The frustration around the Irvington BART station is understandable, but what rings hollow is the sudden outrage from Aisha Wahab, who has been absent from the regional transportation conversation until launching a campaign for Congress.
For years, BART’s structural funding problems, service cuts and capital delays were well known, yet there was no public leadership on these issues from her. Now, in the middle of a high-profile race, state official business is being repackaged as campaign messaging. Calling out BART after the fact, without having done the hard work of coalition-building, regional coordination or advancing long-term transit funding solutions, looks less like leadership and more like political grandstanding. Using official letters and legislative stature to generate headlines may score short-term attention, but it does not move projects forward.
Residents deserve serious, sustained advocacy on transportation, not last-minute positioning designed to boost a political profile. California deserves better.
Katelyn Rubadue Vacaville
The illegality is coming from ICE agents
I encourage anyone who hasn’t listened to the Feb. 3 congressional hearing on ICE and Border Patrol tactics to please do so. Three American citizens, Marimar Martinez, Aliya Rahman and Daniel Rascon, testified before this joint session and spoke about abuses ICE and Border Patrol used on them. It was chilling.
Martinez and Rascon were immediately castigated as being “domestic terrorists.” Sound familiar? Yes, the same lies spread by this administration.
Martinez was shot five times by a Border Patrol agent and had “7 holes” in her body. The agent who shot her texted his buddies, “I fired five rounds and she had 7 holes. Put that in your book boys.” The other two “holes” in her body were from ricocheted bullets.
If anyone thinks it is the lack of cooperation from state and local police that is causing this abuse, they are sorely mistaken. It’s the agents themselves.
Lisa Rigge Pleasanton
Redirecting FBI agents is cause for concern
All Americans should be concerned about the Trump administration’s cuts and change of focus in the FBI. An area of major concern is the rapidly growing increase in cybercrime.
Donald Trump has changed much of the FBI’s traditional focus to immigration. Over 20% of the FBI workforce has been taken away from priorities such as cybercrime, terrorism and drug trafficking. This has left blind spots in our digital defenses while cybercrime is on the rise, reaching a record $16 billion loss and growing annually.
Last year, Trump dropped one-third of pending enforcement actions against tech companies. In the largest field offices, up to 40% of agents assigned to cybercrime, financial fraud and public corruption have been reassigned to immigration. This action seems to be misguided and dangerous.
Kit Miller Walnut Creek
Strengthen vet rule for rodeos, charreadas
California boasts the nation’s most comprehensive rodeo law, Penal Code 596.7, the result of 1999 legislation carried by state Sen. Don Perata, D-Oakland. The law was amended in 2007 to include the Mexican charreadas.
Current law requires either an on-site or on-call veterinarian at every rodeo and/or charreada, and bans the use of electric prods in the holding chutes; it also requires that animal injury reports be submitted to the State Veterinary Medical Board.
Current law needs amending to require on-site veterinarians — dropping the woefully inadequate “on-call” veterinarian option. The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, racetracks, horse shows and endurance rides all require on-site vets — so should all rodeos and charreadas.
The charreada’s brutal “steer tailing” event has been outlawed in two California counties (Alameda and Contra Costa). Steers’ tails are routinely stripped to the bone (“degloved”), broken, even torn off. A state-wide ban is in order. Feb. 20 is the deadline in the state Legislature for introduction of new bills. Let your reps hear from you.
California doesn’t need a governor who “wins” a two-hour TV show. We need a leader who can fix the budget, steady our economy and make government actually work.
I was at the debate. Six men thought the job description includes mansplaining, not being the best-prepared steward of a $300 billion budget. The men on stage were eager to interrupt, lecture and score points.
Meanwhile, only one candidate has already managed the state’s books, uncovered waste and abuse, and protected pensions for millions of Californians: former Controller Betty Yee. She didn’t mug for the cameras. She did what women leaders so often do: Show up prepared, focus on solutions and let the work speak for itself.
If we are serious about solving California’s problems on Day One, it’s time to look past the male theatrics and choose the adult in the room: Betty Yee.
Jill Stegman clearly highlights real challenges facing California’s public school populations. But by insisting that test scores won’t rise until societal issues are fixed, she does a disservice to students.
Some schools are beating the odds with the populations they serve. Some districts are shrinking achievement gaps. The data is out there. Curriculum and teaching does matter. In the case of literacy, adopting evidence-based approaches can lead to gains even for students facing multiple challenges in the Central Valley. For math, centering practice around examining student data, research-based teaching, and early intervention has boosted performance in districts with high levels of poverty and multilingual learners.
The systemic issue is that these wins are scattered. California is still struggling to deploy evidence-based instruction and intervention at scale. Until that is in place, simply blaming society and implying there is little schools can do ignores the clear steps that districts can take now.
Katie Chin Fremont
Emotional intelligence can help curb violence
California is in the crosshairs of Donald Trump’s politics. As America spins in political and policy turmoil, California must stand up.
Initiate Justice has created an innovative program at Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga. The Initiate Justice Bill Clinic is teaching policy to incarcerated residents. The clinic is writing three pieces of proposed legislation. The bills are directed toward criminal justice, rehabilitation models and implementation of social-emotional learning in California schools.
The social-emotional learning bill is tentatively titled the Shaw-Scott Act. The legislation is dedicated in part to Otis Scott III of Oakland, who at 19 lost his life at the hands of a friend in 1995. One of the bill’s authors was convicted of the crime and wants to show the importance of emotional intelligence in our schools. Social-emotional learning in our schools will help reduce violence.
Oversight is more essential today than ever. Without its transparency and accountability, constitutional human liberty is overrun by tyranny. Such tyranny tops our daily news documenting excessive force by masked, unidentified swarms who break down doors and smash car windows, detaining, teargassing, shooting and even killing residents.
Too often fatally, those firing bullets or “less lethals” — steel balls, wooden blocks, pepper-balls or blinding/deafening flashbangs in multi-munition grenades — act with impunity.
Police oversight restrains impunity. Decades ago, Berkeley established the first Police Review Commission, strengthened by 2020 voters to a Police Accountability Board, for civilian review of police misconduct and transparency and accountability standards.
The article gives a needed wake-up call. In-depth investigation and reporting are essential to expose transparency erosions. Call on the Berkeley City Council to recommit to the accountability necessary to preserve the 250-year-old balance Americans call democracy.
Thank you, David Brooks, for telling us why We the People must urge the removal of Donald Trump from the presidency. In addition to Brook’s analysis, the facts are compelling.
