Category: Bay Area

Dear Eric: I am a 72-year-old woman who lives alone. I live in a one-story, two-bedroom condo. The mortgage is paid off. I don’t have any family here. I am also divorced. I have cousins who live in another state, and I haven’t seen them in many years. I am the youngest cousin. So, I am thinking about my end-of-life plans. I don’t have any serious health problems, but I am not totally healthy. I have two friends who have been here for me for many years. They want to help me make my end-of-life plans and decide what to do if I can no longer live alone. However, I am hesitant to ask one of them to be my power of attorney. There is nobody else I can ask to be my POA. Any advice you can give me would be appreciated. – Plan Hesitation Dear Plan: If your friends have expressed a desire to help you, please take them up on it. One of the privileges of enduring friendship is that it allows us to see each other through the various stages of

DEAR HARRIETTE: I have always had a fear of heights, which has made me hesitant to try things that involve being up high. However, one item on my bucket list has been going skydiving in Dubai, and I’m determined to conquer this fear. I know that facing my fear head-on would be a huge personal achievement; the idea of jumping out of an airplane fills me with anxiety. I am committed to pushing myself out of my comfort zone, and I believe that overcoming this fear would help me grow in ways I’ve never imagined. Still, I am torn between my desire to fulfill this dream and the overwhelming fear that has held me back for so long. I want to make this experience a reality, but I don’t know how to quiet my nerves and embrace the challenge. How can I overcome my fear of heights and take that leap toward something I’ve always wanted to do? — Fearful Hesitation DEAR FEARFUL HESITATION: If you are serious about skydiving, this means you must be serious about facing your fear of heights. You might try

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I have a family member who eats so slowly that everyone gets antsy waiting for her, especially the kids. She only starts seriously eating when everyone else is finished. She takes tiny bites, chewing very slowly, while everyone watches her. It feels controlling and attention-seeking. How can I politely start serving dessert before she is finished? GENTLE READER: In a loud voice, meant to be addressed to the antsy kids (whether or not they actually asked), Miss Manners suggests announcing, “Normally we wait until everyone is finished eating, but I don’t want to rush Cousin Sophie. With your permission, Sophie, we will start to clear the dishes. But please let us know when you are ready for dessert.” DEAR MISS MANNERS: One of my in-laws will wait for a person to finish speaking, then say something on a completely different subject. No “hmmm,” “interesting” or any other noncommittal word to acknowledge what the other person was talking about. If someone mentions an upcoming job interview, for example, he will talk about an unrelated story in the local news. If they tell everyone

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Taylor Swift, 35; Jamie Foxx, 57; Steve Buscemi, 67; Wendie Malick, 74. Happy Birthday: Not all opportunities fit your circumstances. Taking advantage of too much simultaneously will result in mistakes due to misinformation and not taking the time necessary to plan your actions. A tight-fisted financial plan will help keep you out of debt. Develop the skills you enjoy using most, and you’ll discover new outlets for income. Put your energy into gaining monetary profits. Partnerships look promising but require ironclad contracts. Your numbers are 6, 14, 22, 25, 31, 34, 46. ARIES (March 21-April 19): Check out groups of interest, attend festive events that offer good connections to individuals you share common interests with, and focus on personal growth, socializing and taking better care of yourself physically and financially. Love is in the stars; travel and educational pursuits will lead to new beginnings. 4 stars TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Take a stance and make your voice heard to avoid missing an opportunity. An honest answer will buy you time to follow your heart and determine what works best. A

SANTA CLARA — He stood up, stepped away from the 49ers’ bench, and walked off the field and into the tunnel of Levi’s Stadium. Then he walked into the 49ers locker room, changed out of his uniform, and exited the facility. It was the fourth quarter of the Niners’ Thursday Night Football game against the Rams, and San Francisco linebacker De’Vondre Campbell wasn’t injured or ejected from the contest. No, he simply quit. After sitting on the bench in the pouring rain, clearly pouting over not playing in the first half, Campbell was asked if he could play in the third quarter, as the Niners had played four linebackers in the game and all of them were now injured in one way or another. Campbell, healthy, refused to enter. His NFL career ended in that moment. He’d leave as the Rams took a 9-6 lead at the start of the fourth quarter. The 49ers’ season effectively ended roughly half an hour later. After the game, the veteran’s locker still held his gear — shoulder pads, his game pants, and personal effects. They’ll be in a

