Category: Bay Area

Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor. Trump is right to seek lasting peace in Ukraine President Trump correctly asserts that the Ukraine war cannot be permitted to drag on indefinitely in the delusional hope of inflicting total defeat on Russia. To continue on that path risks igniting nuclear war, an unjustifiable gamble. Given Ukraine’s difficult military situation, continuing this war would necessitate ever more dangerous escalations. For example, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has proposed sending European troops into Ukraine under a U.S.-enforced “no-fly zone,” which would likely provoke a direct military clash with Russian troops. Even worse, French President Macron just suggested extending a French “nuclear umbrella” over his European allies, presumably including Ukraine, that could lead to a direct nuclear confrontation with Russia. Escalating threats such as these only make initiating peace talks more difficult. Negotiating an agreement that moves us toward a lasting peace should be our primary goal. In order to be successful, all parties, including the Ukrainians, must participate. Michael Dunlap Oakland After 1 month, is this what we voted for? America

In Palo Alto, homebuyers pay a premium to live among other affluent, highly successful people. Usually that’s implied. One real estate listing is making it obvious. A home listed for sale at $4.8 million on Friday in Palo Alto boasts that since its 2017 rebuild, the children of every subsequent owner have gone on to Harvard or Stanford, “paving the way for even greater achievements.” “Now, it is ready to pass on its extraordinary energy to the next family,” the listing reads. The five-bedroom, four-bathroom home appears to have been staged to highlight the children’s academic success — the framed diplomas and acceptance letters are poised above the mantel, featuring prominently in some of the photos. The home was listed by the Wen Guo Real Estate Group in Palo Alto. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. On Reddit, where the home went viral, people called the listing “peak Palo Alto,” referencing the town’s reputation for high-achieving parents putting pressure on their children to do the same. Palo Alto is one of the most highly educated cities in California, with 82.4%

Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor. Trump standing foreign policy on its head Re: “Trump rootin’ for Putin in war with Ukraine” (Page A7, March 4). My sons and I returned today from a much-anticipated father-sons trip to Canada to see our beloved San Jose Sharks play in Ottawa and Toronto. At both of the venues, we witnessed 18,000-plus Canadians booing loudly during the playing of our national anthem and singing aloud in deafening fashion during the Canadian anthem, particularly the stanza that includes, “God keep our land glorious and free!” The USA is now viewed with scorn and incredulity by our closest historical ally. This well-deserved enmity and undisguised rage is the result of the actions of our resident despotic bully, Donald Trump, and his deplorable sycophants. As a 72-year-old American, I take no solace in knowing that our closest allies are Russia and North Korea, dictatorships led by men who murder their political rivals and whom our vacuous president wishes to emulate. Where is the shame? Barry Goldman-Hall San Jose Community failed combatants in

By Rob Gillies | Associated Press TORONTO (AP) — Canada looks set to pick a measured former central banker to deal with the threats President Donald Trump’s tariffs pose against a pillar of Western free trade. Mark Carney, 59, could become the next prime minister when the governing Liberal Party of Canada announces a replacement for Justin Trudeau in a leadership vote Sunday. The opposition Conservatives hoped to make the election about Trudeau, whose popularity declined as food and housing prices rose and immigration surged. Trudeau announced his resignation in January but remains prime minister until a successor is chosen. Election laws mandate a vote before October but one is expected sooner. Trump’s trade war and his talk of making Canada the 51st state have infuriated Canadians, who are booing the American anthem at NHL and NBA games. Some are cancelling trips south and many are avoiding buying American goods when they can. The surge in Canadian nationalism has bolstered the Liberal Party’s chances in Parliamentary elections that are expected within days or weeks, and Liberal showings have been improving steadily in opinion polls. After

75 Glen Alpine Road – Google Street View A 9,827-square-foot house built in 1926 has changed hands. The spacious historic property located in the first block of Glen Alpine Road in Piedmont was sold on Jan. 8, 2025. The $7,000,000 purchase price works out to $712 per square foot. This is a three-story house. In addition, the home provides carport (unspecified). The property occupies a sizable 0.9-acre lot. Additional houses have recently changed hands nearby: A 3,856-square-foot home on the 5500 block of La Salle Avenue in Oakland sold in November 2024, for $1,600,000, a price per square foot of $415. The home has 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. In December 2024, a 3,682-square-foot home on La Salle Avenue in Oakland sold for $2,000,000, a price per square foot of $543. The home has 4 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms. On Sotelo Avenue, Piedmont, in October 2024, a 3,734-square-foot home was sold for $3,400,000, a price per square foot of $911. The home has 6 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms. This article was generated by the Bay Area Home Report Bot, software that analyzes home sales or

