Category: Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO — Not even a frigid San Francisco night could cool down Tyler Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald stayed scorching hot as enjoyed the first multi-homer game of his career, sending two home runs into the San Francisco night and driving in a career-high four RBIs. With Jorge Soler and Heliot Ramos also homering and Kyle Harrison matching his career-high of 11 strikeouts, the Giants handily defeated the Rockies, 11-4, at Oracle Park. With two homers on the night, Fitzgerald becomes the first Giant to have seven home runs in his last eight games since Barry Bonds did so in April 2004. Fitzgerald achieved the feat just several days after he became the first rookie in franchise history to homer in five straight games, as well as the first Giant since, again, Bonds. Hot streaks of this nature aren’t entirely new to Fitzgerald. This past May, Fitzgerald hit six home runs in a five-game stretch with Triple-A Sacramento. He had five homers in six games with Double-A Richmond in July 2022, as well as four home runs in five games with High-A Eugene in August 2021. Soler

Dublin’s epic Little League softball season fell one step short of the World Series. The 12-and-under girls from the East Bay had a magical ride to the West Region final in San Bernardino, but the final hurdle was just a little too steep as Wilcox, Arizona advanced with a 5-0 victory in a game televised on ESPN. Wilcox, which beat Dublin 6-3 on Wednesday, took command in the rematch with three runs in the first inning. The Arizona team added two more runs in the second, and that was plenty for Hattie Macumber, who scattered three hits and struck out seven while pitching a complete game. The first two batters in the top of the sixth and final inning reached base for Dublin, giving the Northern California team a sliver of hope that a big rally was possible. But Macumber retired the next three hitters to send Wilcox to the Little League World Series in Greenville, N.C., next week. Sofia De Leon, Zoe Munro and Emilie Shaffer each had a hit for Dublin, which beat Hawaii 6-2 on Thursday to earn a second game against

PACIFICA — Two people died Friday when their car plunged several hundred feet over a cliff in Pacifica, authorities said. The fatal crash was reported around 11:20 a.m. on southbound Highway 1 just south of Devil’s Slide, according to Sgt. Caleb Benefiel of the California Highway Patrol. The car, described as a gray two-door sedan, came to a rest 300 to 400 feet down an embankment. Benefiel said firefighters performed a cliff rescue. When they reached the car, they found the two occupants dead. One body was retrieved from the car Friday. Conditions including the incoming tide prevented the recovery of the second body, but the effort is expected to resume Saturday. The San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office said the highway will be closed in both directions from 8:30 a.m. to noon Saturday. The San Mateo County Coroner’s Office will release the identities of the victims once they are confirmed and their next of kin is notified. An investigation is underway into the crash. Both directions of Highway 1 were shuttered for several hours following the crash. Check back for updates.

SANTA CLARA — One of Mexico’s storied football teams could play in front of over 50,000 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara on Saturday evening.  And a familiar face in Cade Cowell will be leading the way for the visitors.  Club Deportivo Guadalajara, commonly referred to as Chivas, will take on the San Jose Earthquakes in a Leagues Cup match.  The Cup is an annual tournament between Major League Soccer teams such as San Jose and Liga MX squads from Mexico’s top league.  Saturday’s matchup will be the first time the teams have played since Oct. 14, 2003 at San Jose State, the day Cowell was born and a night that saw current Quakes coach Ian Russell starting in midfield for San Jose. “Packed stadium, very loud crowd, and very pro-Chivas,” Russell remembered while at Friday’s press conference. “We were definitely not the home team in that game, but we played off the crowd.” Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami won last year’s Leagues Cup. The Earthquakes announced on Thursday that ticket sales for the match against Chivas has set a new record at 41,108, and that

