Category: Bay Area

Seven years after the San Jose Unified School District promised to make accommodations for transgender and nonbinary students at all of its campuses, outraged students, parents and teachers called out San Jose High’s principal and administration at a meeting Wednesday for failing to follow through on that promise. The high school did add a gender-neutral bathroom after the district’s pledge in 2017, but the school community says the bathroom is locked and inaccessible, and students are not provided with an alternative that feels safe. As a result, some students say they won’t use a bathroom all day. Principal Jeanette Harding said during the meeting that the school would set aside space or funding to create additional gender-neutral spaces, including a changing area, but parents said it shouldn’t have gotten to this point. “It is a disgrace that (students) had to show up for this. … The fact that (the students) had to spend the last half hour brainstorming this is embarrassing,” said nonbinary parent Eli Dinh at the high school’s site council meeting Wednesday night. “You don’t have to reinvent the wheel, there are answers

By ADAM BEAM | Associated Press SACRAMENTO — It’s become a rite of summer in sunny California: When the temperature spikes, so do electricity bills, leaving some customers with monthly payments over $500. A big reason for that is the way California’s largest power companies calculate rates. The more power you use, the more money you pay — not just for electricity, but also for things like maintaining the grid and reducing wildfire risk. A proposal unveiled Wednesday by state regulators aims to change that. Instead of calculating bills based mostly on how much power people use, a portion would be a fixed charge. For most people, that charge would be $24.15 per month. People who are enrolled in low-income assistance programs or who live in deed-restricted affordable housing would pay less — either $6 or $12, depending on their situation. To offset this new charge, the rate people pay for using power would go down. During peak hours when electricity is in the most demand — and the most expensive — rates for customers of the state’s big three utilities would fall between 8%

TODAY’S WORD — EUPHORIC (EUPHORIC: yoo-FOR-ik: Having a strong feeling of happiness or well-being.) Average mark 38 words Time limit 45 minutes Can you find 51 or more words in EUPHORIC? The list will be published tomorrow. YESTERDAY’S WORD — VULTURES vertu vest vulture ulster user usure uterus lest lues lure lust luster lute true rest result rule ruse rust rustle slue slur suer suet sure sutler suture 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.

My contrarian view is that players bid too much. They enter the auction when the prospect of gain is uncertain. But modern thinking seems to be “Bid when it’s your turn.” In the Women’s Pairs at the Fall NABC, Shawn Quinn emerged from a layoff to win the event with Nancy Passell. Quinn was today’s South. North’s bid of three clubs conventionally invited game with three-card spade support. East came in with three hearts, but Quinn jumped to game. HEART PITCH West led her heart: five, eight, ace. Quinn placed East with some length in diamonds as well as in hearts -– West had not bid diamonds -– so East wouldn’t have many black-suit cards. So at Trick Two Quinn led the jack of trumps and let it ride. She picked up the trumps, threw a heart on the ace of diamonds, and lost one heart and one club. Plus 650 was a strong result. East’s bid might have located a profitable sacrifice or directed an effective lead, but that was uncertain. Whether Quinn would have landed the valuable overtrick if East had kept silent

Dear Amy: I am 20 and my girlfriend of six months is 19. Ever since we started dating, she seems to go out of her way to tell me whenever a guy hits on her, compliments her or flirts with her. She’s gorgeous, and so I totally understand that this is going to happen. I completely trust her, but when we started going out I told her that I don’t really need to hear about every time a guy compliments her. I told her that I know these things happen, but that I don’t need to hear about it. Finally, I flat-out asked her to stop reporting these things to me. Yesterday she was headed to her friend’s house and told me that her friend’s brother has a crush on her. Why does she do this? I feel like breaking up with her, not because I’m jealous of other guys, but because she seems to enjoy rubbing my face in the attention she receives from other guys. – Stymied Student Dear Student: I think your girlfriend does this in part because she is insecure, and

2761 Cowper Street – Google Street View A 942-square-foot house built in 1945 has changed hands. The property located in the 2700 block of Cowper Street in Palo Alto was sold on March 11, 2024, for $3,010,000, or $3,195 per square foot. The layout of this single-story home includes two bedrooms and one bath. On the exterior, the house is characterized by the use of wood shake roofing / shingles. Inside, a fireplace adds character to the home. Additionally, the house is equipped with a one-car garage, allowing for convenient vehicle storage. The lot of the property covers a substantial area of 5,800 square feet. These nearby houses have also recently been sold: A 2,655-square-foot home on the 400 block of El Dorado Avenue in Palo Alto sold in July 2023, for $3,830,000, a price per square foot of $1,443. The home has 6 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms. In October 2022, a 1,383-square-foot home on Waverley Street in Palo Alto sold for $3,000,000, a price per square foot of $2,169. The home has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. On Kipling Street, Palo Alto, in June

