Five people were injured in San Francisco Wednesday when an AC Transit bus rammed into another AC Transit bus, crashed into an occupied vehicle, careened onto a sidewalk, and stopped between a high-rise building and some scaffolding, “narrowly missing” traffic light poles, police said.

The bus was traveling northbound near Fremont and Folsom streets at the time of the crash, which was reported around 9:25 a.m., Officer Robert Rueca told reporters.

The five people who were sent to area hospitals include the drivers of both buses, a bus passenger and a passenger in a private vehicle, according to AC Transit spokesman Robert Lyles. 

“We wanted to transport them as quickly as possible, knowing that the traffic in the area was going to get heavy and that their health was our biggest concern,” Rueca said.

One of the five victims appears to have taken themselves to the hospital at some point after the collision, Lyles said.

Passengers aboard the bus said the entire experience lasted between 15 and 20 seconds, but it felt like an eternity.

“We were crossing Folsom, and we felt a couple of sharp jolts and I thought maybe they were pumping their brakes,” said Dave Zemke. “But then we hit something really big.”

That big bump was another bus. The green vehicle only came to a stop after hitting the scaffolding of a building on the 200 block of Fremont Street.

See more

There is an AC transit bus on the sidewalk on Fremont St btwn.Folsom &Howard. Passengers tell me driver passed out, hit another bus and pole pic.twitter.com/TqFvvskRa8

— Sam Brock (@SamNBCBayArea) September 27, 2017

A commuter seated near the front of the bus said the driver appeared to be on the verge of passing out.

The driver “started coming down” the hill, Carrie Murphy said, “and you know how the buses line up, and there’s like a passing lane and she tried to ask one of the other bus drivers to let her in because she wasn’t feeling well.”

Rueca said that the bus didn’t hit any pedestrians on the 200 block of Fremont Street, otherwise the crash could have been much worse. 

“There was a gentleman who I was talking to that said he was walking down the sidewalk, looked back, saw the bus approaching and jumped into a planter and actually watched as the bus went over!” Zemke said.

Traffic in downtown San Francisco was “heavily impacted” for several hours because the buses couldn’t be moved until police officers had processed the scene of the collision, said Rueca.

For hours after the crash, crews removed the scaffolding above the bus one piece and pipe at a time. Two tow trucks were then needed to hoist the bus from the pavement. 

The crash closed the Fremont/Folsom Street and Harrison Street off-ramps from Interstate 80, but both have since reopened, Rueca said. As of around 4 p.m., the only remaining street closure was on the section of Fremont Street between Folsom and Howard streets.

Rueca said it is too early to comment on the cause of the crash. An investigation is ongoing.

AC Transit buses typically traverse the city “safely,” he said. “This is a rare occurrence.”

Lyles said AC Transit has collected video from the involved buses and is checking to see if any San Francisco city buses in the area have video that might be helpful.

“We’re very grateful that the injuries were limited, and that there weren’t more bystanders or pedestrians involved in this,” Lyles said. “We are investing considerable energy and effort into trying to ascertain exactly what happened.”

Lyles said that Fremont Street was cleared fairly quickly and buses on the popular Transbay bus line were able to regain access to the San Francisco terminal by around 1 p.m.

The post AC Transit Bus Crash That Injured 5 in Downtown San Francisco Is Below Investigation – NBC Bay Space appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — Two AC Transit buses crashed into each other near Howard and Fremont in San Francisco early Wednesday, injuring five people including both drivers, authorities said.

Click here to view related image.

San Francisco police spokesman Robert Rueca said police received the call reporting the crash at 9:22 a.m.

A bus traveling north on Fremont near Folsom collided with several vehicles, including another bus, then went onto the sidewalk and struck the scaffolding of a building, Rueca said.

The bus came to a stop on the 200 block of Fremont. He said the bus did not strike anyone on the sidewalk.

AC Transit officials said the two buses exited I-80 onto Fremont Street. One attempted to make a right turn onto Folsom Street. The second bus behind it should have been attempting to make the same turn, but lost control.

A total of five people were sent to area hospitals near the crash, including the drivers of both buses, a bus passenger and a passenger in a private vehicle, according to AC Transit spokesman Robert Lyles.

One of the five people appears to have taken themselves to the hospital at some point after the collision, Lyles said.

He also noted that neither driver has ever had any major issues.

“Each of the operators are experienced and have been with AC transit for a number of years,” explained Lyles. “There’s no indication there’s any problem with any of the operators.”

Video of the scene showed an AC Transit bus on the sidewalk, at least one light pole on the ground and a tree knocked over in the South of Market neighborhood. The front of the bus had crashed into a building under construction.

