Timeline California 1996-1998

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1996        Jan 25, Wells Fargo won the battle to acquire First Interstate of Los Angeles in a $11.6 billion pact.
    (WSJ, 1/2/97, p.R2)(SFC, 6/9/98, p.A10)

1996        Jan 28, Gunner Lindberg, head of the supremacist gang Insane Criminal Posse, murdered Thien Minh Ly (24) at Tustin high school. It was a racially motivated attack where he stabbed Ly 50 times, slashed his throat and pounded his head. Lindberg was convicted in 1997 and sentenced to death.
    (SFC,12/13/97, p.A20)

1996        Jan, Bob Flanagan, poet and performance artist, died during the shooting of the Kirby Dick documentary film “The Life and Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist.” Flanagan had struggled for 42 years with cystic fibrosis.
    (SFC,11/6/97, p.C14)

1996        Feb 2, At California’s Pelican Bay prison Arthur Ruffo, a member of the Aryan Brotherhood, was strangled. Cellmate, Brian Healy, an Aryan Brotherhood associate, was convicted.
    (SFC, 2/28/98, p.A11)
1996        Feb 2, Gene Kelly (83), dancer actor and choreographer, famous for his part in the musical Singin' in the Rain, died of complications from strokes at his home in Beverly Hills, Ca.
    (WSJ, 2/5/96, p.A-1)(AP, 2/2/08)

1996        Feb 16, Former California Gov. Edmund G. “Pat” Brown (b.1905) died in Beverly Hills, California, at age 90. In 2005 Ethan Rarick authored “California Rising: The Life and Times of Pat Brown.”
    (SFC, 9/23/00, p.A19)(AP, 2/16/01)

1996        Feb 23, William George Bonin (49), known as the "Freeway Killer," was executed for the robbery, torture, rape and strangulation of 14 Southern California boys.
    (SFC, 7/11/97, p.A16)(SFEC, 2/7/99, p.A1)(SFC, 3/13/00, p.A8)

1996        Feb 25, Cambodian Dr. Haing S. Ngor (55), academy award winner for the 1984 film "The Killing Fields," was shot and killed in front of his home in Los Angeles. In 1998 three Chinatown gang members, Oriental Lazy Boyz gang, were convicted by separate juries in the murder. Jason Chan (20) was sentenced to life without parole. Tak Sun Tan (21) was sentenced 56 years to life. Indra Lim was sentenced to 26 years to life. In 2004 a judge ruled to overturn the convictions. In 2005 a federal appeals court reinstated the convictions.
    (WSJ, 2/27/96, p.A-1)(SFC, 7/7/96, p.B12)(SFC, 4/1/98, p.C2)(SFC, 4/17/98, p.A6)(SFC, 5/20/98, p.A3)(SFC, 7/8/05, p.B2)

1996        Mar 9, George Burns, comedian, husband to the late Gracie Allen, died at the age of 100 in Beverly Hills, Calif.
    (WSJ, 3/11/96, p. A-1)(AP, 3/9/98)

1996        Mar 31, The US Navy formally pulled out of Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo.
    (SFC, 11/7/96, p.D1)

1996        Mar, The 5-year lease of the city of Berkeley to manage People’s Park ended and an advisory board was established to oversee its future.
    (SFC, 1/4/97, p.A17)

1996        Mar, Raina Bo Shirley was found dead by the Eel River in Mendocino County. She had been given drugs and sexually assaulted by Arnoldo Jorge Manzo and his nephew (13). Manzo was arrested in Mexico on unrelated charges in 1999. Manzo was reported to have been shot to death in a prison in Michoacan.
    (SFC, 3/12/99, p.A19,22)(SFC, 3/17/99, p.A17)

1996        Apr 4, The California Supreme Court voted 4-3 to uphold the parental consent law, ruling that minors have more limited privacy rights.
    (SFC, 5/5/97, p.A4)

1996        Apr, John That Luong and others were indicted on charges of smuggling illegal immigrants to the US. In 1998 the charges were extending to include heroin trafficking and armed robberies of microchips in California, Minnesota and Oregon and racketeering that spread from San Diego to Massachusetts under an organization called “The Company.”
    (SFC, 3/31/98, p.C10)

1996        Apr, Three brothers from Michoacan died in Temecula, Calif., when their hired coyote drove a van over a cliff while being pursued by the Border Patrol. In 2001 Ruben Martinez authored “Crossing Over: A Mexican Family on the Migrant Trail,” an account of their story.
    (SSFC, 11/11/01, p.M6)

1996        Apr, Maria Teresa Macias (36) was shot to death in Sonoma County by her estranged husband. Her family was awarded $1 million in 2002 for failure by deputies to enforce a restraining order.
    (SFC, 6/19/02, p.A13)

1996        May 2, John Dylan Katz (16) was beaten up and put into a coma in Windsor, California. He was apparently wearing the colors of a rival gang. Arrested for the assault were Dominque Marie Gaitan (22), and 3 17-year-old youths including a girl. A 5th suspect was being sought. Sonoma County teenagers Jose Juan Madrid (17) was sentenced to 12 years in prison and Thomas Galvan Jr. (15) got 10 years.
    (SFC, 5/16/96, p.A-13)(SFC, 4/1/99, p.C4)

1996        May 3, Keith Daniel Williams (48) of Lodi, California, was executed for the 1978 murders of 2 people following a dispute over a $1500 used car.
    (SFC, 7/11/97, p.A16)(SFC, 12/13/05, p.A13)

1996        May 6, Sherri Dally (35) was murdered in Ventura County. In 1998 her husband was convicted in assisting his girlfriend Diana Haun in the murder. Diana Haun was convicted earlier.
    (SFC, 4/798, p.B8)

1996        May 16, Michael Lyons, (8) of Yuba City, Ca., was kidnapped, sexually assaulted and murdered. Robert Rhoades (45) was arrested the next day near the boy’s body. In 1998 Rhoades was convicted of the murder and sentenced to death. In 2007 Rhoades faced another trial for the 1984 rape and murder of Julie Connell (18) in Hayward, Ca.
    (http://venus.soci.niu.edu/~archives/ABOLISH/may98/0531.html)(SFC, 3/13/07, p.B3)

1996        May 25, Kristin Smart (19), a freshman at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, disappeared after leaving a fraternity party. Paul Flores, a fellow student, was last seen with her, but no hard evidence linked him to her.
    (SFEC, 11/22/98, p.D1,5)

1996        May 31, State authorities officially advised the 900 residents of Chualar in Monterey County not to use tap water due to the accumulation of nitrates from agricultural fertilizers and pesticides.
    (SFC, 5/12/98, p.A1,6)

1996        Apr 22, In Richmond a 6-year-old boy, Brandon, accompanied by two 8-year-old friends beat a 5-week-old baby, Nachito Bermudez, while attempting to steal a bicycle. Permanent brain damage to the baby resulted.
    (SFEC, 4/21/97, p.A1)

1996        Jun 12, The Mohave Desert town of Hinkley, Ca., won a $333 million settlement from PG&E for the leakage of high concentrations of chromium 6 from storage tanks into the groundwater. The film “Erin Brockovich” (2000) was based on the case.” In 2008 PG&E paid $20 million to settle the last in a series of suits related to groundwater in Hinkley.
    (SFC, 10/29/00, p.A5)(www.salon.com/ent/feature/2000/04/14/sharp/print.html)(SFC, 4/4/08, p.B14)

1996        Jun 13, A federal grand jury indicted Sun-Diamond Growers of California on charges of illegal gifts to former agricultural Secretary Mike Espy and improper campaign contributions to Espy’s brother Henry. The giant agricultural cooperative and its officers have contributed more than $200,000 to California Gov. Wilson’s state and federal campaigns since 1989. Richard Douglas, former VP of Sun-Diamond Growers was convicted in 1997 of offering gratuities to Michael Espy in 1993 but was acquitted of making illegal contributions to Espy’s brother.
    (SFC, 6/14/96, p. A8)(SFC, 6/16/96, p.B2)(SFC,11/26/97, p.A7)(WSJ, 11/26/97, p.A1)