908 Gurnard Terrace – Google Street View A 1,579-square-foot house built in 1996 has changed hands. The property located in the 900 block of Gurnard Terrace in Fremont was sold on Feb. 14, 2024, for $1,545,000, or $978 per square foot. This single-story house offers a spacious layout with four bedrooms and three baths. Additionally, the home includes a two-car garage. The property sits on a 3,992-square-foot lot. These nearby houses have also recently been sold: A 1,808-square-foot home on the 900 block of Pepys Way in Fremont sold in August 2023, for $1,780,000, a price per square foot of $985. The home has 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. In September 2023, a 1,306-square-foot home on Litchfield Circle in Fremont sold for $1,600,000, a price per square foot of $1,225. The home has 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. On Buckboard cmn., Fremont, in February 2024, a 1,486-square-foot home was sold for $1,500,000, a price per square foot of $1,009. The home has 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.

BRENTWOOD – East Bay authorities on Tuesday raided a suspected drug lab in Brentwood, arresting a 29-year-old man and detonating three containers filled with an explosive substance. Two other suspects – a 44-year-old man and a 42-year-old woman, both of Brentwood – are being sought, the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release Thursday. Detectives discovered a dimethyltryptamine, or DMT, manufacturing lab around 9:50 a.m. Tuesday when they served a search warrant at a residence in the 800 block of Shasta Daisy Drive, near Liberty High School, according to the sheriff’s office. While processing the lab, a team from the county’s hazardous materials program found a possible explosive compound stored in three containers, the sheriff’s office said. The Walnut Creek Police Department bomb squad identified the substance as triacetone triperoxide, or TATP, a volatile and powerful explosive, according to the sheriff’s office. The sheriff’s office said the containers were detonated without incident – one of them at the scene and two of them at another location. Nearby residents were evacuated during the operation. The 29-year-old man was arrested and booked into the

Baseball No. 3 Acalanes 1, Miramonte 0 Hard to imagine a hotter pitcher than Acalanes senior Peter Thorn. The big fella — he’s listed as 6-foot-4, 260 pounds — was impressive before he stepped onto the mound Thursday and only enhanced his resume in a nonleague game against rival Miramonte. Thorn pitched a no-hitter with seven strikeouts and one walk as the Dons prevailed — barely — to improve to 11-0 on the season. Miramonte is 4-7. Acalanes scored its only run in the second inning as Mason Zirkel doubled, moved to third on a passed ball and crossed home plate on a wild pitch. Thorn took care of the rest, throwing 85 pitches, 53 for strikes, as he lowered ERA to 0.97. In 21 2/3 innings this season, Thorn has allowed three earned runs while striking out 17 and walking three. Acalanes plays host to Antioch on Saturday. Miramonte will be at home on Saturday to face San Leandro. No. 1 Granada 8, College Park 2 Granada’s Parker Warner, shown here in a file photo, pitched six solid innings in a win over College

OAKLAND – One of the smallest Opening Day crowds in the Oakland A’s 57-year history showed Thursday night for possibly their final season debut at the Coliseum — an 8-0 shutout loss to the Cleveland Guardians. While some fans bunkered in the parking lot to protest the A’s planned relocation to Las Vegas, there wasn’t much for the home fans to cheer amid the announced crowd of 13,522. “I would have liked to seen all those guys inside the stadium tonight. But they’re fighting for something they believe in,” A’s starting pitcher Alex Wood said. “As long as they’re supporting us, whether it’s inside the stadium or watching the game outside, Oakland has such a rich history of baseball and you see how much it means to people.” That was officially the seventh-smallest attendance in the A’s Opening Day history, although that includes debuts limited by the COVID pandemic in 2020 (no fans) and 2021 (10,436). Ironically, the A’s record for lowest attendance of a season opener came in 1996 when 7,294 showed in Las Vegas, where that series against Toronto got moved because of

OAKLAND – A man was shot and killed Thursday afternoon in Oakland, police said. The fatal shooting was reported just before 4:15 p.m. in the 100 block of Louvaine Avenue, in the Brookfield Village neighborhood, according to the Oakland Police Department. Officers arrived to find a man in his 40s suffering from at least one gunshot wound. The man was rushed to an area hospital, where he died of his injuries a short time later, police said. His identity is being withheld pending notification of next of kin. The death marked Oakland’s 19th homicide of the year. At this time last year, police had investigated 25 homicides. An investigation is underway into the circumstances surrounding the shooting. Police did not announce any arrests Thursday night. Anyone with information related to the shooting can contact the OPD Homicide Section at 510-238-3821. This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

