Bay Area News Briefs

By Aimee Strain

May 13, 2008

Record number of Bike to Work Day participants expected

As gas prices continue to climb a record number of Bay Area residents, over 100,000, are expected to ride their bikes to work Thursday on Bike to Work Day, according to the Peninsula Traffic Congestion Relieve Alliance.

The alliance has increased its efforts to encourage more commuters and county residents to “choose a health alternative to driving.” Forty percent of commuters live within five miles of their job, according to the alliance. A four-mile bike ride keeps around 15 pounds of pollutants out of the air, and a bicyclist will burn around 410 calories.

In order to support cyclists, the alliance will staff 22 “Energizer Stations” from South San Francisco to East Palo Alto where volunteers will offer free food and beverages to riders. Sign-up cards will be available for the event raffle, with a grand prize of a new bike.

“With a gallon of gas costing $4 or more, Bike to Work Day takes on greater meaning to San Mateo County residents,” alliance Executive Director Christine Maley-Grubl said in a statement. “It is a great alternative for people interested in improving their health, saving money, avoiding the stress of traffic, and most importantly, helping the environment by reducing carbon emissions.”

Santa Rosa murder victim identified, autopsy today

The Sonoma County coroner’s office has identified 25-year-old Patricia Veronica Barrales as the Santa Rosa woman who was found dead of multiple stab wounds in a closet in her apartment Sunday night. An autopsy is scheduled for today.

Santa Rosa police said Barrales’ boyfriend and the father of her two young children, Honorio Pantaleon, 30, was arrested at a relative’s home in Ukiah by the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office late Monday night.

Pantaleon, also known as Victor Pantaleon, is suspected of the murder and of assaulting Barrales’ mother with a rifle at her Ukiah home around 6 a.m. Monday. Santa Rosa police said when Pantaleon’s rifle failed to fire he struck Barrales’ mother in the head with the weapon.

Pantaleon is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday morning in Sonoma County Superior Court. He is being held under no bail in the Sonoma County jail.

Santa Rosa police said Patricia Barrales’ brother asked police to check on her welfare Sunday night because she previously had been the victim of domestic violence. Police found the body under toys in a closet around 9:30 p.m. Sunday.

Homecare workers rally for wages and benefits

About 75 homecare workers rallied outside Alameda County’s administration building today to ask for a pay raise and to protect their health care benefits.

Sharon Cornu, the executive secretary-treasurer for the Alameda County Central Labor Council, said local homecare workers, who belong to the United Long-Term Care Workers’ Union, have been without a contract since last September and are bogged down in negotiations with county officials.

Cornu said the workers are asking for a $1 an hour increase to their current wages of $10.50 per hour and for not having to pay more for health care coverage.

She said that by jeopardizing health care coverage, Alameda County is putting itself at risk of losing quality homecare workers who make it possible for seniors and people with disabilities to live independently in their homes and neighborhoods.

Cornu warned that “it’s going to be a long, hot summer” in Alameda County because 15,000 public and private sector employees at nursing homes, hospitals, schools, telecommunications companies and the Port of Oakland will have their contracts expire on June 30.

Cornu said, “We’ll take it to the streets” if the workers don’t get good contracts.

Referring to Waste Management of Alameda County’s four-week-long lockout of nearly 500 garbage truck drivers last July, which disrupted garbage pickup service in the East Bay, Cornu said labor tensions could reach such a level this summer could make the garbage dispute seem like “a fond memory” by comparison.

Cornu said union employees will gather at Oakland City Hall on three consecutive Monday nights at the end of June and march to various employers who are in talks with employees.

“We want to turn up the heat on politicians,” Cornu said.

She said that in the last big round of labor talks in the summer of 2005 the Alameda County Central Labor Council granted strike sanctions to 22 unions in the space of three weeks.

Cornu said at least that number of strike sanctions could be granted again this year.

Mayor granted last-minute delay on controversial power plant vote

A planned vote by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors today on a controversial proposal to replace an aging power plant in the city’s Potrero Hill neighborhood with four cleaner-burning power plants has been postponed at Mayor Gavin Newsom’s request, in order to further explore alternatives, according to a mayor’s office spokesman.

Newsom spokesman Nathan Ballard said this morning that alternative energy sources are still being examined as a replacement for the Mirant power plant.

“Renewable resources are the mayor’s top priority,” said Ballard. “The best outcome would be to replace this power plant with renewable energy.”

