Category: Bay Area

If I had a nickel for every time I had no idea what was going on, I would think, “Why do I keep getting all these nickels?” -– graffiti In a team-of-four match, both Souths played at 3NT, and West led a spade. Both declarers played low from dummy, ducked East’s jack, won the spade return with the king and led a diamond to the king. At one table West took the ace and led a third spade. South won and led a second diamond, and when West followed with the deuce, dummy played the eight. East won but had no more spades, and South had nine tricks. SYMPATHY I can sympathize with the second declarer; when he led a diamond to his king at Trick Three, West followed with the deuce! Now South didn’t know what was going on; he led a second diamond, and when West played the jack, South played low from dummy, hoping East had held A-5. But East played the ten, and West led a third spade, forcing out the ace. South then led a third diamond. He was stunned

TODAY’S WORD — LUBRICIOUS LUBRICIOUS: loo-BRISH-us: Salacious; lecherous. Average mark 25 words Time limit 40 minutes Can you find 35 or more words in LUBRICIOUS? The list will be published tomorrow. YESTERDAY’S WORD — GLOBULIN: gill glib glob goblin gull ling lingo lion loin long lung bill billon bingo bling blog bluing boil boll bong bull bullion bung null To purchase the Word Game book, visit WordGameBooks.com. Order it now for just $5 while supplies last! 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: I am troubled by your advice to Depressed About Disorder, the woman who felt her husband’s idea of a clean house was not up to her standards. Your advice included: “Moreover, if you’re bringing in the money to pay for [a cleaning service], your husband’s veto should have no power.” What? I have been married for more than 50 years and during this time, my husband worked while I stayed at home to raise our four children. We have always felt that his paycheck was “our money” and decisions were made by both of us. Under no circumstances does the wage earner have the right to dismiss the ideas or concerns of the stay-at-home partner. – Equal Pay Dear Equal Pay: What a mess I’ve made here. Plain and simple – I chose the wrong words. I certainly don’t think that one earner’s paycheck entitles them to more say in a marriage or partnership. What I was trying to say – quite unsuccessfully – was that sometimes you buy yourself things to make yourself happy. But a relationship is about communication, not receipts.

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Gerard Butler, 55; Jimmy Kimmel, 57; Whoopi Goldberg, 69; Joe Mantegna, 77. Happy Birthday: Turn an innovative idea into a lifestyle change. List the pros and cons you face daily, consider what makes you happy and map out a plan that points you in a direction that eliminates negativity and leaves more time and space for what makes you feel good about life. Stop wasting time; utilize the added discipline you receive from Saturn this year to help you reach your target. Your numbers are 5, 13, 23, 27, 35, 44, 49. ARIES (March 21-April 19): Use your intelligence to outmaneuver anyone trying to exploit you. Don’t be naive or give anyone the power to make choices for you. Scour all avenues for opportunities and create what you deem best. Get a second opinion if you don’t like what someone offers as a diagnosis or plan. 3 stars TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Put your energy where it counts. Make comfort and convenience your goals. Set high standards and research your options to determine the most efficient and affordable way to

SUBSCRIBER ONLY Alameda avoids being upset, Heritage shocks top seed Liberty. Plus water polo, volleyball playoffs ALAMEDA – Alameda flag football player Elsa Chin returns an interception for a touchdown against Clayton Valley Charter. Alameda played in NCS playoff flag football games at Alameda High School on Tuesday, Nov. 12 2024 (Joseph Dycus/Bay Area News Group) Alameda avoids being upset, Heritage shocks top seed Liberty. Plus water polo, volleyball playoffs Originally Published: November 13, 2024 at 12:30 AM PST

San Francisco — For Klay Thompson’s anticipated homecoming, the Warriors brainstormed ideas to celebrate one of the most revered athletes in Bay Area history. They settled on giving away captain’s hats to every fan, and playing a tribute video for Thompson before he gets announced last in pregame warmups. It’s an emotional night for a franchise that has been through so much in the “Golden era.” Thompson still is that important to the Warriors organization, and it showed. Former Golden State Warriors star Klay Thompson acknowledges staff lined up with Captain Klay hats as he arrives with the Dallas Mavericks at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)  Dallas Mavericks’ Klay Thompson (31) runs on to the floor for warmups before their game against the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)  Dallas Mavericks’ Klay Thompson (31) makes a shot during warmups before their game against the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (Ray

