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We now have a few more details about what exactly happened at the home near Dolores Park in late November where a man was assaulted and tied up inside his home while a home invader, who posed as a delivery person, robbed him of $13 million in cryptocurrency.
It was a sophisticated and seemingly well planned heist that went down on November 22 at a home near 18th and Dolores. The male suspect approached the house fully masked, and obscured his face from a surveillance camera. He asked at the door for a “Joshua,” said he had a package delivery, and then asked for a pen so that the victim could sign for the package. When the victim turned inside to locate a pen, the suspect forced his way into the door, shut the door, and assaulted the victim.
According to a police report and an interview with the victim, obtained by the Chronicle this week, the victim says he landed a punch on the suspect before the suspect punched him so hard he fell to the ground. He was then ordered, at gunpoint, to tie his ankles with duct tape, and the suspect then allegedly bound his wrists as well.
A surveillance image of the hooded and masked suspect.
The victim then heard, as he lay face-down in his living room, as the suspect got on possibly a threeway phone call, in which a man with a raspy voice gave instructions. The suspect then forced the victim to allow him access to his phone, and to a crypto wallet containing $3 million in Ethereum coin. The raspy-voiced man instructed the suspect how to transfer the funds out of the wallet, and then said there was $10 million more in Bitcoin on a laptop — information that, according to the victim, was publicly available.
The initial reports suggested the total stolen was $11 million, not $13 million.
Police believe that the victim’s home was being cased for hours before the home invasion occurred around 5 pm. The victim told police that he noticed two pizza boxes outside his home after the crime occurred, and he had not ordered these, and police found that phone orders had been placed to a local restaurant for pizza — one around noon and one around 2:40 pm — which were paid for by credit card and delivered to the victim’s address.
The victim also had received calls from a Los Angeles area number that day saying that someone was trying to deliver a package to him.
There seem to be two burner cell phone accounts that were created one day before, on December 21 — and the suspect may have given himself away by using one of the burner phones to text a male escort service some hours before the crime. There was also, as the Chronicle reports from the investigation, a link between one of the cell accounts and an email associated with a known criminal from the Washington state area. That man isn’t being named because he has not been charged with any crime here and has not been named as a suspect or person of interest in this case — though the FBI, which is involved in the case, may begin naming names soon.
Reportedly, that Washington state man has a “long history of criminal charges,” and was even charged with a crime two days after the SF robbery occurred.
The victim still has not been publicly identified, however a report in November indicated that he was the housemate and/or boyfriend of Lachy Groom, an ex of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Y Combinator’s Garry Tan, who also lives in the neighborhood, said the victim was a friend of his and posted the doorbell camera surveillance video to Xitter in the days after the crime, though has since deleted it.
In early figure skating competition, Madison Chock and Evan Bates will represent the U.S. in ice dancing. Watch live here.
The pairs short program competition will follow at approximately 5:35 a.m. ET/2:35 a.m. PT. Catch all the day’s figure skating here and live on Peacock.
LOS ANGELES — Danger has a new address. The Predator franchise opens a bold new chapter as “Predator: Badlands” stalks its way into homes on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+.
Dan Trachtenberg, who previously helmed “Prey” and Hulu’s animated feature “Predator: Killer of Killers,” expand the mythology of the Yautja species while introducing new faces to the hunt.
Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi stars as Dek alongside Elle Fanning’s Thia, an unlikely pairing whose underdog hero’s journey adds fresh emotional stakes to the long-running sci-fi saga.
“Predator: Badlands” is now the highest-grossing entry in the franchise’s 38-year history, earning $184.5 million worldwide and eclipsing the previous record holder, 2004’s “Alien vs. Predator,” which grossed $177.4 million globally.
Additionally, fans can dive deeper into the “Predator” franchise with 15 newly added videos in the “Predator Creators Collection by pocket.watch” on Disney+ and Hulu. “Predator: Badlands” arrives Feb. 12 on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+.
The Walt Disney Company is the parent company of Hulu, Disney+ and this ABC station.
Police in San Jose are searching for a driver following a hit-and-run collision that killed a pedestrian last week.