SAN JOSE — A 55-year-old San Jose man was arrested last week in connection with half a dozen armed robberies stretching back to last summer, according to authorities. The first incident happened on Aug. 26 at a business in the 800 block of Blossom Hill Road, San Jose police spokesperson Stacie Shih said in a news release Thursday. A man armed with a gun demanded money from a clerk but left empty-handed. Detectives identified the suspect and linked him to five other armed robberies, according to Shih. Shih said those incidents happened on Dec. 7 in the 400 block of Blossom Hill Road, Dec. 16 in the 7100 block of Santa Teresa Boulevard, Dec. 26 in the 1200 block of North 1st Street, Jan. 2 in the 700 block of North King Road and Feb. 26 in the 600 block of North 4th Street. The string of robberies netted the suspect more than $3,000 in cash, according to Shih. Detectives obtained a warrant for the suspect’s arrest. On March 19, he was taken into custody in San Jose and booked into Santa Clara County jail

The already-shortened 2023-2024 Dungeness crab season in the Bay Area and central California will come to an end early, in just over a week. California Department of Fish and Wildlife officials on Thursday ordered an April 8 close to the commercial season to minimize the risk of humpback whales becoming entangled in fishing gear as they return to forage off the California coast. The decision was made after consultation with representatives of the fishing industry, environmental organizations and scientists. The order applies to what the state calls Zones 3, 4 and 5, from the Sonoma/Mendocino county border south to Point Conception in Santa Barbara County. The season started late this year — Jan. 18, with a 50% trap reduction — after a series of delays. The 2022-2023 season ended April 15, 2023, and the season before ended on April 8, 2022. This is a developing story. Come back for updates.

By Farnoush Amiri | Associated Press WASHINGTON — House Republicans on Thursday invited President Joe Biden to testify before Congress in what appears to be a last-ditch effort to deliver on their stalled monthslong impeachment inquiry into the Biden family businesses. Rep. James Comer, chair of the House Oversight Committee, sent a letter to the Democratic president, inviting him to sit for a public hearing to “explain, under oath,” what involvement he had in the Biden family businesses. So far, the GOP-led inquiry has not produced hard evidence of wrongdoing while Biden was in public office. “In light of the yawning gap between your public statements and the evidence assembled by the Committee, as well as the White House’s obstruction, it is in the best interest of the American people for you to answer questions from Members of Congress directly, and I hereby invite you to do so,” the Kentucky Republican wrote. While it is highly unlikely that Biden would agree to appear before lawmakers in such a setting, Comer pointed to previous examples of presidents’ testifying before Congress. “As you are aware, presidents before

Cupertino paid fees related to a recent housing lawsuit using more than $100,000 worth of funds earmarked for affordable housing, a mistake staffers are correcting, the city said. Between 2023 and this year, Cupertino tapped into its below-market-rate housing fund, which is money allocated by the city for affordable housing units, to pay for a 2023 lawsuit filed by housing advocates Yes in My Backyard Law (YIMBY Law) and California Housing Defense Fund, as first reported by San Jose Spotlight. The city paid between $100,00 and $150,000 to the Oakland-based law firm Goldfarb & Lipman LLP and other legal fees, confirmed City Manager Tina Kapoor, after Cupertino lost a judgment in January related to the city’s failure to submit a state-mandated housing plan by the January 2023 deadline. The Oakland-based law firm, which the city hired to fight the lawsuit, did not respond to requests for comment. “We realized that this was not what we were intended to do,” she said. “It was done mistakenly and was an error.” Lawsuit-related fees are supposed to be paid by the City Attorney’s Office through the general fund

By Mike Corder and Josef Federman | Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The top United Nations court on Thursday ordered Israel to take measures to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, including opening more land crossings to allow food, water, fuel and other supplies into the war-ravaged enclave. The International Court of Justice issued two new so-called provisional measures in a case brought by South Africa accusing Israel of acts of genocide in its military campaign launched after the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas. Israel denies it is committing genocide. It says its military campaign is self defense and aimed at Hamas, not the Palestinian people. Thursday’s order came after South Africa sought more provisional measures, including a cease-fire, citing starvation in Gaza. Israel urged the court not to issue new orders. In its legally binding order, the court told Israel to take measures “without delay” to ensure “the unhindered provision” of basic services and humanitarian assistance, including food, water, fuel and medical supplies. It also ordered Israel to immediately ensure that its military does not take action that could that could harm Palestinians’

