(707) 247-4010
SAN RAMON (CBS SF) — A San Ramon man was arrested Wednesday in connection to 19 residential garage burglaries in San Ramon’s Dougherty Valley area over the past several months, police said Thursday.
Chase Adamic, 23, was arrested Wednesday evening after an ongoing investigation linked him to the burglaries, five of which occurred in the past two weeks, police said.
Investigators found that in each burglary, the suspect used a tool to defeat the garages’ locking systems that left no sign of forced entry. Items stolen included a motorcycle, jewelry, firearms, electronics and tools, according to police.
Earlier Wednesday, after Adamic was determined as a suspect in the garage burglaries, police conducted a search at his home in the 1100 block of Amberstone Lane.
There, officers discovered a large amount of stolen property linked to the garage burglaries, as well as a tool used to crack the garages’ locking systems, according to police.
Officers also found the San Ramon man in possession of narcotics, under the influence of a controlled substance and is suspected of a probation violation, police said.
(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
SUNNYVALE (CBS / AP) — Yahoo’s new boss is reorganizing a consumer-commerce division created by recently dispatched CEO Scott Thompson.
Instead of operating as a separate division, Yahoo’s commerce operations will operate within the company’s global media team.
Interim CEO Ross Levinsohn announced the decision in a memo sent Thursday to Yahoo Inc. employees. The move signals Levinsohn’s ideas for turning around the troubled Internet company differ from Thompson’s.
The reversal comes a month after Thompson created the consumer-commerce division to help revive Yahoo’s revenue growth.
Thompson stepped down from Yahoo last weekend after just four months on the job. His departure was triggered by the revelation that his resume included a college degree in computer science that he never received.
Now, one of the executives hired by Thompson is out a job at Yahoo, too. Sam Shrauger is leaving after joining Yahoo last month to oversee the consumer-commerce division.
Thompson and Shrauger had previously worked together at PayPal, an online payment service owned by eBay Inc. Shrauger left PayPal to oversee Yahoo’s consumer-commerce division with Mollie Spilman, who had previously been overseeing Yahoo’s marketing in the Americas.
Under the new setup dictated by Levinsohn, Spilman will become Yahoo’s chief marketing officer. She replaces Penny Baldwin, who had been picked by Thompson to handle the job on an interim basis.
The global media team that now includes the reorganized consumer-commerce division will be overseen by Mickie Rosen.
In his memo, Levinsohn promised to share more details about his vision for the company within the next few weeks.
“I’m fired up and I hope you are too,” Levinsohn wrote.
(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
MENLO PARK (CBS SF) – Facebook’s initial public offering of stock is shaping up to be one of the largest ever. The world’s definitive online social network is raising at least $16 billion, a big windfall for a company that began eight years ago with no way to make money.
Facebook priced its IPO at $38 per share on Thursday, at the high end of its expected range. If extra shares reserved to cover additional demand are sold as part of the transaction, Facebook Inc. and its early investors stand to reap as much as $18.4 billion from the IPO.
The IPO values the company at around $104 billion, slightly more than Amazon.com, and well above well-known corporations such as Disney and Kraft.
The $38 is the price at which the investment banks orchestrating the offering will sell the stock to their clients. Facebook’s stock is expected to begin trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market sometime Friday morning under the ticker symbol “FB.” That’s when so-called retail investors can try to buy the stock.
var videoCanvas = new WNVideoWidget("WNVideoCanvas", "wnVideo_7294409");videoCanvas.SetWidth(480);videoCanvas.SetHeight(360);videoCanvas.SetVariable("clipId", "7294409");videoCanvas.SetReportingKeywords("CBS.SF");videoCanvas.SetAdvertisingZone("CBS.SF/worldnowplayer");videoCanvas.SetVariable("offFaceColor", "afaeae");videoCanvas.SetVariable("overFaceColor", "ffffff");videoCanvas.SetVariable("backgroundColors", "212121,676767,676767,212121");videoCanvas.SetVariable("backgroundAlphas", "0,0,0,0");videoCanvas.SetVariable("backgroundRatios", "0,25,130,255");videoCanvas.SetVariable("backgroundRotation", "270");videoCanvas.SetVariable("borderColor", "212121");videoCanvas.SetVariable("borderWidth", "1");videoCanvas.SetVariable("borderAlpha", "100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("sidePadding", "3");videoCanvas.SetVariable("topPadding", "3");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsHeight", "40");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsBackgroundColors", "212121,676767");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsBackgroundAlphas", "100,100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsBackgroundRatios", "0,255");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsBackgroundRotation", "270");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsBorderColor", "212121");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsButtonLeftBorderColor", "616161");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsButtonRightBorderColor", "232323");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsOverFaceColor", "ffffff");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsOffFaceColor", "9c9c9c");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsBottomPadding", "8");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsSidePadding", "8");videoCanvas.SetVariable("volumeSliderOffColor", "5a5a5a");videoCanvas.SetVariable("volumeSliderOverColor", "828282");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderBackgroundColor", "828282");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderLoadIndicatorColor", "b2b2b2");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderProgressIndicatorColor", "212121");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderKnobBackgroundColors", "828282,828282");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderKnobBackgroundAlphas", "100,100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderKnobBackgroundRatios", "0,255");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderKnobBackgroundRotation", "90");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderKnobBorderColor", "5a5a5a");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderKnobShadowColor", "5a5a5a");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderKnobOffFaceColor", "444444");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderKnobOverFaceColor", "212121");videoCanvas.SetVariable("overlayBackgroundColors", "676767");videoCanvas.SetVariable("overlayBackgroundAlphas", "0");videoCanvas.SetVariable("overlayBackgroundRatios", "0");videoCanvas.SetVariable("overlayBackgroundRotation", "90");videoCanvas.SetVariable("overlayOffFaceColor", "9c9c9c");videoCanvas.SetVariable("overlayOverFaceColor", "ffffff");videoCanvas.SetVariable("emailInputFaceColor", "9c9c9c");videoCanvas.SetVariable("emailFormFieldColors", "212121");videoCanvas.SetVariable("emailFormFieldAlphas", "80");videoCanvas.SetVariable("emailFormFieldRatios", "0");videoCanvas.SetVariable("emailFormFieldRotation", "90");videoCanvas.SetVariable("emailErrorMessageFaceColor", "ae1a01");videoCanvas.SetVariable("emailErrorBorderColor", "ae1a01");videoCanvas.SetVariable("hasBorder", "false");videoCanvas.SetVariable("hasTopBorder", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("hasBottomBorder", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("hasLeftBorder", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("hasRightBorder", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("hasBevel", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("shareListItemOffFaceColor", "afaeae");videoCanvas.SetVariable("shareListListItemOverFaceColor", "afaeae");videoCanvas.SetVariable("shareListItemHighlightBorderColor", "767676");videoCanvas.SetVariable("shareListItemShadowBorderColor", "3c3c3c");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundColors", "888888,383838");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundAlphas", "100,100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundRatios", "75,255");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundRotation", "90");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundSelectedColors", "595959");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundSelectedAlphas", "100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundSelectedRatios", "0");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundSelectedHasBevel", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundSelectedHasBorder", "false");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundSelectedBorderAlpha", "100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundSelectedBorderWidth", "1");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundSelectedBorderColor", "595959");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundSelectedHasDropShadow", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundOverColors", "595959,212121");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundOverAlphas", "100,100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundOverRatios", "0,100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabOffFaceColor", "dcdbdb");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabOverFaceColor", "ffffff");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabLeftBorderColor", "a7a6a6");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabRightBorderColor", "404040");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabHasBevel", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabHasDropShadow", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabHasBorder", "false");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBorderWidth", "1");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBorderAlpha", "100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBorderColor", "212121");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabShadowColor", "333333");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabOverHasBevel", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabOverHasBorder", "false");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabOverBorderAlpha", "100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabOverBorderWidth", "1");videoCanvas.SetVariable("toolsShareButtons", "link,help");videoCanvas.SetVariable("overlayShareButtons", "link,help");videoCanvas.RenderWidget();Facebook is the third-highest valued company to ever go public, according to data from Dealogic, a financial data provider. Only the two Chinese banks have been worth more. At $16 billion, the size of the IPO is the third-largest for a U.S. company, squeezed between No. 2 power company Enel and No. 4 General Motors, according to Renaissance Capital. The largest U.S. IPO was Visa, which raised $17.86 billion in 2008.
