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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Utilityman J.D. Davis became the seventh straight player to win in salary arbitration, beating the San Francisco Giants on Thursday and getting a raise from $4.21 million to $6.9 million rather than the team’s $6.55 million offer.
Joshua Gordon, Margaret Brogan, and Brian Keller made the decision one day after listening to arguments.
Players lead teams 7-2 with eight cases pending.
Davis, an Elk Grove native, hit .248 with 18 homers and 69 RBIs last year in his first full season with the Giants, who obtained him from the New York Mets on Aug. 2, 2022. A third baseman, first baseman, and outfielder, Davis, 30, is eligible for free agency after this year’s World Series.
AL Championship Series MVP Adolis García and the World Series champion Texas Rangers avoided a Thursday hearing when they agreed to a $14 million, two-year contract.
It’s that time of year again, when brewers from around the city, the Bay, and across Northern California come together to celebrate and sip all manner of hazy IPAs, sour beers, pastry stouts and everything in between.
SF Beer Week had grown into quite the extensive and popular, 10-day, region-spanning affair before the pandemic hit — with the last big and proper opening bash being in February 2020. The opening gala grew over the last decade, ultimately requiring the huge expanse of Pier 35 to accommodate all the breweries and beer fans in attendance, with over 100 breweries showcasing several beers apiece at the event.
The pandemic saw more of a virtual-style event with beer shipments and the like in 2021, and the Omicron surge in the early part of 2022 meant that no opening gala was planned that year, and there were just a series of smaller events. Even in 2023, the Friday opening festivities were split up between regions, and the tasting event was replaced by a smaller-scale, Saturday afternoon thing in Salesforce Park.
Now, though, on Friday (Feb. 9), the real deal is happening again at Pier 35, with 100+ breweries coming. They’re selling premium tickets ($275) this year that get you in two hours before the general-admission crowd, at 4 pm. And VIP entry ($140) gets you in at 5 pm. Regular admission, at 6 pm, will run you $95.
Photo courtesy of SF Beer Week
“The absence of the Beer Week Opening Gala has left a real hole in Northern California’s beer calendar these last four years, so we’re thrilled to be bringing it back this year,” says Joanne Marino, executive director of the Bay Area Brewers Guild. “The industry has gone through a number of changes since the gala last took place in 2020, but we’re excited to have the chance to gather together again and for our members to share their fantastic beers with more than 3,000 attendees.”
The event, put on by the non-profit Bay Area Brewers Guild, is always a fascinating look at the state of craft beer through a California lens. While West Coast IPAs are the clearer, more bitter ones, you can be sure you’ll see a ton of fruitier, hazy IPAs, which remain all the rage — the Chronicle has a piece today about how all that started. Also, because breweries like to show off for and share with each other, you can expect a lot of beer-geeky experiments, sours, and real oddities that may never make it out of their taprooms.
See the full list of participating breweries here (it’s long), and know that familiar names will be mixed in with smaller upstarts and breweries from the far reaches of Santa Cruz County, Tahoe, and elsewhere. And the rest of SF Beer Week will also feature events “as far north as Cloverdale to as far south as Monterey,” as organizers say.
Some highlights include Pinballs & Pints at Alameda’s Pacific Pinball Museum, which will feature tastings from Mercurius Brewing, Faction Brewing, Copper Microbrewery, and others; the 10th Annual West Coast Craft Can Invitational, which will go down at Devil’s Canyon Brewing Co. in San Carlos; and Mixology Night at San Francisco’s Barebottle Brewing Co., which will feature a unique flight of beer cocktails and slushies.
You can check out the roster of events and sort by city/region on the Beer Week website.
SF Beer Week runs from February 9 to February 18, and if you have a favorite local beer bar, chances are they are hosting an event there.
