Facebook Marketplace is celebrating its second anniversary Wednesday, and announcing new technology to propel its growth and empower Facebook’s 2.23 billion monthly users to buy and sell goods.
Los Angeles-based lifestyle blogger Meredith Greenberg makes about $500 per month flipping goods she purchases on Facebook Marketplace. She takes old items and turns them from shabby to chic.
“I use Marketplace to help me find and sell items that I restore and flip – from wine coolers, to coffee tables, to chairs and more,” said Greenberg. “Meeting people through Marketplace has also led to more custom work for me. For example, I connected with a couple on Marketplace who bought a coffee table from me. They loved it so much, we stayed in touch so I could share other pieces with them!”
Facebook says "more than one in three people on Facebook in the U.S. shop on Marketplace every month for everything from new shoes to baby gear to cars and apartments."
Furniture and electronics are top sellers on Facebook Marketplace, but it’s vehicle purchases that are emerging as one of the most popular categories worldwide, according to Facebook spokesperson Erin Landers.
Car listings from local car dealerships were introduced on the platform one year ago and have helped propel interest.
Facebook is bringing more technology to the platform.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is helping consumers buy and sell faster by improving the quality of photos and Messenger conversations. Some of the new features help with price range suggestions and auto-categorization.
Using AI, the Facebook Marketplace automatically categorizes an item based on the photo and description so that the user does not have to.
Facebook is also testing technology and camera features that will recognize products and similar listings of interest.
Reporting tools and a ratings system have helped make buying and selling safer online, such as badges that were introduced for sellers to confirm their identify.
The presidency has been bad for Donald Trump's finances, with his personal net worth falling from $4.5 billion to $3.1 billion over the past two years, according to the latest Forbes billionaires list.
Trump dropped 138 spots to 259 on the Forbes 400, an annual measure of the richest people in the U.S. During that same period, Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos rose to the top spot, with an estimated fortune 52 times greater than that of the president, at $160 billion.
Forbes attributed the decline of Trump's fortune to three main factors: e-commerce eating into the value of Trump's real estate holdings, the intrusion of heightened security at Trump's resorts, and Trump's own over-reporting of the size of his penthouse, NBC News reported.
Five children aged 9-12 years old were traumatically injured, and nine children in total were hurt, after a vehicle crashed into a tree in Dana Point Wednesday afternoon, according to the Orange County Fire Authority.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
A 57-year-old youth pastor at a baptist church in Santa Ana was arrested in connection with the rape of a 13-year-old girl in a restroom during services, police said.
Jonathan Lamont Jenkins, of Riverside, was arrested Tuesday as he walked out of a liquor store in Santa Ana, officials said. He was booked into jail on charges of aggravated sexual assault of a child, Santa Ana police said in a news release.
He had been a youth pastor for the last two years and a member since 2012 of the Starlight Baptist Church, at 1201 W. Second Street in Santa Ana, police said. The girl reported that he had been making sexual advances toward her since January.
In March, the girl was attending service when she went to what she thought was an empty bathroom. Jenkins was inside waiting for the victim, police said. The girl tried to escape, but Jenkins allegedly threatened violence, then choked and sexually assaulted her, officials said. The girl didn't immediately report the assault and continued attending church.
In August, Jenkins allegedly mocked her about the assault and told her that if she reported it, he would say that she allowed the sexual assault to occur, officials said. The girl eventually told church members and she then told police what happened, police said.
We've all met that zany individual who likes to rock socks depicting their favorite food, and t-shirts, and hats, and neckties, too.
But sometimes, if you love a food, say, like tacos, a pair of socks covered in cheese-stuffed tortillas is only the first step in the process of showing your ultimate foodie fealty.
For you, dear friend, wear your taco love on your sleeve.
You weave it through your heart. All of your devotion is threaded so deeply, into your soul, that the idea of taking that food-directed devotion off, like a t-shirt, never crosses your mind.
You're the sort of individual, in short, that inherently knows the date of National Taco Day: Oct. 4.
If you've been counting down to the holiday, it is nearly here, and the savings on meaty, crunchy, soft-tortilla'd treats are to be found around town. So, yeah, slip into your taco-emblazoned clothing, if that's your jam, and head out on Oct. 4 for...
Rubio's Coastal Grill: Download the coupon found on the restaurant company's site, then go to a Rubio's on Oct. 4, then purchase a beverage, and hooray: A complimentary fish taco shall be yours.
Tocaya Organica: It can be pretty rare to see the word "all" during a giveaway event, but that won't be the case with this restaurant line-up, which has outposts in West Hollywood, Malibu, and several other spots. Choose from "all" the tacos available, buy one, and get one free (yep, "of equal or lesser value"). Mmm and mmm.
