After Starbucks announced it would be shutting hundreds of stores, its website is listing dozens in the Bay Area as being closed as of Sunday, Sept. 28.
To check if a store is on the closure list, go to the Starbucks store locator online, find your desired outlet and click the information icon to check whether it will be open beyond this week.
As of Sept. 26, the following stores were slated for a Sept. 28 closure:
Firefighters extinguished a burning power pole in a San Jose neighborhood on Tuesday afternoon that threatened neighboring homes, authorities said.
Originally, the San Jose Fire Department said on social media that the fire was burning at a single-family home on Peachtree Lane west of Bascom Avenue in the Cory neighborhood between Newhall and W. Hedding Streets.
The initial call came in at 2:50 p.m. and also involved a utility pole on fire with downed power lines, the Fire Department said.
A subsequent social media post said the fire originated at the power pole, and the downed lines spread the fire to a shed and fence.
DEAR JOAN: We live in an urban area of San Jose, and sometimes at night hear the hooting of an owl of some sort. Recently we heard that repeated hooting, but interspersed with a call that I can only describe as more like a peacock!
Several hoots, followed by a sort of “waahh” then more hoots. I checked on Bird.net, which told me it’s a great horned owl and that females can make more unusual calls such as the one we heard. Is that true? And, we didn’t know that great horned owls live in urban areas!
— Malcolm Smith, San Jose
DEAR MALCOLM: That’s absolutely true. Great horned owls don’t have the repertoire of a song bird, but they do have some range.
The call of the great horned owl is described as hoo-h’HOO-hoo-hoo, and the female will often add in a one syllable call that is more guttural.
Young owls make a high-pitched demanding squawk when telling their parents they’re hungry. When angry or threatened, the owls make a rapid clicking sound with their beaks.
We have all sorts of wildlife living largely unnoticed in our suburban jungle, which is why it’s important to not do things that might harm them.
DEAR JOAN: One of our cats is a challenge to pill and I have found a different solution that works for us. We have a pill syringe.
We place a pill in the syringe and open our cat’s mouth and with the syringe shoot the pill to the back of the mouth. If you get the pill past the hump of the tongue, the cat has to swallow the pill. The plus to this method is you can’t accidentally put your fingers between the cat’s teeth.
— Scott Gerken, Bay Area
DEAR SCOTT: I’m all for avoiding a cat’s teeth. Thanks for the tip.
DEAR JOAN: Your recent column on a cat not willing to allow flea medication resonated with me.
I needed to figure out a way to trim my cat’s claws without taking her to the vet every time. My cat loves wet food so I put her food into her bowl and immediately grab the trimmer and get to work. I pick up each paw, separate the toes and nip off the sharp ends.
I had to acclimate her to this by rubbing her toes while she scarfed her tasty food. I then started gently getting the trimmer near the claws until I had success. It took about a week but now it’s pretty easy to do.
The wary cat in your column might also benefit from having very tasty kibbles while “mom” gently rubs the spot where flea medication will eventually be applied.
— Celia (and Mimi the cat), Santa Cruz
DEAR CELIA AND MIMI: What a great tip. Thank you.
DEAR JOAN: My technique with my dog is to grind the pill with a mortar and pestle until it is broken down, like fine sand. Then I mix it into wet pet food really well. Usually works really well.
— Steve Kessler, Bay Area
DEAR STEVE: Excellent idea, although I’d check with my vet to see that it’s OK to do that. Some medications are supposed to be given whole.
The Animal Life column runs on Mondays. Contact Joan Morris at AskJoanMorris@gmail.com.
Get ready for a “glorious, toe-tapping, razzle-dazzling” (Deadline) time with Some Like It Hot, the hit Tony® and Grammy Award-winning Broadway musical. Set in Prohibition era, this fast-paced comedy follows two musicians who take up new identities and go on the run after witnessing a mob hit.
Their cross-country journey brings them face to face with a dazzling singer with dreams of stardom, who captures one of their hearts, while the other catches the eye of a wealthy suitor set on finding true love. Still under disguise, they must find a way to untangle their messes and stay alive from the gangsters hot on their tail!
With a book by Tony®-winner Matthew López (The Inheritance) and Amber Ruffin, vibrant musical score crafted by the Hairspray team of Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, and Tony®-winning choreography from director Casey Nicholaw (The Book of Mormon, Mean Girls, Aladdin), Some Like It Hot is a fresh adaptation that is “a super-sized all out song-and-dance spectacular” (The New York Times)!
