News

By Marjorie Hernandez

August 17, 2023 | 5:43pm

Brazen bay-area burglars were filmed making a series of smash-and-grabs from a line of parked cars in broad daylight — with no sign of any police response.

Completely unbothered by bystanders, the Lexus-driving criminals went along the line of cars near San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Warf smashing windows and pillaging the contents before moving onto the next, as captured on video by a reporter from local TV station KTVU.

One of the vehicles targeted by the burglars even had a person sitting in the back, but he still snatched the victim’s bag before taking off.

“It’s called ‘bipping and boosting,’” San Francisco Police Lt.Tracy McCray told The Post, referring to the slang term for the smash and grab incidents which are plaguing the Bay Area.

“It really exploded during the pandemic so much so that someone told me that the sidewalks are glistening and sparkling [with glass from windows] where cars are broken into left and right.

Wild video from a user submitted to KTVU shows thieves breaking into car after car in San Francisco. The crime is called bipping and it is plaguing the city. via KTVU

The crime is called bipping and it is plaguing the city. via KTVU

“The infuriating part is the brazenness of it has gotten off the chain. They don’t even try to hide what they are doing anymore.”

Day-time vehicle break-ins have become so common in San Francisco neighborhoods such as the Alamo Square and Japantown that Supervisor Dean Preston called for a hearing to address the city’s bipping epidemic, according to the San Francisco Standard.

Preston, who has voted in the past against law enforcement-based policies, said San Francisco city officials have made “no progress” on the persistent break-ins.

“Residents continue to deal with broken car windows, stolen possessions, and shattered glass on the streets and sidewalks, while visitors are left with trauma, financial loss, and less-than-ideal memories of their visits,” Preston said in a statement.

The brazen thief peers through a car window to see what’s worth stealing via KTVU

The man then smashes another car window and grabs a backpack via KTVU

San Francisco had nearly 1,670 car break-ins in the past 30 days, according to the latest data tracked by the San Francisco Police Department. There has been nearly 10,000 thefts from vehicles in the city so far this year.

Tourist areas such as the North Beach Neighborhood, Japantown and Presidio are the San Francisco neighborhoods with the highest break-ins per 10,000 residents.

Signs can be seen throughout the city warning residents and tourists alike not to leave anything inside their cars, but that has not deterred criminals.

A car with broken window is seen in Alamo Square in San Francisco on August 9, 2023. Car break-ins have been at epidemic levels throughout the Bay Area. Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Police take information from a tourist couple whose car was smashed and belongings were stolen in Alamo Square of San Francisco on Aug. 9, 2023. Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

A safety alert sign that says ”Prevent Crime” is seen near the Palace of Fine Arts as car break-ins have been at epidemic levels in San Francisco.Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

McCray, who is the vice president of the SFPD union, said the break-ins have added to the crippling effect of the doom loop has had on the entire city, which has seen dozens of businesses shutter since 2021.

McCray said while there are undercover police who track the break-ins, there are still not enough resources because the department is also struggling to keep up with regular calls for service and incidents involving fentanyl and other drug overdoses.

There is also the risk of putting the public in danger should the brazen burglars speed through residential and tourist areas, she said.

A homeless man sleeps by the former location of Old Navy on Market Street in San Francisco on Aug. 16, 2023. Many retailers are citing homeless problems and other challenges of operating in Downtown San Francisco and contemplating whether to remain open.David G. McIntyre for NY Post

McCray added, “When we do make an arrest for a break-in, the problem is, they are released almost immediately on their own recognizance and they go right back out there and do it again. A lot of them even have ankle monitoring bracelets and they still don’t care. There’s that complete disregard because they know they will just get away with it.”

Ty Vinson, owner of Super Auto Glass, said business has been booming since the pandemic because of the surge of bipping incidents. He said residents, tourists, rental car companies and dealerships have been calling his business nonstop.

He said about 20% of glass replacements are windshields and the other 80% are other windows in the vehicle.

“We even have some customers call us two or three times a week,” Vinson said. “There’s people who have told us that they have our number on their speed dial.

