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Pleasant Hill leaders defend police decision to ‘disengage’ with barricaded ex-detective

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:22 GMT

PLEASANT HILL — A retired police detective had killing officers on his mind and wanted to goad them into a firefight that would result in his death, the city’s police chief said Monday, defending his department’s decisions during a pair of standoffs last week.But what police said they did after the first standoff — “disengaging” and monitoring 40-year-old Chunliam Saechao, a retired Pittsburg police detective who had allegedly shot at his wife with a shotgun and was tweeting unstable messages from social media — left some residents feeling uninformed and unsafe. Police left the home on Cleopatra Drive in the city’s Sherman Acres neighborhood early Friday morning, but they were back hours later, engaging in a second standoff that included Saechao allegedly firing at officers and eventually surrendering for his arrest early Saturday morning.On Monday, Pleasant Hill police Chief Scott Vermillion said in an interview with the Bay Area News Group that ...

Condominium in Palo Alto sells for $1.7 million

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:22 GMT

610 Forest Avenue – Google Street ViewA condominium located in the 600 block of Forest Avenue in Palo Alto has new owners. The 1,392-square-foot property, built in 1977, was sold on Nov. 20, 2023. The $1,700,000 purchase price works out to $1,221 per square foot. The layout of this apartment includes two bedrooms and three baths. On the exterior, the house is characterized by the use of composition shingles on the roof. Additionally, the home comes with a four-car carport.Additional units that have recently been purchased close by include:On Homer Avenue, Palo Alto, in December 2022, a 2,238-square-foot unit was sold for $3,500,000, a price per square foot of $1,564. The unit has 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.A 1,825-square-foot unit on the 500 block of Byron Street in Palo Alto sold in September 2023, for $1,650,000, a price per square foot of $904. The unit has 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.In June 2023, a 1,844-square-foot unit on Byron Street in Palo Alto sold for $1,400,000, a price ...

Letters: No propaganda | Non-native species | Police militarization

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:22 GMT

Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.Halt state import ofnon-native frogs, turtlesCalifornia’s Department of Fish and Wildlife annually issues import permits for 2 million live American bullfrogs and 300,000 freshwater turtles for human consumption, non-natives all, sold in various “Chinatowns” throughout the state.The market animals are routinely bought en masse by “do-gooders” and released into local waters, where they prey upon and displace our native species while spreading diseases and parasites. Numerous necropsies have documented cases of E. coli, salmonella and Pasteurella (all potentially fatal in humans), giardia, blood parasites, even one case of malaria. Where are the local health departments, pray?The State Fish and Game Commission meets this week in San Diego. This issue is on Wednesday’s agenda.Express your concerns to CDFW Director Chuck Bonham and the commission. An easy partial fix: no live im...

South Bay proposal would create direct line for non-police mental health response

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:22 GMT

SAN JOSE — Community advocates and a Santa Clara County supervisor are looking to streamline public access to a community-led response program that aims to deescalate psychiatric emergencies without law enforcement, in an effort that draws on this news organization’s two-year investigation into the San Jose Police Department’s use of force on mentally impaired people,A referral authored by Supervisor Otto Lee, and scheduled for consideration by the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, would create a direct phone line to reach the Trusted Response Urgent Support Team, or TRUST. The program dispatches four teams — for each quadrant of the county — consisting of a behavioral health professional, a medic and a community member with “lived” experience to provide peer support for someone who calls for help.Currently, someone who wants a response from TRUST has to either call 911 or the 988 Suicide and Crisis lifeline and be triaged by a call taker, or in so...

Why the Warriors need more Jonathan Kuminga this week; Steve Kerr reacts to Suns DJ remix

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:22 GMT

PHOENIX — The Warriors’ next two opponents, the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Clippers, are rife with superstars. That likely means more minutes for Jonathan Kuminga this week as Golden State looks to counter with a little rotation innovation on the wing.In search of something to spark a run following this tepid 10-12 start, coach Steve Kerr has been inching away from his preference to stick with a familiar nine-man rotation on a nightly basis and, instead, mix and match based on hot hands and matchups.What has become clear through the many turnovers, stagnant motion offense and mediocrity so far is that the Warriors need Kuminga’s scoring threat at and above the rim to balance out the attack and keep opposing defenses on their toes. Plus, he profiles as an ideal defensive cog if the Warriors get switch-heavy against the Suns, who feature Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and a returning Bradley Beal. The same applies to Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and James Harden of the C...

