Category: Bay Area

Over the past three years, San Jose has failed to consistently track the more than $300 million spent to fight homelessness and cannot adequately ensure that the money is helping to alleviate the crisis, according to a much-anticipated state audit. The financial audit, released this week by the California State Auditor, also found that San Jose lacks clear goals for its homelessness programs and has no cohesive plan for building the affordable housing needed for its estimated 6,340 homeless residents. “The biggest conclusion that the auditors came back with is that there’s just inadequate transparency, data and information available,” said State Sen. Dave Cortese, a Democrat representing San Jose, who requested the audit in 2022 after touring a large city encampment. A pile of trash is seen at the homeless encampment near Columbus Park in San Jose, Calif., on Friday, April 12, 2024. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)  The 115-page report, which comes as public frustration continues to mount over city officials’ struggle to manage the crisis, also examined San Diego’s homelessness efforts and highlighted similar findings. It was accompanied by a broader statewide audit

The Oakland A’s are baseball’s biggest losers. But their new temporary home — West Sacramento — is one of California’s greatest winners. No California city has had a better 21 st century than West Sacramento. The municipality of 54,000 people has grown in population and prosperity with striking speed, even as California has stagnated on both fronts.  The A’s will spend three years, 2025 through 2027, in West Sacramento’s minor league ballpark as they wait for a new stadium to be built in their future home, Las Vegas. Perhaps their relocation will bring West Sac, as it’s often called, more of the notice it merits, both in California’s city halls and among state policymakers. The city’s success is attributable to smart local governance, and to three paradoxes best explained in light of California peculiarities.  The first paradox: West Sac was able to grow rich because it was so poor. Across the river, Sacramento became a city in 1849, a year before California won statehood. West Sacramento didn’t incorporate until 1987. For most of the 20th century, it was an afterthought — an industrial town of

Procrastination is like having a credit card: It’s convenient and painless — until you get your monthly statement. Still, some things are worth putting off, such as drawing trumps. Today’s North-South drove boldly to a slam. The busy East-West bidding helped out by telling South that his partner’s hand was short in hearts. When West led the king of hearts, South ruffed in dummy and took the K-A of trumps. When West showed out, South continued with the A-K-Q of diamonds, but East refused to ruff. LAST TRUMP South then ruffed a heart with dummy’s last trump and led the jack of diamonds. He got rid of his last heart as East ruffed but still had a club loser. South was too quick to lead trumps. He can take the king but should then lead his high diamonds. If East doesn’t ruff, South takes the ace of trumps next and leads dummy’s high diamonds, and the defense gets only East’s high trump. Nor does it help East to ruff the third diamond and lead a club or another heart. DAILY QUESTION You hold: S K

TODAY’S WORD — BEVERAGES (BEVERAGES: BEV-rih-jez: Liquids for drinking.) Average mark 40 words Time limit 40 minutes Can you find 48 or more words in BEVERAGES? The list will be published Monday. YESTERDAY’S WORD — UTENSIL unit unite unlit untie until utile tile tine tinsel tune enlist etui nest sent silent silt sine site slit slue snit stein stile stun suet suit suite sunlit inlet inset insult isle islet lenis lens lent lest lien lieu line lint list listen lite lues lune lust lute 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

Dear Amy: I attended a professional conference recently. The attendees from my company were the president, the executive director, a co-worker and myself. The president and executive director invited me and my co-worker out for dinner. During these large conventions, it is rare to be able to sit down for more than 20 minutes and have a balanced meal. This made the dinner event really nice for us, and I appreciated it. Prior to ordering, the conversation turned to, “What will you have?” When I stated that I wanted the chicken soup, I was scolded by my co-worker, who exclaimed: “These people are vegetarian!” (gesturing to the president and executive director). This was not stated discreetly. Was it wrong of me to order the meal I wanted and that would sustain me for the five hours of events taking place after dinner? Do my dietary restrictions and concerns take a back seat when the boss is picking up the tab? – Need Protein to Function Dear Need Protein: Your co-worker took the opportunity to demonstrate an advanced level of personal knowledge of your bosses, in

DEAR HARRIETTE: I need some advice regarding a recent incident that occurred during a play date at the park with a close mom friend of mine. Three days ago, our 5-year-old children were playing together when, unfortunately, my friend’s child hit mine, leaving a noticeable red mark on my child’s face. He cried for 10 minutes straight. My friend didn’t seem to care and didn’t even reprimand her son. Understandably, I am quite upset by this turn of events. My friend seems to be attempting to downplay the severity of the situation, suggesting that it’s just a normal part of children’s interactions and that I shouldn’t make a big deal out of it. While I understand that children can sometimes be rough during play, I’m concerned about the safety and well-being of my child. I’m hesitant to arrange future play dates if there’s a risk of similar incidents occurring. How can I address this issue with my friend in a way that preserves our friendship while also ensuring the safety of my child? — Spoiled Play Date DEAR SPOILED PLAY DATE: You need to have

