Oakland Trial, Warriors & School Vote

Defense Grills Witness in Thao Trial as Warriors Hold Porzingis $20M

Attorney Ed Swanson challenges Mario Juarez over $750,000 in Evolutionary Homes funds, Golden State withholds $20M amid POTS absence, and David Poll leads by 20 votes in Los Altos.

By Walnut Creek Times · Syndicated from East Bay Post
Syndicated reporting from East Bay Post · East Bay Post
Published November 7, 2026 at 8:05 PM PST · 3 min read

Cross-examination in Oakland federal court, contract protections on the Golden State Warriors roster, and a 20-vote school board margin headline regional developments. · East Bay Post / Editorial Visual Desk

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Federal courtroom testimony in downtown Oakland, roster contract provisions for the Golden State Warriors, and a 20-vote margin in a South Bay school board race highlighted regional reporting on November 7, 2026.

Defense Attorney Ed Swanson Challenges Witness Mario Juarez in Sheng Thao and David Duong Trial

In Oakland federal court on Thursday, defense attorney Ed Swanson—representing California Waste Solutions CEO David Duong—cross-examined key prosecution witness Mario Juarez in the public corruption trial of former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and David Duong. Under questioning, Juarez acknowledged that the Duong family provided $750,000 to launch their joint modular housing company, Evolutionary Homes, and admitted that he kept $200,000 of those funds for his own personal expenses. Prosecutors allege the defendants discussed funneling up to $3 million if the City of Oakland purchased modular shipping-container homes from the venture.

Swanson pressed Juarez on a series of financial misstatements, including bounced checks written to Butterfly Printers for political mailers, telling his landlord that a commercial lease security deposit was $14,000 less than the amount he reported to Evolutionary Homes, and obtaining a $44,000 check after falsely claiming that a bank was foreclosing on his home loan. Former federal prosecutor Wilson Leung noted that the defense strategy aims to persuade jurors that Juarez defrauded the Duongs rather than executing a coordinated municipal bribery scheme.

Warriors Center Kristaps Porziņģis Steps Away for POTS Treatment as Team Withholds $20M Salary

Across the bay, 7-foot-2 Golden State Warriors center Kristaps Porziņģis stepped away from basketball indefinitely to manage Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), triggering health-related contract clauses that allow the franchise to withhold his $20 million salary for next season. Acquired by Golden State at the February trade deadline from the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield, Porziņģis signed a 2-year, $40 million contract extension over the summer that included only $3 million in guaranteed money due to his pre-existing POTS diagnosis.

During his tenure with the Warriors, Porziņģis missed 10 of 25 games—an absence rate equating to roughly $218,000 per missed game—while averaging 16.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.1 blocks in 23.7 minutes per contest across 15 games played.

Newcomer David Poll Pulls 20 Votes Ahead of Brandon Stroy in Los Altos School Board Race

In Peninsula election counting, challenger David Poll moved 20 votes ahead of appointed incumbent Brandon Stroy for the 3rd and final open seat on the 5-member Los Altos School District Board of Trustees as of 5 p.m. Thursday, November 5, 2026. Incumbents Bryan Johnson (7,862 votes, 28.27%) and Shali Sirkay (7,255 votes, 26.09%) held the top 2 spots, while Poll tallied 6,352 votes (22.85%) to Stroy's 6,332 votes (22.77%) as Santa Clara County election officials continued processing approximately 263,400 remaining ballots countywide.

Oakland Trial, Warriors & School Vote

Oakland Federal Trial, Warriors Contract & LASD Count (Nov 2026)

Federal courtroom cross-examination in Oakland, Golden State Warriors salary protections, and a razor-thin Peninsula school board tally anchored regional coverage on November 7, 2026. In the Oakland federal corruption trial of former Mayor Sheng Thao and California Waste Solutions CEO David Duong, defense attorney Ed Swanson cross-examined key government witness Mario Juarez, who admitted keeping $200,000 of the $750,000 that the Duong family invested in modular housing venture Evolutionary Home

Evolutionary Homes Testimony: $750,000 Duong launch funding ($200,000 kept by Juarez; up to $3M alleged plan)
Cross-Examination Discrepancies: $14,000 security deposit gap and $44,000 home loan check cited in court
Kristaps Porziņģis Contract: $20 million next season withheld on 2-year, $40M deal ($3M guaranteed; 15 games)
Los Altos School Board Margin: David Poll 6,352 (22.85%) vs. Brandon Stroy 6,332 (22.77%) — 20-vote lead

