San Francisco Bay Area Wednesday News Roundup

Submitted by Reset News Feed on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 10:10am

Environmental Impact Report For America's Cup Sailing Race And Cruise Terminal Certified By Board Of Supervisors

Plans for the America's Cup sailing race and a new cruise terminal in San Francisco cleared a significant hurdle Tuesday when the city's Board of Supervisors unanimously certified the final environmental impact report for the project.

The environmental review was certified in a 10-0 vote by the board, which rejected an appeal by groups who argued the report did not adequately address problems caused by the races in the Bay and race-related activity along the northern and eastern waterfront of the city.

America's Cup World Series races are scheduled to start in San Francisco in August 2012, followed by the Louis Vuitton Cup and America's Cup Challenger Series in July 2013 and the America's Cup Finals in August 2013.

San Francisco was named the host of the race after Oracle CEO Larry Ellison won the previous America's Cup in 2010 on behalf of the city's Golden Gate Yacht Club and got to choose the location of the next race.

Tom Lippe, an attorney whose firm is representing the appellant groups, which include the Sierra Club, San Francisco Tomorrow, and the Golden Gate Audubon Society, said the city had "a very short timeframe to do this environmental review" and left many issues inadequately addressed in its report.

More than two dozen people spoke on behalf of the appeal, including several who brought up the same issue -- a proposed JumboTron screen to show the races in the city's Aquatic Park, a cove frequented by open water swimmers.

The establishment of the screen in the cove would have required the placing of large cement blocks underwater, which could disturb the sediment and create possibly hazardous conditions for swimmers.

But Mary Murphy, an attorney whose firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher is representing the America's Cup Event Authority, said the authority agreed Tuesday night to eliminate its plan to put the JumboTron in the water and would explore land-based alternatives for the screen.

San Mateo County Board Of Supervisors Voted To Explore Taking Over Sharp Park Golf Couse Management

The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors Tuesday voted unanimously to explore the possibility of taking over management of Sharp Park Golf Course in Pacifica.

The 417-acre 18-hole course -- one of just two public golf courses in San Mateo County -- is currently managed and operated by the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department.

The oceanfront course has recently come under fire from environmental groups who contend that golfing activities are threatening an important habitat for the San Francisco garter snake, an endangered species, and the California red-legged frog, a threatened species.

Environmental groups filed a lawsuit to close the course, citing irreparable harm to the two species. The suit is scheduled to go to trial in San Francisco in July.

Golf enthusiasts Tuesday showed up at the supervisors' meeting to support the county's efforts to take over management of the course, saying that it offers an affordable and popular recreational activity for residents and visitors to the San Mateo County Coast.

Green fees at Sharp Park are among the lowest for an 18-hole course in the Bay Area, Assistant County Manager David Holland said.

Board President Adrienne Tissier echoed the comments of other supervisors who said there should be a way to protect habitat for the endangered and threatened species as well as revitalize the course for the public.

All five supervisors supported the idea of moving forward with negotiations to take over management of the course from the city of San Francisco and exploring various aspects of running the facility, from financing to habitat improvements to reconstruction.

Holland said if talks with the city proceeded expeditiously, the county could potentially take over managing the course on an interim basis as early as this fall.

Environmental review and course reconstruction would take at least three years, Holland said.

San Francisco Police Sergeant Testified In Alleged MS-13 Gang Member Edwin Ramos's Trial

A San Francisco police sergeant testified Tuesday morning in the trial of Edwin Ramos, an alleged MS-13 gang member accused of murdering a father and two of his sons in San Francisco's Excelsior District in 2008.

Ramos, 25, of El Sobrante, is charged with fatally shooting Tony Bologna, 48, and his sons Michael, 20, and Matthew, 16, near Congdon and Maynard streets the afternoon of June 22, 2008.

San Francisco police Sgt. Joshua Phillips from the department's crime scene investigation unit was the first witness to take the stand.

Phillips said that when he arrived at the scene of the shooting, he found shattered glass from the Bolognas' Honda in the street, and saw what appeared to be the victims' blood on the hood and front passenger side window of the car.

Assistant District Attorney Harry Dorfman, who is prosecuting the case, said during his opening statements on Monday that he plans to bring Andrew Bologna, the only one of Tony Bologna's sons to survive the shooting, to testify later this week.

Dorfman said Ramos, who he said is known within the MS-13 gang as "Popeye," shot the Bolognas after mistaking them for rival gang members and that the shooting was in retaliation for the shooting of Marvin Medina, a fellow MS-13 gang member, earlier that day.

Defense attorney Marla Zamora countered in her opening statement on Monday that it was Wilfredo "Flaco" Reyes who fired the gun, surprising Ramos, who was driving the Chrysler 300 sedan that was later identified as the car used in the shooting.

Zamora said Andrew Bologna might not actually have seen the shooting because he ducked when shots were fired.

