Come, see the herons

Heron Habitat Helpers aims to protect great blue herons and their nesting colonies around Puget Sound. Group members monitor herons for particular behaviors, count the chicks and adults, and estimate the age of the chicks. The group also conducts public outreach, education and habitat restoration. The group is having an event Saturday called the Heron […]
Miss Manners: How can I make a guest commit to her RSVP?
DEAR MISS MANNERS: I have hosted several teas for five to eight friends, most of them around my age (mid-20s) or a little younger.
My difficulty is with RSVPs. Each time, I’ve had multiple guests tell me the day of the tea that they’re no longer able to attend — for reasons such as being tired, having work to get done or needing to go grocery shopping.
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I haven’t wanted to invite more people than I can host and to expect last-minute cancellations, because it is, of course, always possible that everyone who accepts my invitation will come. I don’t want the possibility of not having a teacup, seat or scone for an expected guest.
It’s also been suggested to me that asking someone to bring a dish will make her presence feel more essential and thus make her more likely to attend. I haven’t wanted to pursue that course, either, because I very much prefer to host the tea rather than just organize it.
But I need to find some solution; neither my salary nor my energy allows for continuing to prepare for twice as many guests as will actually attend.
How can I, while being mannerly myself, request or instill a sense of commitment in my friends’ responses to my invitations?
GENTLE READER: Stop inviting the ones who consistently fail to show. That will likely be the only way to teach your guests commitment.
Asking them to bring a dish, Miss Manners agrees, is not wise. It not only compromises the pleasure of hosting, but also increases the chance that you will find yourself lacking in both a guest and something to serve for tea.
DEAR MISS MANNERS: I am going to visit my 28-year-old daughter and meet her new boyfriend, who is 41 and a Marine. I have invited them to lunch at an appropriate restaurant, and I intend to get the check.
I suspect the boyfriend will be a gentleman and insist on paying.
As the person who issued the invitation, should I insist? Or, as a lady, can I accept his gracious offer? It is very important to me that I make a proper impression.
GENTLE READER: As, one hopes, it will be for him.
You are correct that, as the person who issued the invitation, you should pay. However, if the gentleman insists, it will be better not to make a fuss and instead, graciously say, “Thank you. I hope that this is the first of many such occasions and that you will let us be the hosts next time.”
That is, Miss Manners warns, if he does indeed make that proper impression — and your daughter concurs.
Please send your questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners.com; to her email, dearmissmanners@gmail.com; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.
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Dear Abby: He learned things in kindergarten that made him cry
DEAR ABBY: My grandson is 6 and very sensitive, maybe too sensitive.
He’s also lovable, super scientific-minded, good-hearted and generous with his little sister. However, he still uses a diaper at night and has CVS (cyclical vomiting syndrome). It’s heartbreaking. For that reason, he’s on a special gluten-free, no-flour, no-chocolate diet.
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Abby, isn’t this too early to introduce the subject of drugs and alcohol to children in school? My grandson asked, “What are drugs and what is alcohol?” Long story short, he was super scared and started to cry in class.
The school called his parents and he came home devastated. We reassured him that in our homes there are no drugs, and alcohol is in a special cabinet only for adults who use it in moderation and only occasionally because it can hurt your body and mind.
Finally, he fell asleep still crying and took a short nap. He woke up still worried about the presentation, but Mom and Dad explained there was nothing to worry about, that he was living in a safe house and nobody would hurt him or Mom or Dad and no one in his family would be hurt by drugs or alcohol.
What is your opinion on this matter of super sensitivity? I love him so much.
— CONCERNED GRANDMA
DEAR CONCERNED: There are many super-sensitive adults who began life as super-sensitive children. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but children must learn to exist in and to navigate the increasingly complicated world in which they live.
Your grandson’s parents should have his pediatrician recommend a licensed child psychologist who can help the boy and his parents address the challenges ahead.
DEAR ABBY: My 34-year-old daughter is the youngest of three. She has never married and has no kids. Her friends, her older sister and both female cousins are all married.
She has been seeing a guy for about three years, but it’s a long-distance relationship. She lives in Washington state; he’s in California.
During this time, they split up once after he told her he didn’t think she was The One. After six months apart, they started seeing each other again. It has been a year now. When he asks, she flies down to see him.
My question is, how long should she stay in this relationship before getting engaged?
— CLOCK-WATCHING DAD
DEAR DAD: How long your 34-year-old daughter should stay in a relationship that appears to be headed nowhere is not for you or for me to decide.
She’s an adult who appears to have settled for a friends-with-benefits arrangement, or a “situationship.” If and when she finally concludes that it isn’t going to become anything more, she will move on.
Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.
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Five-bedroom home in Danville sells for $2.9 million

