California

California

A natural gas line leak triggered a dramatic explosion that destroyed a Bay Area home on Thursday, injuring six people and damaging several other properties. At least one person was inside the home before it was leveled in the blast. The individual managed to escape without injury, but six others were hurt, including three who suffered serious injuries, Alameda County Fire Department spokesperson Cheryl Hurd said.

The lawsuit alleges that there were no inspections of the event, which violated city permit codes, and that there weren't any lifeguards, sober monitors or safety coordinators at the party. It further alleges "overcrowding in the pool with people, pool items which impeded visibility" and "slippery substances" that made staying in the shallow end "difficult, if not impossible." The family also said there weren't any markings that separated the shallow end of the pool from the deep end.

A man suspected of shooting and killing his wife before turning the gun on himself earlier this week in Redwood City died of his injuries Wednesday, police said. The woman was identified as Denise Alessan Madrigal Martinez, and the man as Armando Madrigal Barajas Jr., the Redwood City Police Department said in an update on the case Thursday. They were both 36 years old and residents of Redwood City.

Jasmine De La Cruz, a trainee at the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office, requested the board to cover her lost wages, benefits and damaged reputation, but supervisors denied her request on Tuesday. De La Cruz's attorney, Ryan Kraft from the Venardi Aurada firm, submitted the claim on Oct 29, alleging that she was discriminated against for not accommodating her disability.

On Nov. 19, detectives located and arrested Haro and the two 16-year-olds at Haro's residence, where they found a loaded firearm, large quantities of narcotics and two homemade improvised explosive devices. The department's bomb squad quickly responded and took custody of the explosive devices, police said. During the execution of the search warrant at one of the juvenile suspect's residence, detectives contacted an additional suspect, Alejandro Villa, 27, of San Jose, who was in possession of illegal narcotics for sale.

The effort, spearheaded by District 3 Councilmember Anthony Tordillos, comes in response to growing outcry from San Jose business leaders. They say existing preservation rules intended to protect the city's historic character have instead created a tangle of cumbersome requirements that have, paradoxically, caused many historic buildings to fall into blight and disrepair. Some of the loudest warnings have been issued from leaders in Japantown, a neighborhood home to a large number of properties on the city's official inventory of historic buildings.

A man and woman have been charged with being part of a robbery crew that lured cannabis delivery drivers into thinking they were fulfilling legitimate orders, only to rob them at gunpoint upon arrive, court records show. Jordan Cook and her boyfriend. Larue Henderson, were charged with conspiracy and robbery in federal court. The criminal complaint against them describes six similar armed robberies of cannabis delivery drivers this year, all in Berkeley, Hayward, or San Leandro.

An investigation continued Wednesday, Dec. 10, into the actions of a John Wayne Airport contract security guard who was caught on video driving a white sedan on the airport's taxiway, speeding past a series of aircraft. No injuries were reported from the incident, which occurred around 1:15 p.m. Monday at the Orange County airport. Cell phone video taken by an airport employee on the taxiway and shared by ABC7 shows the white Toyota Camry whizzing down the taxiway with several aircraft moving slowly nearby.

Known as the Nunn-Paulsen inholding, the land was donated to the nonprofit Save Mount Diablo by Bob Nunn in memory of his late father, Ron Nunn, who died in August at 92. Although my father had many stories to tell, one that always stuck with me and that I also share is when he could look and see Mount Diablo, he knew he was home, Bob Nunn said in a statement.

Santa Claus will be making his grand entrance aboard a REACH Air Medical helicopter at 10:00 a.m., weather permitting. Attendees can witness their arrival by entering the Concord Plaza Hotel and proceeding to the area behind the hotel. Following his spectacular arrival, Santa will proceed to the Concord Plaza Hotel Atrium at 45 John Glenn Drive, where children can take a picture with him until 12:00 p.m. There is no charge for photos.

According to California law, an electric bicycle is a bicycle equipped with fully operable pedals and an electric motor of less than 750 watts of power. California has established three classes of e-bikes, which the DMV describes as follows: Class 1: A low speed pedal-assisted electric bicycle equipped with a motor which provides assistance only when the rider is pedaling and ceases to provide assistance when a speed of 20 mph is reached.

Former Compton City Councilmember Isaac Galvan pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal criminal charges for bribing a Baldwin Park city councilman, whom he paid $70,000 in exchange for city marijuana permits. Galvan, who ran a consulting service, was involved in a scheme in which he facilitated bribes to Councilman Ricardo Pacheco from one of Galvan's clients who wanted a marijuana permit in Baldwin Park.

For eight hours on Friday, Interstate 5 at Del Mar Heights Road was closed, at times in both directions, as police talked with a suicidal man perched on a bridge above the freeway. And for miles around that spot, motorists endured a massive, extended transportation nightmare that slowed travel around the region. Social media posts captured some of the pain.

He's also allegedly been downloading child sexual abuse material for decades, onto encrypted hard drives on his home and work computer, apparently avoiding detection by either employers or law enforcement until this year. Last September, the California Highway Patrol raided Kolbe's Albany home, the culmination of an investigation that started in January 2024 with a look into secret peer-to-peer networks where child pornography was being shared.

I didn't think we could ever live here, let alone own a home, become part of a community, and eventually serve as mayor, outgoing mayor Matthew Hudes said. What a privilege all of that is.

It's been a great feeling all week knowing this will be my final high school game because most of the time you go in it's up in the air,

The tap-and-pay ability newly adopted by Caltrain and most other train, bus and ferry agencies in the Bay Area allows riders to pay fares with a chip-enabled credit or debit card rather than the prepaid Clipper. BART made a similar change in August. Accepted payment sources are Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, Apple Wallet and Google Wallet. Each rider must pay with their own card or device.

We no longer need as much centralized power generation, yet it is still the planning model used by PG&E and the other investor-owned utilities (IOUs). Instead, the IOUs should be leading the effort to grow local electricity generation through solar panels, wind turbines and batteries. Microgrids should be the main method of distribution, and costly transmission lines should be minimized.

San Jose, the capital of Silicon Valley, is now ground zero in California's battle over how to govern the rise of data centers used to power artificial intelligence. The county seat of Santa Clara is touting its partnership with Pacific Gas & Electric, claiming the city is "the West Coast's premier destination for data center development." The investor-owned utility now estimates it has enough capacity in its planning pipeline to push the city's electricity use to almost three times its current peak.

We can estimate how much electricity each solar panel and wind turbine will produce, and when they'll produce it. Then we can plug those numbers into a computer, along with green advocates' optimistic projections of future electricity demand, to see how supply and demand match up on an hourly and seasonal basis. Even with vastly expanded battery storage capacity to smooth things out, the match is poor.

Police on Tuesday are expected to provide an update on the investigation into last month's mass shooting in Stockton. Four people, including three children, were killed while attending a child's birthday party on November 29. Over 10 others were injured. The victims killed were ages 8, 9, 14, and 21. Police have not said that any suspects have been arrested.