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‘Are intersections overengineered?’ reader asks after four-way stop smooths traffic: Roadshow

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:48:24 GMT

Q: A couple of weeks ago, someone knocked out the traffic light controller at the intersection of Foothill Boulevard and Fairmont Drive in Ashland/San Leandro. Since then, the lights defaulted to blinking reds in every direction, and traffic has never flowed more smoothly.The result is decreased travel times, reduced gasoline consumption, less exhaust (helping climate change and those with respiratory problems) and happier drivers.This intersection is rather busy since it provides on/off ramps to Interstate 580, as well as access to Alameda County facilities, including the sheriff’s offices, a hospital and a youth detention facility. A few blocks away is Bayfair Center mall, a major retail center.It raises the question: Have we overengineered intersections? Why don’t we look at converting traffic lights to blinking red or yellow, as appropriate? Would that not result in a win for everyone?— Brian A. Foster, Castro ValleyA: A few engineers and other drivers may disagree with yo...

NFC playoff picture: Eagles still No. 1, but don’t rule out a 49ers ascension to top seed

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:48:24 GMT

There’s that whole pesky Thanksgiving night game in Seattle to deal with first, but it’s almost here.The 49ers at the Eagles on Dec. 3. The rematch of last season’s NFC Championship Game, which ended for all intents and purposes the moment quarterback Brock Purdy had his right elbow structure rearranged on a sack by Haason Reddick with 7:03 left in the first quarter and Philadelphia leading 7-0.The Eagles have what could be a difficult game themselves before the 49ers come to town, as they host a talented but underachieving Buffalo team that had its sights on a Super Bowl as well.Philadelphia rallied from 10 points down to beat Kansas City 21-17 Monday night, with Jalen Hurts hitting a 41-yard sideline streak to DeVonta Smith to set up the winning score and the Chiefs’ Marquez Valdes-Scantling dropping a rainbow by Patrick Mahomes with 1:50 left that could have won the game.Yet neither Hurts nor the Eagles are operating at the same level they did a year ago i...

400-plus homes are eyed at choice site near San Jose BART station

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:48:24 GMT

SAN JOSE — Several hundred homes are being eyed on a prime site near a BART station in San Jose — but the number of residences currently envisioned is far fewer than a previous proposal for that location.Slightly more than 400 homes could be developed on a wedge-shaped property a short distance from the Berryessa/North San Jose BART station, according to a preliminary proposal on file with San Jose city planners.The development site is a roughly 13-acre site at 1655 Berryessa Road about a block or two from the Berryessa BART station, which is San Jose’s only BART stop at present.The latest proposal for the property is the development of as many as 407 residences on the site, which is owned by an affiliate headed up by the Facchino family, whose first local business was a Depression-era trucking operation in downtown San Jose.The new version of the project calls for the development of townhomes on the site. However, along with townhomes, the project might accommodat...

Rolling Stones announce 2024 tour dates with stop at Levi’s Stadium

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:48:24 GMT

The Rolling Stones are getting ready to hit the road in 2024.And they are coming to the Bay Area.The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame act has announced dates for its Stones Tour ’24 Hackney Diamonds road show, which includes a stop on July 17 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.The band will be supporting its latest full-length, “Hackney Diamonds,” which is the group’s first studio set of new material since 2005’s “A Bigger Bang.”Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Dec. 1. Visit rollingstones.com for ticketing details.The tour includes stops in 16 cities in the U.S. and Canada.The band — which still features vocalist Mick Jagger as well as guitarists Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood — is expected to feature music from the new album as well as ample selections from its large catalog of fan favorites and greatest hits.The first single from the new album is the Grammy-nominated track “Angry.”Related ArticlesMusic | Big h...

Mathews: California city council meetings should end before the bars close

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:48:24 GMT

I propose a rule to improve California’s local democracy. When your local bars close, so must your city council.This occurred while watching recent Santa Monica City Council meetings, gatherings so long (one recently went 10 1/2 hours) and so nonsensical that you might reconsider your support for free speech and self-government.The bars had shut at 2 a.m., but the council was still going at 3:30 a.m. one October night when it logged its latest late-night crime against democracy: canceling plans to organize a representative assembly of residents to decide the airport’s future. The vote came after hours of public testimony from residents spewing conspiracy theories about developers and ballot measures that could only make sense at such an hour.Alas, this sort of decision-making is to be expected in Santa Monica, which takes perverse pride in meeting agendas longer than the U.S. constitution. But long, late meetings plague other California political hothouses — from Huntington Be...

