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NEW YORK — Six planets are linking up in the sky at the end of February, and most will be visible to the naked eye.
It’s what’s known as a planetary parade, which happens when multiple planets appear to line up in the sky at once. The planets aren’t in a straight line, but are close together on one side of the sun.
Skygazers can usually spot two or three planets after sunset, according to NASA. Hangouts of four or five that can be glimpsed with the naked eye are less common and occur every few years. Last year featured lineups of six and all seven planets.
When will they be visible?
On Saturday, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn will be visible to the naked eye if clear skies allow. Uranus and Neptune can only be spotted with binoculars and telescopes.
What time is optimal for viewing?
Go outside about an hour after sunset and venture away from tall buildings and trees that will block the view. Look to the western sky and spot Mercury, Venus and Saturn close to the horizon. Jupiter will be higher up, along with Uranus and Neptune.
How to know if you’ve spied a member of the parade?
“If it’s twinkling, it’s a star. If it is not twinkling, it’s a planet,” said planetary scientist Sara Mazrouei with Humber Polytechnic in Canada.
The parade should be visible over the weekend and in the days after. Eventually, Mercury will bow out and dip below the horizon.
At least one bright planet is visible on most nights, according to NASA.
Glimpsing many in the sky at once is a fun way to connect with astronomers of centuries’ past, said planetary scientist Emily Elizondo with Michigan State University.
Ancient astronomers used to make sense of the universe “just by looking up at the stars and the planets,” Elizondo said, “which is something that we can do today.”
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Authorities say the body of a man who was apparently abducted in Tracy last week was found at Lake Berryessa.
Avtar Singh was reported missing on Feb. 17, the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office says, from the Sikh temple in Tracy.
Surveillance video reviewed by detectives showed Singh being put into a white SUV, apparently against his will, by three unidentified people earlier that day.
The sheriff’s office says detectives believe Singh wasn’t the original target of the suspects.
Then, on Feb. 20, the Napa County Sheriff’s Office alerted that a body had been found near Lake Berryessa matching the description of Singh.
The San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office has since confirmed that the body was indeed that of Singh’s.
No cause of death has been released by authorities at this time, but detectives noted that the incident appeared to be isolated and there was no threat to the public.
Detectives have not made any arrests in connection with Singh’s death.
Singh leaves behind a wife and triplets under the age of one, the sheriff’s office says.
An East Bay mother is voicing her concerns about a field trip her daughter’s class is scheduled to attend San Ramon’s One Room School Program.
The mother is concerned about certain aspects of the field trip and has contacted the San Ramon Unified School District.
The One Room School Program, which is operated by the Museum of the San Ramon Valley, aims to give third graders a realistic taste of a day in 1888, which is when the school house opened.
Kids are encourage to dress in 19th century clothing and are given names and lessons from that timeframe.
The problem the mother has expressed is that the kids are told to address the teacher as “master.” The mother said students are also stripped of their real names and that experience is all too close to slavery.
The parent said the program does not acknowledge that Black and Brown students would not have been allowed to attend school during that time, and glosses over those important details of history.
The mother also said giving the kids new names with name tags placed around their necks and asking them to call their teacher master triggers painful memories of what African Americans actually experienced during that time.
NBC Bay Area reached out to the school district, which said it wants to ensure their field trips provide a positive and inclusive environement.
“While the field trip to the One Room School House offers a hands-on look at education in 1889, we recognize that certain historical reenactments may not reflect our modern values of inclusivity,” the district said in a statement. “We will collaborate with Museum SRV to explore these matters further, as we remain committed to providing educational experiences that are both historically meaningful and respectful of every child in our community.”
The program’s executive director said the parent’s complaint is the first of its kind in the more than 20 years they have held the experience. The executive director said he would be happy to meet with the parents and talk about possible alterations to the program that would make it more inclusive.
Welcome to the latest installment of the Hotline’s Pac-12 men’s basketball power rankings, our weekly assessment of the reconstituted conference using results, analytics and a dash of common sense. The power rankings will be published each Monday through the end of the regular season. Here is last week’s edition, which examined how three Big Ten teams are undermining Gonzaga’s resume.
A brutal week for San Diego State was, consequently, the worst week of the season for the future Pac-12.
The Aztecs dropped two games they should have won and slid onto the wrong side of the NCAA Tournament bubble, leaving the conference that doesn’t exist (yet) staring at just two bids for March Madness.
Gonzaga is a lock. The only unknown for the Zags is whether they can claim a No. 2 seed.
And Utah State, despite a loss at Nevada, appears safe for the time being.
San Diego State was the only other member of the rebuilt nine-team Pac-12 with a reasonable chance to qualify for the at-large field.
But after a face plant at home against Grand Canyon and a road loss to Colorado State — both count as Quadrant II defeats — the Aztecs could miss the NCAAs for the first time since 2019.
Their NET ranking (44) is in the danger zone, largely because they have just one Quadrant I victory.
Perhaps more concerning is their position (54) in wins-above-bubble ranking, which measures how each team has performed against its schedule compared to how an average bubble team would fare. (The WAB was added to the selection process last season.)
All of which leaves the Pac-12 reliant upon upsets in the conference tournaments in order to send a third future member into the upcoming NCAAs:
— It needs Washington State or Oregon State to win the West Coast Conference and claim the league’s automatic bid. That seems unlikely: They are 0-6 against the WCC’s powers, Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s, and only one of the six games was close.
— Or it needs San Diego State, Fresno State, Colorado State or Boise State to win the Mountain West. Unreasonable? Hardly. The conference is wide open. But that means one of the schools not headed to the Pac-12 could be the last one standing.
— Or it needs Texas State to win the Sun Belt title, an outcome that appears far more plausible today than it did a few weeks ago. The Bobcats have won seven of their past eight and defeated several of the frontrunners during their late-season run.
That would be quite the twist: A school invited to join the Pac-12 entirely because of its football value providing a boost on the basketball side.
To the power rankings …
(Results and NET rankings through Sunday)
1. Gonzaga (27-2)
Results: won at San Francisco 80-59, beat Pacific 71-62 NET ranking: No. 5 Comment: The Zags could not have asked for better results elsewhere in their pursuit of the highest possible seed in the NCAA Tournament. Losses by UConn, Iowa State, Nebraska, Houston, Kansas (and others) all allowed Gonzaga to improve its position relative to the top group. (Previous: 2)
2. Utah State (23-4)
Results: beat Boise State 75-56, lost at Nevada 80-77 NET ranking: No. 24 Comment: Another loss in conference play could nudge the Aggies uncomfortably close to the bubble. In our view, their impressive NET ranking is a false indicator. Drill down on the metrics that matter, and their resume has some flaws. (Previous: 1)
3. Boise State (16-11)
Results: lost at Utah State 75-56, beat San Jose State 84-69 NET ranking: No. 62 Comment: The Broncos don’t have enough quality wins to counteract all their bad losses. The net impact on their NET ranking is decidedly negative. (Previous: 4)
4. San Diego State (18-8)
Results: lost to Grand Canyon 73-63 and at Colorado State 83-74 NET ranking: No. 44 Comment: The Aztecs are stout as ever defensively under coach Brian Dutcher but rank 108th nationally in offensive efficiency, according to the Pomeroy ratings, which measure points-per-possession adjusted for opponents. (Previous: 3)
5. Colorado State (17-10)
Results: won at UNLV 91-86, beat San Diego State 83-74 NET ranking: No. 88 Comment: The Rams have won five in a row and will finish February with Fresno State (home) and San Jose State (road), so they very well could carry a seven-game winning streak into March. And as we noted, the Mountain West tournament is wide open. (Previous: 8)
6. Oregon State (15-14)
Results: beat Pepperdine 83-73 NET ranking: No. 183 Comment: The Beavers will enter the West Coast Conference tournament as one of the most difficult teams to project. Unless they face Gonzaga or Saint Mary’s, any outcome is possible. They have looked surprisingly stout at times and predictably poor at others. (Previous: 5)
7. Washington State (12-17)
Results: beat Pacific 87-70, lost to Saint Mary’s 83-67 NET ranking: No. 130 Comment: Hard to believe but a top-four seed in the WCC tournament is a distinct possibility for the Cougars, who close the regular season at Pepperdine and LMU. (Previous: 6)
8. Texas State (18-12)
Results: won at South Alabama 90-82, lost at Louisiana 67-54 NET ranking: No. 240 Comment: We’ll know far more about the Bobcats at the end of the week. They host first-place Appalachian State on Thursday in the regular-season finale. (Previous: 9)
9. Fresno State (12-15)
Results: lost at Wyoming 92-82 and to New Mexico 80-78 NET ranking: No. 133 Comment: The Bulldogs are last here because of their season-long resume. But if the new Pac-12 existed today, we might pick them to win a game in the conference tournament. (Previous: 7)
Diane Hicks, a woman from the East Bay, is stranded at a resort south of the border, 20 minutes from the airport in Puerto Vallarta. She said she wants to come back home to Livermore but can’t because many American airlines have canceled their flights to and from Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta.