Recommended for ages 12+. Please be advised that children under the age of 5 will not be admitted into the theatre.
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NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Ends 10/5/25. Open to legal U.S. residents, 18+, living within the viewing area/DMA of KGO-TV (San Francisco). Prize includes two tickets to the show on 10/21/25. See Official Rules at www.abc7news.com for full details incl. eligibility & restrictions. Void where prohibited. Sponsored by KGO Television, Inc.
SAN JOSE — Racheal Kundananji scored in the second half to pull Bay FC into a 1-1 draw with Gotham FC in the National Women’s Soccer League on Sunday night.
Bay (4-10-7) earned its second straight draw but has not won since June 7 and remained below the playoff line. Gotham (8-6-7) is unbeaten in its last five league matches and is third in the league standings.
“An excellent game from us today, a little unfortunate that we didn’t get a goal there at the end,” said Bay FC head coach Albertin Montoya, who earlier this month announced he’ll resign at season’s end. “But I thought it was an exciting game on both halves. Just [am] proud of the team, they came out with so much desire and fight.”
Esther Gonzalez fed a short pass to Rose Lavelle who sent the ball to the opposite post to put Gotham up in the 36th minute at PayPal Park.
Kundananji tied it for Bay in the 68th with a smash from atop the box that arced up before falling into the side netting.
Bay FC defender Brooklyn Courtnall celebrated a career milestone in the match as she made the first start of her young career. The University of Southern California product made her club debut in last week’s match at Orlando, and made four appearances off the bench for the North Carolina Courage this season prior to joining Bay FC on loan last month.
Jaedyn Shaw made her first start for Gotham, a week after she made her debut and scored in a 2-0 victory over the San Diego Wave. Shaw was acquired earlier this month from the North Carolina Courage for an NWSL record $1.25 million in intraleague transfer funds.
Bay FC plays its second straight home match next Saturday when the Utah Royals visit PayPal Park.
SAN JOSE — A man jailed and charged with fatally shooting a woman he was dating, along with her roommate and another man, in a violent episode at a South San Jose apartment, was under police scrutiny after the woman accused him of assaulting her over two days prior to the killings, authorities have revealed in new court filings.
Joseph Vicencio, 27, of San Jose, was arrested in connection with a shooting that killed three people at an apartment on Chynoweth Avenue on Sept. 16, 2025. His criminal past includes being arrested and accused of opening fire at the San Jose State University library in Sept. 2019. (San Jose Police Dept.)
The shooting suspect, 27-year-old Joseph Vicencio, reportedly told an acquaintance that he “couldn’t have any ‘loose ends’ and people talking about him” shortly before he went over to the woman’s apartment early Tuesday and unleashed a torrent of gunfire that ended three lives.
According to a criminal complaint filed Friday by the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office, Vicencio was charged with three counts of murder in the deaths of Tarrah Lynn Taylor, 27; Jeannessa Caillean Lurie, 24; and Max Chavez Ryan, 27.
A probable cause affidavit written by San Jose police detectives stated that Taylor was in a romantic relationship with Vicencio, and that Lurie was her roommate. Ryan’s connection to the group was not detailed in the court document.
The three murder counts each carry maximum sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole, and are accompanied by nine charging enhancements for allegations including using a gun, dissuading a witness and having prior convictions. Vicencio was also charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, and for two separate domestic violence assaults alleged to have occurred on Sept. 14 and 15, preceding the Sept. 16 shootings.
Police investigate a triple homicide in San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Vicencio is being held without bail in the Santa Clara County Main Jail, and was scheduled for arraignment Friday afternoon. He was arrested early Wednesday based on video surveillance images and two witnesses who claimed to know Vicencio and recounted their interactions with him before and after the shootings, the detectives wrote.
One of the witnesses told police that Vicencio was anxious about being in trouble with the law after he allegedly punched Taylor in the torso on Sept. 15, and the subsequent police response found bruising on her neck indicating that Vicencio choked her the day before. The two reported assaults account for misdemeanor and felony assault charges filed against Vicencio.
During one conversation with the witness, Vicencio implied that he was going to silence Taylor and Lurie, and after the shootings, Vicencio reportedly used the witness’s computer to “search for information about San Jose murders.”
A second witness, as described by the detectives, reported getting a call from Vicencio about seven hours after the shootings in which he said “he was in trouble with police and had issues with where he lived and needed help.” The witness claimed to have confronted Vicencio about the killings, prompting Vicencio to reportedly tell the witness “there was an issue with a male at the apartment but he handled it.”