Bay Area Home Report 3122 Browning Avenue – Google Street View The property located in the 3100 block of Browning Avenue in San Jose was sold on July 11, 2024. The $2,150,000 purchase price works out to $1,374 per square foot. The house, built in 1956, has an interior space of 1,565 square feet. The layout of this single-story house consists of three bedrooms and two bathrooms. Inside, a fireplace adds character to the home. Additionally, the house provides a two-car garage, granting ample space for parking and storage purposes. The lot of the property is substantial, measuring 6,816 square feet, and boasts a pool for relaxation and recreation. These nearby houses have also recently been purchased: In August 2023, a 1,281-square-foot home on Geneva Street in San Jose sold for $1,730,000, a price per square foot of $1,351. The home has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. On Union Avenue, San Jose, in March 2023, a home was sold for $10,316,500. A 1,281-square-foot home on the 3100 block of Hilary Drive in San Jose sold in April 2024, for $1,925,000, a price per square foot

By Brett Martel The Associated Press IRVINE — New Orleans Saints reserve quarterback Jake Haener is balancing a recent skin cancer diagnosis with his effort to secure a job backing up starter Derek Carr. Haener, who starred at quarterback for Danville’s Monte Vista High, shared his diagnosis when he was asked about a small circular adhesive bandage on his right cheek. The 25-year-old, second-year pro out of Fresno State declined to share the specific diagnosis, but said he learned a little more than a week ago that he had a form of skin cancer which is rare for people his age. “It’s kind of something that just popped up. I was kind of worried about it. My family was kind of worried about it. It was kind of this random bump,” Haener said. The 2023 fourth-round draft choice saw a dermatologist, had the blemish removed and the biopsy produced a cancer diagnosis. Haener, who has participated in the Saints’ first three practices of camp on the campus of the University of California at Irvine, said he is unsure about the extent to which his diagnosis

For 20 years, the San Ramon Valley Little League had not raised a NorCal state championship banner. But that all changed on Thursday when the SRV’s 10-year-old District All-Star team defeated the Chico Central All-Stars 2-0 to capture the league’s first NorCal state title since 2004.  “It was a great win,” coach Gus Panagotacos said on Friday. “The win was a culmination of goals that we set a long time ago, and frankly, I told the kids last night that this seemed unimaginable to a lot of people but I believed it all along and I’m not surprised.”  SRV ended its summer season 11-0 and won both the District 57 and Section 3 championships. There is not a Western regional and World Series in the 10-year-old classification. San Ramon Valley 10-year-old District All-Stars pose for a picture after winning the NorCal state championship on July 25, 2024. (Photo courtesy of K&D Photography)  Pitcher Camden Kangas gave up just three hits and struck out seven across 5 ⅔ innings in the victory Thursday.  Michael Panagotacos knocked in a run and scored one in the bottom of

“EA Sports College Football 25” arrives at a time when the sport is in flux. The Pac-12 disintegrates in a few days, Clemson and Florida State are trying to leave the ACC, and a 12-team playoff will make is debut. The game that fans play this year may be drastically different compared to the one five years from now. But that’s par for the course. “College Football 25” itself is a product of change. The previous iteration of the franchise was last released in 2013. The hiatus had to do with O’Bannon v. NCAA, which challenged the collegiate organization’s use of image and likeness for commercial purposes. Electronic Arts was one of the co-defendants and settled and it appeared the series was dead. REAL-WORLD CHANGES What changed was the legal landscape and the growth of the sport. State laws and more Supreme Court cases changed the NCAA policy on amateurism and allowed athletes to make money off their name, image and likeness. That opened the door for the series return. (According to The Athletic, each player in the game receives $600 and a copy of

In a surprise special meeting, San Jose Unified School District’s board of trustees unanimously approved placing a nearly $1.2 billion bond measure onto the November ballot to upgrade school facilities and provide employee housing. The measure will appear on the Nov. 5 ballot, where it will need support from 55% of local voters to pass. If approved, the $1.15 billion bond would go toward upgrading and repairing facilities across the South Bay’s largest public school district, and to create affordable housing for teachers and staff. “We heard it in the public comment, we all know it and most of us live it,” said the district’s chief business officer, Seth Reddy. “Housing affordability is a massive challenge for all of our staff…the first thing we would focus on is to try to figure out if we’re going to be able to do that and how we do that as fast as possible.” The bonds would be paid by an annual assessment of up to $60 per $100,000 of value on properties within the district, averaging $414, district officials said. Thursday night’s board meeting was announced barely 24