1996        Summer, Gov. Wilson approved plans to build a wall around the Sacramento  Capitol.
    (SFEC,12/28/97, p.A1)

1996        Jul 3, A federal agency approved the Union Pacific $5.4 bil acquisition of San Francisco based Southern Pacific Rail Corp. The merger eliminated about 3,500 jobs.
    (SFC, 7/4/96, p.A1)

1996        Jul 31, A wildfire began near Santa Rosa and consumed 2,100 acres over 3 days. Two-thirds of the 60-acre Carmenet vineyard was destroyed and in 1999 PG&E paid $5 million for the damage which started when an untrimmed tree brushed against a high-voltage power line.
    (SFC, 5/21/99, p.D7)

1996        Aug 10, Cascading power outages hit parts of nine Western states (3:40 p.m. PST).
    (SFC, 8/13/96, p.A10)(AP, 8/10/97)

1996        Sep 18, Gov. Wilson signed 4 crime bills affecting parolees, murderers and teenagers convicted of sex or graffiti offenses.
    (SFC, 9/19/96, p.C1)

1996        Sep 20, The UC regents approved salary increases for the UC president, 9 chancellors and other top administrators. Pres. Richard Atkinson received a raise of $9,800 for a salary of $253,300 a year.
    (SFC, 9/21/96, p.A13)

1996        Sep 23, Governor Wilson signed a bill to open the sale of electricity to the free market. A 20% drop in rates by 2003 was guaranteed. He also signed a bill to outlaw female genital mutilation.
    (SFC, 9/24/96, p.A1,17)

1996        Sep 25, Governor Wilson signed a bill that would create a database to tell people where the 66,000 state registered sex offenders lived.
    (SFC, 9/26/96, p.A18)

1996        Sep 26, Richard Allen Davis, the killer of 12-year-old Polly Klaas, was formally sentenced to death in San Jose, Calif. It was his criminal record which resulted in California's "Three strike law” for repeat offenders. He is currently on death row in San Quentin State Prison, California.
    (AP, 9/26/97)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Allen_Davis)

1996        Sep 27, A bloody riot at the New Folsom Prison left one dead and 13 inmates wounded.
    (SFC, 9/28/96, p.A1)

1996        Oct 7, A fire was reported in Monterey County, Ca. It burned 25,000 acres and was later found to have been started by Jeffrey Alan Avila (35) in order to get some money by leasing fire-fighting equipment to the US Forest Service.
    (SFC, 8/9/97, p.A13)

1996        Oct 17, The 2,319 acre, six-mile-long Gray Whale Ranch near Santa Cruz was purchased from Ron Yanke, an Idaho lumberman, by the Save-the Redwoods League for about 12.75 mil. It will become part of the Wilder Ranch State Park.
    (SFC, 10/18/96, B1)

1996        Oct 22, Firestorms covered 35,000 acres in Malibu and San Diego County and destroyed more than 60 homes. Another fire in the Los Padres National Forest was reported 60% contained.
    (SFC, 10/23/96, p.A1)

1996        Oct, Robert Gremminger (54), a former San Jose fireman, shot and killed Anthony Gilbert (30) at the Great Mall of the Bay in Milpitas. Gremminger had interceded in a suspected shoplifting incident and retrieved a gun from his car. He claimed to have shot when Gilbert tried to run him and a security guard down. In 1998 Gremminger was sentenced to 9 years in prison for involuntary manslaughter.
    (SFC, 2/7/98, p.A15)

1996        Nov 5, In California elections Prop. 215, an initiative to make marijuana legal for medical used, was passed. Psychiatrist Tod Mikuriya (1933-2007) was the architect of Prop. 215. A measure to end public sector affirmative action was also passed. Prop 218, the right to vote on taxes act, also passed with a 56% approval. Prop. 204 bond funds were approved [for ecological restoration of the Bay Area and Sacramento-San Joaquin River deltas]. Prop 208, a campaign spending limit measure, was approved but later struck down by a federal judge. Arcata soon established a photo ID program to verify medical use.
    (SFC, 11/6/96, p.A1)(SFC, 12/20/96, p.A1)(SFC, 2/3/98, p.A13)(SFC, 5/22/07, p.B5)
1996        Nov 5, The city of Arcata elected 3 members of the Green Party to the 5 member City Council.
    (SFEC, 4/18/99, p.D1)

1996        Nov 6, Jim Boggio, accordionist, died of heart failure at his Rohnert Park home. He had helped found the annual Cotati Accordion Festival and was the leader of the group “Swamp Dogs.”
    (SFC, 11/21/96, p.C7)

1996        Nov 11, An explosion occurred at the Texaco oil refinery near Los Angeles harbor. No injuries were reported.
    (SFC, 11/12/96, p.A9)

1996        Nov 13, An indictment was handed up in Alameda County against 19 people, including 2 workers of the State Dept. of Motor Vehicles, for stealing nearly $3 million worth in cars.
    (SFC, 11/23/96, p.A1)

1996        Nov, The huge Ontario Mills mall opened in San Bernadino Ct.
    (WSJ, 6/11/97, p.B1)

1996        Dec 2, Cruz Bustamante was elected by fellow Democrats as the first Latino speaker of the California Assembly. He then appointed Sheila Kuehl, a gay Santa Monica Democrat, as speaker pro tem.
    (SFC, 12/3/96, p.A1)

1996        Dec 19, The Oakland school district  decided to recognized the African American vernacular as a language.
    (SFC, 12/20/96, p.A1)

1996        Dec 21, David Nadel, owner of the Ashkenaz nightclub in Berkeley, died 2 days after being shot in the head outside the club.
    (SFEC, 12/22/96, p.C12)

1996        Dec 31-Jan 1, A torrential rainstorm caused a mudslide in the hamlet of Stafford in Humboldt County. The slide was on a clear-cut mountain and destroyed 7 houses. In 2001 Pacific Lumber agreed to pay victims $3.3 million.
    (SFC, 3/9/01, p.A12)

1996        The documentary film “Heidi Fleiss: Hollywood Madam” by Nick Broomfield was about the leader of the LA call-girl ring.
    (SFEC, 3/8/98, DB p.47)

1996        The LA Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) received a $5 million donation by music producer David Geffen.
    (SFC, 2/10/98, p.E4)

1996        California enacted class size restrictions and lowered to 20 the number of students in kindergarten to the 3rd grade.
    (SFC, 12/27/99, p.A10)

1996        Voters approved an open primary that allowed voting for any party regardless of party affiliation.
    (SFC, 12/27/99, p.A10)

1996        Columbus Financial and Mustang Development Corp. of Beverly Hills were charged with fraud for allegedly swindling 9,000 elderly investors of $140 million by selling them fake oil well investments.
    (SFEC, 2/1/98, p.A14)

1996        LA police officers, Rafael Perez and Nino Durden, shot Xavier Francisco Ovando and left him for dead with a planted gun. Ovando was sentenced to 23 years in prison and served 2 ½ years before his conviction was overturned. In 2000 Ovando was awarded $15 million for police misconduct.
    (SFC, 11/22/00, p.A13)

1996        David Coulter was named CEO of Bank of America. The bank closed 120 branches in the state and eliminated 3,700 jobs.
    (SFC, 4/14/98, p.B4)

1996        Calif. State Univ. at Fresno put riding on the women's athletic roster to comply with Title IX. 50 women signed up in the 1st month.
    (WSJ, 2/8/00, p.A24)

1996        The population grew to 32.6 million.
    (SFC, 5/6/97, p.A18)

1996        California almond growers advertised that they would pay $34 per colony for beekeepers to bring in honeybees. A shortage was caused by parasitic mites, Varroa jacobsoni and Acarapis woodi.
    (NH, 5/97, p.34)

1996        California Fish and Game officials closed fishing for white, pink and green abalone. A year later a moratorium on commercial and sport catches for all abalone species south of SF was imposed due to dwindling numbers from excess harvesting.
    (SFEC, 7/2/00, p.C7)

1996        A West Coast power blackout affected 4 million people.
    (SFC, 8/15/03, p.A7)

1996        In Glendale Jorjik Avanesian, a recent émigré from Iran, set a fire that killed his wife 6 and children. He was convicted of 1st degree murder in 1999.
    (SFC, 7/1/99, p.A21)