The 49ers suffered a demoralizing 12-6 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday Night Football that effectively sealed their playoff fate. According to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats, they have just a 0.1% chance of making the postseason. Linebacker De’Vondre Campbell didn’t wait around to see the final result — he quit in the third quarter. They had the fewest yards of offense among all regular-season games in the Kyle Shanahan era, at 191. The only game with fewer was the NFC title game in January 2022, when Brock Purdy injured his elbow. Purdy finished Thursday night with 142 yards on 14-of-31 passing in an off-and-on rainstorm. He had no touchdowns and his lone interception in the end zone ended a drive with the 49ers trailing 9-6 with 5:14 left in the game. The Niners only got the ball back again with 11 seconds to score. Isaac Guerendo led the 49ers with 57 yards rushing on 16 carries, while George Kittle had 61 receiving yards, nearly double second-place Jauan Jennings (31 yards) on four receptions. Deebo Samuel had a key drop and finished with

De’Vondre Campbell did not want to play football on Thursday night, so he told 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan how he felt, then left Levi’s Stadium. Shanahan was asked in his postgame media session why Campbell went to the locker room in the third quarter of the 49ers’ 12-6 loss to the Rams. “Yeah, he said he didn’t want to play today,” Shanahan said. Shanahan told reporters that he asked Campbell if he wanted to go into the game in the third quarter to spell returning starter Dre Greenlaw, and Campbell declined without giving a reason. Campbell was not in the locker room postgame when reporters were allowed in to speak to players. Shanahan said he did not know immediately whether the team would release Campbell, a 31-year-old former All-Pro who signed with the 49ers in March after being released by Green Bay. San Francisco 49ers’ De’Vondre Campbell Sr. (59) places a towel on his head before a game against the Los Angeles Rams at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)  Cornerback Charvarius Ward said Campbell

SANTA CLARA — The 49ers came into this season with unjustified bravado and confidence. They exited with a whimper, failing to score a touchdown and falling to 1-4 in the division with a season-ending 12-6 loss to the Rams on Thursday Night Football. There’s no need to worry about playoff possibilities anymore. At 6-8 on the season, the Niners are done. And they have no one to blame but themselves. Dre Greenlaw • LB Playing his first game in nine months, Greenlaw wasted no time in making his presence known. He was everywhere, registering ten tackles in the first half and shutting down the Rams defense almost singlehandedly. When he left the game, the Rams relentlessly attacked his backup, Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles. (Who was playing over De’Vondre Campbell and the injured Dee Winters.) Fred Warner • LB His finest game since he broke a bone in his ankle against New England in Week 4. Warner was a menace in both the run game and pass coverage, totaling 13 tackles Thursday. He held the defense together for a stretch with Greenlaw out of the contest. Together, they

SANTA CLARA – If the 49ers were bound to vanish from playoff contention by mid-December, it only made sense for them to blow another NFC West game in the fourth quarter. This time the 49ers had only a 6-3 lead to protect, and, in the end, they walked off their soggy field Thursday night with a 12-6 defeat to the Los Angeles Rams. Along the way, one 49ers stunningly opted out of the game: Ninth-year veteran De’Vondre Campbell refused to replace injured linebacker Dre Greenlaw in the third quarter, at which point the Rams were seizing momentum. That unexplained betrayal left teammates seething, even more so than any chatter about their playoff hopes essentially expiring. Officially, the reigning NFC champs are not eliminated. But, with a 6-8 record overall and a 1-4 mark in division games, the 49ers’ playoff chances are less than 1 percent, according to the New York Times’ simulator. Thursday night’s turning point wasn’t Joshua Karty’s third field goal of the night that gave the Rams (8-6) their first lead with 9:29 remaining. Rather, take your pick of the 49ers’ turn for the

Nobody on the San Jose Sharks roster is more disappointed that their season series with the St. Louis Blues is over than Macklin Celebrini. Celebrini dazzled on Thursday night, scoring twice and adding an assist as the Sharks held on to beat the Blues 4-3 to snap a three-game losing streak and finish a 13-day road trip with a 3-3-0 record. New Sharks forward Nikolai Kovalenko had his first career three-point game with three assists, and goalie Alexandar Georgiev made 17 saves, including six in a tense third period, to win in his San Jose debut. The Sharks finished with 21 blocked shots, including seven in the final 8:20 of regulation time, and went 2-for-2 on the penalty kill. “It took everyone,” Celebrini said on NBC Sports California. “With those penalties, we had so many blocked shots and guys selling themselves out. That’s the reason we won that game.” Celebrini assisted on Tyler Toffoli’s first-period goal and scored at the 5:43 and 19:53 marks of the second period to give the Sharks a 3-1 lead and register his second career three-point game. Celebrini’s first goal

