Category: Bay Area

RICHMOND — Maria Chavez first heard about George Miller III Children’s Center almost two decades ago when a neighbor recommended that she send her now-18-year-old daughter there for preschool. After sending all three of her children to the same program, she said her initial nervousness turned into pride that she could provide them a quality early education. “I’m so happy it’s accessible, because as a mother who works, I can’t always give them much time, but here they prepare them so well,” Chavez said, waiting for her youngest daughter, 4-year-old Emily, to finish snack time. “Seeing how they treat my child is beautiful. The help and support we receive here is like another family.” Emily Chavez, right, and her classmates eat yogurt before their parents pick them up from a Head Start childcare program at George Miller III Center in Richmond, Calif., on Friday, March 9, 2024. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group) Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia, right, talks to 3 and 4 year old kids during a visit to the Head Start childcare program at George Miller III Center in Richmond, Calif., on

A Fairfield school resource officer is facing several charges after allegations surfaced that he was allegedly exchanging inappropriately texts and photos with two underaged females. Jennifer Brantley, Public Information Officer for the Fairfield Police Department, said a student’s parents called the department on the evening of March 8 to report allegations that James Louis, the school resource officer at Rodriguez High School, had been texting their daughter. According to Brantley, Louis cooperated with police and turned himself in after confronted by law enforcement. He was arrested on Saturday and booked in the Solano County Jail. James Louis  “It is our understanding that he has since posted bail, but that is not a process overseen by the department,” said Brantley. Louis faces several charges, including sending, distributing or exhibiting harmful or obscene material to a minor, contacting or communicating with a minor with the intent to commit a sex crime and knowingly transporting, duplicating or possessing child pornography or other material with the intent to distribute or show it to others. At this time, Brantley said there are two known victims, both under the age of

TODAY’S WORD — FRIJOLES (FRIJOLES: free-HO-lees: Beans used in Mexican-style cooking.) Average mark 29 words Time limit 40 minutes Can you find 37 or more words in FRIJOLES? The list will be published tomorrow. YESTERDAY’S WORD — GENIAL gain gale glean glen elan nail ingle agile alien align angel angle anile lain lane lean lien linage line ling 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.

Cy the Cynic says that if at first you don’t succeed … well, failure may be your thing. Playing at today’s six spades, Cy took the ace of clubs, drew trumps and let the nine of diamonds ride, losing to East’s ten. Cy ruffed the club return and took his A-K of hearts. The queen didn’t fall, so he led a second diamond to dummy’s queen. Alas, down one. “I had many chances,” Cy said: “the king of diamonds with West, or the J-10, or a doubleton queen of hearts.” BETTER PLAY Cy missed a better play. He takes the ace of trumps at Trick Two, then the A-K of hearts. He leads a trump to dummy’s nine and returns the jack of hearts, planning to pitch a diamond if East plays low. If West won, the Cynic would discard another diamond on the ten of hearts and rely on the diamond finesse. If East covers the jack of hearts, Cy is home. He ruffs, leads a trump to dummy, throws a diamond on the ten of hearts, ruffs a club and passes the nine

A condo in Palo Alto that sold for $675,000, is the most affordable real estate sale in Palo Alto in the past week. For comparison, the overall average price of real estate in the area during that time was $2.2 million. The average price per square foot was $1,552. A total of 8 home sales were recorded for the period with an average square footage of 1,419 square feet, 3 bedrooms, and 2 bathrooms. For the purpose of this list, we included real estate that sold for between $10 and $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 4, even if the property may have been sold earlier. 8. $5.3 million, single-family house in the 900 block of Laurel Glen Drive A sale has been finalized for the single-family home in the 900 block of Laurel Glen Drive in Palo Alto. The price was $5,300,000 and the new owners took over the house in February. The house was built in 1973 and the living area totals 3,000 square

Dear Amy: My fiance and I are planning our destination wedding this summer. We have a small guest list, and while making our plans we have been very aware of the costs to our guests and the substantial commitment it takes to attend a destination wedding. My mother is pretty wonderful, and although a destination wedding is not her first choice for us, she is being a good sport. She and my father would prefer that we have a more traditional wedding in our hometown. Recently, though, my mom started advocating that we should include an old friend of hers who is familiar with our wedding destination and has expressed enthusiasm about attending. I have met this woman (my fiance has not), and I am not keen to invite an extra person. When I told my mother this, she offered to pay for the cost of including the friend. I’m feeling pressured to agree to this. What do you think we should do? – Bumbling Bride Dear Bumbling: First, you should ask your mother why she is so enthusiastic about doing this. She may be

