San Mateo police arrested two men on Saturday, October 21, 2023 for allegedly stealing two motorcycles in the city. The suspects allegedly used a red Toyota Tacoma pickup truck that was caught on video transporting the stolen motorcycles. (SMPD via BCN)
According to police, San Mateo officers arrested two suspected motorcycle thieves over the weekend after using a tracker attached to one of the motorcycles they allegedly stole.
On Saturday morning, officers were alerted to a report of a man who said his two motorcycles were stolen from his private parking lot in the 400 block of East Hillsdale Boulevard, the San Mateo Police Department said in a news release Tuesday.
Officers spoke to witnesses and obtained video footage showing a red Toyota Tacoma pickup truck pulling up to the garage and leaving with the stolen motorcycles.
San Mateo police arrested two men on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023, after they allegedly stole two motorcycles from an apartment garage in the city. (San Mateo Police Department via Bay City News)
Officers later learned that the victim had placed a tracking device on one of the stolen motorcycles.
Using the tracker, they located the stolen motorcycles in the 1300 block of Veterans Boulevard in South San Francisco around 9:30 a.m. Saturday, police said.
Working with South San Francisco police, San Mateo officers located the suspects, Matthew McGettigan and Floyd Cooper, and the red Toyota Tacoma pickup truck allegedly used in the crime.
McGettigan, 32, and Cooper, 37, were arrested and booked into the San Mateo County Jail on suspicion of first-degree robbery, possession of a stolen vehicle and vehicle theft. The stolen motorcycles were returned to the victim, police said.
The people have risen up, and according to Alida Vicente, a Pokomam leader from Palín, a municipality in the department of Escuintla, Guatemala, will not take “even one step back.”
The major news networks are ignoring or minimizing the scale of the uprising of the indigenous and mestizo people, despite the fact that the mobilization in towns and popular neighborhoods is growing every day, demanding the removal of corrupt officials and confronting the most rotten of the business elite and narcopolitics, which is determined to prevent the inauguration of the elected president Bernardo Arévalo.
What began as a citizen's repudiation of malicious litigation and in favor of the result of the vote at the polls, is becoming a historic claim against the corrupt and abusive minority.
“Guatemala is not their farm,” says Alida Vicente, and unlike the urban and middle-class leadership of the October 1944 Revolution, the current uprising is led by indigenous women and men, subject to the mandate of their bases and their assemblies.
This is an important indication that the old model of regressive modernization known as La Patria del Criollo, according to the title of the book by historian Severo Martínez Peláez, is coming to an end.
The elite continues to behave like the occupier, ruthlessly crushing any attempt at social reform and citizen democracy.
It is clear that beyond malicious litigation and the removal of corrupt officials, Guatemalan narco-feudalism is facing a coalition of poor people from the city and the countryside, as well as people from the middle classes, professionals and university students, who yearn to return to the path of the nationalist revolution of 1944.
That of course includes many of the two million Guatemalan workers in the United States who are prevented from voting and whose remittances sustain the national economy.
The California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) has awarded a $207,400 grant to increase traffic safety in San Mateo County that will support ongoing enforcement and education programs to help reduce the number of serious injuries and deaths on the roads. Photo: Manuel Ortiz P360P
The San Mateo County Sheriff's Office received a grant from the California Office of Highway Safety (OTS) for the Traffic Enforcement Program to Increase Highway Safety.
The $207,400 OTS grant will support ongoing enforcement and education programs to help reduce the number of serious injuries and deaths on county roads.
This support will provide additional programs and resources, including: Driving Under the Influence (DUI) checkpoints and saturation patrols focused on stopping drivers suspected of driving under the influence.
Additionally, highly visible distracted driving enforcement operations targeting drivers who violate California's hands-free cell phone law; and enforcement operations focused on the most dangerous driver behaviors that endanger the safety of people on bicycles and on foot.