Bay Area Home Report 13570 Beaumont Avenue – Google Street View A spacious house located in the 13500 block of Beaumont Avenue in Saratoga has new owners. The 2,835-square-foot property, built in 1953, was sold on Nov. 5, 2024, for $5,350,000, or $1,887 per square foot. This single-story home boasts a generous living space with four bedrooms and four bathrooms. Additionally, the house comes with a two-car garage, allowing for convenient vehicle storage and additional storage space. The lot size of the property measures an impressive 0.3-acre. These nearby houses have also recently been sold: On Saratoga Vista Avenue, Saratoga, in May 2024, a 1,944-square-foot home was sold for $4,000,000, a price per square foot of $2,058. The home has 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. A 2,875-square-foot home on the 13600 block of Saratoga Vista Avenue in Saratoga sold in November 2023, for $4,325,000, a price per square foot of $1,504. The home has 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. In April 2023, a 2,541-square-foot home on Saratoga Vista Court in Saratoga sold for $3,050,000, a price per square foot of $1,200. The home has 4

OAKLAND — Two years after a man was shot and killed in the West Oakland tiny home community where he lived, a suspect has been arrested and charged. Anthony Alonzo, 36, was charged last week with murdering 43-year-old Deandre Irvin in the 2022 shooting. Though police arrested Alonzo within weeks of the homicide, it wasn’t until this month that they were able to convince prosecutors to file charges, court records show. Irvin was shot dead on the 300 block of Peralta Street, just before 3 a.m. on Dec. 3, 2022. Police quickly identified Alonzo as a suspect based on a tip that Irvin had been feuding with Alonzo’s girlfriend, who also lived at the community. Alonzo was arrested on a Ramey warrant in late December 2022. In jail calls with his girlfriend after his arrest, he allegedly said he was being arrested for “some s— I didn’t even do,” but also made specific comments about Irvin’s death, though police hadn’t included any of that information on the arrest warrant they served him with, authorities said. Police say witnesses who lived at the tiny home community

By Fatima Hussein | Associated Press WASHINGTON — IRS leadership on Thursday announced that the agency has recovered $4.7 billion in back taxes and proceeds from a variety of crimes since the nation’s tax collector received a massive glut of funding through Democrats’ flagship tax, climate and health law in 2022. The announcement comes under the backdrop of a promised reckoning from Republicans who will hold a majority over both chambers of the next Congress and have long called for rescinding the tens of billions of dollars in funding provided to the agency by Democrats. IRS leadership, meanwhile, is hoping to justify saving the funding the agency already has. On a call with reporters to preview the announcement, IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said improvements made to the agency during his term will help the incoming administration and new Republican majority congress achieve its goals of administering an extension of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Republicans plan to renew some $4 trillion in expiring GOP tax cuts, a signature domestic achievement of Trump’s first term and an issue that may define his return to

Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor. Workload puts too much pressure on students I am writing to express my concern regarding an issue that has been widely acknowledged but insufficiently addressed: the never-ending academic pressures teenagers face. High schoolers are expected to navigate a seemingly endless workload, with hours of homework on top of schooling. This leaves little time for things critical to a teenager’s development: rest, social interaction or extracurriculars. The stress from these expectations has led to an unnerving increase in anxiety, depression and burnout. Despite widespread awareness of the issue, temporary measures such as occasional mental health days or additional counseling resources are all that is being done to “solve” this issue. The real problem is the unrealistic workload. It is time for educators to rethink the balance between academics and mental health. I hope your newspaper will continue to shine a light on this topic and advocate for actionable change. Caitlin Osmond San Ramon McConnell had chance to stop Trump assault Re: “Gabbard is Trump pick most likely to fail” (Page A9

The scene at the Silicon Valley Capital Club was festive Wednesday night, with people cheerfully dressed in holiday sweaters for a party hosted by the club’s LGBTQ+ council. But a lot of the conversations ranged from wistfulness to rebellious as members of the 34-year-old private business club mulled its impending demise at the end of the year. The three questions that seemed to hang in the air on the 17th floor of 50 W. San Fernando St.: How did this happen so suddenly, what’s going to happen to the club’s memorabilia and historic photographs, and where will the club’s approximately 800 members plus more than three dozen employees go after the doors shut Dec. 31? Silicon Valley Capital Club members mingle during the Holiday Sweater Mixer hosted by the club’s LGBTQ+ Council on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. The private business club is closing its doors after 34 years on Dec. 31, 2024. (Sal Pizarro/Bay Area News Group)  Longtime member Susan Hayes says she and several others are bothered that Invited, the Silicon Valley Capital Club’s corporate parent, gave its board of governors or members just