SAN FRANCISCO — Given their history — the four championships they both captured, the shooting records they both set, the thousands of 3s they both splashed — the moment bordered on surreal. As the second quarter’s final seconds evaporated away, Stephen Curry found himself guarded by Klay Thompson. The night, one where the Warriors beat the Mavericks 120-117 in their first game of the NBA Cup, belonged to Thompson. This moment — and many others — belonged to Curry. After receiving a toss from Draymond Green, Curry drove strong to his right. Thompson couldn’t stay in front. Curry, understanding the advantage, stopped, jumped and tossed up a wild shot. It was more of a shot put than a true floater. It found net, regardless. Thompson picked up the foul; Curry stared him down. This was not a mean mug. This was not a side-eye. Curry hunched over, tensed his body and looked wide-eyed in the direction of Thompson, who finished with 22 points and made six 3-pointers. For all the love that Thompson received in his return to Chase Center — and there was a

MONTEREY — A 19-year-old woman from North Carolina was killed in a hit-and-run collision on State Route 1 on Sunday, according to a news release from the California Highway Patrol. The woman was identified as Maddie Elizabeth Fletcher, a 19-year-old from Shelby, North Carolina, according to the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office. Around 9:47 a.m., the Monterey Communication Center received a report of a crash, authorities said. Fletcher was driving a black Honda Civic in the first lane northbound on SR-1 north of Munras Avenue. A vehicle had been driving in the second lane to the right side and behind Fletcher’s car when it veered into the first lane and hit the back of the Honda Civic, CHP said. The Honda lost control and veered off the road, authorities said, where it then began to overturn before crashing into a tree. The car came to stop on its wheels facing south on a dirt embankment. The car that hit Fletcher’s car, which was unidentified, fled the scene and continued driving northbound on SR-1, CHP said. The driver of the vehicle has not been identified. Authorities do

SAN FRANCISCO — Steph Curry and Draymond Green each hugged Klay Thompson after a heartfelt pregame tribute to their former teammate. It was all love. Then the ball was tipped. It didn’t take long for Curry and Green to treat Thompson like they would any other opponent: with ferocious competitiveness. Curry defended Thompson, and both he and Green hit early 3-pointers over the four-time champion. Their lifelong brother had his moment with a sold-out Chase Center crowd, but it was all business after that. Teammates for over a decade suddenly on opposite sides, Thompson and Curry delivered moment after moment. Thompson stole Curry’s shoulder shimmy celebration. Curry forced a Thompson airball in a one-on-one situation. Curry pointed at Thompson after canning a 3 over him. Back and forth they went. A charged-up Chase Center crowd couldn’t take their eyes off them, and why would they? In Thompson’s first game against the franchise he spent his first 13 years with, he matched his Mavericks scoring high, including eight points in the fourth quarter. But Curry got the last laugh with spectacular shot-making down the stretch, lifting

SAN FRANCISCO — Given their history — the four championships they both captured, the shooting records they both set, the thousands of 3s they both splashed — the moment bordered on surreal. As the second quarter’s final seconds evaporated away, Stephen Curry found himself guarded by Klay Thompson. On paper, this game, one in which the Warriors narrowly beat the Mavericks 120-117 in their first game of the NBA Cup, was more than just Curry and Thompson. In reality, this night was about the Splash Brothers. Curry, who finished with 37 points and nine assists, drove strong to his right. Thompson, who had 22 points and made six 3-pointers, couldn’t stay in front. Curry, understanding the advantage, stopped, jumped and tossed up a wild shot. It was more of a shot put than a true floater. It found net, regardless. Thompson picked up the foul; Curry stared him down. This was not a mean mug. This was not a side-eye. As Curry hunched over and tensed up, his gaze appeared to contain a hint of vitriol. For all the love that Thompson received in his

The Antioch Police Department is searching for people involved in a vehicle-to-vehicle shooting that occurred Tuesday morning, according to a news release. The shooting occurred near the Dutch Pride Gas and Food on the 500 block of East 18th Street around 11:24 a.m., authorities said. Police received multiple calls reporting the sound of gunshots and a vehicle collision. The callers reported seeing a man armed with a gun fleeing a silver sedan that was left disabled in a parking lot, authorities said. When officers arrived on scene, they found the silver sedan in the parking lot of 511 East 18th Street, authorities said. In their initial investigation, officers learned that the driver of the silver sedan had been traveling eastbound on East 18th Street away from the gas station when a person in a dark-colored sedan traveling westbound opened fire as they passed the silver sedan, police said. The silver sedan then swerved and hit cars in the parking lot, authorities said. A man, carrying a gun, and a woman left the silver sedan and ran in different directions. The man ran northwest and jumped