A house in Danville that sold for $1.4 million tops the list of the most affordable real estate sales in Danville, San Ramon, Dublin, Pleasanton in the past week. For comparison, the overall average price of real estate in Danville, San Ramon, Dublin, Pleasanton over the last week was $2.3 million. The average price per square foot ended up at $789. A total of 11 home sales were recorded for the period with an average square footage of 2,928 square feet, 4 bedrooms, and 3 bathrooms. The top 10 list below includes the best deals on real estate priced between $10-$10,000,000. The prices in the list below concern real estate sales where the title was recorded during the week of March 4 even if the property may have been sold earlier. 10. $2.7 million, single-family residence in the 100 block of Lasata Court The property in the 100 block of Lasata Court in Danville has new owners. The price was $2,670,000. The house was built in 1996 and has a living area of 4,071 square feet. The price per square foot is $656. The house

No. 2 Valley Christian 2, Archbishop Riordan 0 In three previous games this season, Valley Christian pitcher Quinten Marsh had been about as dominant as it gets — 15 innings, 31 strikeouts, three walks, one run allowed. On Tuesday, he had no let up. In a West Catholic Athletic League opener on the road against Archbishop Riordan, the junior who has committed to Stanford fired a four-hit shutout with 10 strikeouts and one walk as Valley Christian stretched its season-opening winning streak to seven games. Ranked second behind De La Salle in the most recent Bay Area News Group Top 25, the San Jose powerhouse on pace to rise to No. 1 when the updated rankings are released next week. The shutout in San Francisco on Tuesday was Valley Christian’s fourth this season. The Warriors have given up just four runs while scoring 40 during their 7-0 start. They got all the offense Marsh needed in the first inning against Riordan when Jordan Ortiz’s sacrifice fly to right field knocked in Hunter Fujimoto, who opened the game with a single. Nathan Choi’s single in the

The California Supreme Court will hear an appeal next month of a case that blocked a UC Berkeley housing project proposed at People’s Park — weighing the legal merit of plans that have drawn decades of intense protest and controversy. More than a year after a lower court ruled the project’s Environmental Impact Report was inadequate, California’s highest court announced Tuesday they will hear arguments in Los Angeles on April 3. This is the first news development since the state Supreme Court agreed to hear the case last May. UC Berkeley’s proposal for that land includes housing for 1,100 university students and 125 homeless residents within two 12- and six-story dorm buildings — coming full circle since 1969, when the university’s initial desire to build housing on the 2.8-acre site culminated in thousands of protesters, leading to a state of emergency and one death. Attorneys for Cal asked the California Supreme Court in February 2023 to hear the case, after a state appellate court ruled that UC must either “fix the errors” in its California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) documents or ask the state Supreme

By MARK ANDERSON (AP Sports Writer) LAS VEGAS (AP) — Gonzaga’s stranglehold on the West Coast Conference Tournament had been especially frustrating for Saint Mary’s, the Gaels often seeing their nemesis celebrate at their expense. Not Tuesday night. No. 21 Saint Mary’s led the WCC championship game nearly the entire way to beat No. 17 Gonzaga 69-60 behind Aidan Mahaney’s 23 points and Mitchell Saxen’s 19 points and 15 rebounds. Gonzaga (25-7) had won four WCC championships in a row and 10 of 11, with Saint Mary’s in 2019 the one year the Bulldogs didn’t claim the trophy. The Gaels earned the conference’s automatic bid for the NCAA Tournament, but both sides were certain to make the 68-team field even before tipoff. “We beat a good team, a program we’ve got a ton of respect for,” Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett said. “They’ve helped us become the program that we are because we were punching up there for a long time and trying to do what they were doing and be as good as they were.” The sharp-shooting Mahaney was a major reason the Gaels

SANTA CLARA COUNTY – Two dozen cases of copper wire theft have been reported at Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority sites since the beginning of the year, resulting in more than half a million dollars in damage, according to authorities. The latest case happened around 12:45 p.m. Monday at the Cropley light-rail station in San Jose, Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Brooks Jarosz said in a news release. Two suspects, ages 60 and 55, were arrested 45 minutes later near the Reamwood light-rail station in Sunnyvale. Jarosz said deputies found about 20 feet of copper wire worth $10,000 in their pickup truck. Both were booked into the Main Jail in San Jose on charges of possession of stolen property, conspiracy and possession of methamphetamine. It was not immediately known if either of the suspects was responsible for other copper wire thefts. In many of the cases, thieves have cut lines near rail platforms, surveyed the area for any law enforcement response and returned later to collect the wire, Jarosz said. Jarosz said the VTA, along with Caltrain, has seen an increase in copper wire

Correction:  A story published on February 9, 2024 about fired Oakland police officer Jocelyn Chang Newman has been edited to exclude statements made by Newman naming an individual she claims was likely responsible for authoring racist messages on her Facebook account. Because the statements could not be independently verified, they have been redacted from the story.

