Category: Bay Area

In a crackdown on potential illegal activities at massage parlors, the Morgan Hill City Council is tightening restrictions on these establishments in the wake of concerns that some of these businesses are serving as fronts for crimes like human trafficking and prostitution. “The idea is, simply put, to legitimize the existing good actors, and keep the bad ones out,” said Matthew Mahood, Economic Development Director for Morgan Hill. “That’s the bottom line.” Concerns began when the Morgan Hill Police Department received complaints from community members about assaults by massage therapists. The city also saw an uptick in new massage parlors, which jumped from 12 in 2009 to 21 in 2024. Several Morgan Hill massage parlors also had ratings on websites that catered to erotic massage. The police department has executed multiple undercover sting operations that found instances of human trafficking and prostitution. However, these operations often found victims of human trafficking, instead of yielding the ring leaders behind them. Businesses that were shut down would often pop up again under a new “straw owner” — someone who signs their name to the business to allow the real

If you’re in need of a Toast-O-Lator or a collection of 8-track tapes, the Preservation Action Council’s annual rummage sale is for you. Now, nobody actually needs a Toast-O-Lator — and I’d bet not many have even heard of the art deco kitchen appliance — but that is so beside the point. You don’t need an unopened can of Billy Beer or a bunch of glass vacuum tubes or a framed portrait of George Washington, either. But it might be cool to have one, right? Finding a quirky treasure is a vital part of the allure of the annual PAC-SJ fundraiser, which includes more practical items like dining sets, vintage clothes and hot-again LP records and takes place this Friday and Saturday at 20 Barack Obama Blvd. in downtown San Jose. A model airplane is hung up for The Preservation Action Council’s annual rummage sale at Creekside Socials in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, April 25, 2024. The plane is being sold for $100. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group) McDonalds memorabilia is collected on a chair for The Preservation Action Council’s annual rummage sale at

One of the South Bay’s largest high school districts has finalized a new system for electing members of the board of trustees, just in time for its fall elections. The Fremont Union High School District — which includes parts of Cupertino, Los Altos, San Jose, Santa Clara, Saratoga and Sunnyvale — approved a map Wednesday night that splits the district into five geographic zones. Voters in each zone will elect a candidate from that zone as part of the district’s move to implement a by-trustee area election system. The new election system will replace the district’s at-large election process — in which voters elected any five candidates no matter where they resided — and take effect during the November election, when board president Jeff Moe and trustee Rod Sinks term out. Initially, one trustee will be elected from a zone containing North Sunnyvale and the other from a zone encompassing West San Jose, Saratoga and parts of Santa Clara, all areas that have been historically underrepresented on the board. The remaining three districts, which include mostly Cupertino and Central Sunnyvale, will have to wait for

By Jireh Deng, Los Angeles Times After five years of pandemic- and snowpack-related closures, Yosemite National Park has reopened “glamping” campsites where visitors will have access to showers, gourmet meals and a view of the park’s wild back country. Camping hopefuls can now enter a lottery to experience three of the five available campsites at the High Sierra Camps from June to September. The two other sites, Vogelsang and Merced Lake — respectively the highest elevation campsite and the oldest and most remote campsite, established in 1916 — will remain closed throughout the 2024 season. Neither park officials nor Aramark, the park’s concessioner, could be reached to explain why these two campsites remain closed. According to their website, more than 13,000 visitors stay at the High Sierra Camps each year, and another thousand backpackers passing through each year stop for food at the campsites. “Glamping,” a more comfortable or glamorous version of camping, has grown in popularity in the past couple of decades. Visitors have the option of paying $1,403 for a guided tour of the park with a weeklong stay, or paying $172 to

Danielle Battaglia | (TNS) McClatchy Washington Bureau WASHINGTON — An Arizona grand jury has indicted Mark Meadows, former President Donald Trump’s chief of staff and a former congressman, over his involvement in efforts to overturn the 2020 election using a fake slate of electors from the state. He is among 18 people charged, though his name does not appear in the indictment. Trump is not charged. Prosecutors gave enough details in the indictment, dated Tuesday and posted on social media by a Politico reporter, to reveal Meadows as one of the defendants whose names are redacted. Trump is consistently referred to in the indictment as “Unindicted Coconspirator 1.” A description of one of the defendants with redacted names describes him as that co-conspirator’s chief of staff. Charges for the group include conspiracy, fraudulent schemes and artifices, fraudulent schemes and practices and forgery. Since Meadows’ name is redacted, the full scope of the allegations against him is not immediately clear. This is the second time Meadows, formerly a congressman from North Carolina, has been indicted for allegations that he tried to overturn the 2020 election. The other case is

