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From the archives: A look back at the highlights and low points of Roadshow’s first 20 years

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:01 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 September 18, 2011Twenty years ago, when we decided to launch a weekly column called Roadshow, I had never heard of a “cellphone,” I had never seen a red-light camera, and carpool lanes and metering lights were something of a novelty.Bridge tolls were a buck, and a gallon of gas wasn’t much more — the better to fuel the SUVs that were just showing up in dealer lots. And a hybrid vehicle — what was that?Today all of the above are dominant themes of the complaints, concerns and sometimes compliments that flood the Mr. Roadshow column, which is celebrating its 20th birthday with a look back at ...

The Port of Oakland took on massive debt for an expansion that some say went bust. Is the same mistake possible?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:01 GMT

At the Oakland Airport this week, a group of dignitaries gathered in front of a crowd to lavish praise on the Port of Oakland, which manages not only the city’s waterfront but also the airport, for its role as an economic engine for the region.The port’s executive director boasted of “good union jobs.” San Leandro Mayor Juan Gonzales touted his city’s proximity to the airport as an “absolutely a benefit.” Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao said the port represents the “values of Oakland.”It was a feel-good moment Monday for a city that has struggled to retain major corporations and sports teams — a testament to an enduring, mutually beneficial partnership — and came on the heels of a report commissioned by the port showing it had generated nearly 100,000 jobs for the region, along with close to a billion dollars in state and local taxes.But some community members say the port has not always earned praised for its fiscal foresight — in fact, quite the opposite.In the la...

How Zack Gelof became the promising face of the A’s murky future

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:01 GMT

OAKLAND — Statistically, baseball is a game of failure. And Zack Gelof is addicted to the failure.That doesn’t mean the A’s rookie second baseman likes losing, of course. He just revels in the opportunity failure presents.Baseball wasn’t the sport of choice in Gelof’s small hometown of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Field hockey and lacrosse were big at Cape Henlopen High School, where Gelof and his brother, Jake, were soccer stars. But the Gelof brothers were drawn to baseball; Zack found the more he could master his failures, the further he got in the sport.“Look at basketball or football; if you’re bigger, faster stronger — or have the best shot — you’re automatically going to be better,” Gelof said. “It’s not easy, but baseball is up and down and you have to have a mental side to the game to respond to the failure.”Just 58 games into his MLB career, 24-year-old Gelof has emerged as one of the next faces of the Oakland A̵...

Google extends lifespan of Chromebooks — a change that could save school districts millions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:01 GMT

Google is finally extending the lifespan of older Chromebooks — the low-cost laptops used by school districts across the country — after years of limited software support sent thousands of those devices to the trash after just a few years of service.The policy change comes after the Bay Area News Group in July detailed the struggles with expiring Chromebooks across the region, and how year after year, school districts were forced to recycle the devices due to premature software death dates.With expiration dates baked into each model, older versions of these inexpensive computers were set to lapse three to six years after their release. Despite having fully functioning hardware, an expired Chromebook would no longer receive the software updates needed to operate, blocking basic websites and applications from use.But starting next year, Google will begin providing 10 years of automatic software updates for all Chromebooks released in 2021 and beyond. For older laptop model...

Bay Area: Air quality advisory still in effect as smoky conditions linger into Wednesday morning

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:01 GMT

Smoky air brought down from fires raging in Oregon and Northwest California left Bay Area skies hazy and skylines obstructed Tuesday, with air quality still in a moderate to unhealthy range early Wednesday morning according to the Air Quality Index.With smoke clouding the air beginning around the afternoon on Tuesday, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District issued an air quality advisory lasting into Wednesday, advising residents to avoid the smoky conditions when possible.Related ArticlesWeather | Live California air quality map: How bad is your air right now? Weather | Air quality advisory issued after wildfire smoke drifts into Bay Area Weather | Despite environmental concerns, Port of Oakland to allow sand and gravel plant Weather | California’s wildfire smoke and climate change: 4 things to know Weather | Air-quality advisory in effect again for Bay Area, but cleaner skies expected by afternoon ...