According to officers, the pedestrian was crossing the road near South Bascom Avenue and Borello Drive on Jan. 25, between 5:45 and 6:05 p.m., when he was struck by a driver traveling southbound on Bascom. Police said at the time the pedestrian was outside of a marked crosswalk.
The victim was taken to the hospital where he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased. His name has not been released.
In an update Wednesday, police said the driver briefly approached witnesses on scene and picked up what was believed to be the car’s bumper before fleeing in an unknown direction.
Witnesses described the suspect vehicle as a dark-colored sedan. The driver was described by witnesses as an adult male between 30-40 years old with a beard. He was wearing a blue sweatshirt with yellow lettering, believed to be either “SJSU” or “SDU.”
Police said the hit-and-run was the city’s first fatal traffic collision and first traffic death of 2026.
Anyone with information about the incident or who may have been driving in the area with a dash camera at the time is asked to contact Detective DelliCarpini of the department’s Traffic Investigation Unit over email or by calling 408-537-1421.
DUBLIN — The name on the jersey is new, but the ambition running through Brave Christian Academy’s gym feels anything but.
On any given night in the west Dublin hills, the noise is sharper, the roster longer and the expectations louder than anyone remembers when the school was called Valley Christian-Dublin.
What was once a small-school schedule filler has turned into one of the Bay Area’s most interesting stories – a team winning now, gathering talent boldly and thinking far bigger than its enrollment suggests.
Rebranded as Brave Christian, the boys basketball program has surged into relevance behind a roster reshaped by improved talent and elevated by two international players from the Ivory Coast – freshman star JP Oka and sophomore Adama Kone – who have quickly become among the area’s most intriguing talents.
Driving the vision is coach Joe Fuca, a former executive at DocuSign and basketball architect intent on building more than a winning season.
His goal is long-term and ambitious: Turn a small Christian school into a regional powerhouse.
“We want to be a classic Christian school that you see on the I-680 corridor,” Fuca said. “You’re either going to go to Berean Christian or De La Salle, two great Christian schools. I feel like we can build our own little thing there in Dublin and have a really good success.”
Brave Christian Academy’s Adama Kone (22) battles Vanden’s James Carraway (5) for a rebound in the third quarter of their Crush in the Valley tournament game held at Napa Valley College in Napa, Calif., on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
Perfect timing
Brave Christian has an enrollment of just under 200 students and offers 11 sports. The Lions have never been a basketball power even at the small-school level, having two winning seasons since 2004.
Fuca got involved with the boys basketball team in January of last year after a pastor from the school’s church asked him if he could try to revive the athletics department.
Fuca took on the challenge.
The tech executive already had a deep background in basketball as his sons were decorated players at nearby San Ramon Valley. Christian Fuca won a Division I state championship with SRV in 2015, helping the Wolves beat a Lonzo Ball-led Chino Hills team. Fuca’s other son, Joey, was the head coach of national prep school powerhouse Prolific Prep and runs a local Adidas Circuit AAU team called Lakeshow Basketball.
Despite making the North Coast Section Division VI playoffs, Brave Christian struggled last season, going 8-16.
For senior point guard Logan Reth, who transferred from nearby California, last season challenged him in ways he did not expect.
“I came here last year, the skill gap was a lot different. I was surrounded with a lot of great people, but just kind of beginners to basketball,” Reth said.
But Fuca credits Reth and other returners for getting into the postseason, which he believes built a foundation for this year’s team.
“There were seven basketball players in the school when I came in,” Fuca said. “I think some people who came to watch us at the end of last year were attracted to come here. So then we had a lot of kids transfer in the summer because they wanted to go to school at Brave.”
Arrival of the stars
The team started to take shape in the offseason as transfers were becoming eligible and the team started to mesh behind Oka and Kone – two players who were playing basketball together on the Ivory Coast just a couple of years ago.
Both were highly decorated international players. Kone came to Brave Christian in January of last season while Oka has been playing in the states for the last few years.