It will also serve to include control operations focused on the main violations that cause accidents: speeding, failing to yield, running stop signs and/or red lights, and improper turns or lane changes.
Also, for community presentations on traffic safety issues such as distracted driving, drunk driving, speeding, and bicycle and pedestrian safety; and law enforcement collaboration with neighboring agencies.
Added to this is the training and/or recertification of officers: Standard Field Sobriety Test (SFST), Advanced Enforcement of Driving Under the Influence (ARIDE) and Drug Recognition Expert (DRE).
Finally, the money will allow for highly publicized motorcycle safety, pedestrian safety, and/or bicycle safety operations in areas or during events with a high number of motorcycle incidents or collisions due to unsafe speed, drunk driving, following too closely, unsafe lane changes, improper turns, and other major crash factor violations.
The grant program will be in effect until September 2024.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta co-led a bipartisan coalition of 33 attorneys general in filing a lawsuit against Meta Platforms, Inc. and its affiliates (Meta) for harm to the mental health of young people, alleging that Meta, among other things, designed and implemented harmful features on Instagram and Facebook that addicted children and teens to physical and mental harm.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta co-led a bipartisan coalition of 33 attorneys general to file a federal lawsuit against Meta Platforms, Inc. and its affiliates (Meta), for damage to the mental health of young people.
Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the lawsuit alleges that Meta, among other things, designed and implemented harmful features on Instagram and Facebook that addicted children and teens to physical and mental harm.
The attorneys general are seeking injunctive and monetary relief to address Meta's misconduct.
Eight attorneys general announced that they will file lawsuits against Meta in their respective state courts today.
The federal and state charges are the result of a nationwide investigation that Bonta announced on November 18, 2021.
“Our bipartisan investigation has reached a solemn conclusion: Meta has been harming our children and teens, cultivating addiction to increase corporate profits,” said U.S. Attorney Rob Bonta.
“We must protect our children and we will not back down in this fight. I am grateful for the collaboration of my fellow state attorneys general in defending our children and holding Meta accountable,” he stressed.
In today's lawsuit, Bonta alleges that Meta violated federal and state laws, including the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), California's False Advertising Law (FAL), and California's Unfair Competition Law (UCL).
It should be noted that COPPA is a federal law that protects the online privacy of children under the age of 13, while the California FAL prohibits false and misleading advertising, and the California UCL prohibits illegal, unfair and fraudulent business practices.
According to the federal complaint, Meta’s misconduct includes creating a business model focused on maximizing young users’ time on its platforms; employing harmful and psychologically manipulative platform features while deceiving the public about the safety of those features; and publishing reports that purport to show deceptively low rates of harm to users.
While much of the complaint includes information conditionally sealed as part of the attorneys general’s investigation, publicly available sources — including evidence disclosed by former Meta employees — also detail the company’s efforts to attract young users and make its platforms addictive to children and teens.
The Wall Street Journal published an internal Facebook document in 2021 that said of young users: “They are a valuable, but untapped, audience.”
In addition to the lawsuit filed today against Meta, Attorney General Bonta has an ongoing investigation into TikTok for harm to young people associated with the use of its platform. On March 5, 2023, he filed a brief amicus curiae supporting efforts to compel TikTok to produce subpoenaed materials and evidence. The investigation is ongoing.
The states joining today's federal lawsuit against Meta are Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Florida is filing its own federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
They are joined by the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah and Vermont, which have filed related actions in state courts.
In a letter, Sheriff Christina Corpus calls for changes in the police profession, “I believe that the police profession needs change. Change must come from within, and change must be led from the top and reflect the input of the communities we serve.” Photo: P360P archive
San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus gave an account of the efforts made by the Sheriff's Office for the entire community, through a letter issued by social networks, where he also highlighted the importance of a profound change in the police profession.
Corpus, who took office as San Mateo County sheriff in January of this year, said in the letter open to the public that since his arrival at the agency, progress has been made in efforts to engage deeply with the diverse communities in the area.
