The state of California this week began distributing 803,000 Golden State Stimulus payments worth roughly $563 million. The breakdown for the latest distribution of $600-$1,100 payments is 800,000 paper checks mailed to qualifying residents and 3,000 direct deposits, according to Andrew LePage, a media liaison with the state’s Franchise Tax Board. The Golden State Stimulus II program has been issuing these pandemic aid payments since early September and will continue to do so until all eligible taxpayers have received their checks. Recipients with qualifying dependents will get an additional $500. The GSII program, funded by federal and state pandemic aid, is for those who earned below $75,000 in adjusted gross income as reported on their 2020 tax returns. A similar program, Golden State S

Brandon Mull, author of “Dragonwatch” and “Fablehaven,” poses for a photo with Hailey Sandin during a book signing at Barnes & Noble in Sandy on Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2021. Sandin is holding a photo she had taken with him in 2008. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News Five years ago, Brandon Mull went through a divorce. The bestselling author from Utah was supposed to start work on his “Dragonwatch” series, a continuation of his successful “Fablehaven” series. Shadow Mountain Publishing and millions of readers eagerly anticipated the next volume. But Mull, then the author of nearly 20 books and a regular visitor to The New York Times bestseller list, had a problem: He couldn’t write. “He didn’t want a life without his family. These were dark days for him and I was worried about his well-bein

(Getty Images)George Clooney once turned down a $35 million payday to do a one-day airline commercial shoot because it “wasn’t worth it.” The Oscar-winning actor and producer discussed his decision when asked if he’s every thought “I have enough money now” in a new interview with the Guardian cited by Business Insider. “Well, yeah. I was offered $35 million for one day’s work for an airline commercial, but I talked to Amal [Clooney, his wife] about it and we decided it’s not worth it,” he said. “It was [associated with] a country that, although it’s an ally, is questionable at times, and so I thought: ‘Well, if it takes a minute’s sleep away from me, it’s not worth it.'” CasamigosClooney certainly doesn’t need the money, having made a killing in his business ventures outside...

Hyde Park’s Camron Williford (2) floats in the lane for a layup as the Thunderbirds play Homewood-Flossmoor. | Allen Cunningham/For the Sun-TimesThe pecking order of the top area conferences generally always starts in the city, especially once the Public League formed its power conferences several years back. The pecking order of the top area conferences generally always starts in the city, especially once the Public League formed its power conferences several years back. That’s the case once again this season. The Red South-Central is enjoying its perch on top and ranking as the No. 1 high school basketball conference. Here is a ranking of the top 10 basketball conferences in the area. 1. Red South-Central Favorite: Kenwood Top contenders: Simeon and Curie Keep an eye on: Hyde Park St

Months after former Moreau Catholic basketball star Oscar Frayer died last March in a car crash, Frank Knight had an idea to honor the player who had gone on to Grand Canyon University and play in the NCAA tournament just days before his death. Knight, the longtime Moreau coach, started calling his friends in the coaching profession about putting together an Oscar Frayer Invitational at Moreau, with the proceeds going toward a scholarship in Frayer’s name. Blown away by the response, Knight had to narrow the field to 10 teams. Those teams will play Saturday at Moreau in a celebration that will include many of Frayer’s former teammates. “I had to tell people they couldn’t be in it, which sucked,” Knight said. In the aftermath of the car crash on Interstate 5 northwest of Lodi that also

SAN JOSE — A Santa Cruz man was sentenced to more than 6 years in prison after being convicted of a hate crime, officials said. Ole Hougen, 45, was sentenced to 82 months in prison in connection to attacking a Black man on the street with a knife, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release on Friday. Hougen was convicted on April 9. Hougen confronted a 29-year-old Black man in Santa Cruz and shouted racial slurs at him, according to evidence at the trial. Hougen also slashed at the man’s head, chest and stomach with a nine-inch knife while screaming slurs, officials said. A witness said that Hougen stabbed and slashed at the man’s chest and head 10 to 20 times, according to the news release. Hougen was on probation after pleading no contest to charges that he “committed a raci...

Alec Baldwin, tearful but also defiant in his interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, said he is haunted by being the person holding the gun that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of his Western film “Rust,” but also said he doesn’t feel guilt about it. The 63-year-old film and TV star set off a fierce debate on social media about concepts of grief, remorse, personal responsibility and legal culpability when he told Stephanopoulos he didn’t feel any “guilt” for his role in Hutchins’ death. “Someone is responsible for what happened and I can’t say who that is, but I know it’s not me,” Baldwin said. “I mean, honest to God, if I felt that I was responsible, I might have killed myself if I thought I was responsible. And I don’t say that lightly.” .@GStephanopoulos: "Do you