MedleyStory

Video of Valencia Street attack rekindles calls for police action

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:12:17 -0700

Video of the late April vandalism attack along Valencia Street that recently surfaced has sparked outrage in San Francisco.

The clip chronicles violence in the Mission on April 30th where some merchants said police didn't do enough to stop the attack.

The black bloc anarchist protesters vandalized businesses under the cover of darkness and in disguise. A group calling itself Anarcha L-A posted an 11-minute video of the riot on YouTube.

Michell Horneff-Cohen, the owner Property Management Systems, told KTVU protestors broke five windows and carved an "A" for anarchy into a sixth window.

Horneff-Cohen said she's seen the YouTube video and would like to see those responsible brought to justice. But as far as she knows, only one man was arrested and later relased.

"I just wish we could use that video to arrest people, to stop them from doing it in the future," Horneff-Cohen said. "It's frustrating."

A few doors down, KTVU showed the anarchist video to the store manager at Nooworks clothing store.

Gwen Lutz found the video upsetting. She said she doesn't understand why protestors targeted small businesses and why police failed to stop the vandalism.

"It's just crazy to me that it started at the police station and make it all the way down here," said Lutz.

Police officials said they have seen the video, but would not comment on specifics.

In a written statement, the department said: "This video could potentially yield information or evidence for the investigation."

Horneff-Cohen was disappointed by the inaction.

"If the same occurence happend again, I would expect the same results," she said. The business owner describes the experience as draining and time consuming.

The group that posted the video on YouTube does not claim responsibility.

Prosecutors in Sierra LaMar case face challenge with lack of physical evidence

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:11:05 -0700

The 21-year old man arrested in the Sierra LaMar case is due to make his first court appearance Thursday.

Antolin Garcia-Torres is facing one count of murder and one count of kidnapping. He is being held at the main jail in San Jose in protective custody away from the the general jail population.

Thursday afternoon, he is scheduled to be walked over to the hall of justice through an underground tunnel for a 1:30 p.m. arraignment for the kidnapping and murder of 15-year-old Sierra LaMar.

Sierra's body has yet to be found and there's no murder weapon. Yet the district attorney's office says it has enough evidence to go to trial.

"A good defense attorney is going to want to get this to trial quickly," said Michael Cardoza,a criminal defense lawyer.

Cardoza added if her body isn't found and Garcia-Torres is acquitted, prosecutors may not be able to try him again.

"They cannot retry him if they find the body in a year or so and there's evidence on that body that shows that he did it. The game's over," explained Cardoza.

For the third straight day, the Santa Clara County Sheriff's dive team was at Uvas Reservoir using advanced sonar detection equipment.

Sources close to the investigation say the suspect told them early on that he often went fishing around Morgan Hill.

Garcia-Torres mother said on the day after Sierra's disappearance her son went to the reservoir.

"He went back to go fishing at Uvas, Uvas Park," said his mother, Laura Torres.

About 180 volunteers searched Wednesday for the missing teen.

Sierra's mother told KTVU they're not giving up.

"We're just not satisfied with someone being taken into custody. We still want her back and we're never going to give up," said Marlene LaMar.

Cameras are being allowed in the courtroom for the arraignment and for the first time, the public may actually hear from Antolin Garcia-Torres.

Obama, Dems redoubling money efforts to keep edge

Wed, 23 May 2012 22:50:07 -0700

His cash advantage threatened, President Barack Obama and his party are redoubling their fundraising efforts after robust hauls by Republican rival Mitt Romney.

The likely Republican presidential candidate and a slew of GOP-leaning super PACs are raking in cash from the party faithful highly motivated to topple the Democrat. Obama still has a significant edge, but it's shrinking rapidly.

That explains why the president, fresh off of back-to-back international summits, plunged back into his re-election race Wednesday with a series of fundraising events in Denver and California's Silicon Valley. The president was looking to stockpile cash to pay for his coast-to-coast organization, advertising to spread his message and get-out-the-vote operations in key states.

"We're going to have to contend with even more negative ads, even more cynicism and nastiness and just plain foolishness," Obama said in Denver. "But the outcome of the election is ultimately going to depend upon all of you." A woman shouted, "We'll just have to work harder."

It's the start of an extensive money push by Obama in the coming weeks that will feature a series of high-end fundraisers, including New York events with former President Bill Clinton and actress Sarah Jessica Parker and a Los Angeles trip to raise money among gay and lesbian supporters. Smaller-dollar pushes also are under way.

Obama, a record-shattering fundraiser four years ago, has a built-in fundraising advantage as the incumbent and still has a wide money lead over Romney, the challenger who only recently combined fundraising efforts with the Republican National Committee after a bruising -- and expensive -- primary.

But well-funded Republican outside groups, which are able to raise unlimited sums from donors, are narrowing that gap quickly and using their multimillions to run a slew of TV ads hammering Obama in key states. Obama aides acknowledge the possibility that he could be outraised by the influx of Republican money.

The numbers tell the story.

Through April, Obama and Democratic groups supporting his re-election bid have raised nearly $450 million during the election cycle and have more than $150 million in the bank. Romney and Republicans backing him have collected more than $400 million during the same stretch and have about $80 million at their disposal.

Gone is the 10-to-1 cash advantage that Obama held at the end of March.

To be sure, Romney was bound to erode that money gap as he pivoted to the general election. He still, however, lags on another measure of campaign strength: Obama has had months to prepare an extensive ground game to identify, register and turn out voters.

On the money front, Romney has benefited from a strong desire among GOP activists to defeat Obama, multiple GOP outside groups willing to spending tens of millions of dollars and a well-oiled fundraising machine within his own campaign. Showing that prowess, the former Massachusetts governor raised $15 million this week during three days of fundraising in New York.

