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4 Ways to Increase Your Home Equity

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:07 GMT

As of 2022, the rate of homes currently occupied by owners is at 65.9%. This number is at an all-time high since 2011. With the number of homeowners currently on the rise, this means that there will be more prospective buyers in the future. This also means that homeowners should start to pay closer attention to the housing market, which will directly impact your home’s equity. Home equity is the monetary difference between your home’s current estimated market value and what you owe on your mortgage. Whether you’re a prospective buyer or a curious homeowner, here are four ways you can improve your home equity: Start strong with a large down payment.This one is short and sweet, though it does require a bit of money management. Increasing your down payment will put more equity directly into your home. This will also allow you to get a good foothold on paying off your mortgage. Buying a home worth $200,000 and paying $15,000 will bring your home’s equity to $15,000. Pay your mortgage.It...

Ex-Gov. Christie expected to launch 2024 bid next week

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:07 GMT

By Jill Colvin | Associated PressNEW YORK — Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is expected to launch a Republican presidential campaign next week in New Hampshire.Christie, who also ran in 2016, is planning to make the announcement at a town hall Tuesday evening at Saint Anselm College’s New Hampshire Institute of Politics, according to a person familiar with his thinking who spoke on condition of anonymity to confirm Christie’s plans.The timing, which was first reported by Axios, comes after several longtime Christie advisers started a super political action committee to support his expected candidacy.The Associated Press had previously reported that Christie was expected to enter the race “imminently.”Christie has cast himself as the only potential candidate willing to aggressively take on former President Donald Trump, the current front-runner for the nomination. Christie, a former federal prosecutor, was a longtime friend and adviser to Trump, but brok...

Inman: Brandon Aiyuk, 10 other things to stand out at 49ers’ practice

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:07 GMT

SANTA CLARA – Brandon Aiyuk delivered a clear message Wednesday, for those who forgot his 1,000-yard emergence last season or those who didn’t witness his fabulous receptions in a sun-splashed practice this last day of May.“I’m about to take off,” Aiyuk said.Aiyuk caught a pair of 40-yard passes – one each from Trey Lance and Sam Darnold – to remind everyone of his potential as a No. 1 wide receiver.That said, he realizes he’s been overshadowed by Deebo Samuel, George Kittle and Christian McCaffrey – and Aiyuk even tweeted in March how he managed to tally 1,000 yards as the “fourth option in a run-first offense.”1k as the 4th option in a run first offense I’m as real as it get word to Lil baby and est gee! I’m ready to stand on business every time. Year 4 — BA (@THE2ERA) March 21, 2023“That’s been my whole life. But I feel it’s supposed to be that way,” Aiyuk said of being overlooked. “That’s what keeps me going, that’s what keeps me motivated, keeps me angry, in a sense.”The...

California has investigated Catholic priest sex abuse for years. Victims want answers on what they found

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:07 GMT

After Pennsylvania authorities issued a bombshell report in 2018 detailing widespread sexual abuse of children and coverup in the Roman Catholic church, California’s attorney general invited victims here to share their stories. The next year, the state subpoenaed half of California’s Roman Catholic dioceses.What California authorities have learned since remains a mystery.And for victims of long-ago abuse seeking justice in the courts while the state’s dioceses increasingly seek bankruptcy protection, the silence is a growing aggravation — especially as other states, notably Illinois and Maryland, recently issued their own reports, revealing a devastating past of abuse by hundreds of clergy of thousands of children.“The public deserves to know what you have already uncovered,” SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said in a letter Wednesday to California Attorney General Rob Bonta. “We urge you to release a report, or at lea...

Oakland hit with class-action lawsuit over ransomware attack

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:07 GMT

OAKLAND — The massive ransomware attack that exposed reams of sensitive personal data stored by the city is now the subject of a class-action lawsuit by city employees who say their information wasn’t properly protected.It’s the latest development in a torturous saga for Oakland’s city government that began when online hackers infiltrated the city’s data systems, which critics say had been left vulnerable to attack by inadequate security measures, in January.Since then, ransomware group Play has dumped hundreds of thousands of web pages worth of home addresses, driver’s license information, medical data, social security numbers and more onto the dark web, where they can be accessed by anyone with the correct software.The lawsuit, filed in late April by police services technician Hada Gonzalez, seeks monetary damages and attorney’s costs from the city, plus a requirement for Oakland officials “to protect, including through encryption, all data coll...