Gunfire and the sound of a woman screaming prompted a 911 call at 12:26 a.m. Tuesday from the 200 block of Chynoweth Avenue. The police affidavit stated that responding officers went to an apartment building and found Taylor outside “bleeding profusely from multiple gunshots.”
Officers went inside and found two more victims, Lurie and Ryan. Lurie was pronounced dead at the scene; Taylor and Ryan died later that morning after being taken to a hospital. Police recovered multiple .40 caliber bullet casings from the crime scene.
The affidavit states that surveillance video from the area recorded someone later identified as Vicencio entering the apartment and fleeing immediately after the gunfire. Vicencio was seen with a distinct satchel that one of the witnesses said concealed a firearm that he carried, and that witness reported that Vicencio was not carrying the satchel after the shootings.
Ryan worked for the city’s housing department as a member of the Homelessness Response Outreach Team, and was “a valued member of our work family,” according to a Facebook post from the department.
“His commitment to the people of San Jose, and in particular the most vulnerable among us, exemplified the thoughtful, caring human he was,” the post read. “He will be remembered not only for his professional contributions, but also for his kindness, compassion, and spirit.”
Lurie graduated from California State University, Monterey Bay in 2024 with degrees in humanities and communications, and she worked as a dog trainer at Bite Club K9 in Monterey, according to her Facebook and LinkedIn pages. She attended Mid-Peninsula High School in Menlo Park, graduating in 2019, according to her LinkedIn page.
“We love you and the sunshine that surrounded you, and now lights the heavens,” one commenter wrote on her Facebook page Wednesday.
Vicencio garnered headlines for violence in 2019 after he was arrested and charged with shooting at the San Jose State University library and a parking garage. He was convicted and was incarcerated but was released after about a year and eventually got the conviction expunged, according to sources and court records. His criminal history in the county outlines struggles with mental health, and legal trouble over gun possession; he was supervised under the court’s mental-health treatment division for much of 2022.
In a 2024 Reddit post, Vicencio sought advice from fellow San Jose residents after struggling to get a job while on parole, in which he described being turned down for work “because my last crime is violent (assault with a semi automatic firearm).” When another Reddit user identified his connection to the library shooting, he responded, “Yup that’s me. Wasn’t on purpose but yeah,” followed by him writing, “Thank you for recognizing I have taken accountability.”
Anyone with information about Tuesday’s fatal shootings can contact the SJPD homicide unit at 408-277-5283 or email Detective Sgt. Richard Martinez at 3934@sanjoseca.gov or Detective Christina Jize at 4324@sanjoseca.gov. Tips can also be left with Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers at 408-947-7867 or siliconvalleycrimestoppers.org.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
They’re 49ers teammates now, but quarterback Mac Jones humorously remembers when Bryce Huff sacked him in 2022.
Back then, Jones was the New England Patriots’ signal-caller, while Huff was unleashing his pass-rushing moves on then-Robert Saleh’s New York Jets.
“Yeah, one time, I remember,” Jones laughingly told reporters on Thursday. “I heard it was some record or something. He has a great get-off. He’s so quiet, you don’t hear him coming. He just sends it.”
Huff, whom San Francisco acquired via trade with the Philadelphia Eagles in June, always was an edge rusher Jones kept an eye on.
“I remember playing against him and always being worried about the other guy on the other side,” Jones said. “I’m like, ‘No, we got to worry about this guy.’”
Huff, a six-year veteran and Super Bowl champion, tallied 10 sacks and 21 quarterback hits in 2023 with the Jets.
Last season, the 27-year-old had a down campaign with the Eagles, recording just 2.5 sacks and four quarterback hits.
But with Saleh back as the 49ers’ defensive coordinator, the idea is that Huff returns to form. In San Francisco’s Week 2 victory over the New Orleans Saints, Huff recorded a forced fumble and a sack.
“He’s done a great job and is a great locker room guy,” Jones added. “He’s quiet and does his job. I really love playing with him.”
He jokes about it, but, surely, Jones prefers having someone like Huff as a teammate rather than an opponent come gameday.
“Yeah, I did get sacked, I’m pretty sure,” Jones concluded. “I think they called a roughing the passer, but it wasn’t a roughing the passer,” Jones joked.
Police in San Jose arrested a security guard who was seen earlier this month allegedly assaulting an unhoused person while brandishing a weapon, the department said.