"What you see in a very short period of time is a very well-run operation that is putting Gov. Romney in a position where he's going to, maybe not outspend, but to compete with the collective Democratic fundraising," said Sara Taylor Fagen, a former political director for President George W. Bush.

Romney has been the all-but-certain GOP nominee for more than a month now, and while he's focused primarily on fundraising, super PACs backing him have been going toe to toe with Obama's campaign in TV advertising. That means that Romney hasn't had to spend heavily from his own campaign account. Chief among those groups has been Crossroads GPS and its affiliated super PAC, Crossroads USA, which quickly matched Obama's ad buy this month after the president's team laid out plans for a $25 million advertising campaign.

Democrats haven't had as much success with super PACs.

A pro-Obama group, Priorities USA Action, has badly lagged behind Crossroads, while Romney has gotten extra help from another super PAC, Restore Our Future. Mary Beth Cahill, a former campaign manager for Sen. John Kerry, recently came aboard as an adviser to help.

The influx of campaign cash in the first presidential campaign since the 2010 Citizens United ruling by the Supreme Court, which helped create super PACs, has taken some Democrats by surprise.

"I don't think anyone realized going into this cycle exactly how much money was going to be involved," said former Rep. Martin Frost, D-Texas, a past chairman of the fundraising arm for House Democrats. "This is a brave new world of campaign finance."

Obama was cheered by 550 supporters in Denver, where tickets at a fundraiser started at $250 and topped out at $40,000 per couple for a photo with the president. Obama accused Romney of seeking to return to economic policies that preceded the recession. "It's the same old stuff they've been peddling for years," the president said.

Afterward in California, Obama spoke at a fundraising dinner in Atherton that included a performance by David Crosby and Graham Nash. About 60 people paid $35,800 per person to attend. The president said the nation had made significant strides during the past 3 1/2 years but said "we may not even finish it in 5 years but I certainly need 5 more years to get us locked in on where we need to go."

Obama capped the night at a reception with 1,100 people in Redwood City, with a performance by Ben Harper. Tickets started at $250, with some couples paying $12,500 for a photo with the president. On Thursday, Obama was speaking at a private fundraising breakfast in San Jose.

To keep his edge, Obama isn't just focusing on big money.

Many of the planned high-dollar fundraisers include a raffle designed to raise millions more and get more people involved.

In some cases, the grass-roots component raises more than the swanky fundraiser: Of the $15 million Obama raised at a celebrity-studded dinner two weeks ago at actor George Clooney's Los Angeles home, $9 million came from small-dollar donors hoping to win a chance to attend.

Clinton, arguably the most prominent Democratic fundraiser not in the White House, is joining Obama for two events in New York on June 4. Obama's campaign also is raffling off a trip to New York -- including airfare and hotel for what's being called "Barack on Broadway" -- for two winners and their guests to attend. The two presidents will attend a dinner later that evening featuring a performance by Jon Bon Jovi.

Two days later, Obama jets to Los Angeles for a high-dollar reception with gay and lesbian supporters, featuring a performance by Pink, and a $25,000-per person dinner at the Beverly Hills home of "Glee" creator Ryan Murphy and his fiancé David Miller. Events also are planned next month in Baltimore, Boston and back in New York, where the president will raise money at the home of Parker, of "Sex and the City" fame. A travel-package raffle for small-donors is tied to that, too.

"It should be fabulous," Parker said in an email to Obama supporters.

Obama began airing two new ads Wednesday, one about his work with veterans returning from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and another aimed at seniors dependent on Medicare.

In the veterans spot, Obama credits veterans for allowing the U.S. to "go after al-Qaida and kill (Osama) bin Laden" and says the nation has a "sacred trust" to help veterans heal their wounds and find jobs. The ad on Medicare notes that Obama was raised by his grandparents and cites his administration's efforts to root out health care fraud.

The TV ads are part of the $25 million ad buy the Obama campaign launched in May, running in Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, Iowa, Nevada, Ohio and Virginia.

Romney spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg said Obama's team can't "distract voters from three years of broken promises on Medicare and our commitments to our veterans."

Facebook stock climbs, but company faces lawsuits

Wed, 23 May 2012 22:27:27 -0700

Facebook's fourth day of trading as a public company saw an increase in the company's stock price and shareholder lawsuits related to the social network's botched initial public offering.

Facebook Inc.'s stock climbed $1, or 3.2 percent, to close at $32 on Wednesday. But the gain was only a small reprieve for shareholders. The stock's rocky inaugural trading day Friday was followed by a two-day decline. The stock is still trading nearly 16 percent below its $38 IPO price.

The initial public trading of Facebook's stock was tarnished Friday morning by a half-hour delay, caused by glitches on the Nasdaq Stock Market. It was marred further this week as investors began accusing the banks that arranged the IPO of sharing important information about Facebook's business prospects with some clients and not others.

Several shareholders who bought stock in the IPO have filed lawsuits against Facebook, its executives and Morgan Stanley, the IPO's lead underwriter. At question is whether analysts at the big underwriter investment banks cut their second-quarter and full-year forecasts for Facebook just before the IPO, and told only a handful of clients about it.

One suit, filed in U.S. District Court in New York, claims Facebook's IPO documents contained untrue statements and omitted important facts, such as a "severe reduction in revenue growth" that Facebook was experiencing at the time of the offering. The suit's three plaintiffs, who bought Facebook stock on its first day of trading May 18, claim they were damaged in the process.

Morgan Stanley declined to comment. Facebook said the lawsuit is without merit.

