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Bay Area military veteran chosen for free Super Bowl tickets by USAA

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Bay Area military veteran chosen for free Super Bowl tickets by USAA


When the Super Bowl kicks off on Sunday, one local fan will be there as an honored guest.  

A long-time Army veteran will be getting the VIP treatment, and it won’t cost him a dime.  It’s payback for a life spent serving his country and his community.

When Eugene “Rich” Ritchie retired, he began volunteering at the USO Lounge at SFO, welcoming service members traveling to and from the city. But the other day, the USO staff told him that he had been nominated to be in a contest.  

That’s when he got the phone call.

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“And it’s, ‘Congratulations, we selected you.’  And I was like, what?!  Really?” Rich said.  “And they said, who’s your favorite player? I said, ‘McCaffrey, right now, is my most favorite current player. Oh yeah, McCaffrey, he’s awesome.’  And they’re like, ‘ho, ho, ho’… I’m like, ‘OK, something’s up.’”

Sponsored by the USAA insurance company, Rich and his wife Alexia, who live in Richmond, will get tickets to the game, a hotel on Union Square, and pretty much an entire weekend of fun for doing something that started clear back when he joined the ROTC program at Cal Berkeley.  

Rich was the only one to select “infantry” as his desired duty when everyone else wanted military intelligence.

“So, I was an anomaly at Berkeley,” he said, with a laugh.

 In 1981, he was a 20-year-old lieutenant and was eventually sent to Korea to command a security unit at the DMZ, at a time when tensions were running high. After that came 20 years of training and service in Honduras and various bases stateside. Then came 9/11 and the US war on terror, and Rich was sent to Iraq to help the locals become a capable fighting force.

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“I lived with the Iraqis,” he said. “My job was to live with the Iraqis.  I had a team and we basically trained them in Western tactics.”

Rich said he was impressed with the courage shown by the Iraqi forces he trained. He served for a total of 24 years, from 1981 to 2005, retiring with the rank of Major in the US Army.  Later, after getting out of the military, he took a position as a special education teacher at Albany Middle School, a job his wife Alexia said required a bit of courage, as well.

“He didn’t shed a tear in Iraq, but he cried his first couple of days as a teacher at the middle school with a bunch of 6th graders!” she said, laughing.  “That was his breaking point.  But he survived and he’s a veteran of both occupations, you bet.”

Alexia is also a 49er fan, but she’s an even bigger fan of her husband, saying he put off his retirement to volunteer to serve in Iraq.

“He could have retired, but he actually pulled his retirement paperwork so that he could step up for an eight-month deployment in Iraq,” she said.  “And to watch him being again in the spotlight — so well deserved — is what makes my experience here that much sweeter.”

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And the sweetness began on Wednesday, when Rich and Alexia got their tickets and a chance to meet their favorite player. Niners running back Christian McCaffrey has his own foundation to support veterans, so this Super Bowl promotion was a natural fit.

“I’m really proud of the work we’ve done, and I’m super excited about the work to come in the future,” McCaffrey said.  “We get to play a kid’s game for a living.  We play in front of millions of people.  And a lot of that is because of the people who have sacrificed for us.”

Rich was surprised that he was selected, but he has spent his entire life in service to others. And now, he’s serving again, this time as a symbol for all the men and women who are part of something much more important than just a “kid’s game.”



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San Francisco schools to be closed Monday

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San Francisco schools to be closed Monday


The San Francisco Unified School District announced Friday all schools across the district will be closed on Monday.

The news came as negotiations between the teachers’ union and the school district are expected to continue over the weekend.

The union is calling for fully funded healthcare, an increase in wages and more stable staffing.

SFUSD Superintendent Maria Su said she believes the proposal presented during Thursday’s negotiations was a win-win; however, the union saw it differently.

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“The proposal that we received tonight did not reflect what we understood to have been that intent, it falls very short of that issue and doesn’t address some of our other key issues as well, UESF President Cassondra Curiel said on Thursday.

“I want families to know how deeply we value our educators and committed I am to avoiding a strike,” Superintendent Maria Su said during a news briefing on Friday. “While I am very disappointed these negotiations did not result in an agreement last night, my team and I are prepared to bargain the entire weekend. I do not want a strike.”

This would be the first teachers strike in San Francisco since 1979.

The announcement came along with the district’s “learning resources” in case of a strike. Those can be accessed here.

Bay City News contributed to this report

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Tourists weigh-in on SF visit during Super Bowl week despite city imperfections: ‘Beautiful’

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Tourists weigh-in on SF visit during Super Bowl week despite city imperfections: ‘Beautiful’


SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — San Francisco has made national headlines because of the city’s issues with the unhoused, drugs, and crime. And now, the city is in the spotlight once again because of Super Bowl week.

The big game is this Sunday and there are visitors all over San Francisco. ABC7 Eyewitness News wanted to know what they think about the city and what surprised them the most.