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge on Tuesday blocked the renaming of Oakland International Airport, ruling that adding “San Francisco Bay” to the name would cause travelers to mistakenly believe that the East Bay airport is affiliated with or run by the same management as San Francisco’s airport. The Port of Oakland, which operates the airport, told San Francisco officials in March of a plan to rename the airport, but West Bay officials objected to the plan on the grounds that the change would increase the “likelihood of confusion” between the two airports, according to court filings. The city and county of San Francisco filed the lawsuit seeking an injunction on April 18 alleging trademark infringement, unfair competition and false designation of the airport, according to court documents. U.S. Magistrate Thomas S. Hixson’s ruling on Tuesday dismissed two of San Francisco’s claims – that the name change would cause “initial interest confusion” in which a company uses a competitor’s trademark to falsely direct attention to them, and that the name change would cause “point of sale confusion,” in which passengers would mistakenly buy tickets to the wrong

Bay Area Home Report 1002 Juliet Avenue – Google Street View A spacious house located in the 1000 block of Juliet Avenue in San Jose has new owners. The 2,175-square-foot property, built in 1976, was sold on Oct. 3, 2024, for $1,735,000, or $798 per square foot. This two-story home provides a generous living space with its four bedrooms and three baths. On the exterior, the home features wood shake roofing / shingles. Inside, a fireplace adds character to the home. In addition, the home is equipped with a two-car garage, accommodating vehicles and storage needs efficiently. The lot of the property covers a substantial area of 0.4-acre. These nearby houses have also recently been sold: On Macbeth Drive, San Jose, in February 2024, a 5,496-square-foot home was sold for $4,950,000, a price per square foot of $901. The home has 5 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms. In January 2023, a 5,496-square-foot home on Macbeth Drive in San Jose sold for $3,800,000, a price per square foot of $691. The home has 5 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms. A 2,010-square-foot home on the 3700 block of Rosemar

OAKLAND — A high-profile real estate deal in Oakland again appears to be hitting a snag because of stalled deliberations between Alameda County supervisors. For the second time in a week, the county Board of Supervisors convened in private Tuesday to discuss whether to approve the African American Sports and Entertainment Group’s purchase of the Oakland Coliseum complex, a 112-acre parcel that includes the ballpark, arena and surrounding parking lots. Officials for AASEG had described the county’s sign-off as merely a formality in the multi-layered deal to acquire separate ownership shares — each worth $125 million — from the city of Oakland and the departing A’s baseball franchise. But the supervisors took no action after lengthy closed-door talks last week, and another session Tuesday afternoon wrapped without resolution. Because the county’s sale to the A’s is still pending, it can’t be transferred to AASEG without the supervisors’ approval. The uncertainty has already led to consequences: AASEG’s financial backers, the large Chicago-based investment firm Loop Capital, held off placing a required $10 million payment to the city into escrow last week while the county’s sign-off remains in

By Rebecca Boone | Associated Press BOISE, Idaho — Four women suing over Idaho’s strict abortion bans told a judge Tuesday how excitement over their pregnancies turned to grief and fear after they learned their fetuses were not likely to survive to birth — and how they had to leave the state to get abortions amid fears that pregnancy complications would put their own health in danger. “We felt like we were being made refugees, medical refugees,” said Jennifer Adkins, one of the plaintiffs in the case. The women, represented by the Center for Reproductive Rights, aren’t asking for the state’s abortion ban to be overturned. Instead, they want the judge to clarify and expand the exceptions to the strict ban so that people facing serious pregnancy complications can receive abortions before they are at death’s door. Currently, the state’s near-total ban makes performing an abortion a felony at any stage of pregnancy unless it is “necessary to prevent the death of the pregnant woman.” Adkins’ fetus had a severe medical condition that meant it would not survive the pregnancy. The illness also put Adkins

Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez starts her new job in New Mexico on Wednesday, but last Friday she got to say goodbye to many of her colleagues and friends at an event hosted by the Valley Health Foundation at Notre Dame High School in downtown San Jose. Chavez has been having a bit of a farewell tour lately as she’s been preparing for a new job as the county manager of Bernalillo County in New Mexico. She delivered the Don Edwards Lecture at San Jose State two weeks ago, received the Carmen Castellano Legacy Leader Award from the Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley at its brunch Sunday and was honored as Woman of the Decade by Assemblymember Ash Kalra. Along the way, she had her last meetings at the Board of Supervisors and Valley Transportation Authority. But Friday’s event, emceed by Valley Health Foundation CEO Michael Elliott, had the feel of a family reunion — the disco ball in the gym helped —  if your family was filled with a who’s who of Santa Clara County figures like San Jose State President Cynthia Teniente-Matson