Another lawsuit, filed in San Mateo County Superior Court in California, holds Facebook and underwriters liable, claiming that Facebook's IPO documents misled investors. Both suits seek class action status on behalf of investors who bought Facebook stock on Friday and lost money.

"No one gets it perfect, as far as saying what the financial results are," said Anthony Michael Sabino, professor at John's University's Peter J. Tobin College of Business. The bottom line, he added, is whether Facebook or the underwriter had material information about Facebook's finances that was not disclosed publicly.

"At this moment, it's still too early to say," he said. "We don't know enough, but this could turn out to be an issue."

What is known is that beginning in March, Facebook began meeting with analysts at the underwriting firms. The gatherings are a customary part of the IPO process and are designed to help analysts understand the company's business so they can make accurate financial projections.

On May 9, day-three of Facebook's pre-IPO roadshow to meet with prospective investors, the company filed an amended IPO document that said its mobile users were growing faster than revenue. According to a person familiar with the matter, Facebook then had another meeting with analysts and told them that based on the new information in the filings, the analysts' forecasts should be at the low end of the range that the company gave them in April. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not publicly authorized to discuss the matter.

Adding to the day's events, Facebook was in talks with the New York Stock Exchange to move its stock from the Nasdaq Stock Market after the botched offering, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. The news of the talks was first reported by Reuters.

NYSE spokesman Rich Adamonis said: "There have been no discussions with Facebook regarding switching their listing in light of the events of the last week, nor do we think a discussion along those lines would be appropriate at this time."

A Nasdaq spokesman declined to comment.

Tests find drug-resistant bacteria even in antibiotic-free meats

Wed, 23 May 2012 21:32:26 -0700

The many people around the Bay Area firing up the grill during the holiday weekend should be aware of the serious risks presented by drug-resistant bacteria found in meat.

16,000 Americans died last year from such bacteria, and doctors say most of that meat came from animals that had been treated with antibiotics.

For some consumers, buying meat is not big deal.

"Honestly, I try to ignore the fact that there are antibiotics in the meat," said Christy Bliss from Oakland.

For others, buying antibiotic-free meat is a priority. At Berkeley Bowl, 80 percent of the beef and pork and all its chicken is labeled antibiotic free. Their consumers demand it.

"I don't want antibiotics in the meat that I eat because I don't want the resistance to the bacteria," said Alex Luksza from Richmond.

Whole Foods in Oakland doesn't bother putting up signs anymore. 100% of the meat in the meat department is free of anti-biotics.

Some consumers told KTVU they are willing to pay extra.

"It's worth it to me. We don't get the nutrients from the food that we used to get," said Oakland resident Yvonne Smith.

Farmers routinely used antibiotics to enhance animals' growth. Last month a new federal policy took aim at that. But KTVU's new investigation reveals that policy is flawed. Supporters say it finally ends decades of unnecessary and potentially dangerous overuse of antibiotics in animals. Farmers argue it may actually raise prices, while critics say it doesn't go far enough.

"The guidance laid out by the FDA would allow many of the same uses currently in existence to continue under a different name," said Avinash Kar, attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council. 35 years ago, the FDA found routine antibiotics in farm feed actually harms human health but it did nothing.

Kar and his team sued the FDA The lawsuit triggered the new policy, but KTVU learned it is voluntary and it allows antibiotics if farmers just say they the drugs are for disease prevention.

"There are low levels of use of antibiotics on a herd-wide level for indefinite periods of time. This is exactly the kind of thing that can lead to antibiotic resistance," said Kar.

We've obtained new federal tests on California raised chickens. At least two-thirds were contaminated with bacteria. Our analysis reveals about three-quarters of those chickens are resistant to antibiotics including the drug Cipro, which was banned in poultry 7 years ago.

"We believe antibiotics are appropriate for chickens like they are for our children and our pets, for treating sick birds," said Bill Mattos from the California Poultry Federation.

Apparently, a lot of California's 300 million chickens and turkeys are sick.

"We do put antibiotics into the flock to treat it but that is done a very minute amount of time. We think about 50% of the time throughout the year. We don't believe there's been any link to the poultry medications that we use and what's resistance in humans," said Mattos.

But KTVU Health and Science reporter John Fowler discovered multiple studies showing human infections by drug resistant bacteria from poultry, beef and pork. In fact, grass-fed beef has about the same drug-resistant bacteria as grain-fed. And some animals which never got antibiotics still had drug-resistant bacteria.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria appear to stay perhaps years in the soil, in pens and coops.

The message? Safe handling of meats has never been more important. Cook all meats thoroughly because, no matter the labeling or policy, food-borne bacteria remains a dangerous risk.

Transit info for Memorial Day weekend closures

Wed, 23 May 2012 18:52:27 -0700

Bay area residents will be facing a number of travel challenges this holiday weekend with the complete shutdown of the Dumbarton Bridge for seismic retrofitting coupled with the beginning of a two-week shutdown affecting several major Muni lines in San Francisco and the closure of First Street between Mission and Howard streets for Transbay Terminal-related construction. The below links will help you figure out how to negotiate the closures and service changes.

Dumbarton Bridge Closure

511.org info page on Dumbarton Bridge

Dumbarton Bridge retrofit website

Muni shutdown

SFMTA info page on Muni shutdown

Transbay Terminal construction

Transbay Terminal info page on construction

SFPD asks for public's help in post Bay to Breakers brawl investigation

Wed, 23 May 2012 18:38:01 -0700

A 31-year-old man remained on life support Wednesday night as the result of a fight between two groups in Golden Gate Park following Sunday’s Bay to Breakers race

Police are asking for the public's help to identify the groups by providing photos of the people involved.

SFPD's gang task force told KTVU they need the public's help to solve a crime committed in the park after Sunday's Bay to Breakers race.

