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8+ min ago (407+ words) Brayam Adoni Chirinos, 30, confessed to the killing and charged with murder on Friday, court records show. LIVERMORE " Alameda County prosecutors have charged a man with murdering his roommate inside the home they shared, a crime that reportedly went undiscovered for so long that the victim's body badly decomposed inside the dwelling, court records show. Brayam Adoni Chirinos, 30, was arrested on Dec. 3, in San Francisco, driving the car of the man he allegedly killed, authorities said. Police say they motive remains under investigation but that the victim, 55-year-old David Hurst, had complained about problems with Chirinos. Police began investigating on Nov. 28, when Hurst's brother reported him missing " a report that was quickly followed by a woman's 911 call that she could see inside Hurst's home and he appeared to be dead on the kitchen floor. Authorities say they found evidence that Chirinos…...

10+ min ago (575+ words) Federal authorities will examine social media activity by all foreign citizens applying for the H-1B skilled-worker visa and the related H-4 spousal visa, and applicants must start keeping their social media accounts public, federal authorities announced this week. The U.S. Department of State's move to start conducting the "online presence reviews," and bar applicants from keeping their social media accounts set to "private," echoes a policy imposed earlier for student visas. Accounts of H-1B and H-4 applicants must be set to "public" by Dec. 15, the State Department said. "The State Department uses all available information in visa screening and vetting to identify visa applicants who are inadmissible to the United States, including those who pose a threat to U.S. national security or public safety," the department said in the announcement Wednesday. The announcement came after a man from Afghanistan " a former fighter in his home country…...

15+ min ago (639+ words) After no candidate received a majority of the vote in last month's special election for assessor, the race now comes down to a Dec. 30 runoff between one contender highly qualified for the job and one seeking to politicize the office. We urge voters not to be sucked in by some of the campaign diversions amplified during the runoff. Instead, look for a candidate to replace retiring Assessor Larry Stone who will focus on doing the job. The assessor doesn't set tax rates nor rules for how properties are taxed. Rather, the assessor only sets the values from which those taxes are calculated for more than 500,000 Santa Clara County properties. Neysa Fligor, the current assistant assessor, understands this. Her opponent, Rishi Kumar, a former Saratoga City Council member, does not. Our editorial board endorsed Fligor in the special election. The seriousness…...

20+ min ago (575+ words) FILE " Audrey Strauss, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, speaks during a news conference to announce charges against Ghislaine Maxwell for her alleged role in the sexual exploitation and abuse of multiple minor girls by Jeffrey Epstein, July 2, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File) U.S. District Judge Rodney Smith said a recently passed federal law ordering the release of records related to the cases overrode a federal rule prohibiting the release of matters before a grand jury. [CDC rollback of 30-year vaccine recommendation could impact Bay Area] [US Capitol Police: Member of Eric Jones" campaign investigated for surveilling Rep. Mike Thompson"s Napa County home] "Introduces a creep factor": Campaign worker for Rep. Mike Thompson rival investigated for surveilling congressman"s Napa County home [US vaccine advisers say not all babies need a hepatitis…...

32+ min ago (165+ words) A woman was struck and killed early Friday morning while crossing U.S. Highway 101 in San Jose, the California Highway Patrol said. Officers from the CHP's San Jose-area office responded at 1:16 a.m. to reports of a collision on northbound Highway 101 near San Antonio Street. According to investigators, a 2017 Infiniti was traveling in the area when a woman stepped into the freeway. The driver, a 24-year-old San Jose man, attempted to avoid the collision but struck the pedestrian. He remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators, the CHP said. The pedestrian was pronounced dead at the scene and her name was not immediately available.The crash closed three lanes of Highway 101 for about 90 minutes while another lane stayed open, according to the CHP. Impairment was not found to be a factor in the collision. Anyone with information about the case is asked to…...

56+ min ago (178+ words) SAN JOSE " A woman died after she was hit by a motorist while walking across Highway 101 early Friday, according to the California Highway Patrol. The collision was reported at 1:16 a.m. in the northbound lanes south of the Santa Clara Street and Alum Rock Avenue offramp, the CHP stated in a news release. An initial investigation determined that the woman was a pedestrian, and not associated with any nearby vehicle, when she was seen walking east across the 10-lane roadway before the driver of a 2017 Infiniti tried to swerve around her but ultimately hit her. The woman died at the scene. Her name was not publicly released pending her formal identification and notification of her next of kin by the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner's Office. The driver stopped at the scene, and the CHP said there is no sign that he…...

1+ hour ago (272+ words) Give a little, tote a lot. Alameda County Community Food Bank has partnered with Oakland Vintage Mart to host a donation drive this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 222 Jefferson St. in Oakland " with the benefit of a limited edition tote bag upon donation. The drive comes as food banks across the region face increased need for food assistance that was critically felt during the government shutdown this past fall and is only expected to grow in the coming year with additional cuts to the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, said Arlan Murillo, ACCFB's Director of Client Services. "Needs have been growing, that why this event is so important," Murillo said. "There's around 20,000 community members in the county that rely on SNAP. And so the shutdown, the fear of SNAP cuts that are yet to be implemented has created a lot of fear…...

1+ hour, 7+ min ago (167+ words) A suspected drunken driver had been speeding in excess of 150 mph in San Ramon last weekend before crashing into another vehicle, leaving that driver dead, officials said Thursday. Badal Dholaria, 28, of Pleasanton has been charged with one count of second-degree murder and four counts of felony DUI in connection with last Saturday's crash on Crow Canyon Road that left a 41-year-old woman from Castro Valley dead, San Ramon police said. Preliminary findings indicate Dholaria, driving a Tesla Model S, was going over 150 mph in the westbound direction of Crow Canyon Road before the collision. "Dholaria's reckless disregard for public safety led to his vehicle striking the rear passenger side of the victim's Ford Bronco," police said in a statement. "At the time of impact, the Tesla is believed to have still been traveling in excess of 120 mph." As of Thursday,…...

1+ hour, 11+ min ago (317+ words) The victim of a drive-by shooting Tuesday near Stockton was a woman who gained notoriety as the teen driver in a livestreamed crash that killed her sister. The San Joaquin County sheriff's office identified the slain woman as Obdulia Sanchez, 26, and confirmed she was the driver in the 2017 case. Sanchez was one of two people shot around 7 p.m. Dec. 2 in Garden Acres, a residential neighborhood abutting Stockton. She was taken to a hospital, where she died. The sheriff's office gave no information on possible suspect or motive. In the 2017 case, Sanchez, 18 at the time, was driving a Buick Century on a rural road near Los Banos, with two younger teens in the backseat. She reportedly swerved onto the shoulder, overcorrected and crashed through a wire fence; the car overturned in a field. Her 14-year-old sister, Jacqueline, was killed, and the other…...

1+ hour, 38+ min ago (810+ words) A condo in Fremont that sold for $515,000 tops the list of the most affordable real estate sales in Fremont in the past week. For comparison, the overall average price of real estate in the area during that time was $1.8 million. The average price per square foot was $938. A total of 21 home sales were recorded for the period with an average square footage of 1,900 square feet, 3 bedrooms, and 1 bathroom. For the purpose of this top 10 list, we included real estate that sold for between $300,000 and $10,000,000. The prices in the list below concern real estate sales where the title was recorded during the week of Nov. 3 even if the property may have been sold earlier. 10. $1.7 million, single-family residence in the 3700 block of Savannah Road The property in the 3700 block of Savannah Road in Fremont has new owners. The price was $1,660,000. The house…...