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Opinion: An oncologist’s thoughts on what death cannot take away

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 11:23:00 GMT

l laid with my fingers interlocked, cradling my head, as I recently reclined on the grass in front of our home.Soon, the 6-year-old joined me.We stared at the sky as its color deepened to periwinkle.Soon, we found ourselves transfixed by the tree that towered above us, its leaves fluttering in the breeze.The entire canopy of foliage shimmered against the darkening sky.“My boy,” I said, “Do you know what is strange to think?”“That soon those leaves will all be gone?” he answered.“That’s right,” I replied. “In a month or so, the green of the leaves will ripen into gold, and crimson, and yellow and all of them will fall to the ground.”“And do you know what that teaches us?”“No, Dad, what?”“That beauty never lasts — that even the things we love the most will die away.”The next moment, he asked to scooter to the park, and we were off.I’ve reflected again and again, however, on that moment.As a doctor — especially, of all things, an oncologist — I know these truths bette...

Kaiser workers go on strike around Bay Area: Five things to know

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 11:23:00 GMT

Thousands of Kaiser Permanente workers in the Bay Area were set to stop work early Wednesday morning in a huge strike against the health care giant that is expected to last three days and affect patient care. Picket lines were slated to go up at more than a dozen Kaiser medical centers in the region, with the nationwide strike to begin at 6 a.m.Some 75,000 Kaiser workers across the U.S. — including about 23,000 in the Bay Area — were set to strike after their contract expired Sept. 30 and unions and the company failed to resolve disputes over wages and other issues.1. Kaiser facilities will remain open Kaiser said it would keep all hospitals and emergency departments open, but there may be longer wait times. “Our facilities will continue to be staffed by our physicians, trained and experienced managers, and staff,” Kaiser said this week, adding that it may bring on “professionals contracted to serve in critical care roles specifically for the duration o...

Four-bedroom home in Pleasanton sells for $1.9 million

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 11:23:00 GMT

7478 Alder Court – Google Street ViewA spacious house located in the 7400 block of Alder Court in Pleasanton has new owners. The 2,337-square-foot property, built in 1976, was sold on Aug. 9, 2023. The $1,936,545 purchase price works out to $829 per square foot. This single-story home offers a capacious living environment with its four bedrooms and three bathrooms. Outside, the home presents roofing composed of wood shake roofing / shingles materials. Inside, there is a fireplace. The property is equipped with forced air heating and central A/C. Additionally, the house provides a garage.Additional houses that have recently changed hands close by include:On Oak Creek Court, Pleasanton, in May 2023, a 2,523-square-foot home was sold for $2,100,000, a price per square foot of $832. The home has 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.In April 2023, a 2,004-square-foot home on Oak Creek Court in Pleasanton sold for $1,651,000, a price per square foot of $824. The home has 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms....

It’s fall — say goodbye to fruit desserts and bring on the chocolate

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 11:23:00 GMT

Enough with the summer peach pies and juicy plum crumble, the fresh cherry cobbler and the sweet/tart apricot jam! I am glad fall is finally here. I do love apple, pear, persimmon and fig season, but it is time for a short break from fruit — I am really just trying to rationalize my chocolate craving. Perhaps you are, too.When it comes to desserts, chocolate in any form is usually everyone’s favorite. Photo by Claudia AlexanderWhen it comes to desserts, chocolate in any form is usually most people’s favorite, which I discovered when I put a 2-pound box of See’s candies on the Thanksgiving dessert table a few years ago. The caramel apple pie, the toasted pecan and pumpkin cheesecake, and the lime and cranberry curd tart were hardly touched but that box of chocolates? It was soon empty. What makes chocolate so irresistible above other desserts?Well, we know through archeological findings that humans have been consuming chocolate for centuries. Before the discovery of the awesome ...

Arrestee testifies against ex-Marin County cops charged with assault

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 11:23:00 GMT

The man whose violent arrest by San Rafael police last year sparked a public outcry testified Tuesday in a preliminary hearing to determine if the two officers who arrested him will be put on trial.Brandon Nail and Daisy Mazariegos have been charged with assault under color of authority and making false statements in a crime report. The San Rafael Police Department fired Nail and discontinued the employment of Mazariegos, a relatively new employee who was still in her probationary period.The hearing, which began Monday, concluded its second full day Tuesday and will resume on Oct. 10.The arrestee, Julio Jimenez Lopez, testified Tuesday that he suffered a concussion and injuries to both his shoulders, both his knees, nose and back during his arrest by the officers.Lopez, 37, of San Rafael said he underwent surgery on his left shoulder in January and has continuing pain in his knees that prevents him from playing soccer as he did prior to the encounter.Mazariegos’ attorney, Christophe...

