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What can California politicians do to combat expensive home prices?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:52 GMT

Despite headlines about huge numbers of Californians fleeing to other states in search of a cheaper life, home prices remain stubbornly high in California. In San Francisco, for example, the average home price is over $1.2 million, according to Zillow. That's close to four times the average U.S. home value. So what is being done about it? On the political front, some representatives in Sacramento think cutting the red tape on new construction could provide some relief. Here is where home prices have fallen the most in California State Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat representing San Francisco and parts of San Mateo County, told KTLA that home prices in California have skyrocketed due to a housing shortage. This issue has plagued the state for decades.“We basically stopped building housing about 50 years ago, and while there have been periods where we built more housing, it has generally been declining,” said Wiener, a member of the Senate Housing Committee.“As our state grew from ...

Scuba diver dies in Laguna Beach

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:52 GMT

A 46-year-old man who disappeared while scuba diving in Laguna Beach was found dead on Saturday, authorities said.The man was reported missing around 12:30 p.m. at Shaw’s Cove. After an extensive search, emergency responders located the diver about 100 yards offshore, the city said.Lifeguards retrieved the man around 1:33 p.m. and lifesaving measures were provided by paramedics. He was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead, officials confirm.Details remain limited and the events leading up to the man’s death are under investigation.His identity has not been released.

What’s An “Auto Hemp Hybrid?” — What CBD Shoppers Should Know About Cannabis Ruderalis

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:52 GMT

People acquainted with cannabis should know there are two significant subspecies within the cannabis genus: sativa and indica. While sativa and indica strains are still the dominant subcategories, there are technically three major cannabis cultivars. “Cannabis ruderalis” doesn’t get as much press as indicas and sativas, but it has become increasingly pronounced in hemp cultivation circles.Even if you don’t want to become a hemp farmer, it’s important to know how the ruderalis strain differs from indicas and sativas. Hemp strains that have traces of ruderalis don’t offer the same properties you’d expect from typical CBD hemp flowers. Whether you enjoy vaping hemp strains or smoking pre-roll hemp joints, you should take a few moments to investigate how your CBD farmer grew their flowers.So, What’s The Big Deal About Cannabis Ruderalis?Although Cannabis ruderalis plants grew for centuries in countries like Russia and Siberia, it wasn’t until the late 20th century that the scienti...

Returning to Manresa Bread is icing on the cake for pastry chef

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:52 GMT

Longtime Manresa customers might recognize Stephanie Prida as pastry chef at the Michelin-star Los Gatos restaurant from 2012 to 2017. After six years, she’s back with Manresa Bread, in charge of expanding the pastry line and helping her longtime friend Avery Ruzicka move the bakery’s operation to a new commissary in Campbell.“One of the reasons Avery wanted me back was I have experience working with teams and pushing people to own their opportunity,” Prida says. “A lot of young people don’t have ownership in their jobs. I’m here to say, ‘This is yours; you can own it.’”Born and raised in San Diego, Prida didn’t set out to be a pastry chef.“I wanted to be an artist and a painter,” she says. “My sister mentioned culinary school, so I enrolled in the Institute of Culinary Education in Los Angeles. One of the girls was doing catering on the side, and she asked me to do pastries. I really mastered lemon tarts. There are so many variations!”She admits she never baked at all prior to culi...

New Milpitas fire chief is a 10-year veteran of the department

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:52 GMT

Milpitas Deputy Fire Chief Jason Schoonover moved up the ranks this month when he was named the city’s new fire chief. He was due to take over the reins from acting chief Brian Stelling on March 26.The new chief joined the Milpitas Fire Department in 2013 as a fire battalion chief and was promoted to deputy fire chief in 2022. He has managed the department’s training and special operations divisions, and has also served as the dispatch/communications liaison. Schoonover has been a member of the city’s emergency operations team, working in the areas of emergency management, hazard mitigation planning and critical infrastructure identification.Prior to joining Milpitas, Schoonover worked for 14 years with the Marysville Fire Authority in Washington, spending his final seven years as a fire captain.“We are truly fortunate to have someone with the level of experience and expertise as Chief Jason Schoonover,” Milpitas Mayor Carmen Montano said in a statement. “I am confident that he will...