“In the 23 years I have served in the Sheriff’s Office, I have dedicated myself to finding ways to serve people beyond our initial contact. I love our county and care deeply about it,” Corpus said.
In addition to the creation of CARE (Community Advisors for Responsible Engagement) in the North, South and Coastal areas of the county, which already has 49 volunteers, Corpus recalled quarterly meetings to discuss in-depth and provide new perspectives on issues such as data collection, mental health, operations, equitable policing, homelessness and crime trends.
“CARE was not intended to replace any ‘oversight’ mechanism, but rather to be a safe place where everyone is welcome and has the opportunity to ask questions, contribute ideas, and offer recommendations to the Sheriff’s Office. In addition, I share how we do things and why we do them,” she said.
However, she noted that, “rather than focusing on what we find problematic about some forms of oversight, I want the community to know what we support and what we are already doing without the need for formal, ineffective and costly bureaucratic layers.”
In that regard, he said that the estimated costs associated with supervision exceed $3.2 million, which hinders the programs and resources available to the communities served by the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office.
In this regard, he pointed out that beyond the key concepts of transparency, commitment to the community and responsibility, a change is needed at the core of law enforcement.
“I believe the law enforcement profession needs change. Change must come from within, and change must be led from the top and reflect input from the communities we serve. Our vision at the Sheriff’s Office is a world where all humanity is valued and respected. Where everyone is heard, and everyone is treated with dignity, compassion and respect. It is my inherent duty to you to lead that effort, not only for our community but for our profession. The law enforcement profession needs change, and it is my intention for the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office to be a model for that,” he said.
Sheriff Corpus explained that the way forward for modern policing requires a culture shift, as well as the inculcation of a culture in which the purpose goes beyond mere enforcement of the laws.
“Our purpose is to protect the vulnerable from harm and to do so with compassion, dignity and respect. We cannot compromise the safety of our communities,” he said.
“I hope they understand not only what we do, but also how and why we do it,” Corpus said, noting that she is willing to create and foster open lines of communication and accountability with the community she serves.
Personnel crisis, the challenge to solve
Like many other agencies in the Bay Area and across the country, he said, staffing and retention pose significant challenges.
The personnel crisis has become a complicated problem for security agencies across the country. Currently, he stressed, there is a shortage of 96 officers to meet the daily security challenges in the county.
“It is only through the incredible efforts, sacrifices and sense of duty of our staff that we can continue to provide excellent services throughout the county,” he said.
However, he explained that when he researched oversight models across the country and accessed data from the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (NACOLE), he was not presented with a successful oversight model that benefits the community and ensures public safety.
“Bay Area agencies with supervisory models in place are burdened by trying to recruit the best candidates, while also dealing with rising crime rates and exponential added costs in responding to supervisory demands.”
That’s why, she said, she’s looking to improve resources to engage with the community and integrate input into meaningful change. “I look forward to working with the county to increase resources dedicated to the community to ensure their voices and views are heard.”
He also said that modern policing skills are gained through communication, input, compassion and care, not supervision. “A culture supported by those values embraces the community at a deeper level.”
“As your elected Sheriff, I leave you with our mission statement that inspires what we do and why we do it: As stewards of our community, we envision a world where all humanity is valued and respected. We recognize our role as leaders in this effort and are committed to seeking creative and effective ways to work with our residents, businesses and stakeholders and to listen to their needs. We do this with a passion for preserving safety for all who live, visit or work in San Mateo County. The women and men I lead in this organization choose to serve you and provide you with a sense of security, which is what we will continue to do,” she concluded.
The lawsuit stemmed from letters threatening doctors in Santa Clara County with a strike over stalled contracts and unsustainable working conditions. The settlement includes requiring the county to retract threatening statements made by its executives and require training on California labor laws.
A long-running dispute between Santa Clara County and its doctors appears to be over.