By Brett Kelman, KFF Health News, Anna Werner, CBS News (TNS) A TMJ patient in Maine had six surgeries to replace part or all of the joints of her jaw. Another woman in California, desperate for relief, used a screwdriver to lengthen her jawbone daily, turning screws that protruded from her neck. A third in New York had bone from her rib and fat from her belly grafted into her jaw joint, and twice a prosthetic eyeball was surgically inserted into the joint as a placeholder in the months it took to make metal hinges to implant into her jaw. “I feel like Mr. Potato Head,” said Jenny Feldman, 50, of New York City, whose medical records show she’s had at least 24 TMJ-related surgeries since she was a teenager. “They’re moving ribs into my face, and eyeballs, and I feel like a toy … put together [by] somebody just tinkering around.” These are some of the horrors of temporomandibular joint disorders, known as TMJ or TMD, which afflict up to 33 million Americans, according to the National Institutes of Health. Dentists have attempted to

Phil Galewitz, Holly K. Hacker | (TNS) KFF Health News Carrie Lester looks forward to the phone call every Thursday from her doctors’ medical assistant, who asks how she’s doing and if she needs prescription refills. The assistant counsels her on dealing with anxiety and her other health issues. Lester credits the chats for keeping her out of the hospital and reducing the need for clinic visits to manage chronic conditions including depression, fibromyalgia, and hypertension. “Just knowing someone is going to check on me is comforting,” said Lester, 73, who lives with her dogs, Sophie and Dolly, in Independence, Kansas. At least two-thirds of Medicare enrollees have two or more chronic health conditions, federal data shows. That makes them eligible for a federal program that, since 2015, has rewarded doctors for doing more to manage their health outside office visits. But while early research found the service, called Chronic Care Management, reduced emergency room and in-patient hospital visits and lowered total health spending, uptake has been sluggish. Federal data from 2019 shows just 4% of potentially eligible enrollees participated in the program, a figure that appears to have held

Well-traveled East Bay quarterback Jaden Rashada has found another home — and this one’s a mansion by college football standards. The former Pittsburg High star has committed to the University of Georgia, On3’s Hayes Fawcett reported on Thursday morning. The decision returns the 6-foot-4, 190-pound Rashada to the SEC, the conference he was set to play in before he asked out of the National Letter of Intent he signed in December 2022 with Florida when a Name, Image and Likeness deal reportedly worth millions fell through. Rashada signed with his dad’s alma mater, Arizona State, in February 2023. In three games last fall with the Sun Devils — two early in the season, then in the finale — Rashada threw for 485 yards and four touchdowns with three interceptions. A knee injury sidelined him for much of the season. Because he didn’t play in enough games to qualify as a full season, Rashada has four years of eligibility remaining. He entered the transfer portal last week. On.3 reported that Rashada was the top available quarterback in the portal. Before Rashada signed with Florida, he had

Nine more couples have filed lawsuits against a Newport Beach fertility clinic, claiming their embryos were destroyed when an employee used hydrogen peroxide in an incubator instead of a sterile solution. The couples join two others who filed lawsuits against Ovation Fertility last week, with one couple claiming they lost two embryos due to the company’s negligence while the second lost one, the lawsuits said. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Orange County Superior Court on behalf of the nine couples, alleges Oviation Fertility of negligence, medical battery, concealment, intentional misrepresentation, negligent misrepresentation, negligent hiring, retention and supervision and loss of consortium. It seeks unspecified damages. The lawsuit claims an employee with the clinic destroyed the embryos by using hydrogen peroxide instead of distilled water in an incubator during the thawing process. The embryos were then implanted into an unspecified number of patients between Jan. 18 and Jan. 30, all of whom failed to become pregnant. “As a result, in the days and weeks after learning of their failed pregnancies, the couples blamed themselves and their bodies, some going as far as to endure risky and

PLEASANTON — Multiple people were killed Wednesday night in a solo-vehicle crash, police said Thursday. Authorities did not immediately say exactly how many people were killed in the crash or if there were any survivors. In a news release Thursday morning, police said the collision happened about 9 p.m. Wednesday on Foothill Road near Stoneridge Drive and resulted in “multiple fatalities.” The release said police “are conducting a thorough investigation and do not have additional information at this point” but that further details would be released as they become available. The release said the department’s “priority is protecting the victims’ identities as we notify family and complete our investigation.” Check back for updates on this developing story.