A spacious house located in the 100 block of Victoria Place in Danville has a new owner. The 3,892-square-foot property, built in 1999, was sold on May 11, 2023, for $2,850,000, or $732 per square foot. The property features five bedrooms, four bathrooms, an attached garage, and two parking spaces. It sits on a 0.3-acre lot, which also has a pool.
Additional houses that have recently been purchased close by include:
- In March 2023, a 2,292-square-foot home on Mistral Court in Danville sold for $1,780,000, a price per square foot of $777. The home has 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.
- A 4,305-square-foot home on the first block of Homestead Court in Danville sold in July 2022, for $2,925,000, a price per square foot of $679. The home has 4 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms.
- On Homestead Court, Danville, in September 2022, a 4,305-square-foot home was sold for $2,904,545, a price per square foot of $675. The home has 4 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms.
Person found dead near I-880 and Montague Expressway
MILPITAS – A person was found dead at a homeless encampment near Interstate 880 and Montague Expressway on Thursday, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The discovery was reported to the CHP around 6:20 p.m., said CHP Officer Ross Lee.
The person was not killed in a traffic collision and foul play is not suspected, Lee said.
Check back for updates.
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NorCal baseball regionals: In an extra-inning classic, De La Salle survives against Franklin-Elk Grove
CONCORD – It was one of those rare contests that lived up to the pre-game hype. And then some.
When No. 2 seed De La Salle scored a run in the ninth to beat third-seeded Franklin 6-5 in the semifinals of the CIF NorCal Division I semifinals Thursday, fans who were on the edge of their seats for most of the game stood up and gave the players a rousing ovation.
Tanner Griffith’s single to right-center in the bottom of the ninth drove in pinch-runner Joe McGee for the winning score. Reliever Cal Randall was the winning pitcher, working the final 2⅔ innings after starter RJ Meyn went the first 6⅓ frames.
De La Salle (26-5) takes on Valley Christian Saturday for the D-I championship. Franklin finished the season at 30-5.
The game was an encore to the hype before the first pitch.
Both starting pitchers, juniors Meyn from De La Salle and Nic Abraham from Franklin, came into the contest with 10-0 records. They departed before either could get a decision.
Franklin had won 16 games in a row before Thursday’s meeting with De La Salle. It was last defeated on April 6 by St. Mary’s-Stockton.
De La Salle was 28-0 in North Coast Section and NorCal playoff competition since 2016.
The spectaculars continued when the teams took the field.
The Spartans jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first, scoring on an error and a passed ball. The Wildcats answered with three in the top of the third to go ahead 3-2.
Back came De La Salle in the bottom of the third. Freshman Tyler Spangler tripled. Smith Chandler singled home Spangler, then moved to second on a single by Griffith.
Chandler and Griffith executed a double steal, and Chandler scored on a ground out by Connor Harrison. The Spartans were back on top 4-3.
Franklin evened the count at 4-4 with a run in the fourth. It stayed that way until the sixth, when Harrison, the younger brother of Giants top prospect, left-hander Kyle Harrison, drilled the first pitch of the inning over the left field fence to make it 5-4.
“It was my third at-bat,” Harrison said. “They were throwing me nothing but sliders and curves. I had a couple of ugly swings. I finally hit a slider.”
The homer was his third of the season. He leads De La Salle with 35 RBI and has a .415 batting average.
De La Salle’s lead lasted for exactly one batter. The second hitter up in the top of the seventh, Delta League Player of the Year Nolan Stevens, homered to left to make it 5-5.
De La Salle coach David Jeans opted to start the seventh with Meyn.
“They had two left-handed hitters leading off, and he (Meyn) had done well against them,” the coach explained.
They were a combined 2 for 6 with two runs scored, but the second run was the result of an error. Stevens, however, is a Baseball America’s top 500 draft prospect and has signed a letter of intent to Mississippi State.
Meyn was immediately taken out after Stevens’ home run. He worked 6⅓ innings, allowing seven hits, four runs (three earned) and struck out five.
“I was coming off a little bit of short rest, throwing 108 pitches less than a week ago,” said Meyn, a Santa Clara commit. “I didn’t totally have the change up today, but I battled through that and gave it the best I had.”
Randall, who hadn’t pitched since May 16, was superb. He walked the first batter he faced,, then retired seven in a row before allowing a two-out single by Stevens in the ninth.
Asked why he hadn’t pitched for two weeks, the UCLA-bound right-hander said, “Weird things. I I had a little bump in the road. I’m back. It’s all good.”
Randall, also rated on the Baseball America’s Top 500 draft prospects, said he was sharp with his fastball and curve.
“I was throwing my fastball a little extra fast,” he said.
The game-winning rally began with Spangler drawing a leadoff walk. McGee, the pinch-runner, took off for second on a walk to Chandler and advanced to third on a throwing error by the Franklin catcher, who thought Chandler was trying to steal second.
Griffith then launched a deep fly to right-center. The Franklin outfield was playing shallow and the ball landed untouched for the game-winning hit.
“I hit a changeup,” Griffith said. “I saw it and did my thing.”
It looked like the game would end in the eighth when De La Salle loaded the bases with nobody out, But sophomore Dylan Wood replaced Abraham (113 pitches) and ended the threat by striking out two batters and getting the other out on a pop out to second.
Restoration lags for Syria’s famed Roman ruins at Palmyra and other war-battered historic sites