The duo presents nightmare matchups for opponents. Oka, a 6-foot-8 freshman, is a natural scorer who has a shifty handle and defensive tools to shut down any top player. At 6-4, Kone is a bouncy wing who overpowers defenders with brute strength and agile footwork.
Kone said he and Oka had a learning curve to try to get adjusted to the American game.
“Back home, we never play basketball inside, always outside,” Kone said. “The rules are kind of different. It’s a lot more physical back home where it’s more technical here.”
While their highlights make social media on a regular basis, it’s their chemistry on the court that really separates Oka and Kone from the rest.
“JP is my homeboy from my home country,” Kone said. “He’s like a brother to me. So he knows me. I know him off the court, on the court. We just like playing together, sharing the ball with each other. If I score 20, he usually scores 20.”
Added Oka, “I’ve known him for two years, so it’s good to have him by my side.”
Brave Christian Academy’s Adama Kone (22) goes up for a layup against Vanden in the fourth quarter of their Crush in the Valley tournament game held at Napa Valley College in Napa, Calif., on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
Turning heads
While most people didn’t know who the Lions were before the season started, they knew exactly what they were capable of.
Once the team was finally together in the offseason, Brave Christian impressed at local summer league games and built up some hype at the start of the season after starting 7-1. The Lions participated at the Torrey Pines Holiday Classic in San Diego where they played the likes of St. Ignatius, Cathedral Catholic and Priory.
Though they didn’t come away with wins, their willingness to play high-level competition got attention from the basketball community.
“I have a lot of friends who play basketball and they watch us and they’re like, “Woah, where did you get those guys,’” Reth said. “I’ve heard so many people tell us that we look good and I know in a few years we’ll be a lot better.”
Games against higher competition have paid dividends when Brave Christian returned to the B Division of the Bay Counties League East.
Through 10 league games, Brave Christian has blown out every opponent with a point differential of plus-520.
The Lions have beaten teams by video-game like numbers. They defeated Fremont-Christian 78-8 and routed Making Waves Academy 101-31.
“We really just came to Brave Christian trying to change the culture,” Kone said. “We want to change everything about this school – academically and athletically.”
The start of a powerhouse?
What’s happening at Brave Christian is already rippling beyond the basketball court.
The Lions’ breakout season has already become a blueprint for what administrators believe can be a full-scale athletic revival – one fueled by visibility, belief and proof that winning can be had at a small Christian school in West Dublin.
According to Fuca and athletic director Steve Stokes, enrollment has increased, student interest has grown and the athletic department is preparing for expansion. The school is adding 8-man football next year with hopes of creating a full 11-man team in the coming years, a significant step for a school that struggled to field any athletic teams at all.
Fuca believes this season will be remembered less for the lopsided scores and more for the foundation it created.
“We went from eight basketball players to 26 basketball players,” Fuca said. “We have a JV team now and a freshman team. So we just rebuilt the whole thing. I’m excited to see what the future holds.”
The 49ers will make history during the 2026 NFL season.
San Francisco will face off against the NFC West rival Los Angeles Rams in the league’s first international game in Australia, the team announced Thursday.
The prime-time game will be held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, in partnership with the Victorian State Government and Visit Victoria, and the Rams will be the home team.
With a capacity of 100,024, the stadium is the second-largest cricket venue in the world.
The game also will be one of an NFL-record nine international games throughout the 2026 season.
“As we continue our preparations for the NFL’s first-ever regular season game at the MCG in Melbourne, we are delighted that the San Francisco 49ers will take on the Los Angeles Rams,” NFL Australia & New Zealand General Manager Charlotte Offord wrote in a statement. “The 49ers are a popular franchise within the Australian market, and this rivalry game solidifies what we know is going to be an incredible NFL experience for our fans down under.”
“This is a terrific opportunity to continue to support the league in its mission to grow the game of football,” 49ers CEO Al Guido wrote. “We look forward to working with the NFL to benefit local Australian communities through sport.”
The 49ers initially were hoping to sacrifice one of their home games next season to play internationally in Mexico City, and since they will be the road team for the bout against the Rams in Melbourne, it’s unclear if that still is on the table.
