ANTIOCH (CBS SF) — At around 7:30 p.m. Monday evening, a vehicle struck a three-year-old child near the 2600 block of Somersville Road in Antioch, officials said.

The incident happened near the Sears building off Somersville and Delta Fair Roads. A citizen reported that the struck child was not breathing after performing CPR.

Contra Costa County firefighters responded to the scene and requested a medical helicopter to fly down to the Sears lot, as well as two fire engines.

A witness told KPIX 5 that the vehicle barreled through the parking lot at a high speed when the child and her parent were coming out of the Sears store.

The scene of the accident in near Sears in Antioch. (Photo courtesy of Clayton Rougelot)

However, they decided to cancel the helicopter and resort to ground transportation only, making it easier to further attempt CPR. The child was transported to a nearby hospital.

Antioch Police confirmed the child died at the hospital.

Investigators determined drugs and alcohol not to be a factor in the incident. The driver remained on scene and cooperated in the investigation.

ALAMEDA (KPIX 5) — Every three minutes someone is diagnosed with a blood cancer; and the family of a Bay Area four-year-old worries she may be one of the next.

Norah Gratz-Lazarus was recently diagnosed with a rare genetic disease called Fanconi anemia, which – if untreated – increases her risk of leukemia or bone marrow failure to 90 percent.

The good news: there is a cure for blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma. The bad news: “We found out last week that there were no matches in the system,” explained Zachary Gratz-Lazarus, Norah’s Dad.

Struggle to Find A Match

While National Marrow Donor Registry does have 30 million donors worldwide, finding a match is rare.

Minority and mixed-race populations, like Norah who is Ashkenazi Jew, are underrepresented in the registry. Be The Match reports that black patients have about a 23 percent chance of finding a match, Hispanic or Latino patients have a 46 percent chance, and while Caucasians make up a majority of the donors, even white patients only have a 77% chance of finding a marrow match.

Adding to the struggle, half of the potential donors who do sign up on the registry are ultimately decline to donate when asked.

“It’s honestly Heartbreaking,” said Gilbert Martinez of Be the Match. “Because for most individuals, you only get one match.”

Martinez explained, unlike matching one of the 8 blood types, matching marrow tissue is much more complex due to the sheer genetic diversity in each ethnic group. “There are roughly about 42 trillion variations.”

Like Norah, 70 percent of patients don’t have a match in their own family. However, Norah’s doctor at UCSF says the solution is simple. “If you increase the number of people in the registry, the likelihood of finding a match is going to increase,” explains Kristin Shimano M.D.

The Norah Needs You Campaign

While Norah doesn’t need bone marrow right now, she likely will in a few years. So her parents have made it their mission to increase donors on the registry with their “Norah Needs You” campaign.

Their Alameda synagogue is targeting outreach to Ashkenazi Jews, since that will increase the likelihood of finding a compatible match for Norah. However, her family stresses that they want people of all races and ethnicities to sign up through their campaign. Her parents point out that even if you aren’t a match for Norah, there are thousands of others out there right now waiting for a match.

“It’s kinda like winning the lottery,” Norah’s dad explains. “The more tickets that are out there the more likely some is going to have those numbers.”

As of mid December, the “Norah Needs You” campaign signed up nearly 1,000 people. However, Norah’s birthday is one week away and between now and then more than 3,000 people will be diagnosed with blood cancer, treatable only if they find a match.

Norah’s family has now increased their goal is 10,000 new signups.

How Easy is Donating?

The process to sign up is simple: sign up online and Be The Match sends you a kit. Then simply swab and send it back.

As for the actual donation process, Be The Match says it is less invasive than it use to be and easier than most people think. Donors are generally in and out of the hospital the same day.

In some cases they can gather the necessary cells from a  vein in your arm, in other cases they must withdraw liquid marrow. However, they say the marrow draw itself is painless and recovery is described as a dull ache similar to soreness after a workout.

California law mandates your employer give you up to five days paid leave to donate bone marrow and Be the match covers any and all costs associated with donation.

Norah’s parents are now lobbying California lawmakers to introduce a law similar to one that was just passed in Washington State. It mandates that the DMV provide information about the bone marrow registry to anyone applying or renewing a driver’s license. Though, Norah’s family the would like to see something more robust here.

They note, if little Norah’s website can sign up a thousand people in a few weeks, image how many potential donors the state could add to the registry with wide-spread outreach and information.

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — A man accused of forcing his way into a 99-year-old woman’s apartment in San Francisco’s Chinatown on Monday and trying to sexually assault her made his first appearance in court Thursday afternoon.

Surveillance photo of man suspected of sexually assaulting an elderly person in San Francisco on December 31, 2018. (SFPD)

Teandre Howard Kidd, 26, of San Francisco has been charged with burglary with intent to commit sexual assault, burglary and elder abuse for the alleged New Year’s Eve incident at the North Ping Yuen apartments at 838 Pacific Ave.