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3 dead, 2 missing after family fishing trip in Alaska becomes a nightmare

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NorCal softball regionals: Freshman pitcher, new hero lead Willow Glen into D-II title game
SAN JOSE — Freshman right-hander Alanna Clincy was up to the challenge in the biggest game in Willow Glen softball history.
Clincy pitched a two-hit shutout Thursday as Willow Glen defeated Bullard of Fresno 1-0 in the Northern California regional Division II semifinals. The Rams will host No. 3 seed Notre Dame-Salinas on Saturday at 4 p.m. for the NorCal D-II championship. Notre Dame advanced with a 3-0 win in eight innings over No. 2 seed East Nicolaus.
“It’s super exciting for our school because it’s the furthest we’ve been in Willow Glen history,” senior catcher McKenna Campbell said.
Clincy retired the first 11 batters she faced before issuing a pair of walks with two out in the fourth. She got the next batter on a pop out to get out of that mini-jam. Bullard didn’t get its first hit off her until there were two out in the fifth.
Clincy improved to 12-3 on the season. She’s allowed 51 hits in 112 ⅔ innings while striking out 177.
“She pitched super good,” Campbell, her catcher, said. “We have high expectations for her because we know how good she can be.”
“My defense backed me up again,” Clincy said. “I’m really tired but I’m glad to get the win. Try to keep it going one more game.”
The game was still scoreless until Willow Glen came up in the bottom of the sixth. Campbell led off with a double into the left-field corner. Sienna Wilson bunted her over to third and then shortstop Aleki Ulu came up with the infield in and hit a screaming liner off the third baseman’s glove for a single to score the only run of the game.
“It’s somebody different every time,” Willow Glen coach Don Spingola said. “That’s what makes this team so special. It’s a complete team effort. We don’t have one person that carries this team. Every time it’s a surprise to us who is going to step forward. That’s what’s exciting about this team, a different person every time.”.
That one run turned out to be all Willow Glen (22-7) needed.
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“When Alanna’s pitching the way she is, you almost only need to get one run for her,” Spingola said.
Clincy allowed a leadoff single in the top of the seventh but induced the next batter to ground into a force out at second. Bullard’s Betsy Woodward stole second and went to third on a pitch in the dirt. But Clincy got a strikeout and recorded the final out on a popup that first baseman Faamaai Ulu ran down in foul territory.
On to the NorCal finals.
Three killed in stabbings in San Jose, Milpitas; suspect arrested
SAN JOSE — Three people were killed in separate stabbings Thursday in San Jose and Milpitas, police said.
A suspect was arrested in connection with the stabbings, according to the San Jose and Milpitas police departments.
San Jose police said two stabbings were reported in San Jose — one around 3:10 p.m. at Kooser Road and Dellwood Way and the second around 3:30 p.m. in the 1800 block of Hillsdale Avenue.
A third stabbing was reported in the 400 block of Jacklin Road, Milpitas police said. A suspect was arrested near the scene.
“We believe that their suspect is linked to the crimes that occurred earlier today in San Jose,” San Jose police said in a tweet. “Our detectives are providing assistance and following up.”
The victim in the Jacklin Road stabbing died of their injuries, Milpitas police said in a tweet, adding that “SJPD had two additional homicides in their city which may be associated.”
San Jose police said the suspect left the scene of the second stabbing in the victim’s vehicle and hit a pedestrian. The pedestrian’s injuries were described as not life-threatening.
Additional details about the stabbings, including a motive, were not immediately available.
Check back for updates.
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Despite flags, Border Patrol staff didn’t review fragile 8-year-old girl’s file before she died