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — San Francisco Teachers Union announced they are on the brink of a potential strike after failed negotiations with the school district.
For the last 11 months, the San Francisco Unified School district has been negotiating with the United Educators of San Francisco. On Wednesday afternoon, the fact-finding report from a state-appointed third party that outlined SFUSD’s and the union’s proposals failed to bring both sides together.
In a statement, the United Educators of San Francisco said the report “did not go far enough” and threatened to strike with over 5,000 educators voting yes last week to a potential strike.
“The recommendations here alone will not solve the stability crisis in our district. But, we are happy to see validation of what we already know- that SFUSD can and must stabilize staffing and special education programs for our students,” said United Educators of San Francisco President Cassondra Curiel.
Laura Dudnick, SFUSD’s spokesperson, said the district agreed to several changes despite facing a $100 million budget deficit for next year.
“What we have offered a 6% pay increase over the next three years, so 2% each year for all our labor partners and UESF as well as fully funded family healthcare which was a priority we heard from the union, so we want to be able to work with them,” said Dudnick. “Any offer that we make we need to be able to afford for the next three years. We have set aside some money in our reserve for one time emergency uses that are approved by the board of education for those purposes, so we cannot use our reserves to fund ongoing expenses like salaries.”
SFUSD could lose millions of dollars a day if a strike is confirmed.
The San Francisco Parent coalition is concerned of where all the 50,000 SFUSD students will go.
“We have been trying to prepare parents and families ahead of time. We have been crowdsourcing ideas. We have parents even reaching out to each other in this neighborhood to create childcare pods. Can you watch the kids on the first day and a couple hours the other day, said Emily de Ayora with the San Francisco parent coalition.
The school district and teachers’ union will meet to negotiate on Thursday.
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie release a statement following the news of the potential strike saying in part:
“As mayor, even though I don’t oversee our school district, I’m deeply committed to making sure our kids get a world-class education-with safe public schools where kids can learn and educators are well supported. It is crucial that our schools remain open. Every day in the classroom matters. I have been in regular contact with both the school district and the teachers union, and I am urging them to keep talking so kids can keep learning.”
When the Super Bowl kicks off on Sunday, one local fan will be there as an honored guest.
A long-time Army veteran will be getting the VIP treatment, and it won’t cost him a dime. It’s payback for a life spent serving his country and his community.
When Eugene “Rich” Ritchie retired, he began volunteering at the USO Lounge at SFO, welcoming service members traveling to and from the city. But the other day, the USO staff told him that he had been nominated to be in a contest.
That’s when he got the phone call.
“And it’s, ‘Congratulations, we selected you.’ And I was like, what?! Really?” Rich said. “And they said, who’s your favorite player? I said, ‘McCaffrey, right now, is my most favorite current player. Oh yeah, McCaffrey, he’s awesome.’ And they’re like, ‘ho, ho, ho’… I’m like, ‘OK, something’s up.’”
Sponsored by the USAA insurance company, Rich and his wife Alexia, who live in Richmond, will get tickets to the game, a hotel on Union Square, and pretty much an entire weekend of fun for doing something that started clear back when he joined the ROTC program at Cal Berkeley.
Rich was the only one to select “infantry” as his desired duty when everyone else wanted military intelligence.
“So, I was an anomaly at Berkeley,” he said, with a laugh.
In 1981, he was a 20-year-old lieutenant and was eventually sent to Korea to command a security unit at the DMZ, at a time when tensions were running high. After that came 20 years of training and service in Honduras and various bases stateside. Then came 9/11 and the US war on terror, and Rich was sent to Iraq to help the locals become a capable fighting force.
“I lived with the Iraqis,” he said. “My job was to live with the Iraqis. I had a team and we basically trained them in Western tactics.”
Rich said he was impressed with the courage shown by the Iraqi forces he trained. He served for a total of 24 years, from 1981 to 2005, retiring with the rank of Major in the US Army. Later, after getting out of the military, he took a position as a special education teacher at Albany Middle School, a job his wife Alexia said required a bit of courage, as well.