For the Harvard dorm-born social network that reimagined how people communicate online, the stock sale means more money to operate the data centers that hold the trove of status updates, photos and videos shared by Facebook’s 900 million users. It means more money to hire the best engineers to work at its sprawling Menlo Park, headquarters, or in New York City, where it opened an engineering office last year.
And it means early investors, who took a chance seeding the young social network with start-up funds six, seven and eight years ago, can reap big rewards. Peter Thiel, the venture capitalist who sits on Facebook’s board of directors, invested $500,000 in the company back in 2004. He’s selling nearly 17 million of his shares in the IPO, which means he’ll get some $640 million.
Related Coverage:
SF Company Expects Run On Single Shares
IPO To Create Windfall For California?
Zuckerberg Becomes A Household Name
Poll Finds Many Think Facebook Is A Fad
More Changes To Privacy Policy
The offering values Facebook, whose 2011 revenue was $3.7 billion, at as much as $104 billion. The sky-high valuation has its skeptics. Google Inc., whose revenue stood at $38 billion last year, has a market capitalization of $207 billion.
“There seems to be somewhat of a hype around the stock offering,” says Gartner analyst Brian Blau in somewhat of an understatement.
There are a few reasons for the exuberance. One is the IPO’s sheer size. Investor appetite for the stock will likely propel Facebook’s valuation above other well-known companies such as Kraft, Disney and even Amazon.com.
Secondly, it’s personal.
“It’s probably one of the first times there has been an IPO where everyone sort of has a stake in the outcome,” Blau says. While most Facebook users won’t see a penny from the offering, they are all intimately familiar with the company, so it resonates as something they understand.
And then there’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who just turned 28 on Monday. He has emerged as the latest in a lineage of Silicon Valley prodigies who are alternately hailed for pushing the world in new directions and reviled for overstepping their bounds. He’s counted the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs among his mentors and he became one of the world’s youngest billionaires—at least on paper—well before Facebook went public. A dramatized version of Facebook’s founding was the subject of a Hollywood movie that won three Academy Awards last year, propelling Zuckerberg even further into the public spotlight.
var videoCanvas = new WNVideoWidget("WNVideoCanvas", "wnVideo_7290402");videoCanvas.SetWidth(480);videoCanvas.SetHeight(360);videoCanvas.SetVariable("clipId", "7290402");videoCanvas.SetReportingKeywords("CBS.SF");videoCanvas.SetAdvertisingZone("CBS.SF/worldnowplayer");videoCanvas.SetVariable("offFaceColor", "afaeae");videoCanvas.SetVariable("overFaceColor", "ffffff");videoCanvas.SetVariable("backgroundColors", "212121,676767,676767,212121");videoCanvas.SetVariable("backgroundAlphas", "0,0,0,0");videoCanvas.SetVariable("backgroundRatios", "0,25,130,255");videoCanvas.SetVariable("backgroundRotation", "270");videoCanvas.SetVariable("borderColor", "212121");videoCanvas.SetVariable("borderWidth", "1");videoCanvas.SetVariable("borderAlpha", "100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("sidePadding", "3");videoCanvas.SetVariable("topPadding", "3");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsHeight", "40");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsBackgroundColors", "212121,676767");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsBackgroundAlphas", "100,100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsBackgroundRatios", "0,255");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsBackgroundRotation", "270");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsBorderColor", "212121");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsButtonLeftBorderColor", "616161");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsButtonRightBorderColor", "232323");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsOverFaceColor", "ffffff");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsOffFaceColor", "9c9c9c");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsBottomPadding", "8");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsSidePadding", "8");videoCanvas.SetVariable("volumeSliderOffColor", "5a5a5a");videoCanvas.SetVariable("volumeSliderOverColor", "828282");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderBackgroundColor", "828282");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderLoadIndicatorColor", "b2b2b2");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderProgressIndicatorColor", "212121");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderKnobBackgroundColors", "828282,828282");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderKnobBackgroundAlphas", "100,100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderKnobBackgroundRatios", "0,255");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderKnobBackgroundRotation", "90");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderKnobBorderColor", "5a5a5a");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderKnobShadowColor", "5a5a5a");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderKnobOffFaceColor", "444444");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderKnobOverFaceColor", "212121");videoCanvas.SetVariable("overlayBackgroundColors", "676767");videoCanvas.SetVariable("overlayBackgroundAlphas", "0");videoCanvas.SetVariable("overlayBackgroundRatios", "0");videoCanvas.SetVariable("overlayBackgroundRotation", "90");videoCanvas.SetVariable("overlayOffFaceColor", "9c9c9c");videoCanvas.SetVariable("overlayOverFaceColor", "ffffff");videoCanvas.SetVariable("emailInputFaceColor", "9c9c9c");videoCanvas.SetVariable("emailFormFieldColors", "212121");videoCanvas.SetVariable("emailFormFieldAlphas", "80");videoCanvas.SetVariable("emailFormFieldRatios", "0");videoCanvas.SetVariable("emailFormFieldRotation", "90");videoCanvas.SetVariable("emailErrorMessageFaceColor", "ae1a01");videoCanvas.SetVariable("emailErrorBorderColor", "ae1a01");videoCanvas.SetVariable("hasBorder", "false");videoCanvas.SetVariable("hasTopBorder", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("hasBottomBorder", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("hasLeftBorder", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("hasRightBorder", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("hasBevel", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("shareListItemOffFaceColor", "afaeae");videoCanvas.SetVariable("shareListListItemOverFaceColor", "afaeae");videoCanvas.SetVariable("shareListItemHighlightBorderColor", "767676");videoCanvas.SetVariable("shareListItemShadowBorderColor", "3c3c3c");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundColors", "888888,383838");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundAlphas", "100,100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundRatios", "75,255");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundRotation", "90");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundSelectedColors", "595959");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundSelectedAlphas", "100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundSelectedRatios", "0");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundSelectedHasBevel", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundSelectedHasBorder", "false");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundSelectedBorderAlpha", "100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundSelectedBorderWidth", "1");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundSelectedBorderColor", "595959");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundSelectedHasDropShadow", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundOverColors", "595959,212121");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundOverAlphas", "100,100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundOverRatios", "0,100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabOffFaceColor", "dcdbdb");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabOverFaceColor", "ffffff");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabLeftBorderColor", "a7a6a6");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabRightBorderColor", "404040");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabHasBevel", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabHasDropShadow", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabHasBorder", "false");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBorderWidth", "1");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBorderAlpha", "100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBorderColor", "212121");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabShadowColor", "333333");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabOverHasBevel", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabOverHasBorder", "false");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabOverBorderAlpha", "100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabOverBorderWidth", "1");videoCanvas.SetVariable("toolsShareButtons", "link,help");videoCanvas.SetVariable("overlayShareButtons", "link,help");videoCanvas.RenderWidget();Though Zuckerberg is selling about 30 million shares, he will remain Facebook’s largest shareholder. He set up two classes of Facebook stock, building on the model Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin created as part of the online search leader’s 2004 IPO. The dual class structure helps to ensure that he and other executives keep control as the sometimes conflicting demands of Wall Street exert new pressures on the company.
As a result, with the help of early investors who’ve promised to vote their stock his way, Zuckerberg will have the final say on how nearly 56 percent of Facebook’s stock votes.
True to form, Zuckerberg and Facebook’s engineers are ringing in the IPO on their own terms. The company is holding an overnight “hackathon” Thursday, where engineers stay up writing programming code to come up with new features for the site. On Friday morning, Zuckerberg will ring the Nasdaq opening bell from Facebook’s headquarters.
(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
VALLEJO (CBS SF) - A Vallejo family demands answers after a police officer shot and killed one of their dogs when he came to their house Wednesday to investigate an identity theft.
Officer Chase Calhoun went to the family’s home near the corner of Kentucky and Trinity streets around noon Wednesday to take a statement. According to Vallejo Police, he heard two dogs growl, then saw them charge, as he opened the front gate of the home.