Reyes remains at large. Zamora said Monday that the case is about "how the government and MS-13 made Edwin Ramos the fall guy."

Contra Costa County's Board Of Supervisors Approve New Labor Contract For County Workers

Almost a year after representatives from Contra Costa County and its main labor coalition sat down at the bargaining table, the county's board of supervisors Tuesday approved a new labor contract for some 4,000 county workers.

The contract, ratified Jan. 13, will slash wages by 2.75 percent for some of the county's lowest paid employees and asks workers to cover all additional health care costs in the two coming years.

The county came down from their original offer of a 3.2 percent salary cut after protracted bargaining sessions last month.

Under the new contract, workers will also receive two $500 bonuses to help cover health care costs in the next two years and are allotted three extra paid holidays.

Since contract negotiations began last April, county officials have cited the area's falling property tax revenues and the county's growing budget deficit as factors in employees' wage cuts and higher benefit contributions.

The newly approved contract is expected to save the county about $524,000 this year, $15 million during the next fiscal year and $18 million each year afterward, according to a county human resources staff report.

For many unionized employees, the agreement is an unpopular alternative to the county's first proposal, according to labor coalition spokesman Rollie Katz.

Many affected workers believe the new contract fails to adequately address county contributions to workers' health care costs -- the main sticking point during negotiations, he said.

Katz said labor negotiators suggested that instead of giving taxable $500 bonuses, the county contribute more to workers' health care plans via non-taxable accounts, which would cost around the same amount.

But the county wasn't willing to accept those alternatives, he said.

Some employees affected by the new contract hold the county's lowest-paid full-time jobs, from clerks and janitors to childcare workers, Katz said.

San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi Said He Will Not Be Taking Pay During Domestic Violence Trial

San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi said Tuesday he will not be taking pay during the days he is on trial for domestic violence. However, he stopped short of saying he would temporarily step down from his post.

Mirkarimi is facing misdemeanor charges of domestic violence battery, child endangerment and dissuading a witness in connection with an incident involving his wife on New Year's Eve. The trial is set to start Feb. 24.

Mirkarimi met with Mayor Ed Lee Tuesday afternoon to discuss whether he will be able to keep up with his duties as sheriff while dealing with the court case, and whether he should step aside.

The sheriff met with Lee in the mayor's office at City Hall then spoke to reporters afterward. He described the discussion as "cordial."

When asked whether he would temporarily step down during the trial, Mirkarimi replied, "We'll see if it comes to that. We'll see."

However, Mirkarimi said he does not plan on billing the city during days he is in trial.

Mirkarimi also said he will recuse himself from any disciplinary proceedings involving sheriff's deputies while his case is pending.

Lee said earlier Tuesday that he would leave the decision up to Mirkarimi about whether he should step down, but noted that the sheriff must consider the effect the case might have on the public as well as his office.

Mirkarimi pleaded not guilty last Thursday to the charges against him, which stem from an incident involving his wife, Eliana Lopez, during which their 2-year-old son Theo was present.

Lopez spoke during Mirkarimi's arraignment, denying that she has a complaint against her husband.

The case came to light after Lopez allegedly told her neighbor Ivory Madison about the Dec. 31 incident and Madison called police.

Mirkarimi will return to court this Thursday when his attorney Bob Waggener will ask a judge to remove a stay-away order that is preventing him from contacting his wife and son.

Daughter Of Missing Oakland Woman Says Mother's Boyfriend Was Evasive During Questioning

The daughter of an Oakland woman who has been missing for more than seven years and is presumed dead says her mother's boyfriend was evasive when she questioned him about her mother's disappearance.

Testifying in the trial of 55-year-old Eric Mora, who's charged with murdering Cynthia Linda Alonzo even though her body has never been found, Terresa Jones said Mora claimed he hadn't seen Alonzo in two weeks when she confronted Mora the day after Alonzo failed to show up for her family's Thanksgiving dinner on Nov. 25, 2004.

Jones said she told Mora that couldn't be true because Alonzo had been at Mora's home at 6201 Brookside Drive in the Oakland hills when she spoke to Alonzo by phone four days before Thanksgiving.

Jones said Mora "was acting weird" and his hands were shaking.

Jones testified that she told Mora that she was concerned that her mother didn't show up at her grandmother's home in San Francisco on Thanksgiving Day even though her mother and Mora had both said several days before that they would be there.

Jones also said she thought it was strange that a rug in the bedroom at Mora's house where her mother stayed was missing.

She said all of her mother's belongings were still in the bedroom, including her identity and Social Security cards and a prepaid debit card.

Although Alonzo's body has never been found, prosecutors filed murder charges against Mora in February 2007 because Oakland police said Alonzo's blood was recovered from the bedroom at his home and he had multiple scratches on his hands after she disappeared.