“He didn’t shed a tear in Iraq, but he cried his first couple of days as a teacher at the middle school with a bunch of 6th graders!” she said, laughing. “That was his breaking point. But he survived and he’s a veteran of both occupations, you bet.”
Alexia is also a 49er fan, but she’s an even bigger fan of her husband, saying he put off his retirement to volunteer to serve in Iraq.
“He could have retired, but he actually pulled his retirement paperwork so that he could step up for an eight-month deployment in Iraq,” she said. “And to watch him being again in the spotlight — so well deserved — is what makes my experience here that much sweeter.”
And the sweetness began on Wednesday, when Rich and Alexia got their tickets and a chance to meet their favorite player. Niners running back Christian McCaffrey has his own foundation to support veterans, so this Super Bowl promotion was a natural fit.
“I’m really proud of the work we’ve done, and I’m super excited about the work to come in the future,” McCaffrey said. “We get to play a kid’s game for a living. We play in front of millions of people. And a lot of that is because of the people who have sacrificed for us.”
Rich was surprised that he was selected, but he has spent his entire life in service to others. And now, he’s serving again, this time as a symbol for all the men and women who are part of something much more important than just a “kid’s game.”
(KRON) — The Berkeley Fire Department said fire crews discovered the body of a woman at a single-story duplex unit involved in a blaze.
BFD said it received a call at 3:53 p.m. reporting a possible structure fire in the 1300 block of Poe Street.
“The first crew arrived to find flames and smoke showing from three sides of the structure,” BFD said in a statement to KRON4. “It also came in through Dispatch that there was a possible victim inside the house.”
Crews made a forcible entry into the residence and located a female victim, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
There were no reports of injuries to fire personnel or residents.
BFD said a nearby residence sustained minimal fire damage but likely had smoke damage.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
PALO ALTO – A man forced a woman to the ground and assaulted her during an attempted robbery Tuesday in Palo Alto, police said.
The incident happened around 8:15 a.m. in the 700 block of East Meadow Drive near Mitchell Park, according to the Palo Alto Police Department.
The victim, a woman in her 40s, was walking in the neighborhood when she heard footsteps behind her, police said, adding that she was forced to the ground by the suspect.
The suspect then kicked the victim several times and demanded money, police said. The victim told the suspect she did not have any and yelled for help, after which he left the scene.
Police said the victim returned home and notified authorities about the attempted robbery.
The victim described the suspect as Latino and about 5 feet 8 inches tall with a thin build and shoulder-length hair. He was last seen wearing a black hooded sweatshirt.
An investigation is underway into the incident, police said, adding that no similar crimes have been reported recently in the area.
The victim complained of pain and bruising from being kicked and she sought medical treatment on her own.
Anyone with information related to the case can contact the police department at 650-329-2413. Those wishing to remain anonymous can call or text 650-383-8984 or email paloalto@tipnow.org.
(KRON) — The Milpitas Police Department said a 34-year-old San Jose resident was “tracked down and arrested” last week following a mail theft in a community package room. Police credit community response and key surveillance footage in locating the suspect.
MPD did not provide a date and time of the theft but said it occurred “over the winter holiday season” on the 500 block of Amalfi Loop.
In a social media post on Wednesday, Milpitas police shared a surveillance photo from the incident that showed the alleged suspect wearing a number 95 San Francisco 49ers jersey.
Police said the unidentified suspect was booked into jail for felony-theft charges and narcotics violations.
Investigators said they are continuing to identify and locate any other possible suspects involved.
Anyone who may be a victim of package theft is encouraged to contact MPD at (408) 586-2400 or call the Crime Tip Hotline at (408) 586-2500.