Trump is a convicted felon and the leader of an attempt to overthrow our government, making him a traitor. He is an uninhibited liar and promises retribution against his perceived enemies. He is destroying our long-standing relationship with our allies, including our closest ally, Canada, and crippling our health system. He is pushing the Supreme Court and Republican Congress to support unconstitutional and law-breaking acts. He is menacing blue cities and states with the equivalent of a Gestapo-like atmosphere for immigrants, citizens or not. He has threatened Greenland and overthrown the leadership in Venezuela. He has attacked our higher-education system.
I believe Trump gets up every morning and thinks, ”Who can I hurt today?” You’ve hurt us enough. Out.
Teo, ranked in the top 10 in the state and first in the Central Coast Section, won the title at the Judy Rider Memorial tournament at Hollister High on Saturday.
DUBLIN — The name on the jersey is new, but the ambition running through Brave Christian Academy’s gym feels anything but.
On any given night in the west Dublin hills, the noise is sharper, the roster longer and the expectations louder than anyone remembers when the school was called Valley Christian-Dublin.
What was once a small-school schedule filler has turned into one of the Bay Area’s most interesting stories – a team winning now, gathering talent boldly and thinking far bigger than its enrollment suggests.
Rebranded as Brave Christian, the boys basketball program has surged into relevance behind a roster reshaped by improved talent and elevated by two international players from the Ivory Coast – freshman star JP Oka and sophomore Adama Kone – who have quickly become among the area’s most intriguing talents.
Driving the vision is coach Joe Fuca, a former executive at DocuSign and basketball architect intent on building more than a winning season.
His goal is long-term and ambitious: Turn a small Christian school into a regional powerhouse.
“We want to be a classic Christian school that you see on the I-680 corridor,” Fuca said. “You’re either going to go to Berean Christian or De La Salle, two great Christian schools. I feel like we can build our own little thing there in Dublin and have a really good success.”
Brave Christian Academy’s Adama Kone (22) battles Vanden’s James Carraway (5) for a rebound in the third quarter of their Crush in the Valley tournament game held at Napa Valley College in Napa, Calif., on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
Perfect timing
Brave Christian has an enrollment of just under 200 students and offers 11 sports. The Lions have never been a basketball power even at the small-school level, having two winning seasons since 2004.
Fuca got involved with the boys basketball team in January of last year after a pastor from the school’s church asked him if he could try to revive the athletics department.
Fuca took on the challenge.
The tech executive already had a deep background in basketball as his sons were decorated players at nearby San Ramon Valley. Christian Fuca won a Division I state championship with SRV in 2015, helping the Wolves beat a Lonzo Ball-led Chino Hills team. Fuca’s other son, Joey, was the head coach of national prep school powerhouse Prolific Prep and runs a local Adidas Circuit AAU team called Lakeshow Basketball.
Despite making the North Coast Section Division VI playoffs, Brave Christian struggled last season, going 8-16.
For senior point guard Logan Reth, who transferred from nearby California, last season challenged him in ways he did not expect.
“I came here last year, the skill gap was a lot different. I was surrounded with a lot of great people, but just kind of beginners to basketball,” Reth said.
But Fuca credits Reth and other returners for getting into the postseason, which he believes built a foundation for this year’s team.
“There were seven basketball players in the school when I came in,” Fuca said. “I think some people who came to watch us at the end of last year were attracted to come here. So then we had a lot of kids transfer in the summer because they wanted to go to school at Brave.”
Arrival of the stars
The team started to take shape in the offseason as transfers were becoming eligible and the team started to mesh behind Oka and Kone – two players who were playing basketball together on the Ivory Coast just a couple of years ago.
Both were highly decorated international players. Kone came to Brave Christian in January of last season while Oka has been playing in the states for the last few years.
The duo presents nightmare matchups for opponents. Oka, a 6-foot-8 freshman, is a natural scorer who has a shifty handle and defensive tools to shut down any top player. At 6-4, Kone is a bouncy wing who overpowers defenders with brute strength and agile footwork.
Kone said he and Oka had a learning curve to try to get adjusted to the American game.
“Back home, we never play basketball inside, always outside,” Kone said. “The rules are kind of different. It’s a lot more physical back home where it’s more technical here.”
While their highlights make social media on a regular basis, it’s their chemistry on the court that really separates Oka and Kone from the rest.
“JP is my homeboy from my home country,” Kone said. “He’s like a brother to me. So he knows me. I know him off the court, on the court. We just like playing together, sharing the ball with each other. If I score 20, he usually scores 20.”
Added Oka, “I’ve known him for two years, so it’s good to have him by my side.”
Brave Christian Academy’s Adama Kone (22) goes up for a layup against Vanden in the fourth quarter of their Crush in the Valley tournament game held at Napa Valley College in Napa, Calif., on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
Turning heads
While most people didn’t know who the Lions were before the season started, they knew exactly what they were capable of.
Once the team was finally together in the offseason, Brave Christian impressed at local summer league games and built up some hype at the start of the season after starting 7-1. The Lions participated at the Torrey Pines Holiday Classic in San Diego where they played the likes of St. Ignatius, Cathedral Catholic and Priory.
Though they didn’t come away with wins, their willingness to play high-level competition got attention from the basketball community.
“I have a lot of friends who play basketball and they watch us and they’re like, “Woah, where did you get those guys,’” Reth said. “I’ve heard so many people tell us that we look good and I know in a few years we’ll be a lot better.”
Games against higher competition have paid dividends when Brave Christian returned to the B Division of the Bay Counties League East.
Through 10 league games, Brave Christian has blown out every opponent with a point differential of plus-520.
The Lions have beaten teams by video-game like numbers. They defeated Fremont-Christian 78-8 and routed Making Waves Academy 101-31.
“We really just came to Brave Christian trying to change the culture,” Kone said. “We want to change everything about this school – academically and athletically.”
The start of a powerhouse?
What’s happening at Brave Christian is already rippling beyond the basketball court.
The Lions’ breakout season has already become a blueprint for what administrators believe can be a full-scale athletic revival – one fueled by visibility, belief and proof that winning can be had at a small Christian school in West Dublin.
According to Fuca and athletic director Steve Stokes, enrollment has increased, student interest has grown and the athletic department is preparing for expansion. The school is adding 8-man football next year with hopes of creating a full 11-man team in the coming years, a significant step for a school that struggled to field any athletic teams at all.
Fuca believes this season will be remembered less for the lopsided scores and more for the foundation it created.
“We went from eight basketball players to 26 basketball players,” Fuca said. “We have a JV team now and a freshman team. So we just rebuilt the whole thing. I’m excited to see what the future holds.”
DEAR JOAN: Recently I noticed mushrooms growing at the base of one of the juniper trees in the backyard. It was interesting, so I took a picture.
A couple of days ago, I noticed that the mushrooms were gone, and there were scratch marks in the damp earth at the base where the mushrooms had been.
