Category: Bay Area

SANTA CLARA — Dre Greenlaw disproved one of the oldest cliches in professional sports. There are no moral victories. What Greenlaw did last week in the 49ers’ 12-6 loss to the Los Angeles Rams should have been national news, coming back 305 days after rupturing an Achilles tendon while running onto the field at Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas. Instead, Greenlaw’s electric performance probably didn’t get the national buzz it deserved, with the 49ers essentially falling out of the playoff race with a loss and juxtaposed with fellow linebacker De’Vondre Campbell quitting the team and being ordered off the field. Asked Wednesday if making it back to the field and inspiring his teammates constituted a moral victory, Greenlaw conceded it did. “Every time, man,” Greenlaw said. “I love giving inspiration by going out to play. I wish I could have did it more throughout the season. Obviously I was hurt, couldn’t do that. but being able to go out there and play as hard as I can, I know it’s going to inspire the next man beside me.” Although Greenlaw was done by halftime

SAN JOSE — A former Valley Christian High School manager accused of paying students to create child pornography was arraigned in federal court Tuesday, a day after a reported victim sued the school for not protecting him despite glaring signs of defendant’s illicit conduct. Todd Baldwin, a former operations manager at Valley Christian High School in San Jose, has been charged in federal court with soliciting students to produce child pornography. The school is being sued by one of the reported victims for not detecting his illicit behavior. (San Jose Police Dept.)  Todd Baldwin, 44, who now lives in Washington state, appeared in a San Jose courtroom to answer to two counts each of enticing a minor and receiving child pornography, corresponding to the accusations of two underage victims. If convicted on all counts, he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Baldwin pleaded not guilty and his next court hearing is scheduled for Feb. 4; he was allowed to remain out of jail custody under the supervision of a relative, according to court records. His attorney did not immediately respond to a

I hear the conversations: Fire Kyle. Trade or low-ball Brock. It’s all ridiculous. But conversations like that are also why the NFL is the premier entertainment product in America and soon, if the league gets its way, the world. Nothing is permanent in the NFL. This time last year, the 49ers were the toast of the NFL with an 11-3 record en route to a fourth NFC title game appearance in five years and a Super Bowl berth. Now, the quarterback and head coach who authored that 2023 season are apparently scrubs. And maybe they are. Things change fast in this league, and, unlike in the NBA or Major League Baseball, teams can change just as fast. Yes, in the NFL every game matters — even Sunday’s 49ers-Dolphins game between two teams with slim to minuscule playoff chances. That’s because every player, every week, is playing for their job. So, while I’m not sure if the so-called Faithful are keen to see Shanahan and Purdy succeed or fail in the final three games of the campaign, I do know that I want to see these three

San Jose International Airport and Oakland International Airport both might have to depend on robust passenger flight activity during the holidays to help ward off a malaise in air travel for both travel hubs. So far in 2024, passengers are traveling through San Jose International Airport and San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport in smaller numbers than was the case in 2023, new reports show. Vehicles travel near Oakland International Airport, Nov. 13, 2024. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group) During the one-year period that ended in October, San Jose Airport handled 11.82 million passengers. That was down 2.3% from the 12.1 million passengers who transited through the South Bay aviation hub in 2023. Similarly, over the 12 months that ended in October, Oakland International Airport accommodated 11.04 million passengers. That was down 1.8% from the 11.24 million passengers that traveled through the East Bay travel complex in 2023. The faltering travel figures mean that both airports are depending on holiday travel to help lift the aviation centers above last year’s totals. A persistent post-coronavirus slump in business travel appears to have weighed down passenger activity at

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court said Wednesday it will consider South Carolina’s move to cut off Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood, the latest abortion-related case since the justices overturned Roe v. Wade. The court agreed to take up the state’s appeal of a lower-court ruling focused on whether Medicaid patients can sue over their right to choose their own qualified provider. The case will be argued in the spring. South Carolina moved in 2018 to cut off funding to Planned Parenthood. The organization uses Medicaid funding for family planning health services rather than abortions, but Gov. Henry McMaster said any public money sent there “results in the subsidy of abortion.” Medicaid does not pay for abortion except in cases when a pregnant woman’s life is at risk or the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. Planned Parenthood has previously said it gets less than $100,000 in South Carolina, one of many conservative-leaning states that sought to halt or reduce public funding for the nation’s largest U.S. abortion provider. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals blocked the