San Francisco teachers are on the verge of striking for the first time in almost 50 years, but there are still a couple more nights of negotiations that are likely to happen first, following a planned press conference Thursday. [Chronicle]
It looks like Elon Musk’s brother, Kimbal Musk, who previously was on the Burning Man board, quietly gave up his board seat in recent weeks, just ahead of the revelation that his name is all over the Epstein Files. [Reddit]
The SF Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved legislation to expand the corner-store curfew from the Tenderloin into part of SoMa, forcing them to close at midnight to reduce crime. [Mission Local]
An attorney for ICE in Minnesota, Julie Le, told a federal judge “this job sucks” after the enormous workload she’s had in the wake of ICE chaos there, and she’s now been removed from her post. Le had been detailed to Minnesota but has now apparently returned to her previous job at ICE. [CNN]
The Trump administration has now launched an investigation into “anti-white bias” at Nike. [New York Times]
Federal agencies have stalled a bunch of wind and solar projects because of Trump. [New York Times]
Video:
Here’s a video posted from some British travel vloggers on YouTube (232K subscribers) who just had a happy trip to San Francisco, and they seem surprised by how beautiful it all is. Also, they visit Boudin Bakery and call it “Bowdin.”
A secretive Friday night Grace Cathedral event that has been publicly named only as “private event” is shutting down streets for three days. Turns out it’s the private Super Bowl party for NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
We learned late last week that there would be a whole bunch of SF street closures for Super Bowl-related events, which totally makes sense, because there will be big crowds and big celebrities at many of these events. But one of these events jumped out at us because of its oddly high level of secrecy, something described only as “private event” at Grace Cathedral, which is scheduled for Friday night, but for some reason is allowed three days of road closures.
Consider the two images above from the Super Bowl’s official Bay Area Host Committee, both depicting street closures for Super Bowl events. The one on the left is perfectly explicit about what the event is, the one on the right merely says “private events.” Media coverage of the street closures only calls the secret event “private event.” And it gets three days of street closures and parking restrictions near Grace Cathedral, despite being just a one-day event. The drone ban even applies to this secretive private event.
SFist has learned what this super-secret private event really is. And oddly, we learned this from an email sent to parents at Cathedral School for Boys, which is adjacent to Grace Cathedral.
“The NFL will hold its annual Super Bowl Commissioner’s Party in Grace Cathedral on Friday, February 6, 2026. As a result, security and logistics on Nob Hill that day will not allow us to conduct school,” the school said in an email to parents. “We have been informed that streets around the school will be closed, we will not have access to drop-off and pick-up zones, and all entrants to the block will be required to undergo background checks and vehicle searches. These and other limitations make holding school on Friday, February 6, all but impossible.”
Okay, so what even is the Super Bowl Commissioner’s Party? We know the NFL Commissioner is Roger Goodell, but this is not a very highly publicized event. And I imagine that’s how Roger Goodell prefers it.
But we did find a leaked invite from the 2018 Super Bowl that says “The NFL Commissioner’s Party is another very exclusive event that is reserved for those in the inner circles of NFL’s bastion. Every year, the Commissioner invites a select, personally chosen group of coaches, players, and other distinguished guests to attend his private party. The event is high-class, elegant, and sophisticated, with guests enjoying a fine dinner in a luxurious setting as they enjoy speeches, presentations, and live entertainment.”
So you have to be personally invited by Roger Goodell to attend, apparently. Some plucky Instagrammer got the above photo carousel by making it into the 2023 Commissioner’s Party, and the photoset shows that Christina Aguilera performed.
So now we know what is shutting down the area around Grace Cathedral all week. But you can’t go, unless you get granted a wish by some genie in a bottle.
There was a block party in downtown San Jose Wednesday night, with food trucks, music, activities and a live podcast with two former NFL players.
Near the SAP Center, a couple of streets were blocked off so that people could enjoy a block party outside of Hapa’s Brewing Company. Inside, former NFL players Ryan Fitzpatrick and Andrew Whitworth were recording an episode of their podcast “Fitz And Whit”.
There was music, food and activities for kids.
“Super excited to be part of the big game and see what San Jose is offering here tonight,” Melissa said.
There was also a raffle.
Robbie Dehaze took home the big prize – Super Bowl tickets.
“Couldn’t believe it, I’ve never won a raffle,” Dehaze said. “Just the experience, and just it being here locally, it’s amazing.”
