ReportWire

Tag: Marin County

  • Clock issues can’t stop Valkyries in win over Caitlin Clark-less Fever

    [ad_1]

    SAN FRANCISCO — Chase Center turned into a glorified night club on Sunday night. 

    After electrical issues caused multiple shot clocks to malfunction, and choppy officiating gave way to numerous review stoppages, the fan cam inside the arena was put to work. 

    The basketball game almost seemed like background noise as fans were asked to dance to a mix of Bay Area classics and new age pop music with each game stoppage. Both the Valkyries and the visiting Indiana Fever were both visibly frustrated by the start-stop nature of Sunday’s game that took two hours and 38 minutes to complete.

    But what mattered most is that the Valkyries gave the sold out crowd of 18,064 something to dance for after the game ended.

    Golden State Valkyries’ Iliana Rupert (12) scores a 3-point basket against Indiana Fever’s Aerial Powers (23) in the fourth quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group) 

    The Valkyries won their third straight game, beating the injury-plagued Indiana Fever 75-63 behind a hot shooting start. The 158-minute game was the longest contest that ended in regulation since the Chicago Sky played the Dallas Wings in a two-hour, 41-minute game on Aug. 6, 2023, per Elias Sports Bureau. Sunday’s game had five clock stoppages in the first half. 

    The Valkyries attributed the clock malfunctions to a power outage that occurred at Chase Center on Sunday morning. 

    Iliana Rupert posted a career-high 21 points and hit 5-of-8 shots from the 3-point line. Rookie Janelle Salaün had 10 points, four rebounds and two assists. Veronica Burton finished with eight points, 13 assists and seven rebounds.

    “I think it was the first time in all of our lives that we had so much stuff (go on), but it’s not stuff that you can control,” Rupert said after the game. “We really just tried to stay together.  The fans obviously helped a lot because you can lose energy really quickly, and they were pushing us.”

    A broken shot clock above a basket during the Golden State Valkyries game against the Indiana Fever in the second quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
    A broken shot clock above a basket during the Golden State Valkyries game against the Indiana Fever in the second quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group) 

    The Fever were without superstar Caitlin Clark, who missed her 18th straight game with a left groin injury. Former Valkyries guard Aerial Powers scored 17 points off the bench and Kelsey Mitchell had 14 points in the loss. 

    The Valkyries held the Fever’s other star, Aliyah Boston, to just four points.

    “We really tried to be physical with her and try to make the night hard,” Rupert said. “I think we did that really well. So yeah, I’m happy of the work because it was really a team effort to stop her.”

    After two different clock stoppages forced a 25-minute delay in the first quarter, the Valkyries went on a run. Golden State hit seven of its eight 3-pointers and took a 25-14 lead after the first 10 minutes. 

    More stoppages allowed Indiana to get back within striking distance, but Golden State kept the high-paced offense at bay. 

    The Valkyries led by as much as 20 in the first half behind a 75% shooting quarter from beyond the arc. Rupert and Salaün accounted for 21 of the Valkyries’ 44 first-half points, and the home team led 44-32 after two quarters. 

    With all the stoppages, the first half lasted a whopping 92 minutes but Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase said the breaks in action helped the Valkyries regroup. 

    Golden State Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase (35) talks to Golden State Valkyries' Temi Fagbenle (14) during their game against the Indiana Fever in the second quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
    Golden State Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase (35) talks to Golden State Valkyries’ Temi Fagbenle (14) during their game against the Indiana Fever in the second quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group) 

    “We did get to talk about defensively, continuing to focus on our game plan and our execution in terms of the defense and what was hurting us,” Nakase said. “We just tried to make it an advantage as best we can.”

    Indiana made headway in the third quarter, cutting the Valkyries’ lead to seven going into the final 10 minutes. 

    Powers cut the Golden State advantage to just five with a layup at the 7:37 mark of the fourth quarter, giving the Fever a much-needed momentum swing.

    But just as Indiana was on the verge of cutting the lead to a single possession, Powers fouled Clark’s former Iowa teammate Kate Martin on a 3-pointer right in front of Indiana’s bench and the second-year guard swished the shot to erupt the Chase Center crowd.

    Golden State Valkyries' Kate Martin (20) heads to the basket against Indiana Fever's Lexie Hull (10) in the second quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
    Golden State Valkyries’ Kate Martin (20) heads to the basket against Indiana Fever’s Lexie Hull (10) in the second quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group) 

    Martin finished with 10 points.

1 of 10

Golden State Valkyries’ Iliana Rupert (12) celebrates her 3-point basket against the Indiana Fever in the fourth quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

Expand

Originally Published:

[ad_2]

Nathan Canilao

Source link

  • Novato seniors paid millions to own a mobile home park. Now, the city wants $26M

    [ad_1]

    A group of low-income seniors in Novato is trying to buy their mobile home park from the city, but how the city ended up owning the property has a lot of people crying foul.  

    Now, the residents say the negotiations have been one-sided, and on Tuesday night, they took their complaints directly to the powers that be.