According to the mayor’s office, Supervisor Sophie Maxwell, a sponsor of the proposed legislation to replace the plant with four new natural gas combustion turbines, three in the Potrero District, and one at San Francisco International Airport, has agreed to postpone the vote.

Maxwell, whose district includes the Mirant plant and the areas most heavily affected by its discharge, was not immediately available for comment today.

The combustion turbines, known as “peaker” power plants, are designed to generate electricity during hours of peak energy demand.

Maxwell and Supervisor Aaron Peskin had argued the peaker plant proposal was the only feasible option to replace the heavily polluting Mirant plant.

“The mayor is committed to closing down the existing polluting power plant, and he is actively pursuing every possible alternative with experts in the field,” Ballard said.

Ballard added that Newsom “is not eager to replace one polluting power plant with another polluting power plant, but right now that is the only option that state regulators have approved.”

The non-profit California Independent System Operator, which monitors the state’s energy grid, has declared the combustion turbine proposal to be the only one that, without the Mirant plant, would maintain the reliability of the electrical grid in the region.

Critics of the proposal, including environmental and civil rights groups, and supervisors Michela Alioto-Pier and Ross Mirkarimi, have contended the cost of the project, currently estimated at more than $250 million, is not worth several more years of, albeit somewhat cleaner, power plant activity in San Francisco.

They have also claimed that renewable or other cleaner energy sources have not been fully explored as a replacement.

Hazmat response continues, faculty reports minor health problems

Seven faculty members were evaluated for minor health problems and released after a hazardous material spill this morning in a science lab at Napa’s Vintage High School, a Napa fire captain said.

Fire Capt. Conrad Perez said that the faculty members experienced symptoms including mild headaches, soar throats and nausea, but that nobody required hospital treatment. No students reported health problems, Perez said.

According to the school Principal Eric Schneider, a shelf in one of the science labs broke before the start of classes, causing beakers and bottles to fall to the floor and break.

The science building was evacuated and has been cordoned off by fire officials.

“We’re very pleased with the rapid evacuation of students from the building,” Perez said.

Firefighters responded to the school, 1375 Trower Ave., at about 8 a.m., and at 11:15 a.m., a hazmat team was preparing to enter the lab.

Perez said that six to eight chemicals, including liquids that are possibly flammable, have spilled and mixed.

“Whenever we have chemicals released inside a closed building we have to do a very methodical approach,” Perez said.

Classes at the school are being held as scheduled, according to Schneider. The taped-off structure hosts six of the school’s 85 classrooms and classes scheduled to take place in the building have been redeployed to other rooms, he said.

Perez said just before noon that the fire department is “probably looking at another three to four hours at the minimum before we can get this situation mitigated.”

Marijuana found at apartment involved in two-alarm fire

Oakland police seized about 150 marijuana plants this morning after a two-alarm fire broke out in a seven-story apartment complex near Lake Merritt, officials said.

The fire, which was reported at about 12:40 a.m. at 1918 Lakeshore Ave., displaced 10 adults and caused an estimated total of $350,000, according to Oakland fire Lt. David Brue.

He said the blaze inflicted about $250,000 of property damage and $100,000 of damage to contents. The sixth and seventh floors of the building were impacted by fire and there was water damage throughout the structure.

Brue said it appears as though the fire ignited on the sixth floor of the building, however the cause of the blaze has not been determined.

According to Brue, Oakland police responded to the complex to investigate the contents of one of the units.

An Oakland police officer said that a marijuana growing operation was found at the building and police obtained a warrant. About 150 marijuana plants were seized, the officer said.

The fire was contained on the sixth floor at 12:53 a.m. and on the seventh floor at 1:28 a.m. before being declared under control at 2:06 a.m.

PG&E crews still working to cap ruptured gas line near elementary school

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. crews were expected to have a ruptured natural gas line near a San Pablo elementary school capped by about 11:30 a.m. today, PG&E spokeswoman Tamar Sarkissian said.

A construction crew working to demolish the old Downer Elementary School, located at 1231 18th St. at the corner of Sanford Avenue, apparently hit a two-inch natural gas line this morning, Contra Costa Hazardous Materials Specialist Paul Andrews said.

A shelter-in-place warning was issued for the new Downer Elementary School, located at 1777 Sanford Ave., as a precaution, but students are not in danger, officials said.

The school is apparently upwind from the construction site and children are not being evacuated, officials said.

According to Andrews, because natural gas is lighter than air, it quickly rises and dissipates.

Crews have set up barricades around the area to keep people and vehicles away from the leak, Sarkissian.