1996        In San Diego County Elizabeth Carroll (53) was stabbed 61 times during a robbery by Jarred Viktor and his girlfriend Danielle Barcheers (15). Barcheers became the youngest girl ever convicted as an adult and was sentenced to 25 years.
    (SFEC, 5/7/00, p.C6)

1996        The Ackerson fire in Yosemite consumed over 59,000 acres.
    (SFEC, 7/4/99, Z1 p.4)

1996-1997    In  California Curtis DeBord and Peter Tran  smuggled some $5 million worth of arms and weapons parts from Vietnam to the US over an 18 month period. They were associates of Hammond Ku who was convicted of illegally importing munitions.
    (SFC, 11/18/98, p.A20)

1997        Jan 1, Heavy rains caused flooding in Napa, Martinez and along the Russian River.
    (SFC, 12/29/99, p.C3)

1997        Jan 2, Santa Clara County acquired 435 acres of the Grenninger Falls Ranch for $1.96 million. The property will become part of the 3,500 acre Mount Madonna County Park in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
    (SFC, 1/3/97, p.B1)

1997        Jan 2, In the US Northwest a week of heavy rain and melting snow caused many rivers to overflow. Downtown Reno was under water and casinos closed and visitors were trapped in Yosemite National Park. Highway 50 to lake Tahoe was closed and expected to be out for a month. The Feather River between Marysville and Yuba City crested at just over 78 feet and 50,000 Californians were forced to evacuate the area.
    (WSJ, 1/3/97, p.A1)(SFEC, 1/5/97, p.A1)(SFC, 1/6/97, p.A13)(AP, 1/2/98)

1997        Jan 4, The million dollar volleyball court at People’s Park in Berkeley was scheduled for removal. It was to be returned to a green open-space area.
    (SFC, 1/4/97, p.A17)

1997        Jan 7, A 2 day Santa Ana windstorm subsided in Southern California after causing power blackouts that affected over a million Edison customers.
    (SFC, 1/8/96, p.A3)

1997        Jan 10, Floodwaters from a week of heavy rain inundated thousands of acres in Yuba County, Ca. [see Jan 2].
    (SFC, 10/9/06, p.A10)

1997        Jan 16, Enis Cosby (27), son of Bill Cosby, was murdered in Los Angeles while changing a tire in an apparent roadside robbery. A Ukrainian emigre teenager, Mikail Markhasev, was picked up and charged for the murder in March. Eli Zakaria and girlfriend Sara Peters were in a car with Markhasev. Markhasev was found guilty in 1998.
    (SFC, 2/1/97, p.E4)(WSJ, 3/14/97, p.A1)(SFC, 3/15/97, p.A3)(AP, 1/16/98)(SFC, 6/27/98, p.A5)(SFC, 7/8/98, p.A1)

1997        Jan 17, The Silent Movie Showcase in Los Angeles closed when manager Laurence Austin was shot dead and the cashier seriously wounded. A 19-year-old gunman was later caught and identified James Van Sickle, the projectionist and Austin's live-in lover, as the instigator and insurance beneficiary for $1 million.
    (SFEC, 2/2/97, p.C11)(SFC, 11/5/99, p.C5)

1997        Jan 21, An explosion at the Tosco Refinery near Martinez killed Michael Glanzman and injured 24 others.
    (SFC, 1/22/96, p.A1)(SFC, 1/24/97, p.A19)

1997        Jan 30, It was reported that the recent floods had killed an estimated 750 million bees, critical to the pollination of the state’s $1 billion almond market.
    (SFC, 1/30/97, p.E1)

1997        Jan 30, A powerful bomb blew up at the Solano County Courthouse in Vallejo. The bomb was similar to 2 others discovered in the past week.
    (SFC, 1/31/97, p.A1)

1997        Jan 31, The state purchased a 13.9 acre parcel on the eastern side of Tomales Bay on the Point Reyes Peninsula in Marin County. It will become part of Tomales Bay State Park.
    (SFC, 2/1/97, p.A17)

1997        Jan, A dynamite bombing of the Vallejo courthouse and a Wells Fargo Bank branch was later blamed on Kevin “Big Kev” Lee Robinson, a narcotics supplier and legitimate rap producer. He was sentenced in 1998 to 110 years in prison.
    (SFC, 2/10/98, p.A17)

1997        Jan, Willis W. Harmon (1918-1997), longtime president of the Sausalito Institute of Noetic Sciences, died. From 1980 to 1990 he was a UC Regent. He was a professor of electrical engineering at Stanford in the 1960s and conducted experiments on the effects of psychedelic drugs on human creativity.
    (SFC, 2/4/97, p.A16)

1997        Feb 2, Authorities in Vallejo, Calif., recovered 500 pounds of stolen dynamite and arrested two men in bombings that destroyed three bank teller machines and blasted a courthouse wall. Six men wound up receiving long prison terms for their roles in the case.
    (SFC, 2/3/97, p.A1)(AP, 2/2/07)

1997        Feb 4, Alfred Checchi, former co-chairman of Northwest Airlines, made his first public address since announcing his intention to run for governor as a Democrat in 1998.
    (SFC, 2/5/97, p.A6)

1997        Feb 10, A civil jury in Santa Monica heaped $25 million in punitive damages on O.J. Simpson for the slayings of his ex-wife and her friend, on top of $8.5 million in compensatory damages awarded earlier.
    (USAT, 2/11/97, p.A1)(AP, 2/10/97)

1997        Feb 10, The National Park Service took over a small section of Santa Cruz Island, one of the Channel Islands off of Ventura. Most of the 60,800 acre island is owned by the nature Conservancy.
    (SFEC, 7/13/97, p.A15)

1997        Feb 18, It was reported that a new Catholic Cathedral was planned for Los Angeles under the direction of Cardinal Roger Mahony. Construction on the 2,600 seat Our Lady of the Angels was set to begin late this year or early 1988. The dedication was scheduled for 9/4/2000.
    (SFC, 2/18/96, p.A1)

1997        Feb 28, In North Hollywood, Calif., two heavily armed masked robbers bungled a B of A bank heist and came out firing, unleashing their arsenal on police, bystanders, cars and TV choppers before they were killed. Police borrowed high powered semiautomatic rifles from a local gun store to match the fire power of the robbers. 11 officers and 5 other people were wounded. Emil Matasareanu (30) was shot 29 times and bled to death in about an hour without emergency care because he was reportedly believed to be dead. The other robber, Larry Eugene Philips Jr., (26) shot himself in the head. The police officers were later sued for allowing Matasareanu to bled to death and an initial trial ended with a hung jury in 2000.
    (SFC, 3/1/97, p.A1,17)(AP, 2/28/98)(SFC, 4/22/98, p.A13)(SFC, 3/17/00, p.A10)

1997        Feb 28, At Pelican Bay Prison Richard Hagler was strangled.
    (SFC, 2/28/98, p.A11)

1997        Mar 1, At Spring Lake near Santa Rosa, Ca., Paul Duclos caught a 24-pound largemouth bass, photographed it, weighed it and released it. The official record was a 22-pound, 4-ounce bass caught in Montgomery Lake, Ga. To be official the fish has to be killed, properly weighed and certified by the Int’l. Gamefish Assoc.
    (SFEC, 4/20/97, p.C3)

1997        Mar 9, In Los Angeles black Gangsta rapper Christopher G. Wallace (24), The Notorious B.I.G. or aka Biggie Smalls, was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting. He had been accused of being involved in a 1994 robbery in which Tupac Shakur was shot and robbed of $40,000. In 1999 Amir Muhammad, aka Harry Billups, was named as the suspected gunman. Muhammad was suspected to have been hired by former LAPD officer David A. Mack. In 2005 a judge declared a mistrial when large numbers of LAPD documents were found that hadn’t been turned over to the court.
    (SFC, 3/10/97, p.A8)(SFC, 12/9/99, p.A11)(SFC, 7/7/05, p.A3)(AP, 3/9/07)