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NorCal baseball, softball: Thursday’s semifinal results, Saturday’s schedule
Division I
Thursday’s semifinals
No. 1 Valley Christian 2, No. 4 Cardinal Newman 1
No. 2 De La Salle 6, No. 3 Franklin-Elk Grove 5, 9 innings
Saturday’s final
No. 2 De La Salle (26-5) at No. 1 Valley Christian (31-3), 1 p.m.
Division II
Thursday’s semifinals
No. 4 St. Ignatius (18-12) 5, No. 8 Bellarmine 1
No. 3 Casa Grande (24-5) 9, No. 2 Pleasant Valley-Chico 6
Saturday’s final
No. 4 St. Ignatius (19-12) at No. 3 Casa Grande (25-5), 1 p.m.
Division III
Thursday’s semifinals
No. 5 Oakmont-Roseville 6, No. 1 Carmel 1
No. 2 Central Catholic-Modesto 7, No. 6 Arcata 4
Saturday’s final
No. 5 Oakmont-Roseville (21-13) at No. 2 Central Catholic-Modesto (23-8-1), 4 p.m.
Division IV
Thursday’s semifinals
No. 1 Sutter 6, No. 5 Hillsdale 5
No. 3 Gridley 2, No. 7 Stevenson 0
Saturday’s final
No. 3 Gridley (17-5) at No. 1 Sutter (25-5-1), 4 p.m.
Division V
Thursday’s semifinals
No. 5 Lowell 7, No. 1 Ripon Christian-Ripon 6
No. 2 University-San Francisco 6, No. 3 Etna 1
Saturday’s final
No. 5 Lowell (17-10) vs. No. 2 University-San Francisco (23-8) at Paul Goode Field, 4 p.m.
CIF NorCal softball regionalsDivision I
Thursday’s semifinal
No. 1 Hollister 3, No. 4 Whitney-Rocklin 2
No. 2 St. Francis 1, No. 3 Central-Fresno 0, 9 innings
Saturday’s final
No. 2 St. Francis (28-3) at No. 1 Hollister (29-3), 4 p.m.
Division II
Thursday’s semifinal
No. 1 Willow Glen 1, No. 4 Bullard 0
No. 3 Notre Dame Salinas 3, No. 2 East Nicolaus 0
Saturday’s final
No. 3 Notre Dame Salinas (22-7) at No. 1 Willow Glen (22-7), 4 p.m.
Division III
Thursday’s semifinal
No. 1 Ponderosa 7, No. 4 Pinole Valley 1
No. 2 Central Catholic-Modesto 8, No. 3 Pleasant Valley-Chico 1
Saturday’s final
No. 2 Central Catholic-Modesto (29-4) at No. 1 Ponderosa (25-4-1), 4 p.m.
Division IV
Thursday’s semifinal
No. 5 Orestimba 5, No. 1 University Prep-Redding 2
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No. 3 Capital Christian-Sacramento 12, No. 2 Fowler 5
Saturday’s final
No. 5 Orestimba (25-4) at No. 3 Capital Christian-Sacramento (18-5), 4 p.m.
Division V
Thursday’s semifinal
No. 1 Live Oak 10, No. 5 Los Molinos 0
No. 2 North Salinas 11, No. 3 Stone Ridge Christian 1
Saturday’s final
No. 2 North Salinas (15-12) at No. 1 Live Oak (14-11), 4 p.m.
After shootings and new threats, Seattle’s Garfield High cancels in-person classes

The principal emailed parents to say classes would be online only Friday, and activities shut down. The Teen Life Center near the campus is also closed Friday
NorCal softball regionals: St. Francis endures nine-inning thriller to reach Division I final
MOUNTAIN VIEW – Two great pitchers loomed large over St. Francis and Central-Fresno’s extra-inning softball duel in Mountain View.
With a trip to Hollister for the NorCal Division I championship on the line, Central’s Mia Nishikawa and the home team’s Kate Munnerlyn traded punchouts, popups and powerful fastballs while zeroes piled up on the scoreboard.
Seven innings weren’t enough for the two powerhouses, the game stretching into the bottom of the ninth with the semifinal still scoreless.
Silhouetted by golden hour light, Rebecca Quinn finally put an end to the pitcher’s duel as the third batter in the frame, her slap into right field driving Jaime Oakland across the plate and giving St. Francis a 1-0 victory.
“Wherever the ball was, I just had to get my bat on it and get solid contact so we could score,” Quinn said. “We knew it was going to be difficult.”