49ers QB Purdy returns to Thursday Night Football, where he proved himself with broken rib

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:01 GMT

SANTA CLARA — Brock Purdy was studying to get the jump on a condensed week of preparation with the New York Giants up next Thursday night when he heard a familiar jingle in the background.Purdy and 49ers teammate Nick Zakelj had the Monday Night Football game between Carolina and New Orleans on the TV. It was mostly background noise until Purdy’s attention was diverted to a break in the action.Staring Purdy straight in the face was himself, in his debut regional commercial for Toyota.“I hear the music and I’m thinking, ‘Wait a minute,'” Purdy said Tuesday. “It was very strange. It was the first time I’d seen it.”Purdy, who also has a deal with Alaska Airlines, said the spot in which he promotes a pickup truck was a long process.“We shot all day — all day for 30 seconds,” Purdy said.The last time Purdy played on a Thursday night, no one was asking him to do commercials. His emergence as a national story was in it...

Editorial: Don’t give unemployment checks to striking workers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:01 GMT

California already doesn’t have enough money to pay for benefits for unemployed workers. So why would the Legislature even think about giving benefits to workers who choose to go on strike?Gov. Gavin Newsom should veto SB 799 and limit unemployment checks to workers who are out of work through no fault of their own. If unions want to help workers pay their bills during a strike, they should increase their strike fund budget. It’s not like they don’t have the money. Labor spent an estimated $1.8 billion on election campaigning in the United States in 2020.Expanding unemployment benefits to striking workers is in effect passing a tax increase on employers, because they fund the program.The legislation would provide unemployment benefits to striking workers when a strike goes on for more than two weeks. People who are eligible for unemployment in California  receive a weekly payment of $450 for a maximum of 26 weeks.Beyond the basic principle of paying benefits to wor...

Big San Jose apartment complex is bought by veteran real estate firms

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:01 GMT

SAN JOSE — A big downtown San Jose apartment building has been bought by real estate investors who express optimism about the South Bay’s economic prospects despite post-coronavirus uncertainties.The James, a luxury apartment complex in the heart of downtown San Jose, has been bought for a price of just under $74.3 million, the buyers said.The 190-unit, six-story apartment building is considered a Class A residential complex, according to the new owners, an alliance of Archway Equities and Virtú Investments, both real estate firms with decades in the business. The purchase price works out to roughly $390,800 a unit.The new owners see plenty of potential in the Silicon Valley market and its primary city, San Jose.“It’s an opportune time to enter the San Jose market, which we feel will bounce back faster than many of the other Bay area submarkets,” said Sankeerth Pulusani, managing director with Beverly Hills-based Archway.Larkspur-based Virtú Investments says ...

Opinion: Coercion for mentally ill can also be a form of compassion

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:01 GMT

My maternal grandmother’s China closet holds my inheritance from her: her favorite art deco vase, one solitary ceramic swan, eight Desert Rose plates, cups and saucers. She probably had bipolar disorder like me, had episodes that left her raving about being sexually assaulted by her 10-year-old brother, or injected with drugs by strangers in the night who also poisoned her food.Grandma was confined in a sanitarium in 1950, given the cold water treatment and who knows what else. I shudder at visions of her being swaddled with icy wet blankets, half-drowned, freezing water cascading down while she thrashed and cried out, begging, helpless to escape.Her husband put her there. Was it easy? Was it just on his word? Had she objected? What had she wanted? If I could, I would summon her ghost and ask about that.Summoning the ghosts of those days stirs nightmares and dread in those of us with tendencies to peculiar thoughts, mania or obsessions, who watch the world through windows curtained ...

Bay Area air quality advisory continues Wednesday

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:01 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- An air quality advisory continues Wednesday due to smoke from Northern California and Oregon wildfires, according to the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. Air quality in San Francisco and Oakland was graded as "unhealthy" Tuesday afternoon, which was the first day of the advisory.The agency said the fires have increased levels of particulate matter pollution in the air. Air quality is reaching high-moderate on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Quality Index. The National Weather Service wrote, "Smokey air from Northwest California fires may linger near the surface across the Bay Area for the next few days." San Francisco emergency dispatchers received a flurry of 911 calls Tuesday reporting smoky air in the city. Bay Area residents are advised to avoid exposure if the smell of smoke is present by staying indoors with the windows and doors closed. To check the air quality near you, use this interactive map. City of Salinas agrees to pay near...