During his arraignment Thursday, Howard Kidd, who is being represented by the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office, pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Prosecutor Jennifer Frost requested that Judge Raymond Arata hold Howard Kidd without bail, calling him a “significant flight risk.” Arata, however, set Howard Kidd’s bail at $250,000.

According to prosecutors, on Monday afternoon, Howard Kidd, who was on parole from Alameda County for a vehicle theft charge, knocked on the victim’s door and, when she answered it, he pushed her and forced his way into the home.

He then went into the bathroom, where he washed his hands. When the elderly female victim confronted him, he again apparently pushed her and lay down on her bed.

He then allegedly exposed himself to her before pulling down her pants and pushing himself up against her. The victim alleged she was in pain and she tried to push him away from her.

At that point, Howard Kidd pulled up his pants and left the apartment, according to court documents.

The victim later alleged to police that she was terrified that he would have raped her.

Using surveillance video from the victim’s apartment complex, police investigators were apparently able to obtain footage of Howard Kidd knocking on the victim’s door and entering her home.

The following day, officers spotted Howard Kidd in the city’s Tenderloin neighborhood and arrested him in the 200 block of Jones Street on suspicion of burglary, assault with intent to commit rape and elder abuse. He was also arrested in connection with an outstanding battery warrant for an unrelated battery offense, police said.

According to prosecutors, Howard Kidd initially denied being at the victim’s home but later admitted to investigators that he was there. He also allegedly claimed that he had met the victim before and indicated that the victim wanted to have sex with him.

Howard Kidd also allegedly denied exposing himself to her but admitted to groping her private area. He also allegedly said that because the victim didn’t say anything, he assumed it was consensual.

Prosecutors said Howard Kidd has a considerable criminal history that includes convictions for carrying a concealed firearm in a vehicle and evading an officer.

Howard Kidd is expected back in court Friday morning.

© 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. and Bay City News Service. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed

SACRAMENTO (CBS SF) – Calling paper receipts a waste, a Bay Area lawmaker has introduced a measure that would require California businesses to issue receipts to consumers electronically.

Assemblymember Phil Ting (D-San Francisco) has introduced AB 161, also known as the “Skip the Slip” bill. If approved, the measure would require businesses to issue e-receipts by 2022, unless a customer specifically requests a hard copy. Electronic receipts would be issued by email or by text.

Ting unveiled his proposal at a news conference at the Capitol on Tuesday. A staffer wore a large receipt that detailed why the bill was needed.

“Most of us don’t need a physical receipt for every transaction. It doesn’t make sense to kill so many trees and produce 12 billion pounds of carbon emissions, the equivalent of one million cars on the road, to make something we don’t often need,” Ting said in a statement.

The San Francisco lawmaker cited a study from the environmental group Green America, which claims up to 10 million trees and 21 billion gallons of water in the U.S. are used to create receipts every year.

Along with the environmental impacts, Ting also noted that many receipts contain chemicals such as bisphenol-A and bisphenol-S, which have been linked to developmental and neurological problems.

If approved, businesses that do not comply would receive two warnings before being fined up to $300 per year.

Ting’s proposal follows a newly enacted state law that bars full-service restaurants from automatically giving out plastic straws. California has also banned single-use plastic bags, which was upheld by voters in a 2016 referendum.

According to Ting’s office, committee hearings on AB 161 are expected to begin this spring.

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — A little-noticed rule would likely prevent the president from delivering a State of the Union address on Jan. 29, despite an invitation from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Before the president can address a joint session of Congress, both the House and Senate have to pass a concurrent resolution setting the date and time of the address. So far, no such resolution has been passed for the 2019 speech.

Still, on Sunday the president tweeted, “Nancy, I am still thinking about the State of the Union speech, there are so many options – including doing it as per your written offer (made during the Shutdown, security is no problem), and my written acceptance. While a contract is a contract, I’ll get back to you soon!”

It is true that on Jan. 3, the day Pelosi was sworn in as speaker, she invited the president to deliver his State of the Union address on Jan. 29. (Jan. 3 was thirteen days into the shutdown.) A few weeks later, citing the shutdown, Pelosi requested that the president delay his speech or deliver it in writing, a practice that was common prior to Woodrow Wilson’s presidency.

Today’s tweet indicates that the president believes that Pelosi’s 3 invitation and his acceptance create some kind of contract or right to deliver the speech on Jan. 29.

According to Donald Ritchie, former Senate Historian, the president cannot address the joint session of Congress unless both the House and Senate endorse a concurrent resolution. In other words, Pelosi’s Jan. 3 invitation is not adequate to permit the president to deliver the State of the Union speech.

There’s a long history of Congress being wary that the president might try to dominate the legislature by repeatedly showing up to give speeches, so the rules about when the president can come and speak are fairly strict.