The defending NorCal Division I champions threw a pregame curveball to the visitors, starting Chloe Cummings instead of aces Munnerlyn or Shannon Keighran.
But the Grizzlies, who last season made it all the way to the Division III NorCal final, weren’t going to be rattled by unexpected roster moves.
Cummings threw two and one-thirds scoreless innings, but after the first two runners got on in the third inning, coach Mike Oakland asked Munnerlyn to get out of one of the Lancers’ few jams.
She answered the call by striking out the last two batters of the frame.
“After going through the lineup with Chloe and seeing how their batters were swinging at the ball, it just mentally prepared me to be out on the mound,” Munnerlyn said.
Munnerlyn breezed through the rest of the game, striking out nine and allowing just one hit. Nishikawa was just as brilliant, striking out 11 while pitching the whole game.
“She’s fantastic,” Quinn said about Nishikawa. “The ball was all over the plate … moving in and out, we didn’t know what to expect.”
Munnerlyn operated calmly with traffic on the base, stranding the leadoff hitter on second base with three strikeouts in the top of the eighth, and then leaving a Central player on third in the top of the ninth.
By the bottom of the ninth, the St. Francis lineup had seen Nishikawa four times, and the Lancers bats finally made solid contact.
Oakland led things off with a line drive into right field for a double, and O’Gorman collected her second hit of the game to put runners on the corners with no outs.
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On a 2-2 count, Quinn lined a pitch into center field and guaranteed a rematch with No. 1 seed Hollister.
“I was in the (on-deck) circle, and I personally was like ‘Oh gosh, please Becca get on” because I didn’t want to be put into that situation,” Munnerlyn said.
St. Francis improved to 28-3, and Central-Fresno ended its season 27-6.
Though his team walked off the field as losers, Gorton focused on his team’s gritty play before embarking on the trip back to Fresno.
“I know how quality their team is, and to be able to compete with those girls was a great experience,” Gorton said. “I’m proud of my girls.”
Hollister defeated Whitney-Rocklin 3-2 in the other semifinal. The Balers defeated St. Francis 4-0 in the CCS Open Division championship less than a week earlier, and the Lancers’ stars were adamant lessons had been learned.
Its coach expects a hard-fought game.
“We’re going to have to do the same thing we did today, and hope we end up on the right side of it,” Mike Oakland said.

