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Vehicular manslaughter, other charges filed in hit-and-run death of 86-year-old Concord man

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:52 GMT

CONCORD — A 19-year-old man has been charged with vehicular manslaughter in a DUI-related hit-and-run collision Thanksgiving evening that killed an 86-year-old man and sent his wife to a hospital, according to authorities and court records.The suspect, Damian Lopez-Avelino of Concord, is also charged with driving under the influence causing serious bodily injury, hit-and run with injury, and leaving the scene of an accident, according to court records. All of the charges are felonies.Lopez-Avelino is also charged with a misdemeanor count of driving a motor vehicle without a valid driver’s license.He was formally charged Tuesday and was being held without bail at the Martinez Detention Center.The charges stem from the Nov. 23 death of Thomas O’connell, a Concord resident.Concord police Sgt. Shawn Phalen said Lopez-Avelino was driving a Ford Fusion northbound on Oak Grove Road when he was initially involved in a head-on collision with another vehicle near Treat Boule...

Buffy Sainte-Marie is latest accused of being a ‘Pretendian’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:52 GMT

By Harmeet Kaur | CNNWhen there were few other Indigenous celebrities in the spotlight, there was Buffy Sainte-Marie.The celebrated singer-songwriter rose to prominence during the folk revival of the 1960s, building a name as a Cree artist. She sang about the injustices experienced by Indigenous peoples in songs such as “Now That the Buffalo’s Gone,” “My Country ‘Tis of Thy People You’re Dying” and “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.”She showed children that Native people weren’t relics of the past in a five-year stint on “Sesame Street.” Along the way, she racked up numerous awards and accolades.But a recent investigation by CBC News calls into question Sainte-Marie’s claims that she has Indigenous ancestry. Sainte-Marie is refuting the allegations.Sainte-Marie is the latest high-profile figure accused of lying about being Indigenous — similar controversies arose in recent years around actor Sacheen Littlefeather, author Joseph Boyden and Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren, among others....

East Bay businessmen sentenced to prison for tax fraud

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:52 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO – The president and former corporate counsel of a San Mateo County rock-crushing business were sentenced to prison Tuesday for conspiring to conceal more than $18 million in taxable income from the IRS, federal authorities said.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Woman charged in connection to deadly wrong-way crash in South San Francisco Crime and Public Safety | Daly City woman arrested on suspicion of robbery, child endangerment Crime and Public Safety | Suspect arrested in double stabbing at San Mateo bar Crime and Public Safety | Coast Guard calls off search for man swept into ocean near Half Moon Bay Crime and Public Safety | Don Horsley, former San Mateo County sheriff and supervisor, dies Joseph Nubla, 45, of Danville, and Henry Ku, 56, of Pleasanton, received terms of 36 months and 30 months, respectively, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement.In April, a jury co...

Walnut Creek apartment complex goes back to lender after loan default

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:52 GMT

WALNUT CREEK — A big apartment complex in downtown Walnut Creek that was completed just last year has been handed back to its lender after the property’s loan flopped into delinquency, public records show.NoMa Apartments, which was developed by Anton DevCo, is now owned by an affiliate of the property’s lender, documents filed on Nov. 3 with the Contra Costa County Recorder’s Office show.The apartment complex totals 135 units and is located at 1910 North Main Street, on the edges of downtown Walnut Creek, one of the Bay Area’s swanky urban cores.The financial problems indicated by the loan delinquency are a reminder that the struggles in commercial real estate extend well beyond offices, retail centers and hotels.Even relatively safe apartment properties in choice locations such as downtown Walnut Creek can encounter difficulties.The NoMa apartments project broke ground in 2019 and was completed in 2022, according to a post on the Anton DevCo website an...

No murder charge for shooting that killed San Jose woman in bar

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:52 GMT

A man who shot back at a fellow patron in a bar near Watsonville is not expected to face charges for the killing of his assailant and of a San Jose woman who was working there, Monterey County prosecutors said.El Torero, Pajaro, Monterey County, Calif. (Google Maps image) District Attorney Jeannine M. Pacioni issued a release Tuesday saying that the case was considered self-defense and that the shooter — a 47-year-old Watsonville man — would be arraigned on a felony charge of carrying a loaded firearm in public.However, she said her office’s investigation of the shooting was ongoing.The shootout took place around 1 a.m. Nov. 21 at El Torero, a restaurant and bar on Salinas Road in the community of Pajaro.Gerardo Hernandez Herrera, 36, reportedly was armed when he entered the bar and confronted the Watsonville man. Hernandez Herrera allegedly opened fire first, and the other patron drew a firearm and returned fire — an exchange reportedly lasting 3½ seconds.Her...

