Category: Bay Area

By BRETT MARTEL NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Sugar Bowl between Georgia and Notre Dame was postponed a day because of an attack about a mile away from the Superdome early Wednesday, when a truck plowed into a New Year’s crowd and killed 10 people. The game, originally scheduled for 7:45 p.m. Central at the 70,000-seat Superdome, has been pushed back to Thursday night, Sugar Bowl CEO Jeff Hundley said. “Public safety is paramount,” Hundley said at a media briefing alongside federal, state and local officials, including Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry and New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell. “All parties all agree that it’s in the best interest of everybody and public safety that we postpone the game for 24 hours.” U.S. Rep. Troy Carter said the decision to postpone the game “was not done lightly.” “It was done with one single thing in mind: public safety — making sure that the citizens and visitors of this great city, not only for this event, but for every event you come to in Louisiana, that you will be safe,” Carter added.

OAKLAND — A 46-year-old man was fatally shot early Wednesday outside his East Oakland home, the city’s first homicide of 2025, authorities said. The man’s name has not yet been released. The shooting happened about 3:13 a.m. New Year’s Day in the 2200 block of 24th Avenue. Police responding to a report of a person down on the street found the man suffering from at least one gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead there at 3:28 a.m. A motive for the shooting is under investigation. No suspect information has been released. The killing is the first homicide of 2025 investigated by police. In 2024, the city’s first homicide of the year also happened on Jan. 1. On Tuesday, Oakland police investigated three homicides between just after 7 a.m. and 10:20 p.m. Those killings — two shootings and a stabbing — brought the final number of homicides in Oakland in 2024 to 86. In 2023, police investigated 126 homicides in the city. Anyone with information about the Wednesday killing may call police at 510-238-3821 or 510-238-7950. Anyone with videos or photos related to the shooting can

Every incoming president faces tough questions about the people he hires to work in his inner circle. But President Jimmy Carter had to overcome a unique set of hurdles in 1977 when he and Rosalynn Carter wanted to bring a young Black woman up from Georgia to serve as nanny for their 9-year-old daughter Amy. The challenge is that Mary Prince had been convicted of murder in 1970 and sentenced to serve a life sentence in prison. While the Carters believed that she had been wrongfully convicted, they had to deal with pushback from other members of the White House staff as well as from the media and the public at large, as Time magazine, the Washington Post and other outlets reported. Still, the Carters didn’t hesitate. The story of the Carters’ loyalty to Prince, now in her late 70s, is being resurrected following the former president’s death on Sunday at age 100. The former first couple’s willingness to back her as an employee, secure her reprieve and remain lifelong friends is seen as an example of the couple’s reputed decency and commitment to social

By The Associated Press NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Police say a person who drove a pickup truck at high speed into a crowd of people celebrating the new year in New Orleans early Wednesday was hell-bent on creating carnage. While a motive for the attack that killed at least 10 people has yet to be revealed, the FBI is investigating it as a terrorist act. Several such attacks have taken place over the past two decades, some inspired by extremist politics and others blamed on mental illness or misogyny. What authorities call “vehicle as a weapon attacks” have reshaped cities around the world, with planners erecting concrete barriers around public spaces and building anti-vehicle obstacles in new developments. Here are the details of some major vehicle attacks: NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 1, 2025 — At least 10 people are killed and dozens are injured after a driver rams a vehicle into a crowd of pedestrians in New Orleans’ bustling French Quarter district at 3:15 a.m. on New Year’s Day. The suspect is killed in a firefight with police, and the FBI says at least one improvised

OAKLAND — A 32-year-old Los Angeles man was killed and three other people were wounded Tuesday night in a shooting in the Jack London Square area, authorities said. The New Year’s Eve killing was the 86th and final homicide of 2024 investigated by Oakland police. It was the third homicide to occur Tuesday and the sixth in the city since last Thursday. The three wounded were a 22-year-old Fairfield woman, a 21-year-old Newark man and a 25-year-old Sacramento man, authorities said. All of them were in stable condition. The shooting happened about 10:20 p.m. Tuesday outside in the 200 block of Second Street, near the Jack London Square Amtrak station. Police said the people shot were among a group planning to attend an event in the area. It was not immediately known if any of those shot knew each other. As the group was standing outside, at least one person began shooting at them, police said. Police have not yet said if the shooter was also standing outside or was firing from a vehicle. The Los Angeles man, whose name has not yet been released

OAKLAND — A Fairfield resident and rapper has been sentenced to five years in state prison through a plea deal with Alameda County prosecutors. Michael Isrealishia Moore, 29, was charged last year with human trafficking and pimping a 16-year-old girl, who reported that he forced her into the sex trade and took all $5,000 in proceeds. By the case’s end, Moore — who raps under the stage name BussDown Bandy — avoided convictions on both counts. Instead, Moore pleaded no contest to robbery and witness intimidation, and was formally sentenced to five years on Dec. 18. He remains in Santa Rita Jail, pending transfer to the state prison system, records show. The investigation started in November 2023, when Oakland patrol officers stumbled upon the girl outside of a convenience store and struck up a conversation with her because she appeared upset. The encounter led to a police interview where she allegedly identified Moore as her pimp, according to court records. The girl said she had been trafficked by other men, and was walking along a high-prostitution area in Los Angeles when Moore allegedly approached her.