The incident happened on Sept. 2 at about 5:30 p.m. in the area of West San Carlos Street and Leland Avenue between Bascom Avenue and Leigh Avenue. The San Jose Police Department said officers were dispatched to investigate a report of someone brandishing a gun in the area. The officers learned that a suspect had chased a homeless person, pushed him to the ground, and pointed a gun at him, police said.
It was reported that the suspect was wearing a silver badge on his belt and appeared to be a law enforcement officer or security guard, police said. The victim was not hurt, and the suspect fled before officers arrived, police said.
Man wearing a badge points a weapon at a person on the ground; Dermont Taylor booking photo
San Jose Police Department
During the course of the investigation, detectives identified 43-year-old San Jose resident Demont Taylor as the suspect, and it was discovered that he was working as a security guard for a San Jose-based security firm, police said.
On Sept. 11, officers and the department’s tactical unit served Taylor with search and arrest warrants in San Jose, as well as an emergency gun violence protection order forcing him to surrender any weapons and ammunition. He was booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail for assault with a deadly weapon, police said.
Jail records show Taylor was transferred at some point to the Elmwood Correctional Facility in Milpitas, where he was being held without bail. He was scheduled for a court appearance on Sept. 29.
Anyone with information about this case or similar cases was asked to contact Detective Soria #4793 of the Police Department’s assaults unit at 4793@sanjoseca.gov or 408-277-4161.
REDWOOD CITY — A man was arrested in unincorporated San Mateo County on Wednesday for allegedly stalking a woman over a two-year span and, on one occasion, throwing gasoline on her, authorities said.
The 59-year-old Millbrae man was booked into the Maguire Correction Facility on suspicion of felony stalking and felony assault with chemicals, according to a news release from the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office.
On Tuesday at around 6:45 p.m., deputies responded to a house in Kings Mountain, an unincorporated community west of Woodside, after the victim reported the stalking, authorities said.
The victim told police that the suspect had visited her home unannounced about 41 times and left more than 20 notes over the past two years, authorities said. In July, the suspect allegedly threw gasoline on the victim’s legs.
A judge granted an emergency protective order for the victim, authorities added.
The suspect was taken into custody without incident while driving on El Camino Real in Millbrae, authorities said. He remains in custody and was scheduled to appear in court Thursday, according to jail logs.
SAN JOSE — A security guard was arrested last week on suspicion of assaulting an unhoused person with a firearm in San Jose, police said.
The incident happened around 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 2 in the area of West San Carlos Street and Leland Avenue, in the city’s Burbank neighborhood, according to San Jose police Officer Tanya Hernandez.
Officers learned the suspect had chased the victim with a firearm, pushed him to the ground and brandished a firearm, Hernandez said, adding that “the suspect was wearing a silver badge on his belt and appeared to be law enforcement or security.” The victim was not injured.
Detectives identified the suspect as a 43-year-old San Jose man and discovered he was working as a guard for a San Jose-based security company, according to Hernandez.
Hernandez said detectives obtained an arrest warrant and an emergency gun violence protection order for the suspect, as well as a search warrant for his home.
On Sept. 11, the man was arrested and served with the order. He was booked into Santa Clara County jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, according to Hernandez.
Anyone with information related to the case can contact Detective Carlos Soria of the SJPD Assaults Unit at 4793@sanjoseca.gov or 408-277-4161. Tips can also be left with Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers at 408-947-7867 or at siliconvalleycrimestoppers.org.
The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office says it is donating $100,000 to San Jose small businesses to help combat retail theft.
The funds will allow eligible businesses to connect their security cameras with the San Jose Police Department’s high-tech security system, enabling police to monitor those businesses in real time, the DA says.
The pilot program, a partnership between the DA’s Office and SJPD, aims to connect at least 200 businesses with the the police security system, the DA says.
Here’s how it works, according to the DA’s Office:
Once an alarm is tripped or there is a 911 call, the technology allows SJPD to patch into a business’s surveillance cameras and see the crime in progress.
The real-time footage will allow police to send descriptions of the suspects and their vehicles to responding patrol officers.
FLOCK cameras also will be deployed to pull up the vehicle as it is fleeing the scene.
In addition to the technology, the DA’s Office says it also is donating concrete planters to place in front of businesses to prevent thieves from driving vehicles through storefronts.
“We have created specialized units, made major arrests and we are prosecuting retail thieves to the fullest extent of the law,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a news release. “Now, it is time to do even more. People doing business in Santa Clara County must know that we are business friendly – and business safe.”
The DA’s Office says the donation is from proceeds it received in its lawsuit against Google.