    From the street, a host of “Private Property” signs indicates the Marin Valley Mobile Country Club to be privately owned. But it’s not. The 319-unit mobile home complex is officially owned by the city of Novato.  

    In 1997, the residents formed a group called the Park Acquisition Corporation (PAC) to try to buy the land, but somehow the city, which co-signed the loan, ended up as the only name on the documents. For more than 20 years, resident Gloria Gilbert’s monthly payment has gone toward buying property for the city.  But she, like a lot of residents, thought they would eventually own the land.

    “Yes. Yes,” she said. “And I was involved in the effort back in the late 90s, early 2000s, to get the city to sell the park to us and they refused.” 

    A city staff report from 2023 says, “There are no documents that indicated park ownership would transfer to the PAC, park residents, or any other entity other than the City of Novato after the Bank of Marin loan is repaid in 2027.”  

    But the next sentence says, “It is important to note that no City general funds were used to acquire MVMCC,” admitting that the city paid nothing to buy the land. On Tuesday night, the residents took their frustrations to the City Council.

    “No public funds have ever been used to sustain Marin Valley Mobile Country Club,” resident Serena Fisher reminded the council. “Residents have paid for everything since 1997, including $18 million in loans and bonds and interest, with the understanding the land would ultimately be ours in 2027.”

    “We recognize that we need to be responsible for our own future and not rely on a handshake agreement,” said Janine Bradley.  “We cannot rely on the city to keep our best interest as a priority.”

    The issue was not on the council’s agenda, so members could only sit and listen. But they did talk about it at a meeting two years earlier, when the residents were again trying to negotiate a purchase from the city.  

    At the meeting on Sept. 26, 2023, council member Pat Ekland, who was mayor at the time of the original sale in 1997, suggested that they consider transferring ownership to the park residents. That didn’t go over so well with the other councilmembers.

    “Transfering ownership? Um, that just — I can’t agree with that,” said then-mayor Susan Wernick. “From a legal standpoint, I think that could be considered a gift of public funds. I can’t imagine how the rest of the community would feel if we transferred ownership. Maybe we should transfer other public buildings to other people in the city.”

    “There’s no gift of public funds because not a penny of public funds has been put into the ownership of Marin Valley,” countered Ekland. “It has been paid for, every penny has been paid for, by the residents who live at the park.”

    Nevertheless, the park residents have accepted the situation and are working to buy the property for a second time, this time offering the city $20 million. But the city has refused. Their appraisal lists the value of the property at $26 million and they say they will not accept less than that.

    “Can you honestly say this is good-faith negotiations?” said Fisher. “So much work went into that proposal, for you, for your consideration.  This is certainly not a ‘win-win’ that you have talked about.”

    “Take the 20 million,” said frustrated resident Bill Davis.  “Everyone wins. Have the attorneys paper it up. And you can get back to city business.”

    The residents are afraid that the city could sell the park to a private operator, potentially driving up rents. So, they have now upped their offer to $23.5 million, which the city is set to discuss in closed session on Sept. 9. It seems like the residents have every reason to be angry.  But instead of shouting, they ended Tuesday’s meeting with a song.

    “We were promised when the loan was paid, the park would be our own!” the crowd sang, “So if your promise you will keep, we can finally get some sleep, and once again feel safe and happy in our home, Marin Valley! That’s our home! That’s our home!”

    John Ramos

    John Ramos accidentally launched a lifelong career in journalism when he began drawing editorial cartoons and writing smart-alecky satire pieces for the Bakersfield High School newspaper.

    [ad_2]

    John Ramos

    Source link

  • Kaila Charles finds redemption with Valkyries in career night vs. Wings

    [ad_1]

    Twice this year, the Dallas Wings told Kaila Charles she wasn’t good enough to keep a roster spot. 

    Her WNBA journey looked about finished for the 2025 season until the Valkyries gave her an opportunity just after the All-Star break after a plethora of injuries left the expansion team shorthanded. Now, the Valkyries can’t imagine a rotation without her. 

    Following three hardship contracts, the Valkyries guaranteed the 27-year-old shooting guard’s contract for the rest of the season. 

    On Sunday, she had her best game of the season as she locked up former teammate and rookie of the year candidate Paige Bueckers while tying a career-high 16 points in a 90-81 win over the Wings. 

    “I think it was a full circle moment,” Charles said after Sunday’s win. “I started the season here, and to be cut was sad, but it also gave me the opportunity to get film and get picked up by the (Valkyries). So even though it didn’t work out here like I wanted to, it gave me another opportunity where I fit in a little bit more.

    “So it just shows that everything happens for a reason, and I’m really glad that I was able to win with my team and do well and help them.”

    Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers (5) loses control of the ball against Golden State Valkyries guard Kaila Charles during the second half of a WNBA basketball game in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero) 

    When the Valkyries first signed Charles on Aug. 1, the former University of Maryland standout was tasked with learning a new system and teammates on a team that’s in the midst of trying to make a playoff push. 