"Go through your camera, go through your iPhone. Find out," said Lt. Jim Miller. "Take a look, see what's on there."

Investigators said an argument erupted between two groups at about 5 p.m. in the Sharon Meadows section of Golden Gate Park.

"Someone from the suspect group came out of the suspect group and literally from the side or the back, blindsided the victim with a punch," said Miller.

Police say the victim -- a 31 year-old San Francisco man -- struck his head on the sidewalk. He is hospitalized with life-threatening injuries.

Investigators Wednesday night are making an unusual appeal to the public. They're looking for pictures of both groups together in the park based on their costumes.

"The victim group stood out. They were dressed in troll doll wigs," said Miller. "The suspect group was wearing mostly red and white football jerseys."

Police said the suspect group wearing 49ers jerseys included individuals known to the gang task force.

Authorities stressed it was still unclear if the assault had anything to do with the race.

"We've never had a gang-type incident with the Bay to Breakers," said Miller. "That's highly unusual."

Police were asking people with photos of either group in the park to call their anonymous tip line.

President Obama arrives in Bay Area for fundraising visit

Wed, 23 May 2012 18:23:33 -0700

President Barack Obama has arrived in the Bay Area for a series of fundraising events Wednesday and Thursday.

Air Force One flew in from Colorado this evening and touched down at Moffett Field in Mountain View at 6:18 p.m.

The president, clad in a dark suit and blue tie, waved and smiled at the crowd of dozens awaiting his arrival before greeting local officials, including NASA Ames Research Center Director Simon Pete Worden, Sunnyvale Mayor Tony Spitaleri, Mountain View Mayor Mike Kasperzak and Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto.

The president shook hands with members of the crowd before getting into his town car and driving off in his motorcade.

One attendee who shook the president's hand was 10-year-old Kyle Chomaker of Pleasanton. The Fairlands Elementary School student was stunned by the gesture saying, "I didn't think it was possible."

Sheila Johnson, a community relations coordinator for NASA Ames Research Center, said she has met three presidents in her lifetime but her excitement hasn't waned.

"It is an absolute thrill and joy to be privileged to be here to shake his hand," she said.

Obama arrived at a fundraising dinner at the Atherton home of philanthropists Lisa and Doug Goldman at around 7:10 p.m. Tickets for the dinner cost $35,800 per person.

Obama will then head to Redwood City's Fox Theatre, where he is scheduled to speak at a sold-out rally at around 9:25 p.m. Premium seating for the event started at $1,000 per person with some paying as much as $12,500.

On Thursday, the president is expected to attend a fundraiser at the Fairmont San Jose. Twenty people are expected to attend the 8:30 a.m. event, which cost $35,800 per person.

He is scheduled to fly out from Moffett Field Thursday at around 10 a.m.

Man in a wheelchair drowns after falling in marina

Wed, 23 May 2012 18:18:57 -0700

Authorities say a 61-year-old Emeryville man in a wheelchair drowned after he fell into the waters of the Emeryville Marina.

Police say a witness saw the man, identified by officials as William Ferris, struggling with his wheelchair around 6 p.m. Tuesday before he disappeared in the water.

The witness jumped into the water to try to save Ferris. She was joined by an off-duty firefighter. Police say they were able to pull Ferris out of the water, but when paramedics arrived at the scene, they were unable to revive him.

Ferris died after being taken to a hospital. Police say the incident is being investigated as an accident.

Sisters of Sierra LaMar murder suspect describe arrest as 'surreal'

Wed, 23 May 2012 17:29:28 -0700

More information surfaced Wednesday about Antolin Garcia-Torres, the suspect in custody for the murder of Sierra Lamar, as his family spoke about his past.

Garcia-Torres lives at the Maple Leaf RV Park in Morgan Hill with his mother, wife and daughter. His family said their heart goes out to Sierra's family, but they are also devastated over these latest developments.

Lucero and Alondra Garcia shared photographs of their brother Antolin who they affectionately call "Ant." they described him as social and friendly.

"It's hard to see him behind a cage, locked up," said Alondra Garcia. "We're thinking he's innocent."

The Garcia sisters said that ever since their brother was arrested for the kidnapping and murder of Sierra Lamar, they and their children have been taunted.

"They say 'Oh, that's your uncle on tv. He's a murderer and this and that,'" said Lucero Garcia.

We asked Lucero Garcia about her brother's past criminal record. Morgan Hill police told KTVU Antoilin Garcia-Torres was arrested in May of 2009.

"He got in the way of the officers of trying to arrest a wanted felon suspect," said Morgan Hill Police Sgt.Troy Hoefling.

Court documents show a year later he was charged with unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor. The pair later married and had a daughter. They are now expecting another child.

Court records show in June of 2010, sheriff's deputies arrested Garcia-Torres for battery when he punched his sister's boyfriend during an argument.

Now police are linking him to at least one of three attacks on women in a Safeway parking lot back in 2009. Garcia-Torres' sisters don't believe these latest accusations.

"It feels surreal," said Lucero Garcia. "I know him. Growing up with him, the person that I see on tv is totally different person that I grew up with."

Garcia-Torres mother has visited him in jail. His first court appearance is scheduled for Wednesday.

San Jose voters to weigh in on minimum wage measure on Nov. ballot

Wed, 23 May 2012 17:22:30 -0700

The San Jose City Council unanimously voted Tuesday night to place a measure on the November ballot that, if passed, would increase the city's hourly minimum wage by 25 percent.

In March, proponents of the initiative to raise the minimum wage to $10 an hour, up from the current $8 an hour wage, gathered enough signatures to have the initiative placed on the ballot.