Danielle Marquis was on her way to work at a nearby dental office when she saw a bus careening down Fremont Street, striking other cars and another AC Transit bus before coming to rest on the sidewalk.

Without thinking, Marquis boarded the bus to see if the driver was okay.

“I wanted to keep her alert, conscious. Make sure she didn’t pass out. She did great,” said Marquis.

She said it was clear something went wrong before the crash.

“Very clear she lost consciousness. Also based on what other passengers said as they left the bus,” explained Marquis. “As soon as the bus stopped everybody jumped out the windows”

Chad Preston was on a job site across the street. He and other construction workers helped Marquis keep the driver conscious while waiting for medical attention.

A few other construction workers said they were lucky to be able to get out of harms way before the bus hit.

“My friend here saw the bus coming when we were underneath the scaffolding,” said construction worker Don Lipary. “He said, ‘What the hell?!’ And I just started running.”

Lipary said the bus was “going 40 mph when it went on the sidewalk.”

Police said the scaffolding the bus crashed into is still something authorities were worried about.

“Its definitely a concern. We must talk to the building engineers to see how it’s affecting the scaffolding,” said Rueca.

The crash closed the Fremont/Folsom Street and Harrison Street off-ramps from Interstate Highway 80, but both have since reopened, Rueca said.

As of around 4 p.m., the only remaining street closure was on the section of Fremont Street between Folsom and Howard streets, where crews were still working to remove the bus that crashed, Rueca said.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

Lyles said AC Transit has collected video from the involved buses and is checking to see if any San Francisco city buses in the area have video that might be helpful.

“We’re very grateful that the injuries were limited, and that there weren’t more bystanders or pedestrians involved in this,” Lyles said. “We are investing considerable energy and effort into trying to ascertain exactly what happened.”

Lyles said that Fremont Street was cleared fairly quickly and buses on the popular Transbay bus line were able to regain access to the San Francisco terminal by around 1 p.m.

TM and © Copyright 2017 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Bay City News Service contributed to this report.

More from CBS News

The post 5 Injured In San Francisco AC Transit Bus Crash appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

A 40-year-old woman has pleaded not guilty to felony vehicular manslaughter for allegedly causing a head-on crash that killed another driver in South San Francisco last week, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Cherise Nicole Shanta Wafer, an Antioch resident, is accused of causing the crash that killed 56-year-old Daly City resident Kham Ky Lam on Airport Boulevard early on the morning of Nov. 21, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office.

Prosecutors said Wafer has a history of mental illness and was speeding on the wrong side of the road and went through at least two intersections with traffic lights before the head-on collision occurred.

After the crash, Wafer allegedly walked into a nearby Denny’s restaurant and asked for a glass of water while not mentioning anything about the collision or asking police to be called. Officers eventually arrived and she allegedly gave multiple inconsistent and bizarre statements to them, prosecutors said.

She was arraigned Monday and entered the not guilty plea. She will return to court on Dec. 7 for a preliminary hearing and remains in custody on $50,000 bail.

The post Girl pleads not responsible to vehicular manslaughter for head-on crash in South San Francisco | Native Information appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

SAN FRANCISCO — In the latest setback for General Motors-owned Cruise, the driverless-car company issued a voluntary recall of 950 of its vehicles nationwide after a horrific crash here last month and signaled layoffs could be coming.

The latest developments come after one of Cruise’s self-driving cars failed to detect a pedestrian pinned underneath its vehicle and dragged her for about 20 feet, causing serious injuries.

Cruise issued the recall Tuesday to correct the programming in its entire driverless fleet, saying it will address a “post-collision response” that “could increase the risk of injury.” The company already grounded its entire driverless fleet across the country last month after the pedestrian accident. One of Cruise’s driverless cars dragged the pedestrian, and the company initially misrepresented what happened during the Oct. 2 crash.

In a filing to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announcing the recall Tuesday, Cruise said the software update will address its “Collision Detection Subsystem” to better determine whether it should stay in place after a crash or move out of traffic, depending on the nature of the incident. Unlike a traditional recall that typically involves hardware, recalls such as this one for autonomous vehicles come in the form of software updates.

“Cruise has developed a software update that remedies the issue” that caused it to drag the pedestrian on Oct. 2, it said in the NHTSA filing. “With the new update, the Cruise AV would have remained stationary during the October 2 incident.”

Cruise said the update has been issued to its cars that are still operating on the roads with test drivers. The company said it will “deploy the remedy” to its driverless fleet before it resumes driverless operations, although it is unclear when that will be.

At issue is the Oct. 2 crash where a jaywalking pedestrian stepped into a busy intersection in San Francisco and was hit by a human-driven car. The pedestrian rolled onto the windshield for a few moments before she was flung into the path of the driverless car. Footage of the crash initially shared by Cruise with The Washington Post, other media outlets and the California Department of Motor Vehicles showed the driverless car stop as soon as it made contact with the pedestrian.