Safety alert signs are seen near the Golden Gate Bridge as car break-ins continue to increase in San Francisco.Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

“It’s good for our business but it is very sad because we don’t like to see our communities like this. This shouldn’t be happening with this frequency.”

McCray said residents have been so frustrated by the thefts that they leave notes for would-be burglars.

“People are even leaving notes on their car saying, ‘Hey, I have nothing inside. Just don’t break my window.’ It’s really sad to think about that because you just want to come in and enjoy the city, but you have to worry about something like that happening.”

A homeless encampment is seen in Tenderloin District of San Francisco pictured on June 6, 2023.Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Vinson said he has grown frustrated by city leader’s inaction. While on a recent call to replace a customer’s broken-in window in San Francisco, he saw another smash and grab incident happen directly across the street.

“This doesn’t just happen in San Francisco, and unfortunately, it’s happening all across the Bay Area,” he said. “If they do get arrested, they are back on the street the next morning because they aren’t being held in jail.

“I feel like the residents and business owners, have become the cleanup crew. The city leaders and people in power have to understand that what they are doing is also creating a problem. You can’t just let people off because it lets them know it’s OK to continue to do these crimes.

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Amid plans for biotech, research and development, and new housing, sometimes it’s good to celebrate the long-anticipated construction of a new Safeway.

That’s exactly what South San Francisco officials did Tuesday as they gathered alongside commercial developer SteelWave and Safeway leaders at the construction site located on El Camino Real and South Spruce Avenue.

The multiuse development at 180 El Camino Real will feature a 64,000-square-foot Safeway and approximately 10,000 square feet of ancillary retail space, according to a press release. The project plans to include 184 apartments and a biotech campus in addition to the Safeway and retail space.

The lot has been vacant for nearly 10 years and has been an eyesore for the community. Councilmember James Coleman hopes the new site reinvigorates the community.

“It’s really an example of what the future in the Bay Area could be like, a transit-oriented development that has housing, jobs, retail and a supermarket. It’s really community oriented and it’s going to have an immense impact,” Coleman said.

The Shops at Tanforan in San Bruno is nearly half a mile south from the site, with plans to develop a biotech space and 1,000 units of housing.

South San Francisco Mayor Mark Nagales said that the community has been asking for a new Safeway.

“I remember when I was on the Planning Commission and we had other iterations of the project and it didn’t pan out but SteelWave stepped up in a big way, and I am really excited about prospects of a new anchor in the community,” Nagales said.

It’s going to be a great project in revitalizing the neighborhood, he added.

The project is close to another life-science development a few blocks away with 28.5 acres comprising 2.8 million square feet over six buildings. It will feature a biotech campus, residential units, retail spaces and a park planned to be completed by 2030.

Kevin Lovell, Safeway senior vice president of operations, said that the project is exciting knowing how many years it took to redevelop the site and because Safeway had a store on the property years ago, when he was the district manager and was forced to close the store.

“Knowing we had a store on this property that was dear to us and important to the community, I look forward to the journey ahead,” Lovell said.

Council member Mark Addiego hopes the new site will open up more possibilities in the future for the city.

“It’s quite possible that this new Safeway is going to be a catalyst for commercial change along the El Camino Real, which is long overdue,” Addiego said.

Currently, there are not many stores for the neighbors along El Camino Real to shop, he added.

“The success of this location might add some additional interest in parcels that are under-utilized right now, along the El Camino,” Addiego said.

SteelWave Managing Director, Ben Yu anticipates the project to be completed early 2024.

nick@smdailyjournal.com

(650)344-5200 ext. 105

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Dive Brief:

• Australia-based firm Lendlease has begun construction on its largest investment in North America: a $1.15 billion, 47-story mixed-use tower in San Francisco.
• 30 Van Ness, located in the city’s Hayes Valley neighborhood, will encompass 290,000 square feet of office and retail space along with 333 condominium units and is designed to Achieve net zero emissions during construction and ongoing operations.
• Designed by SCB Architects with anticipated LEED-Platinum certification, the all-electric building will be complete in 2025, according to a release. Len lease is the property’s developer, builder and owner.