Guisados Burbank: dineLA, the Restaurant Week overseen by Discover LA, is releasing a cool Taco Trek rundown of some of SoCal's greatest taco spots. Should you stop by the launch party and mention "dineLA Taco Trek," you'll score a freebie (think Bistek and Salsa Roja tacos). Good to know? This is a "while supplies last" deal.
Acapulco Restaurant and Cantina: Score a soft taco, for free, or a crispy taco, for free, when you say the word "TACO" to staffers at any Acalpulco location on Oct. 4. Tacos include beef machaca, chicken machaca, and, yum, picadillo beef. How many can you get? It's a "one per guest" kind of offer.
Three people were shot on the corner of 62nd Street and South Vermont Avenue in South Los Angeles Wednesday evening, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
LAPD Sgt. Mike Lopez said the shooting was first reported at 5:22 p.m., and initial reports from the scene suggested three people had been shot and that one person had possibly died at the scene.
Newschopper4 Bravo arrived over the scene at approximately 5:45 p.m., and a large police presence was visible.
Witnesses at the scene said that the shooting may have been a drive-by, and authorities were searching for a single shooter. One of the three men shot was in transported to a hospital in critical condition, and the other two struck by gunfire were expected to survive.
Tensions on Capitol Hill are rising as senators prepare for a vote on embattled Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, NBC News reported.
Multiple senators, including Sen. Susan Collins, who was helped back to her office by Capitol Police after a committee hearing on Wednesday, have been spotted with police escorts in recent days. Hallways have been briefly closed off, even to media, and Collins was driven away from the Hill in a Capitol Police car last Friday.
Collins, a Republican senator from Maine, has become a target of anti-Kavanaugh protestors, as she has not said publicly how she plans to vote on Kavanaugh. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska; Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., also have not said how they will vote.
Though the large-scale demonstrations from last week’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing with Kavanaugh and Dr. Christine Blasey Ford have dissipated, some protesters are still making themselves heard.
A member of the United States military was killed in Afghanistan Thursday, NATO's mission in the country announced.
The service member was part of the NATO Resolute Support mission, and the incident in which they died is under investigation. Their name is being withheld pending notification of their next of kin.
"We mourn and honor the sacrifice of our service member," said Gen. Scott Miller, commander of Resolute Support and United States Forces Afghanistan.
Resolute Support is a NATO-led mission to train, assist and advise Afghanistan's national security forces. It involves about 16,000 service members from 39 NATO allies and partners, including the U.S.
Last month, a U.S. service member was killed in Afghanistan in an apparent insider attack that wounded another member of the U.S. military.
Firefighters worked for hours Thursday to knock down a fire that burned an abandoned church west of downtown Los Angeles.
More than 130 firefighters responded to the fire in the 700 block of West Washington Boulevard in the University Park area near the 10 and 110 freeway interchange. The Los Angeles Fire Department said the building served as a mortuary when it was built in 1924 before it became home to several worship groups.
The fire was contained to the 19,800-square-foot building, which was red-tagged after inspectors determined it was unsafe to occupy.
There were no immediate reports of injuries.
The multi-agency House of Worship Task Force was sent to the scene, and the cause of the fire was under investigation.
Driver were asked to avoid Washington Boulevard between Figueroa Street and Union Avenue. The fire is expected to smolder into the afternoon.
Amazing machines, futuristic ideas, a beautiful venue and food will bring “makers” from across the country to San Diego’s own 2018 Maker Faire this weekend.
A “maker” is a name given to inventors, DIYers, artisans, and anyone who likes to create or teach, according to the Maker Faire website.
Over 200 local and regional makers will display their creations at this year's faire at Balboa Park.
There will be 12 exhibits in Balboa Park throughout the weekend. These areas will showcase creativity in science and technology, engineering, and arts and crafts.
Most exhibits will be inside nearby museums, including the Museum of Man, the Natural History Museum, and the Fleet Science Center. There will be workshops, guest speakers and hands-on activities like soldering.
Admission into the Maker Faire will give full admission to all participating museums.
Comic-Con will host MAKE the Museum. Fans can help create what they think the Comic-Con Museum should look like.
The new museum will be in the 1935 Federal Building. Comic-Con Museum plans to host a museum by day and a very unique fan community venue by night.
But this faire won’t just be inventions, machines, and drones, there will also be food trucks, music, beer and more. To view a complete map or to plan your day, visit its website.