Hicks, her husband, four friends and hundreds of other guests at the resort have been told to shelter in place. Even if the airport in Puerto Vallarta was open, she said she wouldn’t know how to get there since no taxis will come to the resort.
Violence broke out on Sunday after the Mexican army killed a man known as El Mencho, the leader of one of the fastest-growing drug cartels in that country. There were shootings, fires and explosions throughout the region of Puerto Vallarta after his death. The U.S. State Department has told U.S. citizens to shelter in place, citing “ongoing security operations and related road blockages and criminal activity.”
Hicks said no one, including workers, is coming in and out of the resort but still feels safe even though there doesn’t appear to be any armed security on site. She said the grocery store at the resort is already sold out. While there is still food in the restaurants, the wait is two to three hours because everyone is eating on the property.
Hicks knew something was up on Sunday when the guide for their planned fishing trip texted that he couldn’t make it.
“My husband said that he heard some explosions. I didn’t hear it… but he heard some explosions, and the beach is closed; you can’t go out on the beach,” Hicks said. “We were seeing, like, big black plumes of smoke around not too far from here.”
Hicks said she is spending time at the pool, the restaurant when she can get in, and watching TV. Interestingly, she said the English-speaking channels are no longer available in her hotel room.
When reflecting on the intended vacation, Hicks said wasn’t sure if she would make plans to do a trip like this again.
“My husband and I haven’t had a vacation like this in 20 years,” Hicks said. “And we decided to go do something, and now I’m like, I don’t know if I want to do this again.”
On Monday morning, the president of Mexico said the situation has calmed down and expects flights to resume in a few days.
An alert was sent out to riders Sunday evening that BART service was paused in the Transbay Tube due to communication issues, along with information on transbay bus lines, but no details were provided on when service through the Tube would be restored.
As SFGate reports, BART first issued a service alert on social media around 4:15 pm Sunday, reporting a halt in service due to loss of communication in the Transbay Tube. This was followed up with information about taking AC Transit’s F, O and N/L transbay bus lines, which transports riders from SF’s Salesforce Terminal to several East Bay stops.
According to BART’s advisory page, riders could also take a dedicated shuttle bus between the 12th Street Oakland BART station and the Salesforce Terminal in SF. The agency also announced that West Oakland Station was closed during the closure of the Tube.
As the Chronicle reports, no information was given on how long the closure would last, but riders were advised to take the 800 bus across the bay after midnight, implying the shutdown could last late into the night.
“We have crews working to restore that communication right now, but for now trains are turning back at Embarcadero Station in San Francisco and at the West Oakland station in the East Bay,” said Anna Duckworth, a BART spokesperson, per the Chronicle.
The Chronicle notes that BART was running trains on a single track through the Tube late Saturday night due to previously scheduled work installing lights. It’s unclear whether the two incidents were related.
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — There are more than 1,000 coffee shops scattered around San Francisco.
A handful of them, though not many, serve Vietnamese coffee. But these establishments — whether it’s a phở restaurant or bánh mì spot — have Vietnamese coffee on the menu. However, there aren’t many businesses that center their entire menu around Vietnamese coffee.
Nâu Coffee does.
Mindy Tran — who is from San Jose, a city with one of the largest Vietnamese populations outside of Vietnam — grew up around countless businesses that serve Vietnamese coffee.
“Moving here to SF this past year, I’ve been trying to find more Viet local businesses. I was really happy that we have Nâu Coffee now,” said Tran, who attended last month’s pop-up in the Mission District. “I’ve tried a couple others, but this one has been the one that I really like. It’s more authentic.”
Good enough for Tran and her friends to wait in a long line on Saturday at the Nâu Coffee pop-up event in The City.
The group of young San Francisco professionals was among the many who waited more than an hour to get their hands on this coffee — symbolizing San Francisco’s growing demand for more Vietnamese coffee.
“Vietnamese coffee itself is really already popular worldwide and a lot of big cities in America. We just want to bring it to The City, a spot where people can get coffee but also hang out,” said Nâu Coffee co-founder Han Tran.
“We’re really grateful for people that showed up.”
Pandan Coffee drink at Nâu Coffee is being served during a pop-up event outside Abacus Row in San Francisco on Feb. 21.
San Francisco residents (left to right) Mindy (with the Salted Coffee), Michelle (holding Egg Coffee in her left hand) and Mary pose with their Nâu Coffee drinks during a pop-up event on Feb. 21 outside Abacus Row on Mason Street.
Han (left) and Nat (right) of Nâu Coffee are dressed in traditional Vietnamese garments, “áo dài,” and prepare to serve drinks during a busy pop-up event on Feb. 21 in San Francisco.
Co-founders Kien Nguyen and Han Tran prepare coffee for their guests during a pop-up event in San Francisco on Feb. 21.
Pandan Coffee drink at Nâu Coffee
Nâu Coffee’s (left to right) Salted Coffee and Egg Coffee served at a pop-up event in San Francisco.
Nâu Coffee co-founders Kien Nguyen and Han Tran speak to KRON4 during their pop-up event on Feb. 21 in San Francisco.
San Francisco residents (left to right) Michelle, Mindy and Mary in line waiting patiently for the Nâu Coffee pop-up in San Francisco on Feb. 21.
(KRON4 Photo)
The pop-up was officially listed from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., but the line started to form more than an hour before coffee was to be served. Their previous Mission District pop‑up a month earlier drew a similarly long line.
Kimmie Ma, aware of the hype, showed up around 10 a.m. She was especially excited to try the Egg Coffee.
“I’m aware of the hype because I been looking for Egg Coffee, but I don’t think SF has a lot of egg coffee. So when I first saw this on Instagram, I had a feeling the line was going to be long, so I wanted to come early,” Ma said.
Long lines at the Nâu Coffee pop-up this morning in San Francisco.