Letters: Berkeley Marina | Orinda housing | ‘Social housing’ | Forget grades | Valuable perspective

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:07 GMT

Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.Berkeley Marina deservesbetter plan, transparencyThe EBT article “$5.1M grant OK’d to study revitalizing pier with ferry” (Page B1, May 29) described Water Emergency Transportation Authority’s ongoing attempt to dramatically alter access to and use of Berkeley’s most important public park — the Marina and its contiguous bay waters. However, it unfortunately minimized the expected economic impact of this plan.WETA’s own communications describe their intention to charge “partner” cities for subsidization of their operations. In Berkeley’s case, this would amount to a $6 million annual hit to the city’s budget. All this in the face of a looming transportation “fiscal cliff” and decades of deferred park maintenance.WETA’s 2008 attempt to build a Berkeley ferry terminal was redirected to a much more environmentally and economically ...

Single family residence sells for $3.7 million in Saratoga

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:07 GMT

12131 Country Squire Way – Google Street ViewThe spacious property located in the 12100 block of Country Squire Way in Saratoga was sold on May 17, 2023. The $3,700,000 purchase price works out to $1,615 per square foot. The house, built in 1958, has an interior space of 2,291 square feet. The property features five bedrooms, four bathrooms, a garage, and two parking spaces. It sits on a 9,840-square-foot lot, which also has a pool.Additional houses that have recently changed hands close by include:In November 2022, a 1,687-square-foot home on Prospect Road in San Jose sold for $2,512,500, a price per square foot of $1,489. The home has 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.A 2,520-square-foot home on the 12200 block of Titus Avenue in Saratoga sold in October 2022, for $2,500,000, a price per square foot of $992. The home has 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.On Brooknoll Court, Saratoga, in November 2022, a 2,613-square-foot home was sold for $3,667,000, a price per square foot of $1,403. The home ...

Asian American groups call on SF Board of Education president to resign

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:07 GMT

(KRON) -- An group Asian American civil rights and advocacy organizations is calling for the resignation of San Francisco Board of Education President Kevine Boggess. The group claims Boggess supported a "racially discriminatory" selection process for the SF Parent Advisory Council, but he disagrees. Ousted SF DA Boudin says he won't run in 2024, takes new job Those calling for Boggess to resign are members of a consortium of Asian American groups including Asian American Voters and Asian Leaders Alliance. The alliance says the issues started in Sept. 2022, when a Chinese American parent was informed by the PAC coordinator that she was rejected from the council because the office had "received more applications for our Chinese community than could be accommodated."This came after a PAC member complained that there were undisclosed racial quotas being used against Asian American candidates at the selection meeting on June 9, 2022. Marin Trujillo, Head of Staff for the SF BoE, then...

HBO reportedly to make documentary focusing on Barry Bonds

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:07 GMT

(KRON) -- HBO has a documentary in the works on San Francisco Giants legend Barry Bonds, Deadline reported Wednesday. The film will delve into Bonds' life and career, in which he set MLB's all-time home run record.“The untitled HBO Sports Documentary will tell the story of Barry Bonds, baseball’s single-season and all-time home run king, from his beginnings as the son of All-Star Bobby Bonds, and godson of the iconic Willie Mays, all the way up to his meteoric rise in the 1990s and 2000s,” a press release sent to Deadline said. Astros mock A’s attendance in now-deleted tweet While Bonds is considered one of the best baseball players in the sport's history by most, his career is shrouded in controversy. Rumors of steroids clouded his record-setting 762 home runs, and he has not been voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.Bonds was convicted of obstruction of justice in 2011 in relation to a comment he made denying the use of anabolic steroids. In 2015, the conviction was overturned....

57-year-old woman dies in solo DUI crash in Fremont

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:07 GMT

(KRON) -- A 57-year-old woman who was involved in a single vehicle crash where alcohol was a factor has died, according to the Fremont Police Department. The crash happened on May 12 at around 4:28 p.m. Fremont PD dispatch got a 911 call about a crash on Kato Road and Auburn Street, police said. Police were advised that the crash involved a single vehicle and that the driver was unresponsive. Suggestion that perpetrators of crime in Oakland are ‘hurting’ draws angry response at community meeting Fremont PD and fire personnel arrived at the crash scene. Medical aid was provided to the driver and she was transported to a nearby trauma center, police said. Fremont PD was informed several days later by the coroner's office that the woman had died."Alcohol was a factor at the time of the collision," police said.Cause of death will be determined by the Alameda County Coroner's Office. Anyone with any information regarding the crash is asked to contact the Fremont Police Traffic Unit.