Dive Insight:

The demand for office space has cratered across the country since the COVID-19 pandemic led many workers to pivot to remote work. In San Francisco, the vacancy rate for offices is more than 20%, according to The Real Deal.

Nevertheless, Lendlease said it is bullish on providing “next-generation” workplaces in major cities across the globe.

“With few other projects of this scale planned, we believe now is the right time to launch this long-term vision to deliver a global best-in-class asset of the future,” said Mark Dickinson, managing director of development for Lendlease Americas , in the release.

The building’s office space will feature outdoor terraces, open floor plates, 14.5-foot floor-to-floor heights and energy-efficient dynamic glass. It will also include touchless access throughout, ionic air purification in elevator cabs and a high-performance HVAC system with MERV-15 filters and 100% outside air capability.

The condos at 30 Van Ness will include Studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans in an average size of over 1,000 square feet. Twenty-five percent of the units will be designated as affordable and reserved to be sold below market rate to households meeting designated income thresholds, the release said.

Clarification: This story has been updated to reflect the correct value of the project.

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Dive Brief:

• Australia-based firm Lendlease has begun construction on its largest investment in North America: a $1.15 billion, 47-story mixed-use tower in San Francisco.
• 30 Van Ness, located in the city’s Hayes Valley neighborhood, will encompass 290,000 square feet of office and retail space along with 333 condominium units and is designed to Achieve net zero emissions during construction and ongoing operations.
• Designed by SCB Architects with anticipated LEED-Platinum certification, the all-electric building will be complete in 2025, according to a release. Len lease is the property’s developer, builder and owner.

Dive Insight:

The demand for office space has cratered across the country since the COVID-19 pandemic led many workers to pivot to remote work. In San Francisco, the vacancy rate for offices is more than 20%, according to The Real Deal.

Nevertheless, Lendlease said it is bullish on providing “next-generation” workplaces in major cities across the globe.

“With few other projects of this scale planned, we believe now is the right time to launch this long-term vision to deliver a global best-in-class asset of the future,” said Mark Dickinson, managing director of development for Lendlease Americas , in the release.

The building’s office space will feature outdoor terraces, open floor plates, 14.5-foot floor-to-floor heights and energy-efficient dynamic glass. It will also include touchless access throughout, ionic air purification in elevator cabs and a high-performance HVAC system with MERV-15 filters and 100% outside air capability.

The condos at 30 Van Ness will include Studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans in an average size of over 1,000 square feet. Twenty-five percent of the units will be designated as affordable and reserved to be sold below market rate to households meeting designated income thresholds, the release said.

Clarification: This story has been updated to reflect the correct price of the project.

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Construction of 30 Van Ness in San Francisco is expected to be complete in 2025.

SAN FRANCISCO — Lendlease, a global investment firm headquartered in Australia, has broken ground on 30 Van Ness, a $1.1 billion mixed-use tower that will be located in between San Francisco’s Hayes Valley and Mid-Market districts. The price tag represents Lendlease’s largest investment to date in the Americas. Completion is slated for 2025.

Designed by SCB Architects, the 540-foot-tall building will consist of 333 residential condominiums and 290,000 square feet of office and retail space. The property’s 38 stories of residential space will be constructed atop the nine-story podium that will house the office and retail components.

Residences will come in studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans and have an average size in excess of 1,000 square feet. About 25 percent of the units will be reserved as affordable housing, specific income requirements for which were not disclosed. The 10th floor of the building will house residential amenities.

Each level of office space will offer outdoor terraces and dynamic glass that lowers energy usage throughout the building. In addition, the site’s event and retail space will open into a public plaza at the northeast corner of Market and Van Ness streets. This space will be used to host both public performances and private events.

Lendlease is developing 30 Van Ness with numerous health and wellness features and concerns in mind. In addition to targeting LEED Platinum certification, the building will feature touchless entry and exit mechanisms, ionic air purification systems in elevators and MERV-15 filters in the HVAC systems . Lendlease also expects to achieve net zero emissions during construction and subsequent operations.

