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Bay Area Israelis and Palestinians watch developing war with grief, fear for future

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:25 GMT

For seven years, Dan Cohen helmed his Oakland-based media relations company from his new home just outside Tel Aviv — an across-the-world move intended to bring his wife and three children closer to their Jewish roots. And for seven years, life carried on in the warmth and safety he expected.Then came Saturday’s air raid sirens and the repeated dashes to a nearby bomb shelter, as a massive Hamas attack killed hundreds of Israelis and left more than one hundred apparently held hostage.“In a small country, everybody knows somebody,” Cohen said. “This will shape a generation of Israelis.”Days after the bloodiest conflict in Israel in decades and a huge military response left hundreds of people dead and thousands more injured in both Israel and Gaza some who live in the Bay Area but count ties to the Middle East reeled in shock, horror and grief. And while their causes, political allegiances and underlying beliefs remained radically different, both Israelis and Palesti...

PG&E faces California money penalty for huge and destructive wildfire

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:25 GMT

OAKLAND — PG&E is facing the prospect of a state penalty and fines in connection with a huge and destructive wildfire that the utility caused in Northern California, regulators said Monday.The state Public Utilities Commission is eyeing a $45 million penalty against PG&E due to the utility’s role in causing the Dixie Fire that scorched portions of five California counties in 2021.The Dixie Fire cost $1.15 billion and roared through sections of Plumas, Butte, Lassen, Shasta, and Tehama counties.The wildfire began under a PG&E transmission line near State Route 70 and Cresta Dam after a rotting tree fell onto the utility’s power lines.The Dixie blaze erupted in the Feather River Canyon not far from the origin of a fatal blaze in 2018 known as the Camp Fire.The PUC proposed a penalty with three components:— $40 million penalty for capital expenditures to transition records to an electronic format.— $2.5 million payment to California indigenous ...

Newsom signs modified ‘Skittles ban’ law, vetoes caste bias bill over busy weekend

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:25 GMT

Highlighting a flurry of signings and vetoes in recent days, Gov. Gavin Newsom headed into a final week to act on hundreds of bills by approving new environmental and fentanyl laws, prohibiting hidden-fees, and making California the first state to ban food dyes and to hold social media firms accountable for child sex trafficking.The governor also rejected a host of proposed laws, including one that would have made the state the first to ban caste discrimination, and others that would have decriminalized psychedelic drugs and evasion of transit fares. In total, he signed 324 bills and vetoed 144 over the weekend, and has scores left to consider by Saturday’s deadline.Among the notable new laws, California will be the first state to ban four food additives already prohibited in many other countries over possible health risks with signature on a bill critics had lampooned as a “Skittles ban” threatening to take away the popular colorful candy.Newsom in a statement on ...

Hayward: Fatal stabbing under investigation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:25 GMT

HAYWARD – Police are investigating the fatal stabbing of a person Sunday night in Hayward.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Man shot while trying to aid Oakland robbery victim Crime and Public Safety | Five people injured in Oakland shootings Saturday night Crime and Public Safety | East Bay pursuit following robbery ends in highway crash Crime and Public Safety | One dead, one arrested following three-person stabbing in Union City Crime and Public Safety | In Fremont, two carjackings lead to four arrests. All the suspects are juveniles Officers were called to Lance Way and Tucker Street around 10:20 p.m. for a report of an assault with a deadly weapon, the Hayward Police Department said in a statement Monday.Police said officers arrived to find an “unresponsive male outside suffering from what appeared to be stab wounds.” Medical personnel pronounced the person dead at the scene.Police did not r...

Miles Davis fans should check out this amazing new vinyl box set

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:25 GMT

Miles Davis was always moving forward, never content to rest on his lofty laurels.Thus, after fashioning some of the greatest acoustic jazz recordings of all time in the ’50s and ’60s, the great trumpeter “plugged in” with 1969’s “In a Silent Way.”The result is widely considered the start of the jazz master’s “electric period,” which continued on to include such progressive jazz-rock-funk fusion outings as 1971’s “Jack Johnson” (also known as “A Tribute to Jack Johnson”) and 1972’s “On the Corner.”Those three highly influential albums, as well as the equally significant 1970’s “Bitches Brew,” 1971’s “Live-Evil,” 1974’s “Big Fun” and “Get Up With It,”  are featured in the amazing new vinyl box set “Miles Davis: The Electric Years.”The 11-LP set comes from the audio powerhouse Vinyl Me, Please, so you ...

