Biden has decided on Supreme Court nominee: reports

WASHINGTON, D.C. (The Hill) - President Biden has decided who he will be nominating to replace outgoing Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, multiple news outlets reported on Thursday.

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Outlets did not indicate which nominee the president had decided on, but reported the president had made his choice. People familiar with the selection told CNN, which was the first news outlet to report the news, that he had come to a decision and that it could be made public as early as Friday.

Those people, however, would not confirm to the network if the president had extended his offer to his pick.

The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.

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Reported East Bay power outage was computer glitch

(BCN) - PG&E officials said a computer error was responsible for incorrectly reporting that more than 77,000 East Bay customers were affected by a power outage on Wednesday evening.

The power company's website had reported thousands without power, about 6 p.m., in El Cerrito, Kensington and Albany, along with parts of Berkeley, San Pablo and Richmond.

A spokeswoman said shortly after 8 p.m. that the outage never occurred and that a computer system error was to blame for posting the false information on the PG&E site.

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Bay Area tech companies work to protect workers in Ukraine

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KRON) - "They're very concerned, we're all very concerned. This all escalated quite rapidly.”

Andy Kurtzig is the founder of San Francisco-based justanswer.com. For him, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is personal.  

260 of his workers live there.

"For example, we have a 5 threat level plan, right now at the threat level, we're actively moving people from the east to the west,” Kurtzig said. 

He's not alone. He says other Silicon Valley tech companies also have a presence in Ukraine, which he says could have worldwide implications.

"Most companies that you know or have people in Ukraine. Google has people in Ukraine. Amazon has got people in Ukraine. Oracle's got people in Ukraine,” Kurtzig said. 

Kurtzig says as the conflict heats up, there have already been impacts on his workers.

"The bank that we use in Ukraine is one of the banks that was cyber-attacked is one of the biggest, if not the biggest in Ukraine. So that's how we pay our employees through that bank. They're not going to be able to buy groceries or pay their rent and buy the emergency supplies that they need. It's one of the things that they're protecting ourselves against,” Kurtzig said. 

He calls the invasion devastating.

"It's not just devastating for us, and not just devastating for our people in Ukraine. It's devastating for democracy. What Putin is trying to do is trying to take away Ukraine's freedom,” Kurtzig said. 

Kurtzig says he remains committed to doing business in Ukraine.

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Mt. Diablo Unified School District votes to cut music programs despite protests

CONCORD, Calif. (KRON) - The Mount Diablo Unified School District has approved cutting music programs​.

The school district posted to Twitter saying:

"The #MDUSD Board is now holding a Public Hearing to Review and Potentially Approve a Resolution on Adopting a Revised Trustee Area Boundary Map Based upon 2020 Federal Census Data: https://ift.tt/AUgmhMX"

Ahead of the school board meeting, a parade of cars covered in signs circled Monte Gardens Elementary School.

Student bands also played music as a rallying cry against cuts to the district's 4th-grade music programs.  

Inside the meeting, a number of students and parents also voiced their concerns.

MDUSD is facing budget issues and declining enrollment.

The district is looking at cutting more than 60 staff members including the music teachers.

High school teacher Martin Lejano says he's worried about the ripple effects of the cuts.

Meanwhile, the district's teacher's union is looking for raises.

The Mount Diablo Education Association President tells KRON4 the district has 200 vacancies and those positions could be filled and retained with competitive wages.

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Antioch mayor announces new interim police chief

ANTIOCH, Calif. (KRON) - The city of Antioch now has a new interim police chief. Antioch Mayor Lamar Thorpe made the announcement during a news conference on Wednesday.

“I recognize that change is difficult but that difficulty can never get in the way of our pursuit to become a better city,” Mayor Thorpe said. 

Against tradition, Mayor Thorpe looked outside the city and across the bay where he found Dr. Steven Ford, a 31-year San Francisco police veteran who currently serves as Commander of SFPD's Community Engagement Division.

“Restoring and bolstering community trust is critical and I look forward to establishing meaningful relationships with our schools, our businesses, our neighborhoods, our faith-based groups and most importantly and specifically our youth. To Mayor Thorpe again, to city council all-inclusive, city manager Johnson that you again sincerely for trusting me to lead this organization,” Dr. Ford said.

Despite thanks to all city council members, only a select few were made aware of this announcement.

“I had no idea. My phone has been blowing up all afternoon, texts, calls, "did you know?" I had no clue! And we had a city council meeting last night,”

Lori Ogorchock said. 

City councilmember Lori Ogorchock says she was blindsided on Wednesday and says neither the mayor nor any other leaders informed her that the city was even looking for a replacement interim police chief.

“There was no public process on this. I didn't know and then on top of it I personally have a lot of questions. I don't even know how Dr. Ford was selected. Was there an interview process? When was it? Or was this something that was pre-planned? Did they know about this? How long did they know?”