Calhoun fired two rounds, instantly killing an 11-year-old Labrador mix named Belle. The other dog, a 14-year-old Australian shepherd mix named Flicka, was unharmed.
var videoCanvas = new WNVideoWidget("WNVideoCanvas", "wnVideo_7294482");videoCanvas.SetWidth(480);videoCanvas.SetHeight(360);videoCanvas.SetVariable("clipId", "7294482");videoCanvas.SetReportingKeywords("CBS.SF");videoCanvas.SetAdvertisingZone("CBS.SF/worldnowplayer");videoCanvas.SetVariable("offFaceColor", "afaeae");videoCanvas.SetVariable("overFaceColor", "ffffff");videoCanvas.SetVariable("backgroundColors", "212121,676767,676767,212121");videoCanvas.SetVariable("backgroundAlphas", "0,0,0,0");videoCanvas.SetVariable("backgroundRatios", "0,25,130,255");videoCanvas.SetVariable("backgroundRotation", "270");videoCanvas.SetVariable("borderColor", "212121");videoCanvas.SetVariable("borderWidth", "1");videoCanvas.SetVariable("borderAlpha", "100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("sidePadding", "3");videoCanvas.SetVariable("topPadding", "3");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsHeight", "40");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsBackgroundColors", "212121,676767");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsBackgroundAlphas", "100,100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsBackgroundRatios", "0,255");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsBackgroundRotation", "270");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsBorderColor", "212121");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsButtonLeftBorderColor", "616161");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsButtonRightBorderColor", "232323");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsOverFaceColor", "ffffff");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsOffFaceColor", "9c9c9c");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsBottomPadding", "8");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsSidePadding", "8");videoCanvas.SetVariable("volumeSliderOffColor", "5a5a5a");videoCanvas.SetVariable("volumeSliderOverColor", "828282");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderBackgroundColor", "828282");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderLoadIndicatorColor", "b2b2b2");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderProgressIndicatorColor", "212121");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderKnobBackgroundColors", "828282,828282");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderKnobBackgroundAlphas", "100,100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderKnobBackgroundRatios", "0,255");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderKnobBackgroundRotation", "90");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderKnobBorderColor", "5a5a5a");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderKnobShadowColor", "5a5a5a");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderKnobOffFaceColor", "444444");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderKnobOverFaceColor", "212121");videoCanvas.SetVariable("overlayBackgroundColors", "676767");videoCanvas.SetVariable("overlayBackgroundAlphas", "0");videoCanvas.SetVariable("overlayBackgroundRatios", "0");videoCanvas.SetVariable("overlayBackgroundRotation", "90");videoCanvas.SetVariable("overlayOffFaceColor", "9c9c9c");videoCanvas.SetVariable("overlayOverFaceColor", "ffffff");videoCanvas.SetVariable("emailInputFaceColor", "9c9c9c");videoCanvas.SetVariable("emailFormFieldColors", "212121");videoCanvas.SetVariable("emailFormFieldAlphas", "80");videoCanvas.SetVariable("emailFormFieldRatios", "0");videoCanvas.SetVariable("emailFormFieldRotation", "90");videoCanvas.SetVariable("emailErrorMessageFaceColor", "ae1a01");videoCanvas.SetVariable("emailErrorBorderColor", "ae1a01");videoCanvas.SetVariable("hasBorder", "false");videoCanvas.SetVariable("hasTopBorder", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("hasBottomBorder", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("hasLeftBorder", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("hasRightBorder", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("hasBevel", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("shareListItemOffFaceColor", "afaeae");videoCanvas.SetVariable("shareListListItemOverFaceColor", "afaeae");videoCanvas.SetVariable("shareListItemHighlightBorderColor", "767676");videoCanvas.SetVariable("shareListItemShadowBorderColor", "3c3c3c");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundColors", "888888,383838");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundAlphas", "100,100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundRatios", "75,255");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundRotation", "90");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundSelectedColors", "595959");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundSelectedAlphas", "100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundSelectedRatios", "0");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundSelectedHasBevel", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundSelectedHasBorder", "false");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundSelectedBorderAlpha", "100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundSelectedBorderWidth", "1");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundSelectedBorderColor", "595959");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundSelectedHasDropShadow", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundOverColors", "595959,212121");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundOverAlphas", "100,100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundOverRatios", "0,100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabOffFaceColor", "dcdbdb");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabOverFaceColor", "ffffff");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabLeftBorderColor", "a7a6a6");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabRightBorderColor", "404040");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabHasBevel", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabHasDropShadow", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabHasBorder", "false");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBorderWidth", "1");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBorderAlpha", "100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBorderColor", "212121");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabShadowColor", "333333");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabOverHasBevel", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabOverHasBorder", "false");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabOverBorderAlpha", "100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabOverBorderWidth", "1");videoCanvas.SetVariable("toolsShareButtons", "link,help");videoCanvas.SetVariable("overlayShareButtons", "link,help");videoCanvas.RenderWidget();The dogs’ owner, Loren Mollner, said his wife, Erika Gregory, was at home with their son and daughter at the time, and was told police do not visit homes to take reports of identity theft.
“They said, we don’t come out. We don’t investigate identity theft. We only investigate murders and car thefts. Next thing she knows, she hears shots. She hits the floor,” Mollner said.
Mollner said his wife assumed there was some kind of shootout happening, only to emerge from the home and find her dog lying in a pool of blood and a police officer at the street repeating, “I’m sorry.”
“He said he was scared,” Mollner said, and shot the dog because he felt threatened.
Police said the officer tried to back up, but because the dogs were aggressive he was forced to fire two rounds at the closest animal.
Mollner said his dogs do bark at strangers, but have never attacked anyone, and have been friendly to package deliverers and other visitors. He said his wife would have kept the dogs indoors if she had known a police officer was on his way.
“These are not dangerous dogs,” he said, adding they were rescue dogs from the Milo Foundation they had adopted about 10 years ago.
Mollner said is not interested in pursuing litigation against the police department, and would rather have the officer deliver a more formal apology to the family.
(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
SACRAMENTO (CBS) — A Northern California driver thinks a mistake on his record caused his car insurance to double.
When he learned of a little-known report we all have, called a C.L.U.E. report, he called CBS to investigate.
When Del Barrett’s car insurance doubled, he learned his insurance company used something called a C.L.U.E. report to set his rates.
“I was absolutely clueless as to what a C.L.U.E. report was,” Barrett.
CBS has learned insurance companies use C.L.U.E. or A-PLUS reports to look how many claims a policyholder has filed in the past seven years, to figure how much to charge.
>>Check Your C.L.U.E. Report
>>Check Your A-PLUS Report
“It’s something that a lot of people don’t necessary know about until it shows up on their report, they have a negative mark on their report,” said Tully Lehman, Spokesperson for the Insurance Information Network of California.
You can pull your C.L.U.E. report once a year for free. When Barrett pulled his, he learned out of about $40,000 worth of insurance claims, almost $35,000 belonged to his brother, who was involved in two major accidents.
“I was surprised. That’s why I couldn’t believe. Somehow I’ve got to get this corrected,” Barrett said.