This was one of several events planned this week ahead of the Super Bowl in San Jose. The turf has already been laid out in San Pedro Square ahead of the San Pedro Superfest, which kicks off on Friday and goes thru Sunday with food, drinks, tech displays and live entertainment.
At city hall, preps are underway for the two block parties on Friday and Saturday with Kehlani and Dom Dolla. Catia is visiting her cousin Maggie Cruz from Mexico and even though she doesn’t have tickets to the Super Bowl, she wanted to be part of the fun.
“I arrived like two days ago, I started to get the feeling, the environment, it’s been great,” Catia said.
“I was like ‘You’re more than welcome to come, let’s go have fun, let me show you around’,” Cruz added.
With Wednesday’s block party and the other events happening later this week, the hope is people can join in on the fun and downtown can showcase itself.
“We’re trying to liven up the Creekside social area and bring life to this area that has been quiet for a while,” Cassie Tam, co-owner of Hapa’s Brewing Company, said.
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed California to use a new voter-approved congressional map that is favorable to Democrats in this year’s elections, rejecting a last-ditch plea from state Republicans and the Trump administration.
The video above is from an earlier story and will be updated.
The justices had previously allowed Texas’ Republican-friendly map to be used in 2026, despite a lower court ruling that it likely discriminates on the basis of race.
Conservative Justice Samuel Alito wrote in December that it appeared both states had adopted new maps for political advantage, which the high court has previously ruled cannot be a basis for a federal lawsuit.
Republicans, joined by the administration, claimed the California map improperly relied on race, as well. But a lower court disagreed by a 2-1 vote.
The justices’ unsigned order keeps in place districts that are designed to flip up to five seats now held by Republicans, part of a tit-for-tat nationwide redistricting battle spurred by President Donald Trump, with control of Congress on the line in midterm elections.
Last year, at Trump’s behest, Texas Republicans redid the state’s congressional districts with an eye on gaining five seats.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who is eying a 2028 presidential run, vowed to respond in kind, though he had to win over voters, not just lawmakers, to do so.
Filing for congressional primaries in California begins Feb. 9.
One city in the Bay Area has been declared the world’s absolute worst in the world when it comes to housing affordability for new homebuyers, a new analysis finds.
“It’s not the greatest title to have here in San Jose,” said Mike Bui, the president of Equity One Real Estate and a lifelong San Jose resident.
Bui said the prices for starter homes in once affordable areas like Blossom Valley are now out of reach for the city’s working, middle-class residents.
“I would have never imagined that these homes that would sell for $400,000 now sell or trade for $1.8 million just in a matter of 12 to 15 years,” says Bui.
He says a lot of what is driving the massive price increases are people who work in other parts of Silicon Valley being forced to move south to San Jose to find housing they can afford.
“A lot of the buyers who can no longer afford to buy up the Peninsula, where it’s Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Mountain View, they’ve all come down to San Jose,” he said.
According to the study by Remitly, the average home price in San Jose is $1.37 million while the average worker makes about $86,000 a year, with a two-income family making an average of $173,000 a year. That still leaves a potential homebuyer short by about half.
Bui said that’s what forces people in San Jose to look further south to Gilroy, Hollister, or Morgan Hill for something less expensive.
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan also blames the tech boom for the unaffordability issues.
“Silicon Valley has created about eight jobs for every one new home we have built over the last 20 years. San Jose has actually been the net housing provider. We’ve actually been the best actor in the region,” says Mahan.
The mayor said this is simply an issue of supply and demand and says the city is doing everything it can to greenlight new housing projects.
Bui said expanding traditional lending programs could also help first-time homebuyers.
“It’s programs to really help with lending, down payment, shared equity. That’s the only way to help our normal people within the Bay Area to purchase properties there,” he says.
California did not fare well in the study. San Jose was ranked the least affordable, but Los Angeles ranked second, followed by Long Beach and San Diego.
(KRON) — Police in Redwood City are asking for the community’s help in locating a missing man who walked away from a San Mateo hospital on Monday afternoon.
David Lewis Borg, 64, is described by authorities as 6 feet 1 inch tall and weighing 180 pounds. He has brown eyes and salt and pepper hair with a beard.