They serve a variety of Vietnamese coffee and have drawn massive crowds and hour-long waits since launching monthly pop-ups last summer. pic.twitter.com/73TpVTOWr8
Bruce Nguyen, who is from Houston, moved to San Francisco 2.5 years ago. He said the city lacks the number of Vietnamese coffee shops compared to his hometown.
“I don’t see as many, at least, compared to where I’m from,” Nguyen tells KRON4 while holding an Egg Coffee in his hand. “There’s a lot of Vietnamese coffee shops (in Houston), so it’s good to see (it in SF).”
Nâu Coffee’s next pop-up will be on Sunday, March 15 at Fellow on 820 Valencia St.
Just two months ago, a massive power outage left parts of San Francisco in the dark for days, and some lawmakers are trying to make sure it never happens again.
“San Francisco has been trying to break up with PG&E for a long time,” said Democratic Senator Scott Wiener. “The rates are extremely high and we know that public power can bring lower rates.”
Wiener says he will announce legislation on Monday that would allow San Francisco and other cities to break away from PG&E and form publicly owned utility companies, and do it quickly.
“San Francisco has already triggered a process to break away at the California Public Utilities Commission, but it is unbelievably slow, it’s taken years and years,” explained Wiener. “The standards set under the law are very unfavorable to a city wanting to break away.”
A professor at UC Berkeley and faculty director of the Energy Institute at Haas School of Business, Severin Borenstein, says he has an idea about what this could look like.
“It means trying to buy out their poles and wires to be the distributor of electricity in the city,” said Borenstein. “San Francisco is already its own entity in securing its electricity from generators. What would change, potentially, is they could own the specific distribution lines.”
He says it could benefit the city if they feel they can do a better job maintaining the lines, and they may be able to reduce the cost. But Borenstein explains that some of the reduction in cost could be because San Francisco and other urban areas are subsidizing the more rural areas in PG&E territory, particularly in fire-prone areas.
“If the cities opt out, or could opt out of PG&E territory, what that’s going to mean is all of those wildfire costs, which are really unavoidable, that’s what climate change is doing to us, will be shifting on to the remaining rate payers,” said Borenstein.
Borenstein thinks it could start a domino effect of cities wanting to form their own utility companies, and other lawmakers may want to avoid it.
“I don’t think the legislature is going to be very supportive of this because I think a lot of legislatures understand if we go down this road there’s going to be a crisis in the areas that are left holding the bag,” said Borenstein.
Alameda and Palo Alto already have city-run utilities. Wiener believes San Francisco can join them.
“Right now, PG&E, it is a publicly traded corporation,” Wiener stated. “It is beholden to Wall Street and investors and its bottom line. And public power allows you to break away from that and to focus on the public interest and not on the needs of shareholders.”
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — In Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, plumes of black smoke could be seen rising as vehicles were set on fire on Sunday.
The unrest is in connection with the killing of the powerful leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, “El Mencho.”
Flights are being canceled, and U.S. citizens are being told to stay put.
ABC7 Eyewitness News spoke with several Bay Area residents in Puerto Vallarta during the unrest.
Producer Juan Carlos Guerrero and his wife were set to fly home around 5 p.m. Sunday. But when they woke up this morning, their flight was canceled, and the airport was shut down.
People have reported hearing sounds of explosions. Cars and businesses have gone up flames.
In the heart of Puerto Vallarta, heavy smoke could be seen billowing into the sky.
Jeanne Allen and her husband from Alameda spend three months of the year in their condo in the Zona Romantica part of Puerto Vallarta — also known as Old Town.
Sunday morning, they learned about all the unrest in one of Mexico’s most popular tourist destinations.
“We looked out and we saw fires to the north and to the south,” Allen said. “Everybody in the world has been emailing, texting me, calling me.”
Fire destroyed an OXXO convenience store half a block away from her condo. Allen also lives about four blocks away from one of the many car fires set on Sunday.
The U.S. Embassy is telling Americans to shelter in place because of the unrest reportedly linked to a military operation targeting El Mencho.
“The streets are empty. The beaches are empty. It’s frightening. It really is,” Allen said.
Guerrero said his trip took a surprising turn. He is in Puerto Vallarta to celebrate a friend’s 60th birthday.
“Yeah, we got here on Thursday and everything was wonderful,” Guerrero said. “We got to go whale watching. We did lots of beautiful things. And then we woke up to this, this morning on the day that we’re supposed to fly out.”
From his hotel, he could see billowing black smoke.
“We’re about 10 miles south from Puerto Vallarta. We’re a little more isolated. But you could see a lot of smoke rising from the area of downtown Puerto Vallarta,” Guerrero said.
Guerrero says they sheltered in place and then learned about the cartel activity.
“I followed news from Mexico City — a lot from Mexico in general — and there’s been other times that they’ve captured the drug kingpins from Mexico. And that’s, you know, led to a lot of violence and a lot of, precisely, of the car fires — which are a way the car fires that they’re using to block the roads, is basically to keep the military from getting into areas that the cartel doesn’t want them to get into,” Guerrero said.
Guerrero said he can’t get a flight back until Friday. He’s trying to get out earlier.
But they are a one-hour drive from the airport, and he says there’s no telling what they could see along the way.
BART riders looking to get from the Peninsula to the East Bay, or vice versa, were in for an unpleasant surprise late in the day on Sunday when trains were halted through the Transbay Tube.
The stoppage was necessary “due to a loss of communications,” according to BART news release. The trains were halted right around 4 p.m. — at the Embarcadero Station on the San Francisco side and, at the other side of the Tube, at West Oakland, according to information provided on the BART media line.
Crews are working to address the problem.
No other details regarding the situation — such as when the trains would once again be up and running through the Transbay Tube — was immediately available.
Those impacted by the stoppage are recommended to use other forms of public transportation.
Bus service is available via A/C Transit. Those on the San Francisco side can ride buses F, O and N/L from the Salesforce Terminal. From the East Bay, riders can also board buses O, N/L and F.
Several Mexican states canceled school on Monday, with local and foreign governments warning their citizens to stay inside after widespread violence erupted following the army’s killing of the powerful leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.
Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho” was the boss of one of the fastest-growing criminal networks in Mexico, notorious for trafficking fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine to the United States and staging brazen attacks against government officials who challenged it.
He was killed during a shoot-out in his home state of Jalisco as the Mexican military attempted to capture him. Cartel members responded with violence across the country, blocking roads and setting fire to vehicles.
President Claudia Sheinbaum urged calm and authorities announced late Sunday they had cleared most of the more than 250 cartel roadblocks across 20 states. The White House confirmed that the U.S. provided intelligence support to the operation to capture the cartel leader and applauded Mexico’s army for taking down a man who was one of the most wanted criminals in both countries.
The White House confirmed that the U.S. provided intelligence support to the operation to capture the cartel leader and applauded Mexico’s army for taking down a man who was one of the most wanted criminals in both countries.
Mexico hoped the death of the world’s biggest fentanyl traffickers would ease Trump administration pressure to do more against the cartels, but many remained hunkered down and on edge as they waited to see the powerful cartel’s reaction.
Many fear more violence
The U.S. Embassy said via X that its personnel in eight cities and the state of Michoacan would shelter in place and work remotely Monday and it warned U.S. citizens in many parts of Mexico to do the same.
Cars began circulating in Guadalajara before sunrise Monday with the start of the work week, a notable change from Sunday when Jalisco’s state capital and Mexico’s second-largest city was almost completely shut down as fearful residents stayed home.
Irma Hernández, a 43-year-old hotel security guard in Guadalajara, arrived at work early Monday morning.