By STEPHEN WADE, AP Sports Writer If you think physical therapy is only about rehabilitation after surgery or recovering from an accident, think again. For the vast majority, seeing a physical therapist should be about prevention, routine assessment and staying well. “We’re the best-kept secret in health care,” Sharon Dunn, the past president of the American Physical Therapy Association, told The Associated Press. Roger Herr, the current president of the APTA, and Gammon Earhart, associate dean for physical therapy at the medical school at Washington University in St. Louis, echoed Dunn’s prevention message in separate interviews with the AP. “We need to change our image by getting out of our silos, out of our brick-and-mortar clinics,” said Dunn, who teaches at LSU. The image of the profession tends to be one-dimensional. You’ve had knee surgery, your back keeps acting up or you’re injured and you’ve been referred by a physician to a physical therapist. You go several times, you get an evaluation and you’re discharged with exercises to do and advice about how to move more efficiently. “That’s a big chunk of what physical therapists

RICHMOND — Following years of complaints, a legal filing and eventual closure, a construction team has been chosen and a budget set to rebuild Stege Elementary School. Alten Construction, a Richmond development firm behind a number of projects across the Bay Area, has been selected to rebuild the 81-year-old building that was shuttered over the summer due to disrepair. The campus at 4949 Cypress Ave. is the oldest in the district, first built in 1943, and has seen about 250 students roam its halls in recent years. That was until this summer. Parents were notified in July that the school would be closed for the 2024-25 school year after repair work revealed “environmental hazards,” according to a July 23 district letter. As a result, students were bussed to nearby DeJean Middle School where a separate campus was created for the elementary school students, according to a July 24 district letter. “Your dedication and cooperation are greatly appreciated as we work to ensure a smooth transition for our students and maintain a supportive learning environment,” read the July 23 letter signed by former Superintendent Kenneth Hurst

TODAY’S WORD — NULLIFYING NULLIFYING: NUL-ih-fye-ing: Making of no value or consequence. Average mark 25 words Time limit 35 minutes Can you find 31 or more words in NULLIFYING? The list will be published tomorrow. YESTERDAY’S WORD — VALIDITY: valid vial vita vital adit alit avid avidity avidly lady laid laity livid idly daily davit daylit dial diva tail tidal tidily tidy RULES OF THE GAME: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed. 3. Additional words made by adding a “d” or an “s” may not be used. For example, if “bake” is used, “baked” or “bakes” are not allowed, but “bake” and “baking” are admissible. 4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed. Contact Word Game creator Kathleen Saxe at kzsaxe@gmail.com.

Dear Eric: My husband has told our kids they cannot have any friends inside of our home. They can play in the front yard and that is it. I don’t know how to tackle this, or what to say when it’s our “turn” to host our kids’ friends. I’ve been hosting the friends to movies, arcades, etc., but never in our home. My husband is retired and seems to prefer always being home and away from others. I accepted this when we married because he is fine with me going and being around people, if needed. We didn’t have children until we’d been married for several years and now I’m worried that our kids will suffer from this odd (in my opinion) rule. His family did not have what I consider traditional habits like eating meals together, spending holidays together or things that my kids and family enjoy. I don’t want to alienate my husband by forcing him to help host other kids. I love him and understand he’s not very people-y, but I also want my kids to be able to play the host

DEAR READERS: Happy new year! We are here at the beginning of a new page in the history of our lives. This can be an exciting time — especially if you embrace it as a moment when possibilities stand before your eyes. Look through the lens of potential this year. What do you want for yourself and for your loved ones? Pause to reflect on all of the experiences you had that led you to this moment. I believe in writing all of those things down. What were last year’s highlights? The great things and the challenges? How did you weather the storms and handle the victories? Who are the people you want to engage with in 2025, and who can be connections of the past? As you think about these things, give yourself grace. No matter what happened last year, the fact that you are blessed to be here now means you have the opportunity to write a new chapter of your story. What do you want to title this chapter? What big goals do you have that you want to manifest? I have