EL CERRITO — Murder and five other felony charges have been filed against the suspected driver of a burglary getaway truck involved in a fatal wrong-way crash in the MacArthur Maze on March 19, authorities said Thursday. The suspected accomplice in the burglary was char ged in two of the crimes. The alleged driver, Patrick Scheckells, 34, of Oakland, was charged with murder, driving the wrong way on a divided highway causing injury or death, driving under the influence of a drug causing injury, driving or taking a vehicle without consent, second degree commercial burglary and grand theft of personal property. The suspected accomplice, Andre Alberty, 56, of San Francisco, was charged with second-degree burglary and grand theft of personal property. The charges stem from a burglary that happened about 4:22 a.m. March 19 at Tobacco Outlet, 10170 San Pablo Ave. Officers learned that what turned out to be a stolen pickup truck had rammed the front of the business to gain entry, the alleged burglars had fled in the truck with stolen items. An El Cerrito officer responding to the burglary spotted the truck

By Kathleen Foody, Rick Callahan and Corey Williams | Associated Press CHICAGO — A 22-year-old man has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder in a frenzied stabbing and beating rampage that left four people dead in a matter of minutes in a northern Illinois city, authorities said Thursday. Christian Soto is also charged with seven counts of attempted murder and home invasion with a dangerous weapon following the attacks in Rockford on Wednesday. Seven people were injured. Court and jail records show Soto appeared in court briefly Thursday afternoon and remains held without bond. He is next due in court Tuesday when a judge will determine if he stays in jail pending trial. Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara, who was clearly shaken and struggled to hold back tears during a news conference Thursday, listed the victims as 63-year-old Romona Schupbach; 23-year-old Jacob Schupbach; 49-year-old Jay Larson; and 15-year-old Jenna Newcomb. Three people remained hospitalized Thursday, officials said. The other four were treated and released, Rockford Police Chief Carla Redd said. Authorities have released little information about Soto, who was arrested Wednesday. A woman who

By Jon Gambrell | Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea — As Yemen’s Houthi rebels continue to target ships in a Mideast waterway, satellite pictures analyzed by The Associated Press show what appears to be a new airstrip being built at an entrance to that crucial maritime route. No country has publicly claimed the construction taking place on Abd al-Kuri Island, a stretch of land rising out of the Indian Ocean near the mouth of the Gulf of Aden. However, satellite images shot for the AP appear to show workers have spelled out “I LOVE UAE” with piles of dirt next to the runway, using an abbreviation for the United Arab Emirates. Both the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea to which it leads have become a battleground between the Houthis and U.S.-led forces in the region as Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip rages — potentially allowing a nation to project its power into the area. The construction comes as the presence of troops from the Emirates in the Socotra island chain to which Abd al-Kuri belongs — and that of the

A condo in Fremont that sold for $455,000 tops the list of the most affordable real estate sales in Fremont in the past week. For comparison, the overall average price of real estate in the area during that time was $1.5 million. The average price per square foot ended up at $971. A total of 35 home sales were recorded for the period with an average square footage of 1,519 square feet, 3 bedrooms, and 2 bathrooms. The top 10 list below includes the best deals on real estate priced between $10-$10,000,000. Please note that the prices in the list below are for real estate sales where the title was recorded during the week of March 18, even if the property may have been sold earlier. 10. $1.2 million, townhouse in the 41000 block of Cornac Terrace The sale of the townhouse in the 41000 block of Cornac Terrace in Fremont has been finalized. The price was $1,236,000, and the new owners took over the house in February. The house was built in 1972 and has a living area of 1,328 square feet. The price

April Dembosky, KQED | KFF Health News (TNS) Almost all new parents go through it: the distress of hearing their child scream at the doctor’s office. They endure the emotional torture of having to hold their child down as the clinician sticks them with one vaccine after another. “The first shots he got, I probably cried more than he did,” said Remy Anthes, who was pushing her 6-month-old son, Dorian, back and forth in his stroller in Oakland, California. “The look in her eyes, it’s hard to take,” said Jill Lovitt, recalling how her infant daughter Jenna reacted to some recent vaccines. “Like, ‘What are you letting them do to me? Why?’” Some children remember the needle pain and quickly start to internalize the fear. That’s the fear Julia Cramer witnessed when her 3-year-old daughter, Maya, had to get blood drawn for an allergy test at age 2. “After that, she had a fear of blue gloves,” Cramer said. “I went to the grocery store and she saw someone wearing blue gloves, stocking the vegetables, and she started freaking out and crying.” Pain management research