But, several weeks later, the California DMV revealed that its investigators learned that the car had continued moving for about 20 feet at 7 mph with the woman pinned underneath. That maneuver, the DMV said, likely increased the pedestrian’s injuries. The woman remained in the hospital as of Wednesday, according to a spokesperson for San Francisco’s Department of Public Health.

In its filing to NHTSA announcing the recall, Cruise said of the software flaw that in certain circumstances after a collision has been detected, the system will automatically try to pull the car out of traffic “instead of remaining stationary when a pullover is not the desired post collision response.”

“This issue could occur after a collision with a pedestrian positioned low on the ground in the path of the AV,” the company said.

The California DMV suspended Cruise’s driverless permits last month after investigators determined that the robotaxis posed an “unreasonable risk” to the public in light of the Oct. 2 crash.

In an interview with The Post last month, Cruise chief executive Kyle Vogt said the criticism of driverless cars is overblown and that many of the incidents involving his company have been “sensationalized.” But the hard-charging CEO has changed his tune in recent weeks and has told employees that layoffs are possible as the company tries to rebuild public trust, according to an audio recording of a Nov. 6 meeting obtained by Forbes.

“We are still working through what that means for the company and who’s going to be affected by that, and we don’t have all the answers yet,” he said, according to the recording obtained by Forbes. “But what I can do is commit to providing more details within the next three weeks. So, importantly, that’s not when layoffs would occur for full-time employees; that’s when we’re going to give you an update on what that timeline might be.”

A person familiar with Cruise’s plans confirmed the content of the audio recording.

In a separate blog post Wednesday, the company also outlined steps it says it is taking in the aftermath of the Oct. 2 crash. Those steps include hiring a chief safety officer and engaging an outside law firm to “better understand Cruise’s response to the October 2 incident, including Cruise’s interactions with law enforcement, regulators, and the media.”

“We are dedicated to building a better Cruise, and these initial actions are just some of the steps we’re taking as we listen, learn, and improve,” the company said in the blog post. “We are committed to keeping our customers, regulators, and the public informed throughout this process.”

The post Cruise remembers complete fleet of automobiles after San Francisco crash appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Nearly to the midseason mark in the regular season, we’re gearing up to maintain momentum after last week’s Eagles and Falcons betting victories.

This time, it’s the Battle for New Jersey between a pair of “New York” teams, the Jets and Giants.

This is also an “eye test” game, with several factors to compare as these squads’ respective seasons continue to circle the drain.

As a betting experience, this matchup provides plenty of intrigue because, by and large, you just can’t trust one of these options.

We have our pick and a couple of bonus options ready to roll.

(Odds per BetMGM.com)

THE HEADLINER

Jets at Giants, 1 p.m. ET Sunday

The line: Jets -3, total 36.5.

The lead running backs, Breece Hall of the Jets and Saquon Barkley of the Giants, are ranked No. 12 and 11, respectively, in yards per game.

Barkley has had the advantage of facing the Buffalo Bills, Washington Commanders and Arizona Cardinals over his past three games, while Hall has shown flashes of elite talent. Metrics also credit Barkley with more than 40 percent more yards gained over expected.

Both defenses will aim to slow the ground game, and that’s where the pass rush comes in.

The Jets have one and the Giants suffer in pass protection. This isn’t good news for backup Tyrod Taylor, who is set to start in place of Daniel Jones again Sunday.

A quick nugget from Action Network:

“The Jets have played the toughest schedule of QBs in the entire NFL – Jalen Hurts, Patrick Mahomes, Dak Prescott and Josh Allen. Despite this tough schedule, the Jets are 10th in success rate and 12th in EPA per play allowed.”

The Jets are dialed in after a week off – which followed their upset of the Philadelphia Eagles – and if they are able to stuff the run, their pass defense could have a big day.

With a top-five defensive secondary in terms of coverage stats, the Jets aren’t likely to allow much from a very average Giants receiving group.

The Jets’ eight interceptions have come off the Bills’ Josh Allen (three), Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes (two) and Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts (two).

The pick: Jets -3.

THEY SAID IT

“I say they have a really good front four. Call it more than a front four with the amount of times they rotate in there. Two good cover corners (Sauce Gardner and D.J. Reed). … This is a challenging defense to get ready for, and it shows.”

– Giants coach Brian Daboll on Sunday’s opponent, the Jets

BONUS COMBO

Who doesn’t like a good story? Chicago Bears quarterback Tyson Bagent may be the exciting blend of good story and serviceable player.

