California

California

Newsom got a lot of heat from his fellow Democrats for his podcast chats with controversial figures on the right, but a new poll shows he seems to be making headway with a demographic where the left lost ground to President Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans: young men. The governor was undeterred by the criticism, saying that Democrats needed to get out of our own damn bubble on a May episode of his podcast.

The Board was demanding that I compromise my integrity and values. I would not do that, she said. I stand by my values and my reputation as a professional administrator for the past twenty-five years.

I bought her some roses, some chocolates from See's and a Teddy that said be mine forever," Alvaraz said.

The driver behind the wheel of a minivan fled from police across four counties, speeding across freeways and evading the California Highway Patrol until the suspect made it across the border into Mexico, officials said, where they seemingly escaped. Attempts to stop the vehicle using spike strips failed as the van continued to speed south through Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties, as police pursued the van for more than two hours.

On Wednesday, executives from a group called the Esmeralda Land Company will present their plans to officials in Cloverdale, a small city of roughly 9,000 residents in northern Sonoma County. The project, titled Esmeralda, is led by Devon Zuegel, a tech worker who hopes to build a hotel, new housing, and a park on a 266-acre piece of land in the southern end of the city.

Nancy Pelosi's daughter, Christine Pelosi, is tossing her hat into the ring for the California state senate, just days after her mom announced her retirement from Congress. The younger Pelosi, a longtime political consultant and former chairperson of the California Democratic Women's Caucus, announced her campaign on social media on Monday morning. Hi, I'm Christine Pelosi. Attorney, author, advocate, wife, mom, and today, a candidate for California State Senate, she says in a campaign video accompanying the post.

He created the documentary "Straight Outta Hunters Point" in 2003, and his film "Sucker Free City," directed by Spike Lee, aired on Showtime. In 2024, he took over editorship of the San Francisco Bay View National Black Newspaper, and just last month, the Society of Professional Journalists of Northern California awarded him the Silver Heart Award for revitalizing the paper when it was "on the brink of closure." The award noted his work in Black media and mentoring members of the community.

Editor's note: We prohibit the use of bots and any other artificial methods of voting. Suspicious activity could lead to the disqualification of candidates and a permanent suspension of the Athlete of the Week poll. No voting by email: Votes by email and after 5 p.m. Wednesday are not counted. Welcome to the Bay Area News Group (Mercury News & East Bay Times) boys Athlete of the Week poll.

Emari O'Garrow, 47, is accused of coaxing a woman into coming to his apartment, where he allegedly forced himself on her and raped her. The victim's description of the attack evokes his five prior rape and sexual assault convictions overseas, where he spoke to his victims with a tone and confidence that signaled that he not only was consciously ignoring their refusals to sex, but that their pleas to stop sexually excited him.

The City of Pasadena and the Rose Bowl Operating Co. filed a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order Monday in Los Angeles County Superior Court seeking to prevent UCLA from leaving the Rose Bowl or terminating its stadium lease until pending litigation against the school is resolved. The filing contends that the plaintiffs would suffer "immediate and irreparable harm if the status quo is not preserved during the pendency of this lawsuit." A hearing has tentatively been scheduled for Wednesday morning.

SANTA CRUZ - For years, the San Lorenzo River mouth surf break in Santa Cruz has been celebrated by local surfers and history buffs as the location where surfing was first introduced to the continental United States more than a century ago. On Friday, state authorities stepped in to make that recognition official. The California Historical Resource Commission unanimously agreed to designate the Three Princes' Surf Site at the San Lorenzo River mouth as a California Historical Landmark. The application process was spearheaded by California State Parks but came after at least a decade of advocacy work among local community members and surfers.

While the company has been working hard to garner trust in the community and distance itself from California Forever, Esmeralda shares similarities with the Solano-based company. Like California Forever CEO Jan Sramek, Zuegel worked in Silicon Valley, including at the software developer platform Github and blockchain company Bloom Protocol. And similar to California Forever's experience in Solano County, residents in Cloverdale raised questions about Esmeralda's investors. Rumors circulated early on, claiming Esmeralda is backed by venture capitalist Peter Thiel. While Zuegel has refuted that rumor and denied any relations to the conservative libertarian, she has declined to reveal the identities of the project's 19 backers. When the question came up during a project open house in October, Zuegel was nonspecific, saying they "tend to actually be private individuals who live in the Bay Area."