She normally takes public transportation to work, but buses were not running and she had no way to cross the city. Her bosses organized a private car to pick her up. Her family, she said, was staying at home, too scared to leave.
“I am worried because I don’t know how to get home if something happens,” she said.
Passengers arriving at the city’s international airport Sunday night were told it was operating with limited personnel because of the burst of violence.
Authorities in Jalisco, Michoacan and Guanajuato reported at least 14 other people killed Sunday, including seven National Guard troops.
Videos circulating on social media Sunday showed tourists in Puerto Vallarta walking on the beach with smoke rising in the distance.
A blow against a cartel could be a diplomatic coup
David Mora, Mexico analyst for International Crisis Group, said the capture and outburst of violence marks a point of inflection in Sheinbaum’s push to crack down on cartels and relieve U.S. pressures.
U.S. President Donald Trump has demanded Mexico do more to fight the smuggling of the often-deadly drug fentanyl, threatening to impose more tariffs or take unilateral military action if the country does not show results.
There were early signs that Mexico’s efforts were well received by the United States.
U.S. Amb. Ron Johnson recognized the success of the Mexican armed forces and their sacrifice in a statement late Sunday. He added that “under the leadership of President Trump and President Sheinbaum, bilateral cooperation has reached unprecedented levels.”
But it may also pave the way for more violence as rival criminal groups take advantage of the blow dealt to the CJNG, Mora said.
“This might be a moment in which those other groups see that the cartel is weakened and want to seize the opportunity for them to expand control and to gain control over Cartel Jalisco in those states,” he said.
“Ever since President Sheinbaum has been in power, the army has been way more confrontational, combative against criminal groups in Mexico,” Mora said. “This is signaling to the U.S. that if we keep cooperating, sharing intelligence, Mexico can do it, we don’t need U.S. troops on Mexican soil.”
‘El Mencho’ was a major target
Oseguera Cervantes, who was wounded in the operation to capture him Sunday in Tapalpa, Jalisco, about a two-hour drive southwest of Guadalajara, died while being flown to Mexico City, the Defense Department said in a statement.
During the operation, troops came under fire and killed four people at the location. Three more people, including Oseguera Cervantes, were wounded and later died, the statement said.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said via X that the U.S. government provided intelligence support for the operation. “‘El Mencho’ was a top target for the Mexican and United States government as one of the top traffickers of fentanyl into our homeland,” she wrote. She commended Mexico’s military for its work.
The U.S. State Department had offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the arrest of El Mencho. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel is one of the most powerful and fastest growing criminal organizations in Mexico and began operating around 2009.
In February 2025, the Trump administration designated the cartel as a foreign terrorist organization.
Sheinbaum has criticized the “kingpin” strategy of previous administrations that took out cartel leaders, only to trigger explosions of violence as cartels fractured. While she has remained popular in Mexico, security is a persistent concern and since U.S. President Donald Trump took office a year ago, she has been under tremendous pressure to show results against drug trafficking.
The Jalisco cartel has been one of the most aggressive cartels in its attacks on the military — including on helicopters — and is a pioneer in launching explosives from drones and installing mines. In 2020, it carried out a spectacular assassination attempt with grenades and high-powered rifles in the heart of Mexico City against the then head of the capital’s police force and now federal security secretary.
___
Sánchez reported from Mexico City. Associated Press writer María Verza contributed to this report.
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Megan Janetsky and Fabiola Sánchez | The Associated Press
Governor Newsom celebrated the launch of a new educational complex at San Quentin Friday featuring a media center, cafe, library, classrooms, and a reentry center, in the first of a series of projects transforming the once notorious prison into a leading-edge rehabilitation center.
As KTVU reports, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Friday for San Quentin Rehabilitation Center’s (formerly known as San Quentin State Prison) new $239 million learning center, which was completed in 18 months and was funded through a lease revenue bond, according to a press release.
Per the governor’s office, the learning center project was the first phase in the larger transformation of San Quentin into the “most innovative rehabilitation facility in the US.” The new San Quentin Learning and Rehabilitation Center will also serve as a prototype for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s “California Model,” which focuses on rehabilitation, education, and reentry with the goal of empowering incarcerated people and their communities.
“Three years ago, I stood here and promised to turn this symbol of the old system into the crown jewel of a new one,” said California Governor Gavin Newsom. “Today, with the opening of this Learning Center, we are proving that rehabilitation and public safety go hand in hand — and that hope is a powerful tool for safer communities.”
The new learning facility will consist of a technology and media center with podcast studios, a cafe, library, indoor and outdoor classrooms, and a reentry center to help inmates with a smoother transition into society upon release. Per the governor’s office press release, the learning center has partnered with Cal State LA, UC Berkeley, and Mt. Tamalpais College and provides inmates support with completing high school and college-level coursework.
Per KTVU, 30,000 inmates across the state are released annually, and Newsom aims to help them become positive citizens in their communities.
“It was about dealing with the fundamental fact that 95% of people in this system are going to go back into your neighborhoods and what kind of neighbors do you want them to be?” Newsom said Friday, per NBC Bay Area. “Are they coming back broken? Are they coming back better?”
As the site LegalClarity reports, California stalled all executions in the state beginning in 2006 when its protocols were found to be unlawful, and Newsom ordered an official moratorium in March 2019. CalMatters reports that Newsom ordered the demolition of the San Quentin building where the death chamber is located in 2022. Per LegalClarity, the state of California still has the largest death row population in the country, consisting of 580 inmates, per CalMatters.
California Governor Gavin Newsom
According to the governor’s office press release, Newsom created an advisory council consisting of experts in rehabilitation, public health and safety, victim advocacy, and corrections to help with the design of the new complex, with input by more than 50 stakeholders, including incarcerated residents and staff.
Per the press release, the complex uses “natural light, open sightlines, green-building principles, and campus-style courtyards to create an environment grounded in dignity and accountability.”
CalMatters reports that future construction projects at San Quentin include new housing and expanded recreation areas. Darrell Steinberg, the former state Senate president pro tempore, said the San Quentin Rehabilitation Center “represents an even broader definition of justice,” per CalMatters.
“When people commit a crime, accountability is appropriate,” said Steinberg, per CalMatters. “At the same time, no human being who serves time should ever be forgotten or forsaken. This is not partisan, soft or ideological. What you created here is effective public safety.”
KTVU reports that San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins expressed her support of the project at Friday’s event.
“This is about public safety,” Jenkins said. “So many of the residents here will and should get the opportunity to come back to us outside. And what we want more than anything is for them to come back whole.”
Per KTVU, San Quentin Warden Chance Andes believes the learning center will also have a positive impact on the relationships between inmates and corrections officers.
“When we reduce this ‘us vs. them’ mentality, that’s what causes that, so you see a lot of retaliation. So we’ve seen our violence drop, we’ve seen our recidivism drop by offering more programs,” Andes said.
Elizar Guerra, a mentor in San Quentin’s peer support program who’s serving 15 years to life for second-degree murder, said that the new facility gives inmates hope, per KTVU.
“To have a place like this where we can come and feel free and feel like ‘OK, maybe I can be a productive member of society,’ it means a lot for the people who are maybe marginalized here at the facility,” Guerra said.
LIVIGNO, Italy — Eileen Gu snatched a gold ribbon off a gift basket on her way to the mountain Sunday and stuck it in her pocket just in case.
Just in case?
If her 16-day odyssey at the Milan Cortina Games taught the world anything, it’s that there are no sure things in sports. Especially when the athletes flip 15 feet over rock-hard snowscapes for a living.