It’s official: a 49ers championship parade, should Sunday’s Super Bowl result merit one, will be in San Francisco and not Santa Clara. The still-theoretical parade would apparently be Thursday, February 15, and bars are already promoting their still-theoretical after-parties.[Chronicle]
The Castro’s former Bagdad Café space at Market and 16th streets, which has since been Criolla Kitchen (2011), SliderBar (2012), Ovok (2015), Castro Republic (2016), and Los Amigos Diner (2023), will now be a beer-and-sports bar called Bar 49. Bar 49 will be owned by Hi Tops manager Colm O’Brien, who tells Hoodline, “I want the beer taps to be the focus point.”[Hoodline]
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) banned the use of AI-generated voices in robocalls on Thursday. The move comes after a scheme last month where a fake, AI-generated voice of President Biden urged people to not vote in the New Hampshire primary.[CBS News]
A 14-Mission Muni bus had a collision Thursday afternoon near Mission Street and Flournoy Street in Daly City, just across the SF border, and no injuries have been reported but there was an ambulance at the scene. [KRON4]
A 33-year-old Fremont man arrested with 500 pounds of copper wire, bolt cutters, electric saws, and — for good measure — four ounces of what is suspected to be methamphetamine.[KRON4]
Your Golden State Warriors did not do much at the NBA trade deadline Thursday, much to the relief of Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins, though they did trade back-bencher Cory Joseph to the Indiana Pacers for a second-round pick and cash.[SFGate]
ALAMEDA COUNTY, Calif. (KRON) — Two days after announcing a 900 percent increase in California Highway Patrol officers in Oakland and the East Bay, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced plans Thursday to deploy state attorneys to the area to boost criminal prosecutions.
Deputy attorneys general from the California Department of Justice and attorneys from the California National Guard will be deployed in Oakland and Alameda County as part of a new partnership between the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office and California law enforcement agencies, a statement from the governor’s office said. The aim of the partnership will be to increase prosecutions of violent criminals as well as prosecutions for property crimes, serious drug-related crimes, retail theft and auto burglaries.
The California Department of Justice has independent prosecutorial authority, the governor’s office said, and will work to “prosecute significant cases targeting major criminal networks in Oakland and the East Bay.” Prosecutors from CalGuard will become deputized assistant district attorneys in Alameda County and “provide investigative and analytical support to identify criminal networks,” the announcement said.
Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price said, “I welcome the support from the Governor in this fight against organized retail crime and the scourge of Fentanyl in our community.” Price announced that she would assign Assistant District Attorney Michael Nieto to represent the DA’s office in the partnership.
California State Attorney General Rob Bonta spoke to KRON4’s Terisa Estacio about the deployment
In 2023, violent crime in Oakland increased by 21 percent, robbery increased by 38 percent, and vehicle theft rose by 45 percent, according to preliminary reports from the governor’s office.
The partnership is set to become operational in the coming days, the governor’s office said.
On Tuesday, Gov. Newsom announced plans to send 120 additional California Highway Patrol officers to Oakland and Alameda County as part of a law enforcement surge operation. The CHP officers will work with local law enforcement agencies on a targeted crackdown on crimes, including vehicle theft, retail theft and violent crime. License plate reader technology, specialized units, K-9s, and air support will also be deployed, the governor’s office said.
Waterproofing feathers on seabirds helps keep them warm and buoyant.
Brookhouser explained seabirds can lose their waterproofing if they get any oil on them.
“We also have a natural oil seepage from time to time in Monterey Bay, so some natural oils come to the surface. It’s not an oil spill,” Brookhouser said.
From the most recent storms, oil is getting churned up in the ocean and getting on these seabirds.
“So what we’re asking the public to do is that if they see a seabird on the beach, if they can very safely — with a towel or blanket gather it up — put it in a box that they can breathe in and not escape from,” Brookhouser said.
Amy Red Feather has been a Wildlife Technician with NAR for 11 years.
“Their legs actually don’t work, so they’re not able to walk like a normal bird would — their legs are set very far back on their body. They’re made for swimming. They’re not made for land, so those birds need to be rescued immediately before dogs get to them,” Red Feather said.
This longtime wildlife technician said they are seeing many more oiled birds than they would normally see during a storm.