BERKELEY — California has signed coach Mark Madsen to a two-year extension after he led an impressive turnaround in his first season with the Golden Bears. Athletic director Jim Knowlton announced the deal on Tuesday that will run through the 2029-30 season, saying Madsen has made an “incredible difference” in his brief tenure at Cal. Madsen took over a program that went 3-29 under Mark Fox last season and led the Bears to a 13-18 mark heading into the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament on Wednesday night against Stanford. Cal went 9-11 in regular-season play in the conference to finish tied for sixth. That was the school’s best finish since 2016-17. The Bears won six of their final eight games at Haas Pavilion as Madsen created excitement that helped deliver several big home crowds. “I’m grateful to Jim Knowlton and our administration for their ongoing confidence in what we’re building in Berkeley,” Madsen said in a statement. “Our goal is to win championships and pursue greatness, and our entire basketball program will continue to execute on that vision with the Cal community behind us.

San Jose Sharks forward Filip Zadina scored twice on the power play Tuesday to establish a new career high for goals in a season, and But the Sharks also could not stop taking penalties of their own. After Zadina tied the game with his second power-play goal at the 13:34 mark of the second period, the Sharks fell behind for good in the third period as Owen Tippett, on a delayed penalty call, scored his 23rd of the season to help give the Philadelphia Flyers a 3-2 win at Wells Fargo Center. The Flyers had the extra attacker on when Tippett charged toward the net and redirected a perfect Travis Konecny pass past goalie Magnus Chrona at the 5:09 mark of the third period. Besides the Tippett goal, the Sharks were shorthanded four times. They also went 2-for-5 on the power play, and now have 11 power-play goals in their last seven games. Chrona, in his fifth career NHL start, established a new high with 39 saves as the Sharks lost for the 10th time in 11 games. The Sharks and Flyers traded power-play goals

BerkeleyBERKELEY — A 2.2-acre piece of land in West Berkeley known as the Ohlone Shellmound village site will be handed over to the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust following years of legal battles and a $27 million settlement. “Today the City of Berkeley made history, and we did it by honoring the first people to live on this land,” Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguín said in a press release announcing the deal Tuesday. “This is a historic step toward righting past wrongs and embracing a future that honors the diverse history of the entire region.” A parking lot at 1900 Fourth St. at University Avenue currently sits on what officials say is the last undeveloped portion of one of the first human settlements on the San Francisco Bay shore. Established more than 5,700 years ago, the site was once home to the Ohlone tribe before being taken over by Spanish conquistadors and American settlers. Thanks to a $27 million deal — $25.5 million paid by the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust and the remaining $1.5 million from the city — that land will be turned over to the

By Binaj Gurubacharya | Associated Press KATHMANDU, Nepal — Sixteen years ago, mass protests in Nepal forced then-King Gyanendra Shah to give up the throne and clear the way for a republic. Now, a new wave of protest is trying to bring him back. The capital of the Himalayan country is again teeming with demonstrators, this time demanding that Shah be reinstated as king and Hinduism brought back as a state religion. Royalist groups accuse the country’s major political parties of corruption and failed governance and say people are frustrated with politicians. “Come back king, save the country. Long live our beloved king. We want a monarchy,” the crowd chanted at a rally last month in Kathmandu. Growing frustration with the present system has led to calls for radical change. Pro-monarchy rallies have been growing larger, and an increasing number of homes and businesses are displaying portraits of the ex-king and his ancestors. Gyanendra was a constitutional head of state without executive or political powers until 2005, when he seized absolute power. He disbanded the government and parliament, jailed politicians and journalists and cut off

Lauren Daigle has announced more dates on her blockbuster Kaleidoscope Tour. And they include a stop at one of the Bay Area’s most beautiful concert venues. The superstar pop vocalist performs Aug. 29 at Frost Amphitheater on the Stanford University campus. Tickets are $42.95-$132.95, laurendaigle.com. Daigle — who is known for such hits as “You Say” and “Rescue” — will be supporting her self-titled fourth studio effort, which was one of the best albums of 2023. Read our review of Daigle’s concert back in November in Sacramento. The show was so good that it made our list of the top 10 concerts of 2023. Here are the tour dates: MARCH 14 Giant Center Hershey, PA MARCH 15 John Paul Jones Arena Charlottesville, VA MARCH 16 Chartway Arena Norfolk, VA APR 04 Ford Center Evansville, IN APR 05 Simmons Bank Arena North Little Rock, AR APR 06 Bridgestone Arena Nashville, TN APR 11 Toyota Center Houston, TX APR 12 Moody Center Austin, TX APR 13 United Supermarkets Arena Lubbock, TX APR 17 Pechanga Arena San Diego, CA APR 19 Save Mart Center Fresno, CA APR 20