Bay FC is preparing to debut for its second season in the National Women’s Soccer League under investigation for having a “toxic” work environment under coach Albertin Montoya. NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman confirmed the investigation Friday during a press conference in advance of a season-opening Challenge Cup match. “A review is underway by an independent third party, and we’re very confident that the system we have in place will ensure that we surface the issues that need to be addressed, and that we’ll continue to work with all of our clubs, our technical staff and our players to make sure that we’re achieving our goal of creating a safe, healthy working environment,” Berman said. Bay FC’s first season included some growing pains as it lost seven of its first nine matches and then won three of five, only to have general manager Lucy Rushton resign abruptly on June 24. Matt Potter took the job on an interim basis and remains the general manager. According to a San Francisco Chronicle report, Montoya, hired in 2024 as Bay FC’s first head coach, was named in two formal

By Seth Borenstein | Associated Press WASHINGTON — Researchers, doctors, their patients and supporters ventured out of labs, hospitals and offices Friday to stand up to what they call a blitz on life-saving science by the Trump administration. In the nation’s capital, a couple thousand gathered at the Stand Up for Science rally. Organizers said similar rallies were planned in more than 30 U.S. cities. Politicians, scientists, musicians, doctors and their patients were expected to make the case that firings, budget and grant cuts in health, climate, science and other research government agencies in the Trump administration’s first 47 days in office are endangering not just the future but the present. “Science is under attack in the United States,” said rally co-organizer Colette Delawalla, a doctoral student in clinical psychology. “We’re not just going to stand here and take it.” “American scientific progress and forward movement is a public good and public good is coming to a screeching halt right now,” Delawalla said. Health and science advances are happening faster than ever, said former National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins, who helped map the human genome. The funding cuts put at

By Jon Wilner | jwilner@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group PUBLISHED: March 7, 2025 at 12:56 PM PST The settlement has sweeping implications for the future of college sports once media deal expire in the 2030s. Subscribe to continue reading this article. Already subscribed? To login in, click here.

In the mid-1970s Keith Jarrett wasn’t just a popular jazz pianist. He was a genuine phenomenon so astoundingly productive that he put his era-defining “American Quartet” with saxophonist Dewey Redman, bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Paul Motian on hiatus to pursue an entirely different group sound and repertoire. He launched his “European Quartet” with 1974’s “Belonging,” an album that introduced at least three tunes that became standards and another that served as the melodic blueprint for the title track of Steely Dan’s 1980 album “Gaucho” (which led to a lawsuit settled with a co-composer credit for Jarrett). Featuring Norwegians Jan Garbarek (tenor sax) and Jon Christensen (drums), and Swedish bassist Palle Danielsson, the gospel-tinged “Belonging” was catnip for artists growing up in the 1970s like Branford Marsalis, who included a rollicking 12-minute version of Jarrett’s “The Windup” as the closing track on his 2019 quartet album “The Secret Between the Shadow and the Soul.” Once the tune was in the band’s repertoire, the quartet’s bassist Eric Revis said, “We should record the whole (expletive) record,” Marsalis recalled. “But then the pandemic said, ‘No!’” And by

Two terrific trios have upcoming dates scheduled in the Bay Area. Jazz fans definitely should known about the one featuring three of the greatest artists working in the genre today — pianist Brad Mehldau, bassist Christian McBride and drummer Marcus Gilmore. Mehldau, who the The New York Times describes as “the most influential jazz pianist of the last 20 years,” is a simply spellbinding pianist who is particularly well known for his work in the trio format. McBride is arguably the most acclaimed and accomplished bassist of his generation, an adventurous musical spirit who has won eight Grammy Awards and captivated listeners with various projects. Gilmore is a powerhouse drummer who has worked with Chick Corea, Nicholas Payton and others. That group performs April 2 at Stanford University’s Bing Concert Hall (live.stanford.edu); April 3-6 at SFJAZZ Center in San Francisco (sfjazz.org); April 7 at Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz (kuumbwajazz.org). EVA HAMBACH/GETTY IMAGES ARCHIVESBassist Christian McBride EVA HAMBACH/GETTY IMAGES ARCHIVES We’d also be interested in checking out the super trio featuring banjo master Béla Fleck, great drummer Antonio Sánchez and talented harpist Edmar Castañeda at