“So as we’re seeing the storms get more severe, we’re seeing more and more casualties from those storms. We don’t remember it being this bad when storms have it in the past,” Red Feather said.
If a member of the public finds a seabird on a beach on land that doesn’t look like it belongs, don’t hesitate to call wildlife groups.
“If you ever see a seabird on the beach, a bird that just doesn’t look like it belongs there, please call for help. If you’re in the Monterey area, call the SPCA Wildlife Center but there are wildlife rescue centers throughout California that can help out during this time,” Brookhouser said.
“Never hesitate to call no question is too simple we’re here every single day wildlife does not take holidays or weekends so neither do we so we will always be here for your calls,” Red Feather said.
This Friday, the seabirds currently receiving care in Monterey and Santa Cruz will be transported to the International Bird Rescue in Fairfield.
Once they’re rehabilitated, they’ll be released back into the wild.
Washington — The Supreme Court seemed skeptical of the idea that Colorado can exclude former President Donald Trump from the state’s primary ballot, with justices on both sides of the ideological spectrum warning during oral arguments of the consequences of ruling him ineligible for the White House.
The case hinges on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which bars officials who have sworn to support the Constitution from serving in government if they engage in insurrection. The provision was enacted in 1868 to prevent former Confederates from holding office, and laid mostly dormant for more than 150 years.
The case arose out of the lawsuit a group of Colorado voters filed in the fall invoking Section 3. They voters claimed that Trump instigated the Jan. 6 attack as part of his efforts to subvert the transfer of presidential power after the 2020 election, and therefore is disqualified from holding public office or appearing on the state’s primary ballot. The Colorado Supreme Court agreed in a 4-3 decision in December.
Trump’s attorneys appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the case came before the justices on Thursday.
Oral arguments in the Colorado Trump case
Police officers stand outside the Supreme Court on Feb. 8, 2024, in Washington, D.C.
JULIA NIKHINSON / Getty Images
Over the course of two hours of oral arguments, the justices questioned the notion that states have the power to determine whether a presidential candidate is disqualified from holding office under Section 3 and thus exclude them from the ballot. Several seemed especially concerned about the nationwide implications of such a decision. At one point, Chief Justice John Roberts said that argument was “at war with the whole thrust of the 14th Amendment and very ahistorical.”
“I would expect that a goodly number of states will say, whoever the Democratic candidate is, you’re off the ballot. And others, for the Republican candidate, you’re off the ballot, and it’ll come down to just a handful of states that are going to decide the presidential election,” the chief justice said. “That’s a pretty daunting consequence.”
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, one of the three justices appointed by Trump, suggested the court should be thinking about democracy and the right of the people to elect their preferred candidate when reaching a decision.
“Your position has the effect of disenfranchising voters to a significant degree,” he said of the arguments advanced by lawyers for the voters.
Though the court broadly seemed wary of upholding the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision that found Trump ineligible for the presidency, it was less clear on what grounds they would rule. A majority of the justices could agree that he is eligible for another term in office and the Colorado ruling should be reversed, but disagree over the reasoning.
Several members of the court questioned the scope of Section 3, and specifically whether it covers the former president and presidency. Trump’s principle argument is that the disqualification provision does not apply to him.
“Why didn’t [the drafters] put the word president in the very enumerated list in Section 3?” Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson asked, referring to the list of government positions specified in the provision. “They were listing people that were barred, and president is not there.”
Acknowledging that the text of Section 3 may be ambiguous as to whether it covers the president and presidency, she questioned, “Why would we construe it … against democracy?”
Little of the argument was spent debating whether Trump engaged in insurrection through his conduct on Jan. 6. Instead, the justices focused most of their questions on the enforcement issue and the scope of the provision.
Jonathan Mitchell, a Texas-based attorney for Trump, laid out his case first. He repeatedly pointed to an 1869 case involving a criminal defendant named Caesar Griffin, believed to be the first major judicial opinion on Section 3. Chief Justice Salmon Chase, serving as the circuit judge who heard cases in Virginia, held that the text of Section 3 was not self-executing and therefore could only be enforced through an act of Congress. Mitchell said Congress relied on that decision when crafting a law in 1870 that instructed federal officials to enforce Section 3.