1997        Mar 10, At Pelican Bay Prison William Lafromboise was strangled.
    (SFC, 2/28/98, p.A11)

1997        Mar 12, Authorities in Los Angeles arrested Mikail Markhasev as a suspect in the shooting death of Bill Cosby's son, Ennis, almost two months earlier. Markhasev, who later admitted his guilt, is serving a life sentence without possibility of parole.
    (AP, 3/12/02)
1997        Mar 12, Edward DeBartolo Jr. handed over $400,000 to former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards at the SF Airport in order to clinch a riverboat gambling license.
    (SFC, 3/28/00, p.A3)(SFC, 4/12/00, p.A5)

1997        Mar 26, The united Farm Workers Union announced that it would petition the US Environmental Agency to reinstate a 4-day period when farmworkers would stay out of strawberry fields after the application of capstan, a cancer causing fungicide. Its use has increased 7-fold in the last 6 years. 80% of the nation’s strawberry crop is grown in California.
    (SFC, 3/27/97, p.A21)
1997        Mar 26, The bodies 39 young men and women (26-72) of the Heaven’s Gate cult were found in a mansion at Rancho Santa Fe, near San Diego. The techno-religious group, led by an older man named “Do,” (aka Marshall Herff Applewhite), had committed mass suicide as the Hale-Bopp comet approached. They had run a business under the name WW Higher Source that engaged in WWW page development.
    (SFC, 3/27/97, p.A1)(SFC, 3/28/97, p.A1,12)(AP, 3/25/98)

1997        Mar, The California Historical Society moved to new quarters in the SF Yerba Buena Gardens.
    (SFEC, 8/31/97, DB p.9)

1997        Apr 11, The state Industrial Welfare Commission voted to eliminate state rules that required overtime pay after 8 hours of work. Overtime pay would only be required after 40 hours of work in a week for hourly employees.
    (SFC, 4/12/97, p.E3)

1997        Apr 11, Some 25,000 people marched in Watsonville to support the UFW drive to organize farm workers. Their focus was to begin with the state’s $576 million strawberry industry.
    (SFC, 4/14/97, p.A11)

1997        Apr 25, The Clinton administration extended the area over which the northwest coast silvery Coho salmon is considered a “threatened” species.
    (SFC, 4/26/97, p.A1)

1997        Apr, The new $77 million Shriners Hospital for Children was scheduled to open in Sacramento across the street from the UC Davis Medical Center.
    (SFC, 2/6/97, p.A17)

1997        Kuan-Chung Kao (33) was shot and killed by police in front of his home in Rohnert Park. In 2001 Kao’s family agreed to a $1 million settlement for use of excessive force.
    (SFC, 8/16/01, p.A19)

1997        May 3, The state prepared to file charges against the Bank of America for mismanaging tens of billions of dollars of municipal bond funds.
    (SFC, 5/3/97, p.A1)

1997        May 9, The California state Environmental protection Agency issued a report that linked lung cancer to diesel exhaust fumes.
    (SFC, 5/10/97, p.A17)

1997        May 26, It was reported that the Hearst Corp. planned to develop some 400 of its 83,000 acres in the San Simeon-Cambria coastline. It was opposed by environmentalists.
    (SFC, 5/26/97, p.A13)

1997        May 30, The state Assembly approved a $66.3 billion budget.
    (SFC, 5/31/97, p.A15)

1997        Jun 2, A Concord waterslide collapsed after Napa High School attempted to break a record for the number of students crammed onto the “Banzai Pipeline.” Quimby Ghilotti (18) died in the accident.
    (SFC, 7/4/97, p.A20)

1997        Jun 3, Residents in Livermore approved a ban on the sale of inexpensive hand guns. The last state election on handgun control was in 1982.
    (SFC, 6/4/97, p.A1)

1997        Jun 4, The state legislature approved bills that banned the sale and manufacture of cheap handguns.
    (SFC, 6/5/97, p.A1)

1997        Jun 5, The cremated remains of some 2,000 people were found in a Discovery Bay storage facility. They were stored by a flying service run by Allan Vieira, that was supposed to have disposed the remains at sea or over the Sierras for mortuaries. The body of Allan Vieira was found with a suicide note Jun 24 in Calaveras Ct.
    (SFC, 6/6/97, p.A23)(SFC, 6/26/97, p.A21)

1997        Jun 8, By Cape Mendocino four crew members of a Coast Guard helicopter died during the rescue attempt of a capsized Canadian boat with five people. The five people in the boat survived.
    (SFC, 6/17/97, p.A22)

1997        Jun 9, A state commission decided to raise the salary of Gov. Wilson to $131,040. It would make him the highest paid governor in the nation.
    (SFC, 6/10/97, p.A19)

1997        Jun 10, Fred Farr, former state Senator and pioneering environmentalist, died at 86. He got a law passed that required toilets in the fields for farm workers and was the father of the California scenic highways program.
    (SFC, 6/12/97, p.A2)

1997        Jun 14, It was reported that more than 1600 double-crested cormorants had died at the California Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge due to Newcastle disease, caused by a deadly virus.
    (SFC, 6/14/97, p.A11)

1997        Jun 18, The Sempervirens Fund announced the purchase of 820 acres of redwood forest to be added to the Buttano State Park just north of Ano Nuevo State Reserve. The land was purchased from the family of canning pioneer J.C. Ainsley.
    (SFC, 6/19/97, p.A22)

1997        Jun 21, African Americans gathered in Sacramento for a the 2nd annual Thousand Man March.
    (SFEC, 6/22/97, p.A18)

1997        Jul 26, Pres. Clinton visited Lake Tahoe and announced that the Forest Service would allot 350 acres to the Washoe Indian tribe for a cultural center and give tribal members access to the edge of Lake Tahoe. He also made an executive order for $50 million over 2 years and 25 initiatives to improve the water quality of Lake Tahoe. He brought with him $26 million worth of natural gas postal trucks and sewage pipes to help preserve the lake.
    (SFEC, 7/27/97, p.A1,14)(AP, 7/26/98)

1997        Jun 27, It was reported that some 42 dead seals were washed ashore at Point Reyes National Seashore in California in a ten day window in late May and early June. Cause of death was unknown but new deaths seemed to have stopped.
    (SFC, 6/27/97, p.A24)

1997        Jun 30, Radio KPH, the oldest maritime radio station on the West Coast, went off the air in West Marin after operating since 1904.
    (SFC, 7/1/97, p.A13,14)

1997        Jun Gov. Wilson instructed the warden of San Quentin Prison to phase out the alternative “Boot Camp” program for first time offenders on the basis that it made little difference in inmates lives.
    (SFC, 7/29/97, p.A13)

1997        Jun, The Lake Tahoe Regional Planning Agency adopted a plan to ban jet skis, specifically 2-stroke engines that propel personal watercraft, effective in June 1999. The jet ski industry filed a suit against the ban in Oct.
    (SFC,10/31/97, p.A18)

1997        Jul 3, The state Supreme Court ruled that a 16-17 year-old juvenile’s felony conviction may count as a strike under the 1994 “three strikes” sentencing law.
    (SFC, 7/4/97, p.A19)
1997        Jul 3, Daisy Mascada (18) cut off the penis of Julio Luna with a 10-inch knife in Seaside, Ca. She was sentenced to 7 years in prison and later pleaded that she had been kidnapped, battered and abused.
    (SFC, 10/14/99, p.A22)
1997        Jul 3, In Santa Rosa Theresa Mary Ramirez shot and killed Dr. Michael Tavis (53) and wounded office manager Kay Carter. Ramirez claimed that Tavis had given her leaky breast implants. In 1999 a jury convicted Ramirez of murder.
    (SFC, 2/12/99, p.A22)

1997        Jul 4, Bikers returned to Hollister, Ca., for a 50-year anniversary and began an annual tradition. [see Jul 4, 1947]
    (SFC, 7/4/02, p.A18)

1997        Jul 7, It was reported that the state’s million plus cows were churning out $3 billion worth of milk and leaking harmful nitrates into the ground water of the Central Valley. Years ago the Chino basin was forced to write off vast quantities of tainted ground water due to dairies.
    (SFC, 7/7/97, p.A8)