“This flagship project signifies our commitment to creating the next-generation workplace of the future in great locations within world-class cities,” says Mark Dickinson, managing director of development for Lendlease Americas. “With few other projects of this scale planned, we believe now is the right time to launch this long-term vision to deliver a global best-in-class asset of the future.”

—Taylor Williams

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Casali breaks through at the plate, keeps line moving for Giants originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea

SAN FRANCISCO — Curt Casali has everything you could want in a good backup catcher. He is as prepared as anyone on the roster, has a strong rapport with the entire pitching staff, calls a good game behind the plate and fits in perfectly in the clubhouse.

But the Giants did not sign Casali two years ago because they just wanted to keep the pitchers happy when Buster Posey got a day off. At times in Tampa Bay, and in two of his three years in Cincinnati, Casali was above league-average on a per-at-bat basis, but the Giants have yet to really see that version.

After a 9-2 win over the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night, Casali said he felt “helpless” at the plate last season. He made light of his lack of slugging, particularly to the opposite field.

“I think I had a triple last year but that was an accident,” he said.

Last year’s lack of success at the plate could be viewed as the result of offseason wrist surgery, but Casali came into camp this year healthy and in tremendous shape. The results still weren’t there — until Tuesday night.

Casali had three of the Giants’ 12 hits, driving in a pair of runs and raising his average 61 points. He also had a walk while seeing 20 pitches in four plate appearances at the bottom of the lineup.

“It felt really good,” he said. “You know, it hasn’t been the best start to the year offensively for me but I feel lately I’ve been having better at-bats. It’s nice to barrel up a couple of balls the other way — I don’t think I did that once last year. The body feels good, the wrist is healthy. Hopefully, there’s more to come.”

If there is, in fact, more to come, Casali could find himself swinging some of the playing time behind the plate in his favor. Joey Bart has been good defensively but has gotten off to a rough start at the plate, and Casali now has three starts in the last six games. He said that helped him find a rhythm.

Story continues

The contributions on Tuesday were particularly important because they kept the line moving, which is how this Giants lineup is built. With a universal DH, manager Gabe Kapler has used his catchers in the no. 9 spot most nights, and it’s a big deal when they can turn the lineup over and get an RBI situation to a leadoff hitter like LaMonte Wade Jr. or No. 2 hitter Brandon Belt.

“This is not to take anything away from anybody, obviously, but you can see how valuable it is to have very competitive at-bats at the bottom of the lineup to turn the lineup over,” Kapler said. “This is something that Joey is capable of. It’s something that Curt is capable of.

“In Cincinnati, we saw quite a bit of this (from Casali). We saw it from time to time last year and certainly the best version of Curt was a good offensive player in Tampa. That’s why we identified him as a good partner for Buster and why we thought he would be a successful partner for Joey Bart this season.”

Casali has ended up in both games in this series. With the Giants leading 5-2 in the sixth inning on Monday night, Kapler sent Joc Pederson up to hit for Bart with the bases loaded. A day later, Kapler said he was hoping to extend the lead and allow some key pitchers in the bullpen — most notably closer Camilo Doval — to catch a breather. Pederson ended up hitting a sac fly while batting for Bart, who has 32 strikeouts through 57 at-bats.

“There’s no more than meets the eye here,” Kapler said of Bart. “I don’t want to complicate it: He’s swinging and missing a lot.”

RELATED: What we learned as Giants beat Rockies, win fourth straight

The Giants need both of their catchers to have quality at-bats at the bottom of the lineup. Casali has had plenty of career at-bats with a pitcher behind him, but when he’s in the lineup now, the job is to get it to the top of the lineup.

“With the DH, I can just kind of get back to what I normally would do and try to drive the baseball and put together a competitive at-bat,” he said. “It’s a lot different. I would say I like it a lot more.”

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San Francisco Bay is famous worldwide for the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz and many of the tech companies that ring its edges.