REDWOOD CITY — A pedestrian was seriously injured Friday night in Redwood City when they were run over by a SamTrans bus in Redwood City, authorities said. The incident happened just before 6:45 p.m. at the Redwood City Caltrain station, according to SamTrans spokesperson Tasha Bartholomew. Bartholomew said the pedestrian tripped while trying to catch a northbound El Camino Real bus. The rear wheels of the bus then ran over both of the pedestrian’s legs. The pedestrian was taken to Stanford Hospital for observation, according to Bartholomew. The Redwood City Caltrain station was closed in the wake of the incident and was not expected to reopen until the end of the day, Bartholomew said. Buses that service the station will make pickups and drop-offs on El Camino Real until it reopens. Check back for updates.

SAN FRANCISCO — Earlier this week, the Warriors shot an earth-shattering 63.4% from behind the arc to stun the Lakers. Now they know how it feels. Playing with a chance to climb up to the eighth seed in the West, the Warriors couldn’t slow the Pelicans’ aerial assault. New Orleans shot 20-for-38 (52.6%). CJ McCollum went 8-for-13 from deep, pouring in 28 points. Draymond Green — who recorded the NBA’s first double-double without a shot attempt — played stout individual defense on Zion Williamson, but the Pelicans star still finished with 26 points. “Give them credit: they made some really tough shots,” Steve Kerr said postgame. “I mean, Trey Murphy III made a couple of 30-footers with a hand in his face, high-arcing shots. This is the modern NBA. We made 26 3s in LA the other day. They made 20 tonight. If a team gets hot from 3, it’s really hard to win the game.” The Pelicans held off a fourth-quarter push from Steph Curry and Golden State. Curry scored 16 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter, but committed seven turnovers in

OAKLAND — Athletics fans supporting a boycott of their team’s scheduled move to Sacramento and eventually Las Vegas could be facing a dilemma. What if the A’s are actually good? Lawrence Butler supplied both runs with a mammoth home run and a run-scoring single in the 10th inning Friday night in a 2-1 win over the Washington Nationals at the Coliseum. It was the fifth win in six games for the A’s, who at 6-8 bear no resemblance at the moment to the team that began with a 1-6 homestand to open the season. Butler’s single to left against Ryan Finnegan (0-2) brought home Max Schueman, who was making his A’s debut as a pinch runner at second base. Attendance in the first game back after an announcement the A’s would move to Sacramento next season and after winning four of six games on the road was 5,777. That brings the Coliseum attendance to 50,845 in eight games, an average of 6,356. The A’s prevailed despite giving up the tying run in the ninth inning on a leadoff home run by Jesse Winker against Dany

No. 1 Granada 8, Amador Valley 2 Granada bounced back on Friday from its only loss this season, rolling past host Amador Valley behind three hits, two RBIs and five scoreless innings on the mound from Parker Warner and a home run and two RBIs from Riley Winchell. Amador Valley beat Granada 5-2 on Tuesday. In the rematch, Granada scored two in the fourth, four in the fifth and two in the seventh for an 8-0 lead. Amador Valley scored its only runs in the home half of the seventh as it fell to 9-9 overall and 4-4 in the East Bay Athletic League. Mikey Boyd added a hit and knocked in two for Granada, which improved to 17-1, 6-1. Kyle Barbera had two hits for Amador Valley. Granada’s catcher Carlos Hernandez (19) looks out at the field against Amador Valley in the sixth inning at Amador Valley High School in Pleasanton, Calif., on Saturday, April 12, 2024. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group) Granada’s Riley Winchell (17) hits a two-run home run against Amador Valley at Amador Valley High School in Pleasanton, Calif., on Saturday

MARTINEZ — Prosecutors have filed charges against a 22-year-old Oregon man in connection with a crash that left a 9-year-old girl dead and five others injured on April 7 in Concord. Jesus Ivan Dorantes Guzman is charged with felony hit-and-run resulting in death or serious injury and child abuse for putting a minor in a situation that caused her death, the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release Friday. Prosecutors said the child abuse charge comes with a special allegation of great bodily injury. Dorantes Guzman was driving a Mazda CX-9 northbound on Interstate 680 around 5:15 a.m. on April 7 when he crashed at the Highway 242 split, according to the California Highway Patrol. The Mazda overturned in a dirt area. Of the five people who were injured, three were minors. The girl who died was identified as Danna Hernandez Tapia, 9, of Tualatin, Ore. Prosecutors said Dorantes Guzman ran from the scene and was found days later in the California city of Williams. Dorantes Guzman’s arraignment will take place at 1:30 p.m. Monday, according to the district attorney’s office.