Bears at Chargers, 8:20 p.m. ET Sunday

The line: Chargers -8.5.

You didn’t think you needed to watch the “Sunday Night Football” game? With undrafted Bagent starting at quarterback for the Chicago Bears, you almost have to tune in with the World Series on a travel day.

The Bears are looking to go back-to-back after Bagent’s impressive debut last week.

Bagent, a product of Division II Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, W.Va., started in place of Justin Fields (right thumb) and completed 21 of 29 passes for 162 yards and a touchdown in Chicago’s 30-12 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders.

With receiver DJ Moore clicking, the Bears offense could do some business against a leaky Chargers defense.

And the Chargers don’t look like a team capable of covering this wide margin. Should be fun – for a while anyway.

The pick: Bears +8.5.

PROP CORNER

The good fortune Kirk Cousins found in leading the Minnesota Vikings past the San Francisco 49ers can’t continue.

In this road contest against the Green Bay Packers, the Vikings figure to begin more conservatively as the Packers employ lessons from last Monday night’s game tape (Cousins throwing everywhere – successfully).

The number is too high for a team that relied on a stolen 60-yard TD pass last week and remains without Justin Jefferson.

Prop play: Vikings’ Cousins under 250.5 passing yards (BetMGM).

–Field Level Media

The post Week 8 NFL betting preview: Inspecting the NY-NY matchup; Cousins to crash? | Nationwide appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Took a break from the news this weekend? Worry not: we’ve rounded up some of the stories you missed in NorCal on Saturday and Sunday.

Oct 15, 2023 8:14 pm PDT | Updated Oct 16, 2023 8:20 am PDT

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — As the weekend wraps up, we’ve rounded up the stories you may have missed Saturday and Sunday to prepare you for Monday.

But before we jump into Northern California’s top stories, residents should know that a brief cooling trend returns on Monday as a weak cold front approaches the North Bay, according to National Weather Service forecasters. Coastal areas can expect highs in the 60s, while the rest of the Bay Area can plan on temps in the 70s and 80s.

Subscribe

A warming trend is expected for the latter half of the week.

National Weather Service graphic

In other news, a TV actress beloved for decades for her work on the show “Three’s Company” has died. A freeway shooting damaged one vehicle. And the mother of an actor featured in “Sandlot” was found dead.

Suzanne Somers, ‘Three’s Company’ Star, Dies At 76

• Somers had breast cancer for over 23 years and died Sunday morning.

Teen Killed in Fiery Crash Into Creek

• Two other teens suffered life-threatening injuries. The 21-year-old driver, who sustained minor injuries, was arrested for suspected DUI.

CHP Helicopter Rescues Man Trapped Against Sheer Cliff By Rising Tide

• The man was knee-deep in water when he was pulled to safety.

Teen Fires Gun In Altercation With Woman In Supermarket Parking Lot

• The pair skirmished over the sale of a car.

Man Attacked With A Baseball Bat, Hospitalized In San Mateo

• The victim was a Redwood City man. Police arrested a suspect.

Vehicle Hit By Gunfire In I-80 Freeway Shooting

• The shooting happened between Ashby and University avenues in Berkeley.

Deadly Crash On I-680 On Saturday

• The early-morning crash involved multiple vehicles .

2 Arrests In SF Business Robberies: Police

• Victims were pistol-whipped in two of the three cases.

Mom Of ‘Sandlot’ Actor Found Dead In NorCal Home, Boyfriend In Custody

• Deanna Esmaeel, the mother of Marty York and a Del Norte County sheriff’s deputy, was found dead Thursday morning, authorities said.

The post Helicopter Rescue | Deadly Fiery Crash | Freeway Capturing: Weekend appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

SAN FRANCISCO >> A U.S. official said Tuesday the government believes the driver who crashed into the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco the day before did so “with malign intent,” but police haven’t shared details about the driver’s identity or motive for what the Chinese government has branded a “violent attack.”

A witness waiting his turn to submit his visa documents at the consulate Monday described seeing the car barrel through the main doors at full speed before striking a wall. The driver was bleeding from his head as he exited the vehicle yelling about the C.C.P., an abbreviation for the Chinese Communist Party, Sergii Molchanov said.

San Francisco police arrived on scene and shot the driver, who died later in a hospital.

“We condemn this incident and all violence perpetrated against foreign diplomatic staff working in the United States,” White House National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said.

U.S. government officials have been in contact with Chinese foreign ministry officials in the aftermath of the incident Monday, according to a White House official who was not authorized to comment and spoke on the condition of anonymity. The official added that investigators believe the driver was “acting with malign intent.”

