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A dozen rare California condors explore Diablo Range

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:33:08 GMT

A dozen condors were recorded flying over the Diablo Range this week, suggesting the rare species is exploring new territory in the Bay Area’s rolling grasslands, plateaus and peaks.“It’s the most condors we’ve seen in that area at one time, ever,” said Kelly Sorenson, executive director of the Ventana Wildlife Society, which reintroduces captive-bred condors to their historic Central Coast habitat. “The population is growing in size, and it’s also expanding its range.”On Thursday, two of the birds were spotted soaring over Mount Hamilton, only 20 miles east of downtown San Jose, sending astronomers and other Lick Observatory staffers rushing outside, eyes to the sky, after a radio announcement.“It was so exciting. They’re just such huge majestic birds,” said Observatory astronomer Elinor Gates, who raced out of her residence with binoculars and cameras.The pair – one released in the mountains near the coast of San Simeon a...

Who’d shoulder higher Bay Area bridge tolls to bail out transit? Backers say the rich, critics the poor. Who’s right?

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:33:08 GMT

When state lawmakers this past week put the brakes on a plan to rescue BART and other ailing transit systems, a key concern was that the proposed toll increases at Bay Area bridges to pay for the bailout would wallop low-paid workers who cross those spans to get to their jobs.But the question of who would bear the burden of a $1.50 bridge toll hike — the working poor or the well-off — is hardly settled, as both sides of the debate point to data and arguments that back their claims. The answer will be key to selling the bailout plan as legislative advocates strategize a fresh pitch for early next year.In a letter this month to Gov. Gavin Newsom and state legislative leaders, seven Bay Area congressional representatives with deep reservations about the toll hike plan demanded an analysis of its impact on “low-income or car-dependent commuters.”The congressional delegation cited Metropolitan Transportation Commission data that 59% of bridge toll payers come from Alameda, Co...

Marin sex offender assigned work as caregiver by county agency

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:33:08 GMT

A registered sex offender who is facing new charges in Marin was assigned to work as a caregiver by a county agency.The agency — the In-Home Supportive Services Public Authority of Marin — matches caregivers with people certified as eligible by the Marin County Department of Health and Human Services. Recipients are typically low income, over the age of 65 and have a physical or mental disability.The agency gave an assignment to Brett Emmanuel Ortiz in April. Ortiz, 59, was convicted of a lewd or lascivious act upon a child under 14 in Kern County in 1989, failure to register in Marin County as a sex offender in 1998 and indecent exposure in Marin County in 1999, court records show.In June 2022, Ortiz was booked into Marin County Jail on suspicion of molesting a child younger than 14 following a six-week investigation by the Novato Police Department. His jury trial on the charge of committing a lewd act upon a 9-year-old child is scheduled in Marin County Superior Court on Sept. 13....

At Cook’s Corner, lives remembered: A hero, a noted urban planner and a mom who loved to dance

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:33:08 GMT

“I think I am dead.”Those were the last words a friend heard John Leehey say as he lay bleeding on a dirt path outside of Cook’s Corner in Trabuco Canyon, while bullets from a gunman described as a “crazy” ex-cop whizzed around him and two of his friends.Leehey, 67-year-old urban planner and landscape architect from Irvine, along with Tonya Clark, 49, of Scottsdale, Arizona, and Glen Sprowl Jr., 53, of Stanton, were killed in the shooting rampage Wednesday at the popular biker bar during its $8 Spaghetti Night.Retired Ventura Police Sgt. John Patrick Snowling, 59, who was in the middle of a divorce, entered Cook’s Corner with a pair of legally registered handguns, walked up to his wife Marie silently, and shot her in the jaw, authorities said. Somehow, she survived.But the shooting continued.For more news, see: Cook’s Corner mass shooting a horrifically common display of domestic violenceJohn LeeheyJames O’Malley, a real estate consultant who lives a couple of miles from Cook’s Corn...

2 more Cook’s Corner mass shooting victims ID’d as deeper picture of accused killer emerges

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:33:08 GMT

Two more people killed in a shooting rampage at a Trabuco Canyon bar were identified on Friday,  as a clearer picture emerged of the Jekyll-and-Hyde nature of the gunman who authorities say critically injured his wife with a bullet to the face.Tonya Clark, 49, was killed in the mass shooting at Cook’s Corner in Trabuco Canyon. (Courtesy of OC Sheriff’s Department) Tonya Clark, 49, of Scottsdale, Arizona and Glen Sprowl Jr., 53, of Stanton were killed when retired Ventura Police Department Sgt. John Snowling marched into the Cook’s Corner biker bar just past 7 p.m. Wednesday and without word opened fire on his wife and others, Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes said.John Leehey, 67, was killed in the mass shooting on Weds., Aug 23, 2023 at Cook’s Corner in Trabuco Canyon. (Courtesy OC Sheriff’s Department) John Leehey, 67, an urban planner and landscape architect from Irvine, was earlier identified as one of the three killed. Six people were injured and taken to hospitals, th...

