Category: Bay Area

Associated Press TUNIS, Tunisia — A Tunisian naval guard shot and killed a colleague and two civilians Tuesday near a synagogue on the island of Djerba during an annual Jewish pilgrimage, the Tunisian Interior Ministry said. The attacker was killed by security guards seeking to prevent him from entering the temple, the ministry said in a statement. Ten people were injured in the attack near the 2,500-year-old Ghriba synagogue. The assailant, a guard affiliated with the National Guard naval center in the town of Aghir on Djerba, first killed a colleague with his service weapon and then seized ammunition and sought to reach the Ghriba synagogue, the ministry said. When he reached the area, he opened fire on security units stationed at the temple. The synagogue was locked down and those inside were kept secure while authorities investigate the motives for the attack, the ministry said. It occurred during an annual pilgrimage that attracts thousands of visitors from around the world to one of Africa’s oldest synagogues. A truck bombing killed some 20 people in 2002 at the entrance to the temple during the annual

By Mark Morales, Evan Perez and Gregory Krieg | CNN Federal prosecutors have filed criminal charges against New York Rep. George Santos, the Republican lawmaker whose astonishing pattern of lies and fabrications stunned even hardened politicos, according to three sources familiar with the matter. Santos is expected to appear as soon as Wednesday at federal court in New York’s eastern district, where the charges have been filed under seal. The exact nature of the charges couldn’t immediately be learned but the FBI and the Justice Department public integrity prosecutors in New York and Washington have been examining allegations of false statements in Santos’ campaign finance filings and other claims. The congressman’s attorney declined to comment. Spokespeople for the Brooklyn US Attorney’s Office, the Justice Department and the FBI declined to comment. The freshman congressman, who was elected last year to represent a district that includes parts of Long Island and Queens, has been under investigation in multiple jurisdictions and by the House Ethics Committee. Top Democrats, joined by some New York Republicans, have been calling on Santos to resign over allegations ranging from criminal behavior

As lawmakers in Sacramento debate solutions to the fentanyl crisis, public health students at Santa Clara University unveiled their own unique approach on Tuesday: a free on-campus vending machine that dispenses canisters of the opioid-overdose reversing medication Narcan to anyone who wants it. It’s the first of its type on a Bay Area campus, with Stanford University expected to introduce one in a few weeks. Students who helped lead the effort say its an important first step in addressing growing use of the powerful drug, which is blamed for one-in-five youth deaths statewide. “SCU (Santa Clara University) is a party school, so drug use is something that we know happens on campus, off campus or near campus,” said Setareh Tehrani, one of the public health majors who championed the project. School officials say that the vending machine is designed to solve one of the biggest barriers that students face in acquiring Narcan — its high cost. The drug, which is also known as naloxone, costs anywhere from $70 to $150 without insurance — a price tag that puts it out of reach for many students who

The Athletics got some welcome news Tuesday regarding prize rookie right-hander Mason Miller. Miller returned to the Bay Area after starting Sunday in Kansas City with elbow soreness, but tests indicated no major problems. “It’s a clean, structural MRI and based on the soreness level, the best case scenario is he starts playing catch Friday,” Kotsay told reporters before faced the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Miller has made four starts, pitching 21 1/3 innings, with pitch counts of 86, 81, 100 and 98. No determination has been made when Miller, 0-2 with a 3.38 earned run average, will make his next start or how the A’s will adjust their starting rotation. “It’s too early to tell and make a move right now,” It could be better than that, the soreness could be gone and we could have a different plan, but right now that’s kind of the outlook.” On May 2, Miller threw seven no-hit innings against the Seattle Mariners but left with no decision. Kotsay allowed Miller to pitch into the seventh inning for the first time, resulting in a 1-2-3 inning.