She said PG&E crews expect to lift the shelter-in-place warning as soon as the gas line has been capped, Sarkissian said.

Water district says conservation programs can avoid water rationing

The Marin Municipal Water District announced this morning that its customers will likely avoid water rationing this year if they conserve water with a water-saving gardening program and other methods.

Reversing a wet January and February, March and April produced the driest spring since 1879 when the district began keeping records, the district’s general manager Paul Helliker said in a written statement. He said district customers should not get complacent and conservation is more important than ever.

Just two-thirds of an inch of water fell on the Mt. Tamalpais watershed in March and April compared to an average 11.3 inches, the district said. The previous dry record was in 1934 when March and April rainfall was 1.2 inches, according to the district.

The district’s water customers reacted to the dry April this year with earlier and heavier watering, raising April’s water consumption to the highest level in 20 years, the district said.

Helliker said two consecutive dry winters constitute an official drought. The district noted the East Bay Municipal Water District is poised to impose mandatory water rationing this week.

That won’t be the case in Marin because the district’s reservoirs are at normal levels, district officials said.

The district is pushing for more sustainable water consumption and is offering rebates of up to $350 on irrigation equipment and other incentives. Half the summer water use goes for irrigation, the district said.

Man who shot teenagers with BB gun pleaded no contest

A 38-year-old San Bruno man who shot three teenagers with a BB gun will be sentenced in August on charges of felony assault with a deadly weapon, a San Mateo County deputy district attorney said today.

John Reindel pleaded no contest in front of Judge Clifford Cretan Monday, Deputy District Attorney Karen Guidotti said. He will now face up to a year in county jail for the felony assault charges.

He was previously facing up to five years in state prison for the incident, Guidotti said.

Reindel was charged after an incident Aug. 2, 2007, when he joined in a water balloon fight with his 13-year-old neighbor and the neighbor’s friends, Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said.

The three boys were apparently having a water balloon fight in the yard and making lots of noise when Reindel came out to investigate, Wagstaffe said. According to the boys’ statements, Reindel joined in the fun first, but then unexpectedly pulled out a BB gun and began firing, striking all three boys multiple times.

One of the boys ran inside and called the police, who arrived at the home shortly. Reindel was identified by the boys and subsequently arrested, Wagstaffe said.

Reindel stated that he was just trying to shoot the water balloons, and that he had really bad aim. None of the boys were seriously injured in the shooting.

Reindel is out of custody on $50,000 bail. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 5.

Fired Alameda city property manager entitled to hearing

A former property manager who was laid off by the city of Alameda four years ago won the right from a federal appeals court in San Francisco today to a hearing on his challenge to the action.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Edward Levine was entitled under U.S. Supreme Court doctrines to a hearing at which he could respond to the city’s letter telling him he was being fired in February 2004.

The city contended the requirement was met by an informal five-minute meeting Levine had with the city’s human resources director when he coincidentally stepped into her office soon after receiving the letter.

But the appeals court said the “random five-minute encounter” failed to give Levine “a meaningful opportunity to respond to the lay-off decision.”

The court upheld a ruling in which U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer said Levine is now entitled to a full evidentiary hearing before a neutral third party. Breyer said that because of the litigation, the hearing should be held before an outside authority and not a city official.

Levine was hired by in 1995 to work on the redevelopment of the former Alameda Naval Air Station. He worked his way up to becoming a property manager and then manager of a project to develop a golf course on the site.

City officials contended he was laid off in February 2004 because the redevelopment authority was suspending development efforts on the golf course and resort Levine maintained that the actual reason was that former City Manager James Flint disliked him.

Bay Area residents advised to prepare for upcoming heat wave

The National Weather Service is advising elderly Bay Area residents to stay in air-conditioned areas beginning Wednesday as a heat wave is expected to bring record-high temperatures, according to a forecaster.

Temperatures along the coast are expected to reach into the 80s, with inland temperatures reaching around 100 degrees, NWS forecaster Suzanne Anderson said.

The record-high temperatures will begin Wednesday and last through Friday before the Bay Area gradually cools over the weekend, Anderson said. Thursday will likely be the hottest day, she said.

During the heat wave, elderly residents are advised to stay inside air-conditioned areas and drink plenty of water, Anderson said. Those without air conditioning should be checked on frequently. Anderson also reminded residents that children, pets and the elderly should not be left unattended in hot cars.

Anderson said the heat advice is important for residents on the coast, who may not be used to hot weather and may be without air conditioning.