The initiative also calls for annual wage increases aligned with increases in the cost of living.

On May 1, the council directed city staff to prepare a report on the effect of the proposed wage increase before voting on the initiative.

At Tuesday night's meeting, the council had the option to adopt the ordinance outright, but only three of the 11 council members -- Ash Kalra, Kansen Chu and Xavier Campos -- voted in favor of adopting the initiative.

Instead, voters will weigh in on the initiative at the city's next general election on Nov. 6.

Should the initiative pass, it would go into effect 90 days after the City Council accepts the election's certification.

According to the city-prepared report, the initiative is expected to most significantly impact the retail, food service, personal services, production and manufacturing sectors.

Alameda County fire chief leaving department at end of July

Wed, 23 May 2012 16:25:27 -0700

Alameda County's fire chief is leaving the department at the end of July, fire officials announced Wednesday.

Sheldon Gilbert, who has been an emergency responder in Alameda County for a total of 29 years, was planning on leaving effective July 31 "to pursue other career objectives and interests," the fire department said in a statement released Wednesday morning.

Gilbert began his fire service in 1986 as a firefighter with the Eden Consolidated Fire Protection District, which eventually merged with other districts to become the Alameda County Fire Department.

Along with serving as fire chief, Gilbert also served for five years as the president of the California Fire Chiefs Association.

Prior to his departure, Gilbert plans on completing several important projects for the department, including consolidating with the city of Emeryville and other regional fire service enhancements, according to fire officials.

San Leandro woman fends off attacker in home Tuesday night

Wed, 23 May 2012 15:22:52 -0700

San Leandro police were searching for a man who broke into a home Tuesday night and attacked a woman who was at home watching TV, police said.

Officers responded to the 15200 block of Shining Star Lane at about 8:30 p.m. after receiving a 911 call about an assault that had occurred at a home on that block.

Officers located a female victim, who had suffered cuts to her face and was bleeding heavily, police said. She was transported to a hospital for treatment.

Police said the woman had been watching TV in her bedroom when the suspect entered her home through a downstairs window, found her, and struck her repeatedly in her face and head with an unidentified object.

The woman escaped and screamed for help, and the suspect fled.

"The victim is truly courageous and had a strong will to survive to overcome a potentially deadly assault," Lt. Jeff Tudor said.

Police were asking anyone with information to contact Detective Sgt. Ted Henderson at (510) 577-3237.

Garcia-Torres to be charged with Lamar's murder, arraignment delayed

Wed, 23 May 2012 14:34:40 -0700

A 21-year-old Morgan Hill man who was to be charged with the murder of missing teenager Sierra LaMar was expected to appear in court on Thursday afternoon, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office.

Antolin Garcia-Torres, who was arrested Monday evening on suspicion of murder and kidnapping, was being held without bail at the Santa

Clara County Main Jail on Wednesday. His arraignment was initially planned for Wednesday morning but was delayed, and he was scheduled to be arraigned at 1:30 p.m. Thursday.

Sierra, a 15-year-old student at Sobrato High School in Morgan Hill, was last seen the morning of March 16.

Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith said at a news conference Tuesday morning that investigators believe Sierra was murdered by Garcia-Torres after being abducted by him. She said it did not appear the two knew each other.

A sheriff's dive team resumed its search of local reservoirs and waterways Wednesday, focusing on the Uvas Reservoir that morning.

Volunteer searchers are scouring the area around the reservoir, Klaas Kids Foundation volunteer coordinator Teresa Casillas said.

Earlier this month, the sheriff's office seized a red Volkswagen Jetta that investigators now say belongs to Garcia-Torres.

Garcia-Torres has been under 24-hour surveillance since March 28, when the sheriff's office linked him to the Sierra LaMar case through DNA evidence left on articles of clothing in Sierra's discarded purse, which was found about 2 miles from her house days after her disappearance.

Smith said no blood was found in the car or on her clothing, and investigators did not have a murder weapon or a motive as of Wednesday.

Tom DiVittorio, the owner of Maple Leaf RV Park at 15200 Monterey Road in Morgan Hill, said Wednesday morning that Garcia-Torres lived there with his mother and sister.

DiVittorio said the mother had lived there about two years, but said she is now looking to move. He said he had never had any problems with the family.

A woman in the bakery department at a Safeway store at 100 Tennant Ave. in Morgan Hill said Garcia-Torres had worked at the grocery store, but not for some time.

An assistant manager at Famous Dave's BBQ in Gilroy said

Garcia-Torres' sister Lucero Garcia works at the restaurant and also holds another job. He characterized her as a hard worker.

He said Lucero Garcia's coworkers are all praying for her, adding, "She is the sweetest thing."

The manager said he had never met her brother, Garcia-Torres.

Three women wounded in SF Tenderloin shooting

Wed, 23 May 2012 13:51:54 -0700

Three females were injured in a shooting in San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood Wednesday afternoon, a police spokesman said.

The shooting occurred shortly after 1 p.m. near Ellis and Leavenworth streets, police spokesman Sgt. Daryl Fong said. A fire department spokeswoman said the shooting was reported at 483 Ellis St.

The victims, whose ages are not yet known, were all shot in the lower parts of their bodies and were taken to San Francisco General Hospital, Fong said. Their injuries are not considered life-threatening, he said.

No arrests had been made as of 1:30 p.m., and no suspect information was immediately available, he said.

Traffic is being diverted from the 400 block of Ellis Street while police investigate the shooting, Fong said.

Anyone with information about the case is encouraged to call the Police Department's anonymous tip line at (415) 575-4444 or send a tip by text message to TIP411.