Mitchell argued that Griffin’s case, and Congress’ subsequent action, shows that states don’t have the authority to enforce Section 3 — and decide that a candidate is disqualified from office — unless Congress grants them the power to do so.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor pointed out that Chase’s ruling did not set precedent for the Supreme Court, and noted that he contradicted his ruling in the treason prosecution of Jefferson Davis, the former president of the Confederacy.
Justice Elena Kagan asked what Mitchell’s argument would be without Griffin: “Suppose that we took all of that away — suppose there were no Griffin case, and there were no subsequent congressional enactment — what do you then think the rule would be?”
Mitchell replied: “Just a matter of first principles, without Griffin’s case, it’s a much harder argument for us to make, because normally — I mean, every other provision of the 14th Amendment has been treated as self-executing.”
Mitchell also argued that Section 3 cannot be used to deny Trump access to the ballot because it prohibits a person only from holding office, not running as a candidate or winning election. Section 3 also allows Congress to lift the disqualification for insurrectionists by a two-thirds vote, and Mitchell said states cannot declare a candidate ineligible for office when the possibility for receiving a congressional waiver still exists.
Later, under questioning from Jackson, Mitchell said the events on Jan. 6 did not rise to the level of “insurrection.”
“For an insurrection, there needs to be an organized, concerted effort to overthrow the government of the United States through violence,” he said. “This was a riot. It was not an insurrection. The events were shameful, criminal, violent, all those things, but they did not qualify as an insurrection as that term is used in Section 3.”
“That seems quite extraordinary, doesn’t it?”
Jason Murray, a Denver lawyer appearing for the Colorado voters, urged the Supreme Court to uphold the Colorado ruling, arguing that Trump betrayed his oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution by inciting a violent mob to attack the Capitol in an attempt to stop the counting of electoral votes cast against him.
Justice Clarence Thomas asked Murray for historical examples of states disqualifying national candidates from the ballot under Section 3. Murray could point to only one — from 1868, when the governor of Georgia refused to certify results of a congressional election — and Roberts indicated that Murray’s reading of states’ power to enforce Section 3 ran against the rest of the 14th Amendment.
“The whole point of the 14th Amendment was to restrict state power,” he said, pointing to several other provisions of the amendment. “On the other hand it augmented federal power under Section 5 — Congress has the power to enforce it. So wouldn’t that be the last place that you’d look for authorization for the states, including Confederate states, to enforce, implicitly authorized to enforce the presidential election process?”
He continued: “The narrower power you’re looking for is the power of disqualification, right? That is a very specific power in the 14th Amendment and you’re saying that was implicitly extended to the states under a clause that doesn’t address that at all.”
Murray responded that Section 3 has not been used since the 1870s because “we haven’t seen anything like Jan. 6 since Reconstruction,” adding that “insurrection against the Constitution is something extraordinary.”
Jason Murray, the lead attorney for a group of Colorado voters challenging former President Donald Trump’s eligibility, speaks to members of the press outside the Supreme Court on Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024.
ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images
Kavanaugh disagreed over why Section 3 has seldom been used: “I think the reason it’s been dormant is because it’s been settled understanding that Chief Justice Chase, even if not right in every detail, was essentially right, and the branches of government have acted under that settled understanding for 155 years. And Congress can change that … but they have not in 155 years, in relevant respects.”
He also noted that Congress provided the mechanism for ensuring insurrectionists do not hold federal office when it passed the Insurrection Act in 1807, a law that Trump has not been charged with violating, Kavanaugh said.
“That tool exists, you agree, and could be used against someone who committed insurrection,” he told Murray.
Kagan, one of the three liberal justices, said the question of a former president’s eligibility for office is one with nationwide reach, and the means of enforcing a provision disqualifying that person should be federal.
“If you weren’t from Colorado and you were from Wisconsin or you were from Michigan, and what the Michigan secretary of state did is going to make the difference between whether candidate A is elected or candidate B is elected, that seems quite extraordinary, doesn’t it?” she said.