Sunnyvale is on track to add 176 new affordable housing units near a busy Caltrain station in the city. Local housing leaders and government representatives gathered Friday for a wall raising ceremony of the new development, Ira D. Hall Square. The 1.26 acre property is directly across the Lawrence Caltrain Station near Sonora Court and will open in fall 2025. Of the 176 affordable rental apartments available, 45 will be reserved for homeless individuals referred from Santa Clara County. “[The ceremony] is a symbol of our determination and mission to create a world where everyone has a chance to succeed,” Sunnyvale Mayor Larry Klein said Friday. “Where every family can find a place to call home and a place where our community can grow and build a better future together.” The complex comes as Sunnyvale plans to add 11,966 new homes by 2031, with roughly half reserved for low-income housing.The nine-county Bay Area is expected to build more than 441,000 new homes by then to meet housing demands, a roughly 15% increase in the region’s total housing stock. Recently in April, the city welcomed 90

Lacey Pfalz | (TNS) TravelPulse Travelers have many concerns, but safety is often a major priority, especially for women and LGBTQ+ travelers. A recent Forbes Advisor study identified the riskiest places in the world to visit based on seven key criteria — and the destinations that ranked the safest. The list analyzed 60 cities across the globe on a 100-point scale, 100 being the most severe risk for travelers. The criteria include risk for crime, personal security, health security, infrastructure security and digital security. Curious to dive into the results? They just might surprise you. Riskiest cities to visit The riskiest city for travelers to visit is Caracas, Venezuela. Scoring the only 100 out of 100, the Venezuelan city offers the highest health security risk due to the low quality of health care available, the highest crime risk, the second-highest infrastructure security risk and the second highest digital security risk. Venezuela as a whole is rated by the U.S. State Department as a Level 4: Do Not Travel risk due to “crime, civil unrest, kidnapping, and the arbitrary enforcement of local laws.” The second-riskiest destination in the

“The View” co-host Ana Navarro slammed critics of Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday while sharing a nude photo of Melania Trump on Instagram. Since becoming the likely Democrat presidential nominee, Harris has faced numerous racist and misogynistic attacks, including from people calling her a “Jezebel” and insulting her for not having biological kids. The attacks, mostly appearing on social media and focusing on Harris’ purported dating history, have ran the gamut of euphemistic and explicit, and Harris’ defenders have taken note. “Some Republicans are out there on TV and social media making vile sexual remarks about Kamala Harris and wanting to make her dating history an issue,” Navarro captioned the naked photo of Melania Trump, taken as part of a January 2000 GQ photoshoot, which shows the former first lady on a fur rug while wearing diamond jewelry and handcuffed to a briefcase. “This country deserves a debate on real issues, affecting us all. But you want to make this an issue? Bring it on,” Navarro added. The Instagram post also included a photo of the Trumps at a party with sex traffickers Jeffrey Epstein

SAN JOSE — A teenage boy violently snatched an elderly woman’s purse in a San Jose parking lot on June 4, throwing her to the ground and sending her to the hospital, the San Jose Police Department said Friday. The 17-year-old was arrested on July 19 and booked into Santa Clara County Juvenile Hall on suspicion of assault, elder abuse and robbery, police said. The woman had withdrawn money from a bank before driving to a business parking lot on the 2300 block of McKee Road, authorities said. While the woman walked through the parking lot, the juvenile ran toward her and grabbed her purse, knocking her to the ground. The robber then fled and was gone when police arrived at about 5:30 p.m. The woman was taken to the hospital for non-life threatening injuries, authorities said. Police conducted an investigation to identify the juvenile and obtain an arrest warrant. Anyone with further information about the incident should contact Detective Marte #4621 at 4621@sanjoseca.gov or 408-277-4166. Originally Published: July 26, 2024 at 12:41 p.m.