But increasingly, scientists and political leaders are realizing the bay is more than a scenic wonder: It’s also an increasingly serious threat to millions of residents and hundreds of billions of dollars of bay front property — from neighborhoods to freeways to airports — as seas continue their slow but relentless rise.

On Thursday, state, federal and local leaders broke ground on the latest effort to reduce that risk, kicking off a $545 million project to protect San Jose’s shoreline against winter flooding and rising sea levels from climate change.

The project, led by the Army Corps of Engineers, will construct four miles of engineered earthen and clay levees 15 feet high near Alviso and restore 2,900 acres of former Cargill industrial salt evaporation ponds back into tidal wetlands, which helps slow wave energy in storms and provides habitat for fish and wildlife.

The new levees will replace old dirt berms that are 6 to 10 feet high, offering more protection from flooding for areas north of Highway 237, including key facilities such as the region’s wastewater treatment plant, rail lines and the homes of 5,500 people.

“Climate change is real,” said Colonel Antoinette Gant, division commander with the US Army Corps of Engineers regional office in San Francisco. “That means there has to be changes. We can’t do the same things we have done for years and years. We’ve got to continue to make progress.”

San Francisco Bay has risen by 8 inches in the past 100 years, according to the tidal gauge at Fort Point under the Golden Gate Bridge and other instruments. As the planet continues to warm, melting ice caps and expanding the volume of sea water, scientists project bay waters will rise another 1 to 2 feet by 2050 and 5 to 7 feet by 2100.

“We’ve built megacities of the world on coasts,” said Gary Griggs, a distinguished professor of earth sciences at UC Santa Cruz. “We didn’t think of sea level rise 100 years ago, and now we are having to pay the price. Whether it is Jakarta, or Miami or San Francisco, they all have the same problems.”

The South San Francisco Bay Shoreline project, which has been hamstrung by cost overruns and delays, is the latest major effort to deal with the increasing flood threats around the bay. Others include a $5 billion project to rebuild the massive seawall along San Francisco’s Embarcadero from Fisherman’s Wharf to the Giants ballpark, where flooding is increasingly common during big storms; a $587 million project to build higher levees around San Francisco International Airport to keep the runways from flooding during high tides and storms; and a $4 billon proposal to raise Highway 37 in the North Bay.

The South Bay project celebrated Thursday is divided into three massive phases.

Construction on the first half of Phase 1 is expected to continue until January 2024. Levee work will extend from Alviso Marina County Park to Artesian Slough near the San Jose-Santa Clara Regional Wastewater Facility, a plant that serves 1.4 million people in eight cities and is at high risk of flooding.

Like New Orleans, the community of Alviso sits below sea level from over pumping of groundwater generations ago that caused the ground to sink. It has flooded multiple times in the past 75 years.

The second half of Phase 1 will increase flood protection from Artesian Slough east to Coyote Creek. It is on hold while construction planning, access points, haul routes, staging and easements are still being worked out.

The project is a partnership between the Army Corps, the Santa Clara Valley Water District and the state Coastal Conservancy. Planning is underway for Phase 2 and Phase 3, which eventually will provide similar flood protection north to Sunnyvale, Mountain View and Palo Alto sometime after 2030, likely at a cost above $1 billion.

The South San Francisco Bay Shoreline Project has three phases. Plans call for raising levees, restoring tidal marshes and taking other steps to boost flood protection amid sea level rise in the coming decades. A groundbreaking was held Thursday April 14, 2022 for work on Phase 1 near Alviso.

Environmental groups say the project is critically needed. But they have criticized the Army Corps of Engineers for moving too slowly. The Corps first agreed with the water district on the project in 2005.

“The project is essential,” said David Lewis, executive director of Save the Bay, at an environmental group based in Oakland. “The only problem is that it has taken so long and gotten so expensive.”

Lewis said that regional planners, led by the Bay Conservation and Development Commission, a state agency, have not done enough to coordinate bay front development and flood protection with cities and the nine counties in the Bay Area. Also, tech companies, including some of the wealthiest in the world whose headquarters will benefit from the flood protection, such as Google, have not contributed to the costs.