Single day passes start at $21, and weekend passes start at $31. Active-duty military, student and child discounts are available. To see all ticket prices, see the event’s ticket page.
The event will be from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
The Maker Faire recommended guests to carpool or parking at Inspiration Point, then taking the green tram into the heart of the event. Tram hours of operations are from 9:00 a.m. to 8 p.m.
To see all the makers being featured, view the faire’s Meet the Makers site.
Snag a tortilla, corn or flour, fill it with one quality ingredient, or a dozen, tip your head, open your mouth, and you've got a full-on National Taco Day party, right there, in front of your face.
But National Taco Day is bigger than, well, National Taco Day, for our widely shared devotion to all the taco-based arts is something that seems to grow throughout the year.
So while you may understandably wish to celebrate tacos on Oct. 4, you can address your taco-strong longings all year long, thanks to a brand-new guide called Taco Trek.
The team behind this tasty trek around Southern California?
It's dineLA, the foodie arm, and Restaurant Week overseers, of Discover Los Angeles.
The list that makes up Taco Trek?
There are 25 favorite tacos on the ready-to-download guide, which officially debuted on, yes, Oct. 4, 2018.
The top-notch tacos that made the starry roster include the carne asada taco at Salazar LA, the carmelo taco at Sonoratown, and the grilled shrimp taco at Border Grill.
The price to nab this gourmand-pleasing guide? Zero dollars, as in zip dinero. Nothing. It's yours, for free, for the downloading, the perusing, and the using.
The chance to win 25,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles?
That's happening, should you download the DiscoverLA app, then click the scavenger hunt icon, then check into each taco spot you visit. Each check-in is a contest entry, oh yeah. The contest runs through Oct. 31, 2018. Learn more by downloading the app now.
Important question, though: How will you seek out these superstar tacos? In what order will you proceed?
You can go in the order of the list, or by neighborhood. or take it on in any way you please.
But will you visit all 25 spots and eat all 25 tacos?
While the list is free, the tacos are not. Of course, tacos remain one of the greatest buys in the tummy-filling, appetite-satisfying department, and, naturally, you'll also want to continue to support the great SoCal restaurants that made the list.
And think about Guisados Burbank for stop one, if you can visit on Oct. 4. That's where the Taco Trek launch party is, and there's a free taco giveaway, too, on that day.
Check it out now, Taco Trekkers, then don't delay: The time is prime for a taco, whether it is National Taco Day or not.
Pennsylvania's newly drawn 1st Congressional District, just north of Philadelphia, is nearly evenly split between Democratic and Republican voters. It's the kind of place where a moderate congressman like Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick has, in the past, appealed to centrist voters of both parties.
But Fitzpatrick's vote in favor of the President Donald Trump's tax cut last winter didn't sit well with Jerry Middlemiss, a moderate Democrat from Yardley, the kind of voter he'll need to win over to eke out a win this November.
"I'm not pleased about that," said the semi-retired school counselor.
Fitzpatrick, a freshman member of the House, is well-liked enough in this district, whose partisan balance was spared despite a major redistricting that tilted other districts nearby and in the rest of Pennsylvania to the left. But he faces what many Republican incumbents across the country must deal with this year: independent voters and die-hard Democrats together eager for Congress to act as a check against the Trump administration.
This article, part 1 in a series, examines one of the key battleground races for control of the House of Representatives in the Nov. 6 midterm elections. Carried by grassroots momentum, Democrats must take 23 seats from Republicans to win the balance of power. They are contending with Republicans' experience, organization and an outspoken but polarizing president.
Middlemiss doesn't yet know much about Scott Wallace, the Democrat challenging Fitzpatrick, but he believes America should push the reset button on Congress.
"If you are opposed to the current administration and the way the government has been run, you may want to make a change," Middlemiss said. "The more Democrats you can get in to balance out what's going on, I would do that."
Voters' desire for change in Washington could be enough to swing the district for Wallace, 66, a first-time candidate but longtime funder of progressive policies and organizations.
In Wallace, the Democrats have a wealthy, self-funded grandson of a former vice president to Franklin D. Roosevelt. Wallace has worked as a lawyer and member of his family's powerful nonprofit, the Wallace Global Fund, whose mission is "to promote an informed and engaged citizenry, to fight injustice and to protect" the environment.
The family connection could also doom his chances in November, if Fitzpatrick is able to persuade voters that Wallace is too liberal for the centrist district.
The Global Fund, which has more than $110 million and funds dozens of liberal groups each year, has been the focus of Republican television ads for weeks already.