Stanford basketball will likely enter the post-Tara VanDerveer era without star Kiki Iriafen, who reportedly has entered the transfer portal just days after the legendary Cardinal coach announced her retirement. According to according to On3’s Pete Nakos, Iriafen entered the portal with a no-contact tag, meaning the Pac-12’s most improved player and Honorable Mention All-American likely has already decided where she’s transferring. Kate Paye, VanDerveer’s successor after serving as a Cardinal assistant since 2007, already inherited a program that already was losing two starters — two-time All-American Cameron Brink to the WNBA and Hannah Jump, who is out of eligibility. Iriafen also is set to graduate this spring, in her third year, and is eligible to transfer by pursuing a master’s degree at another school. Iriafen, who was the winner of the 2024 Katrina McClain Award, recognizing the nation’s best power forward, will be a Player of the Year candidate wherever she lands. The 6-foot-3 forward was the Cardinal’s leading scorer this season — one of two players in the country to average 19 points and 11  rebounds per game — and had a breakout

SAN JOSE — Supporters of former Branham High School athletic director Landon Jacobs have filed a formal complaint to the district office, shedding more light about why the longtime administrator was dismissed while calling for his reinstatement. In the complaint, which was submitted this week to the Campbell Union High School District by the “Branham community” and shared by a source in an email to the Bay Area News Group, Jacobs is accused of misappropriation of Associated Student Body funds and not following financial policies after a district audit for the 2022-23 school year. According to the 12-page complaint, the infractions were not repeated. A corrective action plan that included developing an ASB handbook and training for staff has not been fully implemented as of March 29, the complaint claims. In an email to the Bay Area News Group on Friday, CUHSD Board of Trustees president Jason Baker wrote, “The District has received the complaint and it is being handled according to district policies and procedures. We don’t comment on personnel matters or matters under investigation.” Campbell Union High School District board of trustees President

SAN JOSE — Two men have been arrested on suspicion of manufacturing illegal guns in San Jose, police said Friday. The arrests followed an investigation by the San Jose Police Department’s Special Operations Metro Unit, Officer Tanya Hernandez said in a news release. The probe centered on a residence in the area of River Ash Court and Stone Canyon Drive. Officers served a search warrant at the home on Wednesday. Hernandez said they seized a pair of assault rifles, three assault rifle lower receivers, assault rifle and gun manufacturing parts, a privately manufactured firearm and an unregistered gun. Numerous extended magazines, along with tools and documents consistent with firearms manufacturing, were also found at the residence, according to Hernandez. The suspects — identified as a 29-year-old man and a 38-year-old man, both of San Jose — were arrested at the residence. Officers discovered one of the suspects had a storage locker on Montecito Vista Drive. Hernandez said a search of the storage locker yielded half a dozen assault rifle lower receivers, numerous assault rifle extended magazines, thousands of rounds of ammunition and various assault rifle

Google’s Friday announcement that it will test the removal of links to news sites for some California users is a shameful attempt to fend off legislation that would force the search giant to pay for the news content that fuels its business. Assembly Bill 886, also known as the California Journalism Preservation Act, would require Google to pay news publishers for using news content on its platform. The bill passed the Assembly last year and is currently being considered by the state Senate Judiciary Committee. In a Friday morning blog post, Google calls the CJPA a “link tax” that would require Google to pay for “simply connecting Californians to news article.” Google also claims that over the past two decades it has “provided substantial support to help news publishers navigate the changing digital landscape and innovate.” No one should be fooled by this. Google made more than $300 billion last year, most of it from advertising it sells using content it did not create or pay for. In its early days, Google sent lots of traffic for news publishers, but in recent years not so much

SAN JOSE — A well-known leader of a nonprofit that serves low-income residents in San Jose has been arrested and charged with sexually abusing a child under his supervision from when he was a youth pastor in the 2010s, according to authorities and court records. Brett Bymaster, executive director of the Healing Grove Health Center, was criminally charged Tuesday and booked Thursday into the Elmwood men’s jail. He was arraigned Friday in a San Jose courtroom to answer to six felony counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a child between 2013 and 2019; the first alleged crime occurred when the child was 8 years old and the last when the child was 14 years old. At a Friday arraignment, Judge Hector Ramon revoked Bymaster’s bail eligibility — it was initially set at $400,000 — and scheduled an April 19 court date to hear bail arguments. He will remain in jail at least until then. Ramon also issued a protective order for two people — one presumably being the reported victim and the other who was unnamed in court — that bars Bymaster from contacting them.

