We know it can be hard to keep up with everything that’s going on in the world, the country and your community. So here are five stories from the past week that you may have missed but really shouldn’t.

1. It can happen to anyone

The most popular story on our site this week was the inside story of the crippling ransomware attack that hit KQED this past summer. Phones, computers, internet, printers and more all went down as hackers demanded a massive bitcoin ransom in exchange for the release of our digital world. In the words of KQED editor Jon Brooks:

KQED, one of the largest public media companies in America, has been hobbling its way to recovery ever since. What was it like? Think of a really boring episode of “The Twilight Zone”—or better yet, “Black Mirror.” Or getting stuck in an absurdist satire about human dependence on technology. Everyone had their particular breaking point, triggered by one Rube Goldbergian workaround or another.

Safe to say, it’s been a stressful few months for KQED’s staff from the newsroom to the folks in IT trying to make sure this never happens again.

2. News you can use

We’re continuing to learn about how we can all better protect ourselves and our homes from wildfires. Even buildings not in the direct path of a fire can be in danger from a tiny offender:

“During a wildfire, the major source of ignition is the wind-blown ember that lands on or near the house,” says Steve Quarles of the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety. The wind can carry embers half a mile to a mile ahead of the fire, igniting homes far from the main burn area. But, there are some things homeowners can do to reduce the risk.

Those things include creating defensible space around your home, properly covering your vents to keep embers from getting inside your home and sparking, and keeping your gutters and your roof clear.

3. The Kathryn Steinle trial

The prosecution rested its case this week in the trial of Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, a Mexican citizen accused of killing Kathryn Steinle at San Francisco’s Pier 14 in July 2015. Garcia Zarate’s defense team asserts that he shot Steinle accidentally when he picked up a gun wrapped in cloth.

The case has gained national attention — including from President Trump — as part of the debate over immigration and so-called sanctuary cities. Garcia Zarate was in the country illegally when the shooting took place, and San Francisco authorities chose to release him instead of honoring a detention request from federal immigration officials.

• A retired San Francisco crime scene investigator testified: “A human being held a firearm, pointed it in the direction of Ms. Steinle, pulled the trigger and fired, killing her. That is the only way this could have occurred, that is reasonable.” The testimony hits directly at the defense’s claim that the gun went off accidentally.
• The defense wants members of the jury to be able to try pulling the trigger on the gun that killed Steinle to demonstrate the potential for accidentally firing it.
• Jurors watched video of Garcia Zarate’s first interview with police after the killing.
• The San Francisco police investigator in charge of the investigation testified that he wasn’t allowed to ask a Bureau of Land Management agent about the firearm that was stolen from his car in San Francisco and eventually used to kill Steinle.

4. Did you know?

Chinese immigrants who came to California during the Gold Rush went to great lengths to have their bones returned to China so they could be buried with their ancestors, and it involved “bone scraping.”

5. A place called what?!

Have you ever heard of Rough and Ready, California?

Before you go…

Check out this video debunking the myths behind the Peninsula’s El Camino Real: