Jeremy T. Ringfield's Blog, page 458

49ers set to sign veteran tight end, bolstering thin spot behind Kittle

The 49ers are reportedly signing veteran Logan Thomas to serve as a secondary tight end behind All-Pro George Kittle.

NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo first reported the news Monday, later confirmed by Associated Press sources.

Thomas, 32, played the last four seasons for the Washington Commanders. His first year in Washington was the most productive of his career, as he hauled in 72 catches for 640 yards and six touchdowns. Last year, he had 55 catches for 496 yards and four scores.

After both Charlie Woerner and Ross Dwelley signed with the Atlanta Falcons in free agency, the 49ers looked thin at the position entering this week’s minicamp. Two players entering their second season with no career catches appeared to be next up in the pecking order: Brayden Willis, a 2023 seventh-round pick, dressed for all three playoff games last year but did not record a catch, while third-rounder Cam Latu tore his meniscus in training camp.

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Kittle, 30 has played 14 games or more in six of his seven career seasons, including 16 starts last season before sitting out the 49ers’ low-stakes finale against the Rams. But the five-time Pro Bowler’s physical style makes him an injury risk.

Thomas might also help fill out the 49ers’ trick-play options as he played quarterback at Virginia Tech, where he was a second-team All-ACC performer as a sophomore in 2011. He transitioned from quarterback to full-time tight end after his rookie season with the Arizona Cardinals, then bounced around practice squads before playing a handful of games for Buffalo (2017-18) and Detroit (2019) and ultimately landing with Washington.

Monterey council to discuss new budget, changes to wastewater rates

The city staff of Monterey are ready to present a budget proposal to the City Council for the 2024-2025 fiscal year.

During the regular meeting on Tuesday, city staff will share the data with the council and councilmembers will have the opportunity to ask questions, and share their input.

Tuesday’s agenda features a nine-page summary about the budget proposal, including listing the city’s challenges, how they are recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, how the budget will maintain and improve services and a five-year projection.

In total, the fiscal year 2024-25 budget allocates $105,908,972 million in revenue and $109,218,516 million in expenditures in the city’s general fund as well as $115,761,678 million in revenue and $87,560,706 million in expenditures in other funds, according to the agenda.

The proposal also lists out how the city will maintain and improve services including $100,000 to continue with the city’s special event support program, or community grants, $35,000 to continue to support First Night Monterey, and $250,000 to continue the city’s rental assistance program, which was established last year.

The five-year projection forecasts a modest savings for Monterey and plans on adding more than a dozen new employees to the city’s staff.

The council will also host a public hearing to consider all protests against the new proposed rates for sewage. Monterey’s sewage rates have been the same since 2011, when it was last increased.

According to the agenda, currently single-family residences pay about $10.77 a month and multi-family residences pay $7.88 a month. For 2025, the rates would go up to $14.11 and $10.33 respectively, then in 2026 to $16.93 and $12.40 continuing through 2029 at $22.92 for single-family residences and $16.78 for multi-family residences.

According to the city agenda, the sewer line maintenance fund lost more than $350,000 in revenue during fiscal year 2021-2022, and as of February 2024, last year is projected to lose an additional $400,000.

“In recent years, the Sewer Line Maintenance Fund has had increasing costs over time without proportional revenue increases, resulting in a structural deficit and general fund subsidies,” the agenda reads.

The Monterey City Council will meet at 4 p.m. Tuesday, at Monterey City Hall, 580 Pacific St. The meeting will be available via Zoom at https://monterey-org.zoomgov.com/j/16...

Booze with a view: 8 rooftop bars to check out in Las Vegas

Taylor Lane | Las Vegas Review-Journal (TNS)

The only thing better than great cocktails is drinking them with a view of Las Vegas’ bright lights and grand resorts.

Here’s a round up of eight rooftop bars to explore around the Las Vegas Valley:

Rooftop bars on the Strip

108 Drinks

Address: Inside the Tower at the Strat, 2000 Las Vegas Blvd. South.

Hours: 11 a.m. to midnight Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday through Sunday. Happy Hour is Monday through Thursday from 3 to 7 p.m.

Who doesn’t love a happy hour 800 feet above the Strip?

Guests can get two-for-one Tower admission and two-for-one cocktails at 108 Drinks during the bar’s “Sky High Happy Hour.” The cocktail special also includes draft beer, bottle beer, wine by the glass and well & call cocktails, according to the Strat.

The bar also serves frozen cocktails to help you stay cool while being closer to the sun.

Allē Lounge on 66

Address: Inside Resorts World, 3000 Las Vegas Blvd. South.

Hours: 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. Sunday through Thursday, 5 p.m. to late Friday and Saturday.

You’ll find this bar 66 floors above the Las Vegas Strip at Resorts World.

This bar’s menu changes seasonally, but you’ll be able to find a wide selection of signature cocktails, wines, small plates and dessert options year-round.

Dress code is elegant, so leave the baseball cap at home.

Hotel Bar at Waldorf Astoria

Address: Inside Waldorf Astoria at 3752 Las Vegas Blvd. South.

Hours: Sunday and Thursday 4:30 p.m. to 12 a.m., 12 p.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday.

Located on the 23rd floor of the Waldorf Astoria, Hotel Bar offers great Strip views and drinks with names inspired by Vegas lore and culture, like cocktails Mojave and Spanish Trail. Mocktails are also offered for sober visitors.

Skyfall Lounge at Delano Las Vegas

Address: Inside Delano Las Vegas, 3940 Mandalay Bay Road.

Hours: Monday through Sunday 5 p.m. to 12 a.m.

This upscale bar on the 64th floor of the Delano offers cocktails, mocktails, beer, wine and spirits.

If you’re feeling a little hungry, you can get light bites like panisee (chickpea fries) and short ribs tacos, among other options.

And, if you’re feeling REALLY hungry, lobster risotto and Angus New York Strip are also on the menu.

Book a reservation at sevenrooms.com/reservations/skyfallmandalaybay.

Downtown Las Vegas rooftop bars

Legacy Club

Address: Top of Circa Resort & Casino, 8 Fremont St.

Hours: 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. Sunday through Thursday, 2 p.m. to 4 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.

Portraits of Las Vegas founders, pioneers and legends hang in a hall as the sun sets on the city viewed from the outside deck within the Legacy Club at Circa on Dec. 22, 2020, in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal/TNS)

Drink among legends (or, at least portraits of them) at Circa’s rooftop bar, Legacy Club.

The bar sits at Circa’s 60th floor and includes 360-degree views of downtown Las Vegas and the Strip.

Guests can enjoy cocktails around a firepit, or stay inside and gaze at the bar’s collection of 500 custom gold bars.

This bar requires a dress code to enter, with swimwear, sandals, workout clothes and sports gear prohibited.

Reservation prices begin with a $25 minimum per person for inside seating, and go up to $1,500 minimum spend for a large firepit reservation.

Rooftop bar at Inspire Nightclub

Address: 107 Las Vegas Blvd. South (Corner of Fremont Street and Las Vegas Boulevard).

Hours: 10 p.m. to late Thursday and Sunday, 9 p.m. to late Friday and Saturday.

Down the street from Legacy Club in the Fremont East District is Inspire Nightclub, which boasts three floors with live DJs, a cocktail lounge, and plenty of opportunities to look out and people watch on Fremont Street.

The rooftop bar has VIP tables (and bottle service), a DJ and an outdoor dance floor with 270-degree views of Fremont’s bar strip.

People walk around Fremont East in downtown Las Vegas, where many rooftop bars can be found, on Nov. 21, 2020. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal/TNS)

Commonwealth

Address: 525 Fremont St. (Corner of Fremont and Sixth streets).

Hours: 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. Thursday and Sunday, 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. Friday and Saturday.

Kitty-corner from the El Cortez is Commonwealth, a spot hoping to be a “neighborhood bar for locals and visitors alike,” its website states.

In addition to the rooftop bar and live DJs, the bar boasts a menu of craft cocktails, more than 20 varieties of local and international beers, and 16 different tequila bottles available with prices that’ll make your eyes pop out of your head.

With ornate lampposts, exposed brick walls and rustic park benches, this bar feels like the kind of place Tommy Shelby of “Peaky Blinders” would want to grab a drink.

ZAI Vegas

Address: 700 Fremont St. (Corner of Fremont and Seventh streets).

Hours: 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. Friday through Sunday.

Across the street from Downtown Container Park is ZAI, featuring VIP tables, bottle service and private event reservations.

The bar also hosts themed nights for holidays and special DJ headliners.

©2024 Las Vegas Review-Journal. Visit reviewjournal.com.. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Evacuations ordered in Redwood City as eight-alarm fire destroys construction site

REDWOOD CITY — A fire that brought out dozens of firefighters for multiple alarms Monday destroyed an affordable living complex under construction and forced evacuations of nearby residents, authorities said.

The blaze roared in the 2700 block of Middlefield Road and affected just one building, Menlo Park Fire District Chief Mark Lorenzen said.

“We’re making good progress on it,” Lorenzen told reporters at the scene during a press conference. He said that the site — a massive housing development still under construction — was a “tinder box.”

The fire broke out about 10:15 a.m. in the fifth floor of the construction site, Lorenzen said. Crews arrived to find large black smoke flowing from the building and officials called a third alarm immediately, he said.

Construction workers evacuated the building. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

Lorenzen said the blaze later rose to eight alarms because of the winds and floating embers and the attempt to protect nearby buildings. On the scene were 26 fire engines, seven ladder trucks and 10 fire engines from various departments in Santa Clara County that were offering mutual aid, he said.

In a social media post, the sheriff’s office said immediate evacuation orders went out for residents who live near the blaze on Pacific Avenue and Calvin Avenue. The evacuation notices later were expanded to include residents on Dumbarton Avenue from the train tracks to Middlefield Road.