But Mora's lawyer, Colin Cooper, told jurors in his opening statement last week that Mora "did not have anything to do whatsoever with the disappearance of Cynthia Alonzo" and alleged that the prosecution's case against him is "based on assumptions, conjectures and speculation."

Cooper said, "The prosecution has no body, no fingerprints, no murder weapon, no motive, no cause of death and no direct or credible evidence."

Cooper also alleged that Alonzo's family members and authorities "rushed to judgment" in blaming Mora for her disappearance.

Evacuated Telegraph Hill Apartment Residents Allowed To Return Home

Residents evacuated from a San Francisco apartment building at the foot of Telegraph Hill following a rockslide Monday were allowed to return to their homes Tuesday night, according to Department of Public Works interim director Mohammed Nuru.

Boulders tumbled down the rain-soaked hillside above Lombard Street near Winthrop Street at about 9:35 a.m., crushing a car and causing a partial evacuation of 220 and 240 Lombard St., the Parc Telegraph condominium complex.

A geotechnical engineer and geologist were brought in Tuesday to assess the hillside and the roadway atop Telegraph Hill. Nuru said Tuesday evening that the top of the hill appears to be stable and that there were no signs of movement or cracking.

Although residents of the evacuated units are being allowed to return to their homes, which remain yellow-tagged, they are being advised to sleep in rooms that do not face the slope because Nuru said engineers "suspect that there would be further rocks that will fall."

The DPW is working to locate equipment needed to remove smaller rocks from the near-vertical slope. Removing the smaller rocks will hopefully prevent larger boulders from having a rolling surface, Nuru said.

When that work begins is dependent on securing the proper equipment, Nuru said, adding that the clean up could take a couple of days to complete.

"What we really need right now is the right equipment," he said. "It's a very tight space. We really don't want to put too many people out there picking up rocks."

Woman Attacked At Knifepoint In Redwood City

A woman was attacked at knifepoint in a garage at a Redwood City high school on Monday evening, a police sergeant said.

Officers responded to a report of an assault at Summit Preparatory Charter High School at 890 Broadway St. at about 6:05 p.m., Redwood City police Sgt. Sean Hart said.

The victim -- an employee at the school -- was walking to her car in an underground parking garage when she was approached by a student, Hart said.

The student was later identified as David Velasquez, 19, of Redwood City, police said.

Velasquez was allegedly carrying a knife when he grabbed the victim and forced her toward her vehicle, according to police.

The two struggled, during which the victim was pushed to the ground, Hart said.

A witness entered the garage, saw what was happening and yelled at Velasquez, who ran away, police said.

The woman suffered minor injuries in the attack, which investigators believe was intended to be a sexual assault, police said.

Police tracked down Velasquez and arrested him on suspicion of kidnapping, assault with intent to rape, false imprisonment and making terrorist threats.

Police Release Name Of San Francisco Fisherman's Wharf Tourist Assault Suspect

Police have released the name of a man suspected of assaulting a young tourist in San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf neighborhood early Tuesday morning.

The man has been identified as 18-year-old Christopher Dutel, a Southern California resident, according to police.

Police received word around 2:30 a.m. that a juvenile girl, a tourist from out of the country, had gone missing from the group she was with, police Sgt. Daryl Fong said.

He said the girl had "voluntarily separated" from the group earlier in the evening.

Officers searched the area and found the girl in the 400 block of North Point Street around 3:45 a.m., Fong said. She was with the suspect, who was taken into custody on suspicion of assault.

The girl and the suspect were taken separately to a hospital to be treated for injuries that are not considered life-threatening, Fong said.

Fong initially said the nature of the attack was still under investigation, but police said Tuesday afternoon they have determined the girl was sexually assaulted.

Fong did not have information about the group the girl was with or the circumstances of her disappearance.

Dutel has been booked into jail on suspicion of sexual assault and false imprisonment, police said.

San Francisco Cable Cars Will Be Decorated With New York Giants Colors

Expect to see a strangely decorated San Francisco cable car come Super Bowl Sunday.

Earlier this month, Mayor Ed Lee and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg placed a friendly wager over the NFC Championship game between their respective teams.

Because the San Francisco 49ers fell to the New York Giants on Sunday, Lee will have to make good on his promise to outfit a Powell Street cable car in blue and red flags in honor of the Giants.

Lee also agreed to provide Boudin sourdough bread to Bloomberg in the event of a 49ers loss.

Standing outside of Brenda's, a Creole diner on Polk Street that dishes out French-inspired soul food, Lee said Tuesday morning that he was reminded of better times, referring to when the 49ers beat the New Orleans Saints the previous weekend.

"Being here with the New Orleans flavor captures that other playoff," he said of the 49ers' 36-32 win on Jan. 14.

Lee had been at the restaurant for an unrelated news conference to announce funding for small business loans.

A spokesman from Lee's office said that they would be sending the bread to New York sometime this week and plan to decorate the cable car for the Super Bowl.