    On the morning she joined the team, Charles boarded a plane to Chicago and had a few hours to learn the Valkyries’ playbook before a 7 p.m. tipoff against the Sky. The Valkyries coaching staff quickly briefed Charles before the game and the shooting guard was immediately in the rotation that night. 

    That night against, Charles played 17 minutes, scored five points, grabbed five rebounds and closed the fourth quarter in her first game with the team. 

    “Sometimes it’s on the fly,” assistant coach Landon Tatum told this news organization in a recent interview about how they fit players like Charles into their rotation the day of a game. “We know this person can do this really well. So, let’s see if this works. I wouldn’t necessarily say we know ahead of time going into games this is going to for sure work, but I think because we do a solid job of knowing what players do well, we can kind of plug and play specific people with certain people.” 

    Since then, Charles has been a rotation regular. She’s played in every game and been a valuable piece off the bench for Nakase as a defensive stopper and consistent catch-and-shoot player. 

    In her first start with the Valkyries on Sunday, Charles was tasked with guarding Bueckers, who came into the game with a streak of 30 consecutive double-digit scoring games. 

    Charles shadowed Bueckers for every minute she was in the game. Her active hands bothered the rookie star and her quick feet kept Bueckers away from the basket. 

    Charles held Bueckers scoreless in the first half and eventually limited her to just nine points on 3-of-12 shooting. 

    “Credit to Kaila for coming and doing what she does,” Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase said. “Locking people up, and also on the offensive end, just being confident in her shot making. She makes quick decisions, taking it hard to the basket. Credit to Kaila because she’s really only had two practices with us.”

    With the injuries the Valkyries have, Charles’ role will only get larger in the coming weeks as the Valkyries try to secure a playoff spot. 

    Golden State is currently in eighth place with a half-game lead over the ninth-place Los Angeles Sparks for the final playoff spot. The Valkyries are also a half game behind the sixth-place Indiana Fever and seventh-place Seattle Storm with matchups against both franchises in the coming weeks. 

    The battle to make the playoffs makes Charles’ presence, and her ability to step in when her team needs her most, all the more valuable.  

    [ad_2]

    Nathan Canilao

    Source link

  • Victim in fatal Marin County crash on Point Reyes-Petaluma Road identified

    Victim in fatal Marin County crash on Point Reyes-Petaluma Road identified

    [ad_1]

    PIX Now – Morning Edition 10/30/24


    PIX Now – Morning Edition 10/30/24

    12:29

    The medical examiner’s office in Marin County has identified a man who died in a solo vehicle collision south of Petaluma earlier this week.

    Djakari Rashawn Pariani-Tompkins, 29, was killed Monday when he lost control of his vehicle in the 5900 block of Point Reyes-Petaluma Road northwest of Novato, according to the county.

    At approximately 3:40 p.m., Pariani-Tompkins was driving a Ford Expedition westbound within Chileno Valley near McEvoy Ranch, south of Petaluma within Marin County.

    For reasons unknown and which remain under investigation, Pariani-Tompkins lost control of the vehicle he was operating, departed the roadway and his SUV rolled over onto its roof.

    Pariani-Tompkins was not wearing a seatbelt and was partially ejected from the vehicle during the collision and became partially entrapped beneath the vehicle when it came to rest, according to the county.

    A restrained front-seat passenger was able to self-extricate herself from the vehicle after the collision.

    Pariani-Tompkins was discovered lifeless, unresponsive, and unconscious. His death was declared on the scene “without providing resuscitative aid having sustained traumatic injuries incompatible with life,” the county said.

    The medical examiner on Tuesday carried out an autopsy and took a routine toxicology, the county said. The cause and manner of his death will be pending the conclusion of an investigation by the California Highway Patrol and the coroner’s office.

    “The Marin County Sheriff’s Office and personnel of the Coroner Division offers our sincerest condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Pariani-Tompkins.”

    Pariani-Tompkins was a resident of both San Rafael and Petaluma, the county said.   

    [ad_2]

    CBS San Francisco

    Source link

  • North Bay’s SMART train system gets $81M to extend train line to Healdsburg

    North Bay’s SMART train system gets $81M to extend train line to Healdsburg

    [ad_1]

    Like a lot of transit agencies, the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) commuter train line in Marin and Sonoma Counties has been struggling to regain ridership and revenue lost to the pandemic. But now, there’s welcome news from the state that will keep the rail line on track to extend service to the town of Healdsburg.

    It’s been a long time since any train arrived at the Healdsburg Depot. Its buildings are boarded up and the sign is cracked and faded. But there was a time, before the car became king, when traveling by rail was the way nearly everyone got to the northern Sonoma towns.

    “The train was one of the main ways that people came up to visit Healdsburg way back in the day,” said Mayor David Hagele. “They’d come visit the Russian River, there were trains that would go out all over the place. And it’s great to have some of that piece of history and the connection to the past coming back.”

    Hagele is excited by the announcement last week that the California State Transportation Authority approved $81 million to extend the SMART train line to Healdsburg. The news comes as the system is set to begin service from Santa Rosa to Windsor sometime in 2025.