Ogorchock said. 

Ogorchock says the police department is already short-staffed and she worries what this might do to morale.

She says she reached out to the city manager's office about this but hasn't heard back. 

Meanwhile, Mayor Thorpe also announced the creation of a new position within the department.

“Unit cohesion cannot be achieved when there isn't a clear chain of command therefore I will be advancing the measure that immediately creates a deputy chief of police position at the Antioch Police Department that focuses on long-term planning,” Mayor Thorpe said. “And you talk about transparency? There's no transparency with this, none.”

KRON4 reached out to Mayor Thorpe Wednesday evening but has not heard back yet.

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Santa Clara County closer to lifting indoor mask mandate

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (KRON) - Speaking at a virtual meeting Wednesday, Santa Clara County Public Health Director Dr. Sara Cody says the county is seeing fewer COVID cases.

“All of our metrics are heading in a very positive direction,” Dr. Sara Cody said. "Looking at wastewater surveillance continuing to see a decline in all four sewer sheds as well as in our case surveillance."

Dr. Cody says the county is close to meeting its metrics in order to move forward in lifting health orders.

Santa Clara County is the only Bay Area county with the indoor mask mandate still in place.

In downtown Sunnyvale, people can be seen wearing masks outdoors, some say they will keep masks on for the time being.

“In places like trains and stuff I'll just keep my mask on not because of COVID but also the flu and anything else that might be out there,” Tuck Vollom said. 

“I think I'll keep wearing my mask just to let other people feel comfortable and also myself too,” Takafumi Watanave said. 

“I am also a little nervous for my customers and employees who might have health issues or have young children at home who are not vaccinated or have compromised immune systems,” Leigh Odum said. 

That's why Leigh Odum, owner of Leigh's Favorite Books says she'll most likely have the same rules inside her shop.

“I'll have to feel it out. I may require masks indoors just until everyone that works here feels fully comfortable and feel safe. I want everyone to feel safe,” Odum said. 

As of Wednesday, Dr. Cody says the county's hospitalizations are down and vaccinations are up, and anticipates meeting the final metric in community transmission as early as Thursday.

Dr. Cody adds for health officers to determine lifting the mask mandate, the county must hold its goal at 550 cases and below for seven consecutive days.

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Woman mauled by K9 files lawsuit claiming excessive force in Brentwood

BRENTWOOD, Calif. (KRON) - A federal civil rights lawsuit alleging excessive force has been filed against a Brentwood police officer.

It stems from a shoplifting incident two years ago that ended with the plaintiff being chased down by what the woman's attorneys call a "bloodthirsty" K9 that mauled her.

The woman eventually pled guilty and served time for the crime but it should not have resulted in her almost losing her life.

Talmika Bates was 24-years-old when this happened two years ago and at the time, she wasn't clear she would be alive today to tell her story.

“I seen death. I feel like if I wasn't on the phone with her, I would have died. I would have closed my eyes,” Bates said. 

Bates called her mother on the phone while Brentwood police K9 Marco sunk his teeth into her skull on Feb. 10, 2020.

In a federal civil rights lawsuit filed on her behalf Tuesday against Marco's handler, Officer Ryan Rezentes and other unnamed officers possibly involved.

The complaint seeks money for damages, claims:

"In violation of his training and the law, Officer Ryan Rezentes inexplicably sicc'd Marco on the unsuspecting and unarmed young lady without providing any warning or a reasonable opportunity to surrender."

"They didn't have to do all that because I was unarmed. It ain't like I robbed somebody,” Bates said. 

Instead, the lawsuit states police were responding to reports of three young women shoplifting expensive cosmetic items from a store.

Bates admits to being one of them and was found by police in a field nearby hiding in a bush.

That's when her attorney, Adante Pointer, says Marco was commanded to attack. Pointer says the video proves the dog was unhinged, out of control, ignoring Rezentes' delayed commands to stop.

“Once the dog started attacking and gnawing and clawing at Ms. Bates's scalp, the dog was in the throes of a blood lust,” Pointer said. 

Bates was eventually pulled from the bushes, and taken to John Muir Medical Center. Surgeons were able to reattach her scalp.

She pled guilty to the shoplifting charge and served time in jail.

She is now home in Oakland, where she is back in school but says she is still haunted by the mauling.

The police department's website shows Officer Rezentes and Marco are still out in the field.

"Yes, it looks like, to me, what you would imagine and what you've seen in movies and documentaries as it relates to the way in which slave catchers would unleash these vicious animals on Black people,” Pointer said. 

"I'm very blessed that I can tell this story and that my mom don't have to be on here trying to explain what happened to me,” Bates said. 

Neither the city or the police department responded to KRON4’s direct questions for comment on this story.

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