HP to cut 27,000 jobs to save up to $3.5 billion annually

Wed, 23 May 2012 13:29:43 -0700

Hewlett-Packard Co. is cutting 27,000 jobs in an effort to recover from management missteps that hobbled the Silicon Valley pioneer as its rivals raced ahead with more innovative products and services.

The streamlining announced Wednesday represents HP's largest payroll purge in its 73-year history. The reductions will affect about 8 percent of HP's nearly 350,000 employees by the time the overhaul is completed in October 2014.

The cuts come eight months after HP hired Meg Whitman as CEO to turn the company around.

HP hopes to avoid as many layoffs as possible by offering early retirement packages.

The company expects to save $3 billion to $3.5 billion annually from the job cuts and other austerity measures.

Word of the mass layoff had leaked out in media reports late last week, so the news didn't come as a surprise.

Nevertheless, the sobering details overshadowed the release of HP's latest quarterly results. Although HP's earnings and revenue declined from a year ago, the numbers were better than analysts had projected. HP also delivered another pleasant surprise by offering a forecast that raised hopes that HP may be poised to bounce back.

"While I wouldn't say we have turned the corner, we are making real progress," Whitman told analysts during a conference call.

Echoing comments she made three months ago, Whitman cautioned that "turning HP around is going to be a lot of hard work. It's going to take time. But we know what needs to be done."

Investors were pleased, although it wasn't clear whether their glee had more to do with the cost-cutting or the company's performance during its fiscal second quarter, which ended in April.

HP shares surged $1.97, or more than 9 percent, to $23.05 in Wednesday's extended trading. That's still about half their value before HP parted ways with Mark Hurd, a cost-costing specialist who stepped down in 2010 amid a scandal revolving around the nature of his relationship with a former actress who worked as an HP contractor. An investigation into it uncovered inaccurate expense reports.

The current troubles at HP have been traced both to Hurd, who cut research and development to boost profits, and his successor, Leo Apotheker, who didn't respond to the threat posed by a shift to computing on smartphones and tablets.

Whitman's plan calls for less bureaucracy so the company can respond more quickly to customer needs. She also wants to boost research and development to spur more innovation.

HP, which is based in Palo Alto, Calif., has been struggling to sell more personal computers and printers, partly because they aren't needed as much now that people are spending so much time surfing the Web on phones and tablets such as Apple Inc.'s iPad. The company's efforts to sell more business software and consulting services have been stymied by competition from the likes of IBM Corp. and Oracle Corp.

"Work force reductions are never easy," Whitman said Wednesday. "They adversely impact people's lives, but in this case, they are absolutely critical to the long-term health of the company. Our goal is simple: a better outcome for the customers at reduced cost for HP."

Whitman plans to funnel most of the savings from the job cuts into product development. Some of the extra cash will go toward boosting HP's earnings, too.

HP's workforce has undergone several other reorganizations during the past decade. Two of the biggest occurred during Hurd's regime. HP announced 14,500 job cuts in 2005 in one of his first big acts as CEO. HP also announced 24,600 cuts in 2008 after buying technology consulting service EDS for $13.9 billion.

HP did not say where the latest cuts would come from. HP is combining its printers and PCs division, which could reduce some overhead.

As part of the latest crackdown, Whitman is changing the leadership at HP's recently acquired Autonomy division, which makes software that finds and analyzes data within companies and government agencies.

Bill Veghte, HP's chief strategy officer, is replacing Autonomy founder Mike Lynch in an effort to boost the division's financial performance. The shake-up is likely to amplify investor questions about whether HP blundered last year when it paid $11 billion to buy Autonomy. That deal was announced in August by Apotheker, just a month before he was fired.

Whitman told analysts she still believes the Autonomy acquisition was smart.

The company earned $1.6 billion, or 80 cent per share, in the February-April quarter. That represented a 31 percent decline from $2.3 billion, or $1.05 per share, at the same time last year.

If not for several items unrelated to HP's ongoing business, the company said it would have earned 98 cents per share. That figure topped the average estimate of 91 cents per share among analysts surveyed by FactSet.

Revenue fell 3 percent from last year to $30.7 billion. That was about $800 million above analyst projections.

To pay for severance and other restructuring costs, HP expects to take a pre-tax charge of about $1.7 billion in the current fiscal year, which ends in October. About $1 billon of those charges will come in the current quarter ending in July. HP expects to take charges of an additional $1.8 billion through fiscal 2014.

The company also expects to register a charge of $1.2 billion to account for the declining value of the Compaq computer brand. HP bought Compaq a decade ago in a deal that many shareholders, including the son of a company founder William Hewlett, tried to block.

Person visited neonatal units before TB diagnosis

Wed, 23 May 2012 12:47:15 -0700

A person with an active case of tuberculosis who visited two Northern California neonatal intensive care units had a valid reason to be there and had not been diagnosed at the time, officials said Wednesday.

Little information has been released about the contagious individual, who was not a hospital employee or health care worker. The person has since been placed in isolation and is receiving treatment. Officials have cited patient privacy laws in not offering details that could lead to identifying the individual.

The Solano County resident visited Sutter Memorial Hospital in Sacramento during the last half of March and NorthBay Medical Center in Fairfield in early and mid-April.

"We knew who the person was and the person was certainly there for a reason," said Steve Huddleston, a spokesman for NorthBay.

The person was not diagnosed with tuberculosis until late last week and had just recently started showing symptoms, said Dr. Olivia Kasirye, chief public health officer for Sacramento County.

Initially a total of 35 babies were thought to have been exposed at the two hospitals to the bacteria that spreads through the air and can lead to a sometimes fatal respiratory disease, but officials lowered their estimate to 26 at most. Kasirye said 20 babies were thought to have been exposed in Sacramento but further evaluation of hospital records showed only 11 were at potential risk.