PARIS — The new sport for the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad, which open Friday here and continue for 17 days, is breaking. It is more commonly known as break dancing, but the dancing part has been removed, presumably, to deflect criticism and encourage its acceptance as a worthy athletic competition. It also fits the Paris Games in more semantic ways. Because the goal, the hope, the aspiration of these Olympics, truly, is breaking. Breaking with the recent trend of flawed Games, either from authoritarian governments (Sochi and Beijing), overwhelmed organizers (Rio de Janeiro), remote locales (Pyeongchang) or pandemic restrictions (Tokyo). Breaking with the habit of building new venues that instantly become white elephants when the flame is extinguished at closing ceremonies. Breaking even financially, avoiding the tsunami of cost overruns and red ink that have sunk past host cities. Breaking with tradition, hosting the athletes’ parade before Friday’s opening ceremony on 94 barges over a four-mile stretch of the River Seine instead of monotonously marching into a stadium. “It’s not perfect, it’s never perfect,” said Tony Estanguet, president of the Paris organizing committee and

Jack Dolan | (TNS) Los Angeles Times LOS ANGELES — The world’s “heaviest wave” is born near the South Pole, where fierce storms pound the ocean’s surface like angry fists, sending pulses of energy racing north, unimpeded, for thousands of miles. That force is all but invisible until it suddenly rides up a steep, smooth ramp on the ocean floor, curls into a spectacular barrel — more like a slab of concrete than water — and slams, with astonishing fury, into a razor-sharp coral reef on the southern tip of Tahiti. Locals call the wave Teahupo’o, which loosely translates to “wall of skulls.” It has fascinated and terrified the world’s elite ocean athletes since it was first surfed in the 1980s. In the coming days, Teahupo’o (pronounced “cho-poo”), just offshore of its namesake fishing village on the island’s lush coast, will become the site of the second Olympic surfing tournament. Holding the event nearly 10,000 miles from the epicenter of the Summer Games in Paris is a bold choice that has some safety-conscious experts shaking their heads and ghoulish spectators licking their chops. Anyone who

Content oversight and quality assurance provided by Bay Area News Group. Bay Area News Group advertising leadership oversees sponsored, native, and paid content on this platform, ensuring its quality, relevance, and helpfulness for our audience. Articles attributed to this byline are authored by paying advertisers. The editorial team did not contribute to these pieces, and the opinions expressed do not necessarily represent those of the editorial staff. Refer to our partner statement to better understand the nature of the relationship. The sponsor retains responsibility for the content and holds the copyright to their material. Sponsored Content It’s not just Tenacious D bandmate Kyle Gass. In the wake of the violent attempt on former President Donald Trump’s life, plenty of people took to social media to make jokes and comments, and they’re reaping the consequences. School employees, a restaurant worker, a fire chief, and a political aide have all lost their jobs or resigned after outrage over their posts, according to statements by their employers and news reports. Meanwhile, Jack Black—the other member of the Tenacious D duo—said he was “blindsided” as he announced he was

PARIS (AP) — Simone Biles is looking to add to the list of skills named after her in gymnastics’ Code of Points. The American superstar submitted an original skill on uneven bars to the International Gymnastics Federation on Friday. If Biles successfully completes it during women’s qualifying on Sunday, the skill will become the sixth to bear her name in the code. Biles already has two elements named after her on vault — including the Yurchenko double pike — and floor exercise, and one on balance beam. She is looking to become the only active gymnast to have an eponymous skill on all four events. The skill Biles submitted requires her to do a forward circle around the lower bar before turning a handstand into a 540-degree pirouette. USA Gymnastics teased the move on X on Friday. Bars is considered the “weakest” of Biles’ events in the sense that just one of her 37 Olympic and world championship medals have come on bars. She remains one of the top Americans on the event, though USA Gymnastics co-lead Chellsie Memmel said this week the Americans could sit Biles out of bars during