About 50 people in residences near the fire were evacuated, Assistant Sheriff Ryan Monaghan of the San Mateo County Sheriff’s said.

“Some of those evacuations were for precautionary reasons,” Monaghan said. “Others were because of the embers that spread and touched the area. Those folks are safe.”

Monaghan said authorities were working to find a suitable place for the evacuated residents to go.

An eight-alarm fire burns at a construction site at an affordable housing building on Monday, June 3, 2024, in North Fair Oaks, near Redwood City, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)

Onlookers watch as an eight-alarm fire burns at a construction site at an affordable housing building on Monday, June 3, 2024, in North Fair Oaks, near Redwood City, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)

Firefighters battle an eight-alarm fire at a construction site at an affordable housing building on Monday, June 3, 2024, in North Fair Oaks, near Redwood City, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)

First responders work at an eight-alarm fire at a construction site at an affordable housing building near Fair Oaks Health Center on Monday, June 3, 2024, in North Fair Oaks, near Redwood City, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)

Onlookers watch as an eight-alarm fire burns at a construction site at an affordable housing building on Monday, June 3, 2024, in North Fair Oaks, near Redwood City, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)

An eight-alarm fire burns at a construction site at an affordable housing building on Monday, June 3, 2024, in North Fair Oaks, near Redwood City, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)

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Yanira Williams, a 39-year-old woman, evacuated from her job at Fair Oaks Health Center due to the fire. She recalled watching the flames grow taller and more dangerous as black smoke rose above the building.

“It’s very scary because you don’t know what could happen, like an explosion,” Williams said. She added that her car remained in a parking lot near the burning building.

Raul Ramirez, a 65-year-old resident of Redwood City, was riding the bus around 11 a.m. when he saw the burning building. He exited the bus to watch the blaze. “Everybody wants to see what happened,” he said.

The fire’s smoke also caused Garfield Community School to close early. The school in a message on its web site said families were encouraged to pick up their children as soon as possible but that they would be held indoors and supervised until parents can arrive.

The building was planned to be a 179-unit affordable housing complex known as Middlefield Junction in North Fair Oaks, an unincorporated neighborhood south of Redwood City. The apartments were to be reserved for households earning between 15% and 80% of the area’s median income. Twenty apartments were set aside for people experiencing homelessness. Two units were for on-site managers.

The total cost was expected to be $155 million.

Staff photographer Dai Sugano contributed to this story. 

City, stakeholders, seek input on future of Salinas Intermodal Transportation Center

SALINAS – The future of one of the most visible areas in the center of Salinas, that is already a transportation hub and houses historic structures, will be the topic of discussion at a meeting later this month.

The Intermodal Transportation Center in Salinas, which includes the train station, is also home to the Salinas City Regional Heritage Center, the California Welcome Center, as well as Heritage Park. This month the public will have a chance to voice its opinion at a gathering on the future of the centers and help in the ongoing transformation of downtown Salinas.

“This will be the first time all stakeholders meet, on June 20,” said Craig Kaufman, Salinas Valley Tourism and Visitors Bureau executive director.

Salinas City Regional Heritage Center and California Welcome Center in Salinas will be hosting the event to gather input from the community and to discuss plans for the future of the properties in the historic heart of Salinas at Station Place. The meeting will be held to allow attendees to engage with city staff and planning consultants Harris and Associates, who will develop a Master Plan for the Intermodal Transportation Center site.

The forum dubbed “Your Input, Our Future: Heritage Park/Intermodal Transit Center Meeting” will take place at 4 p.m., at the California Welcome Center, which houses the Salinas City Heritage Center museum inside the historic Southern Pacific Freight Depot at 1 Station Place in Salinas.

Salinas Mayor Kimbley Craig said the city has a vision for the Intermodal Transportation Center and the organizations and facilities it houses.

“The Downtown Vibrancy Plan (2015) identifies the incorporation of transit-oriented development at the site. Staff has received requests from stakeholders to expand their use and to rename the site and designate it as a park,” Craig explained. “However, before any decisions are made, it’s imperative to engage with the community extensively and to establish a process. A thorough assessment of existing conditions, along with an analysis of assets, challenges and opportunities, is crucial to determine the optimal utilization of the site.”

The Intermodal Transit Center was the first piece of the Transportation Agency for Monterey County’s rail extension program which constructed improvements at the Salinas train station situated in the downtown area and will also include a Caltrain layover facility for upcoming connection to the San Francisco Bay Area.

Craig said that in April of this year, the city’s Economic Development Division executed an agreement for professional services with Harris and Associates for the development of phase 1 of the Intermodal Transportation Center Master Plan.

The Intermodal Transportation Center Master Plan aims to create a vision within the community and is anticipated to enable officials to decide stakeholder requests quickly and easily, said Craig. Phase 2, would also provide defined parameters for future development – though it’s unknown when Phase 2 will begin. The Intermodal Transportation Center Master Plan will also further the goals and vision of the Downtown Vibrancy Plan and the city’s Economic Development Element (2017) for the development of transit-oriented uses.