The latest action comes after a gang crashed an SUV into a San Jose small business and invaded the store, smashing display cases and stealing jewelry. The elderly owner was injured during the robbery.
Linkin Park then followed two months later with “From Zero,” the group’s eighth studio outing — and its first with Armstrong — which has been both a critical and commercial success.
The Linkin Park comeback continued with a winning show at SAP Center at San Jose, which drew a massive crowd of some 17,500 fans — a good 2,000-3,000 more than a typical SAP sold-out concert — on Monday night (Sept. 15). The added capacity was made possible by the group’s decision to go with a 360-degree “in-the-round” setting, which allows for seating on all sides of the stage and vastly more tickets sold.
Of course, all eyes were on Armstrong in San Jose to see how she would attempt to fill the huge shoes of Bennington, the famously shrill-voiced vocalist who died from suicide.
Linkin Park’s Emily Armstrong performs during their From Zero World Tour at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Monday, Sept. 15, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Wisely, Armstrong didn’t overtly try so much fill Bennington’s shoes as she did attempt to cut her own distinct path on vocals during the group’s 26-song set. She adopted a much-more melodic approach to the vocals, especially earlier on in the show, than what one got from Bennington. As the evening went on, however, she’d up the ante and deliver her own brand of howls and screams to some of the band’s best-known songs.
As powerful as Armstrong was on the microphone, however, she just couldn’t top the chorus of voices from the crowd. At times, it felt like all 17,500 people in the building were chanting along, at top volume, to the music, underscoring just how strongly these songs of angst and alienation continue to resonate with generations of listeners.
There was a strong contingent of 30-and-40 somethings, people who likely bough Linkin Park’s classic rap-rock debut — the diamond-certified “Hybrid Theory” — on CD when it first came out in 2000. But there were also a bunch of younger fans in attendance, ones who have latched onto the band due to its continued relevance and popularity in the mall-rock world.
Taking the stage just after 8:30 p.m., Linkin Park started out in the past, powering through solid versions of “Somewhere I Belong” from the multiplatinum-selling sophomore effort “Meteora” from 2003 and the “Hybrid Theory” cut “Points of Authority.”
Linkin Park performs during their “From Zero World Tour” at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Monday, Sept. 15, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
The group — which consists of Armstrong, vocalist-keyboardist-guitarist Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, DJ Joe Hahn, bassist Dave Farrell and drummer Colin Brittain — then zoomed forward to the present for “Stained,” one of nine numbers performed from “From Zero.”
In general, the new offerings — including “The Emptiness Machine,” “Two-Faced” and, especially, “IGYEIH” — sounded every bit as strong as the older material. Of course, there were some notable exceptions — in large part due to the way the crowd energy would propel the music to incredible heights on such fan favorites as “One Step Closer” and “Faint.’
The stage setup was fairly straightforward and, by today’s standards, simple — basically just a rectangular space, beneath two large video screen blocks, allowing for unobstructed views of the band from all sides. There were some neat, but somewhat underutilized, laser effects, but nothing that really impacted the overall show.
The musicians were pretty stationary for much of the night — which, of course, makes total sense when it comes to a drummer stationed at a kit or a DJ at the turntables, but not so much when you are talking about a pair of singers. Armstrong and Shinoda did far more roaming later in the evening — especially the former, who spent the last quarter of the show really racing up and down the stage.
Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda performs during their “From Zero World Tour” at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Monday, Sept. 15, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
I have been watching Linkin Park in concert ever since the band’s very first headlining tour, which brought the group to the legendary Fillmore in San Francisco in January of 2001. What I remember most about that first show was not the music, but the way the group treated its fans — spending time signing autographs, shaking hands and taking other measures to make these attendees feel important and valued.
Some 100 million albums sold later, Linkin Park is still going out of its way to prioritize its connection with fans. That was evident in San Jose when Shinoda went out into the pit, between the stage and the crowd barriers, and walked about touching hands and sharing moments with the audience. He’d even give one six-year-old fan a signed hat.
The group closed the main set with a flurry of terrific tunes, sandwiching in the new album stand-out “Good Things Go” between the all-time faves “Numb” and “In the End” before finishing off with a towering “Faint.” Linkin Park then returned for a three-song encore highlighted by the “Hybrid Theory” gem “Papercut.”
By the end of the show, one thing was perfectly clear:
This rebooted Linkin Park appears to just be getting started.
Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda performs during their “From Zero World Tour” at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Monday, Sept. 15, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Linkin Park setlist: 1. “Somewhere I Belong” 2. “Points of Authority” 3. “Stained” 4. “New Divide” 5. “The Emptiness Machine” 6. “The Catalyst” 7. “Burn It Down” 8. “Up From the Bottom” 9. “Where’d You Go” 10. “Waiting for the End” 11. “Castle of Glass” 12. “Two Faced” 13. “When They Come for Me”/”Remember the Name” 14. “IGYEIH” 15. “One Step Closer” 16. “Lost” 17. “Unshatter” 18. “What I’ve Done” 19. “Overflow” 20. “Numb” 21. “Good Things Go” 22. “In the End” 23. “Faint” Encore: 24. “Papercut” 25. “Heavy Is the Crown” 26. “Bleed It Out”
If you or someone you know is struggling with feelings of depression or suicidal thoughts, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline offers free, round-the-clock support, information and resources for help. Call or text the lifeline at 988, or see the 988lifeline.org website, where chat is available.
A former San Jose Earthquakes player and soccer coach is opening up about the confrontation that ended with him shooting and killing a friend inside his home.
Dave Gold said he acted in self-defense when he shot and killed Ronald Morris, his friend of 50 years. Gold has since been cleared of any charges.
“I took his life and I can’t stop thinking about him,” Gold said.
Gold said Morris had been staying at his home and was drinking heavily. Gold said when he asked Morris to leave, Morris threatened to kill him. Gold told NBC Bay Area he had just had spinal surgery and was worried he couldn’t defend himself if Morris made good on the threat. He also said Morris had severely beaten him four years earlier.
Gold said he grabbed his gun and fired a warning shot into the wall of his family room. Morris then jumped on him and started pummeling him, Gold said. Gold then fired his gun three times, killing Morris.
“I had no choice,” Gold said. “He was killing me. He was going to spend the rest of his life in jail either way. I loved his family. I loved his grandkids. I loved his daughters. I was Uncle Goldie. I took all that away from them. I didn’t want to. I did not want to. I gotta live with that for the rest of my life.”
The district attorney’s office has cleared Gold of all criminal liability in the death, but Gold said he’s now facing a wrongful death lawsuit from Morris’ family.
An attorney for the Morris family questions why Gold would let Morris stay at his home if he had beaten him in the past. The attorney also said they want to know why Gold didn’t call 911 or leave his home if he felt threatened.
Gold said he is now working to restore his reputation and return to coaching youth soccer.
“I’m a good person put into a horrible situation,” he said. “I couldn’t back out of it. I was gonna die.”
Tickets for the Golden State Valkyries’ playoff games went on sale Friday. The first-year WNBA team has a passionate fanbase in the Bay Area, and businesses think that passion will translate into more local spending.
The Valkyries are making history as the first WNBA expansion team to make it to the playoffs in their first season. Due to a scheduling conflict at Chase Center where the Valkyries play their home games, the team’s “home” playoff game against the Minnesota Lynx will be held at San Jose’s SAP Center on Wednesday evening.
Businesses in downtown San Jose, in places like San Pedro Square and Little Italy, are expecting an economic ripple effect from the game.
“Businesses are prepping themselves; they’ve got increased staff members and food and beverage offerings and promotions, in preparation for the influx of people,” explained Kelly Rouillard, the head of marketing for the San Jose Downtown Association. Rouillard explained that some businesses are offering deals for people wearing Valkyries’ gear.
She also noted that the Valkyries have already developed a very passionate following in their inaugural year.
“That says a lot about who they are as a team and how they perform on the court. So already they have a huge fanbase,” she noted.
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan said he thinks the playoff game will be an opportunity for many Valkyries fans to spend extended time in San Jose.
“We hope people come a few hours early, grab a bite, a drink, maybe go play at Urban Putt, and then everything is a short walk to the SAP center,” Mahan said.
Mahan also noted there are many ways to access the game via public transportation; he recommends Caltrain for fans coming from San Francisco or the Peninsula.
“You can get from San Francisco to San Jose across the street from SAP Center in 55 minutes, with WiFi,” Mahan said.
Both Mahan and Rouillard noted that sports stand to make a major economic impact in the South Bay, with this WNBA game, as well as with the Super Bowl, several World Cup matches, and March Madness games in 2026.
San Francisco expects to see some buzz from the WNBA playoffs too.
On Friday, Valkyries forward Kayla Thornton joined Team President Jess Smith and San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie as they raised the team’s flag over San Francisco City Hall.
Smith spoke with optimism about the team’s playoff potential.