By Marcia Dunn | Associated Press CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Four astronauts from four countries caught a lift back to Earth with SpaceX on Tuesday to end a half-year mission at the International Space Station. Their capsule streaked across the U.S. in the predawn darkness and splashed into the Gulf of Mexico near the Florida Panhandle. NASA’s Jasmin Moghbeli, a Marine helicopter pilot, led the returning crew of Denmark’s Andreas Mogensen, Japan’s Satoshi Furukawa and Russia’s Konstantin Borisov. They moved into the space station last August. Their replacements arrived last week in their own SpaceX capsule. Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov, left, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen, NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa are seen inside the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft onboard the SpaceX recovery ship MEGAN shortly after having landed in the Gulf of Mexico, on March 12, 2024. Joel Kowsky/NASA via Getty Images “We left you some peanut butter and tortillas,” Moghbeli radioed after departing the orbiting complex on Monday. Replied NASA’s Loral O’Hara: “I miss you guys already and thanks for that very generous gift.”

Those vibrant dyes that color your Easter eggs, Gatorade, Fanta sodas, Doritos, and candies like Skittles might soon be deemed unsafe for kids at California public schools. After adopting a bill last year that outlaws four food additives statewide starting in 2027, California now is moving to ban more than half a dozen dyes — Blue 1 and 2, Green 3, Red 40, Yellow 5 and 6, and the white pigment titanium dioxide — from foods offered at public schools. “As a lawmaker, a parent, and someone who struggled with ADHD, I find it unacceptable that we allow schools to serve foods with additives that are linked to cancer, hyperactivity, and neurobehavioral harms,” said Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel, an Encino Democrat and author of AB 2316 who also wrote last year’s California Food Safety Act that critics dubbed a ‘Skittles ban.’ “This bill will empower schools to better protect the health and wellbeing of our kids and encourage manufacturers to stop using these dangerous additives.” Gabriel noted a 2021 California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment report that said “consumption of synthetic food dyes can result

PHOENIX — The San Francisco Giants got a scare Tuesday when their starting catcher, Patrick Bailey, was forced to depart their Cactus League game against the Dodgers. On a pitch from Blayne Enlow in the bottom of the third inning, Freddie Freeman swung, fouling off the ball, which struck Bailey’s throwing hand. The 24-year-old catcher finished the inning behind the plate but was replaced by Jakson Reetz to begin the fourth inning. The team later announced that Bailey had suffered a right hand contusion, or bruise, averting the worst-case scenario of a possible fracture. He underwent a set of X-rays, which came back clean, manager Bob Melvin said. “Hopefully that remains the case,” Melvin said. “As long as it’s not broken, I don’t care.” Bailey was not available to comment. After debuting last year as one of the top defensive catchers in the majors, the former first-round pick is central to the Giants’ plans this season. Behind him on the depth chart are Tom Murphy, brought in on a two-year free-agent contract, and Reetz, a non-roster invitee. If Bailey were forced to miss time, that

Lacey Pfalz | (TNS) TravelPulse Far above accidents or injuries, travelers are concerned about civil unrest and terrorism while traveling, according to Global Rescue’s Winter 2024 Traveler Sentiment and Safety Survey. The survey, which asked over 1,500 current and former Global Rescue members about their travel concerns in late January, revealed that 36% of travelers are most concerned with civil unrest and terrorism, a three-fold increase from spring 2023. One quarter of respondents are most concerned with having an accident or getting sick during their trip, a decrease from the spring 2023 survey, in which 50% of travelers reported this as their biggest concern. Seven to 9% of travelers reported trip cancellations, robbery or theft were their biggest concerns, while 5% each feared testing positive for COVID-19 and increasing natural disasters. Additionally, 34% of respondents noted that recent global crises such as the wars in Ukraine and Gaza are more likely to encourage them to purchase extra travel protection that involves security extraction or other conflict-specific protections. “We’re seeing an understandable increase in traveler concern worldwide. Nevertheless, international trip takers continue to travel anyway despite