“This is the first of five meetings to engage site and broader community stakeholders to work collaboratively to develop a vision and conceptual plan for the potential expansion of current uses as well as new transit-oriented development,” said Craig.

Event organizers say the meeting is a way to ensure the community’s voice is heard.

Kaufman, who was instrumental in bringing the California Welcome Center to Salinas, as well as establishing the Regional Heritage Center, said he believes there are two goals to be accomplished at the upcoming meeting. The first is to approve the expansion of the remaining freight depot space, currently being used for storage, to accommodate more museum space. The second is to allow the ability to market the collection of historic properties and trains under the Heritage Park moniker.

The existing portion of the Regional Heritage Center in the Southern Pacific Freight Depot tells the story of how the Southern Pacific Company influenced and shaped the economies of early California, according to Kaufman.

The Intermodal Transportation Center, at the junction of Market and Salinas streets in downtown Salinas, currently houses the 151-year-old Southern Pacific Freight Depot, the oldest surviving commercial building in Salinas, the 156-year-old First Mayor’s House, as well as the third incarnation of the train depot at that site, which is now 82 years old. (James Herrera/Monterey Herald)

“The expansion will go back in time, covering the First Peoples in our area, Spain and Mexico, with the Juan Bautista De Anza National Historic Trail being the overarching theme,” said Kaufman. “The historic freight depot is located on this National Historic Trail.”

There are only 21 National Historic Trails and 63 National Parks in the United States. The Salinas Valley region has one of each of these national assets shared by Monterey and San Benito counties and surrounded by expansive scenic natural landscapes and historic downtowns.

Craig said the next steps will include the development of an existing conditions assessment, an analysis of site assets, challenges and opportunities, and an evaluation of stakeholder’s request for a park designation/heritage center branding.

More than a year ago, the city formally responded to and denied the California Welcome Center’s request to expand into the remainder of the Southern Pacific freight depot building and its application for the installation of banners with the name Salinas City Heritage Park to be used at the Intermodal Transportation Center.

The city said its decision to deny the Welcome Center’s request to expand the use of the freight depot building for additional exhibits is based upon a tenant’s wish to continue to use the space. The city also said it had concerns about the banners with the Salinas City Heritage Park name because it “may create confusion, as we are not certain of the efforts taken to have the area formally designated as historic or as a historic landmark.”

But the Intermodal Transportation Center, at the junction of Market and Salinas streets in downtown Salinas, currently houses the 151-year-old Southern Pacific Freight Depot the oldest surviving commercial building in Salinas, the 156-year-old First Mayor’s House, as well as the third incarnation of the train depot at that site, which is now 82 years old.

Other draws within the transportation center area include the Sophronia Harvey Education Center, the Steaming Ahead Historic Railroad Exhibit, the Monterey and Salinas Valley Railroad Museum, and the Southern Pacific Depot Annex that includes the Friends of the Salinas Public Library sales site.

Most of these structures are part of a Heritage Park, a separate entity that operates within the same area as the Heritage Center and the California Welcome Center within the Intermodal Transportation Center.

“The Heritage Park name allows our partners to share the goal of creating different points of destinations under one name within a specified area,” said Kaufman.

In the city’s response to the requests in February 2023, it said the city of Salinas planned to develop a scope of work, select a consultant and prepare a master plan for the Intermodal Transportation Center, engaging Transportation Center and community stakeholders in the planning process.

The June meeting is the first where all stakeholders will come together.

What happens next, said Kaufman, is that a report from the different meetings with the city’s planning consultants Harris and Associates and various community stakeholders will be submitted to the city of Salinas by the consultants.

According to the meeting organizers, the vision for the site’s landmark properties and transportation facility is highly valued by stakeholders and interested parties.

‘Hit Man’ review: Glen Powell gets it in gear, in a hired-assassin Netflix movie for the rest of us

Can a lame haircut turn Glen Powell into a character actor? Here’s two more for you: Is Glen Powell a huge movie star in the making, thanks to “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Anyone But You”? And if he isn’t, is he at least nimble and versatile enough to play one when needed?

The answers to those questions are encouraging. I doubt that would’ve been the case four or five years or seven or eight films ago. In the highly engaging “Hit Man,” now in a few theaters and heading to Netflix June 7, Powell reunites with his fellow Texan, director and screenwriter Richard Linklater, for a romantic comedy with a few nicely plotted turns and storytelling priorities, including little to no interest in jacking up narrative stakes the usual way, i.e., people getting pistol-whipped or shot up for laughs, or kicks.

“Hit Man” takes it easier. It comes from Skip Hollandsworth’s 2001 Texas Monthly feature about a Houston undercover master of deception, Gary Johnson, who at the time worked for the Harris County district attorney’s office. His job: Faking like he was a professional killer for hire in sting operations. Lots of them. Successful ones. “Although plenty of cops have pretended to be hit men in undercover murder-for-hire investigations,” Hollandsworth wrote, “Johnson is the Laurence Olivier of the field.”

