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Posted by Letters To The Editor

https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/09/19/letters-trump-censorship-reaches-jimmy-kimmel/

https://www.mercurynews.com/?p=12211105

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Trump’s censorship
reaches Jimmy Kimmel

Re: “ABC suspends Kimmel over his Kirk comments” (Page A3, Sept. 18).

Suspending Jimmy Kimmel’s show is the latest in government censorship.

After the cancelling of Stephen Colbert, Donald Trump celebrated and targeted Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon and Seth Myers. Two down, two to go. Then, Trump said federal regulators should revoke broadcast licenses over late-night hosts who speak negatively about him. This is a direct assault on free speech and First Amendment rights, and a prime example of Trump’s dictatorship ambitions and methods.

Kimmel’s “offending” words, “many in MAGA land are working very hard to capitalize on the murder of Charlie Kirk,” are confirmed by these actions.

Karen Mandel
San Jose

Kimmel suspension
attacks free speech

Re: “ABC suspends Kimmel over his Kirk comments” (Page A3, Sept. 18).

The suspension of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” is nothing less than an attack on free speech and an assault on our Constitution. This is how censorship starts — silencing voices that dare to challenge, mock or speak truth to power.

Brendan Carr, the chair of the Federal Communications Commission, who bears responsibility for this disgrace, should resign immediately or be removed. If not, Congress must haul him in to testify and answer for this blatant attack on free speech.

Today, it’s a late-night host. Tomorrow, it could be journalists, writers or any citizen whose views are deemed inconvenient. This is not entertainment news — it is a constitutional crisis.

Willow Bechtel
Campbell

What won’t Trump’s
loyalists sacrifice?

Re: “ABC suspends Kimmel over his Kirk comments” (Page A3, Sept. 18).

Jimmy Kemmel was indefinitely suspended because of Donald Trump’s loyalists.

Trump, via his loyalists, is controlling the U.S. Department of Justice, corporations, our health department, and the judicial and legislative branches. He has and is eliminating the independence of these institutions and agencies that affect our lives and freedoms.

I’m wondering how much freedom Trump’s loyalists will continue to sacrifice for him. Maybe I worded that wrong; I’m wondering what they won’t sacrifice for him.

Thomas Sutton
San Jose

Blaming high tech lets
gun access off hook

Re: “Silicon Valley needs to address its role in Charlie Kirk’s killing” (Page A6, Sept. 18).

So Charlie Kirk’s assassin spent a great deal of time online, as do the majority of his generation.

It was not his time online that gave him access to a weapon capable of reaching out to kill Mr. Kirk at over 150 yards, or the ability to hit him with one shot. That was the responsibility of those like his family who support the Supreme Court ruling that the first clause of the Second Amendment is effectively null and void.

This is the fruit of today’s political climate of division, coupled with unfettered access to firearms.

William Gascoyne
San Jose

The system isn’t broken;
there is no system

Two weeks ago, I saw a homeless pregnant woman at a city park in San Jose. I reported the situation to a San Jose park employee (at the site). I also reported the situation to a city of San Jose employee who works at the senior center adjacent to the city park. Both city employees seemed concerned and told me that they would report the matter to their supervisors.

I also sent an email to the Silicon Valley Salvation Army. I was informed that they would contact someone about the homeless woman in the park.

A few days ago, I discovered that the homeless woman was still sleeping in the park. What I discovered firsthand is that the system isn’t broken, but rather, there is no system.

Pete Campbell
San Jose

Trump, Rubio must do
more to end Gaza war

Re: “Palestinians flee carnage” (Page A1, Sept. 17).

Imagine if we were in the war, getting bombed every day, having to move all our belongings to another place and our whole family risking getting killed. This is what’s happening now, and there are no peace negotiations in sight.

Benjamin Netanyahu is coming to the White House again. Hopefully, President Trump can convince him to have a ceasefire to give a chance for the remaining hostages to be released.

Secretary of State Rubio needs to do more, too, if possible, to end this war and the constant displacement of Palestinians.

Celeste McGettigan
San Jose

What’s the real cost
of ICE enforcement?

Re: “Migrants on flight to Ghana were treated harshly, lawsuit says” (Page A4, Sept. 13).

