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Ex-Alamo attorney convicted of embezzling $400,000 from clients

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:28 GMT

MARTINEZ — An attorney and former Alamo resident was convicted this week of bilking his clients out of a $400,000 settlement Pacific Gas & Electric Co. agreed to pay following a 2006 wildfire near Woodland in Yolo County, according to prosecutors.On Tuesday, a Martinez jury found William James Reed, 80, guilty of grand theft by embezzlement and a white collar crime enhancement related to the settlement agreement, the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement Thursday.Two families, including elderly victims with ranch properties damaged by the wildfire, agreed to let Reed represent them in a lawsuit against PG&E after he assured them the utility would be responsible for his attorney’s fees, according to prosecutors.In 2013, Reed secured a $400,000 settlement — $200,000 for each family — but he did not inform his clients, the district attorney’s office said, adding that the money was paid to Reed at an unrelated court hearing.When the families asked Re...

Oakland’s leaders pressured to support ceasefire in Gaza as warfare continues

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:28 GMT

OAKLAND — City leaders are feeling pressure from residents to support a call for a ceasefire in Gaza as the death toll among Palestinians rises amid Israel’s continuing retaliation after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.On Wednesday, an Oakland school board meeting descended into chaos after its president, Mike Hutchinson, halted pro-Palestinian speakers, saying their comments were out of turn, before a ceasefire resolution could be introduced later that night.A day earlier, members of the City Council struggled to maintain decorum when an animated group of pro-Palestinian speakers urged the city’s leaders to join the call for a ceasefire.The statement would be a starkly more diplomatic resolution than the outright support for Palestinians shown by Richmond — the first city in the country to commit to such a declaration.Ceasefire resolutions have since been taken up by a few small cities nationwide, including Providence, Rhode Island, Easton, Pennsylvania, and the ...

Here’s where San Jose may lose thousands of homes because of ‘builder’s remedy’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:28 GMT

San Jose stands to lose more than 4,000 new housing units if developers in Northern California’s largest city move ahead with a legal mechanism allowing them to scale back their projects, a Mercury News review found — an outcome that policymakers and housing experts say they never expected.Angered by the move, city leaders are exploring their options for how to push back on developer proposals seeking to downsize a slew of residential projects under the “builder’s remedy” — a provision in state housing law meant to penalize cities that fail to meet state-mandated housing goals and allows property owners to push through projects of virtually any size.Developers argue that today’s high interest rates and exorbitant construction costs make high-density housing in San Jose financially unfeasible and are turning to townhome-style projects.Of the 19 builder’s-remedy applications submitted to San Jose’s planning department, eight seek to produce housing at a d...

San Francisco homicide: Off-duty officer spots suspect 10 days later

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:28 GMT

A homicide suspect was arrested on a San Francisco street after an off-duty officer noticed his resemblance to a crime bulletin picture.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Bay Area homicides 2023: Map and details The 38-year-old man was wanted in a fatal stabbing that happened around 10:35 a.m. Oct. 24 near Eddy and Taylor streets, in the Tenderloin neighborhood. The victim was taken to a hospital, where he died on Oct. 28, the police said.Around noon on Nov. 3, an off-duty police officer assigned to the Tenderloin saw the suspect on Eddy Street within a block of the attack site.The man was arrested without incident and booked on suspicion of homicide, drug possession and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, the police said.The attack was one of five San Francisco homicides in a week — four stabbings and a shooting.

Joan Baez said she wanted a ‘warts and all’ film about her life. She got one.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:28 GMT

At the start of the new documentary, “Joan Baez I Am A Noise,” there’s a quote from the writer Gabriel García Márquez that fills the screen for a moment: “Everyone has three lives: the public, the private, and the secret.”It’s a signal that this film has stories to share about the 82-year-old folk singer and political activist that have never before been told.That wasn’t the original intent, Baez says with a wry smile on a recent video call.“It was going to be about the last tour,” Baez says of a run of 2018 farewell shows. “Then at a certain point, I realized I had to let them in farther than just that. I literally handed them the key, the three directors, to the storage unit. In the film, when I walk into it, that’s the first time I’ve ever been in there.”With that key, co-directors Karen O’Conner, Miri Navasky, and Maeve O’Boyle entered a chamber of treasures that Baez had forgotten existed.“I knew that my mom had kept some stuff,” Baez says. “In the back of my head, I knew that....