For example, in June 1986, when President Ronald Reagan requested permission to address the House of Representatives on a particular bill, House Speaker Tip O’Neil denied the request “consistent with the doctrine of separation of powers and the precedents of the House.”

Instead, O’Neil directed Reagan to get approval of both the House and Senate to address a joint session of Congress; in other words, set up a State of the Union address.

If President Trump does not get permission to deliver a State of the Union address, could he speak somewhere else in the Capitol? Perhaps. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) has said the Senate might host.

But a speech at another location would lack the pomp and audience of the official address in the chamber of the House of Representatives. The House was chosen as the site for the State of the Union addresses because it is large and can hold all members of the House and Senate, Supreme Court Justices, Cabinet Members and guests.

Even a speech in the Senate chamber would be more limited.

Still, at this rate, even if all parties agreed to a Jan. 29 State of the Union address in the House chamber, it may not be possible. Preparation for such a large event takes months and between the shutdown and uncertainty surrounding the date of the speech, a last minute decision to the original date could be unworkable.

WOODSIDE (CBS SF) — San Mateo police arrested a woman who entered a home and grabbed a resident’s cell phone before starting a live stream of the crime on Sunday, police said.

The suspect, identified as Akilah Hasan, entered a residence on the 500 block of Rocky Way in Woodside around 3:30 p.m. Sunday afternoon, according to police. Once inside, Hasan went up to the second floor, where she found a resident of the home.

Akilah Hasan (San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office)

Hasan grabbed the victim’s phone and began a live stream of the in-progress crime on social media. Hasan began to verbally rant on the live stream while walking around the home. Detectives said that Hasan was inviting people to the home for a party through the live stream.

Police said that at one point, she stripped down to her undergarments and walked out into the home’s backyard.

Once Hasan walked outside, the victim in the house locked her outside before calling the San Mateo Sheriff’s Office. She was arrested by deputies and booked into San Mateo County Jail for felony residential burglary and robbery.

Officials could not immediately confirm if alcohol or drugs were factors in the crime.

San Mateo police cautioned residents to keep their doors locked at all times and to report suspicious behavior or people to authorities.

Anyone with further information about the crime is encouraged to call the anonymous tip line at 1-800-547-2700.

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — The Bay Area will be well-represented by stars in Atlanta for Super Bowl LIII on Feb. 3.

The Los Angeles Rams beat the New Orleans Saints 26-23 in the intense and controversial overtime NFC Championship game on Sunday afternoon. Helping pave the way during the nail-biting game were three of the team’s Bay Area stars: QB Jared Goff, CB Marcus Peters and RB C.J. Anderson.

Goff (Novato, Marin Catholic High School) and Anderson (Vallejo, Jesse Bethel High) are both former Cal Golden Bears. Marcus Peters (Oakland, McClymonds High) went up north to Washington to play college ball.

The young Rams will face another Bay Area native with far more experience in the Super Bowl: San Mateo’s own Tom Brady (Serra High) and the Patriots beat the Kansas City Chiefs right after the Rams won.

KPIX 5 spent time with Jared Goff’s family members as they watched his win from the Bay Area. They said the moment was surreal.

“I just said, ‘Oh my God, I’m crying, I’m so excited for you. I can’t believe it,'” said his aunt Debbie Shurtz of San Rafael. Debbie Shurtz and her husband Steve were regulars at Goff’s Cal games, where he had a rough 1-11 start.

“1-11 was tough, but he sucked it up and persevered through it, and he does that at every level that he’s needed to, and just never count him out,” said Steve Shurtz.

Goff’s grandparents John and Gail Goff watched him play sports from a young age, when he was a standout.

“He was very competitive and humble, very humble. It’s like and he always did a team effort with all his growing up, like with Marin Catholic, Pop Warner, it was not all about him–it was it about the team,” they said together.

The 17-year age gap between Goff (24) and Brady (41) is the largest between two opposing quarterbacks in Super Bowl history.

“He deserves it, he has been working so hard his whole life striving to be really good at sports,” said Debbie Shurtz.

SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) — Hunger got the best of three suspects who originally evaded police but were then spotted and arrested at a taco shop.

The pursuit began at the Best Buy in San Rafael. The suspects allegedly used a stolen credit card there that set off a chase on Highway 101 toward San Francisco.

The CHP helicopter flew in and tracked them to a taco shop in the Sunset District.

Police swooped in and made the arrests.

The three suspects have been booked into Marin County Jail on several charges

Vern Glenn spoke to Tom and Galynn Brady in San Mateo after their son advanced to his 9th career Super Bowl.

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — After keeping it hidden for years, California’s Department of Public Health has released a draft document outlining health officials’ concerns about cellphone radiation exposure.