From Asilomar State Beach to Mount Diablo, more than 70 California State Parks will be offering special guided hikes on New Year’s Day. It’s part of the state’s First Day Hikes program, which encourage people to start the new year in the great outdoors. The hikes are easy to find via the interactive First Day Hikes webpage — parks.ca.gov/FirstDayHikes — which includes special events on Jan. 1 and beyond, including a guided, family-friendly hike on Mount Diablo on Jan. 2 that’s open to kids ages 7 and up. Here’s just a sampling of possibilities at Bay Area state parks. Check out the First Day Hikes site for details, including rendezvous points, parking and day use fees, age restrictions and weather caveats. 5 First Day Hikes to try 1 Angel Island State Park: Join state park interpreters at 10:30 a.m. Jan. 1 for a 4-mile, moderately paced “walk ‘n’ talk” that includes moderate elevation gain, paved and unpaved surfaces and stairs. Panoramic views of the San Francisco Bay are among the perks of hiking at Angel Island State Park. (Kate Bradshaw/Bay Area News Group)  2 Sugar

Farhan Zaidi, the Giants’ former president of baseball operations, spoke publicly for the first time since parting ways with San Francisco, joining former Giant A.J. Pierzynski, Erik Kratz and Scott Braun on Foul Territory. Zaidi did not confirm reports that he would be joining the Dodgers’ front office, but discussed subjects such as how Matt Chapman’s extension unfolded and the franchise’s failed pursuits of superstar free agents, among other subjects. The Chapman extension Following Chapman’s signing of a six-year, $151 million contract extension in early September, there were contrasting reports of Zaidi’s level of involvement in negotiations. According to Zaidi, the negotiations happened over two weeks. Zaidi describes being “at the five-yard line” of negotiations and offering Chapman a six-year, $150 million deal. From there, Chapman had a meeting with Buster Posey, the Giants’ new president of baseball operations, and hashed out some of the smaller details — adding extra an million, including a no-trade clause and removing small deferrals. Zaidi said that having Buster was a “huge asset,” noting how players sometimes just want to talk with other players. “I was just thrilled to

Bay Area Home Report 2812 Theresa Lane – Google Street View A house located in the 2800 block of Theresa Lane in San Jose has new owners. The 1,760-square-foot property, built in 1960, was sold on Nov. 4, 2024, for $2,518,000, or $1,431 per square foot. This single-story house has three bedrooms and two bathrooms. In addition, the house features a two-car garage. The property encompasses a generous 7,150 square feet of land. These nearby houses have also recently been purchased: On Benjamin Avenue, San Jose, in February 2024, a 2,147-square-foot home was sold for $2,500,000, a price per square foot of $1,164. The home has 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. A 1,758-square-foot home on the 2800 block of Nicholas Drive in San Jose sold in October 2024, for $2,030,000, a price per square foot of $1,155. The home has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. In March 2023, a 2,164-square-foot home on Veronica Place in San Jose sold for $2,100,000, a price per square foot of $970. The home has 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. This article was generated by the Bay Area Home Report

By AMANDA SEITZ and LINLEY SANDERS WASHINGTON (AP) — The kids seen by Dolores Mejia around suburban Phoenix have been growing heavier in recent years. Their parents, too, she says. Mejia, a 75-year-old retiree, says she’s also had her own weight struggles on the scale. That’s why Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s pledge to “Make America Healthy Again” as he campaigned alongside Donald Trump caught her attention. She liked the questions Kennedy raised about the role of processed foods in America’s obesity epidemic. “I’m a junk food person,” said Mejia, an ardent Trump supporter. “I started wondering where those extra pounds came from.” After hearing Kennedy out, she concluded: “We cannot trust the health organizations we’ve trusted for years to tell us that our foods are safe.” Republicans such as Mejia have embraced Kennedy, whose alliance with the president-elect could make the prominent environmentalist and vaccine skeptic the nation’s top health official next year. Republicans hold an overwhelmingly positive view of Kennedy, with most approving of Trump’s decision to put him in his administration, according to recent polling from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs

MORGAN HILL — A Safeway store here sold more than groceries Tuesday, becoming one of two sites statewide where someone bought a Mega Millions lottery game ticket worth $226,328, officials said. The Safeway store at 840 E. Dunne Ave. and a Yucca Valley market were the only places where someone picked all five regular numbers, which were 56, 66, 67, 68 and 69, but not the Mega number, which was 18. Lottery officials were not immediately available Wednesday to comment on the odds of a draw with four consecutive numbers. No one won picked all six numbers, which would have gotten them $760 million, officials said. It was not known Wednesday morning if the Morgan Hill winner has come forward. A store employee was both excited and happy for whoever won. “I’m excited for any individual who wins anything in our family store and we’re happy they get to enjoy it with their family. It’s a great Christmas present to share with them,” the employee said. The winners have 180 days from the day of the draw to claim their money. Mega Millions is played