Brian Daboll couldn’t really answer on Saturday whether he intends to lighten Saquon Barkley’s workload this season with a two-back rotation. He doesn’t know if Barkley will be on the field come training camp as his contract standoff with the team drags on. “Well, depends on what we have out here come August,” Daboll said before the second practice of rookie minicamp. “Getting around, seeing what we’ve got in terms of players’ loads and how much – it’s a completely different team. We’ll see how it goes once we get out here and compete with pads in training camp and preseason games.” Rookie Eric Gray’s selection in the fifth round of April’s NFL Draft out of Oklahoma does add an interesting element to Daboll’s and Joe Schoen’s roster construction for this fall, though. The running back depth chart now includes vets Barkley, Matt Breida and Gary Brightwell, Gray and second-year pro Jashaun Corbin. On top of that, second-year wideout Wan’Dale Robinson is a former running back whose skill set makes him a dual threat in the backfield and out wide. Breida (punt protector), Brightwell (kick

Zack Kuntz compares himself to a player on a divisional rival. Kuntz, a seventh-round draft pick by the Jets in last week’s NFL draft, began his college career at Penn State before transferring to Old Dominion for his final two years of eligibility. So it is natural Kuntz models his game after former Penn State tight end Mike Gesicki, who spent five seasons with the Dolphins before signing with the Patriots this offseason. “I’m familiar with him through our roots at Penn State,” Kuntz said about Gesicki. “Some of the coaches that we had and the offenses that we fit in. Obviously, it’s an easy comparison for me. “He’s an athletic freak, as everybody knows. He’s a guy that I kind of see as similar.” If Kuntz’s career mirrors anything close to Gesicki’s, the Jets could have one of the steals of the 2023 draft. In five seasons with the Dolphins, Gesicki caught 231 passes for 2,617 yards and 18 touchdowns. Gesicki parlayed that into a one-year, $9 million contract with the Patriots. During his last two seasons at Old Dominion, Kuntz registered 85 catches

Associated Press WASHINGTON — Women should start getting every-other-year mammograms at age 40 instead of waiting until 50, according to a draft recommendation from a federal task force. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has long said women can choose to start breast cancer screening as young as 40, with a stronger recommendation that they get the X-ray exams every two years from age 50 through 74. Tuesday’s update -– if the draft proposal is finalized -– would mark a shift in the influential panel’s guidelines although it’s not likely to end confusion. Other health groups differ over when and how often to screen. “This new recommendation will help save lives and prevent more women from dying due to breast cancer,” said former task force chair Dr. Carol Mangione. The task force noted that Black women are 40% more likely to die of breast cancer than white women, making mammograms at 40 an especially important step -– but also urged more research to better understand and combat the disparity. The task force also noted that nearly half of all women have dense breasts, which means

MARTINEZ — Anthony Timmons was 18 in December 2015 when police arrested him on charges that he’d aided a Richmond gang member in the killing of a man who was mistaken for a police informant in a 2006 homicide case. For Timmons, the arrest would mark the beginning of a wait of more than seven years behind bars, which ended May 3 when Timmons was found not guilty of all charges and released later that day. Now in his mid-20s, Timmons is re-entering society as a man with no convictions on his record, despite spending virtually his entire adulthood behind bars. “I believe he was the Contra Costa jail’s longest resident when he was released,” Timmons’ attorney, Howard Williams, said in a Tuesday interview. “He’s just a victim of the legal morass that kept him there for so long.” Timmons defense during trial was simple: the August 2015 murder of 66-year-old Carl Roberts was not Timmons’ doing, but the work of his co-defendant, Antoine Saucer, a 41-year-old Richmond native and reputed gang member who was convicted of killing Roberts in 2015. Williams painted Timmons, who

