BART will host a festival in Oakland on Saturday to celebrate the 50th birthday of the transit system.
The birthday party will take place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Lake Merritt station and plaza and is open to the public for free.
The main stage events, which will be live-streamed on BART's social media platforms, will include the opening of a time capsule and the production of a new one. The BARTmobile, the transit system's automobile made to replicate one of its train cars, will also be at the event.
BART-Man, the luchador of the transit system, will also be making an appearance for the birthday party.
An air quality advisory has been issued for the San Francisco Bay Area for Friday due to wildfire smoke, according to the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.
Smoke from wildfires in California and Oregon is expected to impact the Bay Area through Friday, but pollutant levels are not expected to exceed the national 24-hour health standard. A Spare the Air Alert is not in effect. Smoky, hazy skies may be visible and the smell of smoke may be present.
The management district will be closely monitoring air quality throughout the region for smoke impacts from these wildfires.
If the smell of smoke is present, air quality officials said Thursday it is important that Bay Area residents protect their health by avoiding exposure. If temperatures allow, stay inside with windows and doors closed until smoke levels subside. It is also recommended that those impacted by smoke set their air conditioning units and car vent systems to re-circulate to prevent outside air from moving inside.
Officials said smoke can irritate the eyes and airways, causing coughing, a scratchy throat and irritated sinuses. Elevated particulate matter in the air can trigger wheezing in those who suffer from asthma, emphysema or COPD. Elderly persons, children and individuals with respiratory illnesses are particularly susceptible to elevated air pollution levels and should take extra precautions to avoid exposure.
Police detectives in Watsonville arrested a suspect Thursday in the fatal shooting of a 19-year-old man.
The incident happened Sunday morning on Sudden Street.
Watsonville police detectives worked through the week and were able to identify a 15-year-old boy connected to the fatal shooting. Earlier Thursday, officers tracked down the suspect to Waters Alley, between Jefferson and Sudden streets, less than a block from Sunday morning's murder scene. As officers attempted to arrest him, the suspect tossed a gun.
The suspect has ties to a local gang and is currently facing several charges, including murder, possession of a firearm, gang enhancements, and probation violation. He has been booked into Juvenile Hall.
San Rafael police have arrested a man suspected of a string of violent altercations on Thursday.
Police said they received "numerous" calls about the suspect, 37-year-old Milton Garcia Colomo, starting with 911 calls at 9:45 a.m. reporting a man hitting and kicking a bus in the 3200 block of Kerner Boulevard.
As officers headed to the area, more 911 calls came in reporting the suspect approaching a victim in the 200 block of Windward Way and demanding money. The victim refused to cooperate and said the suspect pulled out a knife. The victim eventually got away.
Just before more officers headed to Windward Way, the suspect allegedly approached another person and began physically fighting. Nearby citizens pulled the suspect from the victim, police said.
Officers arrived and Colomo allegedly fled on foot but was eventually arrested after hiding in a dumpster.
Though police aren't giving details about Colomo's arrest, they said they used de-escalation techniques to take him into custody "without incident."
SRPD maintains that Colomo is on probation in the county for felony robbery and vehicle theft. He also had an outstanding warrant for robbery.
Colomo was booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, attempted robbery, criminal threats, obstructing/resisting a police officer, violation of probation, and his outstanding arrest warrant.
A Monterey County Superior Court jury found a 42-year-old Salinas man guilty this week of assaulting a hotel manager in 2021.
The jury on Tuesday convicted Jerome Williams, who had been a resident of the Salinas hotel, of multiple felony charges, including assault likely to cause great bodily injury, battery resulting in serious bodily injury and resisting an executive officer with force.
In August 2021, Williams and his family were living in the hotel and he had a dispute with the hotel management the day before the assault, according to the Monterey County District Attorney's Office.
Prosecutors said Williams told a hotel staff member he would assault anyone who knocked on his door asking them to leave at the end of the month.
The next day, the hotel manager told Williams not to threaten his staff. Prosecutors said Williams responded by assaulting the manager, who suffered a concussion, significant bruising and a laceration requiring him to be taken to a hospital for treatment.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg stopped by San Francisco on Thursday to celebrate the near-completion of Muni's decades-long project to extend rail lines from Chinatown to Mission Bay's Chase Center.
Buttigieg was alongside U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, San Francisco Mayor London Breed and city transportation heads at a press conference held at the Chinatown Station, which was built as part of the city's Central Subway Project.
The San Francisco transportation agency says the station could be in service as early as fall 2022, though still not setting an official opening date. Its projected completion date was initially planned in 2018, but crews faced a myriad of delays, including a fire at one of the subway's stations earlier this year.
But, Buttigieg assured that the department still supports the project a decade after the Obama Administration awarded it nearly $1 billion in federal funds, and the investment will "pay dividends for generations to come."
The 60-year-old armored truck guard who was wounded after he was shot outside Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in San Leandro died Thursday afternoon, according to police.
The shooting occurred just before noon Wednesday. The wounded guard was pronounced dead at 2:15 p.m. Thursday.
A San Leandro Police Department spokesperson said police are still looking for the shooting suspect, who shot the guard adjacent to the hospital's emergency room entrance.
The police department has offered its condolences to the guard's family.
The guard, whose name has not been released, had been in critical condition.
The guard was leaving the east side of the hospital campus, at 2500 Merced St., at about 11:42 a.m., carrying a bag with an undisclosed amount of cash, when he was shot in his upper back, according to police.
The suspect then ran away, possibly to a waiting getaway car, police said, and the hospital was placed on lockdown immediately after the shooting.
The guard had worked for GardaWorld for nearly 40 years, according to police.
A man was arrested on suspicion of killing a woman in San Carlos on Thursday morning after witnesses flagged down deputies to report the attack in progress, according to the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office.
The deputies were notified at about 11:50 a.m. about the attack in the area of Magnolia Avenue and Laurel Street near downtown San Carlos and found the woman dead. The Sheriff's Office is not yet releasing how she was killed.
The suspect, who deputies said was known to the victim, returned to the scene shortly afterward and was arrested on suspicion of the killing, according to the Sheriff's Office.
The names of the suspect and victim were not being released as of late Thursday afternoon.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact Det. Brandt at (650) 333-8195 or dbrandt@smcgov.org.
The National Weather Service forecast for Friday for the San Francisco Bay Area calls for slightly cooler temperatures throughout the region as heat wave comes to an end. Daytime highs will be in the upper 60s along the coast to the 70s and 80s around the Bay and to the 90s and low 100s in the inland valley regions. Overnight lows will range mostly in the 50s to mid 60s.
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