Which scented candle is best? A few glowing candles can set the mood for a night of relaxation at home. If you’re striving for a certain ambiance, candles infused with a special fragrance may be the way to go. But which scent? The options are many, and you want to pick just the right one. What to know before you buy a scented candle Let’s explore the different considerations you should keep in mind when selecting scented candles. It’s not just about the fragrance; wax type, wick type, candle size, and burn time also come into play when shopping for quality scented candles. Candle fragrance First things first: you’re shopping for scented candles because you enjoy the fragrances and want the best for your money. So ask yourself what type of mood you want to create. Relaxation If you’re looking for a scented candle that can help soothe and relax you at bed or bath time, opt for a fragrance that features notes of lavender, chamomile, eucalyptus or sandalwood. Romance If you’re selecting a scented candle for an intimate dinner or anniversary celebration, choose a fragrance with

PARIS (AP) — Most countries will have two athletes hoisting a large flag in the boats along the Seine River for the Paris Olympics opening ceremony Friday. It’s considered an honor to be chosen for the duty at the Games, and for years there was just one flag bearer per nation. In a tradition that began at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, delegations now select one woman and one man to share the job during the curtain-raiser — although sometimes, if there’s only one athlete present, that person will tote the flag alone. That’s the case this time with six teams. Belize, for example, will have its flag carried by its lone competitor, 100-meter sprinter Shaun Gill. Who are the flag bearers for the 2024 Olympics opening ceremony? Here is a look at the flag bearers for some of the 205 teams scheduled to take part in the opening ceremony: —Britain: Helen Glover, rowing (two-time gold medalist in the coxless pair) and Tom Daley, diving (Tokyo gold medalist in 10-meter synchronized diving and owner of three Olympic bronzes) —Canada: Maude Charron, weightlifting (Tokyo gold medalist in the 64-kilogram category) and Andre

PARIS (AP) — French transport was thrust into chaos Friday just hours ahead of the Olympics 2024 opening ceremony after a series of coordinated “malicious acts” upended high-speed train lines. Officials said the arson attacks and other vandalism on the rail system were a form of sabotage on a pivotal day of the Games. There was no sign of a direct connection to the Olympics, but authorities are investigating. Travel for hundreds of thousands of travelers was disrupted on the rail system linking Paris to the rest of France and to neighboring countries. No injuries have been reported. Here is what to know: What happened to the rail network? Details were still emerging, but officials say that there were arson attacks and other “criminal acts” of vandalism. Authorities said three fires were reported before dawn near the tracks on high-speed lines, triggering disruptions especially affecting Paris’ Montparnasse station. “Everything indicates that these are criminal fires,” Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete said. Soldiers patrol outside Gare du Nord train station at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 26, 2024, in Paris, France. Hours away from the grand opening ceremony of the Olympics

By KATE BRUMBACK, Associated Press PARIS (AP) — The Paris Olympics look likely to get off to a soggy start. Meteo-France, the French weather service, is predicting “flooding rains” Friday evening when the opening ceremony is set to unroll along the Seine River. But the show is set to go on as planned, starting at 1:30 p.m. EDT/7:30 p.m. CEST and should last more than three hours. Already in the late afternoon, skies were gray with intermittent drizzle. There was a silver lining, though, with temperatures expected to stay relatively warm throughout the evening. Instead of a traditional march into a stadium, about 6,800 athletes will parade on more than 90 boats on the Seine River for 6 kilometers (3.7 miles). Though 10,700 athletes are expected to compete at these Olympics, hundreds of soccer players are based outside Paris, surfers are in Tahiti and many have yet to arrive for their events in the second week, organizers said Thursday. Hundreds of thousands of people, including 320,000 paying and invited ticket-holders, are expected to line the Seine’s banks as athletes are paraded along the river on boats. Originally Published: July