Sledgehammers, cans of pepper spray and less than one minute were all four professional crooks needed to swipe $100,000 worth of jewelry in broad daylight from a San Carlos store Tuesday, according to sheriff’s deputies and a witness. The men, clad in orange-and-black masks, apparently said little when they stormed the Home Consignment Center at 1123 Industrial Road about noon and smashed the cases. Read More

Authorities are continuing their efforts to identify a girl whose body washed ashore at San Gregorio State Beach in San Mateo County on Sunday afternoon. The body is that of a white female believed to be between 12 and 16 years old. She was 5-foot-4 and about 108 pounds. She had brown or black hair, Deputy Coroner Roger Fielding said. Read More

Encouraging signs of support for sales tax ballot measures in San Mateo County could help provide Caltrain with a long-sought dedicated funding mechanism. A recent survey found that 66 percent of San Mateo County voters would support a quarter-cent sales tax increase to provide funding for Caltrain and SamTrans. The poll, conducted at the behest of the San Mateo County Transit District, targeted residents likely to vote in the 2014 election. The transit district manages both SamTrans and Caltrain. Read More

San Mateo detectives really had this crook’s number. The case against a California inmate who orchestrated robberies from prison last year while using a smuggled cellphone officially closed Tuesday with the sentencing of his accomplice. Read More