- 47-year-old Gary Stephen Maynard, who once taught criminology at Santa Clara University, was indicted on charges that he set four wildfires inside national forests in California this past summer. Should Maynard be convicted, the former professor will face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count of arson he's found guilty of; most of Maynard's alleged arsons were in the vicinity of the already burning Dixie Fire. [New York Times]
- A San Francisco woman will now spend 18 months in federal prison for COVID-19 relief fraud—and for pretending to be a lawyer. 37-year-old Miranda Devlin pleaded guilty this summer to charges that she defrauded people and the government, with scams dating back over a decade, as well as falsely claiming that she was licensed to practice law in the state; Devlin, who also went by two other aliases named "Miranda P." and "Miranda M.," was also found having misled the U.S. government in securing money from various pandemic relief programs. [KRON4]
- It's not just you: SF's Victorians are "graying." The SF Weekly's former editor-in-chief Peter-Astrid Kane explored the monochromatic trend in the Guardian Friday, canvassing locals for their takes on the visible graying— “I walk the neighborhood every day, and I see all these gray houses, [it's] like being in a cemetery.” [Guardian]
- Two domesticated turkeys, Peanut Butter and Jelly, were pardoned and spared from finding themselves on roasting pans today by President Biden. [New York Times]
- The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office on Friday confirmed that a jury convicted Albert Jones Jr. for the first-degree murder of 27-year-old Oakley resident Alexander Jacob Martinez; the court also found it true that Jones was a "murder for hire," who made financial gains for killing Martinez. [KPIX]
- The FDA expanded COVID-19 booster eligibility to all adults in the United States Friday. [Chronicle]
- A boba shop in Santa Clara has been capitalizing on the cute corgi butt trend as of late. [Eater SF]
- Adele released her highly-anticipated fourth studio album, 30, Thursday night to glowing fanfare and near-universal acclaim from critics. [Rolling Stone]
Top Photo: Getty Images/S. Greg Panosian