Tropical depression forms in Gulf of Mexico on 1st day of hurricane season

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Nuggets seize Game 1 of NBA Finals behind Nikola Jokic’s triple-double
Nikola Jokic turned his back and went to work like he’d done a thousand times already this magical season. His buttery, turnaround jumper, within spitting distance of Miami’s bench, ended the drama late Thursday night.
Denver seized Game 1 of the NBA Finals with an impressive, workmanlike effort against Miami. Its 104-93 victory was a product of staunch and stingy defense. Outside of a lackluster fourth quarter, where Miami made its final push, the Nuggets were dominant defensively.
And they got more than enough from their stars, as Nikola Jokic recorded his ninth triple-double of the postseason. His 27-point, 14-assist, 10-rebound effort drew roars from the raucous crowd once it was secured in the fourth quarter.
Jamal Murray finished with 26 points and 10 assists, and Michael Porter Jr., despite a rough 3-point shooting night, registered a 14-point, 13-rebound double-double. The boards tied his postseason career high.
Bam Adebayo finished with 26 points, but the Heat barely shot over 40%. Jimmy Butler managed just 13 points on 6-for-14 shooting from the field. Aaron Gordon deserved the credit for that smothering. Offensively, Gordon was an X-factor, too, with 16 points and most of his damage inside.
The Nuggets can stake a 2-0 lead come Sunday evening.
It was impossible to know how the Nuggets’ extended break before the Finals might impact their game, but in the week leading up to tip-off, to a man, they swore their practices were sharp and focused. When Michael Malone quizzed his team at shootaround Thursday morning on coverages and personnel, he said they aced his questions. With that, Malone had even more evidence that his team used the time off productively.
In the third quarter, their rotations were crisp and determined. They recovered for each other, rotated when applicable and, as a result, found pay dirt in transition. When the Nuggets play swarming defense — like when Gordon swatted Max Strus’ shot into the first row — they don’t even need much accompanying offense. Yet they had it. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope buried a transition 3-pointer, while Jokic and Murray engineered their two-man game. If that wasn’t enough, Porter and Bruce Brown found their stroke. Denver’s lead ballooned to 24 late in the third, and the Nuggets held a commanding 84-63 lead going into the fourth.
Malone was curiously calm prior to Thursday’s tipoff.
“It’s really funny, I was hanging out with one of my daughters last night, and she said, ‘Are you nervous?’ And I said, ‘You know what’s really funny? I’m not.’ I said, ‘I think the reason that I’m not nervous is because I know we’re prepared.’”
Malone was at ease in front of a giant throng of national media, cracking jokes and turning down the temperature despite the magnitude of the game.
“I know this is the Finals and this is Game 1; I never knew this part of the building existed,” he said, referencing a portion of the arena that was never necessary before the NBA descended on Denver.
The Nuggets played the first half with the same poised disposition their coach had before the game. On defense, they swarmed. On offense, they hunted mismatches with glee. It yielded a 59-42 halftime lead that was every bit as dominant as the score indicated.
Against the smaller Heat, Denver attacked the paint and leaned heavily on Gordon’s size and strength. Miami had no answer for his bully ball tactics.
Murray bobbed and weaved around screens, picking apart the Heat defenders from all three levels. He had a team-high 18 at the break.
“For Jamal, it just seems like as the stakes get higher and the stage gets bigger, he embraces that,” Malone said. “He doesn’t shy away from that.”
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Of course, Jokic was at the helm of Denver’s rollicking offense. Rather than shoot, he facilitated, racking up 10 assists in the first half alone. When the Nuggets hustled in transition, it forced mismatches that Jokic was more than happy to exploit. And even in halfcourt sets, he peppered the paint with precision.
But perhaps the most impressive was Porter, who flashed rare athleticism on both ends of the floor. If he wasn’t swatting shots, then he was hammering emphatic dunks that looked and felt like his physical limitations were behind him.
After one, Porter screamed. Denver’s pulsating crowd roared back.
Gilroy man arrested in connection with February shooting
GILROY — A SWAT team on Thursday arrested a 46-year-old Gilroy man in connection with a shooting earlier this year and seized a cache of unregistered guns, police said.
On Feb. 24, the victim reported being involved in a minor collision with another driver at Leavesley Road and Monterey Highway, according to the Gilroy Police Department. The suspect reportedly refused to exchange insurance information and the victim followed him through different parts of the city until he eventually stopped.
When the victim pulled over, the suspect drew a gun and fired several shots in their direction, police said. The victim escaped injury but their vehicle was struck several times.
Detectives identified the suspect as Arturo Lara and obtained a search warrant for his home in the 9000 block of Ridgeway Drive.
In addition to arresting Lara at his home on Thursday, the Gilroy-Morgan Hill SWAT team seized ammunition and numerous unregistered firearms, including ghost guns, high-powered rifles and high-capacity magazines, according to police.
Lara was booked into Santa Clara County jail on attempted murder and weapon charges.
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Anyone with information related to the case can contact Detective Chris Silva at 408-846-0335 or the tip line at 408-846-0330.
NorCal baseball playoffs: Freshman’s masterpiece leads St. Ignatius to semifinal win over Bellarmine
PACIFICA — St. Ignatius freshman pitcher Chase Gordon had 24 hours to mentally prepare for his first-ever varsity start.
That start came in the NorCal Division II semifinals — and the 15-year-old delivered a masterpiece.
The left-handed Gordon pitched a complete game to lead the Wildcats to a 5-1 win over Bellarmine on Thursday at Fairmont Field in Pacifica and lead SI to Saturday’s regional championship game at Casa Grande-Petaluma.
“He’s just a ballplayer, man,” SI coach Brian Pollzzie said. “You can’t tell he’s 15 out there. He had a little swagger out there and he was locating, catching them off-balance.”