The long-stalled Costco store in Brentwood opened on Friday, the chain’s largest in Contra Costa County. After a 7:30 a.m. ribbon-cutting, the 155,000-square-foot warehouse store opened its doors to shoppers. Some had been waiting since the night before, with more than one telling a TV reporter they were there to snap up bottles of high-end bourbon. The store is at Heidorn Ranch Road and Lone Tree Plaza Drive, adjacent to Highway 4, with neighbors including Home Depot and Trader Joe’s. It has a 32-pump gas station; on Friday, the company’s website listed a price of $4.39 a gallon. Brentwood’s Planning Commission approved the project in 2023, but it was delayed by a lawsuit by Albert D. Seeno III’s West Coast Builders that challenged it on environmental grounds. The suit was withdrawn in June 2024, allowing construction to go forward. The store is one of six U.S. openings planned by Costco in a little more than a week. The next one, on Saturday, March 8, is in Highland (San Bernardino County). The Brentwood store’s hours will be 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. weekdays, 9:30 a.m. to 6

By Forrest Brown | CNN Boy did Americans and other visitors make good use of US National Park Service sites in 2024 — enough to set a record. The NPS has reached a new overall milestone, with almost 331.9 million recreation visits logged at all of its 433 units, which include famous national parks such as Yellowstone but also places such as parkways, battlefields, national seashores, memorials and historic sites. RELATED: Fired employees fear beloved Yosemite National Park will lose its luster That number beats out the previous record, which was set in 2016 with roughly 330.9 recreation visits. It’s also an increase of 6.36 million recreation visits, or 2%, from 2023, the NPS reported. Another notable shift in the visitation numbers: Perennial No. 1 favorite Blue Ridge Parkway took a back seat to a popular area in Northern California in 2024. (However, it should be noted that the curvy, mountainous parkway had to close and reopen in stretches after the remnants of Hurricane Helene smashed the area in late September.) Along with the record visits, the system saw four new sites open in 2024. Top

USC has its eyes on the top linebacker in the country, Xavier Griffin, who committed to the Trojans months ago. Subscribe to continue reading this article. Already subscribed? To login in, click here. Originally Published: March 7, 2025 at 10:10 AM PST

DEAR HARRIETTE: Growing up, I always felt like my parents favored my older sister. They gave her more attention, more praise and more encouragement because they believed she was destined for great success. No matter how hard I worked or what I accomplished, I never felt like I measured up to their expectations of her. Fast forward to today, both my sister and I have done well in life, but I’ve actually become more successful, particularly through investing, real estate and running my own business. Now, suddenly, my parents are treating me completely differently. They’ve become much warmer, more attentive and more interested in my life, but not for the reasons I would have hoped. Instead of being proud of me for what I’ve built, it feels like their change in attitude is mainly because they keep asking me for money. It’s frustrating and hurtful because I can’t tell if their affection is genuine or if it’s just transactional. I’m struggling with how to handle this situation. Do I set firm boundaries and risk straining our relationship further, or do I help them out despite

DEAR MISS MANNERS: On a cruise to Alaska, my husband, my 24-year-old daughter and I decided to splurge for a helicopter ride to see a glacier. We rode to the glacier with a couple in their 70s and their young grandchild. We were given very strict safety instructions on how to walk out to the helicopter, how to enter, and who sits where to balance the load. The grandma decided to stop and pull out her phone to take a photo just before entering the chopper. The instructor tried to get her to board, but it was very loud, so my daughter, who was next in line to enter, tapped her shoulder to alert her. She got very upset and said that my daughter hit her on purpose. We all apologized profusely, but she would not let it go, and in fact proceeded to tell all the other people that my daughter shoved her. In fact, my daughter did no such thing. How does one deal with this situation? We now had to spend time on a glacier with a group of chilly people who

DEAR ABBY: My husband and I graduated together from the same high school. This year was our class’s 50th reunion. We have attended every reunion, and at each one of them received the same reactions from classmates. They always talk to my husband, shake his hand or hug him, but look at my name tag and photo and ignore me like they did in high school. I’ll be the first to admit I’m nothing to look at. The only people who spoke to me were the teachers and my husband. I tried hard to be social, but my classmates just glared at me and walked away. One even said to a group of students, “The dog tried to talk to me.” My husband and I recently celebrated our 49th wedding anniversary, and I asked him why he dated and married me when I was invisible to his co-workers and classmates. He replied: “It’s all in your head!” He has seen the reactions from co-workers and classmates, yet it has never bothered him that I’ve never been acknowledged. It hurts so bad I finally told him