San Francisco police said Monday they didn’t know why the unidentified driver smashed through the front of the consulate, located in a residential neighborhood and next to a major street. The San Francisco Police Department said in a statement Tuesday it had no other information and that it would hold a town hall meeting within 10 days to discuss the fatal shooting.

Molchanov was in line waiting for his turn to submit his visa documents when the car, a blue Honda sedan, barreled in through the main doors at full speed, barely missing him.

Molchanov told The Associated Press that the car struck a wall, and he saw the driver, who was bleeding from his head, exit the car.

Molchanov took out his phone and recorded security guards approaching the man and several people running out of the building.

“Two security guards from the entrance tried to confront him and calm him down,” Molchanov said. “But I couldn’t see what he held in his hands.”

When it appeared that the man was attempting to grab something from his car, Molchanov said he rushed outside.

Shortly after that, police arrived on the scene. Molchanov said he heard two gunshots.

San Francisco police haven’t said how many officers fired or if the driver had a weapon.

Another witness said the driver was bleeding and holding knives when he exited the car and then began arguing with security guards.

Tony Xin told KTVU-TV he saw a security guard trying to detain the driver before he ran out of the building through the damaged doorway.

Xin said less than a minute after the driver got out of the car, five police officers arrived, initially with their guns drawn, and rushed into the building. He said they were later joined by more officers.

“I heard a really loud bang. I thought it was gunshots. I looked to the left and there was smoke,” Xin said. “I turned back and saw the guy take out a crossbow.”

The police department said it is working and coordinating with investigators from the U.S. State Department and the Chinese Consulate. The incident comes as San Francisco is preparing to host next month’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, a gathering of world leaders from Pacific Rim nations. President Joe Biden plans to attend but it’s not clear if Chinese President Xi Jinping will come.

The statement from the Chinese Consulate demanded more details about what happened and asked that it be “dealt with seriously in accordance with the law.”

“Our embassy severely condemns this violent attack,” the statement said.

Consulates typically have some type of security, such as locally hired guards. Neither the consulate nor San Francisco police immediately responded to questions about what security was in place at the facility.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin again called for an investigation at a daily briefing Tuesday without giving any details about damage to the consulate or injuries to staff and visitors.

“We strongly urge the U.S. to launch a swift investigation and take effective measures to ensure the safety of Chinese diplomatic missions and personnel there in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations,” Wang said, referring to the 1961 agreement governing relations between countries.

The San Francisco consulate has been targeted a number of times before. Among the most serious was a fire set by a Chinese man on New Year’s Day 2014 at the main entrance. It charred a section of the outside of the building.

The man, who was living in the San Francisco Bay Area, told authorities he was driven by voices he was hearing. He was sentenced to nearly three years in prison.

Madhani reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Beatrice Dupuy in New York contributed to this report.

The post White Home condemns crash at San Francisco’s Chinese language Consulate appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A U.S. official said Tuesday the government believes the driver who crashed into the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco the day before did so “with malign intent,” but police haven’t shared details about the driver’s identity or motive for what the Chinese government has branded a “violent attack.”

A witness waiting his turn to submit his visa documents at the consulate Monday described seeing the car barrel through the main doors at full speed before striking a wall. The driver was bleeding from his head as he exited the vehicle yelling about the C.C.P., an abbreviation for the Chinese Communist Party, Sergii Molchanov said.

San Francisco police arrived on scene and shot the driver, who died later in a hospital.

Get more from the Citrus County Chronicle

“We condemn this incident and all violence perpetrated against foreign diplomatic staff working in the United States,” White House National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said.

U.S. government officials have been in contact with Chinese foreign ministry officials in the aftermath of the incident Monday, according to a White House official who was not authorized to comment and spoke on the condition of anonymity. The official added that investigators believe the driver was “acting with malign intent.”

San Francisco police said Monday they didn’t know why the unidentified driver smashed through the front of the consulate, located in a residential neighborhood and next to a major street. The San Francisco Police Department said in a statement Tuesday it had no other information and that it would hold a town hall meeting within 10 days to discuss the fatal shooting.

Molchanov was in line waiting for his turn to submit his visa documents when the car, a blue Honda sedan, barreled in through the main doors at full speed, barely missing him.

Molchanov told The Associated Press that the car struck a wall, and he saw the driver, who was bleeding from his head, exit the car.

Molchanov took out his phone and recorded security guards approaching the man and several people running out of the building.

“Two security guards from the entrance tried to confront him and calm him down,” Molchanov said. “But I couldn’t see what he held in his hands.”

When it appeared that the man was attempting to grab something from his car, Molchanov said he rushed outside.

Shortly after that, police arrived on the scene. Molchanov said he heard two gunshots.

San Francisco police haven’t said how many officers fired or if the driver had a weapon.