Biden and Xi expected to meet Wednesday during APEC, according to White House

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:28 GMT

(AP) – President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping will hold a long-anticipated meeting Wednesday in the San Francisco Bay area, according to White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. President Biden will meet with President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on November 15. The Leaders will discuss issues in the U.S.-PRC bilateral relationship, the continued importance of maintaining open lines of communication, and a range of regional and global issues. Building on their last meeting in November 2022 in Bali, Indonesia, the Leaders will also discuss how the United States and the PRC can continue to responsibly manage competition and work together where our interests align, particularly on transnational challenges that affect the international community.Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on the U.S.-PRC Leaders Summit Doctor charged with attempting to murder family in Tesla seeks mental health diversion Biden and Xi have plenty of difficult issues t...

Monterey police arrest 4th suspect in alleged armed robbery at Macy's

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:28 GMT

(BCN) -- Monterey police this week have taken custody of a fourth suspect in an alleged robbery at a Macy's department store in the city on Nov. 3.Celso Suarez-Lopez, 20, was arrested in Greenfield on Tuesday. Authorities in the city then notified Monterey police about his arrest, the Monterey Police Department said in a statement.Suarez-Lopez was booked into Monterey County Jail on suspicion of robbery, conspiracy, felon in possession of a firearm, violation of probation and obstructing a peace officer, according to police. $350K of stolen goods recovered in Oakland, Sacramento County fencing operation Around 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 3, officers were dispatched to the Del Monte shopping center after a report of a robbery at a Macy's store in the area. A loss prevention officer told police a group of suspects stole merchandise valued at $1,200 and pointed a handgun at him when he tried to intervene.The suspects fled the area in a maroon Honda Accord, but police located it traveling on Mu...

Livermore police say goodbye to beloved K9 Bugsy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:28 GMT

(BCN) -- Livermore police said goodbye to one of their retired K9, Bugsy, who passed away Tuesday. Bugsy died at home with his family, also the family of his handler, police said Thursday. Sonoma Valley High lockdown lifted, threat deemed unfounded "K9 Bugsy proudly served the citizens of Livermore from 2013 until his retirement in 2019,"Livermore police wrote on social media. "Bugsy was a tremendous asset to our department and performed his job with pride and distinction. He selflessly served the Livermore community with his K9 Handler, Officer Audrey Thompson. Police said since his retirement, Bugsy enjoyed his time at home with officer Thompson and her family. "Thank you K9 Bugsy for your years of dedicated service; you will be missed." Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc.

Shawn Fain on How the UAW Whipped the Big Three

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:28 GMT

In late October, after a six-week strike, the United Auto Workers reached a historic contract deal with the big three Detroit automakers. This week, as membership votes to approve the contract are underway, President Joe Biden rallied with the UAW president in Illinois to celebrate the tentative agreement between the union and the automakers. This week on Deconstructed, UAW President Shawn Fain joins Ryan Grim to discuss the victory. Fain was elected president of the union earlier this year by the union membership, in the first UAW election in which members could directly vote for the union president. Fain discusses the recent win, the union election that led to his victory, corruption inside union ranks, and the broader labor reform movement for direct democracy within unions.Transcript coming soon.The post Shawn Fain on How the UAW Whipped the Big Three appeared first on The Intercept.

Internet collapses in war-torn Yemen over ‘maintenance’ involving undersea line

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:28 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Internet access across the war-torn nation of Yemen collapsed Friday and stayed down for hours, with officials later blaming unannounced “maintenance work” for the outage.The interruption began early Friday and halted all traffic at YemenNet, the country’s main provider for about 10 million users which is now controlled by Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthis. Both NetBlocks, a group tracking internet outages, and the internet services company CloudFlare reported the outage. The two did not offer a cause for the outage. “Data shows that the issue has impacted connectivity at a national level as well,” CloudFlare said. By late Friday, service had been fully restored.In a statement to the Houthi-controlled SABA state news agency, Yemen’s Public Telecom Corp. blamed the outage on maintenance.“Internet service will return after the completion of the maintenance work,” the statement quoted an unidentified official as saying. The undersea FAL...