1997        Jul 10, The Richard & Rhoda Goldman Fund of SF donated $10 million to the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Public Policy. The new chancellor, Robert Berdahl, accepted the donation.
    (SFC, 7/11/97, p.E2)

1997        Jul 18, Representative George Miller of Martinez demanded a full accounting by the federal EPA concerning inspections of the Central Valley dairies, where dairy waste was threatening underground water supplies.
    (SFC, 7/19/97, p.A1,13)

1997        Jul 18, Federal agents in California arrested eight seafood importers accused of smuggling contaminated seafood by bribing customs brokers and FDA inspectors.
    (SFC, 7/19/97, p.A15,18)

1997        Jul 25, At Pelican Bay Prison Aaron Marsh, an Aryan Brotherhood member, was strangled. Gary Littrell, an Aryan Brotherhood associate, was suspected.
    (SFC, 2/28/98, p.A11)

1997        Jul 26, Pres. Clinton announced that the Forest Service would allot 350 acres to the Washoe Indian tribe for a cultural center and give tribal members access to the edge of lake Tahoe.
    (SFEC, 7/27/97, p.A14)
1997        Jul 26, Knight Ridder bought the Monterey Herald.
    (SFC, 7/28/00, p.A19)

1997        Aug 2, Two fires in San Diego burned out of control and destroyed 11 homes, 30 cars, 15 other structures and caused the crash of an air tanker dousing the flames.
    (SFEC, 8/3/97, p.B5)

1997        Aug 3, The US Court of Appeals issued a reprieve for Thomas Thompson, accused of the 1981 murder of Ginger Fleischli, less than 36 hours before his scheduled death. California filed an appeal with the US Supreme Court. He was executed Jul 14, 1998.
    (SFC, 8/4/97, p.A1)(http://tinyurl.com/db9ve)

1997        Aug 6, The mayor of LA named Bernard Parks as chief of police. He succeeded Willie Williams, the city’s first black police chief.
    (WSJ, 8/7/97, p.A1)

1997        Aug 10, It was reported that the gasoline additive MTBE, methyl tert-butyl ether, was leaking into ground water in California and elsewhere in the US. Some 1,000 wells in California tested above the state’s action level. The additive leaks from gasoline stations and dissolves in water and seeps into aquifers. In 1995 the EPA reported that it caused cancer in laboratory animals.
    (SFEC, 8/10/97, p.A1,14)

1997        Aug 10, It was reported that developer Norman Jarrett was proceeding with plans to create “Gold Rush City,” a giant theme park in San Joaquin county next to the town of Lathrop by the junction of Hwy 5 and 120. Development was projected over a 30-year period with the first stage ready to start.
    (SFEC, 8/10/97, Z1 p.1,4)

1997        Aug 22, The decomposed body of 12-year-old Georgia Moses from Santa Rosa was found in Petaluma. She disappeared Aug 13 but no one reported her missing to the police.
    (SFEC, 8/31/97, p.B6)(SFC, 9/16/97, p.A15)

1997        Aug 30, Michael Rodriguez (17) was found shot to death behind a Lucky Supermarket in Half Moon Bay. In 1999 Shawn Michael Perez was convicted of murder in an attempted robbery and sentenced to life in prison with no parole. Linnea Adams was also convicted and sentenced 15 years to life. In 1999 Danny Watson pleaded no contest and was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
    (SFC, 3/10/99, p.A18)(SFC, 7/3/99, p.A17)(SFC, 9/15/99, p.C4)

1997        Aug, Gov. Wilson signed into law rules that required the removal of tobacco billboard advertising within 1000 feet of a school or playground as of Jan 1, 1998.
    (SFC, 3/19/98, p.A1)

1997        Aug, Joshua Puckett (18) killed Vitaly Poliakov (29) of San Francisco at a home on Rheem Boulevard in Orinda. In 1998 Puckett pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and burglary. He was sentenced to 13 years and 8 months in prison.
    (SFC, 9/12/98, p.A20)

1997        Sep 12, Vitaly Poliakov (29) of San Francisco was found with his skull crushed in an Atascadero Creek. Joshua Puckett (18) later admitted to committing the murder in Orinda.
    (SFC, 6/23/98, p.A15)

1997        Sep 12, Edwin Lawrence Njuguna of Kenya was stabbed to death in Napa after being dragged with two friends from a car by skinheads.
    (SFC, 10/1/97, p.A12)

1997        Sep 13, The legislature passed a large tax cut and an agreement to regulate the state’s growing cardroom gambling industry.
    (SFEC, 9/14/97, p.A1)

1997        Sep 25, In the town of Scotia in Humboldt County 7 protestors settled in the company office of Pacific Lumber. Sheriff’s deputies applied pepper spray directly to the eyes of the protestors using cotton swabs and Q-tips. A federal judge in 1998 threw out a lawsuit filed by the protestors.
    (SFC,10/31/97, p.A15)(SFC, 10/27/98, p.A11)

1997        Sep 25, It was reported that traces of toxaphene, banned in 1982, were found in at least one bird in a southern Tulare County canal where some 1600 western grebes and millions of fish were found dead.
    (SFC, 9/25/97, p.A13)

1997        Sep 28, A wildfire killed livestock and forced the evacuation of some 1500 people in Yuba County. The fire covered 5,800 acres and 83 homes were burned.
    (SFC, 9/29/97, p.A1)(SFC, 9/30/97, p.A12)

1997        Sep, Gov. Wilson signed Assembly Bill 1890 that ended the monopoly of the Big Three utility companies (PG&E, Southern Ca. Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric) in California, and opened the state to competition.
    (SFC,12/15/97, p.G1)

1997        Sep-Nov, Louis Peoples, stole a gun and robbed a Stockton bank. He went on to a series of robberies and killed 4 people over this period. In 2000 a jury recommended the death penalty.
    (SFC, 6/8/00, p.A24)

1997        Oct 1, Gov. Wilson signed a tax bill that would give a $50 break per child  to families with children beginning in the 1988 tax year. Breaks were also scheduled for homeowners, retirement savers, and private companies. Also included was a pay raise for state employees and fiscal relief for counties and cities. The cost would be more than $941 million in state revenue.
    (SFC, 10/2/97, p.A1)

1997        Oct 3, In Humboldt County 2 protestors attached themselves to bulldozers of the Pacific Lumber Company. Sheriff’s deputies applied pepper spray directly to the eyes of the protestors using cotton swabs and Q-tips.
    (SFC,10/31/97, p.A15)

1997        Oct 13, It was reported that the California State Fish and Game Dept. planned to use the piscicide Nusyn-Noxfish, which contains rotenone, to destroy all the fish in Lake Davis in Plumas County in order to rid the lake of the non-indigenous pike. The people of the county protested the use of the poison in particular because of the dispersant, trichloroethylene (TCE), used to make rotenone mix with water. The lake was dosed Oct 15 and 7 protestors were arrested. In 1998 trace amounts of piperonyl butoxide (POB) were still present the planting of new fish was delayed. In 1998 the state agreed to pay $9 million to settle claims from the poisoning which devastated tourism. In 1999 2 northern pike were fished from the lake as well as catfish that had apparently survived the poisoning. From 2000-2007 some 60,500 pike were caught in the lake. In 2007 wildlife officials planned a new attempt to wipe out the pike.
    (SFC, 10/13/97, p.A1,17)(SFC,10/16/97, p.A1)(SFC, 5/1/98, p.A21)(SFC, 8/20/98, p.A30)(SFC, 5/28/99, p.A21)(SFC, 1/24/07, p.B3)

1997        Oct 14, It was reported that Gov. Wilson signed a law that would allow the San Fernando Valley to detach itself from Los Angeles.
    (SFC, 10/14/97, p.A22)

1997        Oct 16, In Humboldt County 4 protestors staged a sit-in in the office of Republican Representative Frank Riggs in Eureka. Sheriff’s deputies applied pepper spray directly to the eyes of the protestors using cotton swabs and Q-tips.
    (SFC,10/31/97, p.A15)

1997        Oct 17, Tosco Corp. asked the California Air Resources Board to move away from the use of MTBE as a gasoline fuel additive due to possible contamination of ground water.
    (SFC,10/30/97, p.A1)

