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THURSDAY, July 23, 2026
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BLANCHARD
A one-time San Mateo County woman of the year may be sentenced to prison today, after taking a plea deal in a case where she was accused of embezzling from a nonprofit. Clarise Ann Blanchard, 77, of Foster City, pleaded no contest on Oct. 22 to stealing $700,000 from the nonprofit StarVista from 2009 until her retirement in
from the nonprofit in May 2022. The theft was discovered after she retired. The non-profit asked Blanchard went. The maximum penalty she could have faced was 10 years in where a $50,000 donation was and conducted an audit, which found prison, Wagstaffe said. The judge has the option to sen- that more money was missing. It was discovered that Blanchard tence Blanchard to 3 years and 4 months or less. Blanchard, who had set up a bank account for herwas named the 2008 San Mateo self and deposited donations meant County Woman of the Year, retired [See DO-GOODER, page 18]
After plea deal in theft case 2022 and identity theft, District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said. StarVista, which was one of the county’s leading mental health contractors, closed in August. Blanchard used the money to go on lavish trips, Wagstaffe previously said. Wagstaffe did not disclose where she
Even if you hate Trump, vote for me
THE UPDATE Dow –6.06 Nasdaq –146.30 Oil +1.24 52,218.58 25,690.90 88.07 Gold 4,133.00 –18.80 NY COMEX futures courtesy of Mish Int’l (650) 324-9110
NEVER MIND: New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who previously pledged to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu if he visited the city, now says he does not have the "authority" to do so because the U.S. is not apart of the International Criminal Court. Mamdani instead called on U.S. officials to act on the ICC’s arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister over alleged war crimes. MORE STRIKES: The U.S. military conducted a 12th night of strikes against Iran yesterday, targeting bridges and power plants. WAR BUDGET: The House has approved a $95 billion budget proposal to fund the Iran war and other White House priorities. It goes to the Senate next. AI GOES ROGUE: ChatGPT maker OpenAI says it is investigating an “unprecedented cyber incident” that led its artificial intelligence systems to break out of a testing environment and hack into another AI company. OpenAI said Tuesday that two of its most capable AI models were responsible for the cyberattack [See THE UPDATE, page 4] 1345 ARBOR AVE
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SEEN THIS TRACTOR?
A man faces jail time after he didn’t return a Bobcat tractor, similar to the ones pictured here, to A1 Rentals in Redwood City. See story on PAGE 8. Bobcat photo.
Republican Steve Hilton launched his general election campaign for governor yesterday with a gambit to win over left-leaning voters who dominate the state: Even if they loathe President Trump, he said, they should consider voting for him. During an event in Los Angeles, against the backdrop of a stinking, scorched food warehouse he described as a symbol of the state’s political incompetence, Hilton rolled out a list of campaign promHILTON ises clearly aimed at residents buckling under California’s notoriously high cost of living. He vowed to bring the price of gasoline [See HILTON, page 18]
Housing issue splits council majority BY STEPHANIE LAM Daily Post Correspondent
East Palo Alto City Council agreed with residents’ pleas to reject plans changing when developers would be required to include subsidized housing in their projects.
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Council voted 3-1-1 on Tuesday against recommendations from the Community and Economic Development and Planning Department to exclude housing developments with 20 or fewer homes from automatically including some subsidized units.
Councilmembers Ruben Abrica, Martha Barragan and Carlos Romero voted in favor of the rejections while Councilman Mark Dinan voted against and Mayor Webster Lincoln abstained. Barragan, Dinan and Lincoln, who [See HOUSING, page 18]
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