Officials said they believed the risk of infection to the infants was low but were asking parents to have the babies tested by their doctors by the end of the week.

Because access to neonatal intensive care units is tightly controlled and records are kept on everyone who comes and goes, the hospitals were able to identify everyone who may have been exposed to the infected person, Kasirye said.

Exposure to tuberculosis often does not lead to the full-blown active version of the disease, in which patients typically come down with a bad cough and chest pain and sometimes cough up blood. Instead, the infection can lie dormant for years, only emerging when a patient's immune system weakens.

Because the babies are already in a vulnerable state, most will likely be placed on an antibiotic to eradicate the germ and prevent the active version of the disease from developing, said Dr. Michael Stacey, chief medical officer for Solano County.

Any adults at the hospital who may have been exposed will also be tested both for their own safety and to gauge how contagious the infected person was at the time, Stacey said. He said initial tests have shown the infection does not appear to be drug-resistant.

In recent years, varieties of tuberculosis that don't respond to standard antibiotics have raised fears that a disease once thought effectively eradicated in the U.S. could become more prevalent.

Last week, California took the unusual step of jailing and charging a tuberculosis patient who they say refused to take medication to keep his disease from becoming contagious. Stacey said the current case is purely a public health issue and that no further investigation is under way as officials focus on making sure everyone possibly exposed is safe.

"This is an unfortunate situation that happened, but it was not the fault of the person or the hospitals," he said.

Wind-whipped fire destroys two Bethel Island homes

Wed, 23 May 2012 12:12:34 -0700

A wind-whipped two-alarm fire destroyed two Bethel Island homes and damaged another early Wednesday before the flames were brought under control by mutual aid fire crews and a fireboat, authorities said.

East Contra Costa County fire chief Jeff Burris said the fire was reported at about 3:06 a.m. along Stone Road in the rural Delta region.

“Two houses were fully involved with our first two units arrived,” Burris told KTVU. “It was a wind-driven fire. We had strong gusty winds up to 20 mph on the island tonight."

Despite being on an island, the lack of hydrants forced firefighters to call in water tenders.

“The lack of actual fire hydrants forced us to shuttle in water using water tankers,” he said adding that a fireboat was also called in to aid in getting water on the fire.

Both the occupants of the houses were at home at the time of the fire, but were able to flee the flames.

Burris said there were no injuries in the blaze.

Gold Dust Lounge hoping to move to SF Fisherman's Wharf

Wed, 23 May 2012 11:59:04 -0700

San Francisco's Gold Dust Lounge, the Union Square drinking establishment that was evicted from its longtime Powell Street home, was expected to close Wednesday night.

But not forever, according to Lee Houskeeper, a publicist for the bar.

The bar's owners, James and Tasios Bovis, were planning to recreate the Gold Dust Lounge piece by piece in a larger space in Fisherman's Wharf, he said.

Houskeeper said Wednesday that he couldn’t disclose the exact location then, as the owners were still negotiating a lease.

He said "we don't expect a problem," but said he could not say exactly where it would be until the ink on the lease dries, which he hoped would happen before an afternoon news conference scheduled for later that day.

"There's a lot of moving parts," Houskeeper said.

Work to be done includes stripping the existing space of its furnishings and decorations and reinstalling the items in the new space.

The process, which was expected to get under way Thursday, could take about four months, according to Houskeeper.

"I think people are grateful that the place is going to exist ... and that the Bovises are going to spend all this time to recreate the thing that they love," Houskeeper said of the bar's loyal patrons.

Fans of the establishment created a grassroots movement in support of the bar that ultimately failed to keep it in its current location.

In the meantime, Houskeeper said, the Bovis family would set up a temporary Gold Dust Lounge in a back room at Lefty O'Doul's, which it also owns.

SF Supervisor consults Ouija board before vote

Wed, 23 May 2012 10:59:14 -0700

A San Francisco supervisor says he consulted a Ouija board before city leaders voted on whether to recommend naming a Navy ship after slain gay rights activist Harvey Milk.

Supervisor John Avalos tells the San Francisco Chronicle that he believes he made contact with Milk's spirit and that Milk spelled out letters indicating: "Good riddance to don't ask, don't tell."

The Board of Supervisors approved the non-binding resolution Tuesday on a 9-2 vote.

Milk was a city supervisor and former naval officer. He was fatally shot in 1978 by Dan White.

Supporters say the naming would honor the repeal of the `don't ask, don't tell" law barring open homosexuality in the military.

Opponents say Milk opposed war and it would be inappropriate to name a warship after him.

Fire at former SF police station causes about $200,000 in damage

Wed, 23 May 2012 10:50:33 -0700

A two-alarm fire caused an estimated $200,000 in damage to a former police station in San Francisco's Dogpatch neighborhood on Tuesday, a fire department spokeswoman said.

The fire was reported at 1:06 p.m. at 2300 Third St., located on the southwest corner of Third and 20th streets.

The blaze was extinguished in about an hour and did not injure any firefighters or civilians, fire spokeswoman Mindy Talmadge said Wednesday.

The building where the fire burned is a former police station that has been vacant for 16 years, according to police Capt. Paul Chignell, who currently oversees the department's Bayview Station.

The structure, built in the early 1900s, cannot be demolished because of its historical significance, police said. The building has had to be boarded up to prevent squatters and copper thieves from entering, according to police.

The cause of the fire was still under investigation Wednesday, Talmadge said.

The blaze briefly disrupted service on San Francisco Municipal Railway's T-Third line. Service resumed on the line by about 2:15 p.m.