The script by Linklater and Powell takes the premise and goes its own way, resetting things in Louisiana. This version of Johnson is a sweet, divorced, cat-loving philosophy professor at the University of New Orleans, who moonlights for the police doing office-based tech work. When a weaselly undercover cop runs into ethical trouble, a nervous Johnson gets thrown into the real action, reluctantly, “playing” a hit man in a pre-arranged, wired-up meetup with a potential client. Turns out he has a knack for improv under pressure. The mild-mannered, temperamentally cautious Johnson, the philosophy wonk preoccupied with the id, the superego and questions of identity, vanishes altogether. A cooler, meaner, more charismatic Johnson comes out to play.

Powell’s romantic costar in “Hit Man” is Adria Arjona as flight attendant Madison, a hungry-eyed woman trapped in an abusive marriage. She enters the story first as a woman looking for a sympathetic ear and a potential hit-man lover, then in a more pragmatic, solution-oriented way. The narrative isn’t built on big reveals or massive twists; rather, it takes artfully logical detours that work even when credulity is strained a bit, using the simple device of Johnson’s philosophy classroom lectures as bullet points for what the teacher is learning outside the classroom. (When he dons a jet-black wig and studious Slavic dialect impersonating a hit man of indeterminate Eastern European origin, Powell goes for the full Tommy Wiseau “The Room” vibe.)

If “Hit Man” is about anything beyond its own blithe, eccentric comic assurance, it’s about finding new oxygen for your next chapter in life. Ethics? Well, Johnson doesn’t teach ethics, so that’s someone else’s story. Not since “Out of Sight” has a sort-of-crime-thriller, sort-of-romantic-comedy led with its sensual interests over its violent ones. That’s my idea of a good trade, and Powell is more relaxed and easygoing on screen here than ever before.

His undercover police force cohorts are played by Retta (very dry, very amusing) and Sanjay Rao (nicely energized, even in straight-up expository bits). The ensemble ringer? Austin Amelio as the NOPD weasel on administrative leave, for a time, jealous of Johnson’s success. Sometimes the best thing an actor can do is keep the audience guessing as to how dumb or how smart his character might be in any given situation. That’s Amelio’s strength throughout “Hit Man.”

Like Steven Soderbergh and precious few other American filmmakers of huge talent and some commercial instincts, Linklater believes in the modestly budgeted genre exercise, especially when he can turn genres on a dime, within one story. Netflix may have preferred “Hit Man” to ditch the comedy and lean into the recreational slaughter for a climax, in the style of the literal hundreds and hundreds of millions Netflix spent on junk like “The Gray Man.” With a less ridiculous budget but similarly soul-crushing results, David Fincher took on “The Killer” and made precisely the sort of supercool hired-assassin adventure the world did not need.

The world, in other words, did not need one more hit man fantasy played straight. “Hit Man” is the hit man movie for the rest of us. The irony? It ends up playing its love story for more than decoration. Linklater got solid, committed supporting work from Powell in their 1980s college comedy “Everybody Wants Some!” Here, the star gets all the leeway and screen time he needs, as both character actor and leading man, to make his mark without just hitting his marks.

“Hit Man” — 3.5 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: R (for language throughout, sexual content and some violence)

Running time: 1:55

How to watch: Now in some theaters; Netflix streaming premiere June 7

Phillips is a Tribune critic.

‘Young Woman and the Sea’ review: Daisy Ridley navigates a shallow but rousing swimming pic

Based on Glenn Stout’s nonfiction account of the same title, “Young Woman and the Sea” gets by on the careful engineering of clichés, Daisy Ridley and a really good piece of irresistibly rousing history.

In 1926, 20-year-old Gertrude Ederle, raised in a German immigrant household in New York City, swam the English Channel in 14 hours and 31 minutes. She bested the previous record-holder, a male, by two hours and became the first female athlete to make the crossing.

Two million people turned out for her ticker-tape parade. President Calvin Coolidge called her “America’s best girl.” After decades and centuries of patriarchal whining about women, swimming and the galling impropriety of the words “women” and “swimming” in close proximity, Ederle’s feat changed the course of athletics.

The movie tidies things up for its tour of Ederle’s life, focused by screenwriter Jeff Nathanson (“Catch Me If You Can,” the forthcoming “Lion King” prequel “Mufasa”) on 15 or so of the subject’s first 20 years. Trudy, as Gertrude was called by some, initially was not the most talented swimmer in the family; her older sister, Meg, was. That shifted soon enough; by the early 1920s, and Trudy’s late teens, she was the most famous female athlete in America, winning gold and bronze medals in the 1924 Paris Olympics. An initial go at the Channel crossing proved unsuccessful, and (some say) actively sabotaged by Ederle’s coach, Jabez Wolffe, who’d himself attempted the crossing 22 times to no avail.

“Young Woman and the Sea” plays around with various degrees of truth and fiction, because it’s not a documentary and, you know, welcome to the concept of movies based on true stories. None of them, not a one, tells the whole truth and nothing but the truth. It’s not their job. In the film, Ederle’s Olympic triumphs (she won gold and bronze medals) become invisible, rewritten instead as a general part of a general failure and a huge setback for women’s sports. In the film, her second, successful Channel attempt comes mere hours after the first, not a year later.