Shanahan downplays 49ers’ move to No. 1 seed; CB Verrett returns

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:22 GMT

SANTA CLARA — Day 1 in the NFC’s No. 1 playoff spot did not prompt a parade at 49ers headquarters, not with the playoffs still a month away.“Right now it doesn’t mean much,” coach Kyle Shanahan said on Monday’s media conference call. “It just means where you are at now.”The 49ers (10-3) are taking a four-game win streak with them to Arizona for Sunday’s game against the Cardinals (3-10).A 28-16 win over the Seattle Seahawks gave the 49ers a four-game lead in the NFC West, then they moved atop the NFC standings once the Philadelphia Eagles lost at the Dallas Cowboys to move their records to 10-3, too. By virtue of head-to-head wins over those NFC East powers, the 49ers would own a tiebreaker for the No. 1 seed, a wild-card-round bye and home-field advantage — their unabashed goal.“We won’t be that (top seed) if we don’t handle business this week,” Shanahan added, “So that’s all we’re really worried about, and the...

Bay Area CEO accused in lawsuit of enslaving assistant, taking her into ‘dark abyss of sexual horror’

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:22 GMT

A CEO fired this fall from a major Bay Area technology company is accused in a new lawsuit of enslaving his assistant and sending her into “a dark abyss of unwanted sexual horror.”In October, San Francisco-headquartered business-software firm Tradeshift — which attained “unicorn” status in 2018 with a $1.1 billion valuation — announced that it had terminated former CEO Christian Lanng five weeks earlier for “gross misconduct on multiple grounds” after management learned about “serious allegations of sexual assault and harassment” against him.On Thursday, a woman identified as Jane Doe sued Tradeshift and Lanng, claiming Lanng, within months of her hiring as his executive assistant, coerced her into signing a “slave contract.” Years of rape, sexual abuse, torture and assault followed, the lawsuit alleged.Doe claimed Lanng’s sadomasochistic bondage involved “inflicting physical pain on her by various m...

One dead in SF crash at Folsom Street parking lot

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:22 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- One person was killed in a crash on San Francisco's Folsom Street on Monday, the San Francisco Police Department said. The crash happened in a private parking lot, involving a vehicle and a pedestrian, according to SFPD. Officers responded to the lot on the 1700 block of Folsom Street at about 2:50 p.m. Charges against Khazar Momeni discharged following DUI bust The officers located the victim, who died at the scene. The driver remained at the scene as well and is cooperating with police, per SFPD. Several other cars were allegedly struck in the crash. Drugs and alcohol are not believed to be factors. Anyone with information about the crash is asked to call SFPD at (415) 575-4444. 

Shelter-in-place in El Cerrito due to gas leak lifted

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:22 GMT

(KRON) -- A shelter-in-place issued for an El Cerrito neighborhood Monday due to a gas leak has been lifted, according to the El Cerrito Police Department. The gas leak has been stopped, police said. Workers at Oakland coffee shop at center of antisemitic graffiti incident slam owners Residents in the 600 block of Bonnie Drive were earlier asked to close doors and windows and shelter in place. All other were asked to avoid the area.PG&E may still be on the scene for some time and traffic may be affected, police said. Drivers are still being advised to avoid the area.This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Trump Allies Are Giddy About House Intelligence Committee's Surveillance Bill

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:22 GMT

In an eleventh-hour effort to preserve and expand the federal government’s warrantless surveillance powers, the House Intelligence Committee advanced a bill last week that has the full-throated support of Donald Trump’s senior law enforcement appointees. The bill, which has been described by civil liberties advocates as “the largest expansion of domestic government surveillance since the Patriot Act,” would increase federal surveillance agencies’ access to the communications of U.S. citizens with almost no federal oversight or restrictions. The federal government’s domestic spying powers come from Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, which was revamped after 9/11 to create mass data collection powers, has been routinely abused and manipulated, and is set to expire at the end of this year. While the bill’s sponsors — including House Intelligence Committee chair Rep. Mike Turner and ranking Democratic Rep. Jim Himes — have described the bill as...