A Bay Area consumer-advocacy group claims California’s Department of Insurance is violating state public-records law by refusing to hand over important data on consumer complaints about life insurance. The Pleasant Hill-based non-profit Life Insurance Consumer Advocacy Center called the department’s purported violation of the California Public Records Act “inexcusable.” The department did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Numbers and types of consumer complaints about life insurance and annuities, plus the reports and data the department used for the complaints section of its 2023 annual report, would help the non-profit promote the interests of life insurance customers, and provide key information to establish a baseline on consumer complaints. “Why is (the department) trying to hide this information?” said the group’s executive director Brian Brosnahan. Of particular interest to the group is assessing consumers’ responses after passage this year of California Senate Bill 263, which imposes requirements for agents selling life insurance, including that they not put their own interest ahead of a customer’s. The group alleges that the the bill, now law, lets agents “falsely tell” a consumer they do not have conflicts of interest

OAKLAND — A woman who worked for both the Pittsburg and Santa Clara police departments has been ordered to spend 90 days in federal prison for her involvement in a scheme to fraudulently obtain pay bumps. Amanda Theodosy-Nash apologized publicly before she was sentenced to three months in prison and three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay more than $11,000 in restitution. Theodosy-Nash was one of the half-dozen former Pittsburg and Antioch officers indicted for paying an officer’s then-fiancée to take college courses in their names so they could receive incentive pay they didn’t earn. “I took an oath and I broke that promise by cheating,” Theodosy-Nash said in court Tuesday. “One shortcut cost me over 12 years of hard work.” U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White handed down the sentence, and it has been largely in line with what he’s given her other co-defendants. The exceptions are Patrick Berhan, the ringleader of the scheme who received a two-and-a-half-year prison term, and Samantha Peterson, who was a community service officer and received no jail time. All six defendants paid Berhan’s fiancée to take online

Carlos Tapia, president of the San Mateo County Deputy Sheriff’s Association, turned himself in Tuesday afternoon on charges that include felony grand theft, according to a statement from the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Department. Tapia surrendered at around 1 p.m. According to witnesses who saw him being taken in, he was not in cuffs and accompanied by several people, possibly family members. “Carlos Tapia was arrested by the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office for felony grand theft and theft by false pretenses. He was booked into a San Mateo County Correctional Facility and has since been released on bond,” the sheriff’s department said in a statement. “As is standard protocol, Tapia has been placed on administrative leave while the criminal investigation continues. The case will be forwarded to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office.” Earlier this year, Tapia was one of many rank-and-file officers who spoke out against the sheriff’s department, accusing leadership of fostering a work environment marked by “unease and retaliation” and refusing to address staffing shortages and overtime demands. “We were notified of Tapia’s arrest by the sheriff, but we have

The jockeying over how to fill Omar Torres’ soon-to-be vacant San Jose District 3 City Council seat has begun as Mayor Matt Mahan said a proposal to appoint a replacement before the end of the year “reeks of politics.” The District 3 seat will become vacant on Nov. 27 — potentially shifting the balance of power between labor and business — after the embattled Torres tendered his resignation following his arrest last week on child molestation charges. The case is unrelated to another sexual misconduct probe that had residents and political leaders already clamoring for his ouster. City leaders have two options: an appointment or a special election. While District 2 Councilmember Sergio Jimenez has urged the city to have new leadership in place at the start of 2025, Mahan — who favors a special election to replace Torres — said the City Council should first understand and weigh its options before making a decision. “I firmly believe voters should choose their representatives and there is no better vetting process,” Mahan said. “I understand an appointment is faster and cheaper. It doesn’t make it better.”

By MIKE STOBBE NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. syphilis epidemic slowed dramatically last year, gonorrhea cases fell and chlamydia cases remained below prepandemic levels, according to federal data released Tuesday. The numbers represented some good news about sexually transmitted diseases, which experienced some alarming increases in past years due to declining condom use, inadequate sex education, and reduced testing and treatment when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Last year, cases of the most infectious stages of syphilis fell 10% from the year before — the first substantial decline in more than two decades. Gonorrhea cases dropped 7%, marking a second straight year of decline and bringing the number below what it was in 2019. “I’m encouraged, and it’s been a long time since I felt that way” about the nation’s epidemic of sexually transmitted infections, said the CDC’s Dr. Jonathan Mermin. “Something is working.” More than 2.4 million cases of syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia were diagnosed and reported last year — 1.6 million cases of chlamydia, 600,000 of gonorrhea, and more than 209,000 of syphilis. Syphilis is a particular concern. For centuries, it was a