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Tuesday
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Aug.20,2013
•
Vol XIV,Edition 2
CHAOTIC DAY
WORLD PAGE 31
NINERS,K.C.SWAP BUSTS
SPORTSPAGE 12
DRUGCUTS RISKOFPROSTATECANCER
HEALTH PAGE 21
EGYPT:COURT RAISES POSSIBILITY OF AFREE MUBARAK
Stubborn Fat?
Dr. Bruce Maltz, M.D.Dr. Carie Chui, M.D.
ALLURA SKIN & LASER CENTER
280 Baldwin Ave. Downtown San Mateo
(650)344-1121
By Angela Swartz
DAILY JOURNAL STAFF
With housing costs rising inSan Mateo County, those in thelowest income groups aren’t theonly ones struggling to pay rentor buy a home. Some residents fall in a gap inwhich they aren’t low-incomeenough to qualify for special hous-ing programs but are also notearning quite enough to live com-fortably in the Bay Area. As aresult, some find themselves fac-ing tough housing decisions.Beth LeBlanc, a fiscal office spe-cialist with the San Mateo CountyParks Department, moved fromSan Jose to Redwood City two anda half years ago. She and her hus-band make a combined income of $72,000 and are currently renting.“We downsized from a three-bed-room to two-bedroom and we’re afamily of five,” LeBlanc said. “Wehave good jobs, but we’re scaredto even attempt to move becauserent has gone up so much. We’veconsidered moving out of the area,but we’re trying to factor in thecommute. It’s better for us to justlive where we work, even thoughit’s crammed and uncomfortable.At least we’re spending time withour kids and have secure, safe jobs.”San Francisco and San Mateo
Middle-income grapple with housing prices
Lower inventory accounts for rising costs,according to local real estate expert
Rendering of California’s high-speedrail.
Brown:Judge’sruling won’t halthigh-speed rail
Agency signs contractfor initial section of track
No charges filedagainst limousinedriver or company
By Juliet Williams
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SACRAMENTO — Gov. JerryBrown said Monday that a judge’sruling thatCalifornia’s$68 billionhigh-speed railplan has notfollowed theterms approvedby voters willnot stop con-struction of theproject, whichis among his top priorities.The ruling raises some questionsabout the plan, but “it did not stopanything,” the Democratic gover-nor told reporters during a LakeTahoe summit.“There’s a lot of room for inter-pretation, and I think the outcomewill be positive,” Brown said of the ruling late Friday bySacramento County Superior CourtJudge Michael Kenny.The ruling came just hours afterthe California High-Speed RailAuthority signed a nearly $1 bil-lion contract authorizing a consor-tium led by Tutor Perini to designand build the first 30 miles of trackfrom Madera to Fresno, rail author-ity board Chairman Dan Richardsaid.Supporters of the project hadhoped that milestone would mark a
Limo fire an accident
By Bill Silverfarb
DAILY JOURNAL STAFF
The fire that killed five women ina limousine on the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge in May was startedby a failure of the vehicle’s sus-pension system and was an acci-dent, Foster City Fire Chief Michael Keefe said at a news con-ference yesterday.Friction from contact by the reardriveshaft with the floor pan ignit-ed the carpet and foam paddinginside the vehicle where nine pas-sengers were seated on their way toa bridal shower in Foster City. The driver, Orville Brown, couldnot have foreseen the accident andwas not on his cellphone at thetime of the May 4 tragedy, saidDistrict Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.Wagstaffe said no charges wouldbe filed against Brown nor thecompany he worked for Limo StopIncorporated.“It was a well detailed, complete-ly investigated event and carefullydocumented. Some tragedies arecriminal and some are not. This
BILL SILVERFARB/DAILY JOURNAL
Ab
ove
:Foster City Fire Chief Michael Keefe told reportersyesterday at a news conferencethat the cause of a fatal limousinefire on the San Mateo-HaywardBridge May 4 was accidental andcould not have been foreseen.
Lef
t
:The limo was taking abachelorette party to Foster Cityto celebrate the wedding of Neriza Fojas who died in the fire.
By Angela Swartz
DAILY JOURNAL STAFF
Next week, the next phase of theBurlingame Avenue StreetscapeBurlingame is set to begin andthings are going as planned, saycity staff and project supervisors.So far, the focus of the work hasbeen between Lorton Avenue andPark Road, along the north side of Burlingame Avenue. This portion
Burlingame Streetscape movesinto the next phases of project
Construction will begin on the southside of the street starting next week
ANGELA SWARTZ/DAILY JOURNAL
A mock-up of the sidewalk pavers was completed in front of CopenhagenBakery & Café on the 1200 block of Burlingame Avenue a few days ago.