var videoCanvas = new WNVideoWidget("WNVideoCanvas", "wnVideo_7294525");videoCanvas.SetWidth(480);videoCanvas.SetHeight(360);videoCanvas.SetVariable("clipId", "7294525");videoCanvas.SetReportingKeywords("CBS.SF");videoCanvas.SetAdvertisingZone("CBS.SF/worldnowplayer");videoCanvas.SetVariable("offFaceColor", "afaeae");videoCanvas.SetVariable("overFaceColor", "ffffff");videoCanvas.SetVariable("backgroundColors", "212121,676767,676767,212121");videoCanvas.SetVariable("backgroundAlphas", "0,0,0,0");videoCanvas.SetVariable("backgroundRatios", "0,25,130,255");videoCanvas.SetVariable("backgroundRotation", "270");videoCanvas.SetVariable("borderColor", "212121");videoCanvas.SetVariable("borderWidth", "1");videoCanvas.SetVariable("borderAlpha", "100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("sidePadding", "3");videoCanvas.SetVariable("topPadding", "3");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsHeight", "40");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsBackgroundColors", "212121,676767");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsBackgroundAlphas", "100,100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsBackgroundRatios", "0,255");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsBackgroundRotation", "270");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsBorderColor", "212121");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsButtonLeftBorderColor", "616161");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsButtonRightBorderColor", "232323");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsOverFaceColor", "ffffff");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsOffFaceColor", "9c9c9c");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsBottomPadding", "8");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsSidePadding", "8");videoCanvas.SetVariable("volumeSliderOffColor", "5a5a5a");videoCanvas.SetVariable("volumeSliderOverColor", "828282");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderBackgroundColor", "828282");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderLoadIndicatorColor", "b2b2b2");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderProgressIndicatorColor", "212121");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderKnobBackgroundColors", "828282,828282");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderKnobBackgroundAlphas", "100,100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderKnobBackgroundRatios", "0,255");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderKnobBackgroundRotation", "90");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderKnobBorderColor", "5a5a5a");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderKnobShadowColor", "5a5a5a");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderKnobOffFaceColor", "444444");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderKnobOverFaceColor", "212121");videoCanvas.SetVariable("overlayBackgroundColors", "676767");videoCanvas.SetVariable("overlayBackgroundAlphas", "0");videoCanvas.SetVariable("overlayBackgroundRatios", "0");videoCanvas.SetVariable("overlayBackgroundRotation", "90");videoCanvas.SetVariable("overlayOffFaceColor", "9c9c9c");videoCanvas.SetVariable("overlayOverFaceColor", "ffffff");videoCanvas.SetVariable("emailInputFaceColor", "9c9c9c");videoCanvas.SetVariable("emailFormFieldColors", "212121");videoCanvas.SetVariable("emailFormFieldAlphas", "80");videoCanvas.SetVariable("emailFormFieldRatios", "0");videoCanvas.SetVariable("emailFormFieldRotation", "90");videoCanvas.SetVariable("emailErrorMessageFaceColor", "ae1a01");videoCanvas.SetVariable("emailErrorBorderColor", "ae1a01");videoCanvas.SetVariable("hasBorder", "false");videoCanvas.SetVariable("hasTopBorder", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("hasBottomBorder", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("hasLeftBorder", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("hasRightBorder", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("hasBevel", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("shareListItemOffFaceColor", "afaeae");videoCanvas.SetVariable("shareListListItemOverFaceColor", "afaeae");videoCanvas.SetVariable("shareListItemHighlightBorderColor", "767676");videoCanvas.SetVariable("shareListItemShadowBorderColor", "3c3c3c");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundColors", "888888,383838");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundAlphas", "100,100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundRatios", "75,255");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundRotation", "90");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundSelectedColors", "595959");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundSelectedAlphas", "100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundSelectedRatios", "0");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundSelectedHasBevel", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundSelectedHasBorder", "false");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundSelectedBorderAlpha", "100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundSelectedBorderWidth", "1");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundSelectedBorderColor", "595959");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundSelectedHasDropShadow", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundOverColors", "595959,212121");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundOverAlphas", "100,100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundOverRatios", "0,100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabOffFaceColor", "dcdbdb");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabOverFaceColor", "ffffff");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabLeftBorderColor", "a7a6a6");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabRightBorderColor", "404040");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabHasBevel", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabHasDropShadow", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabHasBorder", "false");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBorderWidth", "1");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBorderAlpha", "100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBorderColor", "212121");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabShadowColor", "333333");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabOverHasBevel", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabOverHasBorder", "false");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabOverBorderAlpha", "100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabOverBorderWidth", "1");videoCanvas.SetVariable("toolsShareButtons", "link,help");videoCanvas.SetVariable("overlayShareButtons", "link,help");videoCanvas.RenderWidget();Barrett thinks the mix-up happened because he was living with his brother at the time.
CBS contacted the company behind the C.L.U.E. report, LexisNexis.
They refused to talk to us about Del’s case but said if someone brings a mistake to their attention, they’ll look into it and get back within 30 days.
We then reached out to Barrett’s insurance company, MetLife to see why they raised his rates. In a letter, they said his brother’s driving history was “not included” in the policy. Instead, it was based on his own “speeding violation” and an “accident” Del had.
Barrett isn’t quite sure he believes the explanation and thinks others should also check their C.L.U.E. reports.
“If you got a drastic increase in your rates, you better start looking at LexisNexis or A-PLUS,” said Barrett.
You can check your C.L.U.E. or A-PLUS report for free once a year. If you find a mistake, you can dispute it with each agency.
Response from LexisNexis to CBS Questions:
Upon review of a C.L.U.E. report, consumers have the right to dispute specific information that is contained in the C.L.U.E. report that the consumer believes is inaccurate. The LexisNexisRiskSolutionsConsumerDisclosureCentercan assist the consumer with any such dispute regarding, or with adding a statement to their C.L.U.E. report. We will initiate the dispute on behalf of the consumer with the reporting insurance company and notify the consumers of the results of the dispute within 30 days. Also, if an individual feels their C.L.U.E. report contains items they feel deserve an explanation, we will be glad to add their personal statement to the C.L.U.E. report and include it in future C.L.U.E. reports. To obtain a copy of their C.L.U.E. report, consumers may visit www.PersonalReports.LexisNexis.com or call 866-718-7684.
Additionally, consumers may obtain a free copy of their C.L.U.E. report every 12 months, subject to any specific state law requirements.
On average, LexisNexis receives four disputes for every 10,000 C.L.U.E. reports we provide to our customers.
We verify the information with the reporting insurance company and notify individuals of the results within 30 days as required by law. Disputes may take less than 30 days depending on how quickly we get a response from the provider of the data.
Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), we are required to notify consumers the results of the dispute of their C.L.U.E. report no matter the outcome.
C.L.U.E. reports are created based on a variety of data elements provided by the ordering insurance carrier, including name address and date of birth and on occasion driver’s license number.
(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
MARTINEZ (CBS SF) — Benicia resident Robert Gardner was sentenced to 29 years to life in prison Thursday morning for his role in the torture and murder of a Martinez teenager days before Christmas in 2009.
A jury in March found Gardner guilty of first-degree murder, torture, residential burglary and larceny for aiding and abetting the Dec. 20, 2009 torture and killing of 18-year-old Eric Bean.
Attorneys said Gardner encouraged his two co-defendants, Vallejo resident Timothy Delosreyes, Jr., 38, and his son, 20-year-old Timothy Delosreyes III, of Crockett, as they tied Bean up and tortured him for hours, beating him to death, then helped them cover up the evidence and dumped the teen’s body in unincorporated Contra Costa County.
A passerby found the teen’s bound and bloodied body on Dec. 21 on the side of McEwen Road, about a mile north of state Highway 4, according to police.
Days before his death, the three defendants had teamed with Bean to steal his father’s guns, according to attorneys.
When the teen suggested that he wanted to confess to his father about stealing the guns, the defendants, high on methamphetamines, decided to kidnap him, according to Deputy District Attorney Jason Peck.
Both of Gardner’s co-defendants have also been charged with first-degree murder, torture, theft and larceny and are awaiting trial.
Judge Lewis A. Davis handed down the sentence Thursday after hearing arguments from Joyce Sasse, Gardner’s attorney.
She told the court Thursday morning that Gardner did not initially realize the Delosreyes meant to kill Bean on Dec. 20, 2009 and did not carry out his murder.
The judge countered that while Gardner did not physically harm Bean, he told his co-defendants, “Once you tie him up, you can’t let him go”, bolstering their resolve to torture and kill the teen. He also stood by as they brutally beat him, kicked his teeth in and shoved a sword in his mouth, according to Peck.
After the pair hog-tied Bean, stuffed a sock in his mouth and beat him repeatedly, Gardner drove to a nearby Safeway to buy sandwiches for himself and his co-conspirators, never stopping to call police, then stood by for hours more until he died, the judge said Thursday.
Before Bean’s family members spoke in court Thursday morning, Gardner told the court he was sorry for his role in the teen’s death.
“I did not want Eric being dead,” he said tearfully. “That wasn’t my intention—I barely knew the kid.”
But Jimmy Bean, the victim’s father, said he did not believe the defendant’s display of remorse Thursday morning.
“If he wanted to stop it, all he had to do was call 911,” the victim’s father told the judge.
“I miss my son greatly,” he said, his voice breaking with emotion. “To keep my son there for hours and torture him and dump him on the side of the road like a piece of trash, before Christmas, is unimaginable.”
Virginia Gardner, the defendant’s mother, said she believes her son is sorry for the teen’s death and described the toll his crime has taken on his family, including Gardner’s young daughter.
