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“Not welcome to stop for gas or food”: Decades later, Colorado’s history of sundown towns still lingers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:58 GMT

Gary Jackson, a 77-year-old Denver native, remembers when traveling to certain parts of the U.S. as a Black man meant inhospitality – and, sometimes, danger.“Since the time of Jim Crow, (Black) travelers have always dealt with racial discrimination and incidents of violence,” he said.A junior at the University of Colorado Boulder in 1966, Jackson and his college roommate, W. Harold “Sonny” Flowers Jr., embarked on a road trip from Denver to Oakland, Calif., for spring break. Flowers drove his Oldsmobile, which broke down in Rawlins, Wyo.A repairman informed the friends that the fix would take a couple of days.The students – both young Black men – “went to one of the local hotels in Rawlins, and we were turned down,” Jackson said. Instead, “the mechanic that was repairing our car allowed Sonny and I to sleep in his trailer overnight until the car was repaired.”Their shared experience isn’t an isolated incident. Through the last ce...

Social media influencer says he was targeted in violent Hollywood Hills home invasion

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:58 GMT

A social media influencer visiting from Dubai said he was among three victims robbed during a violent home-invasion robbery in Hollywood Hills West Thursday night.The robbery was reported shortly after 11 p.m. in the 8100 block of Mannix Drive, a Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson confirmed. Surveillance video captured some of the incident, showing two masked suspects standing outside the front door.Ring video captures suspects looking through the door of a Hollywood Hills West home on Sept. 21, 2023. (OnScene.TV)The victims say the suspects were armed and eventually gained access by breaking a side window. The surveillance video also shows the suspects running out of the home through the front door carrying several items in their hands. One of the victims was allegedly pistol-whipped in the face during the robbery. Ishmael Khan, who described himself as a social media influencer from Dubai, was among the victims. “They knew who I was … So, they found me on Instagram. They f...

Some crossings on U.S.-Mexico border still closed as cities confront rise in migrant arrivals

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:58 GMT

EAGLE PASS, Texas (AP) — The week began in Eagle Pass with rumors that large crowds of migrants might show up. On Friday, the small Texas border city was scrambling: nearly 9,000 asylum-seekers and counting had crossed from Mexico, an international bridge remained closed and a 3-year-old boy had drowned in the Rio Grande. “Before we would hear rumors, nothing happened,” Maverick County Sheriff Tom Schmerber said. “But this time something happened.”The unfolding response in Eagle Pass, where the mayor declared a state of emergency, illustrates how Border Patrol agents have become overwhelmed in recent days by asylum-seekers on parts of the U.S. border with Mexico. In San Diego and El Paso, Texas, officials this week also closed border crossings so agents could help with the influx. After a dip in illegal crossings that followed new asylum restrictions in May, President Joe Biden's administration is again on its heels. Democratic mayors and governors are seeking more relief for hostin...

From the Roadshow archives: Being thankful for the kindness and heroism in others

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:58 GMT

Editor’s note: Mr. Roadshow wanted to share some of his favorite columns and stories from more than 30 years of informing, entertaining and getting things changed for Bay Area (and beyond) drivers. He’ll be back on the road with new material soon. In the meantime, please keep sending Mr. Roadshow your comments or questions to [email protected] story originally was published on Nov. 26, 2020.Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year. We will find a way to enjoy it even during this terrible pandemic, with the guidelines on not gathering in large groups to celebrate and feast in the ways we normally would. So here’s some cheer, and good stories, to recognize people who have performed kind and heroic acts.TWO HEROES AT A BART STATIONA young woman dropped a bag at the BART Powell Street station in San Francisco. When she leaned to pick it up, she slipped off the platform onto the tracks below. An unidentified man jumped onto the rail line to try to get her ...

Are more trades on horizon? San Jose Sharks GM talks Couture, Hertl, UFAs, and when rebuild might end

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:58 GMT

SAN JOSE – San Jose Sharks general manager Mike Grier is keeping all of his options open when it comes to potentially trading centers Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl and re-signing pending unrestricted free agent wingers such as Anthony Duclair and Alexander Barabanov.Reiterating what he discussed last year after he became San Jose’s top hockey executive, Grier said Thursday he would listen if a veteran like Couture or Hertl came to him looking to move to more of a playoff-contending team with the rebuilding Sharks perhaps needing another year or two to become postseason threats.Grier extended the same courtesy to Norris Trophy winners Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson the last two offseasons, as both sought moves to win-now teams with the Sharks still in a transitional phase. Burns was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes in July 2022 and Karlsson was shipped to the Pittsburgh Penguins in August.Couture and Hertl have both played their entire careers with the Sharks after they were dr...