    “But the bigger part is the connectivity,” said Hagele. “It connects us even closer to Windsor and soon to Cloverdale and that’s a big part with trains, how they’ve been able to connect small communities together.”

    Federal funding is already in place to rebuild the rail bridge over the Russian River and into town. The $81 million from the state will go to replacing all the tracks, adding a required automated control system and constructing a bike and pedestrian path along the corridor.  If there are no delays, SMART expects the extension to Healdsburg to be completed sometime in 2028. SMART Board Vice Chair Melanie Bagby said it shows the state’s commitment to complete the system.

    “Everyone said, ‘You’ll never get to Larkspur.’  SMART got to Larkspur. ‘Oh, you’ll never get to Windsor.’ SMART will be opening in Windsor next year.  And now we have the funding to go to Healdsburg,” said Bagby. “So, I think it’s pretty evident that we’re on a trajectory to complete the vision of the voters for SMART.”

    But that vision has changed over the years. SMART was sold to voters as an eco-friendly way to get North Bay commuters to San Francisco. But ridership never really took off, especially after work habits changed during the pandemic.

    “You know, I think that we had an idea originally in 2008 that it was going to be a lot of folks just going to their jobs and what we’re finding is the whole community is taking advantage of it,” said Bagby.  “It’s not just commuters. It’s also retired people going out to lunch, meeting their friends and it’s overwhelmingly school-age kids going to and from school.”

    Of course, that may be happening because in April SMART began letting seniors and kids ride for free. The truth is, the farther you get from San Francisco, the more the mission of SMART changes and probably should. On Saturday, Jeff Saunders and Cheryl Valez drove up from Santa Rosa for a picnic overlooking the bridge.  

    “If it was almost recreational, as opposed to work-related, then perhaps that might be a better, stronger mission for them,” said Saunders. “If the train came in here and unloaded, you’ve got a two-block walk, three-block walk to everything. So, you could see it actually working here.”

    The new, proposed Healdsburg station is only a couple of blocks from downtown shops, restaurants and wine-tasting rooms.

    “I think coming up to Healdsburg would be nice if they’re going to keep going with it. I mean, this is THE destination spot. We come here all the time,” said Valez. “Quite frankly, I didn’t think it was worth the money it cost and I wouldn’t have voted for it. But since it’s already here now, I think bringing it up to Healdsburg would be…more people would ride it.”

    So, as the world has changed, so must SMART.  A train that was meant to get people to work is rapidly becoming a way to get them “away from it all.”

    John Ramos


    web-bio-head-john-ramos.jpg

    John Ramos accidentally launched a lifelong career in journalism when he began drawing editorial cartoons and writing smart-alecky satire pieces for the Bakersfield High School newspaper.

    [ad_2]

    John Ramos

    Source link

  • Bomb threat closes schools in North Bay district

    Bomb threat closes schools in North Bay district

    [ad_1]

    A bomb threat at a North Bay school district Friday morning prompted officials to close all campuses.

    Officials at Tamalpais Union High School District confirmed the bomb threat at Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley sent to the district Friday morning followed by the decision to close all schools for the day.

    Mill Valley police were on the campus investigating the threat.

    All students in the district were asked to stay home or return home if they were already on campus or in transit.

    No other information was immediately available.

    [ad_2]

    NBC Bay Area staff

    Source link

  • Man arrested for allegedly starting brush fire in Marin County

    Man arrested for allegedly starting brush fire in Marin County

    [ad_1]

    A man suspected of being involved with a brush fire that burned 18 acres in Marin County on Tuesday was arrested the same day, the Marin County Sheriff’s Office said.

    Colin Crook, a 34-year-old male of San Rafael, has been accused of recklessly starting a fire to forest land and resisting a police officer.

    The so-called Queenstone Fire broke just after 4 a.m. Tuesday north of Marinwood at Queenstone Fire and Chicken Shack Fire roads, according to PulsePoint emergency alerts.

    Over 100 firefighters from Cal Fire and every fire department in Marin County were deployed and extinguished the fire, said Mike Marcucci, a Marin County Fire division chief.

    The Marin County Sheriff’s Office and Fire Department worked with the Novato Police Department to identify Crook as potentially having a connection to the blaze.

    Crook was later located near Safeway on Nave Drive in Novato by patrol units. Crook was detained by officers with the Novato Police Department after a “brief struggle,” according to the Sheriff’s Office.

    Crook allegedly admitted to starting the fire during an interview with Sheriff’s deputies. He said he burned his tent and belongings in the area of the Queenstone fire and left before completely extinguishing it to avoid getting in trouble. He knew starting the fire was reckless, Crook allegedly said in the interview.

    The Sheriff’s Office did not say if Crook mentioned any reason for burning his tent.

    Crook was booked into the Marin County Jail, where he is being held on a $12,000 total bond.

    [ad_2]

    Bay City News

    Source link

  • Opinion: Heat pumps cut costs and pollution. So why isn’t it easier to install one in California?

    Opinion: Heat pumps cut costs and pollution. So why isn’t it easier to install one in California?