Jerry Brown
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Widow who lost $280k home over $6 gets hearing
HARRISBURG, Pa. — AwesternPennsylvania woman whose$280,000 home was sold at auctionover $6.30 in unpaid interest won acourt decision Monday allowing her afresh opportunity to argue she shouldnot lose her home.Commonwealth Court ruled it was amistake for a Beaver County judge torule against Eileen Battisti withoutfirst holding an evidentiary hearing.“This was particularly inappropriatebecause the outstanding liability wassmall and the value of the home was fargreater than the amount paid by (the)purchaser,” wrote Judge Mary HannahLeavitt.Leavitt said the state Supreme Courthas “emphasized that due processunder both the United States andPennsylvania Constitutions must besatisfied whenever the governmentsubjects a citizen’s property to forfei-ture for nonpayment of taxes.”Battisti’s lawyer says she still livesin her Aliquippa home, even though itwas sold nearly two years ago to S.P.Lewis of Imperial for about $116,000.Messages seeking comment weren’treturned on Monday by Lewis and hislawyer, or by the Beaver County solic-itor’s office.Battisti purchased the home outsidePittsburgh in 1999 with her husband,who managed their finances. She paidoff the property after he died in 2004with proceeds from his life insurancepolicy.The opinion by Leavitt said Battistihad difficulty taking over the financialmatters, in part because of a series of personal setbacks. She fell behind onvarious tax bills, but believed she hadpaid them all off, even though somewere late.The $6.30 penalty was added to hertax bill in 2009, which grew withinterests and costs to $235 by late2011, when the home was sold at auc-tion. She appealed the sale to countycourt, which ruled in May 2012 thatshe received all notices required bylaw. Amonth later, Judge C. GusKwindis ordered that the BeaverCounty Tax Claim Bureau could notissue a deed to Lewis while Battistiappealed.An attorney for Lewis offered to set-tle the dispute last year for $160,000from Battisti. David Holland wrote ina court brief that Battisti did havenotice of the tax sale, and that shemade arguments in the appeal thatlegal procedures should not permit.Battisti’s lawyer, Ed Santillan, saidhis client was elated by the court’sdecision.“The facts are clear that she didn’treceive adequate notice and there was alot of intervening circumstances thatthe court should have taken intoaccount,” Santillan said.
Phillies’Triple-A affiliate offers free funeral
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — From theminor-league baseball club that gaveyou the world’s first urinal gamingsystem comes a promotion that’smore six feet under than it is over thetop: One “lucky” fan will win a freefuneral package.The Triple Aaffiliate of thePhiladelphia Phillies, the LehighValley IronPigs, plans to announcethe winner of its latest, and perhapsmost bizarre, fan giveaway at Tuesdaynight’s game in Allentown.Minor-league clubs are notorious forthe wacky promotions they run tohelp put fans in the seats, and theIronPigs are no exception. Earlier thisyear, the team boasted about the newgaming system it had installed inmen’s restrooms at Coca-Cola Park.But a free funeral? Talk about bury-ing the competition.“It’s one of our best out-of-the-boxpromotions. Or maybe I should sayone of our best ‘in-the-box’promo-tions,” quipped IronPigs GeneralManager Kurt Landes.Fans had to submit an essay describ-ing their ideal funeral and explain whythey deserved a free one. More than 50essays were turned in.Some of the contestants took alighthearted approach. Afan of movieWesterns wrote how his funeral wouldfeature the “William Tell Overture” anda photo of the Lone Ranger.
FOR THE RECORD2
Tuesday
•
Aug.20,2013
THEDAILYJOURNAL
The San Mateo Daily Journal
800 S. Claremont St., Suite 210, San Mateo, CA94402
Publisher: Jerry LeeEditorin Chief: Jon Mays
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As a public service,the Daily Journal prints obituaries of approximately 200 words or less with a photo one time on the date of the family’s choosing.To submit obituaries,emailinformation along with a jpeg photo to news@smdailyjournal.com.Free obituaries are edited for style,clarity,length and grammar.If you would like to have an obituary printedmore than once,longer than 250 words or without editing,please submit an inquiry to our advertising department at ads@smdailyjournal.com.
Journalist ConnieChung is 67.
This Day in HistoryThought for the Day
1968
The Soviet Union and other WarsawPact nations began invadingCzechoslovakia to crush the “PragueSpring” liberalization drive.
“You know you’re old when your walker has an airbag.”
— Phyllis Diller (1917-2012)
Boxing promoterDon King is 82. TV weatherman AlRoker is 59.
Birthdays
SCOTT WALL
Hillsborough resident and San Francisco Opera Ball Co-Chair Ann Girard,left,pauses with celebrity event producer Colin Cowie,center,and Girard’s Opera Ball Co-Chair Mai Shriver at a San Francisco Opera Guild luncheon on Aug.14.Cowie is the creativeforce behind Opera Ball:The Garden of Good and Evil,the sold-out gala for the Sept.6 season-opening performance of Boito’s Mefistofele.
