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Letters: Ghost Ship | Vote Democrat | Who Musk is | Grand juries

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:02 GMT

Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.Ghost Ship has lefta stain on OaklandSaturday will be the seventh anniversary of the Ghost Ship warehouse fire. Edmond Lapine, my son, and 35 others were killed in the fire.The fire’s headlines, the 36 deaths, as well as this publication’s Pulitzer Prize, may have been forgotten by the public. Please know there are 36-plus families who will never forget their loved ones nor the avoidable manner in which they were killed.In the seven years since the fire, how many derelict buildings and warehouses have been inspected for suitability and protection of people living in them? Has a city agency or compassion-based organization considered the risk to human life that can be avoided by ensuring Oakland’s building inspections are actually performed?In my opinion, Oakland will maintain a permanent stain and certainly an odor of ash.Sami Long KopelmanWalla Walla, Wash.Vote Democratic andlet Biden ...

Analysis: Cybertruck launches with a higher price, many challengers

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:02 GMT

By Peter Valdes-Dapena | CNNTesla CEO Elon Musk presided over the delivery of the company’s long-awaited Cybertruck, four years after it was first unveiled. But while there wasn’t much new information since the original presentation, a new price went live on Tesla’s website shortly after.While the event had the typical Musk flash, with grandiose prognostications about “the future” and videos of Cybertrucks driving across ice, it provided very little new information. Even the price on Tesla’s website, which allowed people to place a $250 deposit to place their order, didn’t include traditional car buying experiences, like options, or even the possibility of paint colors on the stainless steel-clad truck. There was no discussion of practicalities like front trunk space, or anything beyond the company’s existing 250-mile range estimate.The website did reveal, however, that the top-of-the-line model would be dubbed the “Cyberbeast.”With a starting price of $60,990 before federal tax cre...

Man gets 6 years, woman gets probation for Oakland shootout that killed bystander

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:02 GMT

OAKLAND — The prosecution over a deadly 2022 shootout at an East Oakland gas station has reached its end, with sentences of six years for one shooter, a two-year probation term for another and a diversion program for a third woman who briefly possessed a firearm during the chaotic incident.At the case’s start, both Tyja Braswell, 22, and Stavon Moore, 29, were charged with murdering 64-year-old Rodney Davis in the March 19, 2022 gun battle at a gas station on International Boulevard. But after Moore took his case to trial and was acquitted of the most serious charges, Braswell — who was shot in the spine and remains paralyzed from the waist down — managed to negotiate a plea deal that saw prosecutors drop the murder and attempted murder charges in favor of a two-year felony probation term.It was a tumultuous case, full of unpredictable twists, contentious legal battles and untimely deaths. Between the date of the incident and Moore’s October trial, Bras...

TheatreWorks reports fund-raising campaign has saved company for now

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:02 GMT

While the Bay Area and national theater scene has produced sobering headlines of late of companies closing or struggling to stave off financial hardships, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley on Thursday offered a respite from the trend.The Palo Alto-based company has lived to see another play.TheatreWorks officials announced Thursday that a make-or-break fund-raising drive begun in August had exceeded its $3 million goal, allowing the company to at least finish its 2023-24 performance season. The company said it had succeeded in raising $4 million from a total of 700 donors.“The overwhelming success of this campaign is another jubilant example of the powerful community around TheatreWorks,” said Executive Director Debbie Chinn. “Our work is not done, but this provides us with the funds needed to contract artists for the rest of our current season, plus a cushion to help us survive the inevitable headwinds TheatreWorks, like all arts groups, will continue to encounter.”In August, TheatreWork...

How did a man get into the Transbay Tube on Wednesday?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:02 GMT

(KRON) -- Transbay BART service was stopped for more than an hour on Wednesday evening due to a person entering the Transbay Tube. On Thursday, KRON4 talked to BART about how this man was able to enter the tube. Alicia Trost, the chief communications officer at BART, says the man was riding an SFO-bound train through the tube when he pulled an emergency door release. That release slowed the train to a halt. He then pulled the release again and the door opened. According to Trost, he got out of the train and walked through "various doors" in the tube. This set off alarms in the tube, alerting BART officials to what happened. BART police searching for person who entered tracks, caused major delays BART embarked on a search to find the man and discovered that he'd used an emergency exit to leave the tube into San Francisco. The exit is not on a platform, out of the view of passengers and police. "That is why the suspect was not apprehended," Trost said. "We did use all of our survei...