Oceanographer expects bones in tsunami debris

Wed, 23 May 2012 10:29:44 -0700

An oceanographer who tracks flotsam says West Coast beachcombers may find floating athletic shoes with human remains as more debris from last year's Japanese tsunami finally washes ashore.

"We're expecting 100 sneakers with bones in them," Curt Ebbesmeyer told the audience Monday at a tsunami symposium.

Anyone who discovers such remains should call 911 and wait for police. DNA may identify people missing since the March 2011 tsunami hit Japan.

"That may be the only remains that a Japanese family is ever going to have of their people that were lost," Ebbesmeyer said. "We're dealing with things that are of extreme sensitivity. Emotional content is just enormous. So be respectful."

Ebbesmeyer expects the amount of tsunami debris to peak in October, and that could attract a number of Japanese visitors to the Olympic Peninsula, The Peninsula Daily News reported Wednesday.

The three-day symposium in Port Angeles and Sequim was hosted by the Clallam County Marine Resources Committee in partnership with the Surfrider Foundation and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Ebbesmeyer is the co-creator of the Ocean Surface Current Simulator computer model, which predicts the movement of ocean flotsam worldwide using known ocean current patterns along with wind speed and direction information provided by the U.S. Navy.

Ebbesmeyer displayed a series of slides showing computer simulations of debris transport developed by his colleague, oceanographer Jim Ingraham of DriftBusters Inc.

Fast-moving debris from the Japanese tsunami, including oyster farm buoys, soccer balls and a shipping container holding a Harley-Davidson motorcycle with Japanese license plates, has already arrived on the shores of North America.

In April, the Coast Guard sank a 164-foot vessel, the Ryou-Un Maru, in the Gulf of Alaska after it was dislodged by the tsunami.

"I'm expecting 100 vessels over the next couple of years," Ebbesmeyer said.

About 400 Japanese buoys have washed up in Alaska, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and British Columbia, he said.

A soccer ball discovered in Alaska was traced to a boy who lives in Northern Japan. A basketball that landed on Prince of Wales Island was traced to a Japanese middle school.

Ebbesmeyer is retired from a career that included tracking icebergs, the 1989 Exxon Valdes oil spill, and Puget Sound currents that affect sewage outflows. He wrote the 2009 book,

"Flotsametrics and the Floating World: How a Man's Obsession with Runaway Sneakers and Rubber Ducks Revolutionized Ocean Science." Ingraham has retired from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, where he created computer models of ocean currents. The Seattle consultants produce the "Beachcombers Alert" newsletter.

Santa Rosa Police investigating series of burglaries, arsons

Wed, 23 May 2012 10:14:00 -0700

On Wednesday, Santa Rosa police were investigating a series of burglaries in April and May, including two cases in which the victims' homes were set on fire, police said.

The most recent incident occurred on Saturday, when residents of the 3600 block of Banyan Place arrived home to find their house burning.

Once the blaze was extinguished, the victims realized their home had also been burglarized, according to police.

On April 20 at around 4 p.m., a fire was reported in the 1500 block of Banyan Place, just blocks away where Saturday's fire occurred.

The residents there discovered their home had been burglarized as well, and a neighbor reported seeing a man knocking on the front door of the home before the fire started, police said.

The suspect was described as a man between 40 and 50 years old, possibly wearing a light-colored T-shirt and jeans.

Three other burglaries were reported in the same neighborhood in April, though the others did not involve arson, police said.

A few hours before the April 20 burglary, a burglary was committed blocks away, in the 3800 block of Coffey Lane.

On April 16, less than a mile from the Coffey Lane robbery, another burglary was reported in the 1900 block of Camino del Prado. The victims in that case discovered that the house had been burglarized overnight and that some of their possessions were missing.

On April 5, in the same general neighborhood, a daytime burglary was discovered in the 1300 block of Holly Park Way.

Police were asking anyone with information about the crimes to contact Santa Rosa police at (707) 543-3575. A $2,500 reward has been offered for information leading to an arrest in the case.

Truck load of band equipment stolen at North Monterey High

Wed, 23 May 2012 08:48:39 -0700

A truck full of musical equipment worth roughly $80,000 was stolen from North County Monterey High School's music department sometime between Sunday night and Monday morning, according to the Monterey County Sheriff's Office.

The sheriff's office responded reports of the theft at the school, located at 13990 Castroville Blvd. in Castroville, at 8:30 a.m. Monday.

The director of the music program told investigators that the large 1996 Isuzu cargo truck had been stolen overnight.

The truck had "North Monterey County Music Department" printed in large black letters on its side, and has a license plate number of E1017936.

The truck contained instruments belonging to both the school and individual students, as well as equipment for the marching band, color guard signs, flags and other equipment. The total value of the loss is estimated to be $79,565.

Anyone with information about the case has been asked to contact the Monterey County Sheriff's Office.

Obama makes campaign fundraising swing through Bay Area

Wed, 23 May 2012 08:33:37 -0700

President Barack Obama was scheduled to arrived in the Bay Area Wednesday afternoon for 16 hours of fundraising activities in the Silicon Valley.

The President was expected to attend three Bay Area fundraisers during his visit. One will in toney Atherton and a second in downtown Redwood City on Wednesday night and a third fundraiser with an Asian American group in Palo Alto on Thursday morning.

His office says he will be departing the Bay Area by 10 a.m. Thursday.

The stops comes as his campaign begins airing two new ads, one focusing on his work with veterans returning home from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and another aimed at seniors dependent on Medicare.

The ad on Medicare notes that Obama was raised by his grandparents and cites his administration's efforts to root out health care fraud.

The TV ads are part of a $25 million ad buy the Obama campaign has launched in May. The ads are running in Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, Iowa, Nevada, Ohio and Virginia.