Kagan asked Murray why a single state should have the ability to make a determination about a presidential candidate’s eligibility for office under Section 3 “not only for their own citizens, but for the rest of the nation.”
“There’s a broader principle there, and it’s a broader principle about who has power over certain things in our federal system. And within our federal system, states have great power over many different areas. But there’s some broader principle, that there are certain national questions where states are not the repository of authority,” Kagan said. “Like, what’s a state doing deciding who gets to, who other citizens get to vote for for president?”
Melissa Quinn is a politics reporter for CBSNews.com. She has written for outlets including the Washington Examiner, Daily Signal and Alexandria Times. Melissa covers U.S. politics, with a focus on the Supreme Court and federal courts.
HAYWARD — The cold cases of two East Bay women who were murdered and sexually assaulted seven years apart in the 1970s in eerily similar circumstances — home intrusions committed while other family members were asleep — now have a suspect: A man who died in 2007 after DNA genealogy analysis linked him to the victims.
Hayward and Newark police announced Thursday that Fred Farnham, who died at the age of 73, was responsible for the slayings of Nellie Ann Hicks in 1972 in Newark and Theresa Pica in Hayward in 1979. Both women were found by family members who woke up in the morning to discover their loved ones’ bodies bludgeoned and raped; an intruder had quietly entered their homes and attacked them as they slept in their living rooms.
DNA evidence retrieved from Pica’s body had been analyzed multiple times in the past two decades, and several people who were investigated as possible assailants were excluded from suspicion. One potential suspect was exhumed two years ago and was also later excluded.
But this past December, Hayward and Newark investigators consulted with the FBI to analyze the DNA; the results led Farnham being identified as the killer. Officials say Farnham is likely to be suspected in other unsolved murders.
Pica, 48, was discovered slumped over her couch, face down, by one of her twin 10-year-old daughters on May 15, 1979 at their home on Edloe Drive in Hayward. Her nightgown had been pulled up, exposing her legs, her hands were bound behind her back with rope, and a blood-stained rock was found next to her. A shirt had been used to gag her, police found.
She was last seen alive the night before by her three children. A front room window had been pried open, and the only witness account of an intruder came from a neighbor who heard rustling near the home in the middle of the night.
Pica’s purse was missing, and her wallet and other contents were later discovered in a neighbor’s yard and in a garbage can down the street. Several people were investigated in the ensuing decades, but no suspects emerged until now.
Hicks, a 59-year-old fourth-grade teacher at Ashland School in San Lorenzo, was found dead May 10, 1972 in her Newark home. Her body was partially naked, and police determined that she had been raped and bludgeoned with a brick wrapped in pantyhose. The brutality was immediately apparent, with her head split open by the force of the blows.
Evidence at the scene indicated that her killer entered the home through an unlocked sliding glass door and used manicure scissors to cut her dress and bra. The only forensic evidence that police recovered were fingerprints that for decades were never tied to a specific person.
What made the killing even more notorious is the fact that her adult son and his wife as well as her longtime friend all lived in the home, and were asleep as the slaying unfolded. That led police to suspect that the intruder knocked her unconscious before sexually assaulting her.
A motive for the killing eluded everyone who knew Hicks, who was remembered as a well-liked, respected teacher. She left an abusive husband a decade prior, but that thread and interrogations of other men she dated proved fruitless in finding a possible suspect.
Hicks’ housemate, a fellow teacher, briefly spoke with her around 1 a.m. the morning of the killing, dozing off on a living room sofa. It was the last time she was seen alive.
About four hours later, Hicks’ son discovered her lifeless body in the same room. Hicks’ wallet was missing, though it was later found a few blocks away next to a pair of blood-stained panties.
Staff writers Nate Gartrell and Sandra Gonzales contributed to this report.