These things don’t necessarily matter (to me, at least) when a movie’s working as drama. This happens just often enough — and by the precision-tooled setback/triumph/setback/triumph pacing of the climax, just rousingly enough — to take care of business.

Daisy Ridley as Trudy Ederle in “Young Woman and the Sea,” about the first woman to swim the English Channel. (Elena Nenkova / Disney Enterprises)

Throughout, director Joachim Ronning, next in line for the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise, manages a fairly pleasing blend of practical 1920s-era recreations, digital effects (plentiful but rarely completely fraudulent-looking) and shamelessly effective melodrama. Every sexist, misogynist resistance point to Ederle’s mission, feels not unlikely (it wasn’t; it was assuredly omnipresent a century ago) but boiled down to reductive, pencil-sketched character traits. Man A is a good man because treats Trudy as an equal, with respect; Men B, C, D, E and F-Z are not good men because they snigger and sneer at her, and all women.

And is too much to have the sniveling Scots swim coach (Christopher Eccleston) actually heave a radio through the nearest window pane at a key moment? Maybe, but who cares? The preview screening crowd was well and truly into the swim of things by that point. While never getting the material she needs to match her skills, Ridley creates a heroine both storybook-vibrant and human-scaled.

It’s not the creative license part of sports biopics that bugs me. It’s the screenwriters’ avoidance of how people actually talked, and behaved, in the time and place of the storyline. In this instance we have a German immigrant family, with good actors (led by Jeanette Hain and Kim Bodnia as Gertud and Henry Ederle) at the helm, yet there’s no attempt at even mentioning the anti-German sentiment of the mid- and post-World War I era. Sometimes it’s not what’s in a movie that weakens it, but what isn’t.

Yet this is sheer irrelevance by the end. Trudy Ederle’s paradoxically exhilarating ordeal amid the choppy waters, threatening skies, jellyfish and sheer physical punishment of the Channel was made for the screen. Not even the most generic film score in recent memory can keep “Young Woman and the Sea,” its title pulling a real-life variation from Hemingway’s old man and his sea, from reaching its destination.

“Young Woman and the Sea” — 2.5 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: PG (for thematic elements, some language and partial nudity)

Running time: 2:08

How to watch: Premieres in theaters May 31

Phillips is a Tribune critic.

Horoscopes June 3, 2024: Anderson Cooper, use your intelligence

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Anne Winters, 30; Rafael Nadal, 38; Anderson Cooper, 57; James Purefoy, 60.

Happy Birthday: Size up situations before you jump into action. Evaluation, assessments and research will spare you a multitude of setbacks this year. Use your intelligence and instincts to navigate the highs and lows, and you will learn valuable lessons that make your life easier. Paint an image of what you want, and you’ll discover how to make it happen. Personal gain, self-improvement and love are favored. Your numbers are 7, 13, 18, 24, 31, 39, 42.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Haste makes waste. It’s OK to envision what’s next, but finish what you start before heading in a new direction. Mastering the art of completion will help you secure a reputation for reliability and acting in good faith. Changing how you handle your cash will be fruitful. 3 stars

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Emotions will surface, leading to personal or professional instability. Think twice before you act. Focus on laying down ground rules, putting a strategy in place and following through. Abide by the rules, and take care of matters yourself. 3 stars

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Think big and see what happens. Channel energy into whatever makes the most sense, and strive to do your best. You have everything to gain by giving your all and helping others. Do what makes your heart sing, and you’ll have no regrets. Personal gain is favored. 3 stars

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Put stubbornness aside and do what’s necessary to reach your goal. Refuse to let uncertainty stand in your way. Put your differences aside and reach out to those who can help. Changing how you approach others and the difficulties you face will pay off. 4 stars

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): A positive attitude will help you get whatever you pursue. Think as you go, adjust to the climate and turn negatives into positives. Let your high-spirited attitude lead the way, and you will captivate your audience with your charm, charisma and enthusiasm. Romance is on the rise. 2 stars

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Keep an open mind despite all that’s coming your way. A change may be necessary, but if you are thorough and heartfelt in doing what’s best for everyone, you’ll gain acceptance to move forward with your plans. Turn your suggestion into something encouraging and eventful. 5 stars

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Listen, fact-check and elaborate to make the information your own. How you approach the changes you want to incorporate into your everyday schedule will determine how much time you require to prepare. Streamlining your routine will help you achieve cost efficiency. Put your energy where it counts. 3 stars

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): You’ll find it easier to address emotional matters. Cater to those who require assistance and appreciate your direction and suggestions. Your insight and ability to contribute hands-on help will put you in a good position. A positive change in a meaningful relationship is apparent. 3 stars

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Pull back if someone tries to exploit you. A physical challenge will test your strength and judgment and confirm that you still have what it takes to win. Think big and you’ll achieve your goal. A physical improvement will lift your spirits. 3 stars