Aside from the atrocities mentioned in the article, what did it cost the U.S. taxpayers to fly 14 deportees to Ghana on a U.S. military cargo plane?

The same can be asked of all deportees flown out of the United States.

Tom Keeble
Saratoga

https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/09/19/letters-trump-censorship-reaches-jimmy-kimmel/

https://www.mercurynews.com/?p=12211105

Posted by Curtis Pashelka

https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/09/19/macklin-celebrini-san-jose-sharks-nhl-training-camp/

https://www.mercurynews.com/?p=12212392

SAN JOSE – San Jose Sharks center Macklin Celebrini missed the second day of training camp on Friday with what was described as an illness, and it remained unclear when he might be able to return to practice.

“Just more of an illness,” Warsofsky said. “We’re not too worried.”

Sharks general manager Mike Grier said Celebrini was not dealing with an injury.

“He just was kind of not feeling great when he came off the ice,” Grier said Thursday of Celebrini, “(so we) sent him home, get some rest, and we’ll evaluate him in the morning.”

Celebrini’s group was the third and final one of the day at Sharks Ice. Celebrini’s group, which includes Will Smith and Jeff Skinner, practiced first on Thursday and scrimmaged against another group led by Tyler Toffoli and Alexander Wennberg.

Celebrini, 19, is coming off a spectacular first season as he finished second among all rookies in both goals (25) and assists (38) and was tied for second in points (63). He also tied for the NHL rookie lead with eight power-play goals, ranked second in both even-strength points (41) and power-play points (22).

The Sharks are scheduled to practice again on Saturday. On Sunday, the two groups of Sharks players will practice, and a third will play in the team’s first preseason game against the Vegas Golden Knights at SAP Center.

OTHER INJURIES: Forward Patrick Giles (lower body) had offseason surgery and is not expected to join practice for a couple more weeks, Warsofsky said. Giles had one goal in eight games for the Sharks last season after he was acquired from the Florida Panthers for goalie Vítek Vaněček. He also had six points in 14 games, regular season and playoffs, for the Barracuda. … Defenseman Lucas Carlsson is also injured but is considered day to day.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/09/19/macklin-celebrini-san-jose-sharks-nhl-training-camp/

https://www.mercurynews.com/?p=12212392

Posted by Robert Salonga, Caelyn Pender

https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/09/19/no-loose-ends-san-jose-triple-homicide-stemmed-from-domestic-violence-authorities-say/

https://www.mercurynews.com/?p=12211903

SAN JOSE — A man jailed and charged with fatally shooting a woman he was dating, along with her roommate and another man at a South San Jose apartment was under police scrutiny after the woman accused him of assaulting her over two days prior to the killings, authorities revealed in new court filings.

The shooting suspect, 27-year-old Joseph Vicencio, allegedly told an acquaintance that he “couldn’t have any ‘loose ends’ and people talking about him” shortly before he went over to the woman’s apartment early Tuesday and unleashed a torrent of gunfire that ended three lives.

According to a criminal complaint filed Friday by the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office, Vicencio was charged with three counts of murder in the deaths of Tarrah Lynn Taylor, 27; Jeannessa Caillean Lurie, 24; and Max Chavez Ryan, 27.

Vicencio was arraigned Friday and did not enter a plea. He was remanded to jail and ordered to next appear in court on Oct. 24.

A probable cause affidavit written by San Jose police detectives stated that Taylor was in a romantic relationship with Vicencio and that Lurie was her roommate. Ryan was in a dating relationship with Lurie.

The three murder counts each carry maximum sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole, and are accompanied by nine charging enhancements for allegations including using a gun, dissuading a witness and having prior convictions, one of which was for shooting into the San Jose State University’s library six years ago.

Vicencio was also charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, and for two separate domestic violence assaults alleged to have occurred on Sept. 14 and 15, preceding the Sept. 16 shootings.

“This is a horrible and tragic, tragic murder case,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said after the arraignment. “The DA’s office will do everything in its power to make sure that there is justice, to make sure that this defendant is locked up for the rest of his life so that he cannot hurt anyone else in our community.”

Nearly three dozen friends and family of the victims packed the courtroom and could be seen consoling each other. They declined to comment when approached by reporters.