But that gold ribbon Gu tied into a bow in her hair after her curtain-closing Olympic performance on the mountain did, in fact, match the color medal she won in the women’s ski halfpipe final.
Gold medalist Eileen Gu poses with her medals after winning the women’s freestyle skiing halfpipe final at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026.
AP Photo/Abbie Parr
And that gold medal also was the third she’s won over two Olympics – more than any athlete in her sport.
And she is now 6 for 6 – six events, six medals, three of them gold, three silver – over a still-young Olympic career that has cascaded well beyond sports, veering into geopolitics, inclusion and, as the gold ribbon reminded us, fashion.
“I took a big risk in trusting myself,” Gu said of her frenetic quest this year, “and I’m glad that I did.”
Gu, born in the United States but competing for her mother’s homeland of China, knows that the modeling career, the fame, the platform she commands and the message she sends wouldn’t be possible if she weren’t the best freeskier in the world. She was also the only woman willing to divide her attention between halfpipe, slopestyle and big air over the 2 1/2-week marathon of Olympic risk-taking.
It was a quest that limited her training, rest and sometimes her sanity. Never her confidence, though.
“I’m not a gambling woman, but if I were, I took a pretty big bet on myself,” Gu said. “There was a chance everything could go wrong and I could have walked away with nothing, because I was trying to do too much. But in my head, even if everything crashes and burns, I tried. I’ll never regret trying.”
Eileen Gu is celebrating her accomplishments in the Olympics and opened up about the backlash she received over her decision to represent China.
The risk of doing too much once again reared its head on the first run of this bluebird day in Livigno – the halfpipe bathed one half in sun, the other in shade a day after a snowstorm postponed the final. Gu lost balance on the landing of her very first jump of the contest, forcing her to abandon the run toward the top of the pipe.
Each of her qualifying rounds at these Olympics involved a fall and a must-make return that she landed every time just to get to the final.
In halfpipe, largely viewed as the premier event in the sport and also the event where Gu has won 15 of her 20 World Cup titles, the odds of Gu not landing any of her three runs in the final seemed slim. In fact, it was none.
She ended up with not just the best score of the 32 runs by 11 athletes, but the best two scores of them all. Her second run was a 94 and her last was a 94.75.
“I tried for gold,” said Li Fanghui, who made this the first 1-2 finish for China in this event. “But my first goal was for silver.”
Gu won because she flies higher than almost everyone (except for bronze medalist Zoe Atkin), does more rotations than anyone (highlighted by two 900-degree spins in opposite directions) and, in a key separator in a 1.75-point win over Li, tried one more trick than her Chinese teammate (Gu and most skiers did six, Li only tried five).
“She is ‘Wonder Woman,’” New Zealand’s eight-place finisher Mischa Thomas said.
Gu was exhausted but happy after landing her 16th run in 16 days
After Gu landed smoothly on her final run, she lifted her right hand in the air, skied to the scoring area, then pumped her fist. That was trip No. 16 down the mountain over 16 days – every one of them dangerous in their own way, every one of them packed with pressure.
“I’m so tired, but I’m so happy,” she said.
At the end, with the gold medal secure, she wasn’t too tired to run in her ski boots to the side of the halfpipe, if only to reach over the blue fencing and share the love with a cohort of fans who celebrated her every appearance in the pipe by chanting “Gu Ailing, Gu Ailing,” which is the Chinese way to say her name.
She isn’t the only skier who brought a handful of fans to this remote village in northern Italy. But she’s the only one who brought a following. For these Olympics, they came from Stanford, from San Francisco, from China and many points in between.
Part of the reason she skis for China was to get more eyeballs on her sport. She recited figures from the Chinese government that said more than 300 million people have taken to the mountain in that country since she first burst onto the world stage at the Beijing Games four years ago.
“She brings a lot of visibility to our sport, which is awesome, especially in China,” said Canada’s Amy Fraser, the only woman to beat Gu in a halfpipe over the last four years. “That’s my favorite event we go to. People treat us like proper celebrities when we go there.”
An event defined by nations, allegiances makes Gu a perpetual lightning rod
What country she competes for will follow Gu around until she’s through skiing, and probably beyond.
Four years ago, the debate felt more supercharged because it was fresher and the Olympics were in the same country she was representing.
This time, a lot of it felt rehashed and reheated.
Vice President JD Vance weighed in on Fox News last week. Gu stuck to the message she’s been preaching all along: the more the merrier when it comes to her sport and, as for her critics, “I encourage those people to use that energy and direct it toward something that makes the world better in their own way.”
With the six medals, Gu stands alone among those in the relatively new sport of freeskiing. She’s also shooting up there in the pantheon of Olympians in any sport.
“I walked away as the most decorated free skier of all time, male or female,” Gu said. “I have the most gold medals of any free skier ever, male or female, and that is something that I’m so, so proud of. It’s unbelievable to me.”
Eileen Gu in tears after defending her Olympic halfpipe title, learning of her grandmother’s death
By taking chances, Eileen Gu is building a sport. She’s winning medals. Yet on a sunny Sunday at the Olympics where she defended her title on the halfpipe, maybe the best prize of all was knowing her grandma would be proud.
That’s why her tears flowed freely. Not long after the victory gave her a record-breaking third Olympic gold medal in freeskiing, Gu learned her grandmother, Guozhen Feng, had died.
“She was a steam ship,” Gu said. “This woman commanded life, and she grabbed it by the reins, and she made it into what she wanted it to be.”
It’s the way Gu, the 22-year-old – born in America but competing for her mother’s homeland of China – likes to approach skiing, school, life and everything she touches.
“She inspired me so much,” Gu said. “The last time I saw her before I came to the Olympics, she was very sick, so I knew that this was a possibility. I didn’t probably say that I was going to win, but I did promise her that I was going to be brave. She’s been brave.”
Gu knows she has naysayers and knows what to say to them
Gu has had to exhibit a certain amount of bravery, too, over her young life.
There’s bravery on the mountain, where she puts her health (and her life) on the line with every jump. Then, there’s the will of steel she needs to deal with her world off the slopes.
Barely a day has passed at either of her two Olympics when Gu doesn’t get asked about the country she competes for almost as often as her freeskiing.
Not a day passes, either, where she doesn’t lean into the same message she’s been delivering for years: “If people disagree with me, if they have other skill sets, which I’m sure they do, then I encourage them to direct it elsewhere,” she said. “To make the world better in their own way.”
At her post-victory news conference, the well-spoken Stanford student handled all the questions – about geopolitics, her brain power, the future of skiing – head-on, but always bringing the conversation back to the reason she has captivated an audience in a sport that doesn’t always do that.
“The difficulty of competing in three events, making finals in three events,” she said. “I had to compete six times. I kind of liken it to a marathon, with the pace of a 100-meter dash. … I took a big risk in trusting myself, and I’m glad that I did.”
By trusting, and winning, Gu has become the most decorated freeskier in the short history of the sport at the Olympics.
Beyond the medals, she is growing the sport. She cited a Chinese government study saying more than 300 million people in China have tried snow sports for the first time since she captured her three medals there at the last Olympics.
“There are girls in China whose lives are going to be touched by the beautiful and wonderful power of sport,” Gu said. “That, in and of itself, is absolutely measured impact that I think I had always wanted.”
A life after skiing focused on ‘global beneficial impact’
Asked what her life after skiing might entail, Gu stayed with the broad theme of “global beneficial impact” but said her pillars right now remain skiing, sports and fashion. She’ll be at a fashion show in Milan this week.
