#half-moon-bay

#half-moon-bay

Everyone in Half Moon Bay seemed to know that something was going on. Some saw the casting call for extras circulating on Nextdoor: locals only, appearing to be ages 20 to 50. Others noticed the street closures on Tuesday, as heavy rains pummeled the small city. And a few, biking on the bluffs overlooking Wavecrest Beach on Wednesday, stumbled across a film crew clustered under a row of canopies, complete with a camera crane and several generators.

Judge Jeffrey R. Finigan set a trial date of Jan. 25, 2027, for Chunli Zhao, the Peninsula man accused of gunning down seven fellow migrant workers in the county's deadliest mass shooting on record. If the trial date holds, it would come almost exactly four years to the day after authorities claim Zhao carried out the killings at two mushroom farms in and around the coastal community of Half Moon Bay.

After years of stalled promises and mounting pressure from Gov. Gavin Newsom, Half Moon Bay is moving forward with an affordable housing project for aging farmworkers who have spent decades working the coast's fields. On Thursday, city officials authorized staff to draft a 99-year, $1-per-year land lease for a five-story development at 555 Kelly Ave. that will provide 40 units for retired and working farmworkers aged 55 and older.

"It's been a very emotional day. It's been great, it was wonderful to see them come on site," said Matthew Estes, senior project manager for Capital Program Management.