Vicencio was arrested early Wednesday based on video surveillance images and two witnesses who claimed to know Vicencio and recounted their interactions with him before and after the shootings, according to the affidavit.

One of the witnesses told police that Vicencio was anxious about being in trouble with the law after he allegedly punched Taylor in the torso on Sept. 15. The subsequent police response found bruising on Taylor’s neck, indicating that Vicencio choked her the day before, according to authorities. Taylor reported two separate assault incidents to the police, which account for misdemeanor and felony assault charges filed against Vicencio.

Vicencio was not present when police took the assault report but he had been living at the apartment at the time, Rosen said.

During one conversation with the witness, Vicencio allegedly implied that he was going to silence Taylor and Lurie, and after the shootings, Vicencio reportedly used the witness’s computer to “search for information about San Jose murders.”

A second witness, as described by the detectives, reported getting a call from Vicencio about seven hours after the shootings in which he said “he was in trouble with police and had issues with where he lived and needed help.” The witness claimed to have confronted Vicencio about the killings, prompting Vicencio to reportedly tell the witness, “there was an issue with a male at the apartment, but he handled it.”

Gunfire and the sound of a woman screaming prompted a 911 call at 12:26 a.m. Tuesday from the 200 block of Chynoweth Avenue. The police affidavit stated that responding officers went to an apartment building and found Taylor outside “bleeding profusely from multiple gunshots.”

Officers went inside and found Lurie and Ryan. Lurie was pronounced dead at the apartment; Taylor and Ryan died later that morning after being taken to a hospital. Police recovered multiple .40 caliber bullet casings from the crime scene.

The police affidavit states that surveillance video from the area recorded someone later identified as Vicencio entering the apartment and fleeing immediately after the gunfire. Vicencio was seen with a distinct satchel that one of the witnesses said concealed a firearm that he carried, and that witness reported that Vicencio was not carrying the satchel after the shootings. Both the satchel and gun were recovered by police.

Ryan worked as a community coordinator with the housing department’s outreach team, a role he began in February, said Sarah Fields, deputy director of public affairs for the City of San Jose’s Housing Department. He worked in the field with unhoused people to help them enroll in support services.

“(He) really saw himself thriving and finding professional satisfaction and camaraderie with his colleagues in this work of really partnering in with and helping people who were frankly in their most vulnerable and challenging part of life, and then finding a new and better path forward,” Fields said. “He was the kind of guy who smiled and said hello to everyone in the hallway.”

Lurie graduated from California State University, Monterey Bay in 2024 with degrees in humanities and communications, and she worked as a dog trainer at Bite Club K9 in Monterey, according to her Facebook and LinkedIn pages. She attended Mid-Peninsula High School in Menlo Park, graduating in 2019, according to her LinkedIn page.

“We love you and the sunshine that surrounded you, and now lights the heavens,” one commenter wrote on her Facebook page Wednesday.

Vicencio garnered headlines for violence in 2019 after he was arrested and charged with shooting at the San Jose State University library and a parking garage. He was convicted and given probation — prosecutors asked for a nine-year prison term — and eventually got the conviction expunged, according to Rosen and court records. Vicencio’s criminal history in the county outlines struggles with mental health, and legal trouble over gun possession; he was supervised under the court’s mental-health treatment division for much of 2022.

Rosen said his office had long recognized Vicencio as a dangerous person after the library shooting, but that it was “impossible to predict that someone who did something that dangerous and that violent in 2019 would then murder three individuals.”

In a 2024 Reddit post, Vicencio sought advice from fellow San Jose residents after struggling to get a job while on parole, in which he described being turned down for work “because my last crime is violent (assault with a semi-automatic firearm).” When another Reddit user identified his connection to the library shooting, he responded, “Yup that’s me. Wasn’t on purpose but yeah,” followed by him writing, “Thank you for recognizing I have taken accountability.”