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Consider suggestions or ideas to improve your home environment. The changes you make will provide stability and help you thwart any controversy you may encounter from someone disgruntled about your lifestyle. Get others involved in the process and turn it into a win-win situation. 5 stars

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Refuse to let your emotions take over when you need intelligence to navigate your way to the top. Muster up the confidence to become a leader who can make a difference. How you operate among your peers will determine how positive an impact you have on others. 4 stars

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Take the time to think before you act. The insight you gain will help you come up with a solid plan that is difficult to dismantle. Working quietly on your own will buy you time. Avoid sharing personal information with someone who can’t keep a secret. 3 stars

Birthday Baby: You are imaginative, energetic and adaptable. You are friendly and appealing.

1 star: Avoid conflicts; work behind the scenes. 2 stars: You can accomplish, but don’t rely on others. 3 stars: Focus and you’ll reach your goals. 4 stars: Aim high; start new projects. 5 stars: Nothing can stop you; go for gold.

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SF Giants swept by Yankees after letting late lead slip away

SAN FRANCISCO — The first one, apparently, wasn’t sweet enough. Juan Soto needed a do-over.

There was no topping his second bat flip, which hung in the air and twirled for seemingly however many rotations it took for the baseball sent rocketing off of it to find the sea of fans on top of the brick wall in right field.

The Yankees’ flamboyant superstar’s second home run of the afternoon sent shockwaves through the sold-out crowd at a sun-drenched Oracle Park, which had been under the reasonable impression until Soto’s ninth-inning blast that they would be heading home happy.

The Bronx Bombers are inevitable, even against Camilo Doval.

The Giants’ closer was tagged for four runs — Soto providing a pair — and was handed his second blown save of the season in a 7-5 loss that the Giants led by two entering the final frame. After taking two of three from the best team in the National League, the Philadelphia Phillies, to begin the homestand, the Giants were swept over three games by the team with the best record in baseball and finished the six-game stretch at 2-4.

“I felt good with Doval,” manager Bob Melvin said. “Anytime he’s in the game we feel good. He’s had a couple of tough ones this year, but especially in those save situations, those are the ones that inspire him. … I’ll take him against anybody. They just got him today.”

Called on to protect a 5-3 advantage, Doval was uncharacteristically hittable, allowing a leadoff single to the Yankees’ No. 8 hitter, Gleyber Torres, to begin the inning and four total hits — to go with two walks, a more typical sign something was off — before he was replaced by Taylor Rogers, who needed one pitch to record the final out.

“I don’t know if he was more predictable today; it seemed like he threw a few more heaters,” Melvin said. “They’re good. But so is he. He just didn’t get it done today.”

The four hits, the final coming on a ground-rule double from Giancarlo Stanton that scored Judge, were more than Doval had allowed in any of his 189 previous career appearances, negating the Giants’ best offensive performance since the first game of the homestand.

“I think I would say there is a first time for everything, and today was not my day,” Doval said through Spanish-language interpreter Erwin Higueros.

Of the approach to Soto, whose 1.031 OPS trails only his teammate, Aaron Judge, Doval said, “He’s a great hitter. I missed my spot. And when you miss against a great hitter, that’s the result that you will see.”

After Anthony Volpe tripled home the first run of the inning, Soto whacked the second pitch he saw, a 97 mph cutter down the middle, at 108.2 mph off the bat and watched it sail 398 feet before sending his bat airborne, too, toward the visitors’ dugout.

Soto also blasted a first-inning solo shot off Giants starter Blake Snell, who later left with a leg injury. Soto’s shot off Snell was even more of a no-doubter, traveling 430 feet over the brick wall beyond Triples Alley. In all, Soto, Judge and Stanton combined to torch the Giants for five home runs and 13 RBIs while batting .400 (12-for-30) over the three-game series.

“We played well today,” Melvin said. “You look at the way they played the first two games (outscoring the Giants 13-5), and all of a sudden they’re ahead 1-0 again? I thought we responded well. And then all of sudden it’s tied again, and now we respond again. I thought we played well today. Just didn’t shut it down in the ninth.”

Both of the Giants’ tie-breaking knocks were provided by Heliot Ramos, who homered and supplied a two-RBI single after supplanting a slumping Luis Matos in the leadoff spot. Every member of the starting lineup reached base at least once, including three hits from Jorge Soler and two from Casey Schmitt, who added a homer for the second consecutive game.

The five runs were the most the Giants had scored in a game since their eight spot Monday in the first game of the homestand. They had mustered seven total runs in the four games since, representing a brief step back from the progress their bats had made over the past month.

The well-rounded offensive output looked as though it was going to help them withstand another short start from Snell, who departed after 4⅔ innings with tightness in his left groin. The 31-year-old left-hander will undergo imaging Thursday, but Melvin said another stint on the injured list looks to be inevitable.