    [ad_1]

    The nation’s electric utilities have voiced overwhelming support for reducing carbon emissions. Eighty percent of U.S. electricity customers are served by a utility with a 100% carbon-reduction target, according to the Smart Electric Power Alliance, and utility executives have touted their sustainability plans at the U.N. Climate Conference, Davos and beyond.

    So why is it so hard to get help switching to a climate-friendly heat pump?

    Marvels of modern engineering, heat pumps provide heating and cooling by transferring warm or cold air into or out of a home, eliminating the need to generate heat. They have been shown to substantially slash consumer heating costs and cut greenhouse gas emissions up to 50%.

    Like so many other Americans who helped fuel a residential construction boom following the onset of the pandemic, I recently embarked on a wholesale remodel of my home in the Bay Area. Unlike most of my fellow remodelers, I make my living analyzing trends in customer experience with the nation’s electric, gas and water utilities. As an energy nerd, I saw the project as a chance to delve into the various incentives that the utilities have been promoting to facilitate my conversion from a gas-fired furnace to an electric heat pump.

    What I found was a tangle of red tape, well-meaning but tragically ill-informed customer service representatives, and hours upon hours of filing forms, chasing down obscure information and questioning contractors — all in a quixotic quest to claim my local, state and federal rebates.

    Heat pumps loom large as a component of electric utility sustainability initiatives. The Biden administration recently announced that $63 million in Inflation Reduction Act funding would be used to spur domestic manufacturing of heat pumps, and local, state and federal incentives have been deployed in most jurisdictions nationwide to encourage consumers to make the switch.

    At the federal level, consumers are eligible for a tax credit that covers 30% of the cost of buying and installing a heat pump, up to a maximum of $2,000 per year. The TECH Clean California program offers incentives to contractors to install heat pumps, and the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power and other utilities offer rebates and other benefits. In Marin County, where I live, state, county and local incentives promised to bring the total rebate on my project to almost $5,000.

    That prospect, along with the long-term value of increased efficiency, was enough to persuade me to take the plunge on a system that was a bit more expensive than a comparable gas furnace. Moreover, my extensive research on the subject was enough to overcome widespread misconceptions about the technology and its ability to comfortably heat and cool my home.

    The good news is that my heat pump works wonderfully! It’s so good that I’ve started recommending one to my friends and neighbors. It isn’t loud or dry like traditional heat; it’s even and smooth. The system allowed much more flexibility in our construction and design. And, best of all, I now have central cooling for the first time.

    Unfortunately, I’ve also put hours of work into chasing rebates I still haven’t received.

    Ironically, the easiest part of the process was applying for a federal rebate through the Internal Revenue Service. When the IRS sets the benchmark for customer service, you know you have a problem.

    Among the challenges I faced were an hour-plus conversation with a friendly Pacific Gas & Electric Co. representative who knew absolutely nothing about heat pump programs; an apologetic county official who informed me that I would need to fill out a commercial form even though my project was residential because “that’s the way the paperwork is written”; and even a request to provide detailed photos of my old gas furnace — the one that had already been removed — to prove I had made the switch.

    Fortunately, because I was documenting the process partly for my own education, I had those photos and welcomed the opportunity to find all the hurdles consumers face. But will typical consumers — those who don’t spend their workdays analyzing the minutiae of utility customer experience — even bother to deal with this craziness? Probably not.

    Perhaps that has something to do with the widespread customer apathy toward electric utility sustainability efforts. J.D. Power’s most recent study of this topic found that just 19% of customers were even aware of their utility’s carbon reduction initiatives.

    We’re living in an era of amazing technological innovation, and we have public policies designed to catalyze consumer adoption of these breakthroughs. But if the same old bureaucratic hurdles stand in the way of access to those programs, no one wins.

    There is a huge opportunity here for innovative utilities to take the lead on improving not only our policies but also the mechanisms that make them work. As a utilities industry professional, I’m optimistic that our leaders will take up this cause. As a consumer, I just hope I eventually get my rebate.

    Andrew Heath is the vice president of utilities intelligence at J.D. Power.

    [ad_2]

    Andrew Heath

    Source link

  • Marin City Grocery Outlet opening hailed as inroad into neighborhood food desert

    Marin City Grocery Outlet opening hailed as inroad into neighborhood food desert

    [ad_1]

    Grocery Outlet opening hailed as inroad into Marin City food desert


    Grocery Outlet opening hailed as inroad into Marin City food desert

    03:06

    MARIN CITY — Deepak Dandekar, a resident of Marin City for over fifty years, expressed his delight as he wheeled his cart through the aisles of the newly opened Grocery Outlet Bargain Market on Donahue Street at the Marin Gateway Shopping Center.

    “I’m glad we finally have a full-service grocery outlet which will be great for the neighborhood,” Dandekar said.

    Dandekar was among hundreds of customers who flocked to the store on its opening day, filling their carts and baskets with groceries. For Dandekar and others, the new store brings to their neighborhood a convenience they previously lacked.