Santa Clara County has reached a settlement of an unfair labor practice charge with Valley Physicians Group, a union that represents more than 450 physicians in the county's health care system.
The complaint stemmed from letters threatening unionized doctors with a strike over stagnant contracts and unsustainable working conditions. The agreement includes requiring the county to retract threatening statements made by its executives and require training on California labor law.
Rachel Ruiz, president of Valley Physicians Group and a pediatric gastroenterologist at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, told San José Spotlight that the heart of the settlement is that the county acknowledges it is at fault for threatening doctors and must retract hostile letters sent by former county executive Jeff Smith, chief medical officer Phuong Nguyen and Paul Lorenz, CEO of Santa Clara Health & Hospital System.
“Coming out of the post-Smith era, I think (the settlement) is a win for both sides,” Ruiz told San José Spotlight. “We want to move forward, but also make it clear that… we’re going to speak up and stand up for what’s right, our rights protected, and we won’t tolerate bullying.”
Smith, who oversaw the dispute among emergency department doctors, proved a controversial figure during his 13-year tenure. Doctors and other VMC workers said the executive was tone-deaf and did not understand their needs.
A spokesman for Lorenz directed questions to the county executive's office.
James Williams, the county executive who replaced Smith in July, told San José Spotlight that he looks forward to working closely with the county’s unionized physicians to financially improve the public health system and continue to expand quality and access to care.
“It was a challenging negotiation for both sides, and this (agreement) is part of getting past that and moving in a really positive direction,” Williams told San José Spotlight. “The issues that were happening then are just not relevant today and hopefully won’t be in the future.”
The county reached an agreement with Valley Physicians Group last October, just days before its unionized doctors planned to strike. Ruiz said the contract that added standardized pay raises is an improvement for doctors working on the front lines during the COVID-19 pandemic, but more needs to be done.
“We are a safety net hospital system,” Ruiz said. “We want fair wages … (we also) want to be able to advocate for our patients and help them get better access to health care. I think we’re still fighting for that.”
In March, emergency department physicians won another victory. The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors approved a new five-year management contract with San Jose-based Emergency Physicians Associates Management Corporation. The company already provides similar services at the county's two other hospitals, O'Connor and St. Louise Regional. VMC physicians fought the county over renewal of their existing contract with US Acute Care Solutions. The physicians claimed US Acute Care Solutions put profits ahead of patient care.
Ruiz said some departments are not accepting new patients. Whether it’s because of staff shortages or “culture” issues, she would like to see the county work with doctors to address the situation.
“We have doctors leaving all the time,” Ruiz said. “Why are they leaving? … How can we make clinics and hospitals run more efficiently? With James Williams, we hope we can be part of the solution.”
Mariposa Park is a new neighborhood park, located at the corner of Havana Dr. and Midfield Ave., it has 0.15 acres with a playground, tables, benches, landscaping, irrigation, and an open area for gatherings. Image: X @sjparksandrec
This Tuesday, from 12:00 to 13:00, Mariposa Park, a new neighborhood park in District 7, in San José, will be inaugurated.
The space, located at the corner of Havana Dr. and Midfield Ave., has 0.15 acres with a children's play area, tables, benches, landscaping, irrigation and an open meeting area.
The name “Mariposa Park” reflects the mural on the adjacent Highway 101 sound wall, titled “The Butterfly Dream,” by Bay Area muralist Morgan Bricca.
The development of this park was made possible through the advocacy of LUNA and members of the District 7 community.
The Open Space Authority provided a $250,000 grant and Caltrans' Clean California Beautification Program provided an additional $500,000 to fund this new public space along the state highway system.
Join the City of San José Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services Department, Councilmember Bien Doan, community members and partner agencies as they unveil a new park in the Tropicana-Lanai neighborhood.
Associations dedicated to caring for different communities seek to create spaces for healing, coexistence and understanding for anyone,
In the United States, many cultures coexist on a daily basis, which is why many caregivers have taken action on their own initiative to care for and protect different communities. These caregivers have implemented different ways of being heard through innovative projects.