House Speaker Johnson has ‘reservations’ about ousting Santos

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:52 GMT

By Clare Foran, Manu Raju and Morgan Rimmer | CNNSpeaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday expressed “real reservations” about expelling Rep. George Santos from the House since the New York Republican has yet to be convicted of a crime — even as GOP support grows to make him just the sixth member of the chamber ever to be formally ousted from his seat in the face of damning allegations about his conduct.Santos has survived previous attempts to remove him from the House, but momentum is building for the latest effort after the release of a scathing report from the House Ethics Committee earlier this month, which concluded that he “sought to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy for his own personal financial profit.”The renewed push to expel Santos presents a leadership test for the newly elected speaker as he navigates competing opinions within his conference.As Republicans weigh how to vote, some argue it is imperative to expel the congressman given the findings of the e...

The end of Pac-12 football: Our Q&A with Alabama AD Greg Byrne, who grew up in the conference and witnessed the beginning of the end

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:52 GMT

As the final Pac-12 championship game drew close, the Hotline sought context from a voice unlike any others — from someone who not only watched the conference collapse but felt the collapse, from an outsider who’s also an insider, who has the Pac-12 in his DNA but recoiled at the internal rot.We sought context from Greg Byrne.At first, Alabama’s athletic director was hesitant to share his thoughts on the life and death of the Pac-12.After all, Byrne left the conference seven years ago and wasn’t privy to the inner-workings during the existential crisis that began with the departures of USC and UCLA on June 30, 2022, and ended on Aug. 4, 2023, when five more schools left.Eventually, he agreed to answer questions via email.Byrne’s perspective on the topic is unique within college athletics.He attended Sheldon High School in Eugene while his father, Bill, served as Oregon’s athletic director. He went to Oregon and graduated from Arizona State. He worked in the Oregon and Oregon S...

Nearly two dozen Bank of America branches closing across Bay Area

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:52 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- Bank of America is closing, or has already closed, nearly two dozen branches across the Bay Area, KRON4 has confirmed. Locations set to close include the San Francisco locations at 1 Market Street, 1275 Fell Street, and 800 Irving Street.Other SF locations at 501 Brannan Street and 3250 Mission Street have already closed. BofA branches in Hayward, Los Altos, Pinole and St. Helena, among others, have also already closed. SJ man who kidnapped his carjacking victim arrested, police say "Financial center closures are driven by changing banking behaviors and where we have multiple financial centers close together," a BofA spokesperson told KRON4. "These closures represent a small percentage of our retail presence in the region, and does not account for new financial centers we have opened or renovated."The spokesperson went on to say that Bank of America remains committed to the Bay Area and cited the bank's 120-year history in the region.Bay Area Bank of Americ...

Ryan Gosling to present award to 'Barbie' director Greta Gerwig at SFFilm Awards Night

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:52 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- "Barbie" director Greta Gerwig will be honored at the SFFilm Awards Night with an award presented by one of the film's stars, Ryan Gosling. Gerwig, an Academy Award-nominated filmmaker, will receive the Irving M. Levin Award for Film Direction at the Dec. 4 event which will be held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.The award will be presented by Gosling, an Academy Award-nominated actor, who in addition to starring in "Barbie," has appeared in "La La Land," "Drive," and "Lars and the Real Girl." Nearly two dozen Bank of America branches closing across Bay Area Academy Award-winning actor Nicolas Cage will also be on-hand to receive the Maria Manetti Shrem Lifetime Achievement Award for Acting. Cage, a prolific actor who has starred in films that include "Valley Girl," Raising Arizona," "The Rock" and "Wild at Heart," will receive the award previously bestowed on "Barbie" star Margot Robbie.“SFFILM has been part of San Francisco’s cultural landscape for...

Nearly 100K gallons of sewage spills in SoCal, closes beach

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:52 GMT

(KTLA) -- A stretch of the Orange County coast has been closed due after tens of thousands of gallons of sewage was spilled in Laguna Beach.The Orange County Health Care Agency closed the coastal area from Laguna Avenue to Blue Lagoon in Laguna Beach, officials announced Wednesday morning."The spill volume is an estimated total of 94,500 gallons, and was caused by a break in a force main sewer line in Laguna Beach," the agency said in a news release.The water is closed to swimming and water-contact sports until water monitoring meets "acceptable standards," officials said.For information regarding Orange County ocean, bay or harbor postings and closures, call 714-433-6400 or visit OCBeachInfo.com. To report a sewage spill, call 714-433-6419.