Today is Thursday, March 6, the 65th day of 2025. There are 300 days left in the year. Today in history: On March 6, 1857, the U.S. Supreme Court, in the Dred Scott v. Sandford decision, ruled 7-2 that Scott, an enslaved person, was not an American citizen and therefore could not sue for his freedom in Federal court; it also ruled that slavery could not be banned from any Federal territory. The decision deepened the national divide over slavery in the years leading up to the Civil War. Also on this date: In 1820, President James Monroe signed the Missouri Compromise, which allowed Missouri to join the Union as a slave state and Maine to join as a free state, while banning slavery in the northern portion of the Louisiana Territory. In 1836, the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas, fell as Mexican forces led by General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna stormed the fortress after a 13-day siege; the battle claimed the lives of all the Texian defenders, including William Travis, James Bowie and Davy Crockett. In 1869, chemist Dmitri Mendeleev introduced his concept

ALBANY — It was a classic Salesian win.  For four quarters, the Pride blitzed and rattled visiting Modesto Christian as Salesian Bill Mellis sent body after body to wear down a potent Crusader offense.  Salesian, carried by its defense, defeated Modesto Christian 66-53 at Albany High on Wednesday in the first round of the CIF NorCal Open Division playoffs. The Richmond school will travel to top-seeded Archbishop Riordan on Saturday in a rematch of the 2024 NorCal Open Division final. “We thought today we could run a bunch of guys out there and it worked out pretty good,” Mellis said. “We always want to put pressure on their best players and keep shuffling guys in.”  The Pride leaned on their depth as nine different players contributed meaningful minutes through the first three quarters.   Carlton Perrilliat led Salesian in scoring with 19 points. Sophomore Ronnie Selleaze gave Salesian a huge energy boost in the second half, totaling 11 points and dishing out four assists. Guard Elias Obenyah had one of his best defensive games of the season as he recorded four steals and got it done

ANTIOCH — Deeply wounded by a fraught past, Antioch residents are ready to move on as the city seeks a new police chief who can rebuild trust, ensure accountability, and embrace community policing. Maria Cassandra Quinto-Collins, the mother of Angelo Quinto, who died days after an encounter with Antioch police in 2020, said her family has been impacted by the actions of law enforcement officers. During a recent recruitment community meeting, she emphasized that the next police chief should have integrity and be empathetic, and not just toward his or her own officers, but also to the public. “I am saying this as my family was impacted and the previous police chief, when the story about my son Angelo came, the first thing he said was we wanted to make money out of my son’s death, and that hurts,” said an emotional Quinto-Collins without specifying the name of the chief. “I don’t think I will ever forget what happened to my son, and I don’t want any family to go through what we went through … you know, it’s been almost five years, but (the

The Best of the West offers fans a candid assessment of the top teams in the western third of the country — a collection that includes the Mountain West and the former Pac-12 schools now scattered across the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten and West Coast Conference. The rankings will be published on the Hotline weekly throughout the regular season. 1. USC (26-2/17-1 Big Ten) Last week: 1 Results: beat UCLA 80-67 NET ranking: 6 Up next: Big Ten tournament (Friday) Comment: The Hotline promoted USC to No. 1 after the Trojans beat UCLA on Feb. 13, and they followed through with a second rivalry win to overtake the Bruins in AP Top 25. (USC is No. 2, its highest ranking since Jan. ’86). JuJu Watkins scored 23 of her 30 points in the first half as the Trojans took a 14-point lead and was named Big Ten Player of the Week for the seventh time. 2. UCLA (27-2/16-2 Big Ten) Last week: 2 Results: won at Wisconsin 91-61, lost to USC 80-67 NET ranking: 5 Up next: Big Ten tournament (Friday) Comment: The fourth-ranked

It’ll be no easy task to fill the shoes of Kevin Hauge, who is retiring as CMT San Jose’s artistic director this season after 30 years. But the award-winning youth theater company believes they’ve got the right person in Kikau Alvaro, a San Jose native who’ll be returning to CMT and the Bay Area after several years on the East Coast. CMT landed on Alvaro after a nationwide search that took nearly a year. Kikau Alvaro has been named the new artistic director of CMT San Jose. He succeeds Kevin Hauge, who is retiring in summer 2025 after 30 years with the youth theater company. (Courtesy CMT San Jose)  “Ultimately, Kikau won our hearts because of his well-rounded experience as a multifaceted artist and educator, connections to the broader theater community in the Bay Area and beyond, his vision for endless possibilities of what CMT can become, and his inherent passion for this organization,” CMT San Jose Managing Director Dana Zell said. Alvaro served as the associate artistic director of the Virginia Repertory Theatre, and most recently was an associate professor of musical theater at