I am curious as to what animal could have eaten the mushrooms, and if that animal is in any danger from poisoning. I see raccoons, possums, squirrels, and birds on my backyard camera.
Who is the most likely culprit, or victim?
— Nancy McKiernan, Sunnyvale
DEAR NANCY: The winter rains can turn our Bay Area yards into fairylands with mushrooms popping up all over. While it is never a good idea to eat one without knowing exactly what type it is, animals don’t have the benefit of being able to call on a mycologist to determine the identity.
Instead, they rely on taste, outcome and experience. If a wild animal eats a mushroom that later makes it ill, it will avoid those mushrooms in the future, provided they survive. They’ll likely also stay away from anything that has a same or similar taste. That provides them with some protection against eating the poisonous ones.
In the Bay Area, there are two mushrooms that are unsafe for any creature, and those are the death cap (Amanita phalloides) and the western destroying angel (Amanita ocreata). Both are commonly found near and around oak trees.
As for what animal would eat the golden hued mushrooms you observed, the list is long. Mushrooms are a treat for wildlife as they have a high water content, are a good source of protein, and a good source of vitamins and phosphorus.
Rats, squirrels, deer, box turtles, wild turkeys, and wild boars, just to name a few that might be visiting your yard, all love mushrooms. The scratches you observed lead me to think of turkeys, but there’s no way to know for certain.
DEAR JOAN: I’m already thinking about spring and what I’ll be planting in my vegetable garden. Last year, much of the garden was eaten by rats, birds and squirrels. I’m wondering if one of those plastic owls would scare them away?
— Alice B., Clayton
DEAR ALICE: Decoys do work, however briefly, against the birds but it’s unlikely the rats and squirrels will even raise an eyebrow.
Stationary owl statues and other decoys might keep the birds away for a day or two, but then the birds figure out there’s no threat, and before you know it, they’re perching on the fake owl’s head and having a good laugh.
You want something that will move unpredictably. Objects that are pushed and pulled by the wind, and which add unexpected flashes of light have a better and longer track record of success. You can hang reflective ribbons or old CDs throughout the garden.
For the rats and squirrels, the only thing stopping them are physical barriers. Surrounding your garden with a hardware cloth fence and a shock wire on top will do wonders.
The Animal Life column runs on Mondays. Contact Joan Morris at AskJoanMorris@gmail.com.
Saying they were spurred by the shooting of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Minneapolis, an Alameda County Board of Supervisors committee has passed two proposals to establish a Bay Area regional response in the event that federal immigration agents launch a new operation locally.
“We have to move very quickly,” Alameda County District 5 Supervisor Nikki Fortunato Bas told Bay Area News Group before the Board of Supervisors meeting on Thursday before the Together For All Committee vote. “Since the Minneapolis killing – more than ever – it is incredibly dangerous for people to enter the immigration system.”
During a surge of immigration enforcement in Minneapolis, ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot Minneapolis resident Renee Good in the head while she was driving away. Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was posthumously labeled as a “domestic terrorist” by Vice President JD Vance and Department of Homeland Security Sec. Kristi Noem, whose defense of Ross’ actions ignited furor among Minnesota residents who have taken to the streets in protest.
The incident evoked memories of last October when Border Patrol agents launched an operation in the Bay Area that led to a protest at the entrance to Coast Guard Island. During the standoff, a U-Haul truck driven by Bella Thompson reversed and accelerated toward officers. Thompson was shot by federal officers before she could strike them and was charged with one count of assault of a federal officer. She was released on bail in November and remanded to her parents in Southern California while attending a mental health program pending trial.
In the lead-up to the October incident, Bas said she had drafted a proposal to strengthen the county’s response to immigration enforcement operations. The first of these proposals calls for a coordinated regional response to federal immigration raids, following the example set by Santa Clara County, with public outreach plans and staff trainings on how to protect residents accessing the county’s social services, courts and health care facilities.
The second proposal establishes that ICE and other immigration authorities are banned from county-owned buildings. In addition, the proposal demands that federal immigration officers identify themselves and clarify they are not county employees.
“We’re working to make sure that our communities are informed, prepared and coordinated in protecting the critical health programs and social services as well as constitutional rights that we should all be afforded,” Bas said at Thursday’s committee meeting.
Bas and District 2 Supervisor Elisa Marquez, the vice chair of the ACT All Committee, met with District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson, Sheriff Yesenia Sanchez, Public Defender Brendan Woods, Probation Chief Brian Ford and General Services Agency Director Kimberley Gassaway to discuss how each of their respective agencies would implement the proposed policies.
Sanchez noted that ICE agents’ policies are unorthodox among law enforcement professionals.
“Any professional law enforcement agency understands and knows the need to be clearly marked and identified as a law enforcement officer. It is a safety issue,” Sanchez said. “The sheriff’s office has very clear directives on how we do or do not communicate with ICE. I’ve made it very clear that we do not accept civil detainers at our facility at the jail, we only accept criminal warrants for people.”
Alameda County Public Defender Brendon Woods said he had appealed to the county since last summer about creating policies that would protect the county’s vulnerable communities against ICE. He made specific reference to ICE agents “snatching” people off the street and putting them into vans, and expressed concern about due process and judicial fairness in immigration courts after President Donald Trump fired more than 100 judges and replaced them with Trump-approved successors.
“We are in a state of emergency. In my 55 years on this earth, I cannot recall more dangerous time in our nation’s history,” said Woods. “Our civil liberties are being trampled on a daily basis. Every day we hear new stories of immigration officers descending on our communities with weapons and masks and unmarked vehicles. They snatch people off the street, they break car windows, they pepper spray peaceful protesters.”
The proposals will now head to the full Board of Supervisors for final approval.
The end to a wild week of whipsawing weather across Northern California is at hand.
Sunny skies, calmer winds and cooler temperatures are forecast to return to the Bay Area on Saturday and linger into early next week, offering a respite from a weeklong parade of storms that felled trees, flooded roadways and caused power outages affecting thousands of people.
In the Sierra, clouds were expected to part beginning Saturday, potentially allowing skiers easier access over Interstate 80 and Highway 50 to take advantage of several feet of fresh powder around Lake Tahoe.
A few final rounds of rain and gusty conditions were expected throughout the day Friday, particularly around midday and into the early afternoon as a final band of storms sweep through the region.
But in a word, the weather should be “beautiful” for the last several days of 2025, said Dylan Flynn, a National Weather Service meteorologist.
“The sun will be shining, the wind will be light — it’s going to be really nice,” Flynn said. “The only potential drawback will be cooler temperatures that could dip overnight into the 30s for parts of the Bay Area, making it “noticeable, especially compared to how warm it’s been,” he added.
The calmer forecast comes after a drumbeat of storms pummeled the Bay Area, bringing with them hurricane-force gusts that toppled trees and left many residents celebrating Christmas in the dark.