Cook’s Corner mass shooting a horrifically common display of domestic violence

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:33:08 GMT

Authorities say the shooter at Cook’s Corner, John Patrick Snowling, was taking his marital complaints, however misguided, public.If true, experts say it’s the latest in a long string of examples of how marital friction, guns and silence can combine to end in death.Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes said this week that Snowling, a 59-year-old retired Ventura Police Department sergeant, was specifically targeting his soon-to-be ex-wife when he walked into the family-friendly biker bar in Trabuco Canyon on Wednesday, Aug. 23 and shot nine people, killing three.That his wife was among those who were gravely injured, not killed, and that Snowling died during a shootout with Orange County Sheriff’s deputies, not by his own hand, are only slight variations in what experts describe as a grim pattern: When domestic violence escalates to its apex and turns deadly, what was private often becomes public, and the range of victims often spreads beyond the fighting couple.It’s also not rare.In Oran...

El Segundo wins Little League World Series with walk-off HR by Louis Lappe

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:33:08 GMT

El Segundo’s Louis Lappe hits a solo walk-off home run off of Curacao’s Jay-Dlynn Wiel during the sixth inning of the Little League World Series championship game on Sunday in South Williamsport, Pa. El Segundo won, 6-5. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)El Segundo’s Louis Lappe watches his solo walk-off home run off Curacao’s Jay-Dlynn Wiel during the sixth inning of the Little League World Series Championship game in South Williamsport, Pa., Sunday, Aug. 27, 2023. California won 6-5. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)El Segundo’s Brody Brooks scores sliding past Curacao catcher Yaedon Lourens Martie on a double by Jaxon Kalish during the third inning of the Little League World Series Championship game in South Williamsport, Pa., Sunday, Aug. 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Tom E. Puskar)Curaçao’s Nasir El-Ossais (13) celebrates as he runs to first on his grand slam home run off of El Segundo’s Max Baker during the fifth inning of the Little League World Series Champion...

Violent crowds of teens shut down Emeryville mall, 1 stabbed

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:33:08 GMT

EMERYVILLE, Calif. (KRON) -- One juvenile was stabbed following several fights that broke out between hundreds of juveniles on Sunday at the Bay Street Mall, according to the Emeryville Police Department.KRON4 Reporter Amanda Hari was live at the scene Sunday night. Watch her report in the video player above. Timeline4:30 p.m.A business at the Bay Street Mall called Emeryville police in regards to a group of around 50 juveniles causing a “disturbance” inside the store. Officers arrived at the business and escorted the juveniles outside, police said. 5:15 p.m.Officers were patrolling the area when they located another group of around 100 juveniles that arrived at the mall. According to police, around 100 to 150 more juveniles arrived within 30 minutes.5:40 p.m.Several fights began near the courtyard area of the mall. EPD tried to break up the fights while other smaller fights began to break out. Officers called neighboring law enforcement agencies for assistance in stopping...

Victim shot in verbal dispute in Oakland: police

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:33:08 GMT

(KRON) -- One person was hospitalized after being shot following a verbal dispute east of the Oakland International Airport on Saturday, police said.Around 5:15 p.m., officers arrived in the 1000 block of 16th Street and learned two individuals were involved in a verbal dispute. One of the individuals brandished their firearm and shot the victim, Oakland police said.  Violent crowds of teens shut down Emeryville mall, 1 stabbed The armed suspect fled the area after the shooting. The victim was transported to a local hospital and was listed in stable condition, OPD said. This investigation is currently ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to contact the OPD Felony Assault Unit at 510-238-3426.

Person found dead inside car near Oakland elementary school

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:33:08 GMT

(KRON) -- A person was found dead inside a car Saturday night near East Oakland Pride Elementary School, according to the Oakland Police Department. Around 8:15 p.m., OPD received a report of an unresponsive person in a car in the 7900 block of Plymouth Street. Officers arrived at the scene and located a victim with at least one gunshot wound, police said. Violent crowds of teens shut down Emeryville mall, 1 stabbed The victim was pronounced dead at the scene. The identity of the victim is being withheld until next of kin is notified.  This investigation currently remains open and active. Anyone with information is asked to contact the OPD Homicide Section at 510-238-3821 or the TIP LINE at 510-238-7950.