TBS Today, Dec. 21

Hot off the presses: Robbers in Berkeley mugged an older woman and her niece on Wednesday night and then went to her house hours later and stole her car, police say.

We're hoping to get a bit more detail from BPD but here's what we know right now.

Berkeley woman mugged — hours later, they stole her car

“We’re getting hammered,” one community member wrote on Nextdoor, of crime in the neighborhood.

The Berkeley ScannerEmilie Raguso

Some other very exciting news on the business side of things: One of the biggest battles in starting a new news site these days is breaking into Google News.

The current thinking is that it takes one to three years to show up there. That's a long time to wait!

From the beginning, our stories did not show up on Google News in response to any kind of search — the result of the dreaded "black box" algorithm.

It wasn't due to a technical issue (we were told by Google News), it was just the way the system currently works.

We've been investigating this and doggedly pursuing every possible solution and contact only to be told we just had to wait. Not our strong suit, as you might imagine.

That's one reason we've been asking folks to "follow" us on Google News, which many of you have done (thank you!).

Well, as of this week, we're beyond thrilled to report that this problem seems to be resolving. We're finally seeing our stories having great visibility on Google News.

We hope that's the case for you, too!

This is a huge milestone and we definitely plan to celebrate it.

Thank you all for your help, those of you who have helped us brainstorm about this and the hundreds of readers who answered our call to follow us on Google News.

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In case you missed it

Berkeley shop clerk charged with sex crimes against 2 men

Police say Nafeh Gawbah offered both men work stacking boxes in a back room of the market, which is across from Berkeley Technology Academy.

The Berkeley ScannerEmilie Raguso

Kevin Nishita murder charges to see ‘significant reductions’

Nishita, a retired veteran police officer, was working as a security guard for a TV news crew when he was killed just before Thanksgiving in 2021.

The Berkeley ScannerEmilie Raguso

Berkeley families slam plea deal in art gallery homicide case

After moving through the court process at a glacial pace, the Alameda County DA’s Office made a deal with Otis Wyatt last month.

The Berkeley ScannerEmilie Raguso