SF retail and car theft down 75% since last Thanksgiving, police say

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:02 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- Crime is on the decline in San Francisco. According to the city’s police chief, retail thefts and car break-ins were significantly lower for Thanksgiving compared to the same time last year. San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott said the number one reason criminals were stopped in their tracks is because of Blitz operations -- officers waiting for criminals at businesses that are commonly targeted for crime. 14-year-old girl arrested in connection to 15 SF retail thefts, $30K loss It’s been two years since the first wave of brazen smash-and-grabs at San Francisco’s Union Square. The thefts decreased in 2022, but according to Scott, the numbers are even more promising this year.He says retail thefts and car break-ins decreased more than 75% during Thanksgiving and the busy shopping weekend that followed.“A lot of our work has been through what we have coined as our Blitz Operations,” Scott said.The Blitz is made up of police officers in and out of uniform pa...

Video: Coyote diverted off I-280 Tuesday morning

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:02 GMT

(BCN) -- Animal control officers aren't usually tasked with traffic duties, but on Thursday they managed to safely reroute a wily coyote that had somehow found itself on a freeway in San Francisco. San Francisco Animal Care and Control received a report in the morning of a coyote hiding behind yellow sand barrels to the side of southbound Interstate Highway 280 near Mission Bay. How many of these In-N-Out secret menu items do you know? With a little help from California Highway Patrol and police officers, the coyote was escorted off the freeway safely, an animal control spokesperson said. "The coyote was healthy and unharmed, just a little tired," said the spokesperson. SF Animal Care and Control said that they are always there to assist coyotes that may need a helping hand. The department estimates that there are at least 100 coyotes that live in the city. Anyone can call emergency dispatch at (415) 554-9400 to report an animal.Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc.

Spurs rookie Wembanyama playing against Hawks after status in question with hip tightness

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:02 GMT

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Victor Wembanyama will play for the Spurs on Thursday night against the Atlanta Hawks after being listed as questionable with a sore hip.San Antonio initially listed the No. 1 pick from France as questionable with right hip tightness Wednesday afternoon and his status was still in question 90 minutes before tipoff against Atlanta.“All these guys want to play every night,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said of Wembanyama’s desire to play.The Spurs were hoping Wembanyama could help them snap a 12-game losing streak. Atlanta has lost two straight and six of 10.Wembanyama has played every game of his rookie season. He is averaging 19.2 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 2.6 blocks and 1.3 steals while playing 30.1 minutes per game.Wembanyama’s availability puts his status in question for Friday’s game in New Orleans in the second game of a back-to-back.“Well, if he’s questionable tonight, the back-to-back would make us think about (his availability) pretty seriously,” Po...

Chase Elliott salvages most popular driver award in worst season of his NASCAR career

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:02 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Chase Elliott overcame the worst season of his career to maintain his hold on the NASCAR most popular driver award for the sixth consecutive year.Elliott missed seven races this season, failed to make the playoffs and wasn’t required to attend Thursday night’s season-ending awards ceremony at the Music City Center. But he showed to pick up the only award solely voted on by fans. Elliott beat new NASCAR champion Ryan Blaney and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson in the voting, per results released by the National Motorsports Press Association. Bill Elliott, father of the 2020 Cup champion and a NASCAR Hall of Famer, won the most popular driver award a record 16 times before “Awesome Bill from Dawsonville,” Georgia, removed his name from the ballot. “Really this award, in my eyes has been a reflection and an extension of my family’s place in the sport,” Elliott said. “I recognize my spot in line and recognize what they’ve done. Th...

Ferry operators around the country to receive $220M in federal grants to modernize fleets

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:02 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Biden administration will issue $220 million in grants to modernize the country’s ferry systems, officials announced Thursday. The grant program will focus on expanding ferry service in rural communities, helping them acquire modern ferries, including electric boats, and upgrading shore infrastructure to support low-emission ferry service, officials said. Twelve ferry operators in the territory of American Somoa and the states of California, Washington, Alaska, Maine, Michigan, New Jersey, New York and North Carolina will receive grants, said Nuria Fernandez, administrator of the Federal Transit Administration. The grants “will help transit agencies around the country buy and retrofit vessels, upgrade terminals and modernize equipment,” she said during a news conference at San Francisco’s Ferry Building. The San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority and the Golden Gate Ferry will receive about $22 million to retrofit t...