CHP officer fatally shoots man walking on freeway, prompting investigation

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:48:24 GMT

By CHRISTOPHER WEBER | Associated PressLOS ANGELES — State authorities were investigating Monday after a California Highway Patrol officer shot and killed a man over the weekend in the middle of a Los Angeles area freeway during a struggle recorded on video.Sunday afternoon’s deadly encounter occurred after the highway patrol responded to multiple calls of a male pedestrian walking in westbound lanes of Interstate 105 in south LA County, the agency said in a statement. All traffic in that direction was temporarily blocked.A CHP officer tried to convince the man to get off the freeway but he refused and that led to a struggle, authorities said.“During the struggle, the pedestrian was able to access a Taser he had in his possession, activated the weapon, and used the Taser against the officer,” the CHP said in a later statement. “Following the pedestrian’s use of the weapon against the officer, and in fear for his safety, the officer fired his service weapon.”The man was pronounced de...

Cyclist dies in vehicle collision in South Salinas

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:48:24 GMT

(BCN) -- A cyclist died in a vehicle collision in Salinas on Monday night, the California Highway Patrol said.Around 8:10 p.m. Monday, CHP officers learned a cyclist was hit by a grey Jeep on East Blanco Road near La Mesa Drive in South Salinas. Verdict reached in San Carlos samurai sword murder trial At 8:12 p.m., a Salinas fire medic pronounced the victim as a possible fatality, the CHP said.The roadway was temporarily closed due to the collision. It reopened around 10:20 p.m., the CHP said.Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc.

A judge will consider revoking a Trump co-defendant’s bond in the Georgia election subversion case

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:48:24 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — A judge in Atlanta is set to hear arguments Tuesday on a request to revoke the bond of one of former President Donald Trump’s co-defendants in the Georgia case related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election.Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis last week filed a motion asking county Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee to revoke the bond of Harrison Floyd. She wrote in her motion that Floyd has been attempting to intimidate and contact likely witnesses and his co-defendants in violation of the terms of his release.Floyd’s attorneys wrote in a court filing that Willis’ allegations are without merit and that the motion is a “retaliatory measure” against their client. Floyd “neither threatened or intimidated anyone and certainly did not communicate with a witness or co-defendant directly or indirectly,” they wrote.McAfee set a hearing on Willis’ motion for Tuesday afternoon.The charges against Floyd relate to allegations of harassment toward ...

Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon kill 2 journalists of a pan-Arab TV station, 4 Palestinian militants

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:48:24 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — An Israeli strike on southern Lebanon on Tuesday two journalists reporting for the Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen TV on the violence along the border with Israel, according to Lebanese officials and the TV station. A separate strike at another location in Lebanon killed four Palestinian members of the Hamas militant group. The Pan-Arab Al-Mayadeen TV — politically allied with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah — identified the journalists who were killed while reporting in the town of Tair Harfa as correspondent Farah Omar and cameraman Rabih Maamari. It said they were “martyred by treacherous Israeli targeting,” adding it was an airstrike.The strike that hit the journalists also killed a Lebanese civilian, Hussein Akil, said the station and Lebanon’s state media.The Israeli military said it was looking into the matter. In a statement earlier Tuesday, it said its aircraft “struck three armed terrorist cells in the area of the border with Lebanon” in addition to Hezb...

32 killed in attacks in the Abyei region, which is disputed between Sudan and South Sudan

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:48:24 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Heavy fighting Sunday in a disputed region claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan killed at least 32 people, a regional official said.The civilians died when unknown gunmen attacked two villages in the southern part of the Abyei administrative region, local media reported.Abyei information minister Bolis Kuoch said 32 people including women and children were killed and 20 others wounded, “but the clashes have now stopped and the situation calmed down.” He initially reported that a U.N. peacekeeper was among those who died.However, the U.N issued a statement Monday saying that no soldiers from the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei were killed during the incident.“Contrary to inaccurate information published in media and other reports, no UNISFA peacekeepers were killed or wounded during the incident,” the statement said. “In response to the attacks, UNISFA moved rapidly to enhance security in the affected area by intensifying patrols, closely ...