 (Doug Duran/Staff) Tri-Valley Haven helps families find a second life Victoria Choate, of Livermore, now a volunteer with Tri-Valley Haven's Buenas Vidas Thrift Store, returned to the nonprofit to volunteer. It seemed a natural place to go when she had to select a place to do community service, She benefited from the nonprofit's help, having lived in the agency's shelters as an 8-year-old and when she was in her mid-30s. |
 (Dean Coppola/Staff file) Good news for homeowners: Property taxes will barely go up in 2014 Housing prices in many Bay Area neighborhoods have skyrocketed in the last year, but a quirk in Proposition 13 means even more good news for local homeowners: Their property taxes next year will barely go up. |
 (Robert Rogers/Staff) Neighborhood House of North Richmond seeks fresh start amid financial turmoil After years of financial turmoil left the agency struggling under mounting debt and dwindling resources, Neighborhood House of North Richmond has new leaders who say the historic social service institution is on the mend. |
 (D. Ross Cameron/Staff) Cold weather and frost to sit a while over Bay Area  Cold weather and frost will sit over the Bay Area until Friday. |
BUSINESS  Five tablet apps for the (very) young set With an endless cavalcade of new apps for the iPad and its Android rivals, we decided to poke around for five great apps that could benefit kids aged 1 to 5 years old. With the help of pediatricians, app reviewers, schoolteachers and parents, we struck gold. |
SPORTS  ( Mercury News file) Tony La Russa elected to baseball Hall of Fame World Series winner with Oakland A's and St. Louis Cardinals, Tony La Russa headed to Cooperstown along with Joe Torre and Bobby Cox.
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LOCAL NEWS  (
Jim Gensheimer
) Historic San Jose church reopens after years of hurdles The congregation of San Jose First Methodist Church on Sunday honored two members who helped rebuild the historic downtown institution after a devastating fire more than two decades ago. |
 (Nick Perry/AP) Want to feel the climate of Mordor? Go to Texas What was it like to live in the leafy Shire, the starting point of Bilbo Baggins' trek in "The Hobbit?" Full Story |
 (Photo: ABC) Tonight's TV picks: 'The Voice' semifinals; 'The Sing-Off' smackdown 'Bonnie & Clyde' concludes. Nick Lachey returns to host 'The Sing-Off,' and reality TV's latest entry finds families battling it out over holiday light displays. |
 (AP Photo, File) Susan Boyle has Asperger's syndrome The singer who became an overnight sensation on “Britain’s Got Talent” calls the diagnosis “a relief” and vows to keep performing. |
 (
) Bay Area residents live longer; here's why Bay Area residents are among the nation's longest-lived people, surviving on average more than a decade longer than residents of rural Kentucky, West Virginia or Mississippi. |
 (
Jeff Vendsel
) Mi Pueblo files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Mi Pueblo, the festive Bay Area supermarket chain and icon of family-grown Hispanic businesses, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Monday, citing a dispute with its primary lender, Wells Fargo. |
