• A Berkeley woman says that two people in a van tried to kidnap her child while they were walking in southwest Berkeley Thursday morning. The attempted kidnapping, she said hapened around 7 am near Addison and Ninth streets. [KPIX]
• Anthony Thomas, the father of the man found dead in a Bernal Heights home Thursday, whose name was Antoine Thomas, says that his son died by suicide after shooting his girlfriend and one-and-a-half-year-old son. This all happened on the father's birthday. [KTVU]
• A Berkeley restaurant, Rose's on Adeline, is making a rare move to try to exchange its Type 48 liquor license — which is for bars that serve some food — for a Type 47 — for restaurants with full bars — because neighbors were getting pissed off that they couldn't bring kids into the place, legally. [Chronicle]
• The damaged Municipal Wharf in Santa Cruz is reopening Saturday, less than two weeks after a section at its end was destroyed by pummeling surf. [NBC Bay Area]
• As more businesses move into Walnut Creek, Hilton is opening a new hotel there. [KRON4]
• California's population grew by 232,000 people in 2024, the second consecutive year of growth, marking a likely end to the "exodus" during the pandemic. [KTVU]
• A mother orca observed off the Seattle coast in 2018 carrying her dead calf around for two weeks, is repeating the behavior again after another of her calfs has died. [Associated Press]
• South Dakota Republican John Thune takes control of the Senate as Congress convenes on Friday, ushering in a new era of leadership. [New York Times]
• JetBlue is being fined by the feds for "operating multiple chronically delayed flights." [CBS News]

Photo via City of Santa Cruz