A pedestrian was struck and killed on Sixth Street in SoMa early Thursday. The collision happened around 5 a.m. and arriving officers found the person with life-threatening injuries, and they were later pronounced dead at the scene. [KPIX]
A 300-foot dock from a private marina broke free and drifted in the Delta during last weekend’s storm, causing damage on the Taylor Slough side of Bethel Island in eastern Contra Costa County. [ABC 7]
The power was still out Thursday morning for 12,781 PG&E customers around the Bay, the majority of those, around 8,000, in the North Bay. [KRON4]
Mission bar and venue owners expect “it’s gonna go down, win or lose” in the neighborhood on Super Bowl Sunday, but the rowdiness will likely be rowdier if the Niners win. [KRON4]
California’s new Office of Health Care Affordability is trying to cap price increases for health care, and health care industry reps are pushing back, calling these caps “arbitrary.” [CalMatters]
The Supreme Court was hearing arguments this morning about Trump’s eligibility for 2024 ballots based on the insurrectionist clause of the 14th Amendment. [New York Times / CNN]
Two JetBlue planes had a minor collision on the tarmac in Boston this morning — the wing of one plane clipped the horizontal stabilizer on the tail of another — while one was moving onto a de-icing pad, damaging both planes. [New York Times]
It’s been five days since the brunt of the storm and some North Bay residents are still in the dark.
While customers wait for their power to come back, they’re finding ways to get by.
Adam Venn spent his Thursday afternoon at the laundromat after his family ran out of clean clothes.
“We have a generator, but there’s only so much you can do with a generator,” he said.
Venn lives in a remote area of Sonoma County where he says 10 large trees came down in his backyard. The power lines are broken in six places on his road.
“One tree after another came down and we’ve been having to cut our way out pretty much,” he said. “It’s pretty much like a war zone up there. It’s hard to describe how wild it was.”
Mika Miranda is in the same boat. She, too, is on day five without power, trying to be patient with PG&E.
“I know that they’re working really hard, and it’s just kind of a freak incident I think with the weather,” she said. “Hopefully everyone’s doing OK.”
PG&E said crews have restored power to 1.4 million customers so far.
“We know how frustrating it is to be without power,” PG&E spokesperson Megan McFarland said. “We are doing everything we can to get the power back on for customers. These final outages are some of our most complicated and most remote areas with incredible amounts of damage.”
Mai Shizu is brushing her teeth at work because she doesn’t have running water at her house. She’s charging her phone and electronics at work, too. Five days without electricity has been rough.
“It’s been pretty cold in the house,” she said. “There’s no heat. We can see our breath inside. Me and my parents have been huddling around our propane campfire fire stove cooking whatever we can.”
Venn said he won’t be surprised if it takes another five days to restore his power. Fortunately, he has a wood stove.
(BCN) — A pedestrian was struck and killed in a vehicle collision in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood, shutting down nearby roadways Thursday morning, police said.
At about 5 a.m., officers were alerted to a report of a vehicle collision in the 500 block of Sixth Street involving a pedestrian. Upon arrival, they found a pedestrian suffering from life-threatening injuries.
San Francisco police said they gave first aid to the victim and summoned medics for further treatment. However, the pedestrian was later pronounced dead at the scene.
The vehicle involved in the collision did not remain at the scene, according to police.
The area of Bryant and Sixth streets is closed for the investigation into the fatal crash. Motorists are advised to expect delays or avoid these areas and use alternate routes.
Anyone with relevant information is asked to contact San Francisco police at (415) 575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411 and begin the message with “SFPD”.
A pedestrian was struck and killed Thursday morning in a hit-and-run in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood, shutting down nearby roadways, police said.
At about 5 a.m., officers were alerted to a report of a vehicle collision in the 500 block of Sixth Street involving a pedestrian. Upon arrival, they found a pedestrian suffering from life-threatening injuries, police said.
The pedestrian was later pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
The vehicle involved in the collision did not remain at the scene, according to police.
The area of Bryant and Sixth streets was closed for the investigation. Motorists were advised to expect delays or avoid these areas and use alternate routes.
Anyone with relevant information is asked to contact San Francisco police at 415-575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411 and begin the message with “SFPD”.