Several thousand people were without power Friday morning, the vast majority in the Santa Cruz Mountains, along with other parts of the Peninsula and in the South Bay, according to Pacific Gas & Electric’s outage map. In all, the storms knocked out power to more than 777,000 people across PG&E’s California network, and about 41,000 of those people remained in the dark late Friday morning, said Paul Moreno, a spokesman for the utility provider.
Overnight Thursday into Friday, the weather service received reports of downed trees affecting Highway 152 and several boats damaged in the Santa Cruz Harbor from more bands of storms that rolled through the area.
Radar indicated a potential water spout in Monterey Bay right outside of Santa Cruz on Christmas Day, Flynn said, though it was not immediately clear whether it came ashore and caused any damage. The weather service also issued a tornado warning over the Santa Cruz Mountains later in the day, though it later appeared unlikely that anything touched down. Formal survey teams have not yet been dispatched.
Perhaps the greatest damage to emerge late this week came at the Lick Observatory atop Mt. Hamilton, where gusts of up to 114 mph on Christmas Day ripped open the shutter to its 36-inch Great Refractor dome, the observatory announced Friday. The dislodged shutter, which weighs more than two tons, “fell outward onto the roof of the Great Hall, crushing several structural beams,” according to a press release.
Though the telescope itself was not damaged, repairs to the facility are expected to take months. Complicating matters are the fact that the telescope’s precision lenses and electrical systems could now be “vulnerable” to precipitation, the observatory said.
“This was a frightening moment for our staff,” said Matthew Shetrone, deputy director of the University of California Observatories, in a statement that lauded his staff’s work to protect the telescope. “When the storm broke, everyone was safe, but the spiritual core of our observatory had been damaged.”
In all, since the first storms came ashore last weekend, Oakland and San Francisco have received more than 4 inches of rain, while the Oakland and Berkeley hills — along with the Santa Cruz Mountains to the southwest — received between 5 and 8 inches of precipitation, the weather service reported. San Jose received about 1.75 inches of rain, while similar totals were measured in Mountain View and Palo Alto and slightly more than 2 inches fell over Fremont.
The highest totals came in the North Bay, where Mt. Tamalpais received 15.11 inches of snow over the last week, according to the weather service. More than 6 inches fell in Tiburon, and Fairfax.
To the east, snow continued to fall over the Sierra — providing a direly-needed lift to Lake Tahoe-area ski resorts that had delayed their openings amid an unseasonably dry start to the season.
Several ski resorts reported another two feet of powder from early Christmas morning to just before dawn on Friday, according to Scott Rowe, another National Weather Service meteorologist. That latest dumping left Soda Springs with 72 inches of snow so far this week, while Kirkwood reported 59 inches of powder, and Bear Valley said it had received 58 inches of snow.
Borreal reported 47 inches of snow this week, as of early Friday morning, while 58 inches of snow had fallen at the summit of Palisades Tahoe.
Accessing those ski resorts remained difficult Friday. Caltrans continued to enforce chain controls over Interstate 80 over Donner Pass and Highway 50 over Echo Summit. Still, the new solid base layer of snow was a welcome sight.
Just a week ago, on Dec. 19, California’s statewide snowpack was at 12% of its seasonal average, with the state’s northern-most peaks registering just 4% of its normal snowpack total for that date, according to the California Department of Water Resources. Central California — including much of the Lake Tahoe region — also was at just 12% of average.
But as Friday, the state stood at 69% of its snowpack average for the day after Christmas, with northern California coming in at 44% of average and the Central Sierra reaching 73%. More snow was expected to continue falling Friday before easing off this weekend.
“We’ll take any snow at this point in time,” Scott said.
Jakob Rodgers is a senior breaking news reporter. Call, text or send him an encrypted message via Signal at 510-390-2351, or email him at jrodgers@bayareanewsgroup.com.
The appointed Alameda County District Attorney, Ursula Jones Dickson, was the endorsed candidate of the Pamela Price recall committee, which promised to end the alleged coddling of criminals. Indeed, Jones Dickson promises justice by prosecuting more children as adults and sending them to adult prisons.
Now, though, she has finally found a judge to drop manslaughter charges against the killer of Steven Taylor, former San Leandro cop Jason Fletcher. This despite then-District Attorney Nancy O’Malley’s Probable Cause Declaration that when he was shot after being tased twice, “Mr. Taylor was struggling to remain standing as he pointed the bat at the ground …” and “posed no threat of imminent deadly force or serious bodily injury to defendant Fletcher or anyone else.” Jones Dickson considers dropping the charges justice.
I would like a district attorney who has only one standard of justice.
Anyone who truly cares about future generations and acknowledges the impacts of climate change and the health risks of coal-related particulate pollution can’t in their right mind want to locally handle, ship and ultimately facilitate the burning of several million tons of coal annually.
If Oakland Bulk & Oversized Terminal LLC and its partners intend to develop their export terminal for coal, then they should build the specialized, enclosed, dome-shaped terminal they had said they would build to address coal dust health concerns — dust that could harm port workers and nearby residents.
The best outcome would be building a bulk terminal to export hundreds of commodities, excluding coal. If there’s still an option to stop coal as an export commodity here by gathering additional environmental health information, then that pathway should be pursued.
Dan Kalb Oakland
Family history offers tips for good health
As your family gathers for the holidays, ask about your family’s health history. Knowing your family’s health history can be key to a longer, healthier life. And it can help your health care provider identify traits that may put you at risk for certain health conditions or diseases.
Talk to immediate family members. Include three generations. Grandparents, parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews may all have helpful information. Gather information about major medical conditions, age of onset, and for deceased relatives, causes of death. If you have a family history of a condition, it’s important to know this. While you can’t change your genetic makeup, there may be steps you can take now that could help you stay healthy.
Felicia Ziomek Livermore
Root fraud and waste out of ACA program
Our Congress wants health care for all Americans. We all want health care for all Americans. But let’s do it the right way. The current Obamacare program is not sustainable. Replete with the fraud, waste and corruption that has been uncovered — finally — it is obvious that it is costing far more than it should. Extending the existing subsidies without improving the program and its controls is simply throwing good money after bad.
Let’s get control of the current program, drive out the fraud, waste and corruption, so we can see what the existing program would cost if managed properly. Then we can determine how much we can afford to spend and design a well-controlled program that meets our needs. Extending the current payouts without controlling whether the money is spent appropriately, although easier, is simply irresponsible.
John Griggs Danville
China, Russia watching South America gambit
Why has Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered our largest, most lethal aircraft carrier with supporting destroyers and guided missile ships to sail near Venezuela? Donald Trump says it’s to stop drug traffickers, yet, at the same time, he released from prison the Honduran ex-president, who was convicted of massive cocaine trafficking into our country.