UPDATE 3/13/17: A Superior Court Judge ruled that the “document advising the public of the risks associated with Cellular Phones” is not a draft. She ordered the state to release an unaltered version of the public record without the text that it added indicating the document was a “Draft and Not for Public Release.”

The previously unpublished document was released this week after a judge indicated she would order the documents be disclosed in the case Moskowitz v. CDPH.

Joel Moskowitz, Ph.D., who is the director of the Center for Family and Community Health at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health, sued the state in 2016 under the California Public Records Act to get the document released.

The document is dated April 2014, but Moskowitz says the document was originally prepared seven years ago and updated several times, but never released to the public.

ALSO READ: Berkeley’s Cellphone Radiation Warning Law Disputed Before Appeals Court

He previously told KPIX 5 why he decided to sue the state.

“I would like this document to see the light of day because it will inform the public that there is concern within the California Department of Public Health that cellphone radiation is a risk, and it will provide them with some information about how to reduce those risks,” Moskowitz.

The two-page document, which the Department of Public Health first emailed to the San Francisco Chronicle on Thursday afternoon, looks like any other fact sheet released by the state, except that this one has, in big bold letters “Draft and Not for Public Release” stamped across the pages.

ALSO READ: Court: California Officials’ Emails On Private Accounts Are Public Records

Among the information in the document, which is titled simply, Cell Phones and Health, are summaries of scientific studies that suggest long-term cellphone use may increase the risk of brain cancer, among other health problems.

The draft fact sheet states that radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (EMFs), a type of radiation, are emitted from cellphones and that because they are “used frequently and kept close to the head and body, cellphone EMFs can affect nearby cells and tissues.”

In the draft fact sheet, state health officials list their recommendations for members of the public who wish to reduce their exposure to the radiation emitted from cellphones, but state that as more studies are done the recommendations on the fact sheet may change.

ALSO READ: San Francisco Signs Immigrant Protection Memo With Mexican Consular General

Health officials’ overall recommendation is to “increase the distance between you and your phone” by using a headset, the speaker phone function and text messaging. Health officials recommend not sleeping near your phone and not carry it in your pocket or directly on your body, unless it is off.

The fact sheet also states that “EMFs can pass deeper into a child’s brain than and adult’s” so suggests parents limit their child’s cellphone use to texting, important call and emergencies.

But there are also some in Silicon Valley who say the science doesn’t support the fact sheet. David Witkowski leads Joint Venture Silicon Valley’s Wireless Communications Initiative and says “it’s very weak on details, references to existing peer-reviewed journals and studies…”

Moskowitz, however, is not yet satisfied.

He said with the release of the document, the CDPH has violated the Public Records Act, saying it “stamped new lettering in huge dark letters across the face of the document,” essentially creating a new document rather than producing the document as-is.

Moskowitz says, “that lettering states that the document is ‘draft and not for public release’ when the judge’s tentative ruling stated exactly the opposite — that the document was not a draft, and must be publicly released.”

By Hannah Albarazi – Follow her on Twitter: @hannahalbarazi.

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – A car owner was targeted in a case of political vandalism in San Francisco over the weekend.

Vandals placed a Make America Great Again bumper sticker on a car in the City’s Portola District before they vandalized it.

On Sunday, the owner found the words “NAZI” and “KKK” spray painted on his car.

In addition to that, the car’s tires were slashed.

The owner told KPIX 5 he has filed a police report.

SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) — A San Francisco jury Friday ruled in favor of a former Benicia Unified School District groundskeeper who claimed the chemical glyphosate – contained in the popular herbicide “Roundup” – caused his cancer.

The jury ordered that Roundup manufacturer Monsanto pay Dewayne “Lee” Johnson, who is suffering from terminal non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, nearly $290 million in damages. The breakdown was $819,882 for loss of past earnings; $1,403,327 in future earnings; $4 million in past non-economic losses and $33 million in future non-economic losses.

When it came to punitive damages, the jury awarded Johnson $250 million of the $373 million he had sought.

“This jury found Monsanto acted with malice and oppression because they knew what they were doing was wrong and doing it with reckless disregard for human life,” said Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a member of Johnson’s legal team. “This should send a strong message to the boardroom of Monsanto.”

Johnson told the court that during his four years as the groundskeeper at the school district, he sprayed 150 gallons of Roundup 20-30 times a year. On the stand, he described what he called his careful use of the product.

“I figured if it could kill weeds it could kill me,” said Johnson. “I took it seriously. That’s why I wore anything I could to protect myself.”

He described two days where he ended up accidentally drenched in the herbicide. He called Monsanto’s consumer hotline, but said the company never called back.

“They could have called him back. It’s a phone call. They could have said there’s studies that show its related to cancer, but they didn’t call him back,” said Johnson’s attorney Brent Wisner.

