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Monday Morning Lights: Midseason player of the year watch and more

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:35:20 GMT

Welcome back to Monday Morning Lights, our weekly feature that sheds more light on the high school football weekend and peeks ahead to the new week. If you haven’t already, please subscribe. Your contributions keep us going.MIDSEASON REPORT: WHERE THINGS STANDWe’ve reached the midpoint of the high school football season.What we’ve learned to date is Serra is the undisputed No. 1, San Ramon Valley QB Luke Baker is even better now than he was when he captured Bay Area News Group player of the year honors in 2022 and Oakland High leads the group of surprise teams.But there is plenty more that has caught our eye since the season kicked off in August.Here are our midseason notables:Player of the Year candidatesLuke Baker, SRV: All the 5-foot-11, 180-pound senior has done is pass for 1,506 yards and 18 touchdowns while leading the Wolves to a 5-0 start and No. 3 BANG ranking. Was BANG player of the year last season.Herschel Turner Jr., Mt. Diablo: Has rushed for 1,584 yards in 82 carries ...

Woodpeckers are destroying a roof border on a San Jose home. What’s the solution?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:35:20 GMT

DEAR JOAN: I have woodpeckers destroying the fascia board bordering the roof of our home. I have tried plastic owls, reflective tape, reflective hanging devices, a solar ultrasonic deterrent device and even powerful hose nozzles. Nothing has worked.Our problem with woodpeckers is probably compounded by the fact that they appear to reside in an old oak tree on our property. Also, we are the only remaining house on the block with a shake roof. The house is a 96-year-old Tudor.Help!— Jackie Wall, San JoseDEAR JACKIE: When I first opened your letter and saw “Jackie” and “woodpeckers,” I thought the email was from my editor, another Jackie who is a shell-shocked veteran of the Woodpecker Wars. Now I’m wondering if woodpeckers have something against people named Jackie…Woodpeckers tend to be noisier during the lead up to breeding season. The males pound out a loud beat to let other woodpeckers know they have claimed the territory and to let interested females know an eligible ...

For $75 million, you can buy a Bay Area private island

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:35:20 GMT

A tiny private island in Grizzly Bay at the edge of Suisun Marsh – once a playground for Bay Area billionaire water sports enthusiasts – is up for sale for a cool $75 million.Reachable only by air or water, Point Buckler Island hit the real estate market only days ago and already has attracted several interested buyers, although agents would not disclose any names. It boasts two helipads and a 400-foot deepwater dock, which the listing says is “ready to accommodate your favorite weekend recreational watercraft or mega yacht.”In its heyday as an exclusive kiteboarding club – from 2014 to about 2019 – Point Buckler reportedly saw the likes of Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin and other Silicon Valley billionaires visit, according to the island’s owner. Water-sports lovers enjoyed the consistently windy weather and navigating tight sloughs of the uninhabited island just east of the Carquinez Strait and at the mouth of the San Joaquin/Sacramento rivers Delta. The astro...

TasteFood: Southwestern spices deliver bold flavors in vegetarian tacos

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:35:20 GMT

Fall is squash season, so let these hardy delights be the star of the show. Squashes come in myriad varieties and can be generally divided between summer, fall or winter varieties. Fall and winter squash have hard skins that give way to colorful, vitamin- and antioxidant-rich flesh. Depending on the type of squash, the skin may or may not need to be peeled. Kabocha (or Japanese) squash is one variety that can be eaten unpeeled. It has sweet orange flesh and a dark green, speckled edible shell, which provides extra nutrients and a satisfying firmness that is ideal for these tostadas.A tostada resembles a taco. The difference is that a tostada is prepared with a crispy corn tortilla, which serves as its base, instead of a soft corn or wheat tortilla. The tortilla can be either fried or oven-baked until crisp, which provides a nice textural contrast to a soft taco.These vegetarian tostadas replace a traditional protein, such as fish or chicken, with kabocha squash and pile on the usual...

Bay Area poll: 86% of residents support CARE Court mental health overhaul. How will it work?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:35:20 GMT

California’s CARE Court system, a new initiative to make it easier for judges to compel mentally ill residents into treatment plans and facilities, starts Monday in seven pilot counties, including San Francisco, the only Bay Area county where the program is now underway.The initiative was spearheaded by Gov. Gavin Newson, with a goal to help homeless people who are too sick or reluctant to seek care by bringing them indoors and providing treatment toward recovery.All counties across California must phase in the civil mental health courts by the end of next year. Officials estimate between 7,000 to 12,000 people could be eligible for the program statewide.A new poll by the Bay Area News Group and Joint Venture Silicon Valley found overwhelming public support for CARE Court, with 86% of respondents across the core five-county region in favor. It’s a clear reflection of mounting frustrations over officials’ inability to aid many of those on the street with severe ment...