The aircraft carrier was moved from the eastern Mediterranean, near the Ukraine conflict. Trump seems to be abandoning our allies in Europe, giving Russia the opportunity to expand its war-stolen territory in Ukraine, while at the same time, he’s picking a fight in our hemisphere with fishermen in small boats.
Is the “emperor” crazy? Are his true loyalties toward aggressive dictators like Vladimir Putin? Americans need to know.
China is watching us closely and assessing whether we would defend Taiwan, Japan and Korea if they pulled a “Putin” in the western Pacific.
The winter holidays are nearly here, which means it’s a great time to gather with friends and family for some festive celebratory drinks. But where to go? If cozy kitsch, the glow of Christmas lights and an abundance of tinsel are your vibe, head for one of these 11 pop-up holiday cocktail bars around the Bay Area.
Sippin’ Santa and Miracle — two pop-up bar organizers — work with existing bars to offer their seasonal cocktail menus. The Sippin’ Santa concept is generally more tropical and tiki-drink focused, while the Miracle bars also offer professionally developed cocktails “and the nostalgic energy of the best office party you’ve ever been to.”
Originally launched in 2014 in New York City, the Miracle pop-up has grown since then, and now brings its seasonal pop-ups worldwide, according to its website. Meanwhile, the first Sippin’ Santa started in 2015 in New York City and has since expanded to over 60 locations across North America, especially following the creation of a 2018 partnership with tiki connoisseur, writer and bar owner Jeff “Beachbum” Berry. Generally, the menus are the same across the different locations for each concept, and each has a number of collectible cocktail mugs as well.
There are five of each concept open now or very soon around the Bay Area.
Santarex mugs are a popular item at Miracle’s pop-up holiday experience in participating restaurants and bars. (Photo by John McCall, South Florida Sun Sentinel)
SIPPIN’ SANTA LOCATIONS
Beer Baron, Pleasanton
Open 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, 11:30 a.m.-1 a.m. Fridays-Saturdays and 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sundays, Nov. 15-Jan. 4, at 336 St. Mary St., Pleasanton; beerbaronbar.com
Open 5 p.m.-midnight Tuesdays-Saturdays, Nov. 28-Dec. 31 (closed Christmas Day), at 32 Third St., San Francisco; konastreetmarket.com
55 South, San Jose
Opens at 4 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays and 6 p.m. Sundays, Nov. 20-Jan. 3, 55 S. 1 First St., San Jose; the55south.com
Flamingo Lazeaway Club, Santa Rosa
Open 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m.-2 p.m. and 2:30-10 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through Dec. 31, at 2777 Fourth St., Santa Rosa; lazeawayclub.com
Additional California locations are in Hollywood, Paso Robles, Sacramento, San Diego and Santa Barbara.
The Snowball Old-Fashioned cocktail made with rye whiskey, gingerbread, aromatic and wormwood bitters and orange essence will be served during the Miracle pop-up bar experience at participating restaurants and bars this holiday season. (Courtesy of Miracle)
MIRACLE LOCATIONS
You’ll also find Miracle pop-up bars at the following bar locations. These cocktail bars are less tiki-themed, more.
Pop’s Public House, Gilroy
Open 4-9 p.m. Mondays, 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesdays-Thursdays, 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Fridays, 10:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Saturdays and 10:30 a.m.-8 p.m. Sundays through Dec. 31, at 1300 First St., Gilroy; popspublichouse.com
The Fat Pigeon, Livermore
Opens 2 p.m. weekdays and noon weekends through Dec. 31, at 2223 First St., Livermore; fatpigeonbar.com
The Double Standard, Oakland
Opens 4 p.m. weekdays and 2 p.m. weekends through Dec. 31, at 2424 Telegraph Ave., Oakland; doublestandardbar.com
Brewsters Beer Garden, Petaluma
Open 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Fridays, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Saturdays and 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sundays through Jan. 1, at 229 Water St., Petaluma, brewstersbeergarden.com. The location is also hosting Santa visits each Tuesday and Thursday at 6 p.m., starting Dec. 2.
The Waterhawk Lake Club, Rohnert Park
Open 11:30 a.m. weekdays and 11 a.m. weekend through Jan. 1 at 5000 Roberts Lake Road, Rohnert Park; thewaterhawk.com
ADDITIONAL LOCATIONS
Making Spirits Bright, Los Gatos
Los Gatos Soda Works will also be hosting its own seasonal pop-up with a new, independent holiday cocktail menu and extravagant decorations. Opens daily at 4 p.m. through Dec. 31 at 21 College Ave., Los Gatos; reservations encouraged. losgatossodaworks.com
In your report on the horrific killing of coach John Beam, Alameda County Chief Public Defender Brendon Woods argued that “Instead of more jail and prison, we should invest in more effective solutions, such as diversion, mentorship and violence interruption.”
Ironically, Coach Beam exemplified the diversion, mentorship and violence prevention programs that Woods advocates, but the effective result was Beam’s own murder. Stop coddling offenders and restore punishment as a societal norm.
The government shutdown is finally over. This is good news for the nearly 42 million people receiving SNAP, as their full benefits will resume soon. But there is something seriously wrong when our government can take benefits from low-income people (many of whom have jobs). Food banks, though important and appreciated, are simply not in a position to substitute for SNAP funding. Our government has trodden on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and my personal values that food is a right.
But Congress still must pass a budget that protects critical programs that reduce poverty and ensures that the money is spent as directed. They have until Jan. 30 to get it done. Email your representatives and senators now. Tell them to protecty health care, nutrition and housing programs, and include safeguards to ensure the administration spends taxpayer funds as Congress intended.
Sue Oehser Oakland
Healthy diets are good if you can get food
President Trump’s nominee for surgeon general, Dr. Casey Means, is a proponent of lifestyle changes, including healthy eating, over medical interventions to treat diseases.
While there is certainly wisdom in eating properly to lower the risk of some illnesses, SNAP benefits in this country are in peril, not just during the recent government shutdown, but from other messages coming out of this administration critical of helping the poor.
It is wrong to insist that people should eat healthy who don’t have the means to do so. It is ignorant to then expect people won’t need medical care to treat the problems that proper nutrition might prevent.
What’s impressive in our democracy is the decision that we, the people, will allot some of our funds to ensure that those in need will have enough to eat.
If Means is serious about changes to medical care, she must also insist that our government fully fund SNAP.
Teri Shikany Danville
Trump will play system again in Epstein case
President Trump suddenly switched his position on the Epstein files by encouraging the House and Senate to vote on its release while simultaneously suggesting the Department of Justice investigate other people he knows had relationships with Jeffrey Epstein and, possibly, Epstein’s underage girls.