Another witness said the driver was bleeding and holding knives when he exited the car and then began arguing with security guards.

Tony Xin told KTVU-TV he saw a security guard trying to detain the driver before he ran out of the building through the damaged doorway.

Xin said less than a minute after the driver got out of the car, five police officers arrived, initially with their guns drawn, and rushed into the building. He said they were later joined by more officers.

“I heard a really loud bang. I thought it was gunshots. I looked to the left and there was smoke,” Xin said. “I turned back and saw the guy take out a crossbow.”

The police department said it is working and coordinating with investigators from the U.S. State Department and the Chinese Consulate. The incident comes as San Francisco is preparing to host next month’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, a gathering of world leaders from Pacific Rim nations. President Joe Biden plans to attend but it’s not clear if Chinese President Xi Jinping will come.

The statement from the Chinese Consulate demanded more details about what happened and asked that it be “dealt with seriously in accordance with the law.”

“Our embassy severely condemns this violent attack,” the statement said.

Consulates typically have some type of security, such as locally hired guards. Neither the consulate nor San Francisco police immediately responded to questions about what security was in place at the facility.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin again called for an investigation at a daily briefing Tuesday without giving any details about damage to the consulate or injuries to staff and visitors.

“We strongly urge the U.S. to launch a swift investigation and take effective measures to ensure the safety of Chinese diplomatic missions and personnel there in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations,” Wang said, referring to the 1961 agreement governing relations between countries.

The San Francisco consulate has been targeted a number of times before. Among the most serious was a fire set by a Chinese man on New Year’s Day 2014 at the main entrance. It charred a section of the outside of the building.

The man, who was living in the San Francisco Bay Area, told authorities he was driven by voices he was hearing. He was sentenced to nearly three years in prison.

Madhani reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Beatrice Dupuy in New York contributed to this report.

Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

The post White Home condemns a violent crash on the Chinese language Consulate in San Francisco | Nationwide appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Thursday a Cruise robotaxi drove through a green light in front of an oncoming firetruck “with its forward facing red lights and siren on, the San Francisco Police Department said in a statement to Reuters.” The San Francisco Chronicle adds that the Cruise vehicle’s passenger “passenger was treated on the scene and shared taken in an ambulance to a hospital, though the company said the injuries were ‘non-severe.’ The company added in an email to the Chronicle that the passenger was on the scene walking around and talking to emergency responders before being taken to the hospital.”

By Friday California’s Department of Motor Vehicles said it was investigating the “concerning incidents,” according to TechCrunch. But it adds that the AV-regulating agency also “called for Cruise to reduce its fleet by 50% and have no more than 50 driverless vehicles in operation during the day and 150 driverless vehicles in operation at night until the investigation is complete.

Cruise told TechCrunch it is complying with the request. Cruise also issued a blog post giving the company’s perspective of how and why the crash occurred.
Cruise’s blog post points out the firetruck was unexpectedly in the oncoming lane of traffic that night. But meanwhile, elsewhere in the city…

The same night, a Cruise car collided with another vehicle at 26th and Mission streets. The company said another driverless car, which had no passengers, entered the intersection on a green light when another car ran a red light at high speed. The driverless car detected the other car and braked, according to Cruise, but the two cars still collided…

The collisions came a day after city officials asked state regulators to halt their approval of robotaxi companies’ unrestricted commercial expansion in the city, citing concerns about how the robotaxis’ behavior impacts emergency responders.
Last weekend Cruise was also criticized after “as many as 10 Cruise driverless taxis blocked two narrow streets,” reports the Los Angeles Times:

Human-driven cars sat stuck behind and in between the robotaxis, which might as well have been boulders: no one knew how to move them…. The cars sat motionless with parking lights flashing for 15 minutes, then woke up and moved on, witnesses said.
Cruise “blamed cellphone carriers for the problem,” according to the article — arguing that a music festival overloaded the cellphone network they used to communicate with their vehicles.

Thanks to Slashdot reader jjslash for sharing the story.

The post After Firetruck Crash, California Tells Cruise to Scale back Robotaxi Fleet by 50% in San Francisco appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Tuesday, Aug. 16. I’m Jonah Valdez, a reporting fellow on the Fast Break desk.

The day Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven others died in a helicopter crash, I took a Lyft from my Koreatown apartment to Staples Center, where I cried along with thousands of other mourners.

I recall intimate conversations with strangers in which we processed our shock at the brutal manner in which he and the others died. We imagined a nightmare, horrific scenes of their last moments and what remained afterward.

[Read: “In trial over Bryant crash photos, contradictions, denials and ‘memory issues” in The Times.]