    “I used to go to Grocery Outlet in San Rafael but now this is just so much more convenient,” Dandekar noted.

    Owners Chantha Vath and Bruce Uy recognized the need for a full-service grocery store in Marin City. They describe the area as a food desert. They aimed to address this need by providing a wide range of products at affordable prices.

    “If you’re from here … this area is generally a food desert. So, because it is a food desert, we are a full grocery store where we supply all the staples,” Vath said.

    The Grocery Outlet opening also adds employment opportunities to the community, with Vath and Uy hiring locally.

    “We came from Fairfield Grocery Outlet and brought 19 members but we also hired within the community. Half of our staff actually lives across the street and they can walk to work. So, more than providing affordable food, we’re giving back to the community,” Vath said.

    [ad_2]

    Jose Martinez

    Source link

  • Marin County sees fourfold increase in fentanyl-related overdose deaths

    Marin County sees fourfold increase in fentanyl-related overdose deaths

    [ad_1]

    Officials in Marin County have sent out a health advisory following what they say is a concerning uptick in overdose deaths by fentanyl in the past two weeks.

    Over the last 14 days, Marin experienced five suspected overdose deaths related to fentanyl, which is about a fourfold increase in the usual rate, according to county health officials.

    Due to the cluster of overdose deaths, the county sent out an alert to local clinicians and those who serve people who use substances.

    “Since February 14, preliminary toxicology suggests the victims ingested fentanyl in combination with methamphetamine,” reads the public health advisory sent out Friday.

    The county said there have been increases in these substances found in wastewater, and there has been an increase in calls to 911 for non-fatal overdoses.

    “Spikes in fentanyl-related deaths may be due to increased concentration and intentional use of fentanyl or increased contamination of fentanyl in other substances,” the county health department said.

    Drug overdoses are the leading cause of death for people under 55 in Marin County.

    Providers who work with people who use drugs are asked to share the following tips:

    • Keep Narcan handy and remember that you might need to use multiple doses. You can get Narcan free at odfreemarin.org/narcan/.
    • Test drugs before using. Fentanyl strips are available at the Ritter Center in San Rafael.
    • “Start low and go slow,” meaning start with a low dose.
    • Do not use drugs alone. If no one will be close by while you are using, call Never Use Alone at (800) 484-3731.
    • For treatment options, call the Behavioral Health and Recovery Services Access Line 24/7 at (888) 818-1115.

    [ad_2]

    Bay City News

    Source link

  • Car chase in Marin County leads to 2 crashes, injures 2 people; suspect at-large

    Car chase in Marin County leads to 2 crashes, injures 2 people; suspect at-large

    [ad_1]

    PIX Now morning edition 2-25-24


    PIX Now morning edition 2-25-24

    12:57

    Santa Rosa CHP arrested a woman and is looking for her male companion after a Saturday night traffic stop turned into a chase involving two crashes, one of which injured two people.  

    At approximately 7:15 p.m. a CHP officer pulled over a Hyundai vehicle that ran a stop sign on Todd Road, west of Highway 101.  

    The officer ran the license plate of the Hyundai and discovered the plates belonged to another vehicle, indicating the Hyundai was stolen.   

    The Hyundai fled the scene onto southbound 101 and a pursuit ensued. The Hyundai exited the freeway at Highway 116 in Cotati, ran a red light, and crashed into a black Honda Civic, causing injuries to two passengers. 

    Both victims were transported to a local hospital with injuries deemed non-life threatening.  

    The male Hyundai driver and his female passenger fled from the crashed Hyundai toward a 76 gas station. The male suspect stole a Honda that was at a gas pump and in the process, shoved the Honda owner away from the vehicle. A pet Pomeranian dog was inside the vehicle when it was stolen. 

    The suspect crashed the Honda into the fuel pumps causing major rear-end damage to the car before fleeing on southbound Highway 01 into Marin, then Alameda County.  

    CHP said due to the suspect’s disregard for safety, CHP ground units backed off as a CHP helicopter continued the pursuit. The helicopter lost sight of the Honda in a heavily wooded area. The female passenger from the Hyundai didn’t flee in the Honda with her companion and was arrested after officers found her hiding in the 76 station bathroom. She was booked into Sonoma County Jail on suspicion of possessing stolen property and drugs. 

    The male suspect and stolen Honda are still outstanding. The Pomeranian dog has also not been located.    

    [ad_2]

    CBS San Francisco

    Source link

  • 23 Pandemic Decisions That Actually Went Right

    23 Pandemic Decisions That Actually Went Right

    [ad_1]

    More than three years ago, the coronavirus pandemic officially became an emergency, and much of the world froze in place while politicians and public-health advisers tried to figure out what on Earth to do. Now the emergency is officially over—the World Health Organization declared so on Friday, and the Biden administration will do the same later this week.

    Along the way, almost 7 million people died, according to the WHO, and looking back at the decisions made as COVID spread is, for the most part, a demoralizing exercise. It was already possible to see, in January 2020, that America didn’t have enough masks; in February, that misinformation would proliferate; in March, that nursing homes would become death traps, that inequality would widen, that children’s education, patients’ care, and women’s careers would suffer. What would go wrong has been all too clear from the beginning.