Trump’s tactic of running out the clock in court was successful with the Jan. 6 charges against him and will likely achieve the same result when Attorney General Pam Bondi claims the Epstein files can not be opened while the other investigations are underway. They have their ducks lined up. The clock will tick well past the midterms and the ‘28 election as additional names are suggested. Nothing will be released.
While all this might seem legal, a coordinated effort by the DOJ and the president to bury anything about his own participation and avoid possible consequences is corruption … no more, no less.
Barry Brynjulson Pleasanton
Stabilize energy costs before going green
Silicon Valley Power (SVP) will propose a 4% rate increase to the Santa Clara City Council in December.
We must help power companies stay solvent, but spiraling energy costs are not sustainable and are reflected in the cost of everything in California, from rent to food. We need nuclear and hydro to generate electricity, and we are way behind in developing those energy sources.
In the meantime, we must reauthorize natural gas. It’s the bridge fuel that’s supposed to sustain us until greener alternatives are online. California politicians burned that bridge before we could get across it. Imagine millions of electric cars returning home to recharge in 2035 with a grid that can’t support them. And dare I say it, we also need to pump more oil in California to make gas more affordable.
Green — yes, but on a realistic, science-based timeline.
Jim Stoch Carnelian Bay
No evidence Newsom cares about state either
On X, California Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote that “He (President Trump) doesn’t give a damn about you.”
But considering that California’s record on homelessness, taxes and schools leaves much to be desired, I have to wonder whether Newsom truly gives a damn about California voters, besides getting their votes in the 2028 presidential election.
DEAR JOAN: There is something that I have noticed for years, and I finally decided to ask the only expert I know.
At the southbound Thornton Avenue exit to Interstate 880 in Newark, there are some power lines that extend all the way across the freeway. Every time I go that way I see many birds sitting on the lines, but only on the southbound side, never on the other side.
This is not a once-in-a-while thing; I’ve noticed it for many years.
I’ve never seen them fly away, they all just sit there. Can you think of anything special about these particular power lines?
Inquiring minds want to know.
— Sherry Hughes, Newark
DEAR SHERRY: Not being able to read bird minds, or the minds of any living beings, I can’t say for certain, although I’m sure they have an excellent reason. I can, however, list a few possibilities.
First off, birds really like sitting on elevated lines, whether those are power lines, telecommunication wires or cable lines. The high wires provide an excellent vantage point for surveying the area, giving them a bird’s eye view of the territory. From there, they can look around for food and watch out for predators.
The lines are also a convenient spot for taking a rest and as there are other birds on the line, a chance to converse. They come and go as they please, but it’s not likely they would all fly off at once unless something really frightened the entire flock. It might look like the birds sit there all day and night, but it’s a revolving cast.
Such gatherings also provide some communal support and protection from predators, and in the winter, the combined flocks can offer a little extra warmth.
Considering how much power is surging through the lines, we have to wonder how the birds can casually perch on them and avoid electrocution. The answer? Science.
Just like water, and nature itself, electricity seeks a balance. It flows from high energy points to low energy points. A bird sitting on the wire doesn’t interrupt or redirect the flow, but if it was to have one foot on the wire (high energy) and another on the ground (low energy), the electricity would seek to balance, redirecting through the bird to complete the circuit, with deadly consequences. The birds are remarkably exact about the positioning on the lines, keeping a small but equal distance between them, and avoiding touching anything else.
Why the birds choose one wire and not the other most likely has to do with environmental factors. The wind might be stronger on that side, the wires might not provide the same vantage point, or there could be something on that side of the freeway or the lines themselves, that the birds just don’t care for.
The birds like a clear pathway when they fly off the wire, and the ones on the northbound side might be more advantageous.
Wish we knew for certain, but maybe one day the birds will talk.
The Animal Life column runs on Mondays. Contact Joan Morris at AskJoanMorris@gmail.com.
OAKLAND — BART passengers were experiencing delays Sunday due to maintenance operations and police activity that hampered trips on sections of the Bay Area transit system.
In one occurrence, a 10-minute delay had occurred Sunday morning at the Coliseum station in Oakland in the direction of Daly City due to police activity. It wasn’t disclosed which law enforcement agency was involved. By 9:30 a.m., that delay had ended.
BART also reported Sunday morning that a 10-minute delay was underway on the San Francisco line in the direction of Berryessa in San Jose, Antioch, and Millbrae due to overnight track maintenance. By 10 a.m., that advisory had ended.
In recent months, BART passengers have suffered through mammoth delays and systemwide shutdowns that snarled the regional transit system.
A Sonoma County judge allowed Asia Lozano Morton to await trial outside jail under strict supervision and set her next court date for Dec. 4, according to court records.
Morton must wear a GPS ankle monitor, surrender her passport and get permission from the court before leaving California. She’s also barred from owning guns or using drugs and from contacting her boyfriend, Richard Lund.
Tuesday’s hearing was Morton’s first court appearance since her arrest Friday in the Oct. 3 shooting death of Mark Calcagni.
Lund, 43, remains in custody without bail. Police say he’s accused of shooting Calcagni five times near Calcagni’s home on Brookwood Avenue before driving off in a Toyota RAV4.
Investigators believe the killing was planned and may be connected to Calcagni’s decision to fire Lund and Morton from their jobs at the Condor Club, a North Beach landmark known as the nation’s first topless bar.
Police arrested Lund at his home in Dublin. Morton was taken into custody at San Francisco International Airport when she returned from a trip to Spain.
Police said Calcagni had returned home from work around 5 a.m. when he was shot. A passerby found his body on a nearby sidewalk about 90 minutes later.
From classic movies with live music to new tunes from Vampire Weekend and a Grateful Dead Celtic band, there’s a lot to see and hear this weekend in the Bay Area.
Here’s a partial rundown.
Classical picks: Hitchcock + orchestra; New Century
This week’s events light up the classical music scene with an iconic film score, a symphony at the opera, and a tribute to the seasons.
Halloween-appropriate: Scary enough? It has to be, when the San Francisco Symphony’s “Film with Live Orchestra” series presents Alfred Hitchcock’s “Vertigo,” featuring composer Bernard Herrmann’s brilliantly spooky score. With the film on the big screen, conductor Conner Gray Covington will lead the orchestra in a live performance of the spine-tingling music. Come early to see the Symphony’s latest Art Installation, “Dia de los Muertos,” for a pre-show treat.
Symphony at the Opera: Since the start of fall, San Francisco Opera has brought dazzling productions to the stage; now, with “Parsifal” up and running and “The Monkey King” still to come, the company is presenting a concert conducted by company Music Director Eun Sun Kim. This one-night-only event features mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack singing works by Manuel de Falla; Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony completes the 90-minute program.