Things could change down the road.
“I think it’s more assessing your individual skill set and trying to say, ‘OK, what is the way that I can as a person do the most good in the world?’” Gu said. “Right now, I’m young. I’m energetic.”
Competitors catching up?
She’ll need it.
The example she has set for skiing has made this a better sport. Four years ago, when Gu closed out those Olympics with a gold on the halfpipe, there was a tinge of resignation among the other skiers. “A machine,” Canada’s runner-up Cassie Sharpe said back then. And American Carly Margulies agreed that Gu was skiing at “a level that’s pretty unattainable for a lot of us.”
Now, there’s a sense they’re catching up. Britain’s bronze medalist Zoe Atkin actually jumped higher out of the halfpipe than Gu. China’s Li Fanghui finished second and had she tried six tricks instead of five, who knows what might have happened?
“She’s a great skier, and she raises the level for everyone else,” said Canada’s Amy Fraser, who finished fourth and is the lone skier to beat Gu over the past four years. “But she’s not unbeatable.”
In a way, that’s exactly what Gu wants.
“If I went to a middle school and beat everybody at freestyle, it’s not exciting for anybody, right?” she explained.
Once her news conference was over, she exited out a side door, then climbed a grandstand for a few more pictures, a few more hugs. Her grandma didn’t see this victory. But Gu couldn’t have done it without her.
“That’s why I keep referring to this theme of betting on myself and being brave and taking risks,” Gu said. “It actually goes back to that promise I made my grandma. I’m really happy that I was able to uphold that and hopefully do her proud.”
Brandin Podziemski scored 12 of his 18 points in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter and the Golden State Warriors beat the Denver Nuggets 128-117 on Sunday.
Podziemski shot 7 of 16 and added 15 rebounds and nine assists. Al Hoford hit six 3-pointers and finished with 22 points and seven assists as the Warriors ended a two-game losing streak despite being without Stephen Curry (knee), Kristaps Porzingis (sick) and Jimmy Butler (torn right ACL). Draymond Green (back) was also a late scratch.
Moses Moody had 23 points and seven rebounds for the Warriors. DeAnthony Melton added 20 points.
Nikola Jokic had 25 points, 20 rebounds and 12 assists for Denver. It’s Jokic’s fifth triple-double in seven games, 19th of the season and the 183rd of his career.
Jamal Murray scored 21 points for the Nuggets, who had won three of five. Christian Braun scored 18 and Bruce Brown added 12.
Coming off a 54-point win over Portland on Friday, Denver never led in the first half. The Nuggets made a run in the second half before Golden State closed the game on a 19-8 run.
Podziemski led the Warriors with a pair of 3s and a put-back during the run. Horford added his sixth 3-pointer and had the Chase Center crowd rocking.
Horford got the Warriors going early with a pair of 3-pointers and 11 points in the first quarter.
Golden State extended its lead to 76-67 in the second despite Jokic being one assist shy of his triple-double before halftime.
San Jose Sharks center Macklin Celebrini stood stone-faced as an Olympic silver medal was placed around his neck on Sunday at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena.
Celebrini and the Canadians lost 2-1 to the United States in a heart-stopping final as New Jersey Devils center Jack Hughes scored 1:41 into 3-on-3 overtime to give Team USA its first gold medal in men’s hockey since the Miracle on Ice team stood atop the podium in Lake Placid in 1980.
During the 12-day tournament, the first to include NHL players since 2014, Celebrini finished second in scoring with 10 points, becoming the highest-scoring teenager in Olympic men’s hockey history. Still just 19, he was named to the Olympic all-tournament team, as his five goals led all skaters.
All of that did little to ease the sting of Sunday’s loss for the ultra-competitive Celebrini.
“The whole time, we believed in ourselves,” Celebrini said. “We had lots of chances, I had lots of chances I missed. You get put in those situations, you have to capitalize on your opportunities, and I didn’t.”
Still, during the Games, Celebrini grew from being one of the NHL’s coolest stories this season and a burgeoning Bay Area star to having a much bigger international profile while cementing his status as one of the game’s greatest players.
From the start, Celebrini fit in seamlessly alongside the NHL’s leading scorer, Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid, and regularly played during Canada’s most high-leverage moments.
Just before Hughes’ goal Sunday, Celebrini was on the ice with Vegas Golden Knights forward Mitch Marner. Those two combined on an overtime goal that lifted Canada past Czechia in Wednesday’s quarterfinals.
Canadian forward Nathan MacKinnon was moved onto a line with McDavid and Celebrini early in round-robin play. The longtime center played right wing on that line and said, “I understand the position and obviously playing with the best player in the world (in McDavid), and maybe the second-best player in the world, in Macklin, it was a lot of fun.”
MILAN, ITALY – FEBRUARY 22: USA’s #74 Jaccob Slavin (2L) and Canada’s #17 Macklin Celebrini vie for the puck during the men’s gold medal ice hockey match between Canada and USA at the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games on February 22, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Julien de Rosa – Pool/Getty Images)
Now, it seems, nothing will be the same for Celebrini, who is still more than three months away from his 20th birthday.
Thanks to the massive viewership numbers that were expected for Sunday’s game, Celebrini will no doubt become more visible wherever he goes. As time goes on, the expectations for him and the Sharks will also increase, and by playing so well this season and on the world stage, Celebrini will likely help San Jose become a more attractive place for free agents.
Heck, since Celebrini and McDavid played so well together and found instant chemistry, there’s already been speculation that McDavid will leave the Oilers in 2028 when he becomes a free agent and joins the Sharks. We’ll see what happens.
“If you want to see a special talent, come watch the Sharks,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said Saturday. “If you’re a hockey fan, if you’re not a hockey fan, you can just feel there’s a little bit of buzz around the area.
“I’m getting texts from people back home (in Massachusetts), because we’re on late, and now they’re going to stay up and watch the Sharks. And credit to Mack, he’s been a big part of that.”
Celebrini and the Canadians thought they let Sunday’s game slip away after badly outshooting the Americans 42-28, including 33-18 over the final two periods.
Celebrini had two glorious chances to score when the Canadians were on the power play late in the third period, and MacKinnon missed a wide-open net from short range.
MILAN, ITALY – FEBRUARY 22: Brady Tkachuk #7 of Team United States shakes hands with Macklin Celebrini #17 of Team Canada after the team’s 2-1 overtime victory in the Men’s Gold Medal match between Canada and the United States on day 16 of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on February 22, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
Of American goalie Connor Hellebuyck’s 41 saves, perhaps the most memorable was the one early in the third period on Devon Toews, where Hellebuyck used the knob of his stick to stop what could have been the game-winning goal from going in.
“(Hellebuyck) was our best player by a mile,” said winger Matt Boldy, who scored a first-period goal to give the Americans a 1-0 lead. “He’s an absolute stud. He wants to be in those moments. He wants to make the saves. And he did just that, so he was definitely our MVP.”
Celebrini will likely remember such challenging moments as he begins to digest his often exhilarating experience at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympic Games. But he’ll also likely remember the good times, how he set the stage for himself for the rest of this season with the Sharks, the 2028 World Cup of Hockey, and the 2030 Winter Olympics in France.
Things won’t be the same for Celebrini going forward. But as much as Sunday’s loss hurt, he also has to be excited about what’s ahead.
“We went through a lot,” Celebrini said. “We’re all going to remember this time, but unfortunately, it’s going to be more motivational than celebration.”