1997        Oct 18, A 10 day strike continued at the Foster Farms chicken slaughterhouse in Livingston. The plant was the largest in the world and some 2,000 workers refused to accept a pay hike with doubled health insurance costs. After 2 1/2 weeks the strikers accepted an offer that included a choice in a pay raise option and a health plan for $55 vs. $70 per month.
    (SFC,10/18/97, p.A15)(SFC,10/24/97, p.A26)

1997        Oct 18, Eight more bombs from the 1973 explosion were discovered by Union Pacific crews near Roseville.
    (SFC,10/20/97, p.A15)

1997        Oct 20, Pacific Bell began converting pay phones to a 35 cent rate, a 15 cent increase.
    (SFC,10/18/97, p.A1)

1997        Oct 20, Novato police used pepper spray on Brian J Prosser (39), an accountant. Prosser choked, stopped breathing and died.
    (SFC,10/21/97, p.A1)

1997        Oct 26, It was reported that some 50 Southern California doctors and about a dozen laser surgery centers were under investigation for insurance fraud for serving mostly Southeast Asian and Latino women seeking beauty makeovers under false claims.
    (SFEC,10/26/97, p.D5)

1997        Oct 26, It was reported that hundreds of shorebirds washed up dead along the 25-mile stretch of Monterey Bay beaches. A non-toxic refined-sardine oil had been spilled into the bay and stuck the birds feathers together. The source of the oil was not yet determined. The substance was later though to be a hydrogenated vegetable oil.
    (SFEC,10/26/97, p.D2)(SFC,10/29/97, p.A24)

1997        Oct 30, In Livermore a shutdown began of the “plutonium building” at the National Laboratory due to safety violations.
    (SFEC, 1/11/98, p.D7)

1997        Oct 31, The FBI began an investigation into the use of pepper spray by law authorities in Humboldt County, California, after a video tape showed the spray applied directly to the eyes of protestors.
    (SFC,11/1/97, p.A1)

1997        Oct, Red ants, Solenopsis invicta, were found near Lost Hills in Kern County. They apparently came from Texas in beehives shipped in for pollinating almond blossoms. More ants were found in Fresno county in 1998.
    (SFC, 8/6/93, p.A4)

1997        Oct, The EPA ordered Rhone Poulenc to build a $21 million dam and pond on a metal-rich creek near Iron Mountain to reduce mine pollution runoff into the Sacramento River to 5%.
    (SFEC,11/2/97, p.A13)

1997        Nov 1, At Pelican Bay Prison Felipe Cruz was strangled.
    (SFC, 2/28/98, p.A11)

1997        Nov 2, In Vacaville Jerry English (17) was stabbed to death in a fight. He was killed by Chad O'Connell who claimed that he acted to defend his friend Jance Swenson. David Moreno and Justin Pacheco, friends of English, were later charged with causing his death under the state's provocative act murder rule of 1965. Moreno and Pacheco were acquitted in 2000 after 2 years in jail.
    (SFC, 1/11/00, p.A18)(SFC, 2/11/00, p.A19)

1997        Nov 3, The Supreme Court let California’s Prop. 209 stand and ended affirmative action in the state. It prohibits state and local governments from using race and gender based preferences in education, contracting and hiring.
    (SFC,11/4/97, p.A1)(AP, 11/3/98)(Econ, 12/2/06, p.37)

1997        Nov 5, The Imperial Toy Corp. in Los Angeles experienced an explosion that left 4 people dead and at least 25 injured.
    (SFC,11/6/97, p.A3)

1997        Nov 5, The freighter Kure, while preparing to load a cargo of woodchips, rammed a concrete piling of the Louisiana Pacific Co. pier near Eureka and spilled 5,100 gallons of oil in Humboldt Bay.
    (SFC,11/6/97, p.A19)(SFC, 9/10/99, p.A19)

1997        Nov 7, In Concord, Ca., the De La Salle High School football team under coach Bob Ladoucer won their 73rd straight game and broke a 1975 record set by Hudson, Mich., High School.
    (SFC,11/8/97, p.A1)

1997        Nov 14, Pres. Clinton signed a bill containing $250 million to buy 7,500 acres in the headwaters forest of northern California. The agreement with Charles Hurwitz was revised in 1998 and protection was tentatively established for 12 of 13 stands of redwoods and Pacific Lumber was to be allowed to log one grove.
    (SFC,11/15/97, p.A3)(SFC, 2/28/98, p.A1)

1997        Nov 16, Eleven people were killed on the 2-lane state Highway 180 near Mendota when a van slammed into a big rig in a sudden patch of tule fog.
    (SFC,11/17/97, p.A23)

1997        Nov 16, The LA Times reported that the Utility Dept. of LA was $7.5 billion in debt. $4.8 billion of the debt was off the books.
    (SFC,11/17/97, p.A26)

1997        Nov 17, In California Tyler, the 18 month-old son of Gina Barnett (25) and James Nivette (54) was found abandoned in San Bruno. The next day Gina’s body was found in Folsom. James Nivettte was the prime suspect and was thought to have fled the country. He was arrested in France on Nov 20.
    (SFC,11/19/97, p.A1)(SFC,11/21/97, p.1)

1997        Nov 18, The Oakland City Council voted 6-3 to give themselves a pay raise from $37,000 to $60,000.
    (SFC,11/19/97, p.A19)

1997        Nov 30, Composer and guitarist Michael Hedges (43) died in an auto accident in Mendocino Ct. His albums included “Breakfast in the Field” (1983), “Aerial Boundaries” (1984), “Taproot” (1990), and “The Road to Return” (1994). His albums helped establish the Wyndham Hill record label co-founded by guitarist Will Ackerman.
    (SFC,12/5/97, p.B8)

1997        Nov, In Concord the Brenden Theatres opened with 14 wide screens and stadium tiered seating for 3,500 people and parking for 350. The operation attracted movie-goers but took away street parking from local businesses.
    (SFC, 1/22/98, p.A24)

1997        Nov, State welfare recipients began using the California Electronic Temporary Assistance Card (Cal Etac).
    (SFC,11/24/97, p.A21)

1997        Dec 1, It was reported that a Chinese crime syndicate, The Big Circle Boys, active in Canada for 2 decades, was infiltrating California. The group originally consisted of former Red Army Guards who left China for Hong Kong. They were identified as a North American version of the mainland Chinese syndicate known as Dai Huen Jai.
    (SFC, 12/1/97, p.A1)

1997        Dec 2, In California Vanessa Lei Samson (22) was abducted while walking to work in Pleasanton. Her body was later found off Highway 88 in Alpine Ct. Michelle Michaud and her boyfriend, James A. Daveggio, were later picked up by police. The couple had a van converted into a “murder and abduction chamber.” The couple were arrested on a kidnap and rape charge for a separate attack on a Reno college student in Sep. and faced charges for raping 12 and 13-year old girls in Sacramento. Michaud confessed to Samson’s murder. The pair were charged in 1998 for the kidnapping and murder of Samson. In 2001 Robert Scott authored “Rope Burns,” an account of the case. Daveggio and Michaud went on trial in 2002 and were convicted in June. On Sep 25 they were sentenced to death.
    (SFC,12/11/97, p.A21)(SFC, 11/7/98, p.A18)(SFC, 1/21/02, p.B1)(SFC, 9/26/02, p.A27)

1997        Dec 4, In Fairfield Alan Hall was found passed out with a severed penis. He first claimed that a woman had cut it off and later admitted that he had maimed himself. [see Feb 17, 1983]
    (SFC,12/13/97, p.A7)

1997        Dec 5, The Federal fish and wildlife authorities listed the calippe silverspot butterfly, known to exist only on the grasslands of San Bruno Mountain and a park in Alameda Ct., under the Endangered Species Act. Also listed as endangered was the Behren’s silverspot butterfly of Point Arena. The Alameda whipsnake was listed as threatened.
    (SFC,12/5/97, p.A17)