The Bay Area is farther ahead in addressing sea level rise than many other regions of the world. But the costs are expected to be immense.

Of the $545 million price tag for Phase 1 of Thursday’s project, $124 million came from the federal government, $61 million came from Measure AA, a $12 a-year parcel tax passed by Bay Area voters in 2016 for flood control, and the rest is the water district’s responsibility. The price tag tripled from original estimates several years ago after the Army Corps underestimated the cost of the levee materials and the prices went up.

But for officials Thursday, finally seeing heavy equipment on the waterfront was a cause for celebration.

Dick Santos, an Alviso native whose home flooded three times since the 1950s, said the work was a long time coming.

“I wish my dad was here to see it today,” Santos said. “He would be pleased.”

SAN JOSE, CA – APRIL 14: Construction equipment for the South San Francisco Bay Shoreline Project is photographed along Pond A12 at Alviso Marina County Park on Thursday, April 14, 2022, in San Jose, Calif. The first half of phase 1 of the flood control project is scheduled to be completed in January 2024. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)

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Pixar’s newest feature, “Turning Red,” which debuts Friday on Disney+ and in local theaters, is a groundbreaker in more ways that one.

“Turning Red” director Domee Shi had been working as a storyboard artist at Pixar when she made her directing debut with the 2018 “Bao,” a strange and wonderful short film about a mother raising a steamed dumpling like a son.

When it came to working on her first feature, Shi discovered that there were major differences between shorts and features. Shi and her producer, Lindsey Collins, both Bay Area residents, recently spoke with The Examiner during a screening of the film at the Castro Theater.

“At first, I thought it’ll be like ‘Bao,’ but just a little longer,” Shi says. “Wrong! Yes, longer, but the stakes are higher, the crew is bigger, the story is more complicated. It’s more unpredictable. Things are happening on top of each other.”

Not only did “Bao” win an Academy Award for Shi, but it was also the first short Pixar film directed by a woman. Now “Turning Red” becomes the first Pixar feature to be directed solely by a woman; 2012’s “Brave” was co-directed by Brenda Chapman.

It’s also the second Pixar feature with an Asian character in a major role. (The first was “Up” in 2009.)

The movie depicts the Chinese-Canadian culture in which Shi grew up. Shi explains that, before moving to the Bay Area, she was born in China, and lived briefly in Newfoundland (“it was so cold!”) before moving to Toronto, where her mother attended college.

“It was so normal for me,” she says. “I always loved how multicultural it was. I never felt like a token, or an other. I felt ‘othered’ in other ways, like being nerdy and fat, but not being Chinese. I was grateful for that experience, and I wanted to share that.”

Another fresh aspect of “Turning Red” is the depiction of what Shi calls “girl puberty.” In the movie, we meet 8th grader Mei, who is great at school, has three “besties” and loves the pop group 4-Town. She also loves, but is often frustrated by, her mother, who pushes her to perfection.

Then, one day she wakes up, and she’s an eight-foot red panda!

“I don’t think I’ve seen many movies that really explore girl puberty, with all of its messiness and taboo-ness. I just remember this time of my life, being such a rollercoaster of emotion,” she says.

“I wanted to impress my mom and I wanted her love, but I was also fighting with her every single day,” she continues. “And suddenly I woke up one day, and I had completely changed overnight. There was hair everywhere, I was huge and I was hungry all the time.”

Meilin, right, in big red panda form. (Courtesy Disney/Pixar)

The casting of Mei is yet another unusual aspect of “Turning Red.” Since Pixar films are in production for many years, the studio starts with temporary actors, usually people on staff or close by, who can record at a moment’s notice. Then, when things really get moving, the professional actors with the busy schedules can be brought in.

Collins and Shi decided they needed to cast an actual kid in the role, to give it an authenticity. After listening to auditions by many local actors, they found Rosalie Chiang.