Following the verdict, Scott Partridge, a Monsanto vice president, issued the following statement: “We are sympathetic to Mr. Johnson and his family. Today’s decision does not change the fact that more than 800 scientific studies and reviews – and conclusions by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. National Institutes of Health and regulatory authorities around the world – support the fact that glyphosate does not cause cancer, and did not cause Mr. Johnson’s cancer. We will appeal this decision and continue to vigorously defend this product, which has a 40-year history of safe use and continues to be a vital, effective, and safe tool for farmers and others.”

Jurors were shown some difficult pictures. Johnson’s cancer has caused him to develop lesions over 80 percent of his body. He spoke in court about how the lesions tore into his self-confidence, embarrassed his children, and kept him from going out in public.

“One of the issues in this case is the jury has to decide how has cancer affected his life and I think this goes straight to the heart of it,” said Wisner.

Johnson said the case has forced him to come to terms with his mortality. The case had been expedited because of his poor health.

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — An E. coli outbreak linked to romaine lettuce, triggering a nation-wide warning not consume the leafy vegetable, has been tracked to a farm in Santa Barbara County, federal health officials announced Thursday.

In a conference call, officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said E.coli had been discovered in the sediment of a water reservoir used to irrigate the Adam Brothers Farms in the Santa Maria Valley.

But they added there may be other sources and the investigation was continuing.

Officials said a ban on romaine lettuce harvested after November 23rd from Ventura, Santa Cruz and San Luis Obispo counties farms has been lifted, but an advisory remained in effect for lettuce grown in Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Barbara counties.

Other growing areas, for example Florida, Mexico and the desert growing regions near Yuma and Imperial County, Riverside County do not appear to be related to the current outbreak.

“What we are seeing is there are multiple distributors and multiple processors and multiple farms that show up in the various legs of that traceback and they don’t all lead back specifically to this farm,” said Dr. Stephen Ostroff, Senior Advisor to the FDA commissioner. “We are not in position to conclude that this the only location that may have been involved in the outbreak.”

Federal health officials said seven additional cases of E.coli infections have been reported since December 6, bringing the total to 59 cases from 15 states and the District of Columbia since the outbreak was first reported in early October.

Illnesses have been reported in 15 states: California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Wisconsin.

Twenty-three people have been hospitalized, including two people who developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a type of kidney failure. No deaths have been reported.

“We expect to see additional illnesses reported due to the 2- to 3-week time period from when a person gets sick to when it is reported to CDC,” official said in a release last week.

Some romaine lettuce products from the Central California Coast are now labeled with a harvest location by region. Check bags or boxes for a label to confirm where it was grown.

If the romaine lettuce is not labeled, health officials said, do not buy, serve, sell, or eat it.

The Public Health Agency of Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency are also coordinating with US agencies to investigate a similar outbreak there.

In Canada, there are 27 illnesses under investigation, according to the Public Health Agency, which continues to advise residents in Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick to avoid eating romaine lettuce and salad mixes containing romaine unless consumers can identify where it came from.

People with symptoms of an E. coli infection, such as severe stomach cramps, diarrhea and vomiting, who think they might have gotten sick from eating romaine lettuce, should talk to their doctor and report their illness to the health department.

If you have further questions about this outbreak, please call the CDC media line at (404) 639-3286 or email media@cdc.gov. If you have questions about cases in a particular state, please call that state’s health department.

© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

CONCORD (CBS SF) — The Concord City Council is set to decide Tuesday night whether to continue evaluating a proposal from a Walnut Creek developer calling for an 18,000-seat soccer stadium, a convention center, a hotel and other amenities on a long-vacant parcel downtown near the Concord BART station.

The council is set to decide Tuesday whether to sign an “initial exclusive negotiating agreement” with Hall Equities Group LLC for that firm’s proposed on mixed-use soccer-specific stadium, hotels, a convention center, apartments and retail/commercial space.

This agreement would open the way for formal studies of the project’s feasibility (including market studies) and projected fiscal impacts of the project.

The project could cost $750 million and might require significant financial help from the city.

Hall Equities Group is headed up by Mark Hall. Hall is also CEO of Hall Sports Ventures, acquired the rights for a United Soccer League (USL) Division 2 franchise for the Oakland East Bay area.

Hall said the project would occupy land now owned by the city (once owned by the city’s now-dissolved Redevelopment Agency) as well as some BART-owned property around the downtown Concord station.

In May, Hall said the Sacramento USL franchise routinely sells out the 11,500 seats at its Cal Expo stadium. He also said soccer’s popularity in central Contra Costa County is growing, and that he expects the team would be a regional draw.

The City Council took its first action related to Hall’s stadium proposal last May, when the council voted 3-2 to and agreed to pursue “advanced exploration” of Hall’s stadium/hotel/retail plan, with no assurances beyond that.

