SAN RAMON — A senior citizen residential complex in the East Bay has been bought by a real estate investment group from the Midwest in a deal that tops $20 million. The Watermark at San Ramon has been bought by an affiliate of real estate firm Welltower, according to documents filed on April 25 at the Contra Costa County Recorder’s Office. Ohio-based Welltower invests in healthcare-related real estate, including properties that provide services or residential communities for senior citizens. Welltower paid $21.4 million for the Watermark, the property documents show. Welltower bought the Water ..read more

The Bay Area is one of the great theater hubs of the nation, a breeding ground for new work and for the stars of tomorrow, so it’s no surprise that the road to Broadway for countless performers starts in the Bay. Musical legend Carol Channing grew up in the Bay Area, after all, graduating from San Francisco’s Lowell High School in 1938 before winning Broadway fame in “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” and her Tony award-winning turn in the original “Hello Dolly!” Last year’s “Camelot” revival on Broadway featured Oakland native and former Berkeley Shakespeare Festival artistic director Dakin Matthews ..read more

Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor. Keep DA Priceto preserve reform Re: “DA Price to face recall election” (Page A1, April 17). We need to call the recall fanaticism what it truly is. The recall of District Attorney Pamela Price is a political agenda of disgruntled ex-deputy district attorneys. Price’s justice reform is a solution to the failed tough-on-crime and mass-incarceration initiatives of old. In Alameda County, we need solutions, not more of the same failed policies. The fact that Price is willing to investigate the inhumane violence agains ..read more

”Survey says” looks at various rankings and scorecards judging geographic locations while noting these grades are best seen as a mix of artful interpretation and data. Buzz: Californians are increasingly worried about the economy, with their collective optimism falling to nearly a two-year low. Source: My trusty spreadsheet analyzed the Conference Board’s monthly consumer confidence indexes for the state, which are based on regular polling of shoppers. We also peeked at the national results and optimism scores for two California economic rivals: Texas and Florida. Topline California’s co ..read more

Alexis Catalan, a high school senior in San Jose, was one of the lucky ones. She submitted her Free Application for Federal Student Aid a few weeks after the application launched in December and only experienced a handful of glitches with the online form. Catalan applied to 16 schools, and her preferred option is the University of San Francisco to pursue a degree in medicine. But three months later, she’s still waiting to find out how much financial aid she’ll receive. And as the college decision deadline rapidly approaches, Catalan might have to decide which school she’ll attend before she’ll ..read more

We live in a ranking age with lists of “best” and “worst” and “in-between” touching every slice of life, industry and geography. Some of these scorecards are based on polling. Others are data-based, trying to decipher government or business stats. And some are simply opinions – individual or consensus. Yes, these rankings can be discussion starters – whether for policy debate or just plain fun. Before the chats get too intense, be aware that the creation of these grades is far more art than statistical science. I’m bemused at the wave of state-vs.-state rankings that flow into my inbox at work ..read more

SAN RAMON — An arrest by officers nearly six months ago has led to the recovery of more than $325,000 in stolen retail products, police said. Officers from the San Ramon Police Department and California Highway Patrol’s Organized Retail Crime Task Force, along with San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office deputies, recovered the products Wednesday while serving search warrants at three undisclosed locations. Related Articles Crime and Public Safety | Oakland ‘Rookie of the Year’ cop remembered for his humor, passion Crime and Public Safety | Modesto man killed in Oakland while arguing with people ..read more

U.S. health officials are closely monitoring the recent leap of avian flu from birds to cattle — and earlier this month, to a Texas dairy farmer. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stresses the current public health risk is low — the virus isn’t known to spread among people or through the food supply, is rarely caught from exposure to infected animals, and where human infections have occurred, is often mild and manageable. But the leap of the H5N1 influenza strain, widespread among wild fowl and a regular threat to domestic poultry, into cattle was unexpected, and a worrisome devel ..read more

SANTA CRUZ — A judge found a 20-year-old man charged with killing his UC Santa Cruz student girlfriend competent to stand trial during a hearing Wednesday. Samuel Brannigan Stone  Samuel Brannigan Stone, who also had attended UCSC through last semester, pleaded not guilty to a murder charge after the court received a psychiatric evaluation eliminating doubt of his mental capacity. For Mansoor Naseem, news that his daughter’s alleged killer would continue through the legal process was a relief, he said in an interview after the hearing. Naseem’s daughter, Zainab Mansoor, 21, was found unco ..read more

Voters in two Bay Area school districts have received ballots for special May 7 elections on parcel taxes to help fund operations. Rather than placing the measures on the primary election or general election ballot, as most school districts do, officials in the two districts timed their elections to depress voter turnout. Each district also used tortured and deceptive ballot language that confuses voters and hides the magnitude of the proposed taxes. For details on the measures, here are our editorials: Voters in Los Gatos-Saratoga high school district should reject parcel tax hike San Ramon V ..read more