1997        Dec 10, Julia Butterfly (23), nee Julia Hill, climbed into a redwood tree in Humboldt County, Ca., on Pacific Lumber Co. property and remained there for over 2 years. She named the tree Luna and in her meditations came up with the equation: truth + hope = action + change. Julia ended her protest Dec 18, 1999. A deal was reached to preserve Luna and a 200-foot buffer in exchange for a $50,000 payment to Pacific Lumber, which would be donated to Humboldt State Univ. for scientific research. In 2000 Hill published “The Legacy of Luna: The Story of a Tree, a Woman, and the Struggle to Save the Redwoods.”
    (SFEC, 12/6/98, Z1p.1)(KPFA, 12/9/99)(SFC, 12/18/99, p.A5)(SFC, 12/20/99, p.A24)(SFEC, 4/2/00, BR p.3)

1997        Dec 11, A collision of 3 dozen cars and big rigs on I-5 south of Sacramento killed at least 5 people and injured more than 2 dozen.
    (SFC,12/12/97, p.A1)

1997        Dec 12, The state Court of Appeals barred pot clubs from legally selling marijuana. The ruling would go into effect in 30 days unless stayed by an appeal.
    (SFC,12/13/97, p.A1)

1997        Dec 13, A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held in Los Angeles for the $1 billion Getty Center, one of the largest arts centers in the United States.
    (AP, 12/13/98)

1997        Dec 15, It was reported that the state Supreme Court ruled that Ventura County must increase monthly pension benefits based on bonuses and other supplemental pay. The decision was sure to trigger other county suits.
    (SFEC,12/15/97, p.13)

1997        Dec 16, Originally scheduled for a Fall opening. The new $1 billion Getty Center was expected to open at the 25-acre site in Brentwood, Ca. It will include a 750,000 volume library, auditorium and exhibition space. The 110-acre arts and cultural campus was being built in the Santa Monica Mountains above west Los Angeles. The old Museum, a villa in Malibu, will be renovated and reopened in 2001 with one of its current 7 collections of Greek and Roman antiquities.
    (SFC, 7/15/96, p.D2)(SFC, 6/24/97, p.B3)

1997        Dec 17, Federal and state governments announced that $100 million would be spent to restore the ecology of the SF Bay and the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
    (SFC,12/18/97, p.A18)

1997        Dec 18, A former state employee, Arturo Reyes Torres, shot and killed 4 people at the Caltrans maintenance yard in Orange and was himself killed by police.
    (SFC,12/19/97, p.A14)

1997        Dec 19, At Pelican Bay Prison Rudy Herrera was strangled.
    (SFC, 2/28/98, p.A11)

1997        Dec 24, It was reported that the Air Force agreed to sell McClellan Air Force Base to Sacramento County for a maximum of $90 million. Payments would begin in Dec 2008 and continue over 45 years.
    (SFC,12/24/97, p.A14)

1997        Rene Di Rosa opened the di Rosa Preserve at 5200 Carneros Highway, a sculpture garden and nature preserve, in Napa following the sale of his Winery Lake Vineyard to Seagram.
    (SFC, 8/18/99, p.D1,5)

1997        Robert M. Lynch wrote “The Sonoma Valley Story: Pages Through the Ages.”
    (SFEC,12/14/97, BR p.7)

1997        Monty Roberts of Salinas wrote his biographical bestseller “The Man Who Listens To Horses.” His family disputed the validity of much of the material.
    (SFEC, 1/11/98, p.A18)

1997        Heidi Kuhn of San Rafael founded Roots of Peace, an anti-land mine organization.
    (SSFC, 2/3/02, p.A9)

1997        Gov. Wilson vetoed a bill that authorized the State Barr Association to collect dues from its members. Mass layoffs were scheduled in 1998 due to lack of funds. The association represented 128,000 lawyers with dues at $458.
    (SFC, 4/28/98, p.A15)

1997        California cancelled a contract with Lockheed Martin for an information management system for a child support database and lost $111 million plus federal fines for lacking a child support computer system.
    (SFEC, 8/8/99, Z1 p.6)

1997        California proclaimed San Leandro the state's official sausage capital.
    (SFEC, 9/26/99, p.E1)

1997        San Joaquin soil was named the official state soil. The soil was deposited as glacial runoff from 50,000 to 250,000 years ago.
    (SFC,12/31/97, p.A6)

1997        B.C.L. Labs of Southern California was shut down after state investigators found evidence that some results of vital lab tests for state prisoners were made up and typed into a computer.
    (SFC, 7/7/00, p.A1)

1997        The Knott family sold their Orange County Knott’s Berry Farm amusement park, the oldest theme amusement park in the US, to Cedar Fair in Ohio.
    (SFC, 5/11/02, p.A22)

1997        Dr. Julio and Amalia Palmaz purchased the Cedar Knoll winery in Napa, Ca. They then proceeded to build an 100,000 square-foot underground wine operation, despite neighbors protests, estimated to cost $20 million. Dr. Palmaz was internationally know for inventing the balloon-expandable coronary stent. In 2008 Palmaz Vineyards produced some 6,000 cases of Cabernet and 1,000 cases of white wines costing from $32 to $150 a bottle.
    (SFC, 1/2/09, p.W8)

1997        Tosco bought the company that owned the state’s 900 Union 76 stations. The company then decided to sell all its gasoline under the Union 76 brand.
    (SFC, 4/5/00, p.A19)

1997        The quino checkerspot butterfly was named an endangered species. It was confined to western Riverside County and the Ptay Mesa area of San Diego.
    (WSJ, 4/14/99, p.CA1)

1997        The 7,500-acre Sinkyone Wilderness in northern California was accepted into the state park system.
    (SFC, 9/29/05, p.A2)

1997        Communities around Clear Lake began diverting millions of gallons of treated waste water to the Geysers region and pumped underground to replenish steamfields. The water was soon suspected of causing increased regional earthquakes.
    (SSFC, 6/8/03, p.A23)

1997        Bear Gulch Cave in the Pinnacles was closed to protect a colony of endangered Townsend’s big-eared bats.
    (SSFC, 4/15/01, p.T4)

1998        Jan 1, The 109th Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena was held and Univ. of Michigan beat Washington State 21-16.
    (SFC, 1/2/98, p.A1,22)
1998        Jan 1, The people of California will be allowed to choose their electric utility supplier. Also city councils would be stripped of veto power in voter drives for secession. Postponed to Mar 31.
    (SFC, 5/8/97, p.A1)(SFC, 10/14/97, p.A22)(SFC,12/30/97, p.A1)
1998        Jan 1, A new state law regulated the use of raw foods.
    (SFC, 2/25/98, p.A15)

1998        cJan 15, The Napa Valley Museum opened. [707-944-0500]
    (SFEM, 2/1/98, p.6)

1998        Jan 23, Former Oakland Mayor, Lionel Wilson, died at age 82. He was the first black mayor of Oakland and served 3-terms (1977-1990).
    (SFC, 1/29/98, p.A1,13)

1998        Jan 24, The beginning of the statewide Sesquicentennial Celebration in honor of the gold rush. It ends on the 150th anniversary of statehood Sep 9, 2000.
    (SFEC, 1/4/98, Z1p.4)

1998        Jan 25, The population of California was 32.6 million and increasing by 480,000 per year counting the 100,000 estimated illegal entrants.
    (SFEC, 1/25/98, Z1 p.6)

1998        Jan 26, In Compton a car wash owner and 3 employees were shot to death by gunmen looking for drugs and cash.
    (SFC, 1/27/98, p.A3)

1998        Jan 28, The state Assembly passed a bill to repeal the ban on smoking in bars and casinos. It would become effective next Jan.
    (SFC, 1/29/98, p.A1)

1998        Jan, State utilities began to divest themselves of their generating plants. Rates to consumers were capped until March 2002 or until the recovery of certain losses.
    (WSJ, 1/08/00, p.A3)

1998        Feb 2, Heavy rains thrashed the Bay Area and Northern California. 70 miles along Hwy. 1, between Carmel and Big Sur, remained closed until Apr. 30.
    (SFC, 2/3/98, p.A1)

1998        Feb 3, A new 32-cent postage stamp in honor of John Muir was to be issued at the Martinez post office.
    (SFC, 1/8/98, p.A19)

1998        Feb 3, Heavy rains continued to thrash the state and rivers in Northern California spilled over their banks.
    (SFC, 2/4/98, p.A1)