Snell missed a month earlier this season with a similar strain in the same leg, which he uses to push off with and said “is kind of everything with who I am.” He winced as he released his 99th and final pitch, which sailed high and wide of the strike zone to put Stanton on to load the bases with two outs in the fourth. That prompted Melvin, pitching coach Bryan Price and trainer Dave Groeschner to hustle out of the dugout.

“I use my back leg a lot,” Snell said. “It’s gotta be something with that. It’s groin, back leg, as I drive. We’ll look at it. But definitely got to add something strengthening wise that I haven’t been doing that can get the muscle even more prepared for 100 pitches per game, more than that. … This has happened probably four or five times over the last three or four years. So what I’m doing, I’ve got to change something or add something.”

Prior to his exit, Snell had limited the Yankees to one run — the no-doubter from Soto — and struck out seven while keeping opposing batters off balance with a mid-90s fastball and a big breaking curveball. Those two pitches accounted for 10 of the 14 swings and misses recorded by the left-hander.

Melvin called on fellow lefty Erik Miller, who surrendered a double to the first batter he faced, Alex Verdugo, that allowed two more runs to score, both credited to Snell, who still lowered his ERA to 9.51 from 10.42.

“It’s frustrating. I felt really good, even in that situation,” Snell said. “A lot of good stuff’s been happening the last couple weeks where I was like, ‘OK, it’s coming.’ … So I was really excited for what was to come. We’ll get there. It sucks that this happened, but it happened. We’ll face it head on and attack it and get back.”

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The three runs driven in by Ramos were a career-high.

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The Giants’ charter flight was scheduled to depart shortly after the final out for Phoenix, where they will begin a two-city trek through the southwest with three games against the defending National League-champion Diamondbacks, before three more against Bruce Bochy’s Texas Rangers, the defending World Series champs.

The loss of Snell only further complicates their pitching plans, which were hazy to begin with. Their relievers threw 128 innings in May, 13 more than the next-closest team, and the Giants plan to employ a bullpen game of some sort in their first game in Arizona, with Spencer Howard expected to take down bulk innings.

Blake Snell leaves SF Giants’ start vs. Yankees with trainer

SAN FRANCISCO — Blake Snell winced as he fired his 99th pitch Sunday afternoon, and after walking off the mound with the head of the Giants’ training staff, appears to be headed for his second stint on the injured list in as many months with the team.

Snell, 31, left his start against the Yankees after 4⅔ innings and was diagnosed with tightness in his left groin.

The Giants will have a better sense of his outlook after he undergoes imaging on Thursday, but Snell said the injury felt “the same” as the groin strain that knocked him out for a month earlier this season, and manager Bob Melvin added, “I don’t know how it’s not an IL.”

Making only his sixth start of the season, Snell was tagged for three runs on five hits and struck out seven, lowering his ERA to 9.51 from 10.42.

Originally signing his two-year, $62 million free-agent contract on March 19, Snell didn’t debut until the fourth series of the season and made only three starts before landing on the IL for the first time. He made another three starts before suffering his latest injury and, despite the results, had been encouraged.

“It’s definitely a bummer,” Snell said. “Frustrating. But you’ve gotta look to what’s next, attack that and get back on the field.”

Entering his start Sunday, Snell said, “I was very confident.

“I kind of just knew what was going to happen. You’re trying to find a feeling. And you’re trying to find just consistency in your day-to-day. A lot of good stuff’s been happening the last couple weeks where I was like, ‘OK, it’s coming.’ … The confidence, understanding how to make the adjustments, just a lot was getting better. So I was really excited for what was to come. We’ll get there. There’s been a lot that I’ve learned this year that is going to help me get back quicker and start dominating. It sucks that this happened, but it happened. We’ll face it head on and attack it and get back.”

Snell was particularly happy with the command of his fastball and the shape of his curveball, which he used to record 10 of his 14 swings and misses. The one he wishes he could have back was the heater to Soto that caught a little too much of the plate and got whacked for a 430-foot home run that put the Yankees up 1-0.

“I thought he was making progress every time, and certainly this one, too,” Melvin said of Snell, who has yet to complete five innings or allow fewer than three earned runs in any of his starts. “Fifth inning was probably going to be his last inning regardless, but he struck out seven against a really good lineup.”

Of more concern to Snell and the Giants has to be the root cause of an ailment that has cropped up twice in two months.

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The issues with his left leg, which he uses to push off the rubber, have bothered Snell for three or four years, he said. It didn’t affect him during his Cy Young campaign in 2023 but knocked him out for three weeks at the end of 2021 and a month at the start of 2022.

“I use my back leg a lot. It’s kind of everything with who I am,” Snell said. “It’s gotta be something with that. It’s groin, back leg, as I drive. We’ll look at it. But definitely got to add something strengthening wise that I haven’t been doing that can get the muscle even more prepared for 100 pitches per game, more than that.”

The Giants’ pitching was already on fumes, with Tuesday’s starter listed as TBD and their bullpen throwing the most innings in the majors last month. Keaton Winn, who missed the past two weeks with forearm tightness, is supposed to begin a rehab assignment this week.