Everyone is counting down to the Big Game and fans are pumped.

All the festivities for Super Bowl Week around the Bay Area are wowing visitors and locals alike.

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MORE: Super Bowl live updates here

In San Francisco, out-of-towners are getting a good look at what the City is all about—the good and the bad.

Saurabh Raybaruah is visiting from Maryland.

“When I came 2 years back. I found it a little dirty, a little unfriendly. But now, it has changed. I love how it looks now. It’s clean. It’s beautiful,” said Raybaruah.

SUZANNE PHAN: “What surprised you the most? Raybaruah: How clean it got. It really got clean.”

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Annie Dias from Boston said is visiting San Francisco for the first time.

SUZANNE PHAN: “What do you think?

ANNIE DIAS: “Beautiful city.”

On the Pat McAfee show, the host said Thursday San Francisco isn’t what he expected.

“We were so surprised by what we were told and expected versus when we walked through the streets,” said McAfee. “I think San Francisco is showcasing to us– I don’t know about the rest of the world– I don’t know how people are going to change their opinions about what’s going on. But, it’s a beautiful place.”

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Kristina Foreman is celebrating her birthday. Her parents from Florida are seeing San Francisco for the first time.

“As we are walking around the first day today i feel fairly safe,” said Christopher Foreman, a Florida resident. “There was the presence of police and Coast Guard around. I thought it was going to be more smelly, more homeless than I’ve see– that I’ve heard about coming on the news. But, I haven’t seen as much of it around.”

MORE: Here’s an inside look at Super Bowl Experience in San Francisco

In the Mission District Thursday night, the buzz is all about one thing– this weekend’s half-time show performer.

“It’s a Bad Bunny look-alike contest. We want to see what the other good looking Bad Bunnies look like,” said Linda Sandoval.

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Paul and Linda Sandoval of Penngrove are eager to check out the star attraction-the Bad Bunny look-alikes.

MORE: Will San Francisco increase encampment sweeps during Super Bowl week?

The Sandovals will be the first to tell you that San Francisco is worth the visit.

“There’s always lot to do. There’s ton of diversity,” said Linda Sandoval.

“They talk about what they see on TV. But that’s not what you see on the street. It’s very different,” said Paul Sandoval. “Sometimes they see homeless people and they hear about crime and things of that nature. You know what? It’s like that in every city everywhere.”

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Many people who live and work in San Francisco say the city isn’t perfect, but they also believe it’s headed in the right direction.

Copyright © 2026 KGO-TV. All Rights Reserved.



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Teen charged with murder in SF triple shooting that left girl, 15 dead

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Teen charged with murder in SF triple shooting that left girl, 15 dead


A 16-year-old boy was charged Thursday with murder and attempted murder in a shooting in San Francisco’s Western Addition that left a 15-year-old girl dead. 

“This was a life lost far too soon,” said San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins. The girl who died, Jayda Mabrey, was a 10th grader at Gateway High School.

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“She was a girl who was beloved in her community, and to lose that life so soon, so early, under these circumstances, has really rocked the community,” Jenkins said.

Jayda was killed and two 16-year-old boys were wounded when a fight erupted into gunfire near Golden Gate Avenue and Laguna Street at about 5 p.m. Friday. Jayda’s younger sister witnessed the shooting.

First court hearing 

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What we know:

On Thursday, both suspects appeared at a hearing at the Juvenile Justice Center that was open to reporters but closed to cameras.

The 16-year-old suspect was also charged with two counts of attempted murder and assault with a firearm. He repeatedly shook his head as the judge read the charges.

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 A second suspect, a 15-year-old boy, was charged with attempted murder for wounding one of those boys.

Through their attorneys, both boys denied all charges, including conspiracy and gun allegations.

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Murder case could be moved to adult court

What they’re saying:

Jenkins said she will determine at a later date whether to ask a judge to have the 16-year-old tried as an adult. The other defendant is too young, at age 15, to be transferred to adult court.

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 “We have a lot of work to do when it comes to making sure that guns are not in the hands of our kids,” the prosecutor said.

If the case stays in juvenile court, the most the 16-year-old could stay in custody would be until he’s 25 years old. If he’s charged as an adult, he could face up to 25 years to life in prison.

 Jenkins said the juvenile justice system is broken because those two possibilities are extreme.

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 “There’s a big gulf in between there that unfortunately needs to be considered,” Jenkins said.

Judge Anne Costin of San Francisco Superior Court ordered both teens held in custody at least until the next hearing later this month. 

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Henry Lee is a KTVU crime reporter. E-mail Henry at Henry.Lee@fox.com and follow him on X @henrykleeKTVU and www.facebook.com/henrykleefan

The Source: KTVU reporting, San Francisco police and DA’s office 

Crime and Public SafetySan FranciscoNewsBrooke Jenkins
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