Tuesday:
Mostly cloudy. Patchy fog inthe morning. Aslight chance of showersand thunderstorms. Highs in the 60s.South winds 10 to 20 mph.
Tuesday night
: Partly cloudy in theevening then becoming cloudy. Patchyfog after midnight. Aslight chance of showers and thunderstorms after mid-night. Lows in the mid 50s. South winds 10 to 20 mph.
Wednesday
: Cloudy in the morning then becoming sunny.Patchy fog in the morning. Aslight chance of showers andthunderstorms in the morning. Highs in the mid 60s. Southwinds 10 to 20 mph. Chance of precipitation 20 percent.
Wednesday night:
Partly cloudy in the evening thenbecoming mostly cloudy. Aslight chance of showers andthunderstorms in the evening.
Local Weather Forecast
In 1833,
Benjamin Harrison, 23rd president of the UnitedStates, was born in North Bend, Ohio.
In 1862
, the New York Tribune published an open letter byeditor Horace Greeley calling on President Abraham Lincolnto take more aggressive measures to free the slaves and endthe South’s rebellion.
In 1866,
President Andrew Johnson formally declared theCivil War over, months after fighting had stopped.
In 1882,
Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture” had its premierein Moscow.
In 1910
, a series of forest fires swept through parts of Idaho, Montana and Washington, killing at least 85 peopleand burning some 3 million acres.
In 1940,
during World War II, British Prime MinisterWinston Churchill paid tribute to the Royal Air Force beforethe House of Commons, saying, “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”
In 1953
, the Soviet Union publicly acknowledged it hadtested a hydrogen bomb.
In 1955
, hundreds of people were killed in anti-Frenchrioting in Morocco and Algeria.
In 1972
, the Wattstax concert took place at the LosAngeles Memorial Coliseum.
In 1977,
the U.S. launched Voyager 2, an unmanned space-craft carrying a 12-inch copper phonograph record contain-ing greetings in dozens of languages, samples of music andsounds of nature.
In 1988,
a cease-fire in the war between Iraq and Iran wentinto effect. Eight British soldiers were killed by an IrishRepublican Army land mine that destroyed a military busnear Omagh, County Tyrone in Northern Ireland.
In 1992
, shortly after midnight, the Republican NationalConvention in Houston renominated President George H.W.Bush and Vice President Dan Quayle.
In other news ...
(Answers tomorrow)ROUND BRAVE SOCKETGALAXYYesterday’sJumbles:Answer:The sale on the firewood allowed the camperto — SAVE ABUNDLENow arrange the circled letters to form the surprise answer, assuggested by the above cartoon.
THAT SCRAMBLED WORD GAME
by David L. Hoyt and Jeff Knurek
Unscramble these four Jumbles,one letter to each square,to form four ordinary words.
DOMEMWRAPNLOGNALKIOROE
©2013 Tribune Media Services, Inc.All Rights Reserved.
J u m b l e p u z z l e m a g a z i n e s a v a i l a b l e a t p e n n y d e l l p u z z l e s . c o m / j u m b l e m a g s
Print youranswer here:
Writer-producer-director Walter Bernstein is 94. FormerSen. George Mitchell, D-Maine, is 80. Former U.S. Rep. RonPaul, R-Texas, is 78. Former MLB All-Star Graig Nettles is 69.Musician Jimmy Pankow (Chicago) is 66. Actor John Nobleis 65. Rock singer Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin) is 65. Countrysinger Rudy Gatlin is 61. Singer-songwriter John Hiatt is 61.Actor-director Peter Horton is 60. Actor Jay Acovone is 58.Actress Joan Allen is 57. Movie director David O. Russell(“The Fighter”) is 55. TVpersonality Asha Blake is 52. ActorJames Marsters is 51. Rapper KRS-One is 48. Actor ColinCunningham is 47. Actor Billy Gardell is 44.
Lotto
The Daily Derby race winners are Lucky Charms,No.12,in first place;Money Bags,No.11,in secondplace;and Eureka,No.7,in third place.The racetime was clocked at 1:40.65.
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Tuesday
•
Aug.20,2013
THEDAILYJOURNAL
LOCAL
BURLINGAME
Drugs
. An adult male was arrested for beingunder the influence of drugs on the 1700block of Bayshore Highway before 10:43p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 7.
Burglary
. Acar was broken into and aniPod and checkbook were stolen on the1500 block of Bayshore Highway before 1p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 7.
Theft
. Acar was broken into and luggageand electronics were stolen on the firstblock of Bay View Place before 8:27 a.m.Wednesday, Aug. 7.
Theft
. Abicycle was stolen on the 1000block of Burlingame Avenue before 9:57p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 6.