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By Louisa Kung Liu Chu, Chicago Tribune Dan Pashman not only invented a new pasta shape just a few years ago, now he’s coming for your pasta sauce. Best known as the creator and host of The Sporkful food podcast, Pashman may have sealed his culinary legacy as the inventor of cascatelli, the new pasta shape that went viral when it was released in 2021. He’s also the author of a new cookbook, “Anything’s Pastable: 81 Inventive Pasta Recipes for Saucy People” (William Morrow Cookbooks, $35), that came out in March. So what’s up with our pasta sauce? “When cascatelli first came out,” Pashman said, “People were sending me pictures of what they were making with this from all over the country, all over the world.” It was a nice feeling, he said, as if he’d been invited into people’s homes for dinner, but 75 percent of the pictures he saw were sauced with tomato, meat sauce or macaroni and cheese style. “A few party animals made pesto, maybe a traditional cacio e pepe or carbonara.”

Got your weekend plans? We have some nifty ideas, from a big-screen tennis thriller to an amazing Gothic church tour to guilt-free waffles. As always, be sure to double check event and venue websites for any last-minute changes in health guidelines. Meanwhile, if you’d like to have this Weekender lineup delivered to your inbox every Thursday morning for free, just sign up at www.mercurynews.com/newsletters or www.eastbaytimes.com/newsletters. 1 PLAY: The secret Grace Cathedral The iconic San Francisco church is an architectural masterpiece and an architectural wonder. And this new, behind the scenes tour is the best way to see it. This waffle take on a classic features all the signature flavors of banana bread, but in crisp form. (Courtesy Laura McLively)  2 COOK & SCARF: Guilt-free delicious waffles These banana coffee waffles are sweet, nutty and delicious. Oh, and they’re vegan too. 3 WATCH: SFFILM Fest is back With it’s vibrant mix of spunky indie movies and a big new romance film starring Anne Hathaway, the San Francisco International Film Festival is back with its usual eclectic lineup. Here’s what you should see. 4 READ & COOK: 5

By Mark Chediak | Bloomberg SunPower Corp. will eliminate more than 25% of its workforce as the company copes with a prolonged slump in the rooftop solar business. SunPower will cut about 1,000 out of a total of about 3,800 employees, according to a spokesperson. The company plans to shutter its residential installation locations and close its direct sales unit as it pivots to a “low-fixed-cost model,” SunPower’s Principle Executive Officer Tom Werner wrote in a note to employees posted on the company’s website Wednesday. The company expects to incur restructuring charges of about $28 million, according to a filing. After rising as much as 6.6%, SunPower shares surrendered those gains and were trading down 2.3% at 12:23 p.m. in New York. The announcement comes a day after SunPower said it needs to restate almost two years of financial results, part of a string of difficult news for the solar-industry pioneer. The company replaced its top executive earlier this year and defaulted on a credit agreement in late 2023 after an earlier earnings revision that delayed results. SunPower had to raise $200 million to ease

Before they see Half Dome, Yosemite Falls, giant sequoias or other jaw-dropping attractions, the first stop for millions of visitors as they enter Yosemite National Park is Bridalveil Fall. Yet for generations, the amenities at the base of the thundering, 620-foot waterfall on the western edge of Yosemite Valley have been a raging disappointment: Foul-smelling pit toilets dating back to the 1960s, crumbling asphalt pathways, a crammed dirt parking lot and narrow, slippery trails. But now all of that is a bygone memory. Crews have finished a $19.3 million renovation, constructing a larger parking lot, modern flush toilets, interpretive signs, viewing platforms, wooden boardwalks, and wider hiking trails with more accessible features designed in the classic granite and timber national park style of the 1930s. Visitor Lars Weber from Germany looks at Bridalveil Fall from one of the renovated trails at Yosemite National Park, Calif., on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. The park recently completed a $19.3 million dollar project that renovated trails, restrooms, viewing platforms, and interpretive signs. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)  The project is one of two major upgrades that visitors will discover

REDWOOD CITY – The wedding is back on. On Wednesday, the Redwood City Police Department announced the recovery of a wedding dress that was stolen on April 11. A suspect was also collared in the case. “The dress was located by a concerned citizen and has been returned to its rightful owner,” police said in a news release. The suspect, identified as a 65-year-old Redwood City man, was arrested and booked into San Mateo County jail on a charge of grand theft, according to police. Last week, police asked the public to help identify a man who was caught on camera taking packages from the front porch of a home in the 800 block of Adams Street. One of the packages contained the dress, which was valued at $2,000, according to police. “We received multiple tips from residents which led us to identify and arrest the suspect,” police said in the news release. “We appreciate everyone’s help in solving this crime.”