“She was so charming,” says producer Collins. “She was 12 at the time, and she had a little bit of a lisp in her voice. She was weirdly confident…she just wasn’t polished. We worked with her for a year, and she started to inform the character. She WAS this girl, growing up, right in front of us.”

When the time came to cast the role for real, Collins and Shi were already on the same page.

“We just kind of looked at each other, ‘Do we even want to look at anyone else?’ One of our best days ever, what being able to offer her the job. We captured it on camera. We did read a fake script and did it on camera. She started to cry,” says Collins.

“It was the beginning of COVID, so I couldn’t hug her,” Shi remembers sadly.

Another casting coup for the film was 93-year-old James Hong, as wise old Mr. Gao, who tries to help remove Mei’s panda curse. Hong is one of the most prolific English-speaking actors of all time, with well over 600 film and TV credits, including local productions like “Big Trouble in Little China” and episodes of “The Streets of San Francisco” and “Nash Bridges. ”

Even though they only met Hong over Zoom, Collins and Shi were “starstruck.” They speak excitedly together: “He was so cool. He’s a total pro. He had two thermoses, for tea and water. As soon as we started rolling … I don’t know where this energy came from. He’s inexhaustible. He was ad-libbing, so funny. He wanted to take a selfie. He was telling us stories about his first gigs. And he sent a thank you afterwards. He types all in caps!”

“Killing Eve” star Sandra Oh was also an essential voice, performing the character of Mei’s mother, Ming.

“Ming is a tricky character,” says Collins. “You could see her coming off more arch or stereotypical or not likable. And Sandra came in and was able to ground her in a warmth and humor. She had this ability to switch on a dime from being at ’11’ to being very loving.”

In addition to Shi, Collins, and Chiang, another Bay Area resident proved essential on “Turning Red.” Playwright Julia Cho came to Northern California to work with Collins on a Pixar project that never saw the light of day.

“Pixar is not an easy place for a writer,” says Collins. “We’re weird. It takes forever. There’s always endless notes. It’s such a collaborative environment. You have to work with the story department. A lot of writers are like, ‘who’s idea was this?’”

“But Julia’s great,” Collins continues. “She’s a playwright, so she’s used to workshopping. She’s not precious.”

Cho magically fit right in to the Pixar environment, and when Collins introduced her to Shi, they clicked.

“Both of us are very close with our moms and we both have Asian backgrounds,” says Shi. “She’s down to work fast and make mistakes, which is my style too. We bonded over writing Mei because we both felt so close to her.”

Cho also helped Shi create Mei’s trio of “besties”… all except Abby.

“Abby is literally just inspired by my real-life friend,” says Shi. “She’s short, cute on the outside, but she’s a demon powerhouse with an incredible scream-o karaoke voice who will defend you in a bar fight.”

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STANISLAUS COUNTY, Calif. (KTXL) – Detectives are searching for additional victims of a handyman who allegedly broke into the home of a Stanislaus County woman on Friday morning and sexually assaulted her.

Around 7:30 a.m., a woman reported being woken up by someone at her home, the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office said.

The woman told deputies a masked man armed with a pistol walked into her bedroom, the sheriff’s office reported. He then tied her up, choked her, and sexually assaulted her.

15-year-old girl arrested in Idaho in connection with a July shooting that killed a teenage antelope

Before leaving, the masked man stole the woman’s ATM card and threatened her, telling her not to call the police once he left.

The sheriff’s office said detectives with the Crimes Against Persons Division determined the suspect was 40-year-old Jose Luis Ramos Rivera, a handyman who had worked for the woman for several months.

When hiring Rivera, the woman snapped a photo of his ID, which the sheriff’s office said “helped his arrest on the same day he committed the crimes.”

Rivera was committed to the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center and faces multiple charges including robbery, home invasion, and assault with intent to commit rape.

Stanislaus County detectives said they believe Rivera may have more victims. They have asked anyone who has been or knows a victim to call Detective V. Esquivez at 209-567-4466. You can also submit an anonymous tip by calling Crime Stoppers at 209-521-4636 or by going to www.stancrimetips.org.

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