Feds accuse San Jose’s eBay of illegally peddling poisons, emissions-control defeaters

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:35:20 GMT

The U.S. Department of Justice is accusing Bay Area e-commerce giant eBay of illegally selling tens of thousands of banned and restricted pesticides, and allowing such sales to continue even after it was ordered to stop.In a lawsuit filed last week, prosecutors also claim eBay broke additional federal laws by selling devices used to bypass vehicle emissions controls, and thousands of items containing the deadly solvent methylene chloride, which is linked to increased risk for several types of cancer.“Some of these products cause motor vehicles to emit … massive amounts of air pollution,” the lawsuit alleges. “Others pose an imminent, and in some cases potentially lethal, danger to human beings. eBay has the power, the authority, and the resources to stop the sale of these illegal, harmful products on its website. It has chosen not to.”San Jose’s eBay, which connects vendors with buyers and takes price-based sales fees, said Friday that the Justice...

Donald Trump says he’ll be in court Monday ‘to fight for my name’

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:35:20 GMT

By MICHAEL R. SISAK | Associated PressNEW YORK (AP) — With control over some of his most prized real estate holdings in jeopardy, former President Donald Trump said he’ll make a rare, voluntary trip to court in New York on Monday for the start of a civil trial in a lawsuit that already has resulted in a judge ruling that he committed fraud in his business dealings.“I’m going to Court tomorrow morning to fight for my name and reputation,” Trump wrote Sunday night on his Truth Social platform.Trump lashed out in his post at New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is suing him, and Judge Arthur Engoron, who is presiding over the non-jury trial and made the fraud ruling last week.“THIS WHOLE CASE IS SHAM!!!” Trump wrote. “See you in Court — Monday morning.”The trial is the culmination of a yearslong investigation by James, who accused Trump and his company of habitually lying about his wealth in financial statements.Last week, Engoron resolved the lawsuit’s top claim before the tri...

‘This is where society fails to have an answer’: Poll reveals Bay Area residents’ frustration with street homelessness

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:35:20 GMT

Most mornings in Berkeley’s Gilman District, customers line up in droves at Emily Winston’s new East Coast-style bagel shop. But what had seemed like the perfect neighborhood for her business has also brought constant fear about the safety of her patrons and staff.A few blocks away, a roughly 40-person homeless camp has overtaken much of the sidewalk. In May, a homeless man was arrested on suspicion of attacking the owner of a nearby coffee shop. “We’re living in like this crazy world where this is somehow now OK,” said Winston, owner of Boichik Bagels. “And I don’t know why we’ve decided it’s now OK.”Her exasperation is reflected in a new poll by the Bay Area News Group and Joint Venture Silicon Valley, which found three-quarters of registered voters across the core five-county region believe homelessness is getting worse in their communities. Despite unprecedented billions of dollars spent in recent years to bring people indoors, cities across the Bay ...

Does play of Sharks prospect help alleviate concerns about Timo Meier trade?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:35:20 GMT

SAN JOSE – San Jose Sharks coach David Quinn was asked about Shakir Mukhamadullin’s play after a recent preseason game and threw out an interesting and perhaps hyperbolic comparable to the Russian-born defenseman, at least in one respect.“He reminds me, just the way he looks, of Chris Pronger,” Quinn said, mentioning the 2015 Hockey Hall of Fame inductee. “The high hands and just the way he carries himself, and if he’s half as mean as Chris Pronger, we’ve got something.”There was some consternation that Sharks general manager Mike Grier didn’t get enough quality players in return for Timo Meier when he traded the power forward to the New Jersey Devils in February.After all, Mukhamadullin, the key player the Sharks received from New Jersey, was not rated as high as other Devils prospect defensemen Luke Hughes, Simon Nemec, and Seamus Casey. This was a rare chance to trade a star player in his prime and restock the cupboards, and the rebuilding Sharks couldn’t afford to mess it up.Oth...

Kaiser workers prepare to strike as contract expires

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:35:20 GMT

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. (KRON) -- Almost 75,000 Kaiser Permanente healthcare workers are set to strike nationwide this week. It would be the largest healthcare strike in U.S. history.A three-day strike could start Oct. 4, including workers in Washington, Colorado, Oregon and almost 60,000 here in California. Around 20,000 of those California Kaiser workers are here in the Bay Area.Their contract expired over the weekend, with union officials telling KRON there have been good discussions on a number of issues. However, for major issues like pay, the two parties remain far apart.Overnight, Kaiser told its members it remains at the bargaining table and there is still a chance this strike may not happen. If it does, it will affect people’s medical plans.In a message to members, Kaiser said:“In the case of a strike, we may need to reschedule some nonurgent appointments and procedures. We’ll contact you in advance if your appointment needs to be rescheduled. It’s possible that you could expe...