Todd Martens | (TNS) Los Angeles Times The theme park industry is expansive. The catch-all term encompasses your favorite rides, yes, but also an assortment of industries, ranging from architecture to animation to cinema to engineering to writing to game design. And that’s just a surface-level scan. Walt Disney Imagineering, the company’s secretive arm devoted to theme park experiences, likes to say that there are more than 100 job classifications among its ranks. The theme park industry is also stealthy, a world of heavily trained spokespeople and nondisclosure agreements. But once a year the Themed Entertainment Association throws an event in Southern California designed to honor the best of the past year. Honorees can range from the high-profile — the dance-like movements of Walt Disney World coaster Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind — to important but lesser-known museum or new media offerings, such as Colored: The Unknown Life of Claudette Colvin, a traveling experience that arms attendees with augmented reality goggles and a small backpack, and sets them free to discover a forgotten story from the civil rights movement. Accompanying the awards show are two days of panels and

In the delightful, interrogating production of “Tiger Style” at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, there is an ebullient scene where Chinese siblings Albert and Jennifer must play a sonata to perfection, a massive litmus test in homage to their demanding parents. Within those celestial heights they reach as each crafted note expresses warm, dulcet tones, we feel their souls replete with anxiety flutter towards extinction. In this riotous, satirical comedy, where comic, physical exertion rules the day, why does this scene stand alone in its effective pulchritude? Playwright Mike Lew’s narrative, one that seamlessly glides between humor and pathos, holds firm in its commitment to cracking an audience up while making them ponder the play’s many insightful morsels. Director Jeffrey Lo’s skillful and nimble direction places the audience on a massive, bare stage that utilizes sly touches from scenic designer Arnel Sancianco. The story unfolds on the deck’s deep shade of red, with the proscenium doubling as the icon of Asian American grocery products, the omnipresent and awesome 99 Ranch Market. Albert (Will Dao) and Jennifer (Jenny Nguyen Nelson) are low-key failures, bopping around life trying to

In San Jose’s latest move to regulate its homeless population, city leaders this week passed two new laws that will ban encampments near school zones and create new limits on where RVs and lived-in vehicles can park. Officials said the new laws are needed to make students and families feel safer on city streets, which are also home to the city’s 4,411 unsheltered residents. “We have to do a better job of managing the safety on our roads, particularly for our children,” Mayor Matt Mahan said at a recent City Council meeting. He said he received letters from a dozen students describing the difficulties they had getting to school because of nearby encampments. The first law will give the council the power to create “no overnight parking” zones, in which police and other city workers have the power to tow large vehicles. The second bans encampments within 150 feet of K-12 schools around the city. The laws will be enforced starting in May. Homeless advocates are concerned such laws could pave the way for broader restrictions on where people living on the streets can go. In

The Hotline mailbag publishes weekly. Send questions to pac12hotline@bayareanewsgroup.com and include ‘mailbag’ in the subject line. Or hit me on Twitter/X: @WilnerHotline. Please note: Some questions have been edited for clarity and brevity. Which of the former Pac-12 schools entering the Big Ten would you expect to have the most football wins over the next five or 10 years? — @CreedThoughts24 It’s a fascinating topic that is more easily addressed if we work in reverse order. Of the four, UCLA has the most challenging road and, in our view, will win the fewest games — whether the timeframe is five years, 10 years or a quarter century. There are a plethora of reasons, including the primacy of basketball within the athletic culture. But everything starts with tangible evidence: The Bruins have been less successful than USC, Oregon and Washington in the Pac-12 over the past three decades, and life will get exponentially more difficult in the Big Ten. Football success will require a greater institutional commitment and greater allocation of resources. Are the Bruins willing to take the necessary steps? (It depends, to an extent, on the preferences

Local elected officials and advocacy groups are buoyed by signals that President Joe Biden will sign a declaration expanding the 346,177-acre San Gabriel Mountains National Monument by one-third within the next few weeks. Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif. and Rep. Judy Chu, D-Pasadena, who have bills stalled in Congress that expand the monument by adding 109,167 acres of federal forest land, while designating 30,000 acres of protected wilderness and adding 45.5 miles to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, reacted positively to a Washington Post report published on Thursday, April 11. But neither legislator could confirm the story, which was sourced through two anonymous sources briefed on the topic. Representatives from Chu’s Office and Padilla’s office said Thursday they had not received any word from the White House. Padilla’s office has heard rumors from conservation groups, and some of those groups told the office that Biden himself may make it official during a future visit to California. The White House did not answer an inquiry by press time. “The Biden Administration knows the value of protecting our public lands to combat climate change and ensure