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Bay Area Passes $1B Transit Tax at 61% as SF Elects Wiener, Keeps Park — Bay Area Transit Tax & SF Vote

Voters across 5 Bay Area counties approved a regional public transit sales tax measure by a 61% to 39% margin, raising an estimated $1 billion annually for SF Muni, AC Transit, Caltrain, and BART by increasing the sales tax 0.5% in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, and Santa Clara counties and 1% in San Francisco. BART General Manager Bob Powers said about 60% of revenue goes to transit operators, 30% to 35% returns to the 5 counties, and 5% funds regional programs, providing BART roughly $300 million per year as the system reports 95% on-time performance. Meanwhile, a 7-map precinct analysis of San Francisco’s November 2026 election showed state Senator Scott Wiener defeating Supervisor Connie Chan with 55% of the vote, 65% of voters rejecting Proposition G to keep Sunset Dunes Park (including 58% No in the 7 adjacent precincts, up from 40% support in 2024), 55% supporting Proposition 40’s billionaire health care tax, 80% opposing Proposition 39 voter ID rules, and up to 90% in some precincts backing Proposition H’s Muni parcel tax alongside Mayor Daniel Lurie’s Charter Propositions D, E, and F. Across the city, civic celebrations spanned a Fireworks AI waterfront display, Election Night gatherings for Wiener and City College Trustees Elijah Ball, Erwin Tam, and Monroe Lace, Proposition B leading by 5,500 votes, the WNBA champion Golden State Valkyries’ Embarcadero parade, and the 19th season opening of the Union Square ice rink.

5 min read

Civic life

Warriors Rookie Yaxel Lendeborg Shines as Porziņģis Steps Away — Bay Area & National Sports Report

Frontcourt adjustments for the Golden State Warriors, a historic double-overtime college basketball upset, and athletic neuroscience headlined sports coverage on November 7, 2026. For Golden State, 24-year-old rookie forward Yaxel Lendeborg (6-foot-9 with a 7-foot-4 wingspan) has emerged as a two-way catalyst across his first 9 games, averaging 21 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 4.1 assists while converting 42.3% from three-point range—highlighted by 31 points against the Denver Nuggets and 37 points against the Los Angeles Clippers. Lendeborg’s surge arrives at a pivotal moment as 31-year-old, 7-foot-2 Warriors center Kristaps Porziņģis—who signed a two-year, $40 million contract this summer and averaged 16.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks over 6 games—steps away from basketball indefinitely to evaluate recurring lower-body fatigue and joint inflammation. In men’s college basketball, unranked Valparaiso stunned 19.5-point favorite Purdue 89-86 in double overtime on a buzzer-beating three-pointer by All Wright, handing the Boilermakers their first 0-2 start since 1976. Meanwhile, seven-time USPTA Coach of the Year Rick Macci and Harvard-trained neurologist Dr. Nivedita U. Jerath unveiled their new book, No Weak Layer: The Neuroscience of Champions and the Nine Layers of Lasting Success, ahead of its November 8, 2026 release.

3 min read

Civic life

FBI Probes $1.48M Autism Therapy Bill as Fake Sony Exec Gets 78 Months — Health Billing Probe & Fraud Sentence

Federal healthcare billing oversight and wire-fraud sentencing in Manhattan federal court led regulatory and legal coverage on November 7, 2026. Agents from the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office and the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce are investigating multi-state autism therapy provider The Perfect Child—directed by Simcha Bendet—after Tennessee’s Messier family received a $1.48 million statement billing $10,000 per 3-hour Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) session and up to $20,000 per day, alongside complaints from the Elkins family ($364,000+ billed after a $102 monthly estimate) and New Jersey mother Carolina Lopez ($911,400 billed, including $30,500 for a 70-minute evaluation) amid a national surge in ABA spending from $2 billion in 2021 to $10 billion in 2025, a 421% jump in Medicaid/CHIP ABA outlays, a 173-page CMS oversight toolkit in August 2026, and a $710,815.34 Connecticut settlement on July 2, 2026. In a separate federal case, U.S. District Judge Gregory H. Woods sentenced Meceo Ray McEaddy to 78 months (6.5 years) in prison, 3 years of supervised release, and $1.2 million in restitution for defrauding 20 concert promoters.