In May, council members Laura Hoffmeister and Tim McGallian voted against proceeding with Hall’s proposal. McGallian cited concerns about downtown traffic problems and whether funding it would require sale of the city’s Concord Pavilion performance venue. Hoffmeister said she was concerned about whether the city’s infrastructure could handle the stadium and the rest of the proposed project.

© Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

SAN JOSE (KPIX 5) — Construction is set to begin on the long-awaited BART to downtown San Jose extension. Work crews will start doing some preliminary work on East Santa Clara Street, causing some lanes and sidewalks to be blocked.

Crews will be drilling into the ground to take soil samples where the new BART tunnel and underground station will be located.

“I don’t want the sidewalks and crosswalks to be blocked off, ” said downtown San Jose resident Susan Soheili. Soheili uses a walker to get around, but as a mass transit user, she also welcomes BART to her neighborhood.

“I would use BART to go places I’ve never been before. Such as the East Bay and San Francisco.”

The actual construction zone for the downtown BART station will be a compact area, right in the heart of downtown San Jose. The area ranges roughly from Market Street to 4th street. Most of the construction will be underground, but there will be large staging areas above ground on either end.

The Valley Transportation Authority, which is overseeing the BART project, says disruptions will be minimal. But Dimitri Louvi, who has owned The Dive Bar for a dozen years, is waiting to see.

“We don’t know what we have to face yet as businesses,” he said.

Nazish Khan, the owner of the Hot Grill, a restaurant that serves kabobs and burgers on Santa Clara Street, says she’s afraid the construction will be inconvenient for her customers.

“Less parking on the street. That’s my main, main, main concern,” said Khan. But she thinks BART will be good for business in the long run.

“The BART system would be good for any business, any city. It brings in people from long distance,” she said.

The first preliminary phase will last about seven weeks. Heavy construction is due to start in 2020, with project completion slated for sometime in 2026.

LANSING, Mich. (CBS SF / AP) — Mountain View-based Google’s self-driving car spinoff Waymo said Tuesday it will bring a factory to Michigan, creating up to 400 jobs at what it describes as the world’s first plant “100 percent” dedicated to the mass production of autonomous vehicles.

The company plans to spend about $13.6 million to retrofit a to-be-determined manufacturing facility in the Detroit area. In exchange, it will get a state incentive grant worth up to $8 million that was approved Tuesday by the Michigan Strategic Fund Board.

Waymo spokeswoman Alexis Georgeson said the company plans to hire up to 400 people to work at the factory, including engineers, operations experts and fleet coordinators. She said Waymo is looking for a site and hopes to open the plant in the middle of this year. A memo from the Michigan Economic Development Corp. says Waymo will create 100 jobs, with the potential for up to 400, and it chose Michigan despite a “high level of interest” from states in the Midwest, South and Southwest.

The company integrates its self-driving system into vehicles it buys from automakers and is currently testing autonomous Chrysler Pacifica minivans in a preferred rider program for passengers in the Phoenix area, but with human backup drivers on board. It plans to expand the service to the San Francisco area but has not given a time frame. Waymo previously announced plans to buy 62,000 Pacificas and 20,000 I-Pace electric SUVs from Jaguar.

Waymo, which has a 20-employee facility in the Detroit suburb of Novi where it tests vehicles in snowy weather, will put the new factory in Wayne, Oakland or Macomb counties, where the auto industry dominates the economy with thousands of jobs from U.S. and foreign-based automakers as well as parts supply companies.

“As we begin to commercialize our business and vehicle supply grows, we’re laying the foundation for a scalable, robust vehicle integration plan, starting in Michigan,” the company said in a blog.

Bryant Walker Smith, a University of South Carolina law professor who studies autonomous vehicles, said the announcement shows that Waymo, which was spun off from Google and is part of parent company Alphabet Inc., has plans to integrate itself into the existing auto industry.

“You can’t reinvent everything. Coming to Michigan in some ways is your complete recognition of that,” Smith said. “Michigan is where you go in the United States to be fully immersed in automotive culture and industry.”

Smith said Waymo will find abundant labor supply at a lower cost than in California, where it is now headquartered.

The announcement confirms that Waymo will use the Michigan factory to produce a large number of vehicles for ride-hailing services in many cities, Smith said. But it did not say when it will deploy the vehicles without human backup drivers.

“This is an announcement about a facility to be, and the cars that will come from that facility one day,” Smith said. “What this is is that Waymo plans to eventually expand. They’ve been setting that foundation for a couple of years now.”

© Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

BERKELEY (KPIX 5) – The Berkeley City Council is set to consider an ordinance that could change the face of takeout, by banning non-compostable containers and place fees on paper cups.

The council is expected to vote on the so-called “Disposable Foodware and Litter Reduction Ordinance” at Tuesday night’s meeting.

“I think this is going to be a great day. It may seem like small thing for a small city like Berkeley to do this, but I think it’s going to take off, and spark a movement nationwide,” said councilmember Sophie Hahn, who authored the proposed law.

