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Caltrain commute could be smoother if non-bike riders made different train car choices: Roadshow

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:29:28 GMT

Q: About a year and a half ago, I started commuting by Caltrain, using my bike to solve the “last mile” problem. Overall, I am very happy with my commute. I have two complaints, though.First, I take the same train every day. At times I arrive at the station to discover that my train has been canceled and I have to wait 11 minutes for the next one. Why can’t I set up Caltrain notifications to tell me that my train has been canceled?Second, there are limited seats in the bike cars, and riders with bikes take a lot longer to load than regular riders. Why do people without bikes crowd into the bike car? As a result, the bike car is still loading while all other cars, and riders, are ready to go. Non-bike riders in the bike car also sit in seats in the bike area. We cyclists need to be near our bikes, both to keep them from being stolen, and to potentially rearrange them. Can you please let readers know that there is lots of space in other cars and to please give priori...

Protesters shut down UC Santa Cruz entrance in support of Palestine

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:29:28 GMT

SANTA CRUZ — Hundreds of UC Santa Cruz students, faculty and community members gathered at the base of UC Santa Cruz campus Thursday to show support for the Palestinian people and end to the latest war between Israel and Hamas, now in its second month.According to the Associated Press, the number of Palestinians killed in the war has risen to 10,818, including more than 4,400 children. In the occupied West Bank, more than 160 Palestinians have been killed in the violence and Israeli raids. More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, most of them in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.Hundreds of UC Santa Cruz students fill the roadway on Thursday to protest the war in Gaza. (Shmuel Thaler – Santa Cruz Sentinel) Related ArticlesCalifornia Politics | Woman suspected of hate-crime vandalism after crashing vehicle through the gates at California synagogue California Politics | Brawls follow Hamas attack film at Museum of Tolerance in LA California Politic...

Female visitor inadvertently locked overnight at California jail

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:29:28 GMT

A woman attempting to visit an inmate last weekend at the Theo Lacy detention facility in Orange was inadvertently locked overnight in a jail visiting area, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department has confirmed.Sheriff’s officials did not disclose the identity of the woman, who was described only as being in her 30s.The woman was at the maximum-security jail to visit an inmate on Saturday and was directed to a public visiting area for the barracks section of the facility, confirmed sheriff’s spokesperson Carrie Braun.Braun said the inmate the woman wanted to see was unavailable and she fell asleep in a visiting booth while waiting. No one noticed the woman when the area was closed at 5 p.m. She was not discovered until the area was reopened the next morning at 8 a.m.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Man who panicked California mall shoppers with false gunman report sentenced to 7 months in jail Crime and Public Safety | Ex-Baltimore prosecutor Mosby...

Inside California’s billion-dollar bet to overhaul unemployment

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:29:28 GMT

By Lauren Hepler | CalMattersFive years, $1.2 billion. And a new model for government contracting in the tech-challenged home state of Silicon Valley.That is what California officials say it will take to overhaul an employment safety net pushed to the brink by record pandemic job losses, widespread fraud and the political panic that followed.The biggest-ever attempt to reform California’s Employment Development Department, known as “EDDNext,” officially started late last year. A roughly 100-person team is leading the rebuild, and is already signing multi-million-dollar contracts for Salesforce and Amazon technology, according to interviews and records requested by CalMatters.At the same time, the EDD is quietly making plans to move on from its turbulent relationship with longtime unemployment payment contractor Bank of America. Between now and 2025, the EDD will begin rolling out new benefit debit cards, and eventually, a direct deposit payment option from a different, yet-to-be-nam...

Family seeks clues after California man, 68, slain while watering lawn

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:29:28 GMT

Cynthia Rangel says her 68-year-old father was a godly man who would walk away to avoid arguments.“He taught all four of his kids to just forgive,” said Cynthia Rangel, 37.Which is why she and her family members are baffled, she said, as to why someone gunned down Michael Rangel as he watered the lawn at their Harmony Lane home in Riverside on Sunday, Nov. 5.“My dad was a very peaceful man,” Cynthia Rangel said. “He prayed every day.”Riverside police have released few details on the shooting, even declining to say where the victim was standing when he was shot. No arrests have been announced.“We don’t have any updates right now, but our Robbery-Homicide detectives are following up on leads in this investigation,” Officer Ryan Railsback, a Police Department spokesman, said Thursday in an email.Michael Rangel was a retired electronics technician and Army veteran.He had just finished lunch with some family members on Sunday when he went outside to water, as his daughter said he did eve...