Ninety-five percent of Oakland teachers voted to authorize a strike Friday, with their union demanding a 12% wage increase. Over 60% of union members are reportedly unable to afford the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which has led to around 400 educators leaving the district per year. [Bay Area News Group]
Authorities suspect that a body found near Lake Berryessa Friday in Napa County may be linked to the kidnapping of 57-year-old Avtar Singh in San Joaquin County on Tuesday. Based on surveillance footage, three unidentified individuals pulled Singh into a white SUV against his will outside the Tracy Gurdwara Sahib, a Sikh place of worship. [SFGate]
Earlier this month, California Assemblymember Ash Kalra of San Jose reintroduced the California Guaranteed Health Care for All Act, also called “CalCare,” a single-payer health care coverage program. The bill, which has been introduced in different iterations in previous years, was coauthored by 20 state representatives and sponsored by the California Nurses Association. [National Nurses United]
The US Secret Service fatally shot a man armed with a shotgun who entered the secure perimeter of President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, early Sunday morning. [Associated Press]
The family of a 16-year-old student who was killed on campus at Deer Valley High School in Antioch was awarded $1.25 million after the school was found to be in violation of state laws, including a lack of a comprehensive safety plan and an insufficient number of trained security guards. [Bay Area News Group]
The Alysa Liu Fever continues following the local figure skater’s gold medal Winter Olympics win with Oakland’s Fenton Creamery offering the 20-year-old Liu, who’s Oakland born-and-raised, a lifetime supply of ice cream. [Chronicle]
Trump is demanding that Netflix eliminate Democratic foreign policy expert Susan Rice from its board or “face the consequences” after he previously promised not to get involved in Netflix and Paramount’s attempted takeover of Warner Bros Discovery. [Guardian]
The Oakland Zoo is celebrating the arrival of its first baby red-tailed monkey after two of its red-tailed guenons Nonami and Marley delivered a baby boy Friday. [NBC Bay Area]
NEW ALBANY, Ind. — Rondale Moore, the NFL receiver who had season-ending training camp knee injuries in each of the last two years after a standout college career at Purdue and a promising start with the Arizona Cardinals, was found dead Saturday, authorities said. He was 25.
Police said Moore died of a suspected self-inflicted gunshot wound. Moore was found dead in the garage of a property in his hometown of New Albany, police chief Todd Bailey said. The death remains under investigation.
Floyd County Coroner Matthew Tomlin also confirmed Moore’s death. He said an autopsy would be conducted on Sunday.
Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Rondale Moore (4) runs against the San Francisco 49ers during the first half of an NFL football game, Dec. 17, 2023, in Glendale, Ariz.
AP Photo/Matt York, File
After being traded to the Atlanta Falcons in 2024, Moore dislocated his right knee during training camp and never played for them. He signed with the Minnesota Vikings in 2025, but he blew out his left knee while returning a punt in their first exhibition game and spent another full season on injured reserve. Moore was so distraught after immediately realizing the seriousness of that injury that he slammed his hand down on a cart so hard the sound was audible throughout the stadium.
The Vikings said they had spoken with Moore’s family to offer condolences and support.
“I am devastated by the news of Rondale’s death. While Rondale had been a member of the Vikings for a short time, he was someone we came to know well and care about deeply,” coach Kevin O’Connell said in a statement distributed by the team. “He was a humble, soft-spoken, and respectful young man who was proud of his Indiana roots. As a player, he was disciplined, dedicated and resilient despite facing adversity multiple times as injuries sidelined him throughout his career. We are all heartbroken by the fact he won’t continue to live out his NFL dream and we won’t all have a chance to watch him flourish.”
In a statement, the Cardinals said they were “devastated and heartbroken.”
“Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with his family, friends, teammates, and everyone who loved him and had the privilege of knowing such a special person,” the team said in a social media post.
Moore grew up in New Albany, just across the Indiana border from Louisville, Kentucky, and was a first team All-American as a freshman at Purdue in 2018.
“Rondale Moore was a complete joy to coach. The ultimate competitor who wouldn’t back down from any challenge. Rondale had a work ethic unmatched by anyone. A great teammate that would come through in any situation. We all loved Rondale; we loved his smile and his competitive edge that always wanted to please everyone he came in contact,” Louisville coach Jeff Brohm said on social media. Brohm was the coach at Purdue when Moore played there.
Drafted in the second round by the Cardinals in 2021, Moore had 1,201 receiving yards and three touchdowns plus 249 rushing yards and one score over three seasons. He served as their primary returner for kickoffs and punts as a rookie before injuries pushed him away from that role.
“Can’t even begin to fathom or process this,” former Cardinals teammate J.J. Watt said on social media. “There’s just no way. Way too soon. Way too special. So much left to give. Rest in peace Rondale.”
If you are experiencing suicidal, substance use or other mental health crises please call or text the new three digit code at 988. You will reach a trained crisis counselor for free, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can also go to 988lifeline.org or dial the current toll free number 800-273-8255 [TALK].
ANTIOCH — The Antioch school district has agreed to pay $1.25 million to the family of a 16-year-old student killed in a campus shooting, after officials had raised repeated concerns about safety at Deer Valley High School.
Court filings in the family’s lawsuit paint a grim picture of conditions at the campus and how it prepared for crosstown rival sporting events known to attract large crowds. The school was in violation of state laws requiring a comprehensive safety plan and certification of security guards, according to the lawsuit. There also were not enough guards assigned to the campus.
Looking back, one former school board member gave the high school a “D” grade in safety in response to a question during a 2025 deposition. Another testified that top officials became fearful and “were trying to cover their tracks” after 16-year-old Jonathon Parker was killed, because they were aware of serious safety shortcomings.
“We could do better, and I think the district should have done better,” Ellie Householder, a school board trustee from 2018 to 2022, testified last year. “And I think that Jonathon Parker didn’t have to die.”
School officials say they have made campuses safer in the years since Parker was killed.
“The district has taken meaningful steps to strengthen safety measures, refine oversight, work closely with community partners to support secure campuses, and intentionally build a culture of care where every student feels safe, supported, and connected,” said Jag Lathan, AUSD’s board president, in a statement.
At a Deer Valley High basketball game against Antioch High, Parker was shot and killed in a dark campus parking lot while he, his brother and two friends were attempting to fend off an estimated 25 attackers — a mix of teen boys and adults. Three months earlier, police testified, an estimated 20 students had fought near the campus football stadium.
Despite the warning signs, when Parker’s 15-year-old killer fired the fatal shot, there were no police officers on campus, no security guards in the area and site safety officers were not trained to handle a school shooting, according to witness testimony.
Parker’s mother told this news organization that his killers may have been angry that Parker had intervened when they were bullying another student days earlier. He was 6-foot-4 and sometimes served as a “protector” to students who had a harder time defending themselves, she said in 2020.
Court records show Parker sensed danger the night he was killed and called his brother for help, telling him, “there’s some people up here from an incident that happened before,” his brother testified at a 2022 civil deposition.
Parker’s brother arrived to take him home, but Parker stopped to chat with friends on his way to the parking lot, including a campus security guard who headed in the opposite direction.
Moments later, a crowd began to form and appeared confrontational. Parker told his brother to “hurry up” and get to the car, but it was too late. Parker, his brother and two friends were surrounded by more than two dozen people.
They chose what seemed like the only option, his brother testified. Parker squared off in a one-on-one fight with Daiveon Allison, then 15, of Pittsburg, who later was adjudicated in juvenile court for the killing.