According to Hahn, each of Berkeley’s 120,000 residents use about one disposable cup per day.

If the measure passes, by January 2020, to-go containers at Berkeley restaurants must be compostable. No disposable containers or utensils can be used while dining in, and customers will be charged a 25-cent fee for paper cups.

“It’s not a tax, there’s no requirement that it increase the cost of a beverage,” Hahn said. “It’s simply that a food establishment has to show the charge, so that you know that there is a cost for the container.”

Hahn said customers who bring their own containers would get that charge removed.

The council meeting is set to begin at 6 p.m.

By Norm Elrod

(CBS SF/CBS Local) — Golf season is upon us, though the weather may suggest otherwise in parts of the country. CBS Sports tees off its 2019 golf coverage with the Farmers Insurance Open this weekend from Torrey Pines in San Diego, where winter is little more than theoretical. Tiger Woods, winner of eight events here, is among the favorites, along with Jon Rahm and Justin Rose. Anticipation is high, as the legend looks to follow up on his surprisingly strong comeback season.

CBS Sports’ golf coverage continues up the California coast at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am two weeks later, followed by the Genesis Open in mid-February. Then it’s on to the Masters at Augusta to open the major season April 11-14.

The Network will broadcast a total of 17 PGA TOUR events in 2019, including the PGA Championship, now the season’s second major, in mid-May. The newly renamed World Golf Championships FedEx St. Jude Classic moves to late July. The calendar also includes the Memorial Tournament in early June, the John Deere Classic in mid-July, and the Northern Trust, which is the first round of the FedExCup Playoffs, in August.

The schedule may look a little different, but CBS Sports welcomes back its renowned announce crew in the 18th tower and along the course. Jim Nantz will anchor the coverage, with multi-major winner Nick Faldo serving as lead analyst. Gary McCord and Ian Baker-Finch will call the action from the 16th and 17th hole respectively; Peter Kostis and Dottie Pepper will check in from the course.

All CBS Sports’ coverage of the PGA TOUR, beginning with the Farmers Insurance Open, will also be available for live streaming with CBS All Access.

Here is the full schedule…

Farmers Insurance Open
Saturday, January 26 – Sunday, January 27
3:00-6:00 pm ET (Sat.)
3:00-6:30 pm ET (Sun.)

AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am
Saturday, February 9 – Sunday, February 10
3:00-6:00 pm ET (Sat.)
3:00-6:30 pm ET (Sun.)

Genesis Open
Saturday, February 16 – Sunday, February 17
3:00-6:00 pm ET (Sat.)
3:00-6:30 pm ET (Sun.)

The Masters
Thursday, April 11 – Sunday, April 14
11:35-11:50 pm ET (Highlights) (Thurs.)
11:35-11:50 pm ET (Highlights) (Fri.)
3:00-7:00 pm ET (Sat.)
2:00-7:00 pm ET (Sun.)

RBC Heritage
Saturday, April 20 – Sunday, April 21
3:00-6:00 pm ET (Sat.)
3:00-6:00 pm ET (Sun.)

Zurich Classic of New Orleans
Saturday, April 27 – Sunday, April 28
3:00-6:00 pm ET (Sat.)
3:00-6:00 pm ET (Sun.)

Wells Fargo Championship
Saturday, May 4 – Sunday, May 5
3:00-6:00 pm ET (Sat.)
3:00-6:00 pm ET (Sun.)

AT&T Byron Nelson
Saturday, May 11 – Sunday, May 12
3:00-6:00 pm ET (Sat.)
3:00-6:00 pm ET (Sun.)

PGA Championship
Saturday, May 18 – Sunday, May 19
2:00-7:00 pm ET (Sat.)
2:00-7:00 pm ET (Sun.)

Charles Schwab Challenge
Saturday, May 25 – Sunday, May 26
3:00-6:00 pm ET (Sat.)
3:00-6:00 pm ET (Sun.)

The Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide
Saturday, June 1 – Sunday, June 2
3:00-6:00 pm ET (Sat.)
2:30-6:00 pm ET (Sun.)

RBC Canadian Open
Saturday, June 8 – Sunday, June 9
3:00-6:00 pm ET (Sat.)
3:00-6:00 pm ET (Sun.)

Travelers Championship
Saturday, June 22 – Sunday, June 23
3:00-6:00 pm ET (Sat.)
3:00-6:00 pm ET (Sun.)

Rocket Mortgage Classic
Saturday, June 29 – Sunday, June 30
3:00-6:00 pm ET (Sat.)
3:00-6:00 pm ET (Sun.)

3M Open
Saturday, July 6 – Sunday, July 7
3:00-6:00 pm ET (Sat.)
3:00-6:00 pm ET (Sun.)

John Deere Classic
Saturday, July 13 – Sunday, July 14
3:00-6:00 pm ET (Sat.)
3:00-6:00 pm ET (Sun.)