Vandalism
. Abathroom window was bro-ken on the 1200 block of Cabrillo Avenuebefore 11:33 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 6.
Stolen vehicle
. Acar was stolen on the100 block of California Drive before 1:43p.m. Monday, Aug. 5.
Burglary
. Acar was broken into and itemswere stolen on the first block of Bay ViewPlace before 5:42 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 4.
Burglary
. Ahome was ransacked and itemswere stolen on the 1600 block of EastonDrive before 2:49 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 4.
Burglary.
Acar’s window was smashed anda duffel bag and purse were stolen on the300 block of Airport Boulevard before 9:50a.m. Sunday, Aug. 4.
Theft
. Abicycle was stolen on the 1500block of Alturas Drive before 9:35 p.m.Saturday, Aug. 3.
Theft
. Aman was taking recyclables at theintersection of Bancroft Road andPeninsula Avenue before 4:37 p.m.Saturday, Aug. 3.
MILLBRAE
Controlled substance
. Aman was citedfor possessing a controlled substance at theintersection of El Camino Real and VictoriaAvenue before 11:58 a.m. Wednesday, Aug.14.
Controlled substance
. Aman was citedfor possessing unlawful paraphernalia onthe 500 block of Broadway before 7:33a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 13.
Controlled substance
. Aman was citedfor possessing a controlled substance onthe 200 block of Rollins Road before 7:50a.m. Sunday, Aug. 11.
Burglary
. Avehicle was burglarized onRollins Road before 5:30 p.m. Friday, Aug.9.
Controlled substance
. Aperson wasfound to be in possession of a controlledsubstance on the 200 block of RollinsRoad before 3:37 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 4.
SAN MATEO
Theft
. Someone reported a theft on the1800 block of South Grant Street before7:50 a.m. Friday, Aug. 9.
Vandalism
. Someone reported a vehiclehad been vandalized on the 1600 block of Vista Del Sol before 7:41 a.m. Friday, Aug.9.
Under influence/controlled sub-stance.
Adriver appeared to be under theinfluence of a controlled substance andadmitted to having meth in her purse onCapistano Road before 11:28 p.m.Thursday, Aug. 1.
Police reports
That old book smell
Juveniles threw stink bombs in a bookdrop on the 1800 block of Easton Drivein Burlingame before 6:42 p.m.Monday, Aug. 5.
DAILY JOURNAL STAFF REPORT
South San Francisco police arrested anOakland woman Sunday for pimping afterconducting a sting operation at a localhotel.Police made a “date” with an escort whowas soliciting for prostitution on a websiteand were directed by the escort to a hotel onMitchell Avenue. Police made contact withthe 24-year-old escort and a second woman.Police found evidence of a prostitutionoperation in the possession of the escortand then were able to identify the secondwoman, Angela Denise Gospel, as theescort’s pimp.Police say further investigation revealedthe escort was beaten at least once andrepeatedly threatened and coerced into con-tinuing to work as a prostitute for the finan-cial benefit of Gospel, a 25-year-oldOakland woman.Gospel was booked into county jail oncharges of human trafficking and pimping.The victim was provided services by a localresource center that helps victims of humantrafficking, according to police.Since 2011, the South San FranciscoPolice Department has dismantled seven sextrafficking operations and Gospel’s arrestmarks the third human trafficking investiga-tion by the department this year alone.
Woman arrested for pimping
DAILY JOURNAL STAFF REPORT
The San Mateo man accused of stabbinghis mother in the chest and arm when shecame to check on him last week delayedentering a plea yesterday to attempted mur-der.John Jacobberger, 53, is also chargedwith felony assault and felony physicalelder abuse in the Aug. 12 incident that senthis 76-year-old mother to the hospital.Prosecutors say police found Jacobbergerstanding over his wounded mother on thesecond floor of his West Fourth Avenueapartment complex and he reportedly toldthem both “I stabbed mymother, just shoot me”and “It’s the drugs thatmade me do it.” On Monday,Jacobberger appearedwith a court-appointedattorney but delayed aplea until Aug. 27. In themeantime, he remainsheld without bail. Jacobberger reportedlywounded his mother after she spotted himinside his unit surrounded by knives andasked him to go see his doctor.
AC Transit workers vote to reject contract deal
Union officials say workers for a SanFrancisco Bay Area bus system have reject-ed a tentative contract agreement.Amalgamated Transit Union Local 192,which represents nearly 1,800 bus opera-tors, mechanics, dispatchers and clericalworkers, voted by a 2-to-1 margin Saturdayagainst a proposed contract after reaching atentative deal with the Alameda-ContraCosta Transit District on Aug. 6.
Man delays plea for allegedly stabbing mom
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John Jacobberger
Around the Bay
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