Giants learn blitzing Brock Purdy isn’t the answer in loss to 49ers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:58 GMT

SANTA CLARA — Shorthanded as they were going in without the left side of their offensive line and running back Saquon Barkley, the New York Giants figured a full assault on 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy was their best chance Thursday night.Rattle the kid with pressure from every angle. Get a few sacks, some turnovers and who knows? An overmatched 10 1/2 point underdog might actually have a chance.Apparently blitzing Brock isn’t the answer either. The Giants sent enough blitzers to make Purdy look off his game early on, but by the time a 30-12 win at Levi’s Stadium was secured, the 49ers quarterback did what he’s done every time he’s gone wire to wire.Win the game.“I thought it was a huge challenge, one of the biggest Brock’s been in,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said. “It’s a short week of practice, they have six guys on the line of scrimmage, half the time they’re coming, half the time they’re not. He settled dow...

Bay Area News Group boys athlete of the week: Jacob Alvarado, Milpitas football

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:58 GMT

Milpitas football player Jacob Alvarado is the Bay Area News Group’s boys high school athlete of the week for Sept. 11-16 after he received 42.4% of the vote.Oakland football player Joshua Oludayo (27.1%) took second.Congratulations to all the candidates for this week’s recognition.Alvarado, a senior, ran for 328 yards and four touchdowns in 13 carries as Milpitas rolled over Santa Clara 56-14 in a nonleague game. The Trojans improved to 3-0.To nominate an athlete for next week’s poll, email [email protected] by Monday, Sept. 25, at 11 a.m. Please include stats and team results.We also review stats submitted to MaxPreps.com by coaches/team statisticians for consideration.Winners are announced each Friday on the Mercury News & East Bay Times websites and in the print edition of the Mercury News and EB Times sports sections.Related ArticlesHigh School Sports | Bay Area News Group girls athlete of the week: Lauren Grgurina, California flag football ...

Foreclosed San Jose office building near big malls is bought — again

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:58 GMT

SAN JOSE — A San Jose office building near the city’s big malls that lurched into foreclosure, was seized by its lender, and is deemed to be an eyesore has been bought by a Bay Area real estate investor.The building, located at 826 North Winchester, was bought for slightly more than $6.5 million, according to documents filed on Sept. 21 with the Santa Clara County Recorder’s Office.The office building, which is scarred by graffiti and is said by its neighbors to be a blighted property, has been bought, seized through foreclosure, bought by a new owner, and then seized through foreclosure again in June of this year, prior to the most recent purchase.The merry-go-round of transactions began in 2020, when a Redondo Beach-based investor bought the building for $8.25 million. After that loan was foreclosed, a Grass Valley-based real estate group paid $10.75 million for the site in 2021.The most recent price, $6.54 million, is 39% below the prior purchase price less than...

Bay Area News Group girls athlete of the week: Lauren Grgurina, California flag football

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:58 GMT

California girls flag football player Lauren Grgurina is the Bay Area News Group’s girls high school athlete of the week for Sept. 11-16 after she received 41.3% of the vote.San Ramon Valley flag football player Mackayla Chojnacky (28.6%) took second.Congratulations to all the candidates for this week’s recognition.Grgurina, a senior, scored the only touchdown of Cal’s 7-0 victory over San Ramon Valley on Wednesday. Later in the week, the senior caught two touchdowns from Kylie Tabor, and returned one of her two interceptions for a touchdown.To nominate an athlete for next week’s poll, email [email protected] by Monday, Sept. 25, at 11 a.m. Please include stats and team results.We also review stats submitted to MaxPreps.com by coaches/team statisticians for consideration.Winners are announced each Friday on the Mercury News & East Bay Times websites and in the print edition of the Mercury News and EB Times sports sections.Related ArticlesHigh School Sports |...

Editorial: Don’t let PG&E further gouge its 16 million customers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:58 GMT

PG&E has few peers when it comes to raking in profits at the expense of its customers.Since 2018, the utility’s average bill for the typical residential customer who received gas and electric services has skyrocketed by 42%, from $169.73 a month to $240.73 a month. That compares to the overall Bay Area inflation rate over the last five years of 13.5%, or 2.7% a year.If that wasn’t bad enough, the two-time convicted felon is now proposing that it be allowed to harvest even higher revenues from its customers.PG&E had the temerity to ask the California Public Utilities Commission for permission to increase its revenue in 2023 by a whopping $3.2 billion, or 26%.The PUC, which has a long history of cozying up to PG&E, must not allow PG&E to further gouge its 16 million customers, not when they already pay some of the highest utility rates in the nation.The PUC should instead consider the two alternative proposals it issued last week — one crafted by PUC ...