“For me, I’m like the fans are, really just amazed at the work and wins that we got this season, and pretty bullish about what this postseason can feel like too,” Smith said.
When the Valkyries play game one in Minnesota on Sunday morning, there will be a watch party at Thrive City outside Chase Center as well.
For the last 10 years, Columbus Park in San Jose wasn’t a park at all. It was a home for hundreds of encampments and RVs. San Jose, though, has started Operation Cleanup Columbus, and now only a few tents remain.
A woman named Raquel, who only wanted to be identified by her first name, used to call Columbus Park home.
“Last time I saw this field like this was when I first became homeless in 2012,” she said.
She was one of the first to call this place home. It’s where she eventually raised her son before she was placed into a tiny home.
“I get down on myself about that sometimes because I told myself I would never be homeless with my son because I was when I was a kid,” she said.
As she looked at what was now an empty field, she was overwhelmed by a flood of memories.
“Seeing this field like this is woah,” she said. “It’s truly breathtaking. It’s a lot of memories here. A lot of friends passed away here.”
Raquel came back on Thursday night to help some of her friends still struggling to find housing.
“They had his name,” she said. “He was one of the first people out here and now they just dropped him. It’s like they don’t really care. They act like they care but they really don’t.”
According to San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, more than 150 people have been housed as Operation Cleanup Columbus enters its third week, with 65% of those agreeing to move into temporary housing. Those who are not from Santa Clara County have been referred to their home county for services.
She hopes this will help some of her former neighbors stay off the streets for good but also knows this isn’t a solution for everyone.
“For some people, they’ve been out here so long that it’s hard to be in four walls,” she said. “So, they will be back out here. Maybe not here at this spot but back out on the streets, unfortunately. But for some people, this is the step they need to push them forward and get them a little bit closer to living a normal life or getting back on track in life.”
SAN JOSE — Wide-ranging efforts are underway to find merchants to fill the empty ground-floor spaces along two sides of the Signia by Hilton San Jose, endeavors that could help lift the downtown economy if they succeed.
Colliers, a commercial real estate firm, has begun to scout for dining establishments and retailers for the hotel tower at 170 South Market St.
“We are looking to lease about 30,000 square feet of spaces at the Signia,” said Nick Goddard, a senior vice president with Colliers. “We are going to put some high-end restaurants in some of those spaces. These will be very fine, swanky dining establishments.”
Some of the spaces will be leased to retailers, such as personal salons and spas, according to Goddard.
“We are already getting inquiries from some top-level restaurants,” Goddard said.
The spaces are for the sides of the building that front on the Paseo de San Antonio and South First Street, according to Goddard.
“Marketing efforts are not the problem with filling these spaces, it’s the uncertainty of the time and cost it will take to permit and occupy the spaces,” said Bob Staedler, principal executive with Silicon Valley Synergy, a land-use and planning consultancy.
Finding more merchants for downtown San Jose is deemed crucial ahead of the potential influx of visitors expected to attend three mega sports events that are slated to occur in the South Bay during 2026.
“The City of San Jose needs to step up and provide proactive assistance in filling these key spaces,” Staedler said. “The wait-and-see approach has not been working to date. We don’t need to wait until after 2026 to realize that this is a problem.”
The 541-room, 22-story Signia by Hilton is San Jose’s largest hotel and was seized by its lender, BrightSpire Capital, through a foreclosure on May 12.
The lender’s foreclosure placed a value of $80 million on the hotel, which was 41% below the $134 million loan for the property.
During a July conference call with Wall Street analysts to discuss financial results, BrightSpire discussed its plans for the hotel in the wake of the foreclosure.
“Our intention is to make much-needed and neglected physical and operational improvements to the property ahead of significant events taking place in the Bay Area through mid-2026,” BrightSpire CEO Mike Mazzei told analysts. “We want to do things that we need to do to get that hotel fully operational and in peak condition before those events.”
The hotel fell into some level of disrepair as the prior ownership group was preoccupied with three court proceedings that were filed in an attempt to retain control of the property, according to BrightSpire.
“During the protracted foreclosure process, the hotel experienced meaningful deferred maintenance,” Mazzei said. “There was some distress at the asset. There were just basic things like elevators. Some elevators were not operating and offline.”
San Jose hotel operators hope to capitalize on the Super Bowl, multiple matches for the FIFA World Cup, and several of the games of the men’s college basketball tournament that are being held in the South Bay in 2026.