One ad, paid for by the political action arm of the Republican National Congressional Committee, described Wallace as pro-population control and eager to tax families of five or more people, based on funding the Wallace charity handed out before the candidate became a board member. Another ad claims Wallace is anti-police because his charity gave to liberal news organization Democracy Now!, which has occasionally reported on convicted cop-killer Mumia Abu Jamal.
The claims in both ads have been rated as either "false" or "misleading" by media fact checkers. Still, they continue to air in the Philadelphia media market. Meanwhile, Fitzpatrick has slammed Wallace as too rich to represent the district's interests.
"My opponent is the most far-left extremist candidate that's ever run for office in this district," Fitzpatrick said in an interview with NBC10 Philadelphia. "Having been in Congress for a year and a half, I can tell you we have too many partisan ideologues and too many multimillionaires. Scott Wallace is both."
Wallace disputes that his politics are anything beyond progressive and said he's surprised Fitzpatrick went down the path of "mudslinging."
He's since begun running ads as well, promising to bring change to Washington, D.C., and reverse the national debt accrued by the Republican tax cuts.
"Any candidate expects their life's work to be put under a microscope, and yes, our foundation has been about three progressive issues: climate change, democracy and women's empowerment," Wallace said in an interview. "What I didn't expect and what has astonished me is that people would take our record, and distort it, and turn it into lies and in such bizarre ways."
Fitzpatrick, for his part, survived criticism two years ago when Democrats accused the former FBI agent of taking advantage of his family name by running for the congressional seat. His older brother, Mike, was the outgoing congressman representing the region; Brian won the election by 9 points.
Fitzpatrick cites his lifelong connection to the district and touts his freshman legislative record as proof that he represents the type of moderate approach to government that his constituents want.
Redistricting in Pennsylvania significantly changed the political landscape for many incumbents when the state Supreme Court remapped the state's 18 congressional districts this year, but Fitzpatrick's constituency remained nearly the same. His district changed in name, from the 8th District to the 1st, but only a small portion of its boundary shifted: a slice of Montgomery County to the west of Bucks County swapped for another slice.
While the remapping made Democrats far more competitive in some areas, especially in the Philadelphia suburbs, Fitzpatrick's district remained very diverse in its makeup of Republicans and Democrats, affluent and blue-collar workers, suburban homes and small farms.
"It's the most amazing place on the planet," Fitzpatrick said. "We're a microcosm of America."
Fitzpatrick points to centrist legislation he helped usher into law, including the Interdict Act, which gives border agents stronger technology to stop opioids from crossing the border, and the Children of Fallen Heroes Act, which provides educational support for kids of fallen first responders.
But he has also voted in line with Republicans on the biggest conservative agenda items of the last two years, Wallace argues, including the Trump tax cuts. In June, an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found that registered voters were less likely to support a candidate who backed the bill.
Both candidates had near identical campaign cash on hand as of the last required federal filings June 30: $1.7 million for Wallace and $1.65 million for Fitzpatrick. But Wallace had spent some $3.6 million compared to $800,000 for Fitzpatrick in the three months before. (The next Federal Election Commission reports won't be published for two weeks.)
Outside groups have tilted the other way, pouring more than $2 million to oppose Wallace and $430,000 to support Fitzpatrick, at least an order of magnitude greater than the outside support Wallace has gotten, according to ProPublica's election data tracker.
The only independent public poll for the race, conducted in May and released June 4 by the Monmouth University Polling Institute, found what most people expected — a negligible one-point spread between Fitzpatrick and Wallace.
Charlie Gerow, a Republican political consultant well-versed in Pennsylvania politics, told NBC10 in August that confidence among Republican strategists remained high for Fitzpatrick to hold onto the seat. But he said the party would likely see a net loss of seats overall in the state.
In a sign of angst for many Republicans, Gerow said that despite optimism for Fitzpatrick's chances, the race was proving "more of a tussle than he would like."
The race has become a virtual dead heat as it heads into the home stretch, according to the Cook Political Report, which moved the district from "Lean Republican" to "Toss-Up" in late September.
In changing the Fitzpatrick-Wallace showdown to that "who knows" designation, the political website's House editor, David Wasserman, wrote: "Both parties are seeing Republicans' numbers continuing to erode in professional suburbs, and some in the GOP fear they still haven't hit rock bottom."
To Wallace, the district is a must-win if Democrats hope to win the House, and that's why he decided to leave philanthropic life and run to win it.
"There's a reason you're seeing vast amounts of money from super PACs outside [supporting Fitzpatrick]. They know what we know. Whoever wins this district wins the House," he said.
No, Snapcrap isn't a weird bathroom parody of Snapchat.