Details: 7:30 p.m. Nov. 1; War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco; $29-$250; sfopera.com.
New Century, new “Seasons”: The New Century Chamber Orchestra starts the fall season with Vivaldi’s beloved “Four Seasons,” along with works by Dvorak and Bulgarian composer Dobrinka Tabakova; conducted by company music director Daniel Hope, four performances are on the schedule.
Details: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 30 at First Church UCC, Berkeley; 7:30 Oct. 31 at Empress Theatre, Vallejo; 7:30 p.m. Nov. 1 at Herbst Theatre, San Francisco; and 2 p.m. Nov. 2 at Osher Marin JCC, San Rafael; tickets $35-up; ncco.org.
— Georgia Rowe, Correspondent
More movies and music
Fans of classic silent films can catch two of them — “Phantom of the Opera” and “Nosferatu” — at Grace Cathedral this weekend. But the real star of the events won’t be on the screen but seated at Grace Cathedral’s famed 7,500-pipe Aeolian-Skinner organ, which has been a key facet of the church since it was installed in 1934. The organ will be played by musician Dorothy Papadakos, who started out as a jazz pianist in her native Reno and has evolved into a world-renowned organ player, thanks in part to her long stint as organist at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York as well as her Grammy-winning stint with the Paul Winter Consort (their live album “Silver Solstice” remains a New Age/ambient classic).
Papadakos is, among other things, considered a talented improviser, which will come in hand in these gigs. She’ll accompany the 1925 silent version of “Phantom of the Opera” starring Lon Chaney, at 8 p.m. Oct. 30, and the 1922 version of “Nosferatu” — a film that was once ordered destroyed because it was deemed to be an unauthorized adaptation (read: ripoff) of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” — at 8 p.m. Oct. 31. The church — which is a San Francisco landmark and always worth a visit — is at Taylor and California streets in San Francisco. Tickets are $34.50-$44.50; go to www.sfjazz.org.
— Bay City News Foundation
Cool shows, great album
In late October of last year, Vampire Weekend performed two memorable sold-out shows — an evening gig, followed the very next day by a matinee performance — at the legendary Madison Square Garden in New York City. The shows included many longtime Vampire Weekend fan favorites, of course, such as “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa,” “A-Punk” and “Oxford Comma.”
Yet, the NYC-born indie-pop act — led by vocalist-lyricist-guitarist Ezra Koenig — also performed a wonderful assortment of cover songs during those two shows. The list includes a number of Big Apple-appropriate tunes, such as the easily recognizable “Seinfeld Theme,” the Frank Sinatra favorite “Theme From New York, New York,” the Ramones’ blistering “Blitzkrieg Bop” and Billy Joel’s classic “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant,” the latter of which was reportedly performed with a candlelit table and waiter in a tux on the Garden stage.
Other cuts to make the Vampire Weekend setlist were The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside,” Talking Heads’ “Burning Down the House,” The Surfaris’ “Wipe Out,” Kate Bush’s “Wuthering Heights” and Thin Lizzy’s “The Boys Are Back in Town.”
Now all VW fans can experience the shows thanks to “Weekend at the Garden,” a limited edition double-LP recorded during that epic NYC stand. The offering, which includes portions of the two performances rather than the complete shows, is part of the band’s Frog on the Bass Drum vinyl series.
The Shaker Theater is showing the original 1968 “Night of the Living Dead” in a warehouse with a haunted maze in October 2025 in Oakland. (Shaker Theater)
Pop-up theater brings scares to Bay Area
This Halloween, you can see a scary movie in your local AMC theater. Or you can watch one as perhaps it was meant to be watched: In a dark warehouse full of horrific decor, where it feels like zombies could break down the door any minute.
The Shaker Theater is a new underground pop-up cinema in a residential part of northern Oakland. For its inaugural run, it’s been playing George Romero’s 1968 “Night of the Living Dead” during October, with final runs up until Halloween evening. It’s the uncensored, 96-minute original preserved on real celluloid. There will be popcorn and soda and, for more fun, before the movie the theater is playing clips from its “deep archives of rare and bizarre material.” Think Halloween safety films, forgotten trailers and classic monster-movie moments.
To get into the screening, visitors must first navigate a “Corridor of Horror” designed by local artist Rob Vertigo. Picture a classic haunted house, but turned into spooky-maze form. Did your group just lose a member? It’s probably nothing to worry about, they’re no doubt right behind you …. Wait, that’s not Chad! (Screams.)
Details: Preshow begins at 6:30 p.m. and movie starts at 8 p.m.; 950 54th St., Oakland; $18 online or $20 at the door; instagram.com/shakertheater.
— John Metcalfe, Staff
Freebie of the week
We tend to think of great film experiences as those that expose us to brilliant camerawork, incisive dialogue, or a poignant or hilarious reflection on the world at large. But let’s not forget the joys that await us at the other end of the spectrum. There is nothing quite like experiencing a truly terrible film with a room full of gleefully derisive bad-movie fans. There’s a reason why “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes” spawned three sequels and too many spoofs and homages to count, and it wasn’t John K. Culley’s nuanced cinematography. Halloween, it seems, is a favorite time to indulge in bad-movie bliss, probably because violent mutant vegetables and irritable aliens fit most comfortably in the horror genre.
And so it is that this week delivers the opportunity to view one of the most glorious and beloved bad movies of all time, “Robot Monster.” The film, in case the clever title doesn’t make it obvious, is about an alien robot sent to destroy Earth but who defies its orders when it saves an imperiled woman from certain death. The 1953 film took four days and $20,000 to make, $4,000 of which was spent on incorporating 3D technology. One of the stars was cast because he already owned a gorilla suit and therefore didn’t need to be costumed. So, yeah, this was not an extravagant production. Yet, it grossed $1 million in its first year and has gone on to be a favorite among those who revel in the wonders of wretched filmmaking. If such a buffet of bad moviemaking – in 3D!! – is your thing, “Robot Monster” will screen at 6 p.m. Oct. 30 at the Internet Archive, 300 Funston Ave., San Francisco. The screening is free but if you feel like making a donation to the Internet Archive or co-presenter the Golden Gate Stereoscopic Society — both of which are dedicated to preserving humankind’s digital history — certainly no one would hold it against you.
When you think about it, Wake the Dead would be a tremendous name for a screeching-loud punk band or maybe a Goth band. But the real Wake the Dead is neither of those things. It is a collection of very talented Bay Area musicians merging two of their musical passions – Grateful Dead classics and Irish/Celtic music. The name is certainly appropriate, as it references the Dead as well as Irish wakes, which are known to be deeply heartfelt and celebratory affairs. The moniker also mirrors the title of the Dead’s 1973 album “Wake of the Flood,” the first recording the band released acting as its own label. Adding to the plays on words, the band’s annual gig at the Freight & Salvage in Berkeley celebrates the Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos), the holiday widely observed in Mexico, in which family members and friends gather to honor loved ones who have passed away.