Santa Cruz surfer Nat Young gets disappointing result in Portugal

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 11:23:00 GMT

Santa Cruz’s Nat Young produced the second highest scoring wave in his Round of 64 heat at the World Surf League’s EDP Vissla Ericeira Pro, event No. 5 on the Challenger Series, in Portugal on Wednesday.The problem? The 32-year-old goofy-footer didn’t get a backup score. Young scored at 6.77 for his lone wave ridden in the 30-minute heat in 4- to 6-foot waves.He caught his wave midway through the heat, which temporarily thrust him into second place. He made a go on a wave in the final 30 seconds of the heat, but heat winner Jabe Swierkocki (13.50) of Ventura utilized priority and jumped in front of Young.The last wave didn’t carry much weight, though. Swierkocki threw away his score, a 1.93.“Watching all the heats this morning, it has been pretty slow,” said Swierkocki, in his post-heat interview with the WSL. “Whoever has kinda had a quick start, but made sure they got a good wave, seemed to making the heat, so that was the plan. I got a quick start and kinda waited and made sure i...

California woman accused of murdering son was sought in 2013 child-abuse case

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 11:23:00 GMT

The San Bernardino Mountains woman accused of murdering her 1-year-old son had a warrant out for her arrest that was still active this week — more than nine years after she failed to report to jail following a child-abuse conviction in 2013, Superior Court records show.Samantha Victoria Garver, 33, and her boyfriend, 32-year-old Sergio Mena, were booked on suspicion of murder on Sunday, Oct. 2, in the death of Henry Wheatley Brown. Medics responding to a report of a baby not breathing at a Surgarloaf home found the boy burned and unresponsive, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said. Sugarloaf is a community east of Big Bear Lake.Henry was pronounced dead at a hospital.There was no fire at the home that would have explained the injuries, said Mara Rodriguez, a Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman. She declined to say specifically how Henry was burned because of the ongoing investigation.In March 2013, Garver was charged with willful child cruelty that could cause injury or d...

Want a native California tortoise for a pet? Adoption is the only legal way

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 11:23:00 GMT

By Lois M. BarronSeeing a turtle isn’t rare in California, especially in ponds and lakes in city parks. Unfortunately, many are abandoned pets and might be species from anywhere in the world. Only one type, appropriately named the desert tortoise, is native to Southern California. Its home turf is the Mojave Desert.To be clear, all tortoises are turtles — the way that all greyhounds are dogs, but not all dogs are greyhounds. Tortoises stay on land, while other turtles are equipped for being in the water, to varying degrees. Desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) have an average lifespan of 30 to 50 years but may live to be more than 80. They range from 8 to 15 pounds and 9 to 15 inches.You can’t legally buy a desert tortoise. You have to adopt one through the guardians of the turtle galaxy in the state: the California Turtle & Tortoise Club.“While they are listed on the Endangered Species List [as threatened], the captive desert tortoise population is far from in the same boat,” ...

Nanny convicted of sexually abusing 16 California children

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 11:23:00 GMT

A Costa Mesa male nanny was convicted Tuesday of sexually abusing sixteen children after prosecutors alleged he gained the trust of their parents before molesting the boys under the guise of playing with them.An Orange County Superior Court jury deliberated for several hours before finding Matthew Antonio Zakrzewski, 34, guilty of 34 felony counts following a nearly monthlong trial in a Santa Ana courtroom in which prosecutors relied heavily on video evidence of the abuse the self-described “manny” had himself “brazenly” created.Along with the sixteen boys Zakrzewski was convicted of molesting, the jury also found him guilty of showing pornography to a 17th child. He faces up to 690 years to life in prison, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office. That means he would have to serve 690 years before being eligible for parole.Zakrzewski showed no obvious reaction to the verdicts, staring ahead as they were read one by one for each of the nearly three-dozen counts by a...

Use of snitches unravels 57 murder and other felony cases in California county

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 11:23:00 GMT

New numbers released by an attorney with the Orange County Public Defender’s Office show that the illegal use of jailhouse informants unraveled 57 homicide and other felony cases, with convictions overturned, charges dropped and sentences dramatically reduced.Previous estimates had placed the number of affected cases at about 12 — far less than the results of the new analysis by Assistant Public Defender Scott Sanders, partially using data from the district attorney’s office.“We already knew that this was the largest and longest running informant scandal in U.S. history, but there had never been a complete accounting of the cases with changed outcomes.” Sanders said.With Sanders first sounding the alarm in 2014, state justices and federal investigators have confirmed that Orange County prosecutors and law enforcement officers systematically violated the constitutional rights of criminal defendants with the illegal use of jailhouse informants.Authorities assembled a secret cadre of j...