About a minute into the fight, chaos erupted. The four teens were mobbed by the crowd. Parker’s brother was knocked to the ground and kicked until one of his ribs broke. From the pavement, he heard gunfire and scrambled to help his brother. Parker lost consciousness and died the next day at a hospital.
“(He) called for my name. That’s the last thing he said,” his brother testified.
In the aftermath, police described warning signs that violence had been escalating at the high school.
In 2017, officers responded to five reports of fights. In 2018, there were four, Sgt. Loren Bledsoe testified. By 2019, that number had climbed to 11.
In 2020, then-Superintendent Stephanie Anello — who was ousted in 2024 amid a staff bullying and harassment scandal — said staffing levels were “adequate” and there was “absolutely no indication that someone was planning to commit such a heinous act.”
But former AUSD trustee Crystal Sawyer-White testified that safety concerns had been raised before Parker’s death.
She recounted how a Richmond parent had threatened a Deer Valley vice principal before a sporting event and said lighting concerns had surfaced at that time. During a campus tour, she noticed there were no cameras in the parking lot where Parker was later killed. She testified that the district had “failed” to keep him safe and, when asked, also gave school safety a “D” grade.
“As far as sporting events, you know, that wasn’t a safe area for John John to be,” she said, using Parker’s nickname.
Householder agreed. She testified that the district appeared more focused on adopting a safety plan that simply “checks off a box,” adding, “I had this intuition that things were really sketchy, but I was kind of stonewalled with information.”
Looking back, she said adults never should have allowed such a large crowd to gather without intervention.
“The lights were dim. The gates were locked. Why were there so many children there?” Householder testified. “To me, it’s not rocket science.”
Since then, Householder agreed things have changed for the better, but added she doesn’t keep up with the details as well as when she served on the school board. In an email to this news organization, she said AUSD has shown “genuine growth … regarding student safety.” Six months after Parker was slain, the city accepted a $750,000 grant to return police officers to school campuses.
Authorities say Parker’s death also fueled a cycle of retaliation among teens in Antioch and Pittsburg.
A letter obtained by this news organization from one of Parker’s teachers, written shortly after his death, described the lasting impact.
A 29-year-old towing company owner was sentenced to five years in federal prison for orchestrating a plan to set the trucks of four rival companies on fire, along with two years for submitting fraudulent auto insurance claims, with state welfare fraud charges pending.
As Bay City News reports, Jose Vicente Badillo, 29, owner of San Francisco-based companies Auto Towing and Specialty Towing was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison on February 12 after pleading guilty to committing arson. As Mission Local reports, Badillo carried out a plan between April and October 2023 in which he conspired with others to set fire to six different tow trucks owned by four competitors in San Francisco and East Palo Alto, according to court documents.
Bay City News writes that Badillo’s plan was in retaliation to perceived wrongdoings by his rivals as well as an effort to drive more customers to his businesses. Additionally, Badillo was sentenced in a separate federal case on February 13 to 27 months in prison for conspiring to submit false auto insurance claims, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses, between 2017 and 2021 approximately, which he’ll serve at the same time as the arson sentence, per Bay City News.
Mission Local reports that the two cases are part of a long roster of cases opened against Badillo in recent years. In 2023, the San Francisco district attorney charged Badillo on counts of welfare fraud, perjury, and grand theft for allegedly lying on his welfare application. Per Mission Local, while Badillo’s companies were generating $2 million per year in revenue, which went toward a $250,000 Lamborghini and several other large purchases, Badillo and his partner managed to receive full Medi-Cal, CalFresh, and CalWORKS benefits.
Additionally, Mission Local reports that Badillo has been prohibited from working with the city of San Francisco since February 2024 after it was discovered that someone from one of Badillo’s companies installed fake “no parking” signs in a bank parking lot in 2023 and illegally towed cars. Last Fall, Mission Local reported that Badillo was reportedly still working with the city under a different business name despite no longer having a permit.
The U.S. men’s hockey team defeated Canada 2-1 in the gold medal game at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics on Sunday, which marked the 46th anniversary of the “Miracle on Ice.” Jack Hughes scored the overtime winner for Team USA in 3-on-3 play to clinch the gold.
“This is all about our country,” Hughes said. “I love the USA, I love our teammates. … I’m so proud to be American today.”
Team USA now has three Olympic gold medals in men’s hockey and its first since pulling off a miracle at the 1980 Winter Games. This is the team’s first gold off home ice, as it won its first Olympic title at the 1960 Squaw Valley Olympics and its second 20 years later in Lake Placid.
On the other side, Canada was chasing its 10th Olympic gold but instead settled for its fifth silver. The country was going for its first gold since 2014, the last year NHL players were allowed to play in the Winter Olympics prior to the Milan Cortina Games.
The U.S. is now 2-4 all-time against Canada in Olympic matchups with NHL players. Team USA’s only win prior to Sunday came in group play at the 2010 Vancouver Games, though Canada got its revenge with an overtime win in the gold medal game at those Olympics.
After scoring the sudden-death overtime winner to end a 46-year Olympic gold drought, Jack Hughes reflects on breaking the streak, doing it for the country and why “tonight, we’re the best in the world.”
This year’s gold medal tilt was yet another USA-Canada game to go to overtime with a championship on the line. On top of the 2010 gold medal game, Connor McDavid played the hero last time for Canada with the overtime winner against the U.S. in the 4 Nations Face Off last year.
“That’s exactly how we wanted it to go,” Hughes said. “We wanted to go through Canada and beat them.”
Matt Boldy opened the scoring for Team USA just six minutes into this year’s gold medal game. He broke through the Canadian defense and beat goalie Jordan Binnington for the Americans’ first goal — and first shot — of the game.
Canada finally got on the board with less than two minutes remaining in the second period when Cale Makar drilled a shot past American goalie Connor Hellebuyck.
Both teams had power play chances in the third period, but Hellebuyck kept the puck out of the net to send the game to overtime tied 1-1.
Hellebuyck was the key reason Team USA even made it to overtime. The 2025 NHL Hart Trophy winner made 41 saves on 42 shots, including a miraculous stick save to stop Canada’s Devon Toews.
“Unbelievable game by Hellebuyck, he was our best player by a mile,” Hughes said. “Just a ballsy, gutsy win. That’s American hockey right there. Tonight was all for the country.”
Connor Hellebuyck of Team USA saves the shot taken by Devon Toews of Team Canada in the third period during the men’s gold medal match between Canada and the United States on Day 16 of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on Feb. 22, 2026, in Milan, Italy. (Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
In overtime, Hughes stepped in his brother’s footsteps with a game-winning goal. Quinn Hughes was the hero in Team USA’s quarterfinal win against Sweden, and it was the younger brother who scored the winner less than two minutes into overtime in the gold medal game.
Following the win, U.S. players honored Johnny Gaudreau on the ice. Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, died in August 2024 when they were struck by a car while riding bicycles near their New Jersey hometown on the eve of their sister Katie’s wedding. Team USA features several of Gaudreau’s former NHL teammates, including Matthew Tkachuk and Zach Werenski.
The presence of the late USA hockey player Johnny Gaudreau was felt as the U.S. men’s hockey team won gold at the Milan Cortina Olympics.
The men’s hockey gold medal game was the final event of the Milan Cortina Games. All that remains is the Closing Ceremony at 2:30 p.m. ET/11:30 a.m. PT.
Charlie McAvoy, one of the NHL’s most charitable players, learned the value of hard work from his father Charles McAvoy Sr., who runs a four-generation plumbing business.
