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Catch up on Bay Area news today, including police activity, PG&E power outages and warnings of big storms headed to the greater Bay Area.
An Antioch man was convicted of federal charges on Wednesday for being a felon in possession of firearm twice, according to prosecutors.
Timothy Jeffrey, 44, was found guilty of having a 9mm semi-automatic pistol and a loaded extended magazine when he was first arrested in Pittsburg in April 2023, according to a statement from Acting U.S. Attorney Patrick Robbins’ office.
Jeffrey did not show up to his trial and became a fugitive. He was found at a relative’s residence in Antioch in March 2024, according to Robbins’ office.
Another firearm was found when he was arrested the second time. He was accused of trying to sell it, based on evidence found on his cellphone. He was convicted of two felonies for already being a felon in possession of a firearm.
He is scheduled to return to court on May 28 for a sentencing hearing. He faces up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count, prosecutors said.
Valley Water CEO Rick Callender’s leave of absence has been extended indefinitely as the region’s largest water supplier continues its investigation into an employee’s misconduct complaint against him.
Callender was originally supposed to return to work between late March and early April. But the Valley Water board of directors voted Tuesday to place Callender on paid administrative leave until further notice.
Callender was previously on a leave of absence the agency described as “voluntary,” starting in December, after an employee filed a misconduct complaint against him. The nature of the complaint has not been publicly disclosed, and the board has declined to give details as the investigation continues.
One board director, Rebecca Eisenberg, has said publicly the complaint is about “sexual harassment” and that more employees have since filed complaints against Callender. This means Callender will need to make himself available for interviews during the investigation, even though Callender asked to be placed on administrative leave through his attorney.
“As my client approaches the conclusion of his sabbatical leave we write to ask that he be placed on paid administrative leave starting March 21, 2025 until August 1, 2025, or until the conclusion on any confidential investigations which may require his participation, and for information related to his claim to be discussed with Valley Water,” his attorney Lori Costanzo wrote on Feb. 25 to Valley Water’s lawyers.
Two juveniles were arrested by San Francisco police officers on Saturday on firearm-related charges, police said in a Wednesday press release.
Officers were flagged down in the 3200 block of 20th Avenue by someone who reported that a person had displayed a firearm in public. Police arrested two juveniles who they accused of fleeing from them as they canvassed the area nearby.
Police alleged that they found an AR style replica firearm and a ghost gun in the area.
One of the juveniles was cited for accusations of resisting arrest and displaying an imitation firearm in public. The other was accused of carrying a concealed firearm and resisting arrest. He was booked into San Francisco Juvenile Justice Center.
Strong winds and rain caused thousands of PG&E customers around the Bay Area to lose power on Wednesday, with the largest outages reported in Santa Clara County.
The city of Mountain View reported more than 10,000 customers without power just before 4 p.m.
That number had been reduced by about half by 5 p.m.
Most Mountain View customers had their power restored by 10 p.m., with PG&E still reporting about 1,500 customers without power in the city at that time, most near the Sunnyvale city limits. A separate pair of outages in Sunnyvale left another 2,000 without power as of 10 p.m.
Other, scattered outages near Cupertino and Campbell. A PG&E representative did not return a request for peak outage numbers late Wednesday.
The city of Rio Vista, in Solano County, had about 4,200 customers without power as of 10 p.m., according to PG&E’s outage map.
An outage in the Sebastopol area also left more than 4,000 customers without power late in the afternoon from storm related causes. That outage was resolved within a few hours.
Monterey County launched a new website Wednesday to provide more information about the recovery from two recent fires at the Moss Landing Vistra Energy battery storage facility.
The recovery process is broken down into three phases and is expected to take several years to complete, according to a press release from the county. The website can be viewed at https://www.readymontereycounty.org/recover/moss-landing-battery-facility-recovery-dashboard-2025.