Deebo Samuel’s return ‘complements everybody,’ says 49ers’ McCaffrey

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:29:28 GMT

SANTA CLARA — If Christian McCaffrey become the NFL’s first player to score a touchdown in 18 consecutive games, he knows that feat Sunday in Jacksonville would reflect the efforts of his 49ers teammates.Look for Deebo Samuel to be part of that bunch.“It’s huge. It complements everybody, just having him on the field,” McCaffrey said Thursday. “He’s such a threat whenever he has the ball. He can make maybe a play that’s not going to work go and having that confidence that he’s out there means a lot to all of us.”The 49ers (5-3) have lost three straight dating back to the Oct. 15 game in Cleveland, where Samuel exited in the first quarter of that 19-17 loss. Samuel later was diagnosed with a hairline fracture in his left shoulder.Samuel only returned to practice this week, and his shoulder is feeling “pretty good” as he reprised his role of leading receivers through warmups.“Not being part of the game is kind of hard, but I’ve kind...

Big San Jose apartment complex may convert to all-affordable units

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:29:28 GMT

SAN JOSE — A big apartment complex in downtown San Jose could be converted into an affordable homes property, a shift that would terminate its status as market-rate housing.Modera The Alameda, a 168-unit apartment building on The Alameda near the SAP Center and Diridon train station, is currently slated to be transformed into an affordable housing complex.The San Jose City Council is scheduled to meet Nov. 14 to consider a conversion proposal for Modera. This decision also includes a financing package to enable the transformation to affordable housing.A $100 million package of tax-exempt bonds to finance the purchase of Modera The Alameda is the funding centerpiece of the affordable housing conversion, according to documents on file with San Jose officials.Modera The Alameda, a residential complex with 168 apartments at 787 The Alameda in downtown San Jose. (Google Maps)The funding package of $100 million would be used for “the acquisition, rehabilitation, improveme...

Bay Area News Group girls athlete of the week: Michelle Ho, Dougherty Valley golf

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:29:28 GMT

Dougherty Valley golfer Michelle Ho is the Bay Area News Group’s girls athlete of the week for Oct. 30 to Nov. 4 after she received 56.74% of the vote by the deadline Wednesday.Menlo School cross-country runner Ariya Kaushek finished second.Congratulations to all the candidates for this week’s recognition.Related ArticlesHigh School Sports | Bay Area News Group boys athlete of the week: Aaron Knapp, St. Francis football High School Sports | Poll closed: Bay Area News Group boys athlete of the week High School Sports | Poll closed: Bay Area News Group girls athlete of the week High School Sports | Bay Area News Group girls athlete of the week: Kate Brongiel, Granada flag football High School Sports | Bay Area News Group boys athlete of the week: Tyson Lovett, Clayton Valley Charter football  Ho, a junior, helped Dougherty Valley win the NCS Division I team golf title after she shot a 71 on Monday. Dougher...

Opinion: Killing Palestinian children cannot be justified

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:29:28 GMT

Every day I desperately try to contact my colleagues in Gaza: Doctors, nurses, paramedics, therapists and healthcare administrators, all part of the Palestinian American Medical Association’s programs in the tiny besieged coastal enclave that’s been under merciless Israeli bombardment for over a month.Dr. Yousef Khelfa is an oncologist in Sonora, California, and co-founder and former president of the Palestinian American Medical Association. (Photo courtesy of Dr. Yousef Khelfa.)A few nights ago, I finally reached my friend Riham. She told me about her family’s dilemma: Do they all remain in one house and risk the whole family being wiped out in one Israeli airstrike? Or should she and her husband split up and divide their kids between them to increase the chance that some will survive?Riham told me that she and her husband decided to hunker down in separate places, hoping that at least one of them will remain alive to care for their children who make it through.My hand shook a...

Bay Area News Group boys athlete of the week: Aaron Knapp, St. Francis football

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:29:28 GMT

St. Francis football player Aaron Knapp is the Bay Area News Group’s boys athlete of the week for Oct. 30 to Nov. 4 after he received 37.73% of the vote by the deadline Wednesday.McClymonds football player John “Sharky” Tamale finished second.Congratulations to all the candidates for this week’s recognition.Related ArticlesHigh School Sports | Poll closed: Bay Area News Group boys athlete of the week High School Sports | Poll closed: Bay Area News Group girls athlete of the week High School Sports | Bay Area News Group girls athlete of the week: Kate Brongiel, Granada flag football High School Sports | Bay Area News Group boys athlete of the week: Tyson Lovett, Clayton Valley Charter football High School Sports | Poll closed: Bay Area News Group boys athlete of the week Knapp threw a 60-yard touchdown pass to tight end James Jordan and a 71-yard scoring pass to Perrion Williams as St. Francis...