Northern California

Starbucks named Hyatt Hotels Corp.’s financial chief Patrick Grismer as its new chief financial officer on Oct.8, making another leadership change in the past year as it battles intense competition in a cooling U.S. coffee market. Grismer’s appointment completes a three-month search for a new finance chief since current CFO Scott Maw announced plans to […]

Olympic and World Championship gold medalist Bode Miller and his wife Morgan welcomed their newborn boy on Oct. 5, according to People. The baby’s name is yet to be announced. He was born exactly one month before their past daughter Emeline’s second birthday. Both babies were born at home with the help of midwives. The […]

SACRAMENTO, Calif.—On Sun. Sep. 30, Governor Jerry Brown vetoed AB 186, the controversial bill to give San Francisco City legal status to operate drug injection sites (SIS) for illegal drugs. Brown in his letter to the Legislature, while addressing the voices from both supporting and opposition sides, clearly stated his reasons for vetoing the bill: […]

An Alameda County sheriff’s sergeant has been charged with four felonies for the alleged illegal and secret recordings of juvenile suspects in an interview room in March, prosecutors said on Oct. 3. Sgt. James Russell was charged with four counts of eavesdropping on or recording confidential communications for his alleged actions at the Eden Township […]

San Francisco Bay Area residents will begin seeing Blue Angels pilots practicing in and around San Francisco skies on Oct. 4, in preparation for Fleet Week air shows all weekend. The weeklong event, which welcomes dozens of U.S. Navy vessels and aircrafts, kicked off Monday, with the main attraction, the Blue Angels air show, happening […]

A lost boy who walked into a Pittsburg gas station on the evening of Oct. 3, was reunited with his family a few hours later, according to police. The boy walked into the Mobil 1 gas station at 2971 Railroad Avenue around 7:30 p.m. on Oct.3, according to police. He was taken to the Pittsburg […]

An annual arts exhibition begins in Emeryville on Oct. 5, one of only 14 districts in California designated by the California Arts Council as a premier cultural district, organizers said. The 32nd Annual Emeryville Art Exhibition starts with an opening reception Oct. 5 at 6 p.m. at 5700 Horton St. in Emeryville. The exhibition, which […]

People in California who committed a felony that resulted in an accidental victim’s death may no longer be charged with murder under a new law. Some people who have already been convicted might also have their prison time reduced. Senate Bill 1437 “narrows the definition of felony murder” to allow certain inmates to avoid punishment […]

California voters will soon have an opportunity to decide whether to roll back a year-old gasoline-tax increase that opponents say will eliminate billions of dollars of funding to repair roads and other infrastructure. Proposition 6 will appear on the November ballot, and if it passes, it will eliminate transportation funding bill SB1, passed in April […]

Officials with the Transbay Joint Power Authority laid out plans for testing two cracks found in steel beams last week at San Francisco’s now-shuttered Salesforce Transit Center on Oct.3, indicating a cause for the cracks could be determined by early November. During a meeting for the TJPA Board of Directors this morning, senior construction manager […]

Former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer put forth a proposal before the Palo Alto City Council on Oct. 1, to convert a funeral home in the city into a membership-based women’s center. The mortuary, located at 980 Middlefield Road, is currently zoned for a funeral home with some flexibility, according to the City Council. Mayer’s proposal […]

The third annual Girls’ Festival will bring more than 3,000 people to Santa Clara on Oct. 6, for all-day programming, workshops, and performances to inspire the next generation of women. The ambitious festival features more than 40 women’s organizations and is organized by WorldWideWomen Foundation, the nonprofit arm of an international resource network. Maureen Broderick, founder […]

There will be opportunities for waterfowl hunting on select dates in November, December, and January at the Eden Landing Ecological Reserve in Hayward, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced Oct. 2. The roughly 6,400-acre reserve, which includes former commercial salt ponds now managed by state wildlife officials as a water bird habitat will be […]

Proponents of an effort by the majority of California’s 58 counties to form a new state have set a second constitutional convention of delegates for Oct. 6 in Irvine. If such a secession effort is successful, as many as 51 counties would split from California. The “New California” entity would have a total population of […]

A bill allowing lawmakers to effectively live outside of their districts was signed into law by California Governor Jerry Brown on Sep. 29. Senate Bill 1250 protects California’s 120 state lawmakers from prosecution regarding their primary residences. According to California law, state legislators can only represent an area where his or her primary residence is located. […]

A suspect was taken into custody after leading police on a short high-speed pursuit and foot chase that led to a Hercules officer firing his gun at the suspect in San Pablo early in the morning on Sept.30, according to police. Police said the suspect, identified as 55-year-old James Eugenio Pina, was taken into custody on […]

A presentation will be made on the evening of Oct. 3, on the revised Flood Insurance Rate Maps for the city of Alameda, city officials said. Flood maps for Alameda County were revised recently by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The change may affect whether a property is in the 100-year flood plain and whether […]

Concerns over loud airplanes that pass over Palo Alto en route to San Francisco International Airport has prompted city officials to hold a workshop on Oct. 2 to address the issue. City officials said three arrival routes that pass over Palo Alto have had a negative health impact on residents. They said conditions have worsened […]

Construction crews working to shore up a part of San Francisco’s Salesforce Transit Center where two cracked steel beams were found last week are hoping to reopen Fremont Street in about two weeks, officials with the Transbay Joint Powers Authority (TJPA) said on Oct. 1. TJPA officials abruptly closed the newly opened Transit Center, as […]

The federal gun possession trial of the undocumented immigrant who possessed the gun that killed Kate Steinle in San Francisco in 2015 has been postponed for at least several months while a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a different case is awaited. Jose Ines Garcia Zarate was originally scheduled to go on trial Oct. 1 in […]