If all this is simply too much to ponder, just know that Wake the Dead will, per tradition, return to the Freight & Salvage on Nov. 1 to perform a Day of the Dead-themed show at which you are likely to hear high-energy Celtic takes on such Dead classics as “China Cat Sunflower” and “Eyes of the World.”
Details: The show begins at 8 p.m.; tickets are $26.50-$44; or you can livestream the show for $25; more information is at thefreight.org.
— Bay City News Foundation
Celebrating Día de los Muertos
The skeletons are dangling from the windows and looming merrily overhead the staircase in the festive lobby of Davies Hall, as the San Francisco Symphony gears up at 3 p.m. Nov. 1 to mount its 18th annual celebration of the Day of the Dead, the joyous Mexican tradition held to pay love and respect to ancestors who have passed on. The centerpiece of the festivities is a symphony concert, but multiple preconcert family-friendly activities are planned in the lobby and upper floors, including marigold flower making, offering-altar installations, a mariachi instrument petting zoo, sugar skull decorating and costumed dancers from Casa Círculo Cultural. The Symphony, conducted by Lina González-Granados, will perform traditional and contemporary Latin American music associated with the holiday, including Gabriela Ortiz’s “Kauyumari,” selections from Arturo Márquez’s “Espejos en la Arena,” the Intermezzo from Ricardo Castro’s “Atzimba” opera, Paul Desenne’s “Hipnosis Mariposa,” Jimmy Lopez’s “Loud,” Márquez’s popular Danzón No. 2 and Gabriela Lena Frank’s “The Mestizo Waltz.”
Details: Tickets, which are 50 percent off for those under 18, range from $27.50-$175; go to www.sfsymphony.org.
— Bay City News Foundation
An orchestral showcase
The San Francisco Opera takes a breather from its usual regimen of presenting full-fledged and lavish operatic productions to let Music Director Eun Sun Kim shine a solo spotlight on her instrumentalists in a single night concert of music by Ludwig van Beethoven and Manuel de Falla at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 1 in War Memorial Opera House. The program opens with “Siete Canciones Populares Españolas,” a set of songs inspired by de Falla’s home country of Spain, sung by mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack, and continues with the second orchestral suite from the same composer’s ballet “El Sombrero de Tres Picos” (“The Three-Cornered Hat”). Following the intermission, the concert will conclude with Beethoven’s mighty Fifth Symphony. Tickets, $29-$250, can be purchased through www.sfopera.com.
South Bay tech company Bill.com and East Bay energy giant Chevron have revealed plans for new rounds of job cuts that are poised to displace well over 100 workers in the Bay Area, filings with the state government show.
The layoffs are a reminder that job cuts in the tech industry have yet to run their course, as a wide range of tech companies continue to reveal their plans to trim staffing levels in the region.
Bill.com logo on the tech company’s office building at 6220 America Center Drive in north San Jose. (Google Maps)
Chevron, which has moved its headquarters from San Ramon to Houston in another example of the corporate exodus from California to Texas, revealed prior layoffs that erased 600 jobs in the Bay Area.
According to WARN notices the companies sent to the state Employment Development Department, the layoffs include:
— Bill is cutting 84 jobs in North San Jose at the company’s headquarters complex. These layoffs are expected to take effect on Dec. 15, the WARN letter to the EDD shows.
— Chevron is eliminating 100 jobs in San Ramon, an East Bay city where the energy giant had once based its headquarters, according to the WARN letter. These most recent cutbacks are due to occur on Oct. 23. Chevron is also cutting 75 jobs in the Kern County city of Bakersfield.
Bill and Chevron both stated that the layoffs would be permanent.
“We are providing severance pay, medical continuation coverage, access to education and training resources, and outplacement assistance,” Henry Perea, Chevron’s manager of state government affairs, wrote in the WARN letter to the EDD.
The writer seems to think that Donald Trump isn’t up to the task of dealing with the problems in the Middle East because he went to business school, not the School of Foreign Service. Well, all of those people who went to the right schools don’t seem to have done very well in the Middle East.
On the face of it, things haven’t changed that much, but it’s apparent that significant change is now possible. In league with Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump has quieted the Iran threat for now. Trump then talked Netanyahu into stopping the firing of further missiles into Iran unnecessarily. Then Trump persuaded Netanyahu to publicly apologize to the leader of Qatar.
Any progress could disappear as quickly as another Oct. 7 event takes place, but at least this is a promising step in the right direction.
Daniel Mauthe Livermore
U.S. should help the poor, not the 1%
How do we justify pulling support from life-saving measures in order to save billionaires money?
Certain members of Congress support our president in punishing poor people in our country and around the world, because they were not lucky enough to have a father who could give his son a real estate empire.
Donald Trump has taken SNAP (food vouchers) and Medicaid from working families, and also fired people who work for the government. He destroyed foreign aid that supports worthwhile programs like the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, which have saved over 70 million lives and billions of dollars of medical care since its inception.
I believe we should help the poor people in the U.S. and the world, not the richest people who could not have made their fortunes without healthy, educated workers who make a living wage.
Bill Nicholson Martinez
Prop. 50 a childish ploy for dominance
How do you tell the difference between people acting like mature adults or like overgrown children? Mature adults accept that things don’t always go the way we want them to go and that other people have the right to have things the way they want them, at times, even when it’s not the way we like them.
When President Biden took office, there were Democrats who proclaimed that “the adults were back in charge,” but I see plenty of Democrats acting childishly these days, with Proposition 50 being a prime example. Most Democrats today seem to think that “preserving democracy” equals dominance by Democrats on all levels. (And, yes, many Republicans wrongly seek GOP dominance.) But either would actually be the destruction of democracy. And many seem to think that even the courts should always rule the way they think they should rule. Sorry, people, but that is childishness.
Christopher Andrus Dublin
Climate change won’t wait for solutions
Climate change threatens our planet through extreme weather, melting ice and rising sea levels, all stemming from excessive greenhouse gases.
This environmental degradation endangers resources, with rising temperatures leading to droughts that harm crops and water supplies. NASA reports a 1-degree Celsius temperature increase since the late 19th century, causing significant impacts. Climate change also intensifies extreme weather events, displacing communities and causing economic damage.
The direct cause is burning fossil fuels, while deforestation and unsustainable farming practices indirectly contribute. A key solution involves investing in renewable energy, such as solar and wind power. Governments, businesses and individuals must act to promote clean energy policies and reduce carbon footprints.
I urge support for climate-change solutions to protect our planet for future generations.