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I’m going to be wed soon and plan to have a receiving line. This will be during the cocktail hour between the wedding and reception, while the venue is rearranged. Is there a way to politely decline hugging people during this? I’m dreading the mishaps that will occur while holding food and drink, not to mention mussing up my hair. Are two-handed handshakes suitable enough? GENTLE READER: No and yes. That is, handshakes are suitable, but hugs from the awkward uncle who does not know what to do with his plate — even if he has not yet had a cocktail — may be unavoidable. DEAR MISS MANNERS: I am the janitor at a truck stop. What is the best way for me (a man) to announce myself when entering the women’s restroom to clean it? I start with calling out, “Hello. Janitor. Is anyone in here?” but it just doesn’t sound right. Some ladies say nothing in response, and if I didn’t look under all the stall doors, I would have walked in on them. Other ladies sound completely panic-stricken, like

A man was fatally stabbed on New Year’s Eve after an altercation in East Oakland at 7:46 p.m. in the 1900 block of 70th Avenue, authorities said. Initial reports say the man was stabbed after getting into an altercation with a man who fled before police arrived at the scene, according to police. The victim was taken to a hospital where he died around 8:16 p.m. on Tuesday. The identity of the man, believed to be in his 40s, has not been released. The homicide is the 85th investigated by Oakland Police this year and the third in the past 24 hours. The other killings include a man who was fatally shot in East Oakland at 9 p.m. Monday night. Another man was shot around 7 a.m. on Tuesday in West Oakland. In 2023, police investigated 126 homicides in the city. The past year marks a five-year low in homicides for Oakland, authorities said. Anyone with information about any of the killings may call homicide investigators at 510-238-3821 or 510-238-7950. Anyone with videos or photos related to the shootings can email them to cidvideo@oaklandca.gov.

After 16 hours and 16 miles of steep, jagged trails in the Ventana Wilderness south of Big Sur, the Monterrey County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Team delivered an ill 20-year-old hiker to safety on Sunday morning. The ordeal was of the most arduous of saves for the Search and Rescue Team, which described the extraction as “physically exhausting.” Tumultuous rainfall caused a rising river to strand half a dozen rescuers, Cal Fire and the Urban Search and Rescue Team overnight. At 8 p.m. Saturday, journeyers notified the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office of a sick 20-year-old hiker who required assistance to hike out of the isolated wilderness that is set between steep, crested mountain ridges in Los Padres National Forest. https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FMontereyCountySheriffsOffice%2Fposts%2Fpfbid02B2NhFMCeVKrngVu8ymQLyeTj1cufsoXChgDhLtHKMRVgUZAn61zRYjcPwYXTcHV8l&show_text=true&width=500 Six Monterey County Search and Rescue team members set out and located the hiker near Sykes Hot Springs. The team administered first aid and called for a helicopter, but weather conditions made an air evacuation impossible. Urban Search and Rescue team members joined in the rescue by foot, and the pair of teams began the trek out of the Ventana Wilderness area carrying the hiker

San Jose Police arrested a man Tuesday on suspicion of breaking into a home, killing one occupant and injuring another on the 3200 block of Payne Avenue in San Jose. On Dec. 30, police responded to a reported break-in and physical altercation inside the home. When officers arrived at the scene at 7:01 p.m., they found two victims with at least one stab wound each. The male victim died from his injuries after being transported to a hospital. The female victim sustained non-life-threatening injuries, SJPD said. The suspect allegedly fled on foot and was apprehended nearby by responding officers, according to SJPD. SJPD homicide detectives determined the suspect and the victims knew one another, but did not describe the nature of their relationships. SJPD booked the suspect into Santa Clara County Jail on suspected homicide. Police said they would identify the suspect to the public in the coming days. The circumstances surrounding the incident and the suspect’s motive remain under investigation, SJPD said. The Santa Clara County Coroner’s Office will identify the victim after notifying his next of kin. The killing is San Jose’s 28th

Bay Area Home Report 6760 Misty Willow Court – Google Street View A spacious house located in the 6700 block of Misty Willow Court in San Jose has new owners. The 2,892-square-foot property, built in 1974, was sold on Nov. 20, 2024. The $2,825,000 purchase price works out to $977 per square foot. This two-story house boasts a generous living space with five bedrooms and four bathrooms. Inside, there is a fireplace. Additionally, the home provides an attached two-car garage, granting ample space for parking and storage purposes. The lot size of the property measures an impressive 10,062 square feet. Additional houses that have recently changed hands close by include: In August 2022, a 2,006-square-foot home on Dorene Place in San Jose sold for $1,851,000, a price per square foot of $923. The home has 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. On Corvallis Drive, San Jose, in November 2023, a 1,983-square-foot home was sold for $1,900,000, a price per square foot of $958. The home has 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. A 2,431-square-foot home on the 6600 block of Elwood Road in San Jose sold in