East Bay’s pickleball evangelist inducted into Alameda County Women’s Hall of Fame

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:52 GMT

Most days, the distinct “pop, pop, pop” of balls bouncing off pickleball paddles echoes endlessly inside the tennis courts at Oakland’s Bushrod Park.Players immediately fill all four courts when the nets go up, while a dozen others line up on the sidelines waiting their turn and a group of first-timers start learning the rules of the “kitchen” — what players call the zone closest to the net — and how to avoid tripping over their own two feet.One voice can be heard above the commotion.“Oh, that was a beaut!” Darlene “Dar” Vendegna bellowed in between volleys on a recent February afternoon, grabbing another ball from her fanny pack full of extras. “But please be careful of that backpedaling.”She has been a community staple at pickleball courts across the East Bay, teaching and evangelizing the sport ever since playing her first game in April of 2017.“I was hooked immediately — immediately,” Vendegna said in an interview. “I bought a paddle the next day. A week later I bought a net. An...

Latest line: A good week for tree trimmers, a bad week for convicted prison warden

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:52 GMT

Tree companiesAfter a winter filled with a dozen atmospheric river storms, and extreme wind events across Northern California, demand for workers to remove fallen and dangerously leaning trees is sky-high.    Ray J. GarciaFormer warden of FCI Dublin, a prison in Alameda County, is sentenced to nearly six years in prison after being convicted of sexually abusing three female inmates and lying to investigators.   Gavin NewsomGovernor’s plan to give California Energy Commission new powers to investigate gas prices and cap oil industry profits wins committee vote. But there’s still a long way to go before it becomes law. 

Oakland A’s breaking camp: What we learned in Arizona

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:52 GMT

The A’s returned to the Bay Area with nearly as many questions as when they opened camp in Arizona two months ago.That’s not surprising for a team in a full-scale rebuild, a team that is coming off a 102-loss season and likely will challenge triple-digit losses again in 2023.The A’s broke camp in Arizona with the worst record in the Cactus League, and they have a daunting schedule in the opening weeks of the regular season. But after some of the A’s young core and other top prospects showed encouraging signs in the desert, there is reason to believe better days might be ahead.A lot of puzzle pieces remain for second-year manager Mark Kotsay and his staff heading into Thursday’s opener at home against Shohei Ohtani and the Angels, And the 26 players who make the Opening Day roster will be just the starting point in another season likely full of unprecedented roster movement. Oakland used a franchise-record 64 players last season, and it would be surprisi...

They said it: Freak weather

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:52 GMT

“I’m a scientist. I tend to not be a fan of flamboyant adjectives. But after the winter we’ve had, to get something like yesterday, I thought it was extraordinary.”— National Weather Service meteorologist Warren Blier on Tuesday’s rare “bomb cyclone” storm that split into two swirling low-pressure zones in what’s known as the Fujiwhara Effect. It blew down trees and electrical wires, killing three people across the Bay Area.

‘Holding my car hostage’: Bay Area drivers face DMV registration holds amid mounting express lane debt

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:52 GMT

Brenda Angulo’s license plate has been pinging off the Bay Area’s growing network of electronic toll transponders — into a colossal $30,000 bill.There were dozens of bridge tolls, and a flurry of express lane fees. For the past three years, they went unpaid as invoices filled Angulo’s mailbox.But when Angulo went to renew her DMV vehicle registration this year, she was floored by the sticker shock. A single 50-cent express lane fee from last April would now cost her $73.50 with penalties — an increase of 14,700%. And if she wanted to keep her Mazda on the road, she also would have to fork over $2,523, which included her annual registration fees and a portion of her unpaid tolls.The total Angulo owed to multiple express lane and bridge toll agencies was far worse, climbing to over $30,000 made up mostly of late payment fees and other fines, tacked on to her original charges of about $3,000.“I don’t have this money. I’m paying tuition, b...