Vanessa Bryant, Kobe’s wife, didn’t want such tragic images of her family to become public. In the moments after the crash, she pleaded with L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva to make sure no one took photographs of her loved ones, imploring him to secure the area, according to the reporting of my colleague Alene Tchekmedyian, a Times reporter who covers the Sheriff’s Department.

Villanueva made his promise, but that same day, closeup pictures were snapped of the carnage in the Calabasas hillside and later texted and Airdropped, and sheriff’s deputies and county firefighters were caught up in the scandal.

Tchekmedyian’s reporting would later uncover that those photos of the deceased were flashed from a sheriff’s deputy’s phone screen to a bartender in Norwalk, sparking public outcry. Later, Vanessa Bryant and Christopher Chester, who also lost his spouse and a child in the crash, sued the county over how far the images had spread and the pain they had brought to families who lost loved ones.

The trial in the lawsuit, which began last week, continued Monday with testimony from a former county fire captain and two sheriff’s deputies. Tchekmedyian and Michael Finnegan, another Times reporter who is covering the trial, told me that Bryant’s and Chester’s lawyers seized on inconsistencies in the testimony of the first responders.

In previous interviews with investigators and depositions, the three county first responders admitted to seeing photos of the human remains from the crash site. But during Monday’s questioning, they downplayed exactly how much they had seen.

During questioning by Bryant’s attorney, retired L.A. County Fire Capt. Brian Jordan said, “I do not remember taking the pictures,” then stood up and walked off the witness stand, announcing that he needed a break. He did this several times during his testimony.

Witnesses often become emotional during testimony or need to pause for a break or water, said longtime reporter Finnegan, who was in the courtroom Monday morning.

But for a witness to stand and leave multiple times during the course of their testimony — “I’ve never seen that before,” he said.

Despite the unexpected behavior on the witness stand, it was contradictions within testimony — an inability to remember walking the crash scene, no memory of having taken photos — that were the focus of attorneys, said Finnegan.

“I think it adds to this picture of ‘Somebody is not telling the truth,’” Finnegan said. “And so it’ll be interesting to see how the jury weighs all of these contradictions and tries to figure out what is true. What do they conclude the truth is? Who do they find credible?”

The county has argued that first responders had legitimate reasons to take or receive the photos, such as to determine the size of the crash site and decide what resources were needed.

Although the trial is focusing on the extent to which the sharing of the photos has caused distress to Bryant and Chester, its outcome has larger implications.

As Tchekmedyian reported, Bryant’s attorney continued to assert their stance that there is a long-standing practice in law enforcement in the county of taking and sharing gruesome photos from crime or accident scenes, especially when celebrities are involved — something the county denies. The Bryant case and Tchekmedyian’s reporting on the crash-site photos spurred a 2020 state law, which made such practices a misdemeanor.

An earlier witness in the trial said “death books” are a real problem.

“I think,” Finnegan said, “this sort of universal right to dignity is what’s being litigated here.”

[Read: “In trial over Bryant crash photos, contradictions, denials and ‘memory issues” in The Times.]

Newsletter

The stories shaping California

Get up to speed with our Essential California newsletter, sent six days a week.

Enter email address

Sign Me Up

You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.

And now, here’s what’s happening across California:

Note: Some of the sites we link to may limit the number of stories you can access without subscribing.

Lake Powell, a reservoir of Colorado River water near the Utah-Arizona border, has a white “bathtub ring” that shows how water levels have dropped.

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

The states that rely on the Colorado River as a water source, including California, had two months to come up with a plan to reduce water use. Yet after the two months, these Western states still don’t have a plan. In short, it’s a mess, full of disagreements, animosity and “irreconcilable differences among the states” that may lead to federal intervention and battles in court. But, as one water official put it, the conflicts boil down to a simple, existential point: “Everybody needs to commit to a significant sacrifice in order to avoid having nothing at all.” Los Angeles Times

Some small and rural communities across California have been forced to rely on bottled water and water hauled in from other areas. Their supplies have been drained amid a drying climate across the state. A map shows where these parched communities are and how many others are at risk of following suit. San Francisco Chronicle

L.A. STORIES

A second attempt to recall L.A. County Dist. Atty. George Gascón has failed. The campaign was meant to force the progressive D.A. into a recall election but, like the first attempt, fell short of its signatures goal, this time by more than 40,000. Detractors were driven by their criticism of Gascón’s reforms, which they say have driven up crime. Supporters maintain that the reforms have made communities safer and more equitable. Los Angeles Times

Julian Brilliantes and other kids enter Vena Avenue Elementary & Gifted/High Ability Magnet school Monday.

