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CORTE MADERA
marinij.com

Now showing at Tam Ridge: Failure

Much-derided apartment complex mired
in delays, fingerpointing and litigation
By Adrian Rodriguez
arodriguez@marinij.com
@adrianrrodri on Twitter
Hundreds of workers are rac-
ing to repair and replace rotted
beams, sidings, windows and
weatherproofing materials in a
mad dash to open, this summer,
the 180-unit apartment complex
focus of a court battle.
Its frustrating for everyone
Construction
crew
that project construction has
taken as long as it has, said Town
members
work at the
at the former WinCup site in Manager Todd Cusimano. Tam Ridge
Residences
Corte Madera. But town officials are encour-
Beneath polymer plastic white aged by the work of the new con- apartment
tents giant umbrellas to keep tractor, Centric General Contrac- complex
things dry across most of the six tors of St. Helena, Cusimano said, Wednesday
buildings on 4.5 acres some 230 adding that the most important in Corte
construction workers are hustling thing is that the project gets done Madera.
through nine-hour workdays, six right. ALAN DEP
MARIN
days a week in a multimillion-dol- If the Tam Ridge Residences INDEPENDENT
lar repair job that has become the COMPLEX PAGE 4
JOURNAL

THE COUNTY SOUTHERN MARIN

VERNAL VIBRANCY School

district
merger
explored
By Mark Prado
mprado@marinij.com
@MarkPradoIJ on Twitter

A merger of the Mill Valley

and Sausalito Marin City school
districts will be the subject of
study under a plan proposed by
the county superintendent of
schools.
The traditional program in the
Sausalito Marin City School Dis-
trict has struggled for years. Aca-
demic programs have lagged, the
district continues to face budget
issues and it has had trouble re-
taining staff.
Now Mary Jane Burke, county
superintendent of schools, says
she will seek a firm to look at the
feasibility of consolidating the
ALAN DEP MARIN INDEPENDENT JOURNAL Mill Valley School District with
the Sausalito Marin City School
Spring officially arrived in Marin at 3:28 a.m. today with the vernal equinox, but residents have been enjoying warm springlike District.
weather for days. Above, dog walker Will Lane of Tiburon Dog Butler exercised some clients Thursday on a trail in the Tiburon SCHOOL PAGE 2

Ridge Open Space Preserve. Rain returns to the forecast for much of the week, with a break on Thursday, according to the National
Weather Service.
THE COUNTY

BAY AREA Talks focus

DA, Oakland at war over Ghost Ship report
By Matthias Gafni, Thomas
Peele and David DeBolt
Bay Area News Group
OAKLAND >> In an escalating legal
feud over the investigation into
the Ghost Ship tragedy whose
36 victims included a musician
from Marin Alameda County
prosecutors have tried without
success in recent weeks to pry
the completed draft report of
the deadly fire from the citys
hands.
The District Attorneys Office
has been seeking the critical re-
port for the past month from the
Oakland Fire Department and
City Attorneys Office, and legal
experts contacted for this story
say the citys delay in handing it
over may violate the law.
Emails obtained by the Bay
Area News Group through a pub-
lic records request detail the bi-
zarre dispute and the growing
frustration of the DAs Office.
If the Oakland Fire Depart-
ment has submitted a report to
your office for review, a copy of
the unredacted, unedited report
must also be submitted to the
prosecuting agency for review,
lead Ghost Ship prosecutor David
Lim wrote in a Feb. 28 email to
Oakland City Attorney Barbara
Parker. It was the final email ex-
change between the two sides.
The city refuses to budge un-
til a final report is completed,
Oakland City Attorney spokes-
man Alex Katz said on Friday.
The report is in draft form,
but it is in the final stage of tech-
nical review and will be final
imminently, said Katz, adding
that theres no dispute on the
fires cause.
Lim explained in his emails
the position of the District At-
torneys Office on how a draft
report must be turned over to
prosecutors, DA spokeswoman
Teresa Drenick said. She de-
clined to comment further.
Former Santa Clara County
Superior Court Judge LaDoris
Cordell, like Lim, cited Brady
on beds for
mentally ill
By Richard Halstead
rhalstead@marinij.com
@HalsteadRichard on Twitter
Talks will continue with So-
noma County about the creation
of an acute care facility as Marin
health officials search for a lo-
cal transitional residential space
as part of an effort to tackle the
countys unmet mental health ser-
vices needs.
The Board of Supervisors on
Tuesday moved forward with
MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ ASSOCIATED PRESS plans to adopt Lauras Law, a
Flowers and mementos line the scene of the fatal warehouse fire in provision that gives local judges
Oakland in December. The victims included Chelsea Faith Dolan, 33, the authority to order severely
a musician who grew up in Marin. mentally ill people to undergo
outpatient treatment at the re-
vs. Maryland, the U.S. Supreme ment and the city attorney must quest of a parent or other con-
Court case on due process that turn over everything they have cerned party. The board last
requires prosecutors to share all (unredacted, unedited) re: the week also gave the green light for
evidence with the defense, as investigation into the Ghost attempting to address the coun-
to why Oakland officials must Ship fire, Cordell wrote in an tys shortage of beds for mental
share the draft report. email. The failure to do so health patients.
In my view, the fire depart- REPORT PAGE 2 COUNTY PAGE 2

MICHIGAN EAST ASIA WASHINGTON ONLINE

Progress slow in Flint North Korea claims test Lawmakers: No basis See more of the story
for water pipe overhaul of historic significance for Trump wiretap claim by going to our website
The city is replacing old water The regime proclaims a break- Two ranking members on the Find additional photos, albums
service lines that leached lead through for its missile pro- House Intelligence Committee and links to our videos that
into homes and businesses. gram with a new high-thrust say documents dont back up can enhance local stories.
PAGE A6 rocket engine. PAGE A7 the president. PAGE A5 MARINIJ.COM

INDEX Lottery.............A2 Obituaries........A8 Opinion.............A9 Horoscope .......B4 Comics .......... B5 Classifieds.......C5 Volume 155, issue 363 0 40901 29001 8