Gordon scattered six hits and one walk across his seven innings, only allowing one unearned run. While Gordon was barely touching 80 miles per hour with his fastball, he mixed in offspeed pitches and seemed to keep a Bellarmine team that wasn’t expecting him to pitch at bay all afternoon.
“He threw really well,” Bellarmine coach Nate Sutton said, adding that Gordon’s start “came out of the blue” to the Bells. “He definitely didn’t act like a freshman. He didn’t get caught up in the moment at all. Usually, young guys, it’s easy to get them rattled. But him, not at all.”
It’s been quite a run this postseason for Gordon. SI junior Rocco Giometti said the Wildcat upperclassmen gained a ton of confidence in the freshman when he threw two shutout innings to pick up the save against bitter rival Sacred Heart Cathedral on May 10. Gordon followed that up with 5.1 innings of shutout relief work in the CCS semifinals against Valley Christian on May 24.
“It’s insane,” Giometti said. “He’s such a good kid, too. He just stays ready. He’s a great kid, he has dirty stuff. He’s just mature for his age and he just gets it done.”
The Wildcats offense helped get Gordon into cruise control by putting up five runs in the first three innings on Bellarmine’s hard-throwing starter Paul Montgomery by focusing on going the other way.
Giometti got things started with one out and a runner on second in the first, poking a hard grounder down the left-field line for a run-scoring double. But even with the team’s approach, the left-handed hitter said he can’t remember ever poking a ball so tightly down the opposite foul line.
“That surprised me myself a little bit,” Giometti said. “During practice, we had a lot of preparation hitting that outside pitch. It just worked out today because of our preparation.”
Left-handed Nico Gomozias also went to left field with a single two hitters later, with Giometti barely scoring when Bellarmine catcher Ryan Bays couldn’t corral the throw home.

The Bells would get their lone run of the day with two outs in the third. Leadoff hitter Nolan Randol reached on an error by SI, then got to second when Gordon was called for a balk. Bellarmine senior Chase Knight scored Randol with a single to center.
But Gordon got a strikeout looking to end the inning and the Wildcats immediately attacked again. Giometti led off the inning with an opposite-field single and stole second before senior Leonard Beatie walked.
Gomozias then hit a comebacker to Montgomery, but the pitcher’s throw to second to try and turn a double play went into center field, allowing Giometti to race in from second for a run and ending Montgomery’s day.
“They’ve seen him a few times and obviously he’s a little funky, so they were prepped for him,” Sutton said of Montgomery. “But he’s been our guy all year, with tremendous numbers.
“We had our guy on the mound and some breaks here, breaks there, balls fall and we don’t make plays and that’s baseball. We only scored one run on [Gordon] anyways, so it was going to be tough.”

The Wildcats tacked on two more on Bellarmine reliever Luke Rooney in the third to push the lead to four runs. That would prove to be more than enough for Gordon, who was very expressive after finishing the sixth inning because he wasn’t sure he’d get to head back out on the mound.
“I was thinking, ‘Maybe, by chance, I’ll get to get a couple of outs in the seventh, but if this is my last out of the game, might as well make it a good one,’” Gordon said.
But Gordon was only at 88 pitches after six, so Pollzzie decided to give Gordon three more batters to finish the game off. Gordon retired the first two but the third reached base on a tough grounder to shortstop, but Pollzzie gave him one more batter.
On Gordon’s 102nd pitch of the game, he induced a grounder to short. When the forceout was record at second, the freshman threw his cap and glove skyward, his masterpiece complete.

Gordon said he dedicated this win to his senior teammates.
“For this to be their last game at this field, hopefully it was a special one,” Gordon said.
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“The seniors are a great group of kids, they’re going to be sorely missed,” Sutton said. “We said, ‘We’ll be forever remembered. You’ll have your 2023 [title] on the wall.’ We accomplished a huge goal, winning CCS.”
SI didn’t get the CCS title in Division I. But they’ll get a chance to win the NorCal title at 1 p.m. on Saturday, making the trip across the Golden Gate Bridge to Casa Grande in Petaluma.
And thanks to Gordon’s effort, they’ll seemingly have their whole pitching staff ready to go.
“When you put a freshman out there and it’s their first start, you never know what you’re going to get,” Pollzzie said. “You see something in a kid, you see it in practice, but we hadn’t seen it in a big game like that. You think a kid has it in him, but you don’t know.
“He proved everything today that we thought about him. He really stepped up.”