World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational
Saturday, July 13 – Sunday, July 14
2:00-6:00 pm ET (Sat.)
2:00-6:00 pm ET (Sun.)

Wyndham Championship
Saturday, August 3 – Sunday, August 4
3:00-6:00 pm ET (Sat.)
3:00-6:00 pm ET (Sun.)

The Northern Trust
Saturday, August 10 – Sunday, August 11
3:00-6:00 pm ET (Sat.)
2:00-6:00 pm ET (Sun.)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A young couple from India who wrote a travel blog were intoxicated when they died in a fall from a scenic overlook in Yosemite National Park, according to an autopsy report released Tuesday.

Menakshi Moorthy, 30, and her husband Vishnu Viswanath, 29, each had intoxicating levels of ethyl alcohol, a substance found in most alcoholic drinks, the Mariposa County coroner said.

The report didn’t provide a blood-alcohol ratio.

Viswanarth’s tripod was later discovered on the edge of the overlook. His brother, Jishnu Viswanath said it appeared the couple died trying to take a photo.

Moorthy described herself and her husband as “travel obsessed” on their blog, “Holidays & Happily Ever Afters,” which was taken down Tuesday.

It had been filled with photos of the couple in front of snowy peaks and on romantic trips across Europe, where they took selfies from a gondola in Venice, at the Leaning Tower of Pisa and at the Vatican.

Moorthy described herself in the blog as a “quirky free spirit” and “an ardent adrenaline junkie — roller coasters and skydiving does not scare me.”

She once posed at the edge of the Grand Canyon wearing a Wonder Woman costume, writing, “A lot of us including yours truly is a fan of daredevilry attempts of standing at the edge of cliffs — and skyscrapers. But did you know that wind gust can be FATAL??? Is our life just worth one photo?”

Park rangers found the couple’s bodies in October 800 feet (245 meters) below popular Taft Point in Yosemite. The coroner found both died of multiple head and internal injuries caused by their falls.

A selfie taken at Taft Point in Yosemite National Park captures woman in the background who later fell to her death. (Sean Matteson)

Moorthy and Viswanath were born in India and had lived in the United States for a few years, most recently in the San Francisco Bay Area. Cisco India said Viswanath was a software engineer at the company’s headquarters in Silicon Valley.

Moorthy and Viswanath graduated in 2010 from the College of Engineering, Chengannur, in the Alapuzha district of India’s Kerala state, said Nisha Kuruvilla, one of their professors.

She said Moorthy and Viswanath were good students who were fond of traveling and had married at a Hindu temple in Kerala in southern India in 2014.

Viswanath Facebook cover photo shows the couple smiling, with arms around each other standing at a Grand Canyon precipice. “Living life on the edge,” he wrote.

Moorthy also blogged about depression. In a post from April, she apologized to readers for going silent and “disappearing for more than a year.”

“Between battling the tightening tentacles of depression and blustering in the tempest of moving madness, I am afraid social media is taking a back seat??” she wrote.

The couple’s pictures indicated they liked to pose in scenic spots at sunset, the last time they were seen alive.

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — A huge crowd from all over the Bay Area gathered in San Francisco Saturday afternoon for the Women’s March, a day after the inauguration of President Donald Trump.

By evening, the massive crowd was making its way down Market Street, in the rain. The official crowd estimate in San Francisco was 100,000, a number that rivals the march agains the Iraq War in this city, 14 years ago.

CONTINUING COVERAGE: Millions Join Women’s March Rallies Around California, Nation and World

The march started at 3 p.m. with a rally at Civic Center Plaza. People then headed down Market Street to Justin Herman Plaza near the Ferry Building Saturday evening.

Charlotte, a teenage girl from Cupertino, said she came up from the South Bay to participate “for my sister and my mother and myself.”

“It’s important to do this march now because I’m going to be 17 in two days and Trump is going to be the president when I am just becoming an adult,” she said. “I think the older generation still has a voice and should use that voice, but it’s also important for my generation to join in and speak up about what they think is right.”

Kathleen wore a pink “pussy” knitted hat with cat eyes and whiskers on it. Many at the various Women’s Marches taking place nationwide have sported similar hats, a reference to a 2005 video released during the presidential campaign in which Trump told an entertainment reporter about grabbing women by their genitals.

Sister Merry Peter from the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, an order of queer nuns, said sisters were marching in 38 cities nationwide Saturday.

“We’re here because women have always been with queer people in their struggles and it’s time to pay that back,” Peter said. “Today is the day our community has said that we have to have a rally to show that this election, while (Trump) may have won, he did not end the conversation.”

The San Francisco march was one of several that took place around the Bay Area, with others that started Saturday morning in Oakland, San Jose and Walnut Creek.

The crowd estimate in Oakland was 100,000 and in San Jose it was 25,000.

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