Susie Neilson

1 month ago | sfchronicle.com | Susie Neilson |Megan Munce

Mike Kubo had found only enough time to grab a few bags of dirty laundry when he and his family evacuated their home after hundreds of lightning bolts set the Santa Cruz Mountains ablaze. Now, he was 20 miles away in the spare bedroom of his parents' mobile home with his wife, his daughter and their two cats. They huddled around Facebook on Kubo's laptop as a neighbor posted doorbell camera videos of the fire. Every few minutes, new footage appeared. First, the fire swallowed homes across the road.

1 month ago | sfchronicle.com | Sarah Feldberg |Susie Neilson |Megan Munce

After every major recent California wildfire, families who've lost their homes have faced a secondary trauma: learning their insurance policies won't cover the cost to rebuild. Known as underinsurance, this phenomenon can leave homeowners and their communities without the means to recover. As blazes raged in Los Angeles this January, Chronicle reporters Megan Fan Munce and Susie Neilson were already months into an investigation of underinsurance in California and the West.

1 month ago | sfchronicle.com | Megan Munce |Susie Neilson

Most homeowners think their insurance policies will offer full protection if they lose their houses in disasters. But that belief may be misplaced. A Chronicle investigation found that many California policyholders are underinsured, meaning they would not receive enough money to rebuild a home similar to the one that was destroyed.

1 month ago | sacbee.com | Susie Neilson

Six people were significantly injured early Saturday in a San Jose crash involving a stolen car, the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office said. Deputies initially spotted the silver Infiniti around 2:19 a.m. near King and Mabury roads in a commercial area east of downtown. They tried to stop the car, but it sped off, and the deputies did not pursue it. Two minutes later, the Infiniti collided with a Ford Fusion at McKee Road and North Jackson Avenue, the San Jose Police Department wrote on X.

1 month ago | sacbee.com | Susie Neilson |Jennifer Gollan

When Theris Coats Sr. heard that his son had been arrested in San Francisco, he felt a rare surge of hope. It was Tuesday, and he hadn't heard from Theris "TC" Coats Jr. in weeks. The 33-year-old had spent years cycling in and out of jails and hospitals, on and off the streets. Nothing had worked so far; maybe this latest arrest would. So Coats Sr. and his wife called up their church in Vallejo, and together they prayed.