As the countdown to 2025 begins, cannabis enthusiasts have a plethora of electrifying events and promotions to make this New Year’s Eve unforgettable. From vibrant festivals to unbeatable dispensary deals, here’s your guide to celebrating the new year in elevated style. Blaze into the New Year: Must-Attend Cannabis Events NuWu’s Blazing 20’s New Year’s Eve Celebration Las Vegas is set to dazzle with NuWu’s Blazing 20’s bash. Kicking off at 8:00 PM on December 31, 2024, this event promises a fusion of live entertainment, gourmet food trucks, and a curated selection of top-tier cannabis products. With tickets starting at $25, it’s an accessible extravaganza for both locals and visitors. citeturn0search8 Mint Cannabis New Year’s Eve Takeover Arizona’s Mint Cannabis is hosting a New Year’s Eve Takeover featuring an exclusive deal on The Pharm’s premium 7g flower—2 for $55. This celebration on December 31 is perfect for those looking to usher in the new year with quality products at unbeatable prices. citeturn0search11 SoCal Cannabis Events Southern California is buzzing with cannabis-centric festivities. From educational seminars to lively parties, platforms like SoCal Cannabis Events keep enthusiasts informed

Local News Fremont teen missing since Christmas Eve considered “at risk” The 14-year-old left his home with extra clothes Fremont 14-year-old Khan Samimi has been missing since Dec. 24 when he left home with extra clothes, according to Fremont Police Department. Fremont Police issued a public advisory for missing 14-year-old Khan Samimi who has been missing since Dec. 24 from his home on the 300 block of Wuantum Drive in Fremont. Samimi has not been seen since he left his home and is considered “at risk,” according to police, who did not explain the reasoning for Samimi’s at-risk status. Samimi left his home on Christmas Eve with extra clothes at an unspecified time. He has black hair and brown eyes and weighs approximately 190 pounds. Anyone with information about the juvenile should contact the Fremont Police Department at 510-790-6800.

Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor. Oakland needs, but lacks, visionary leaders Re: “Who is trying to fix Oakland’s problems?” (Page A6, Dec. 24). Reader Ellen Rodin was not alone in wondering how Oakland’s government could be so dysfunctional. As she pointed out, Steven Falk’s excellent analysis answered how. Now, “why” becomes the problem. Who would relinquish their own power? A redesigned city government would work but would require redistribution of control, and those in control are not exactly competing to ensure that they can depart first. Self-protection beats efficiency in Oakland government, detrimental to all city taxpayers. So if not fixed within city government, will change be imposed from without? As a charter issue, change should be decided at the ballot box. Will Rep. Barbara Lee alter the city’s ability to function? Would this be a disastrous or great way to cap her outstanding career? Repairing Oakland city government is essential; visionary leaders are notably absent. R Cote Castro Valley Without proof of harm feds panic over TikTok On Dec. 27, the government’s Supreme Court

Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor. Ocean’s fury demands climate action now Re: “Santa Cruz still reeling from storm that crippled wharf, damaged harbor” (Dec. 25). I’ve lived in the Bay Area my entire 68 years, except during my four years as an undergrad at UC Santa Cruz. As a kid, my family would drive over to Santa Cruz with visiting relatives to walk along the wharf and eat dinner at one of the iconic seafood restaurants. I remember eating at one of those restaurants when an earthquake occurred, terrifying my uncle from Texas. Senior year of college, I lived off East Cliff Drive, frequently walking across the bridge over the San Lorenzo River and down the steps to the beach below. Never in my life has the ocean wreaked as much havoc on our beaches, harbors and wharves as it has in recent years. Sea level rise and an increase in storm frequency and intensity are worsening due to climate change. Please urge your members of Congress to make climate solutions a priority issue in

California’s Proposition 36 was officially enacted over the holiday break, following voters’ overwhelming approval of the initiative aimed at driving down serial theft and fentanyl crimes through harsher prosecution and more aggressive drug diversion policies. RELATED:  New California crime laws seek to deter retail theft, property crimes County prosecutors across the state now have the latitude to more readily charge theft cases as felonies when they involve a repeat offender, treat fentanyl dealers as potential murderers, and leverage jail time to compel certain hard drug offenders, particularly those consuming powerful opioids, to enter treatment programs. What changes can residents expect to see right away? It will depend on the county in which they live, said Jeff Reisig, Yolo County’s district attorney and one of the architects of the new law. “It’s a local control issue,” Reisig said. “Each county and each city will be deciding how aggressively and how quickly these changes are implemented. In some counties, local law enforcement will be empowered to start making felony arrests for retail thefts with priors, drug offenses with priors, and can exercise that discretion immediately.” “We’re going