By MATTHEW DALY | Associated Press WASHINGTON  — The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday granted two requests from California to enforce strict standards for vehicle emissions, including a rule aimed at banning sales of new gasoline-powered cars in the state by 2035. The incoming Trump administration is likely to try to reverse the action. The California rule is stricter than a federal rule adopted this year that tightens emissions standards but does not require sales of electric vehicles. RELATED: Is a California EV rebate the answer if federal support ends? EPA said its review found that opponents of the two waivers did not meet their legal burden to show how either the EV rule or a separate measure on heavy-duty vehicles was inconsistent with the federal Clean Air Act. “California has longstanding authority to request waivers from EPA to protect its residents from dangerous air pollution coming from mobile sources like cars and trucks,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement. “Today’s actions follow through on EPA’s commitment to partner with states to reduce emissions and act on the threat of climate change.” The

By FARNOUSH AMIRI and LISA MASCARO WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Ethics Committee voted in secret to release the long-awaited ethics report into ex-Rep. Matt Gaetz, raising the possibility that the allegations against the Florida Republican who was President-elect Donald Trump’s first choice for attorney general could be made public in the coming days. The decision by the bipartisan committee was made earlier this month, according to a person familiar with the vote who was not authorized to publicly discuss the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity Wednesday. CNN first reported the vote. It’s a stunning turnaround for the often secretive panel of five Republicans and five Democrats. Just last month, members voted along party lines to not release the findings of their nearly four-year investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct with minors and use of illicit drugs while Gaetz was in office. Democrats had pressed to make the report public even though Gaetz was no longer in Congress and had withdrawn as Trump’s pick to lead the Justice Department. A vote on the House floor this month to force the report’s release failed; all but one Republican voted

By THOMAS BEAUMONT, SARAH PARVINI and AMELIA THOMSON-DEVEAUX, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Elon Musk, clad in tuxedo and black tie, took the stage at President-elect Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort shortly after the election with all the swagger of the winning candidate himself. “The public has given us a mandate that could not be more clear, the clearest mandate. The people have spoken. The people want change,” Musk told the audience of Trump’s biggest donors, campaign leaders and appointment seekers. “We are going to shake things up. It’s going to be a revolution.” Musk’s attachment to Trump has created an alliance between America’s most powerful politician and its richest businessman — and roughly the same percentages of Americans have favorable views of each, according to a new poll from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Experts are split on whether that overlap in public opinion is a good or bad thing for Musk’s businesses or for Trump’s politics. But it could have far-reaching effects in both realms. Musk, whose net worth tops $400 billion, oversees six businesses while continuing to work closely with Trump: electric car manufacturer

By Rick Hurd | rhurd@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group PUBLISHED: December 18, 2024 at 6:30 AM PST “We believe that there was trafficking and that the hotels and motels had knowledge of it,” said an attorney representing the alleged victim. Subscribe to continue reading this article. Already subscribed? To login in, click here.

John Doe No. 3 is John Doe no more. Donald Gene Horecka, 25, of Las Vegas. (California Statewide Law Enforcement Association)  His name, according to a cold case breakthrough from the Solano County Sheriff’s Department, was Donald Horecka. Horecka’s body has been linked through forensic investigation to an adult male body found in 1980 in a creek bed off of Lopes Road in Benicia, according to a release from the department on Tuesday. “The investigation into John Doe’s identity and the circumstances surrounding his death continued for several months, but he was ultimately laid to rest without being identified. The investigation did reveal he died as a result of Corrosive Esophagitis, which results from ingesting a chemical substance not meant for human consumption.” According to the department, Horecka went missing in the late 1970s or early 1980s from his home city of Las Vegas, Nevada. He was 25 at the time of disappearance, but his remains were finally linked to his identity through advances in DNA technology and genetic forensic testing. The case was reopened in 2023 as part of the Doe Cold Case Project.