    Not every lesson has to be a cautionary tale, however, and the end of the COVID-19 emergency may be, if nothing else, a chance to consider which pandemic policies, decisions, and ideas actually worked out for the best. Put another way: In the face of so much suffering, what went right?

    To find out, we called up more than a dozen people who have spent the past several years in the thick of pandemic decision making, and asked: When the next pandemic comes, which concrete action would you repeat in exactly the same way?

    What they told us is by no means a comprehensive playbook for handling a future public-health crisis. But they did lay out 23 specific tactics—and five big themes—that have kept the past few years from being even worse.

    Good information makes everything else possible.
    1. Start immediate briefings for the public. At the beginning of March 2020, within days of New York City detecting its first case of COVID-19, Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio began giving daily or near-daily coronavirus press briefings, many of which included health experts along with elected officials. These briefings gave the public a consistent, reliable narrative to follow during the earliest, most uncertain days of the pandemic, and put science at the forefront of the discourse, Jay Varma, a professor of population health at Cornell University and a former adviser to de Blasio, told us.
    2. Let everyone see the information you have. In Medway, Massachusetts, for instance, the public-school system set up a data dashboard and released daily testing results.  This allowed the entire affected community to see the impact of COVID in schools, Armand Pires, the superintendent of Medway Public Schools, told us.
    3. Be clear that some data streams are better than others. During the first year of the pandemic, COVID-hospitalization rates were more consistent and reliable than, say, case counts and testing data, which varied with testing shortages and holidays, Erin Kissane, the managing editor of the COVID Tracking Project, told us.The project, which grew out of The Atlantic’s reporting on testing data, tracked COVID cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. CTP made a point of explaining where the data came from, what their flaws and shortcomings were, and why they were messy, instead of worrying about how people might react to this kind of information.
    4. Act quickly on the data. At the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, testing made a difference, because the administration acted quickly after cases started rising faster than predicted when students returned in fall of 2020, Rebecca Lee Smith, a UIUC epidemiologist, told us. The university instituted a “stay at home” order, and cases went down—and remained down. Even after the order ended, students and staff continued to be tested every four days so that anyone with COVID could be identified and isolated quickly.  
    5. And use it to target the places that may need the most attention. In California, a social-vulnerability index helped pinpoint areas to focus vaccine campaigns on, Brad Pollock, UC Davis’s Rolkin Chair in Public-Health Sciences and the leader of Healthy Davis Together, told us. In this instance, that meant places with migrant farmworkers and unhoused people, but this kind of precision public health could also work for other populations.
    6. Engage with skeptics. Rather than ignore misinformation or pick a fight with the people promoting it, Nirav Shah, the former director of Maine’s CDC, decided to hear them out, going on a local call-in radio show with hosts known to be skeptical of vaccines.
    A pandemic requires thinking at scale.
    1. Do pooled testing as early as possible. Medway’s public-school district used this technique, which combines samples from multiple people into one tube and then tests them all at once, to help reopen elementary schools in early 2021, said Pires, the Medway superintendent. Pooled testing made it possible to test large groups of people relatively quickly and cheaply.
    2. Choose technology that scales up quickly. Pfizer chose to use mRNA-vaccine tech in part because traditional vaccines are scaled up in stainless-steel vats, Jim Cafone, Pfizer’s senior vice president for global supply chain, told us. If the goal is to vaccinate billions of patients, “there’s not enough stainless steel in the world to do what you need to do,” he said. By contrast, mRNA is manufactured using lipid nanoparticle pumps, many more of which can fit into much less physical space.
    3. Take advantage of existing resources. UC Davis repurposed genomic tools normally used for agriculture for COVID testing, and was able to perform 10,000 tests a day,  Pollock, the UC Davis professor, told us.
    4. Use the Defense Production Act. This Cold War–era law, which allows the U.S. to force companies to prioritize orders from the government, is widely used in the defense sector. During the pandemic, the federal government invoked the DPA to break logjams in vaccine manufacturing, Chad Bown, a fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics who tracked the vaccine supply chain, told us. For example, suppliers of equipment used in pharmaceutical manufacturing were compelled to prioritize COVID-vaccine makers, and fill-and-finish facilities were compelled to bottle COVID vaccines first—ensuring that the vaccines the U.S. government had purchased would be delivered quickly.  
    Vaccines need to work for everyone.
    1. Recruit diverse populations for clinical trials. Late-stage studies on new drugs and vaccines have a long history of underrepresenting people from marginalized backgrounds, including people of color. That trend, as researchers have repeatedly pointed out, runs two risks: overlooking differences in effectiveness that might not appear until after a product has been administered en masse, and worsening the distrust built up after decades of medical racism and outright abuse. The COVID-vaccine trials didn’t do a perfect job of enrolling participants that fully represent the diversity of America, but they did better than many prior Phase 3 clinical trials despite having to rapidly enroll 30,000 to 40,000 adults, Grace Lee, the chair of CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, told us. That meant the trials were able to provide promising evidence that the shots were safe and effective across populations—and, potentially, convince wider swaths of the public that the shots worked for people like them.
