Pong, a Formal Meeting in China.”

Associated Press writer Colleen Long contributed to this report.

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Photo by Brocken Inaglory on Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 3.0

The Cliff House closed its doors in 2020, leaving many Bay Area residents wondering what would happen to the iconic restaurant and space. After several years of uncertainty, the National Parks Service announced that a 20-year lease was awarded to Sutro Lands End Partners LLC. The space is expected to open sometime in 2024, and details about the new restaurant have yet to be released.

The Cliff House closed in 2020, citing the pandemic and the federal government stalling their lease. The closure followed another iconic restaurant in the area, Louis’, announcing it was closing its doors.

Cliff House history

Perched on the rugged cliffs at Lands End, the Cliff House has a long history in San Francisco, and the current building is actually the 3rd iteration of the structure. The first structure was built in 1863 as a small, one-story structure atop the cliffs. Traveling to the resort was difficult and would take hours, making it only accessible to wealthy visitors. Guests of the first Cliff House included SF’s wealthiest families and even several presidents.

Second Cliff House, 1902. Photo via the Library of Congress

Despite its initial prestige, the resort declined in popularity over the years until legendary SF businessman Adolph Sutro bought the property in 1881, only for it to burn down several years later in 1894. Sutro wasted no time constructing a new, grander resort. By 1896, a new Victorian version was open to the public.

The massive 8-story building looked like a castle nestled on the cliffs. The resort had dining rooms, bars, dancing, art galleries, and more. Unfortunately, the beautiful building’s reign on the cliffs was short-lived, burning down in 1907.

In 1909, a third and final Cliff House was built, this time in concrete, by Emma Sutro Merritt. The building is still standing today with the same neoclassical design.

The post SF’s historic Cliff Home publicizes reopening set for 2024 appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.