(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
PACIFICA (CBS SF) — A live Vietnam-era grenade was found in a Pacifica park Thursday morning, according to the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office.
Around 10:30 a.m., the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Bomb Squad was called to the entrance of Edgemar Park in the Manor District of Pacifica where a military grenade had been found along the fence line, sheriff’s officials said.
Authorities determined the Vietnam-era style grenade was intact and live.
Pacifica police cordoned off the immediate area to cars and pedestrians as the bomb squad mitigated the grenade.
No injuries or property damage was reported, according to the sheriff’s office.
(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
BAKERSFIELD (CBS / AP) – Dave Zabriskie won the individual time trial in hot and breezy conditions Thursday to take the Tour of California overall lead in with three stages left.
Zabriskie, the 33-year-old Garmin-Barracuda rider from Salt Lake City, finished the 18.4-mile flat course in 35 minutes, 59 seconds at an average speed of 30.77 mph.
Germany’s Jens Voigt, racing for RadioShack-Nissan-Trek, was second in the fifth stage, 23 seconds back.
Tejay Van Garderen of Tacoma, Wash., and Garmin-Barracuda finished third in the stage to move into second overall — 34 seconds back.
“It’s getting close to time then need make a choice for the Olympic team and I wanted to have a good performance,” said Zabriskie, the six-time national time trial titlist who finished second in the Tour of California in 2010.
The United States will only have one discretionary selection for the time trial in the London Summer Olympics.
As temperatures reached into the mid-90s for the second straight day, Zabriskie was the 81st rider in the field of 118 on the course and had to wait about an hour to see if his time held up.
“I came out here in February and videotaped the course,” Zabriskie said. “I had a few spots where I wanted to soft pedal but maintain speed. It sounds weird, but you can do it. The turnaround was one of those spots. This was a really good course for me.”
Zabriskie led the Tour de France for three days in 2005 after beating Lance Armstrong by 2 seconds in the opening time trial.
“It’s nice be in the leader’s jersey,” said Zabriskie, who has two teammates in the top 10. “Knowing what kind of riders they are, I think we are in a pretty good position.”
Robert Gesink of the Netherlands was third overall, trailing by 39 seconds.
Slovakia’s Peter Sagan, the Liquigas-Canondale rider who swept the first four stages, finished 52nd in the stage, nearly 3 ½ minutes behind Zabriskie.
Chris Horner of RadioShack-Nissan and Bend, Ore., was 32nd overall, trailing Zabriskie by 2:50.
Levi Leipheimer, the Omega Pharma-Quickstep rider from Santa Rosa who won the race three straight years beginning in 2007, was 16th overall — 1:44 back.
Kristin Armstrong won the women’s individual time trial in 39:59.28. From Boise, Idaho, and racing for Exergy TWENTY12, she won a gold medal in the 2008 Olympics.
The eight-day, 735-mile race continues Friday with the 115.7-mile Palmdale to Big Bear Lake road race, the first of two successive mountain stages.
The seventh annual race concludes Sunday with a 42.6-mile road stage from Beverly Hills to Los Angeles.
(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) - Several women from Hong Kong were arrested at San Francisco International Airport in connection with a scam to rob elderly Asian women of jewelry and cash.
San Francisco police have linked the suspects to an organized crime ring responsible for similar robberies in other major U.S. cities.
Lirong Lin, 57, Caiqiong Chen, 43, and Huifei Lin, 42, were arrested and charged with multiple counts of grand theft, extortion and elder financial abuse. Lirong and Huifei Lin are also being held on out of state warrants, according to police.
Two other women who were with the suspects, Feiyan Wu, 45, and Qinying Ke, 47, were also arrested on out-of-state warrants at the airport while a sixth woman was detained but later released.
KCBS’ Anna Duckworth Reports:
Study Finds California Cellphone Restrictions Saving Lives
The women were arrested on May 10 at SFO on a stopover from New York to Hong Kong carrying $50,000 in apparently stolen cash and jewelry, police announced Thursday.
Commander Mike Biel said investigators have just begun to unravel the extent of the scam, which also has apparent victims in Boston, Chicago and New York.
“I wouldn’t be surprised to find other cities in the near future. We’re in the early stages of this huge investigation,” he said.
San Francisco police first warned the public about the scam in March.
var videoCanvas = new WNVideoWidget("WNVideoCanvas", "wnVideo_7290019");videoCanvas.SetWidth(480);videoCanvas.SetHeight(360);videoCanvas.SetVariable("clipId", "7290019");videoCanvas.SetReportingKeywords("CBS.SF");videoCanvas.SetAdvertisingZone("CBS.SF/worldnowplayer");videoCanvas.SetVariable("offFaceColor", "afaeae");videoCanvas.SetVariable("overFaceColor", "ffffff");videoCanvas.SetVariable("backgroundColors", "212121,676767,676767,212121");videoCanvas.SetVariable("backgroundAlphas", "0,0,0,0");videoCanvas.SetVariable("backgroundRatios", "0,25,130,255");videoCanvas.SetVariable("backgroundRotation", "270");videoCanvas.SetVariable("borderColor", "212121");videoCanvas.SetVariable("borderWidth", "1");videoCanvas.SetVariable("borderAlpha", "100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("sidePadding", "3");videoCanvas.SetVariable("topPadding", "3");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsHeight", "40");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsBackgroundColors", "212121,676767");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsBackgroundAlphas", "100,100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsBackgroundRatios", "0,255");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsBackgroundRotation", "270");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsBorderColor", "212121");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsButtonLeftBorderColor", "616161");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsButtonRightBorderColor", "232323");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsOverFaceColor", "ffffff");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsOffFaceColor", "9c9c9c");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsBottomPadding", "8");videoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsSidePadding", "8");videoCanvas.SetVariable("volumeSliderOffColor", "5a5a5a");videoCanvas.SetVariable("volumeSliderOverColor", "828282");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderBackgroundColor", "828282");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderLoadIndicatorColor", "b2b2b2");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderProgressIndicatorColor", "212121");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderKnobBackgroundColors", "828282,828282");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderKnobBackgroundAlphas", "100,100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderKnobBackgroundRatios", "0,255");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderKnobBackgroundRotation", "90");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderKnobBorderColor", "5a5a5a");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderKnobShadowColor", "5a5a5a");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderKnobOffFaceColor", "444444");videoCanvas.SetVariable("videoSliderKnobOverFaceColor", "212121");videoCanvas.SetVariable("overlayBackgroundColors", "676767");videoCanvas.SetVariable("overlayBackgroundAlphas", "0");videoCanvas.SetVariable("overlayBackgroundRatios", "0");videoCanvas.SetVariable("overlayBackgroundRotation", "90");videoCanvas.SetVariable("overlayOffFaceColor", "9c9c9c");videoCanvas.SetVariable("overlayOverFaceColor", "ffffff");videoCanvas.SetVariable("emailInputFaceColor", "9c9c9c");videoCanvas.SetVariable("emailFormFieldColors", "212121");videoCanvas.SetVariable("emailFormFieldAlphas", "80");videoCanvas.SetVariable("emailFormFieldRatios", "0");videoCanvas.SetVariable("emailFormFieldRotation", "90");videoCanvas.SetVariable("emailErrorMessageFaceColor", "ae1a01");videoCanvas.SetVariable("emailErrorBorderColor", "ae1a01");videoCanvas.SetVariable("hasBorder", "false");videoCanvas.SetVariable("hasTopBorder", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("hasBottomBorder", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("hasLeftBorder", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("hasRightBorder", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("hasBevel", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("shareListItemOffFaceColor", "afaeae");videoCanvas.SetVariable("shareListListItemOverFaceColor", "afaeae");videoCanvas.SetVariable("shareListItemHighlightBorderColor", "767676");videoCanvas.SetVariable("shareListItemShadowBorderColor", "3c3c3c");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundColors", "888888,383838");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundAlphas", "100,100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundRatios", "75,255");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundRotation", "90");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundSelectedColors", "595959");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundSelectedAlphas", "100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundSelectedRatios", "0");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundSelectedHasBevel", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundSelectedHasBorder", "false");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundSelectedBorderAlpha", "100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundSelectedBorderWidth", "1");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundSelectedBorderColor", "595959");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundSelectedHasDropShadow", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundOverColors", "595959,212121");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundOverAlphas", "100,100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBackgroundOverRatios", "0,100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabOffFaceColor", "dcdbdb");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabOverFaceColor", "ffffff");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabLeftBorderColor", "a7a6a6");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabRightBorderColor", "404040");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabHasBevel", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabHasDropShadow", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabHasBorder", "false");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBorderWidth", "1");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBorderAlpha", "100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabBorderColor", "212121");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabShadowColor", "333333");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabOverHasBevel", "true");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabOverHasBorder", "false");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabOverBorderAlpha", "100");videoCanvas.SetVariable("tabOverBorderWidth", "1");videoCanvas.SetVariable("toolsShareButtons", "link,help");videoCanvas.SetVariable("overlayShareButtons", "link,help");videoCanvas.RenderWidget();According to police, elderly Asian women were approached on the street and convinced to put money and valuables in a bag for a ceremony. The women are told the ceremony will rid their families of bad spirits. The thieves then ran off with the bags, police said.