(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Classes are back in session, and with a new year comes hope for normalcy. Some school districts relaxed COVID-19 safety restrictions. Others bolstered security in response to the mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. Officials continue to downplay the possible threat of the spread of monkeypox among children. Take a look at how life is playing out on campuses across California. Los Angeles Times

If you’ve gone apartment hunting over the last few months, you know how tough the market is, whether it be a lack of options or rents that surpass your budget. Although it’s been known that California has among the highest rents in the U.S., the Golden State cities that top the list in a new report may surprise you. After Palo Alto, which is third, come the L.A. County cities of Glendale and Santa Monica, which carry average rents of $4,472 and $4,357, respectively. We dig in to find out why. Los Angeles Times

IMMIGRATION AND THE BORDER

Fiery roadblocks lighted by cartel groups in the Mexican border town of Tijuana effectively shut down huge swaths of the city, as many stayed home, fearing violence. Even so, only one person was injured throughout the weekend. Wait times at the San Ysidro port of entry were reduced from the usual multiple hours to 10 or 15 minutes. Although life is resuming, one expert commented that the cartel’s actions reminded the region that it is organized crime that calls the shots when it comes to security in Baja California. Los Angeles Times

The “Remain in Mexico” immigration policy, a vestige of the Trump presidency, came to an end last week. For some, it brought immediate relief. It’s also cause for confusion among those in the legal immigration system. Still, the end of the Trump-era policy is set to bring hundreds of asylum seekers out of Tijuana and into the U.S., where they can live as they await their court dates. San Diego Union-Tribune

If you left your home, what would you carry with you? Two decades after the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan, the Taliban arrived in Kabul last year, forcing thousands of people, many of whom embraced Western ideals, to flee. Although they had to leave most of their possessions behind, what they took with them carried deep personal value, connecting them to their homeland. Here are the stories of four who wound up in Paris and the objects they carried to remember. Los Angeles Times

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

A new California program provides two meals a day to public school students. The Universal Meals Program provides breakfast and lunch to students in transitional kindergarten through 12th grade, regardless of their parents’ income. The Los Angeles Unified School District is taking it a step further, providing three meals a day. Los Angeles Times

Our daily news podcast

If you’re a fan of this newsletter, you’ll love our daily podcast “The Times,” hosted every weekday by columnist Gustavo Arellano, along with reporters from across our newsroom. Go beyond the headlines. Download and listen on our App, subscribe on Apple Podcasts and follow on Spotify.

HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Even with a drought and unprecedented heat, the threat of a “megaflood” looms larger than ever for California. A recent UCLA study suggested that rising temperatures due to climate change allow the atmosphere to absorb and store more moisture. This results in either extreme drought or a huge release of water that could submerge cities such as Stockton, Fresno and parts of Los Angeles, displacing up to 10 million people and causing $1 trillion in damage, which would be the largest disaster in world history. Los Angeles Times

Kjessie Essue, preparing flowers for delivery July 17 in Taylorsville, Calif.

(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

The Dixie fire destroyed their town last summer. But from the ashes, one family’s flower business has bloomed. Started in a yard that was spared during the fire, Kjessie Essue’s business continues to grow, delivering flower arrangements to a burn-scarred Northern California community. Los Angeles Times

CALIFORNIA CULTURE

One-third of Americans older than 30 have returned to their childhood homes, many chasing the place to which they have tied their identities. Times reporter Melody Gutierrez did just that earlier this year, returning to a now-vacant homestead in a small California desert community, decades after she and her family abandoned it. Read what she found. Los Angeles Times

Love, fiddle-leaf fig, a bustling plant store. Such is the progression of Sarah and Tadeh Bazik, owners of SarahCotta Plants, which opened its doors in Glendale in the summer of 2020, amid the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Los Angeles Times

Free online games

Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and arcade games in our game center at latimes.com/games.

CALIFORNIA ALMANAC

Los Angeles: sunny, 90. San Diego: some clouds, then sunny, 79 . San Francisco: mostly sunny with a few clouds, 73. San Jose: sunny, 91. Fresno: sunny, 107. Sacramento: mostly sunny, 107.

AND FINALLY

Today’s California memory comes from Cecile Landry:

On Feb. 9, 1971, I was just stepping into the bathtub in Sun Valley when the Sylmar earthquake occurred. I was pregnant [with] my third child. I screamed as the water in the tub sloshed back and forth, and I heard a crash from the kitchen. My husband flew up the stairs and grabbed our two older children, ages 4 and 7, one under each arm, and flew back down the stairs. The four of us huddled in the hallway door frames until the shaking stopped. It seemed to take forever. Our only damage was a bottle of bourbon that crashed and the chimney’s separation from the house.

If you have a memory or story about the Golden State, share it with us. (Please keep your story to 100 words.)

Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com.

The post One other day, one other model of occasions within the trial over the Kobe crash images appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.