A stranger with an ax smashed his way into a Rohnert Park home on Sunday night and was sitting on the couch when officers arrived, the police said. A resident on Bruce Avenue called 911 at 7:25 p.m. and said a man he did not know had entered the house after using an ax to break the sliding glass door from the back yard. The resident said he left through the front door. Officers surrounded the home and called for the intruder to come out. When he did not comply, they approached and saw the man sitting on a couch. He failed to respond to further instructions, and the officers went in and took him into custody without incident. He was no longer holding the ax, they said. The intruder was identified as a 43-year-old man from Groveland, in Tuolumne County. He was booked into Sonoma County jail on suspicion of one felony county of vandalism. No injuries were reported from the incident. Related Articles Crime and Public Safety | A loving Australian father has been exposed as a convicted American killer who lived life

The family of a 4-year-old girl allegedly scalded by a steaming hot Chicken McNugget is taking McDonald’s to court in Broward County, faulting the fast-food giant for poor training and failing to protect its customers. Philana Holmes says in her lawsuit that she took her daughter to the McDonald’s restaurant at 7600 NW 57th St. in Tamarac in 2019 and ordered a six-piece Happy Meal with milk and a Lion King toy. “The Chicken McNuggets inside of that Happy Meal were unreasonably and dangerously hot and caused [the victim’s] skin and flesh around her thighs to burn,” the lawsuit states. The burns were second-degree, according to the lawsuit, and the chicken was on her thigh for nearly two minutes. The girl, whose name is not disclosed in the lawsuit, is autistic and will not be testifying. Lawsuits in state court don’t require plaintiffs to be specific about how much money they are seeking, but it is above $15,000. Broward Circuit Judge David Haimes split the trial into two parts — the first will determine whether McDonald’s is responsible for the burn. If McDonald’s loses, a

While it might seem like the humblest of instruments, the tambourine is actually among music’s most cosmopolitan percussion implements. Known by more than at least two dozen different names, from Indonesia’s rapa’i and Egypt’s mazhar to India’s daff and Ireland’s bodhrán, the round frame drum plays an essential role accompanying rituals, celebrations, and dances across the globe. Brian Rice, the Oakland percussionist devoted to the Brazilian tambourine, or pandeiro, felt like the time was ripe to give the instrument its due, an ambition that comes to fruition May 14 at Walnut Creek’s Lesher Center for the Arts. Conducted by Matilda Hofman, the Diablo Symphony Orchestra presents the world premiere of São Paulo composer Felipe Senna’s “Concerto for Pandeiro and Orchestra.” East Bay percussionist Brian Rice and his pandeiros will be on hand for a Diablo Symphony concert May 14. (Anne Hamersky/courtesy of Brian Rice)  A co-director of the Berkeley Choro Ensemble with flutist Jane Lenoir, Rice “always thought there could or should be a pandeiro concerto,” he said. Senna had already collaborated with the Choro Ensemble and when Rice approached him about the concerto idea

By Elin McCoy | Bloomberg If you’re on an all-out quest to make great cabernet, you might aim for Napa or Bordeaux. Not Daniel Daou. After a decade-long global search for the right plot of land to start growing the grape, he found the ideal combo of soil and climate for his dream in Paso Robles, a land of oak-studded hills and winding back roads, a three-hour drive south of San Francisco. “Paso,” he says, “has a climate between Pauillac in Bordeaux and Oakville in Napa. It was my destiny.” Once sleepy and overlooked, the region has new energy and a definite wow factor. It’s California’s shiny new wine hot spot, and not just for cabernet. It’s where to go for top Rhone style wines, and tourism is booming. Brothers George and Daniel Daou helped push Paso into the current spotlight with their wines and compelling story. After fleeing the bombs of the 1973 civil war in Lebanon with their family (one rocket hit their house and almost killed them), they ended up in France, where they grew up. The pair moved to California for college and later

