By and | Bay Area News GroupOAKLAND — Two months before 36 people died in the Ghost Ship fire, an Oakland Fire Department employee entered the warehouse and observed exposed electrical wiring, recommending tenants fix the hazard, according to an amended lawsuit filed Wednesday by attorneys representing victim families.The 179-page amended lawsuit adds the city of Oakland, Alameda County and state of California to a growing list of defendents, and alleges the agencies failed in their duties to shut down the crowded fire trap and its illegal parties.There are a few new details including in...…By and | Bay Area News GroupOAKLAND — Two months before 36 people died in the Ghost Ship fire, an Oakland Fire Department employee entered the warehouse and observed exposed electrical wiring, recommending tenants fix the hazard, according to an amended lawsuit filed Wednesday by attorneys representing victim families.The 179-page amended lawsuit adds the city of Oakland, Alameda County and state of California to a growing list of defendents, and alleges the agencies failed in their duties to shut down the crowded fire trap and its illegal parties.There are a few new details including in...WW…

The doors were locked.Rows of pews were taped off.The guests were arriving, as instructed, from an underground parking garage through a back door that led to the church interior.Then a city official crashed the wedding, which took place in early July in SS Peter and Paul’s Church, with its picturesque edifice overlooking Washington Square Park in North Beach.The pastor did not seem surprised by the official’s order to stop the proceedings, according to a city report, and the wedding party moved outdoors to a basketball court where the ceremony — minus the nearly 100 guests who had assembled...…The doors were locked.Rows of pews were taped off.The guests were arriving, as instructed, from an underground parking garage through a back door that led to the church interior.Then a city official crashed the wedding, which took place in early July in SS Peter and Paul’s Church, with its picturesque edifice overlooking Washington Square Park in North Beach.The pastor did not seem surprised by the official’s order to stop the proceedings, according to a city report, and the wedding party moved outdoors to a basketball court where the ceremony — minus the nearly 100 guests who had assembled...WW…

In so many respects, it’s looking like the worst of the pandemic may be over for the Bay Area.Hospitalizations from COVID-19 and positive test rates have dropped significantly, too. Many counties reporting plummeting case counts are rapidly reopening. San Francisco may , the second-least-restrictive, in just two weeks.At the same time, Bay Area counties are getting deliveries of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and the vaccination rollout at large continues to improve.But even amid good news, experts still warn: Another surge may still be on the horizon.Dr. John Swartzberg, a UC Berkeley...…In so many respects, it’s looking like the worst of the pandemic may be over for the Bay Area.Hospitalizations from COVID-19 and positive test rates have dropped significantly, too. Many counties reporting plummeting case counts are rapidly reopening. San Francisco may , the second-least-restrictive, in just two weeks.At the same time, Bay Area counties are getting deliveries of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and the vaccination rollout at large continues to improve.But even amid good news, experts still warn: Another surge may still be on the horizon.Dr. John Swartzberg, a UC Berkeley...WW…

With eight hours left in a calamitous year, a stolen car sped through downtown San Francisco.Inside the gray Honda HR-V, police say, was a pistol with an extended ammunition magazine, a cash register belonging to a vegan bakery and an intoxicated man on parole. He’d used the gun, they say, to steal the vehicle that provided the getaway from the bakery. Troy McAlister, 45, had been in and out of jail and prison since he was a teenager — his most recent arrest just 11 days earlier.Blocks away, at Second Street, two women walked alone, tracing separate paths through a neighborhood transformed...…With eight hours left in a calamitous year, a stolen car sped through downtown San Francisco.Inside the gray Honda HR-V, police say, was a pistol with an extended ammunition magazine, a cash register belonging to a vegan bakery and an intoxicated man on parole. He’d used the gun, they say, to steal the vehicle that provided the getaway from the bakery. Troy McAlister, 45, had been in and out of jail and prison since he was a teenager — his most recent arrest just 11 days earlier.Blocks away, at Second Street, two women walked alone, tracing separate paths through a neighborhood transformed...WW…

The man prosecutors say stole Maki the lemur from the San Francisco Zoo last year was ordered released from custody Tuesday but told to stay away from the zoo.Wearing an orange sweat suit, a blue mask strapped to his buzzed blond hair and standing straight with his hands folded behind his back, Cory McGilloway, 31, made his first court appearance in San Francisco after he was in October in Marin County.Judge Michael McNaughton ordered McGilloway to stay away from the zoo and to follow the probation terms he received late last year in Marin County as he awaits trial on second degree...…The man prosecutors say stole Maki the lemur from the San Francisco Zoo last year was ordered released from custody Tuesday but told to stay away from the zoo.Wearing an orange sweat suit, a blue mask strapped to his buzzed blond hair and standing straight with his hands folded behind his back, Cory McGilloway, 31, made his first court appearance in San Francisco after he was in October in Marin County.Judge Michael McNaughton ordered McGilloway to stay away from the zoo and to follow the probation terms he received late last year in Marin County as he awaits trial on second degree...WW…

