TBS Today, Feb. 23

Auto break-ins appear to be experiencing a surge in Berkeley this week.

Police are now investigating more than 50 car burglaries that took place overnight in West Berkeley — and more reports may be yet to come.

As we mentioned yesterday: Auto break-ins were already up 18% in Berkeley before this week's spike.

In today's story, we've shared videos of the car burglary crew at work as well as safety tips from BPD. A few of them may surprise you!

More than 50 cars burglarized in West Berkeley overnight
Auto break-ins appear to be experiencing a surge in Berkeley this week.

In other news, we did attend Thursday night's mayoral forum and it was great to see so many old friends downtown at the Brower Center.

More than 200 people also tuned in online to watch the event, organizers told us.

We're still mulling over what we heard and how to make it useful to voters.

Our main takeaway was that, without knowing more about the candidates, their answers Thursday night weren't all that revealing as to how they truly differ.

Our other main conclusion was that November is a long way off and a lot of things will happen between now and then.

Most of the people who showed up Thursday night were familiar faces — folks who pay close attention to city affairs. But the reality is that most voters don't start thinking about the November election until around September.

So, if you're still undecided, you are very much not alone. We could even see more candidates throw their hats into the ring. It's just too soon to say.

The event recording is available online.


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In case you missed it

23 auto break-ins reported at North Berkeley BART
Not counting the recent BART auto burglaries, car break-ins are up 18% in Berkeley this year compared to last year.
UC Berkeley gunfire suspect now arrested after psych hold
Virgil Hampton was medically cleared and taken into custody Thursday afternoon.
Killer with 114-year sentence now poised for new plea deal
Lilron Jones — now 28 — was 17 when he murdered 15-year-old Jubrille Jordan in Oakland in 2012. Jones already had a strike at the time.
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