On Monday, a shocking video was released showing a gang of thieves crashing a car into a San Jose jewelry store and assaulting the 88-year-old owner. On Tuesday, the Vietnamese community gathered to call out State and local leaders to invest in public safety in a way that will make them feel safe.
Michael Le attended as a San Jose Business owner, a member of the Vietnamese community, and an acquaintance of one of the most recent victims.
“I am boiling because of the incident that happened in my community,” Le stated. “Every time I leave the business in the evening, my concern is if I have a place to work tomorrow.”
Le said the break-ins are constant, and people in the Asian, and specifically Vietnamese, community are anxious about going about their daily lives.
Mayor Matt Mahan was at the gathering and acknowledged that the Asian community is being hit disproportionately hard, referencing a recent case of 50 residential burglaries.
“They were explicitly targeting Asian American homeowners, so there’s a lot of fear in this community,” Mahan explained. “There’s a belief that maybe Asian Americans’ public safety isn’t valued as much as in other areas of town.”
Le has a theory about that.
“I feel that the criminals target our community for many reasons, but one of the main reasons is because we keep silent,” said Le. “We don’t report incidents to law enforcement.”
Tuan Ngo agrees. He founded a group called Asians Unite during the pandemic when the news was full of reports of Asians, many of them elderly, being randomly attacked.
“I think Asians are, in many ways, ‘easy targets,’” said Ngo. “We’re smaller framed, we tend not to speak out or fight back. And we’re easy to be victimized. As immigrants, we don’t tend to speak up.”
But they’re speaking up now because of a video of a brazen robbery by a mob of masked thieves. It happened at the Kim Hung Jewelry store in San Jose, with the 88-year-old owner being shoved to the floor. He was later discovered to have suffered a stroke in the robbery.
“They have cameras, and so when these incidents happen it’s quickly shared with other merchants in the area. And so, there’s a lot of fear,” Ngo said.
So, Little Saigon merchants called the press conference and meeting with their Councilmember, Bien Doan, and the police chief. But their demands go beyond the city limits. They are calling on Governor Newsom to fund the enforcement of Prop 36, the measure passed last year to combat drug and retail theft crimes. They also want more automated license plate cameras to identify and retrieve stolen cars before they can be used as battering rams in robberies.
“We’ve been working hard with the city for two and a half years now to make it the safest city in the nation. But it doesn’t mean we don’t have crimes,” said Councilmember Doan. “Little Saigon has gotten safer, but there’s a lot of room for improvement.”
The Grand Century mall has a lot of Vietnamese jewelry stores, and while some people admit the number of crimes may be down, one worker named Kim said the video of the latest robbery is preventing them from feeling safe.
“We need some people to help us, so we feel more safe when we do business,” she said. “That’s why we moved from Oakland to here.”
The Little Saigon leaders say they believe the crime numbers are low because many merchants are reluctant to even report robberies. They either don’t want to scare their customers or alert their insurance companies for fear that their rates will be increased. After what they’ve been through, the Asian community isn’t relying on crime stats. They want to see more police officers, and some are even welcoming the idea of deploying the National Guard.
“It’s a mixed bag,” said Ngo. “The community’s been asking for public safety for years and years, and nothing has happened. Something drastic needs to happen and at this point people are so frustrated that they’re like, OK, bring in the National Guard, bring in CHP, bring in the Sheriff. We need action now! We need immediate help, and we need this to be taken with the seriousness that is deserves.”
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.
Bay Area native and competitive eating legend Joey “Jaws” Chestnut is gearing up to make another new record.
Chestnut will face off (or eat off?) against a fan at the San Francisco Giants vs. Los Angeles Dodgers game Friday at Oracle Park. And it won’t be hot dogs at the competition — the 17-time Mustard Belt winner will take on 99 Impossible Foods plant-based chicken nuggets in nine innings.
Chestnut was born in Vallejo and spent time in San Jose while in college and became a household name in the world of competitive eating. He also holds eating records in timed contests for hard boiled eggs, asparagus, pulled pork sandwiches, tacos, chicken wings and burgers.
A woman riding an electric scooter in San Jose was struck and killed by a vehicle in what police say is a hit and run.
San Jose police were investigating the scene in the area of Santa Clara and Cahill streets, near SAP Center, where they were called at about 8 a.m. on a report of a vehicle collision with an electric scooter, the police department said.
A vehicle of unknown make and model hit a woman on the scooter then fled the scene, police said. The victim was taken to a hospital, where she later died.
Santa Clara Street is closed in both directions from Stockton Avenue to Barack Obama Boulevard.