Missing person David Lewis Borg (Photo: Redwood City Police Department)
Borg was last seen wearing a dark colored hooded sweatshirt with a white lining and dark colored pants. He wears black frame glasses.
On Monday around 3:05 p.m., Borg left the hospital in San Mateo and went northbound on Edison Street, Redwood City police said.
A man who rammed a vehicle into the front of a Petaluma jewelry store Saturday afternoon, Jan. 31, was attempting to thwart a robbery, according to police.
The robbery at Gold Rush Jewelers at 385 South McDowell Blvd. was reported about 4:46 p.m. Saturday to Petaluma police, the agency said. According to a preliminary investigation, six people wearing ski masks entered the store armed with hammers, pepper spray and at least one gun. One person held the four employees at gunpoint while the others smashed the display cases and removed jewelry.
A male bystander who happened upon the scene got into the suspects’ idling vehicle and slammed it into the business, damaging a roll-up door and some windows, Sgt. Ryan McGreevy said Tuesday. The man later told police that he had been trying to block the robbers inside.
McGreevy said the man’s method was “unorthodox,” but he is not suspected of any criminal charges.
The crash prompted the robbers to flee — four into the vehicle that had been rammed into the store and two on foot into a neighborhood across South McDowell Boulevard. One of the suspected robbers pepper-sprayed the bystander as he tried to get out of the car, police said.
With the assistance of the Sonoma County Sheriff’s helicopter Henry-1, officers later found the men they said fled on foot. One was spotted jumping down from a rooftop and trying to hide under a vehicle while the other was later seen sitting in a backyard, police said.
William Clarance Butler of Pittsburg and Mosha’e Koron Howell of Antioch were arrested and booked into the Sonoma County jail. On Monday, both of the 18-year-old men were charged in Sonoma County Superior Court with four counts of robbery and one count of conspiracy — all felonies. Both are being held without bail and set to appear Feb. 17 in court.
On Saturday, police also located a bag of jewelry between the store and the neighborhood where the two men had fled, McGreevy said Tuesday. The owner of the store is still determining how many pieces of jewelry were taken during the robbery and the value of those items.
The vehicle in which the other four robbers fled the jewelry store was found abandoned in a nearby neighborhood and authorities later determined it had been stolen in Brentwood. Authorities, including a K9 unit, searched for hours for the other four individuals to no avail. As of Tuesday, authorities have not identified the four robbers or located the gun used in the robbery.
None of the jewelry store employees were injured but told police they were emotionally shaken after the robbery.
Petaluma police are asking that anyone with information, including security camera footage, contact Detective Alyssa Hansen at 707-781-1291 or ahansen@cityofpetaluma.org.
You can reach Staff Writer Madison Smalstig at madison.smalstig@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @madi_smals.
“Super Bowl 60 is a no-drone zone, and all flight restrictions will be actively enforced,” said Super Bowl authorities.
“I think having a temporary drone ban- it makes sense. It’s a little off putting in a way. It seems a little overprotective,” said Ho.
In San Francisco, the ban covers several places, including the areas around Moscone Center, the Ferry Building, the Pearl, the Palace of Fine Arts, and Grace Cathedral.
“The Super Bowl is being played in Santa Clara. It’s kind of weird to me that in San Francisco here and in certain areas, that you couldn’t be flying a drone around unless they have something they were warned about or they are trying to prevent,” said Tony Allegretti, a San Francisco resident who lives near Grace Cathedral.
Retired SFPD Deputy Chief James Dudley said it makes sense that the FAA would want to put a temporary drone ban in the airspace over high-level, high-profile events.
“Not only for malicious, malevolent intent but also just to keep the airway clear,” said Dudley. “You’ve already got law enforcement drones in air, you’ve got CHP helicopters, you’ve got media helicopters, so you’ve got an already crowded airspace. And then, introduce these things that start out the size of your hand, but then they can get to the size of my Mini-Cooper,” said Dudley.
Drone enthusiasts like Ho say they appreciate the extra security measures.
“I guess they want to err on the side of safety, versus enthusiasts,” said Ho.