The United States is a country with a large number of migrants, according to the census estimates, are more than 45 million people, 13.6 percent of the nation's population. In 2021, it was estimated that 10.7 million Mexican immigrants lived in the U.S., however, there was also an increase in immigration from other countries such as India and China, According to the Migration Policy Institute (MPI)(see the following table).
Over time, different associations have emerged that are dedicated to caring for different communities, a very important role, as they seek to create spaces for healing, coexistence and understanding for any person, as experts pointed out during a conference held by Ethnic Media Services where they asked to value the work carried out by the caregivers of any individual or community.
Neeta Patel is the interim executive director of Asian Americans United, and she explained that works to care for communities that are at risk and that have prevailed for more than 150 years thanks to social struggles.
Across the country, he said, these communities are at risk of disappearing due to large investment projects that seek to extract economic benefits rather than help people.
"We create intergenerational coalitions to show how low-income, non-English speaking communities can come together with other allies, multiracial coalitions to form the front line against the displacement that is impacting communities.", he commented.
For her, it is very important to continue fighting for spaces that give rise to communities, as well as to fight against the narratives of developers who aim to create investment spaces, displacing people.
Kalani Tonga-Tukuafu, director of Pasifika Enriching Arts of Utah (PEAU), PIK2AR's arts and culture division, outlined some of the data collected during her project, where included a survey for caregivers, it was revealed that 50 percent have no formal training, while 38 percent of them are between 35 and 45 years old.
During the project, a group of people were selected and interviewed. to understand, from the inside out, how xenophobia affects people. Among the topics of greatest interest to the association was the creation of a community with greater inclusion and transparency that would generate trust between different social groups.
Benny Lai, executive director of communications and events for the National Asian Pacific Center on Aging, shared some audiovisual projects that have been implemented since the beginning of this year, which seek to bring communities closer and allow them to better understand them by changing narratives. These are 14- to 15-minute episodes that show the struggles of some caregivers and what they have to face on a daily basis.
The aim is to generate empathy and understanding with other people. The project focuses on promoting this initiative so that other communities adopt it, since it is necessary to focus on the techniques and information of the caregivers in order to project their feelings, showing the needs of each community, including their particular concerns and traditions.
Lai also stressed that work is being done to address the language problem, as the project must be translated into several languages so that it can reach more people and thus achieve the expected impact by changing narratives and the way caregivers are seen and understood.
Dianara Rivera is part of the Asian American Resource Workshop, where they help people with migration issues, community issues, and more. Recently, she said, she worked on a project called A Love Letter to the QTAPI Community, where the goal was to create healing spaces for people to be able to tell their stories and be heard without fear of being judged.
This is an example of the workshops taught at the Asian American Resource Workshop association. She is from southern India and through art she shows her ideas and thoughts, it is a way of representing herself.
Jessica Eckerstorfer is co-founder and director of the artistic community of Paranoid Tree Press, an organization with more than a thousand members that focuses on sharing encouraging stories with adults and seeks to preserve their life stories as a great cultural legacy for future generations.
The most important thing for this organization is the preservation and collection of stories “by us and for us,” Eckerstorfer stressed.
"Work is being done to create spaces for healing through visual art. A project was presented in which 17 people participated and told their stories, and 20 older people and 20 emerging artists joined.", he explained.
This activity is part of the Paranoid Tree Press artistic community projects, through this poster of paper notes people expressed their emotions at different historical moments in their lives and society.
Specialists agree that the struggle to protect the different communities is difficult and tiring. However, it is necessary to continue giving voice, hope and encouragement to those who do not feel valued, so we will continue working together to make society more aware of the great work that caregivers do.
Samantha Woll, president of a Detroit synagogue, was stabbed to death on Saturday, October 21, in her home. No evidence has emerged to suggest that the crime was motivated by anti-Semitism. Photo: Facebook Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue.