Police Chief Greg Suhr said the arrests “have tremendously impacted this organized crime ring” and said he hoped more victims will come forward or be aware of suspects trying a similar scam.
“If the deal seems too good to be true, or there’s pressure put on you that something has to happen right now with your property or finances … there’s something wrong with that,” he said.
District Attorney George Gascon promised aggressive prosecution of those cases. So far, three of the women arrested have been charged in connection with stealing more than $100,000 in cash and jewelry from five of the victims.
Gascon called the case “a classic bait and switch scam” and said it highlighted the issue of elder abuse, which he called “a real problem in our community.”
“There is a great likelihood that there will be other victims out there,” Gascon said, urging anyone with information to come forward.
Thirteen of the 25 victims identified so far are elderly, defined by police as age 65 or older.
Huifei Lin, Caiqiong Chen and Lirong Lin were arraigned on various charges on Tuesday and pleaded not guilty.
Huifei Lin faces four counts of grand theft, five counts of extortion, three counts of defrauding an elder and one count each of robbery and causing injury to an elder, all felonies, and is being held on $740,000, prosecutors said.
Caiqiong Chen and Lirong Lin have each been charged with seven felonies—three counts of grand theft, three counts of extortion and a count of defrauding an elder. They are each being held in lieu of $495,000 bail apiece, according to the district attorney’s office.
The trio is scheduled to return to court on June 14 to set a preliminary hearing date.
Anyone who may have been a victim of the scam is encouraged to call Inspectors Kim Lewis or Julie Yee of the Police Department’s financial crimes unit at (415) 553-1521.
Police have also established a tip line to provide information in Cantonese at (415) 553-9212.
(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) - A company that offers faster access to airport security lines to customers who pay to register fingerprints and other identifying information announced plans to resume service at San Francisco International Airport.
CLEAR has been rebuilt from the ground up since the company left customers high and dry when it abruptly closed in 2009. According to a company statement, service at SFO will resume on May 23rd, ahead of the Memorial Day holiday weekend.
The new CEO, Caryn Seidman Becker, promised the same familiar service.
“It’s a different culture. It is a different company. It is a much faster system, but it is the same great idea which is leveraging biometrics, using your fingerprints and iris image to speed through airport security,” she said.
KCBS’ Susan Leigh Taylor Reports:
Secure Traveler Program Returns to SFO, Company In Talks With Other Bay Area Airports
Registered travelers can skip having their boarding pass and identification reviewed by a Transportation Security Administration worker, and instead head straight for the inspection area.
The service costs $179 a year for individuals. A family plan allows travelers to add a spouse or partner for $50, while children under 18 can be enrolled on a family plan for free.
Previous CLEAR customers can reactivate their memberships for free.
Seidman Becker said the company is in talks to bring the CLEAR service to Mineta San Jose International and Oakland International Airports as well.
CLEAR is also available to travelers flying from airports in Denver and Orlando, Florida.
(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
PALO ALTO (CBS/AP) – Hewlett-Packard is poised to eliminate as many as 30,000 jobs to compensate for dwindling demand for personal computers as more people connect to the Internet on smartphones and tablets, according to reports published Thursday.
The looming cuts cited by Bloomberg News and the technology blog All Things D would trim as much as 9 percent of HP’s workforce, based on the 349,600 people employed by the Palo Alto company as of last October. A breakdown on HP’s website listed 324,600 employees, but company spokesman Michael Thacker said the information was wrong. He pointed to the October figure listed in HP’s annual report as the most accurate head count.
Bloomberg News says HP is mulling 25,000 job cuts. All Things D, which is affiliated with The Wall Street Journal, estimates the purge will jettison 30,000 jobs. Both reports cited unnamed people familiar with HP’s plans.
Thacker declined to comment on the reports.
The job cuts could be announced next Wednesday, when HP is scheduled to report its quarterly earnings.
Those results are expected to show that HP, the world’s largest maker of PCs and printers, is still struggling to adapt to a technological shift that is enabling more computing tasks to be completed on smartphones and tablet computers such as Apple Inc.’s hot-selling iPad.
The trend has been crimping HP’s sales. Analysts predict HP’s revenue for its current fiscal year ending in October will total $122 billion, down 4 percent from $127 billion last year.
If HP trims its payroll by at least 18,000 workers, the company could save more than $1 billion annually, according to ISI Group analyst Brian Marshall.
If it occurs, the purge would be the most dramatic step taken so far by HP CEO Meg Whitman, who took the job last September after the company abruptly ended the 11-month reign of her predecessor, Leo Apotheker.
Whitman told analysts that she inherited such a messy situation that it may take several years for the company to bounce back. HP is trying to lift its stock price back to where it was nearly two years ago before the company demanded the resignation of another CEO, Mark Hurd, who was widely respected on Wall Street. Hurd stepped down in August 2010 amid questions about his relationship with an HP marketing contractor.
HP’s shares are worth half as much as they were before Hurd’s departure. The stock gained 3 cents Thursday to close at $22.03.
Whitman has said she is also trying to fix some problems that she blames on Hurd. In particular, she says Hurd crippled HP’s ability to innovate by imposing deep reductions in the company’s research and development budget. Whitman has indicated that she would reduce expenses in other areas so she can funnel more money into research and development.
(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS / AP) — Brandon Crawford hit a two-run single for his first RBIs since April and the San Francisco Giants capitalized on shoddy fielding by St. Louis to give Matt Cain support on a rare shaky day as the Giants beat the Cardinals 7-5 on Thursday.
St. Louis made three errors in a game for the second time this week with the most important coming in the sixth inning: Third baseman David Freese’s errant throw on pinch-hitter Aubrey Huff’s two-out grounder allowed Brandon Belt to score the go-ahead run.
First baseman Lance Berkman also made an error in the second inning to help lead to Crawford’s two-run single. Three of the five runs scored off Adam Wainwright (2-5) were unearned.
Cain (3-2) has been plagued by poor run support for his entire career with the Giants scoring a major league-low 3.89 runs per game for him since his first big league season in 2006.
But with help from the Cardinals they managed to score five runs with Cain in the game on Thursday to make up for his rough start that included Matt Holliday’s two-run homer in the third inning. San Francisco had its highest-scoring home game of the season.
Santiago Casilla pitched the ninth for his ninth save in 10 chances.
Cain came into the game with the second best ERA at home in the majors this season, having allowed four runs in 33 innings for a 1.09 mark. He allowed as many runs in the first three innings against the Cardinals as he had in his previous four starts here.
He allowed sacrifice flies by Holliday and Freese in the first inning and Holliday’s two-run homer in the third to fall behind 4-3. Cain retired 10 of the final 11 batters he faced. He allowed four runs and eight hits in six innings.
Crawford doubled and scored on Buster Posey’s single in the first and then hit his two-run single in the second for the Giants, ending a string of 16 straight games without driving in a run.
Cain ended up on the winning side when the Giants got two runs in the bottom of the sixth after Angel Pagan led off the inning with a single and went to third on Belt’s double.
Emmanuel Burriss tied the game with a sacrifice fly. It looked like the game would stay that way when reliever Victor Marte got Huff to hit a grounder to third with two outs. But Freese’s throw to first was high, allowing Belt to score from second on the error.