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateUsing DNA collected from two Moraga attacks, state game wardens have determined that the same rogue coyote bit a 2-year-old boy and man five months apart.California Fish and Wildlife officials have begun trapping coyotes in the area of the latest attack on Dec. 4 near Campolindo High School. They have caught and euthanized three coyotes, but none had DNA matching the “offending coyote,” said Fish and Wildlife Capt. Patrick Foy.“We’ve had reports of aggressive coyotes in that area,” Foy said. “We started thinking we should do a...…This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateUsing DNA collected from two Moraga attacks, state game wardens have determined that the same rogue coyote bit a 2-year-old boy and man five months apart.California Fish and Wildlife officials have begun trapping coyotes in the area of the latest attack on Dec. 4 near Campolindo High School. They have caught and euthanized three coyotes, but none had DNA matching the “offending coyote,” said Fish and Wildlife Capt. Patrick Foy.“We’ve had reports of aggressive coyotes in that area,” Foy said. “We started thinking we should do a...WW…

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateThey had spent more than three hours at Miraloma Playground on Sunday afternoon, and as Courtney Helland gathered their belongings and told her kids it was time to go, the San Francisco mother knew it would not be easy.It was the last day the playground would be open for weeks. The stay-at-home orders issued by San Francisco along with four other Bay Area counties to stem the coronavirus surge closed playgrounds, along with other activities like zoos, starting Monday.The kids knew. Wolfgang Helland, 4, ran off and hid in some...…This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateThey had spent more than three hours at Miraloma Playground on Sunday afternoon, and as Courtney Helland gathered their belongings and told her kids it was time to go, the San Francisco mother knew it would not be easy.It was the last day the playground would be open for weeks. The stay-at-home orders issued by San Francisco along with four other Bay Area counties to stem the coronavirus surge closed playgrounds, along with other activities like zoos, starting Monday.The kids knew. Wolfgang Helland, 4, ran off and hid in some...WW…

A contentious relationship that has worsened over the past decade came to a head last weekend when Cal Fire investigators detained a crew of private firefighters who allegedly started their own illegal backfires to protect a Wine Country property.A flood of the firefighters-for-hire drove into the Glass Fire blaze as it threatened expensive homes and multimillion-dollar wineries in Napa and Sonoma counties. Though it’s been happening for years, fire officials say the number of private firefighting crews is rising, and with it the potential for conflict in the fire zone.Sometimes private...…A contentious relationship that has worsened over the past decade came to a head last weekend when Cal Fire investigators detained a crew of private firefighters who allegedly started their own illegal backfires to protect a Wine Country property.A flood of the firefighters-for-hire drove into the Glass Fire blaze as it threatened expensive homes and multimillion-dollar wineries in Napa and Sonoma counties. Though it’s been happening for years, fire officials say the number of private firefighting crews is rising, and with it the potential for conflict in the fire zone.Sometimes private...WW…

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateFlames swallowed dozens of homes and other structures Wednesday as the fast-moving LNU Lightning Complex fire exploded into Vacaville, jumped Interstate 80 toward Fairfield, and prompted frantic evacuations and rescues from predawn hours into night.By day’s end Wednesday, the fire destroyed 105 homes and damaged 70 other buildings, nearly tripling in size to 124,000 acres across Sonoma, Lake, Napa, Yolo and Solano counties. Four people were injured, 25,000 structures remained threatened and dozens of areas were evacuated,...…This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateFlames swallowed dozens of homes and other structures Wednesday as the fast-moving LNU Lightning Complex fire exploded into Vacaville, jumped Interstate 80 toward Fairfield, and prompted frantic evacuations and rescues from predawn hours into night.By day’s end Wednesday, the fire destroyed 105 homes and damaged 70 other buildings, nearly tripling in size to 124,000 acres across Sonoma, Lake, Napa, Yolo and Solano counties. Four people were injured, 25,000 structures remained threatened and dozens of areas were evacuated,...WW…

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateAlmost 40 sailors from the coronavirus-infected aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt who initially tested negative have since tested positive, the Navy told The Chronicle on Thursday.Some of those who tested negative were moved from the ship into hotels on the island — a controversial move on the U.S. territory battling its own coronavirus outbreak — and have since been sent to the naval base there, a sailor told The Chronicle. The Chronicle agreed to withhold the name of the sailor, who was not authorized to speak to the media, in...…This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateAlmost 40 sailors from the coronavirus-infected aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt who initially tested negative have since tested positive, the Navy told The Chronicle on Thursday.Some of those who tested negative were moved from the ship into hotels on the island — a controversial move on the U.S. territory battling its own coronavirus outbreak — and have since been sent to the naval base there, a sailor told The Chronicle. The Chronicle agreed to withhold the name of the sailor, who was not authorized to speak to the media, in...WW…