Lithium-ion batteries at the battery energy storage facility caught fire on Jan. 16, causing nearby residential evacuations that were considered precautionary because of unknown hazards posed by the smoke. The battery fire reignited on Feb. 18 before dying back down.
Lithium-ion batteries can spontaneously combust through a process called “thermal runaway,” making their removal a challenge. The fire also left the building housing some of the batteries unsafe to enter, posing another obstacle.
Dozens of dentists and dental students stood behind Assemblymember Matt Haney, D-San Francisco, during a press conference Tuesday in Sacramento to show their support for a bill intended to enhance dental care accessibility and prohibit dental insurance companies from requiring out-of-pocket payments for covered services.
Assembly Bill 371 would mandate that dental insurance companies in the state provide enrollees access to in-network dentists within 15 miles of the patient’s residence or workplace. Existing law does not specify that dental insurance companies have to abide by distance parameters for care they cover.
It would also ban dental insurance companies from forcing enrollees to pay out-of-pocket for services covered in their insurance plan. That would prevent insurance companies from subsequently denying coverage for patients who seek services out-of-network, despite having insurance plans that are supposed to cover out-of-network care.
Current state law requires dental insurance companies to secure appointments for urgent care within 72 hours of request, non-urgent care within 36 business days of request, and preventative care within 40 business days of request.
AB 371 would shorten these time requirements to 48 hours for urgent care, 18 business days for non-urgent care, and 20 business days for preventative care.
Detectives from Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office arrested a Sebastopol man for allegedly having child pornography.
The department’s crime scene investigations unit received a tip in October regarding alleged online sexual exploitation of children. Detectives identified a residence in rural West Sonoma County, where online activity connected to child pornography alleged occurred.
Police identified 22-year-old David Gallagher as the suspect and arrested Gallagher during a March 11 traffic stop.
Armed with a search warrant, officers searched a home belonging to Gallagher in the 8000 block of Vulture Vista Lane in Sebastopol.
Gallagher was booked into Sonoma County Main Adult Detention Facility on suspicion of felony possession of child pornography. Gallagher has since been released, after posting $30,000 bail.
Federal authorities charged a Brentwood man with unlawful possession of a machine gun conversion device.
Officers arrested 21-year-old Noah Kanaye Bauer on Tuesday. He made his initial appearance in federal district court in Oakland later that day.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement that on Sept. 6, Brentwood police responded to a call regarding a man with a gun at a grocery store. Officers allegedly found Bauer with a 3D printed Glock firearm with no serial number.
During a search of Bauer’s home, police allegedly found a 3D printing machine, three 3D printed pistol frames, and a 3D printed machine gun conversion device. The complaint says machine gun conversion devices, also known as “switches” or “auto sears,” are for converting a semi-automatic Glock pistol into a fully automatic machine gun.
When Brentwood police asked Bauer what the devices were for, Bauer allegedly said “to make it shoot faster.”
Bauer’s next scheduled court appearance is March 17 for a detention hearing.
The National Weather Service forecast for the greater San Francisco Bay Area for Thursday calls for high chances of rain, showers and thunderstorms, with chilly and windy conditions.
Daytime highs will be mostly in the mid 50s on the coast, and low to mid 50s around the bay and inland. Overnight lows will be in the high 30s to mid 40s.
Forecasters say scattered showers and 20 to 30 percent chances of thunderstorms will continue into Thursday morning before declining through the afternoon. Heavy rains and small hail are possible, and there are also chances of snow across higher elevation through the morning.
Chilly temps are expected to continue with many lower elevated areas seeing high temps up to 15 degrees below seasonal averages. Breezy northwesterly winds are expected to develop during the afternoon, although they would not necessarily require a Wind Advisory.
From 11 p.m. Thursday until 9 a.m. Friday, a Frost Advisory will hang over interior Monterey County and the Santa Lucia Range, the Cholame Hills in southeast Monterey County, and Southern Salinas Valley/Arroyo Seco and Lake San Antonio.
Another weather system is expected to arrive Friday, with unsettled weather through the following week.