TODAY’S WORD — THEREIN (THEREIN: thare-IN: In that circumstance or respect.) Average mark 29 words Time limit 35 minutes Can you find 33 or more words in THEREIN? The list will be published tomorrow. YESTERDAY’S WORD — CHALLENGE cage call cane cell change clan clang clean hale hall hang heal heel hell hence ache acne alee allege angel angle lace lance lane leach lean leech legal each eagle elan gale gall gene ghee glace glance glean glee glen 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.

I continue a week of columns on guessing well. Some “guessing” situations are nothing of the sort — which should make things much easier. In today’s deal, North doubled West’s one club for takeout, an action I would have avoided with no shape and a wasted jack of clubs. South leaped to four hearts. West led the K-A and a third club, and South ruffed and saw that he was safe for at least 10 tricks unless trumps broke 3-0 — and he cashed a high honor from the wrong hand first. He shrugged and led the king … and West discarded. East got his queen of trumps, and when West had the guarded queen of spades, South lost two more tricks. MISGUESS? Was declarer’s play an unfortunate misguess? South should start the trumps by leading to dummy’s ace. Suppose East shows out. South takes the king, cashes the K-A of diamonds and ruffs a diamond. He then exits with a trump, and West is end-played when he wins. He must lead a spade from his queen or yield a fatal ruff-sluff. DAILY QUESTION You

Dear Amy: My boyfriend and I are in our late teens and we recently learned that I am pregnant. We have a lot to deal with, but we are doing our best to handle this situation that neither of us really feels ready for. We both have great families and they are supportive. We saw my boyfriend’s sister last weekend, and she told me that she wants to go with us to our doctor appointment so that she can learn the gender of our child and then host a “gender reveal” party. (She is married and has a child.) I know that some parents do this, but I don’t think I want to do it. Should she come with us to the appointment? Should we let her do this? – Nervous Dear Nervous: No – and no. You and the baby’s father should go to these appointments. If you would like more support at an appointment, you could invite her or another family member, but this invitation should come from you – not the other way around. Establishing respectful boundaries can be a tough job.

903 Paradise Way – Google Street View A 1,900-square-foot house built in 1963 has changed hands. The property located in the 900 block of Paradise Way in Palo Alto was sold on April 3, 2024, for $4,320,000, or $2,274 per square foot. This single-story house offers a spacious layout with five bedrooms and three baths. In addition, the house provides an attached two-car garage, granting ample space for parking and storage purposes. The lot of the property is substantial, measuring 6,832 square feet, and boasts a pool for relaxation and recreation. Additional houses that have recently been purchased close by include: In July 2023, a 2,518-square-foot home on Los Robles Avenue in Palo Alto sold for $3,000,000, a price per square foot of $1,191. The home has 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. A 1,487-square-foot home on the 800 block of La Para Avenue in Palo Alto sold in September 2022, for $2,430,000, a price per square foot of $1,634. The home has 2 bedrooms 1 bathroom. On La Para Avenue, Palo Alto, in October 2022, a 3,411-square-foot home was sold for $5,700,000, a price per

3093 Fawn Drive – Google Street View A 1,701-square-foot house built in 1956 has changed hands. The property located in the 3000 block of Fawn Drive in San Jose was sold on April 9, 2024. The $1,930,000 purchase price works out to $1,135 per square foot. This single-story house boasts a generous living space with four bedrooms and two bathrooms. In addition, the house is equipped with a two-car garage, accommodating vehicles and storage needs efficiently. The lot size of the property measures an impressive 8,550 square feet. Additional houses that have recently been sold close by include: In October 2023, a 1,260-square-foot home on Geneva Street in San Jose sold for $1,691,000, a price per square foot of $1,342. The home has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. On Todd Way, San Jose, in October 2022, a 1,937-square-foot home was sold for $1,850,000, a price per square foot of $955. The home has 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. A 2,382-square-foot home on the 2900 block of Rustic Drive in San Jose sold in April 2023, for $2,210,000, a price per square foot of $928. The