Alameda County divested $32 million from the construction equipment company Caterpillar on Tuesday in response to outrage by activists over the use of the equipment by Israel’s military to build settlements in Palestinian communities. With the Board of Supervisors’ vote this week approving the move, Alameda County becomes the largest regional government in the U.S. to strip public funds from corporations that support Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank as part of a new effort to craft an ethical investment policy. “I have initiated the sale of three bonds from the Caterpillar corporation. Two of our three positions have already been sold,” Alameda County Treasurer Henry C. Levy, the only Jewish elected official in the county, said at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting. “I am committed to working with community members to ensure the fiscal policies of our county create safe and sound impacts within the county with our investment’s impact.” The bonds represent 0.3% of Alameda County’s $11 billion investment portfolio. Levy said Caterpillar’s investments would become a “distraction” to creating a new ethical investment policy because

Deal that tops $50 million might preserve affordable Berkeley housing Most units in residential complex will become low-cost (Google Maps) 94-unit, five-story apartment complex at 651 Addison St. in southwestern Berkeley, in a July 2024 image capture. Most units in a Berkeley residential complex in Berkeley would become affordable as a result of a new deal. Originally Published: December 12, 2024 at 2:50 PM PST

OAKLEY — With the help of an area nonprofit, several families and individuals will get a new lease on life by moving into income-based affordable rental homes meant to help them as they find their footing and become self-sufficient. Through efforts by the Yellow Roof Foundation, families are expected to move into these homes at the Gonsalves Landing community – named after major contributor Steve Gonsalves – on Teakwood Drive by the end of the year. The nonprofit was founded by Dave and Lori Sanson, owners of Concord-based DeNova Homes. Each of the four rental single-family homes are about 740 to 1,475 square feet, with one- and three-bedroom plans. Each unit also has an accessory dwelling unit to house families. Yellow Roof worked closely with the city of Oakley to make the homes a reality, purchasing surplus land from the city and partnering with building industry professionals to build them. Lori Sanson said the average cost to build an affordable housing unit in the Bay Area is almost $700,000, but because of the generosity of the various industry professionals, the homes provided by Yellow Roof

Steve Kerr was extremely upset about a foul call late in the Warriors’ NBA Cup quarterfinal loss to the Rockets Wednesday night, and the NBA on Thursday confirmed the official’s call. Jonathan Kuminga was called for a foul during a loose ball situation near the free-throw line on the Warriors’ offensive side of the court with 3.5 seconds left and Golden State leading by a point. In a chaotic moment, Steph Curry took and missed a 3-pointer with 9 seconds left on the shot clock and 12 seconds to play, then Gary Payton II and Fred VanVleet went to the ground for the ball before Payton pushed it toward Kuminga near the free-throw line. Jalen Green cut in front of Kuminga to pounce on the ball and Kuminga made what appeared to be common contact with his shoulder as he reached to tie up the ball before the Rockets wing could take a timeout. Referee Bill Kennedy called a foul on Kuminga, Green sunk both free throws and Jabari Smith Jr. blocked Brandin Podziemski’s last-second 3-point attempt to advance the Rockets to the NBA Cup

(Google Maps) Research and office building at 300 Holger Way in north San Jose. By George Avalos | gavalos@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group PUBLISHED: December 12, 2024 at 12:50 PM PST Nvidia has signed a lease for a big San Jose building, marking an expansion for the tech company. Subscribe to continue reading this article. Already subscribed? To login in, click here.

Alexandar Georgiev’s time with the San Jose Sharks might be relatively brief. But for however long he’s with the Sharks, Georgiev will likely get several opportunities to prove he can still be a full-time NHL goalie. Georgiev will debut with his new team on Thursday night. The Sharks and Georgiev will face the St. Louis Blues at the Enterprise Center to finish a six-game, 13-day road trip. Georgiev, a pending unrestricted free agent, was acquired from Colorado on Monday as part of the multi-player, multi-draft pick trade that sent fellow goalie Mackenzie Blackwood to the Avalanche. Georgiev made his last start for the Avalanche two days before the trade, as he stopped 29 of 30 shots in Colorado’s 2-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings. In his last 12 appearances for the Avalanche, Georgiev was 7-3-0 with a .897 save percentage. For the season, he has an 8-7-0 record in 18 games with a subpar .874 save percentage. Undoubtedly, he was under tremendous scrutiny in Colorado, which hopes to make a deep playoff run and challenge for its second Stanley Cup in four years. But