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Bay City News
Several members of the Duenas family are suing over allegations that the defendants were negligent, created a public nuisance and trespassed, among other things.
On Dec. 11, the day of the explosion, Jesus Duenas Ponce, his sister Maria del Socorro Duenas Ponce and her adult daughter Soledad Flores, were at the home they were renting in the 800 block of East Lewelling Boulevard in the unincorporated Alameda County community of Ashland.
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Two other plaintiffs, brother Jorge Duenas Ponce and del Socorro Duenas Ponce’s son, weren’t at home that morning.
At about 7:25 a.m., a crew working for Mayo Asphalt Milling struck and damaged a gas service line while performing excavation work, according to the suit.
The Dunnigan Hills. The Kelsey Bench. Fiddletown. Edna Valley. Lodi.
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These disparate California regions would seem to have little in common, other than their rural ambience and dependence on agriculture. But they all share an unenviable quality: they’re in deep economic trouble.
That’s because their primary crop — wine grapes — are not in high demand. In fact, grape prices have become so low for these and other California wine-producing regions that many vineyards have been abandoned.
A 76-year-old man has been charged with vehicular manslaughter and other offenses for a collision that killed a pedestrian and injured another in San Francisco’s Chinatown neighborhood back in March, prosecutors announced Wednesday.
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Zhuo Ming Lu pleaded not guilty Tuesday to all charges and allegations in connection with the March 27 collision in the area of Grant Avenue and Jackson Street.
The victim who died has been identified as Cutberto Zamora, also known as “Beto,” according to a GoFundMe fundraising campaign created to support his family. The campaign at https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-the-zamora-family-after-betos-sudden-passing had raised more than $20,400 as of Wednesday.
A preliminary investigation by police determined that Lu was trying to park his vehicle when he hit the two pedestrians on the sidewalk and then struck a building, according to the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office.
A judge ordered him released on his own recognizance on the conditions that he not drive, and must surrender his driver’s license and passport. He is set to return to court on Sept. 30 for a pre-trial hearing.
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An 18-year-old woman was the second person arrested in connection with a hit-and-run collision that killed a man in a wheelchair in Santa Rosa earlier this week after investigators determined she was the one allegedly driving the vehicle at the time, police said Wednesday.
The collision was reported at 2:47 p.m. Monday at the intersection of West College Avenue and Clover Drive and involved a lifted white GMC pickup truck that struck the man, who was in a wheelchair in a marked crosswalk, according to Santa Rosa police. The victim died at the scene and his name was not immediately available.
Investigators used witness accounts, security footage and license plate reader technology to identify the vehicle, and before officers arrived at the registered address tied to the truck, a family member reported that Isreal Ramirez Sanchez, 21, was ready to surrender, police said.
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Ramirez Sanchez allegedly confessed to driving the truck and was arrested on suspicion of felony hit-and-run causing death. However, police continued interviewing witnesses and reviewing camera footage that led them to determine that Ramirez Sanchez was a passenger in the truck, while 18-year-old Fatima Corona Bautista was the one driving.
On Tuesday evening, investigators met with both suspects and arrested Corona Bautista on suspicion of the felony hit-and-run offense, while Ramirez Sanchez was booked for an additional offense of being an accessory to a crime, police said.
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie has picked a new head of the city’s Recreation and Park Department after a nationwide search.
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Sarah Madland, who has worked in the department for more than 15 years as the director of policy and public affairs, will lead the department as its general manager. She has previously worked in the City Attorney’s Office and at City Hall as a legislative aide for the Board of Supervisors.
Madland was chosen out of more than 150 candidates who applied for the position.
During her time working for the department, Madland has contributed to several initiatives for San Francisco parks, such as helping expand a citywide volunteer network to support neighborhood parks and leading public investment campaigns to raise money for revitalizing the city’s parks. She also spearheaded the conversion of John F. Kennedy Drive in Golden Gate Park into a promenade.
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Concord police are investigating the robbery of a jewelry kiosk at the Sunvalley Shopping Center mall on Wednesday.
Officers responded at 12:16 p.m. to reports of possible gunshots inside the mall and went to the Piercing Pagoda kiosk on the upper level, where they learned that four suspects wearing hooded sweatshirts and gloves were armed with hammers and smashed a jewelry display case, then stole items of jewelry before fleeing, according to police.
The suspects fled in a dark-colored SUV and remained at large Wednesday afternoon. An employee at the kiosk was pepper-sprayed but did not report any injuries, and police said they determined no gunshots were fired during the robbery.
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