The new app released on Tuesday to iOS users is trying to help clean up the dirty streets of San Francisco, according to its developer Sean Miller, a San Francisco engineer who moved from Vermont to South of Market in 2017 and immediately took notice to the feces, needles and trash cluttering walkways.
Miller says he didn't know anyone when he moved to the city to work for Plivo, so he decided to move into a communal living space, The Negev, on the "somewhat notoriously filthy" 6th Street in SoMa.
That's when he got the idea for Snapcrap.
"A lot of people at the house would joke about the situation because it's obviously a bit comical, but we also realized it's a really serious problem and frankly it's a health hazard," Miller told NBC Bay Area.
The new app lets users snap a photo of the area in San Francisco that needs to be cleaned up, and then sends a report to the city's 311 hotline.
While the city has its own app that allows users to request sidewalk cleaning and report other defects like manhole covers, graffiti and tree maintenance, Miller says the SF311 app isn't a good experience.
"It takes so many clicks to actually submit a ticket. We wanted to build a simple mobile app that would simplify the process and remove as much friction as possible," Miller said.
A spokesperson for the City of San Francisco's Public Works Department, Rachel Gordon, says the city's SF311 app already has all the key features but the city has taken a look at the Snapcrap app after it was brought to department's attention.
Miller said he put the Snapcrap idea on the back burner for over a year, but he's finally had enough and wanted to help.
NBC Bay Area found that the city’s 311 system received a dramatic increase in the number of complaints concerning a lack of cleanliness across the city. Complaints about trash increased 40 percent, human waste complaints swelled 96 percent, and complaints concerning used drug needles spiked 228 percent.
"A couple months ago I was still getting really frustrated seeing this stuff everyday and hearing people complain about it that I just decided to build the damn thing. I figured that if myself and all of my friends and housemates wanted it there must be a bunch of other people that would find value in it as well," Miller continued.
Miller designed the app to open straight to the camera, allowing users to quickly snap a photo of the area and automatically grab their location and autofills the rest of the 311 ticket form.
"I see poop" is one of the random automated comments that Miller designed to fill out the required comment section on the city's form. He said he wanted to make reporting public health issues fun for the community.
"The app is extremely basic right now, but I plan to add a bunch of other features soon. I think a crap map would be pretty funny," Miller said.
Miller says he also plans to put Snapcrap on Google Play store for Android users in the future.
Snapcrap is not affiliated with Snapchat and NBC Bay Area has reached out to Snapchat for comment due to the similarity in the app design.
"Snapcrap" app developer hopes to help clean up San Francisco streets. https://t.co/K5cGAmAg6e @kintarasu reports pic.twitter.com/Hf3VHKUX4U
— NBC Bay Area (@nbcbayarea) October 3, 2018
The enduring adoration of the ocean?
It's a lifestyle, a commitment, a way of approaching the world, as anyone who has ever been bitten by this particular fancy, er, fish, well knows.
And a major subcategory of oceanic affection is an affinity for seafood, be it shrimp or crab or octopus or any of the meals that spring from la mer.
But loving the ocean, as you do, and knowing that your seafood dinner may hail from a source that isn't observing sustainable practices, can leave any maven of the waves feeling conflicted, sad, and as blue as the Pacific.
There are, however, happenings that are dedicated to raising the profile of sustainable seafood, and Off the Hook Seafood Festival, a briny bash seen each fall at Santa Monica Pier, is one of those events.
The next one is up on the afternoon of Saturday, Oct. 6, and the beneficiary will be both near and dear to many people who also are near and dear to the sustainable food practices: Heal the Bay.
The hours to be upon the pier, if you'd like to try tidbits from Del Frisco's Grille, The Lobster, Chaya Venice, Jimmy's Famous American Tavern, and several more: Four o'clock through to 7 in the evening, which means you'll also be there during a quintessential, sun-dipping-into-the-Pacific sunset.
If you want to go VIP? The party starts an hour early, at 3, oh yeah.
A ticket? If you're a Little Fish, it is $65, and that includes wine tastings, and some other good stuff. Yep, there are games. Indeed, there's entertainment.
More of a Big Fish? Go the VIP route with a $100 ticket, which includes both cocktails of the curated variety and preferred seating.
Meet Bolo, the pet of the week for Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018.
Bolo is a 1-year-old male poodle mix. He came in as a stray and is a bundle of love and kisses. He gets along well with all his kennel mates and loves to go for walks. He loves people and just wants to be in your arms and give you kisses. He's young and has lots of energy.
ID: A1815942
West Valley Center
20655 Plummer Street
Chatsworth, CA 91311
818-756-9325 (center)