Two defense attorneys withdrew Tuesday from the case of a Sacramento man charged with the January 2021 killing of two females, one of them a minor, and a new attorney was assigned to replace them. Raymond Michael Weber, 33 (Solano County Sheriff’s Office)  During a morning proceeding in Department 1, the attorneys who for months have represented Raymond Michael Weber, Tim Pori and Leslie Prince, confirmed to Solano County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Kauffman that they wished to withdraw. Kauffman agreed to their requests, but immediately appointed Chief Deputy Public Defender Tamani Taylor, who was present for the hearing, to take their place. Weber, 33, shackled at the waist in a striped jail jumpsuit, his black hair in four long braids, appeared for a trial setting, an order to show cause, and the attorneys’ motion to withdraw. Kauffman then ordered Taylor, Weber and Deputy District Attorney Eric Charm, who leads the prosecution, to return for a rescheduled trial setting at 9 a.m. Jan. 28 in the Justice Center in Fairfield. The Weber case is notable not only because it’s a double murder but also because

SANTA CRUZ — The prosecution has dropped all criminal charges alleging a prominent Aptos real estate broker raped an unconscious family friend after a 2021 party at his home. Santa Cruz County Assistant District Attorney Michael Mahan said Tuesday that he believed the case, involving an alleged victim identified only as “Jane Doe” in court papers, did not have “sufficient evidence to move forward.” Mahan withdrew charges against real estate agent and broker Frank DeBernardo, of DeBernardo Team in Capitola, during an otherwise routine trial date-setting hearing Nov. 20 before Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Stephen Siegel. Formerly filed charges included rape of an unconscious victim, rape by force or fear and two counts of witness intimidation or dissuasion. Such alleged crimes, Mahan added, are not significantly limited by a statute of limitations, meaning that if new information arises, his office will consider refiling charges. However, he declined to specify his motivation for withdrawing the charges. “Given these are cases that could be refiled, I don’t want to necessarily comment on the specifics of our reasoning at this point,” Mahan said. “We just look

TODAY’S WORD — BEDLAM BEDLAM: BED-lum: A scene of uproar and confusion. Average mark 21 words Time limit 30 minutes Can you find 26 or more words in BEDLAM? The list will be published tomorrow. YESTERDAY’S WORD — OVATIONS: oast onto ovation vain vast vino visa vista vita anti into iota nova saint santo satin snit snoot soon soot stain 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 have been married to my husband almost 10 years; we have two children. I will not lie and say these past years haven’t been without challenge. Separation and divorce have been tossed around. Lately, my husband has been going out quite frequently at all hours of the night. My gut was telling me something is not right, so I went through his phone. Not great, I know, but I felt directly questioning would have led to gaslighting. I found him within the last two weeks engaging in conversation with a woman who describes herself as a professional tease, with all the pictures to go with it. My husband eventually followed up by asking to meet and hang out. I am to the bottom of my soul enraged (at him, not her) and hurt. And so many other emotions. When I confronted him, he immediately began, “This isn’t me, I didn’t do this. Something is wrong with my phone. I just got this phone.” The language, even the emojis used, are his usual tone. He also told me I’m overreacting. I am seeking

DEAR HARRIETTE: This Thanksgiving was an absolute disaster. I’ve been dating my boyfriend for a year, and this holiday felt like the perfect time to introduce him to my family. I was nervous because, while I love them, my family is known to be a little unconventional. They’re loud, opinionated and tend to say exactly what’s on their minds, no matter how inappropriate. From the moment we walked in, it was like a circus. My uncle started grilling my boyfriend about his job and his plans for the future, and then my aunt jumped in to question him about his political beliefs right in the middle of dinner. My cousins thought it would be hilarious to share every embarrassing story they could think of about me, and my mom kept dropping hints about how she’s “ready for grandchildren.” My boyfriend handled it all as well as he could, but I could tell he was overwhelmed. I’m worried this whole experience might have left a bad impression on my boyfriend, and I feel embarrassed about how things turned out. I want him to feel welcomed by

SAN JOSE – San Jose Sharks goalie Vitek Vanecek was injured in the second period of Tuesday night’s game with the Winnipeg Jets as he was struck in the face by a puck that was unexpectedly redirected into the team’s bench. Jets defenseman Colin Miller was carrying the puck out of his team’s zone early in the second period when he sent a cross-ice pass intended for defense partner Logan Stanley. Sharks forward William Eklund got his stick on the puck, deflecting it high into the air before Stanley, skating in front of the San Jose bench, tried to knock it down with his stick. Instead, Stanley accidentally redirected the puck downward right into Vanecek’s face. Vanecek was quickly tended to by a member of the Sharks’ training staff and was led back into the team’s dressing room. The Sharks announced early in the third period that Vanecek would not be available for the rest of the game. Longtime Sharks television color analyst Drew Remenda was standing just a few feet away from Vanecek, who was sitting down when the puck hit him. Backup goalies