The boss of the Detroit Police Department (DPD), James E. White, reported that the death of Samantha Woll, president of a synagogue in that city, who was stabbed to death last Saturday, October 21, in her home, indicated that, so far, no evidence has emerged to suggest that this crime was motivated by anti-Semitism.
Through social media, he explained that DPD investigators are working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to forensically analyze all the information obtained so far.
This, he said, was in an effort to determine the timeline that ultimately led to Woll's death.
He also said that people with information that could help the investigation move forward are being interviewed.
White asked the community to be patient as investigators continue their work.
"Everything possible is being done to close this matter," he said.
According to a DPD statement, authorities received a call Saturday morning that a person was lying on the ground unresponsive. Upon arrival, officers found Woll's body with numerous stab wounds and a "trail of blood" leading to her home, where the crime is believed to have taken place.
Samantha Woll was pronounced dead at the scene.
Following the tragic discovery, Michigan Attorney General, Dana Nessel, said on her X account that she was shocked by the case and acknowledged Woll's work.
“I am shocked, saddened and horrified to learn of Sam’s brutal murder. Sam was the kindest person I have ever met. She was driven by her sincere love for her community, state and country. Sam truly used her faith and activism to create a better place for all,” she wrote.
The Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue in downtown Detroit, where Woll served as board president, issued a statement of deep regret on its Facebook page.
“We are shocked and saddened to hear of the unexpected passing of Samantha Woll, Chair of our Board of Directors. We do not have any further information at this time, but will share it when it is available. May her memory be a blessing,” he said.
Although the police are not calling it a hate attack, many see it as a strong guide to clarifying the facts, as the attack took place in the midst of a war between Israel and the extremist group Hamas.
On Saturday, October 21, an inmate was found dead at the Maguire Correctional Center. This is the second body found inside the penitentiary in just a few days.
Correctional officers assigned to the Maguire Correctional Center discovered a dead inmate in his cell after he failed to respond to calls from authorities. This is the second body found in just a few days inside the facility.
On Saturday, October 21, at approximately 9:18 p.m., correctional officers found a 34-year-old white male alone in his cell and unresponsive. He was discovered as part of hourly checks staff conduct to ensure the well-being and safety of incarcerated individuals.
Once discovered, prison officials immediately began life-saving measures by administering CPR until medical personnel, who are located inside the facility, arrived, the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.
Unfortunately, the individual was pronounced deceased at the Maguire Correctional Facility by the Redwood City Fire and EMS Department, authorities said.
Detectives of the San Mateo County Sheriff, the District Attorney's Office, and the Coroner's Office were notified and responded to the scene.
In this regard, it was reported that the three agencies are carrying out independent investigations to determine the cause of death.
While initial information so far suggests the cause of death was suicide, the final decision will be made by the Coroner's Office once it has completed its examination and investigation.
It was explained that, out of respect for the privacy of his family, the name of the deceased will not be revealed until notifications have been completed.
However, the report detailed that the incarcerated person was housed in the Behavioral Health Unit, which offers educational programs, extended out-of-cell time and evidence-based clinical programs to treat serious mental illnesses.
“Residents who were previously unable to successfully function in a group setting are given increased opportunities to socialize, integrate, and receive clinical and programmatic support. Correctional Health Services and the Sheriff’s Office also work closely with San Mateo County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services and community partners to design comprehensive release plans for each BHU participant.”
In this regard, the authorities asked for understanding that these investigations are exhaustive and take time to be carried out correctly and that, once the investigation is completed, they will be completely transparent and will publish any additional information through press releases and social media.
“The death of anyone in our care impacts our entire organization as we take great pride in caring for our communities. Our employees who responded and provided life-saving measures are receiving peer support resources as incidents like this have a profound impact on the mental well-being of our employees.”
This publication was supported in whole or part by funding provided by the State of California, ayou administeredred by the 