Wainwright allowed five runs—two earned—and eight hits in 5 2-3 innings and is winless in five career starts against the Giants.
San Francisco added two runs in the seventh off Kyle McClellan on Belt’s RBI double and Charlie Culberson’s groundout. McClellan left the game with a sore right elbow.
Yadier Molina hit a solo homer in the eighth for St. Louis for the first run of the season off reliever Sergio Romo.
NOTES: Cardinals OF Carlos Beltran (right knee) did not start for a fourth straight game. He popped out as a pinch-hitter in the ninth. … Cardinals OF Allen Craig sat after tweaking his left hamstring Wednesday. … Giants 3B Joaquin Arias missed his second straight game after being hit in the left forearm Tuesday. … Lance Lynn (6-1) takes the mound for the Cardinals when they open a three-game series in Los Angeles against Ted Lilly (5-0) and the Dodgers. … Former Oakland ace Barry Zito, who is 1-4 with a 7.24 ERA in five starts against his former team, starts the series opener of the first Bay Bridge series for the Giants against Jarrod Parker.
(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) – When Facebook goes public on Friday, a company that caters to the smallest of retail investors expects to take a lot of orders from customers who want to buy just a single share.
“People are buying one share not as an investment. They’re buying just to be a part of it, to have a connection with a favorite company or a favorite brand of theirs,” said Lance Lee, describing an overlooked segment of the market served by his company, OneShare.
KCBS’ Tim Ryan Reports:
SF Company Expects To Sell Lots of Facebook, One Stock At A Time
Not since Google in 2004 or Martha Stewart’s company in 1999 has an initial public offering generated this much interest in owning a framed stock certificate, he said, although in this case the $39 frame costs more than the stock in question.
“In this case, I think people want to be part of this whole brouhaha that’s going on, and what could be more democratic than just one share?” Lee said.
OneShare does a brisk business framing stock ownership in brands like Burger King, Coca-Cola, Harley Davidson and Dreamworks for young people whose parents or grandparents see a clever way of teaching a child something about the stock market, Lee said.
So it should be no surprise his best seller is Disney.
“We have many stories where they’re telling the parents, ‘I own Disney.’ Well, I guess they do,” Lee said, adding that stocks sold in children’s names come bundled with a financial literacy program.
(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
ARLINGTON, Texas (CBS/AP) — Kila Ka’aihue had a tiebreaking single in the 10th inning, and the Oakland A’s bounced back from a disputed call on squeeze play that cost them the lead to beat the Texas Rangers 5-4 Thursday.
Ka’aihue’s single off Mike Adams (0-2) drove in Jonny Gomes, who had three hits. Josh Reddick’s 10th homer off Alexi Ogando made it 4-all in the seventh.
Ryan Cook (1-0) escaped a ninth-inning jam and has pitched 19 2-3 scoreless innings this season, most among AL relievers. Brian Fuentes recorded his third save.
Mitch Moreland homered twice for Texas.
Oakland fell behind 4-3 in the sixth when Craig Gentry scored from third on a squeeze bunt that Brandon McCarthy thought he caught. A’s manager Bob Melvin was ejected for arguing the call.
The Rangers had runners at first and third with one out in the ninth but couldn’t score.
Michael Young reached on a two-base error by Josh Donaldson and went to third on a groundout. Nelson Cruz struck out between intentional walks to David Murphy and Mike Napoli, then Brandon Snyder grounded out with the bases loaded.
Moreland pulled Texas to 3-2 with a two-run homer just over the left field fence in fourth and tied it with a deeper shot to right in the sixth. Josh Hamilton watched both of those from the dugout and was supposed to have the day off. He came on as a pinch-hitter and stayed in the game in center field. He made the first out in the eighth and 10th innings.
Three batters after Moreland’s tying homer, the Rangers took the lead on a disputed squeeze that led to Melvin’s ejection. With Gentry breaking from third, Elvis Andrus popped up a bunt between the mound and home plate. McCarthy thought he caught the ball on the fly and threw to third for what he figured would be a double play, but home plate umpire Laz Diaz ruled he trapped it. Gentry was ruled safe for a 4-3 Texas lead, and Oakland didn’t get anybody out.
Melvin ran from the dugout to argue, gesturing repeatedly at Diaz before he was finally thrown out.
Reliever Grant Balfour replaced McCarthy after the disputed bunt and escaped a jam, allowing Oakland to tie the score again in the seventh on Reddick’s 10th home run. The shot into the Rangers bullpen in right-center field ended Texas reliever Ogando’s scoreless streak at 15 1-3 innings.
Moreland never got a chance for a third home run. He was replaced by pinch-hitter Brandon Snyder in the seventh when Oakland went to left-handed reliever Jordan Norberto. Snyder flied out to right with the go-ahead run at second.
McCarthy gave up eight hits and four runs in 5 1-3 innings, with three walks and four strikeouts.
Matt Harrison allowed the first five batters to reach base in a three-run Oakland first inning before pitching four shutout frames. He allowed at least one hit in all five innings, then was replaced by Mark Lowe after striking out Ka’aihue to start the sixth.
Texas right fielder Cruz made a pair of diving catches to help Harrison keep the game close. His grab of Donaldson’s line drive in the gap in right-center field probably saved a run in the third inning.
Harrison allowed eight hits and three runs in 5 1-3 innings. He walked three and struck out three.
Kurt Suzuki had a two-run double in the first for Oakland after Gomes drove in the first run with a double.
NOTES: Oakland put 3B Brandon Inge on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right groin. The move was retroactive to Sunday. He started the season on the DL when he was still with Detroit. That time it was a strained left groin. … Inge’s replacement, Adam Rosales, started at 1B after getting recalled from Triple-A Sacramento and reached base in all four at-bats, his first of the season. He had three walks and a single. … Oakland’s Jemile Weeks was caught stealing on Harrison’s pickoff move in the first inning, ending Oakland’s streak of 20 straight successful stolen bases. That was two shy of the club record. … Suzuki had two passed balls. … RHP Joe Nathan pitched on three consecutive days for the first time since joining the Rangers. He had a perfect ninth in a 4-4 game
(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) – The growing number of apps smart phone users download has not kept pace with the amount of time spent actually using them, according to a new Nielsen survey.
The State of Appnation survey released Wednesday found smart phone owners now average 41 apps per device, compared to 32 in 2011. But the amount of time spent with those apps has only grown 2 minutes, from 37 to 39 minutes per day.
“We’re dealing a problem of ‘appathy’ with 2 p’s. There’s simply too many apps out there that are chasing a finite amount of time that people have to use them,” said John Gerzma, executive chairman at BAV Consulting, a New York brand marketing firm.
KCBS’ Tim Ryan Reports:
Survey Finds More Apps Downloaded, Little More Time Spent Using Them
Gerzma said app developers face an increasing amount of consumer fatigue in the rush to create programs that will engage users in a meaningful way.
There are more than 500,000 apps available for download on iPhones and Android smart phones, but the top 50 apps account for 61 percent of total app usage.
Gerzma pointed to another recent study by TeleNav in 2011 that found one-third of respondents more willing to give up sex for a week that go a week without a mobile phone.
“Clearly we love our smart phones, but the problem really is that the apps are just cluttered.”
(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
SAN JOSE (CBS SF) – The land of high tech has also become ground zero for the distribution of heroin and other narcotics to the rest of the nation, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office said Thursday.
The arrest this week of 12 people tied to a drug trafficking ring that was smuggling heroin from Mexico is just one example of cartel activity in the South Bay, said Deputy District Attorney Patrick Vaneir.
“Santa Clara County is a major distribution hub for narcotics nationally. The cartels have local cells that are based here,” Vaneir said, which first refine and repackage cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine. “Then they are delivered to various locations throughout the United States.”
KCBS’ Mike Colgan Reports:
Authorities Say Santa Clara County Is Heroin Hub For Mexican Cartels
Vaneir said the arrests on Tuesday were the result of a long investigation involving federal agents and various local police departments.
“The investigation began back in 2009 with a 70-pound heroin seizure in the East Palo Alto area, a quantity of heroin with an estimated street value of over $5 million,” he said.
Undercover agents then spent nearly three years tracking the targets, during which time they purchased another three pounds of heroin.
Vaneir said investigators suspect 28-year-old Carlos Jose Moreno of Santa Clara headed a transnational criminal drug trafficking organization affiliated with the Norteno gang.