A cyclist was hospitalized after being stabbed at the famed Marin Headlands on Saturday, officials said. CHP spokesperson Arthur Tellez told SFGATE the stabbing occurred at 11:40 a.m. on a congested section of Conzelman Road, near Alexander Avenue where the roads intersect with Highway 101. Tellez said the driver of a black Tesla and a cyclist got into an altercation, with the cyclist suffering stab wounds from a knife.

Six years into this law journey, and I'm still all in until I pass the bar,

Google had recently made the visual search tool easier to use on the company's Chrome browser. When users click on an icon hidden in the tool bar, a moveable bubble pops up. Wherever the bubble is placed, a sidebar appears with an artificial intelligence answer, description, explanation or interpretation of whatever is inside the bubble. For students, it provides an easy way to cheat on digital tests without typing in a prompt, or even leaving the page. All they have to do is click.

A series of small earthquakes rattled the Bay Area on Sunday morning. According to preliminary data from the U.S. Geological Society, four quakes shook the East Bay between 9:30 a.m. and 9:50 a.m.

Rotary International's No. 1 focus area is promoting peace, so Mrs. Brandenburg couldn't have brought us a better project.

When the ball was thrown in her direction with the championship on the line, Avery Olson was ready. There was no time on the clock when the JSerra junior defender ran step for step with Orange Lutheran receiver Josie Anderson, who dove but could not reach it in the end zone - an exciting finish to the Southern Section Division 1 girls' flag football final Saturday night at Fred Kelly Stadium in Orange.

This is all about getting stuff done,

California YIMBY, an organization founded eight years ago to promote housing construction in response to an ever-increasing gap between demand and supply, held a victory party in San Francisco recently. Welcome to the most victorious of California YIMBY's victory parties, Brian Hanlon, founder and CEO of the organization, told attendees. Its acronym (Yes In My Backyard) symbolizes its years-long battle with NIMBYs (Not in My Backyard), people and groups who have long thwarted housing projects by pressuring local governments that control land use.

Newsom said Assembly Bill 255, which would have allowed cities to use up to 10% of their state funds to pay for "recovery housing," was unnecessary. That's because using state funds for sober housing is already allowed, the governor said. He said "recent guidance" makes that clear. That was a big surprise to Assemblymember Matt Haney, who had spent the past two years working on the bill Newsom was now saying had been moot all along.

"This was a terrifying set of events. This happened Halloween night, early Nov. 1 morning," says Officer Byron White with the Berkeley Police Department. Officer White says Berkeley police got a call around 6 a.m. of a suspicious man inside a UC Berkeley sorority house - Alpha Chi Omega. INTERACTIVE: Neighborhood Safety Tracker The man is identified as 45-year-old Courtney Alford. Police say Alford fled using a side door.

Cal storylines: The Bears face their second straight AP Top 25 opponent, having lost 31-21 to then-No. 15 Virginia last week at home . . . Cal has dropped 14 consecutive games to Top 25 opponents, dating back to a 21-17 home victory over No. 21 Oregon in the COVID-shortened 2020 season . . . A loser in back-to-back games for the first time this season, Cal needs one victory in its final three games to secure bowl eligibility . . .

An investigation into a man suspected of selling drugs out of his car in East Oakland culminated in his arrest Thursday, as well as the seizure of nearly $475,000, more than 25 pounds of heroin and half a dozen handguns, authorities said. The Alameda County Narcotics Task Force opened the investigation after fielding numerous complaints from residents, according to the Alameda County Sheriff's Office. Detectives identified the suspect and obtained warrants for him, his residence and associated properties.

The man then fled the house through a back door at about 6 a.m. According to investigators, other women in the sorority had reported seeing the man as early as 3 a.m. A review of security footage showed the suspect walking inside and outside of the house until about 6:35 a.m. At one point the suspect left, changed clothes, then returned in a ski mask.

A resident of the house reported seeing a man in her bedroom at around 6 am, and he immediately fled upon being seen. But once UC Berkeley Police were called in, other residents say they'd seen him in the house as early as 3 am. So they looked at the building's security footage, and made some disturbing discoveries. The man had apparently left the sorority house once and changed clothes.

Berkeley Rep used AI art to market its its January production of The Thing About Jellyfish, part of what the theater describes as an experiment to complement not replace the work of our internal creative design team. Its part of a trend of performing arts spaces turning to to AI to save money that is dividing the Bay Area theater community. (SF Chronicle)