In a fascinating new essay for the New Yorker, Prince Harry’s Pulitzer Prize-winning ghostwriter J.R. Moehringer opens up about a particularly combative scene between the two during the mostly friendly, but often intense two-year process of writing and editing the Duke of Sussex’s best-selling memoir, “Spare.” The scene revealed something essential about Harry’s insecurities and motivations for writing the book, according to Moehringer’s essay: Harry wants to be taking seriously, he wants to be seen as “smart.” Harry thought he could do this by proving he had his “wits” about him during a particularly grueling moment in his life — in January 2012, when he, a British army captain, underwent a brutal military exercise before his second deployment to Afghanistan. As described in “Spare” and Moehringer’s essay, Harry was “captured” by pretend terrorists in a simulation to find out if he had the toughness to survive an actual capture on the battlefield. After he was hooded, dragged to an underground bunker, “beaten, frozen, starved, stripped and forced into excruciating stress positions,” one of his balaclava-wearing captors hurled a vile insult to him about his late mother, Princess

MIAMI — Listen, stranger things have happened. It’s sports. Human error is heavily involved. Teams have risen from playoff ashes to recover from 3-1 deficits. Although the Knicks haven’t shown much in the way of chutzpah during this series, they’re still technically just one road victory away from recapturing home court advantage. But before ideas of miracles can be muttered, there are a few problems the Knicks need to figure out. “Every shot we take is contested,” Derrick Rose told the Daily News. “And it’s vice versa for them.” That’s the simplified version from a player, a veteran of 52 playoff games, who has witnessed this entire series from the Knicks bench. Left unsaid are the layered reasons why it’s been so difficult for the Knicks to score and defend. So here are four that best explain why the Knicks trail 3-1 to the Heat. It also can be read as four things Tom Thibodeau’s squad needs to reverse for an improbable comeback. RANDLE’S HOUDINI ACT This one is simple to understand. When a roster has one All-Star, it can’t afford for that player to

By Devon M. Sayers | CNN Officials in Southwest Louisiana have charged a 58-year-old man with shooting at a group of juveniles who were playing hide and seek, injuring one. The incident happened early Sunday morning in the small town of Starks, Louisiana, near the Texas state line. Authorities say that a group of juveniles “were playing hide and seek in the area and were hiding on the neighbor’s property,” when David V. Doyle fired his weapon. Doyle told detectives that he “observed shadows outside his home, at which time he went inside and retrieved his firearm. He then advised detectives he went back outside and observed people running away from his property, at which time he began shooting at them,” according to a release from the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff Office. A 14-year-old girl was shot in the back of the head and was transported to the hospital with “non-life threatening injuries,” the department said. Related Articles Crime and Public Safety | Party shooting in Southern California leaves 2 dead, 5 more hurt Crime and Public Safety | Two shot in Oakland while sitting in

Titles don’t get much more provocative than that of Marc Anthony Thompson’s new show at San Francisco’s Magic Theatre, “The Ni¿¿er Lovers.” “I wanted to record all the people that called to get tickets at the theater to hear how they solved their dilemma to say the N-word,” says writer-composer-director Thompson. “But the emphasis is really on ‘Lovers.’ This play is really a celebration of a really great journey, and a really great love story.” It’s loosely inspired by the true story of Ellen and William Craft, an enslaved couple who escaped from Georgia to Boston in 1848. Light-skinned Ellen disguised herself as a white man for the journey, while her darker-skinned husband posed as her enslaved valet. (A book about them, Ilyon Woo’s “Master Slave Husband Wife,” came out a few months ago.) “I’ve been reticent to actually draw that connection myself, because we’ve taken just the kernel of that story, and we use it as a jumping-off point to talk about gender, race then, race now, birth control, women’s rights, race relations and colorism, with the shock and awe of how little has

By Edwin Chan | Bloomberg Microsoft Corp.’s LinkedIn plans to shut its jobs app in China and cut about 716 jobs, as the US professional networking service further shrinks its presence in the world’s No. 2 economy. LinkedIn, citing intense competition, will phase out the InCareer local jobs app by August. It intends to cut local engineering and product teams, while downsizing functions such as sales and marketing, it said in a blogpost. The move extends a withdrawal from the world’s largest internet market that began about two years ago, after LinkedIn ran into regulatory scrutiny and local rivals flourished. The US company will keep an office and staff there, in part to support a business helping domestically based companies recruit and train talent abroad. “We’ll focus our China strategy on assisting companies operating in China to hire, market, and train abroad,” the company said in an internal memo. “Though InCareer experienced some success in the past year thanks to our strong China-based team, it also encountered fierce competition and a challenging macroeconomic climate.” Related Articles Technology | Best and worst US cities for remote