Suspects were also brought into custody in East Palo Alto, Hayward and Oakland. Police seized firearms and heroin during the bust.
The California Department of Justice and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement led “Operation Middle Man,” with help from the Santa Clara District Attorney’s Office and San Mateo County Narcotics Task Force.
(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
OAKLAND (KCBS) — The family of a 18-year-old shot and killed by Oakland police this month after allegedly pointing a handgun at officers has not only sat down in a face-to-face meeting with Police Chief Howard Jordan, but has also received an apology.
Alan Blueford died after a confrontation with police on May 6th. Police said he pointed a gun at them, but did not fire it before he was killed by three gunshots.
Original reports said the suspect had fired at and wounded an officer. A subsequent police statement indicated the gun found at the scene had not been fired and the officer who fired the fatal shots also shot himself in the foot.
Police also said witnesses told investigators they saw the man point gun at the officer prior to shots being fired.
KCBS’ Tim Ryan Reports: OPD Chief Apologizes To Family Of Teen Shot And Killed Last Month
Members of Blueford’s family told police they were upset over being made to wait hours in the police station lobby for information on him.
“They certainly were upset about how they were treated in the very early stages of trying to identify their son,” said Oakland attorney John Burris, who represents the Blueford family from Tracy.
Jordan’s chief of staff confirmed an apology was made to the Blueford family for that early treatment by Oakland Police.
Burris said that gesture was important to the family. “It was important for them not to have their son cast as this gunfighter that was out to shoot police,” said Burris. “Their view is that if their son had a gun, he was running from the police. He was not a person that would fight the police.”
A final report on what happened May 6th was expected in late July.
(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
WASHINGTON (CBS/AP) – For the first time, racial and ethnic minorities make up more than half the children born in the U.S., capping decades of heady immigration growth that is now slowing.
New 2011 census estimates highlight a historic shift underway in the nation’s racial makeup. They mark a transformation in a country once dominated by whites and bitterly divided over slavery and civil rights, even as it wrestles now over the question of restricting immigration.
“This is an important landmark,” said Roderick Harrison, a former chief of racial statistics at the Census Bureau who is now a sociologist at Howard University. “This generation is growing up much more accustomed to diversity than its elders.”
Interactive Map: County-By-County Demographic And Business Data
The report comes as the Supreme Court prepares to rule on the legality of Arizona’s strict immigration law. Many states are weighing similar get-tough measures as fewer Hispanics are opting to enter the U.S. due to the weak economy.
“We remain in a dangerous period where those appealing to anti-immigration elements are fueling a divisiveness and hostility that might take decades to overcome,” Harrison said.
As a whole, the nation’s minority population continues to rise, following a higher-than-expected Hispanic count in the 2010 census. Minorities increased 1.9 percent to 114.1 million, or 36.6 percent of the total U.S. population, lifted by prior waves of immigration that brought in young families and boosted the number of Hispanic women in their prime childbearing years.
But a recent slowdown in the growth of the Hispanic and Asian populations is shifting notions on when the tipping point in U.S. diversity will come—the time when non-Hispanic whites become a minority. After 2010 census results suggested a crossover as early as 2040, demographers now believe the pivotal moment may be pushed back several years when new projections are released in December.
The annual growth rates for Hispanics and Asians fell sharply last year to just over 2 percent, roughly half the rates in 2000 and the lowest in more than a decade. The black growth rate stayed flat at 1 percent.
The immigrants staying put in the U.S. for now include Narcisa Marcelino, 34, a single mother who lives with her two daughters, ages 10 and 5, in Martinsburg, W.Va. After crossing into the U.S. from Mexico in 2000, she followed her brother to the eastern part of the state just outside the Baltimore-Washington region. The Martinsburg area is known for hiring hundreds of migrants annually to work in fruit orchards. Its Hispanic growth climbed from 14 percent to 18 percent between 2000 and 2005 before shrinking last year to 3.3 percent, still above the national average.
Marcelino says she sells food from her home to make ends meet for her family and continues to hope that one day she will get a hearing with immigration officials to stay legally in the U.S. She aspires to open a restaurant and is learning English at a community college so she can help other Spanish-language speakers.
If she is eventually deported, “it wouldn’t be that tragic,” Marcelino said. “But because the children have been born here, this is their country. And there are more opportunities for them here.”
Of the 30 large metropolitan areas showing the fastest Hispanic growth in the previous decade, all showed slower growth in 2011 than in the peak Hispanic growth years of 2005-2006, when the construction boom attracted new migrants to low-wage work. They include Lakeland, Fla.; Charlotte, N.C.; Atlanta; Provo, Utah; Las Vegas; and Phoenix. All but two—Fort Myers, Fla., and Dallas-Fort Worth—also grew more slowly last year than in 2010, hurt by the jobs slump.
Pointing to a longer-term decline in immigration, demographers believe the Hispanic population boom may have peaked.
“The Latino population is very young, which means they will continue to have a lot of births relative to the general population,” said Mark Mather, associate vice president of the Population Reference Bureau. “But we’re seeing a slowdown that is likely the result of multiple factors: declining Latina birth rates combined with lower immigration levels. If both of these trends continue, they will lead to big changes down the road.”
William H. Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution who analyzed the census data, noted that government debates over immigration enforcement may now be less pressing, given slowing growth. “The current congressional and Supreme Court interest in reducing immigration—and the concerns especially about low-skilled and undocumented Hispanic immigration—represent issues that could well be behind us,” he said.
Minorities made up roughly 2.02 million, or 50.4 percent of U.S. births in the 12-month period ending July 2011. That compares with 37 percent in 1990.
In all, 348 of the nation’s 3,143 counties, or 1 in 9, have minority populations across all age groups that total more than 50 percent. In a sign of future U.S. race and ethnic change, the number of counties reaching the tipping point increases to more than 690, or nearly 1 in 4, when looking only at the under age 5 population.
The counties in transition include Maricopa (Phoenix), Ariz.;
King (Seattle), Wash.; Travis (Austin), Texas; and Palm Beach, Fla., where recent Hispanic births are driving the increased diversity among children. Also high on the list are suburban counties such as Fairfax, Va., just outside the nation’s capital, and Westchester, N.Y., near New York City, where more open spaces are a draw for young families who are increasingly minority.
According to the latest data, the percentage growth of Hispanics slowed from 4.2 percent in 2001 to 2.5 percent last year. Their population growth would have been even lower if it weren’t for their relatively high fertility rates—seven births for every death. The median age of U.S. Hispanics is 27.6 years.
Births actually have been declining for both whites and minorities as many women postponed having children during the economic slump. But the drop since 2008 has been larger for whites, who have a median age of 42. The number of white births fell by 11.4 percent, compared with 3.2 percent for minorities, according to Kenneth Johnson, a sociologist at the University of New Hampshire.
Asian population increases also slowed, from 4.5 percent in 2001 to about 2.2 percent. Hispanics and Asians still are the two fastest-growing minority groups, making up about 16.7 percent and 4.8 percent of the U.S. population, respectively.
Blacks, who comprise about 12.3 percent of the population, have increased at a rate of about 1 percent each year. Whites have increased very little in recent years.
Other findings:
• The migration of black Americans back to the South is slowing. New destinations in the South, including Atlanta, Charlotte, N.C., Raleigh, N.C., and Orlando, Fla., saw sharp drop-offs in black population growth as the prolonged housing bust kept African-Americans locked in place in traditional big cities. Metro areas including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco had reduced declines or gains.
• Nine U.S. counties in five states saw their minority populations across all age groups surpass 50 percent last year. They were Sutter and Yolo in California; Quitman in Georgia; Cumberland in New Jersey; Colfax in New Mexico; and Lynn, Mitchell, Schleicher and Swisher in Texas.
• Maverick County, Texas, had the largest share of minorities at 96.8 percent, followed by Webb County, Texas, and Wade Hampton, Alaska, both at 96 percent.
• Four states—Hawaii, California, New Mexico and Texas—as well as the District of Columbia have minority populations that exceed 50 percent.
The census estimates used local records of births and deaths, tax records of people moving within the U.S., and census statistics on immigrants. The figures for “white” refer to those whites who are not of Hispanic ethnicity.
(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)