    2. Try out multiple vaccines. No one can say for sure which vaccines might work or what problems each might run into. So drug companies tested several candidates at once in Phase I trials, Annaliesa Anderson, the chief scientific officer for vaccine research and development at Pfizer, told us; similarly, Operation Warp Speed placed big bets on six different options, Bown, the Peterson Institute fellow, pointed out.
    3. Be ready to vet vaccine safety—fast. The rarest COVID-vaccine side effects weren’t picked up in clinical trials. But the United States’ multipronged vaccine-safety surveillance program was sensitive and speedy enough that within months of the shots’ debut, researchers found a clotting issue linked to Johnson & Johnson, and a myocarditis risk associated with Pfizer’s and Moderna’s mRNA shots. They were also able to confidently weigh those risks against the immunizations’ many benefits. With these data in hand, the CDC and its advisory groups were able to throw their weight behind the new vaccines without reservations, said Lee, the ACIP chair.
    4. Make the rollout simple. When Maine was determining eligibility for the first round of COVID-19 vaccines, the state prioritized health-care workers and then green-lighted residents based solely on age—one of the most straightforward eligibility criteria in the country. Shah, the former head of Maine’s CDC, told us that he and other local officials credit the easy-to-follow system with Maine’s sky-high immunization rates, which have consistently ranked the state among the nation’s most vaccinated regions.
    5. Create vaccine pop-ups. For many older adults and people with limited mobility, getting vaccinated was largely a logistical challenge. Setting up temporary clinics where they lived—at senior centers or low-income housing, as in East Boston, for instance—helped ensure that transportation would not be an obstacle for them, said Josh Barocas, an infectious-diseases doctor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
    6. Give out boosters while people still want them. When boosters were first broadly authorized and recommended in the fall of 2021, there was a mad rush to immunization lines. In Maine, Shah said, local officials discovered that pharmacies were so low on staff and supplies that they were canceling appointments or turning people away. In response, the state’s CDC set up a massive vaccination center in Augusta. Within days, they’d given out thousands of shots, including both boosters and the newly authorized pediatric shots.
    Also, spend money.
    1. Basic research spending matters. The COVID vaccines wouldn’t have been ready for the public nearly as quickly without a number of existing advances in immunology,  Anthony Fauci, the former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told us. Scientists had known for years that mRNA had immense potential as a delivery platform for vaccines, but before SARS-CoV-2 appeared, they hadn’t had quite the means or urgency to move the shots to market. And research into vaccines against other viruses, such as RSV and MERS, had already offered hints about the sorts of genetic modifications that might be needed to stabilize the coronavirus’s spike protein into a form that would marshal a strong, lasting immune response.
    2. Pour money into making vaccines before knowing they work. Manufacturing millions of doses of a vaccine candidate that might ultimately prove useless wouldn’t usually be a wise business decision. But Operation Warp Speed’s massive subsidies helped persuade manufacturers to begin making and stockpiling doses early on, Bown said. OWS also made additional investments to ensure that the U.S. had enough syringes and factories to bottle vaccines. So when the vaccines were given the green light, tens of millions of doses were almost immediately available.
    3. Invest in worker safety. The entertainment industry poured a massive amount of funds into getting COVID mitigations—testing, masking, ventilation, sick leave—off the ground so that it could resume work earlier than many other sectors. That showed what mitigation tools can accomplish if companies are willing to put funds toward them, Saskia Popescu, an infection-prevention expert in Arizona affiliated with George Mason University, told us.
    Lastly, consider the context.
    1. Rely on local relationships. To distribute vaccines to nursing homes, West Virginia initially eschewed the federal pharmacy program with CVS and Walgreens, Clay Marsh, West Virginia’s COVID czar, told us. Instead, the state partnered with local, family-run pharmacies that already provided these nursing homes with medication and flu vaccines. This approach might not have worked everywhere, but it worked for West Virginia.
    2. Don’t shy away from public-private partnerships. In Davis, California, a hotelier provided empty units for quarantine housing, Pollock said. In New York City, the robotics firm Opentrons helped NYU scale up testing capacity; the resulting partnership, called the Pandemic Response Lab, quickly slashed wait times for results, Varma, the former de Blasio adviser, said.
    3. Create spaces for vulnerable people to get help. People experiencing homelessness, individuals with substance-abuse disorders, and survivors of domestic violence require care tailored to their needs. In Boston, for example, a hospital recuperation unit built specifically for homeless people with COVID who were unable to self-isolate helped bring down hospitalizations in the community overall, Barocas said.
    4. Frame the pandemic response as a social movement. Involve not just public-health officials but also schools, religious groups, political leaders, and other sectors. For example, Matt Willis, the public-health officer for Marin County, California, told us, his county formed larger “community response teams” that agreed on and disseminated unified messages.

    [ad_2]

    Rachel Gutman-Wei

    Source link