Anyone with information about Tuesday’s fatal shootings can contact the SJPD homicide unit at 408-277-5283 or email Detective Sgt. Richard Martinez at 3934@sanjoseca.gov or Detective Christina Jize at 4324@sanjoseca.gov. Tips can also be left with Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers at 408-947-7867 or siliconvalleycrimestoppers.org.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/09/19/no-loose-ends-san-jose-triple-homicide-stemmed-from-domestic-violence-authorities-say/

https://www.mercurynews.com/?p=12211903

Posted by Laurence Miedema

https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/09/19/golden-state-warriors-kuminga-free-agent-qualifying-offer-nba/

https://www.mercurynews.com/?p=12211750

With the start of Warriors training camp rapidly approaching, a resolution to Jonathan Kuminga’s contract status could finally be on the horizon.

The Warriors forward’s agent, Aaron Turner, said this week that Kuminga would take the $7.9 million qualifying offer that has been available to him since June, unless he and the team can agree on a better deal. The deadline for Kuminga to accept the qualifying offer, which would make the 22-year-old an unrestricted free agent after this season and essentially includes a no-trade clause, is Oct. 1.

“There’s a lot of upside,” Turner said on the “The Hoop Collective” podcast that aired Friday morning. “He wants to pick where he wants to go. So the QO is real for sure.

“If JK wants to take it, it does have upside, right?” Turner said. “You’re not getting traded. You’re going to have unrestricted free agency (next summer). People are going to say, ‘Well, Aaron, there’s not going to be 10 or 12 teams (with cap space).’ Fine, there’ll be six teams with cap space for the clear-cut under-35 top wing on the market. So there’s a lot of upside.”

Kuminga’s contract status has dominated the Warriors’ offseason. The team currently has just nine players on the roster and is the only team in the league that hasn’t signed a free agent. Finalizing a deal with Kuminga would clear the way to round out the roster. Warriors owner Joe Lacob and general manager Mike Dunleavy reportedly met with Kuminga and Turner last month but a deal could not be worked out.

The Warriors’ biggest stars reportedly have tried to intervene as well. Curry and Draymond Green have reached out to Kuminga, according to ESPN, and Jimmy Butler contacted Warriors management to get a status report, according to NBC Sports Bay Area’s Dalton Johnson. Johnson said on his “Dubs Talk” podcast that Butler wanted “to know the plan” and that Curry and Green are also “in the loop.”

The saga began before the start of last season when the sides could not reach an agreement on a multi-year deal — on “The Hoop Collective,” Turner denied reports that the Warriors offered a five-year, $150 million extension, saying Kuminga “would have taken that.”  When Kuminga turned down the qualifying offer in June, he became a restricted free agent.

Since then, the Warriors have made several long-term offers and other teams have inquired about the No. 7 overall pick from the 2021 draft. The Sacramento Kings, Washington Wizards, Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls, Milwaukee Bucks and Brooklyn Nets reportedly all had interest in Kuminga. The Warriors and Kumingan’s camp have been unsuccessful in finding sign-and-trade options that fit Golden State’s salary cap.

According to ESPN, the deals include a $75.2 million, three-year package with a team option that would guarantee Kuminga nearly $50 million, as well as a $45 million two-year deal (with an option after the first year) and a $54 million, three-year deal. According to ESPN, Kuminga would consider the longer deals if it was a player option.

“If (the Warriors) want to win now, if you want a guy that’s happy and treated fairly who is a big part of this team, we believe, moving forward, you give him the player option,” Turner said on the podcast. “You do lose a little of that trade value (giving that up). But if it’s about the here and now, you give him that. You don’t get a perfect deal, but you get a pretty good deal and he gets to feel respected about what he gets and we all move on and worry about winning, helping Steph (Curry).”

Complicating matters is that Kuminga doesn’t appear to have a clear role with the Warriors – or the starring role he envisions for himself. Kuminga likely would continue to be a reserve with the starting forward spots going to Butler and Green, and the Warriors expected to sign free agent Al Horford to start at center.

Kuminga is a rotation regular, but has started in just 84 of the 258 regular-season games he has appeared in over the past four seasons. He averaged 15.3 points and 4.6 rebounds per game last season. Kuminga took a larger role during the Warriors’ Western Conference Semifinals against Minnesota after Curry went down with a hamstring injury, scoring 18, 30, 23 and 26 points in the final four games of the playoff series.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/09/19/golden-state-warriors-kuminga-free-agent-qualifying-offer-nba/

https://www.mercurynews.com/?p=12211750