Hamas has fought several rounds of war with Israel

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:25 GMT

By Sarah El Deeb | Associated PressBEIRUT — Hamas, which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007, launched an attack inside Israel over the weekend, killing hundreds and taking others hostage. Its unprecedented breach of the border sent fighters inside border communities and military installations, shocked Israel and its allies, and raised questions about the group’s capabilities and strategy.WHAT IS HAMAS?The group was founded in 1987 by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, a Palestinian refugee living in Gaza, during the first intifada, or uprising, which was marked by widespread protests against Israel’s occupation.Hamas is the Arabic acronym for the Islamic Resistance Movement, and a recognition of the group’s roots and early ties to one of the Sunni world’s most prominent groups, the Muslim Brotherhood, founded in Egypt in the 1920s.The group has vowed to annihilate Israel and has been responsible for many suicide bombings and other deadly attacks on civilians and Israeli s...

Sale closed in Oakland: $2.4 million for a three-bedroom home

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:25 GMT

18050 Broadway Terrace – Google Street ViewA 3,103-square-foot house built in 1995 has changed hands. The spacious property located in the 18000 block of Broadway Terrace in Oakland was sold on Aug. 21, 2023, for $2,350,000, or $757 per square foot. The layout of this two-story home consists of three bedrooms and four baths. In addition, the home includes a two-car garage, ensuring ample room for parking and storage.Additional houses that have recently been sold close by include:A 4,079-square-foot home on the 6000 block of Skyline Boulevard in Oakland sold in April 2023, for $2,300,000, a price per square foot of $564. The home has 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.On Skyline Boulevard, Oakland, in March 2023, a 3,729-square-foot home was sold for $2,400,000, a price per square foot of $644. The home has 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.In August 2022, a 3,675-square-foot home on Skyline Boulevard in Oakland sold for $2,800,000, a price per square foot of $762. The home has 5 bedrooms and 3 bat...

Letters: Attract teachers | Meals on Wheels | BART project | Dictator’s ace | Democrats responsible | National alert

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:25 GMT

Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.Make teaching moreappealing for allRe: “Teacher shortage sends retirees back to school” (Page A1, Oct. 7).I support the bill to make it easier for retired teachers to return to the classroom. I am a senior teacher who intends to continue teaching for many years if I can.That said, I strongly believe that we have to make the job of teaching more appealing by substantially increasing the pay for teachers and working to improve the workplace by decreasing the number of students in middle and high school classrooms.Every student deserves to have qualified teachers in their classrooms. At West Contra Costa Unified School District, we do not have a qualified teacher in every classroom. We must find ways to acquire and retain new teachers. Retired teachers may help, but we must have new teachers to solve this problem.Sarah CreeleyHerculesVolunteers, staff keepMeals on Wheels rollingIt is hard to bel...

‘A disturbing new normal’: Why have chemical releases at Martinez refinery continued?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:25 GMT

The day before the local high school’s homecoming parade last week, the Martinez Refining Company posted on Facebook wishing students a happy homecoming.But just 24 hours later, the refinery quite literally cast a black cloud over the event.At 11 a.m. on Friday, October 6, an ominous plume of black dust bellowed up from the Martinez Refining Company and floated into the city’s downtown.Related ArticlesEnvironment | Electric school buses, pesticides and oil wells: New environmental laws coming to California Environment | The largest dam removal in history stirs hopes of restoring California tribes’ way of life Environment | How to stop owls from killing owls Environment | California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs law requiring big businesses to disclose emissions Environment | Report: Kilauea volcano produces 320+ quakes in 24 hours In a series of events that have begun to seem unnervingly familiar, the Contra C...

Will Hurd ends long-shot bid for GOP nomination, backs Haley

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:25 GMT

By Will Weissert | Associated PressWASHINGTON — Former Texas congressman Will Hurd suspended his Republican presidential bid Monday, abandoning a brief campaign built on criticizing Donald Trump at a time when his party seems even more determined to embrace the former president.Hurd said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that he was endorsing Nikki Haley, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, for the GOP nomination.“While I appreciate all the time and energy our supporters have given, it is important to recognize the realities of the political landscape and the need to consolidate our party around one person to defeat both Donald Trump and President Biden,” Hurd wrote.He said Haley “has shown a willingness to articulate a different vision for the country than Donald Trump and has an unmatched grasp on the complexities of our foreign policy.”Hurd was the last major candidate to join the already crowded Republican primary field when he ann...