Q: I often drive on Central Expressway from Palo Alto toward Mountain View, and can’t believe they haven’t fixed traffic flows into downtown Mountain View yet. I miss the ease of turning onto Castro Street on a whim, with its great shopping and dining. Instead, I pass, intending to turn around, then give up and continue on my way to another south/west valley opportunity. Are there plans to fix this quagmire, and improve downtown Mountain View access? If the goal is to continue the “no cars on Castro” policy, one solution is to resolve restrictions at Evelyn and Castro. Only a few restaurants there would be impacted, along with pedestrians going to or from the Caltrain station. It’s highly fixable. A more permanent solution is to limit parking on Castro to 20 to 30 minutes, rather than zero parking and no cars. More and better expressway signage before Shoreline advising about access to downtown Mountain View would be helpful, in any case. E. H. A: With the permanent closure of Castro Street at the train tracks, Mountain View will be adding a ramp from Shoreline

The huge snowpack that has blanketed the Sierra Nevada this winter has done more than end California’s drought and extend ski season. It’s also changing how Californians keep the lights on. With reservoirs full across the state, hydroelectricity generation from dams is expected to expand dramatically this summer, after three dry years when it was badly hobbled. In 2017, a wet year similar to this one, hydropower made up 21% of all the electricity generated in California. But by 2021, in the middle of California’s most recent drought, it provided just 7%. This year, billions of gallons of water are once again spinning turbines in power plants at huge dams like Shasta, Oroville and Folsom, and will be all summer and into the fall as the snowpack melts. More hydropower means more clean electricity, less need to burn natural gas and other fossil fuels, less risk of blackouts during heat waves, and less smog and greenhouse gas emissions, experts say. “It gives us more tools in the toolbox, more capacity to work with,” said Lindsay Buckley, a spokeswoman for the California Energy Commission, a state

It was four years ago this week that the San Jose Sharks beat the Colorado Avalanche in Game 7 of their second-round playoff series, leading them to what was then their fourth Western Conference Final in 10 seasons. After a gruesome head injury two weeks earlier, Joe Pavelski made a dramatic return to SAP Center, collecting a goal and an assist to give what would be that era of Sharks teams, that special and unique group of players, one final unforgettable moment. The Sharks then would lose to the St. Louis Blues in the next round, Pavelski would be allowed to walk as a free agent, and nothing’s been the same since. Sharks general manager Mike Grier knows it won’t be easy for his team to get back to where it was a few years ago, competing in playoff games in front of delirious, sold-out crowds. The best way to do it, at least from his vantage point, is to build from the ground up. Truthfully, that might mean being one of the NHL’s worst teams again next season and collecting another top-five pick in

Recent years have seen a national exodus of teachers who feel overworked and burnt out, leading to skyrocketing attrition and a national teacher shortage. However, California may be bucking that trend. The state saw a 35% increase in teachers who completed a California teacher prep program and their preliminary credential between 2017-21. I am on my way to being one of them. Two years ago, I decided to take a pay cut and leave my well-paying, low-stress private sector job to become a teacher. After graduating college, I moved to the Bay Area to become a management consultant. Despite the engaging work and learning potential, I felt unfulfilled. I longed for an opportunity to expand my impact and help others. Upon reflection, I realized that everything I had earned was due to the hard work and dedication of my teachers and mentors. It was time to pay it forward by giving other students what I had growing up: an engaging learning environment with teachers who believed and invested in their students. I applied to join Teach For America Bay Area, a nonprofit teacher prep program