1998        Feb 4, Alfred Mann (72), the originator of 7 medical device and electronics companies, announced $100 million donations to both the Univ. of Southern Cal. and the Univ. of Cal. at Los Angeles to set up biomedical research institutes.
    (SFC, 2/5/98, p.A3)

1998         Feb 5,  A federal judge in Los Angeles threw out Charles Keating's state securities fraud conviction for a second time, saying the trial judge had given jurors flawed instructions. In 1999, on the eve of the retrial of the federal case, Keating entered a plea agreement: he admitted to having committed bankruptcy fraud by extracting $1 million from American Financial Corp. while already anticipating the collapse that happened weeks later; in return, the federal prosecutors dropped all other charges against him and his son, Charles Keating III. Keating, an Arizona land developer, was sentenced to the four years he had already served.
    (AP, 2/5/99)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Keating)

1998        Feb 6, Gov. Wilson declared a state of emergency in 22 counties as El Nino storms pounded the state.
    (SFC, 2/7/98, p.A8)

1998        Feb 6, Carl Wilson (51), a founding member of The Beach Boys, had died in Los Angeles from complications of lung cancer.
    (SFEC, 2/8/98, p.D8)(AP, 2/7/99)

1998        Feb 8, At Pelican Bay Prison John Arviso died from severe facial and head trauma. He was linked to the Mexican Mafia. Carlos Castro, the suspected killer, was also linked the Mexican Mafia.
    (SFC, 2/28/98, p.A11)

1998        Feb 9, Pres. Clinton declared 27 counties a federal disaster area. Estimated storm damage reached over $275 million.
    (SFC, 2/10/98, p.A1)

1998        Feb 15, Two separated freeway shootings left one woman dead and another wounded in LA suburbs.
    (SFC, 2/16/98, p.A18)

1998        Feb 16, It was reported that Al Checchi, candidate for governor, was using his personal wealth of $550 million, accumulated in business dealings at Marriott, Disney and as head of Northwest Airlines, to finance his campaign.
    (SFC, 2/16/98, p.A13)

1998        Feb 18, A military helicopter crashed in central California during a training mission and 4 people were killed.
    (SFC, 2/19/98, p.A22)

1998        Feb 22, The new book by Stephen Schwartz, reporter for the SF Chronicle, “From West to East: California and the Making of the American Mind,” was reviewed. It was a broad-based inquiry into the state’s cultural history with focus on Old Left sectarian battles.
    (SFEC, 2/22/98, BR p.5)

1998        Feb 23, The State Supreme Court ruled that anybody can sue a corner store or gas station for selling cigarettes to minors.
    (SFC, 2/24/98, p.A22)

1998        Feb 23, At Pelican Bay Prison Timothy Waldron was strangled. Suspect Steven Olivares is an Aryan Brotherhood Associate.
    (SFC, 2/28/98, p.A11)

1998        Feb 24, Novato voters approved the luxury development of the Black Point Forest, a 238-acre site that had been used for the Renaissance Pleasure Faire.
    (SFC, 2/25/98, p.A16)

1998        Feb 24, The Cuyama River near Santa Maria tore out over a 100 years of Highway 166 and sent a patrol car with 2 officers 40 feet down a mountain and into the river. CHP officers Rick Stovall and Britt Irvine died.
    (SFC, 2/25/98, p.A1)

1998        Feb 27, Eight prison guards at Corcoran Prison were indicted on federal civil rights charges that they staged a “blood sport” fight among inmates in which one convict was shot to death by a guard.
    (SFC, 2/27/98, p.A1)
   
1998        Mar 6, Gov. Wilson signed a pact with the Pala tribe of San Diego on gambling concessions. Negotiations had been in process since 1991. A month later half of the state’s Indian tribes objected to the pact. Federal approval was granted in April.
    (SFC, 4/798, p.B8)(SFC, 4/27/98, p.A22)

1998        Mar 8, Fire Capt. Joseph Charles Dupee died from cardiac arrest while fighting a fire at 60th St. and Western Ave. in LA. He was the first firefighter killed on the job in 14 years.
    (SFC, 3/9/98, p.A18)

1998        Mar 9, Republican Representative Jay Kim pleaded guilty to taking illegal campaign contributions.
    (WSJ, 3/10/98, p.A1)

1998        Mar 11, It was announced that the David and Lucille Packard Foundation would give $175 million over 5 years to protect the state’s landscape from over-development.
    (SFC, 3/11/98, p.A13)

1998        Mar 11, Gov. Wilson abolished an affirmative action program that sent contract dollars to minority and female owned businesses.
    (SFC, 3/12/98, p.A1)

1998        Mar 11, In Los Angeles Efren Saldivar, a respiratory care therapist, claimed to have killed as many as 50 terminally ill patients from 1989 to 1997 at the Glendale Adventist medical Center. He later recanted his confession. Exhumations to verify the claims began Apr 30. In 2001 Saldivar was arrested for the murder of 6 patients whose remains indicated that they were murdered. In 2002 Saldivar pleaded guilty to murdering 6 patients. In 2002 Saldivar was sentenced to 6 life terms in prison plus 15 years to life for attempted murder.
    (SFC, 3/28/98, p.A1)(SFEC, 5/2/99, p.C7)(SFC, 1/10/01, p.A5)(SFC, 3/13/02, p.A7)(USAT, 4/18/02, p.3A)

1998        Mar 11, In Santa Rosa David Asimov (47), son of Isaac Asimov, pleaded no guilty to felony charges alleging possession of pornographic material with intent to sell. Some 3,000-4,000 tapes , videos and other materials were seized at his home.
    (SFEC, 3/15/98, p.D1)

1998        Mar 12, Aundria Crawford, a Cuesta College sophomore, was kidnapped near downtown San Luis Obispo. Her body was found in 1999 on the property of Rex Allen Krebs, who was being held on parole violations.
    (SFC, 4/26/99, p.A19)

1998        Mar 13, David Kazdin (63), a San Fernando businessman, was killed and his body dumped into a trash bin. In 2002 Sante (67) and Kenneth Kimes (27) were indicted for the murder.
    (SFC, 5/16/02, p.A5)

1998        Mar 19, Two small planes collided over Riverside Ct. and 3 people were killed.
    (SFC, 3/20/98, p.A3)

1998        Mar 23, The State Supreme Court ruled that the Boy Scouts were a private organization and not subject to the state’s anti-discrimination laws.
    (SFC, 3/24/98, p.A1)
1998        Mar 23, Megan Hogg (25) was arrested for killing her 3 daughters, aged 2-7, on Higate Dr.
    (SFC, 3/24/98, p.A1)
1998        Mar 23, In Richmond a chemical plant worker returned from a job suspension and gunned down 2 supervisors and then killed himself.
    (SFC, 3/24/98, p.A1)
1998        Mar 23, An LA Fire Dept. helicopter crashed while transporting an injured 12-year-old girl to a hospital. The girl and 3 others were killed.
    (SFC, 3/24/98, p.A3)

1998        Mar 24, The Oakland City Council voted to adopt a Jobs and Living Wage Ordnance that mandated businesses contracting with the city to pay workers at least $8 an hour with benefits or $9.25 without benefits. It was the 17th city nationwide to adopt such an ordnance.
    (SFC, 3/26/98, p.A21)

1998        Mar 25, Sumitomo Bank of California, the state’s 6th largest retail bank, announced its sale to Zions Bancorporation of Salt Lake for $546 million.
    (SFC, 3/26/98, p.E1)
1998        May 25, Lance Corporal Carlos Colbert, a black Marine, was paralyzed after 5 men beat him during a Memorial Day party in Santee, northeast of San Diego. Jesse Brian Lawson (20), Trenton Jay Solis (18), Robert Rio (23), Jed Allen Jones (21) and Steven Lawrence Newark III (18) all pleaded guilty in 1999 to felony assault.
    (SFC, 2/17/99, p.A15)

1998        Mar 26, The Citizen’s Compensation Commission voted to increase the salary of state elected officials by 25.9% effective Dec 7.
    (SFC, 3/27/98, p.A1)

1998        Mar 27, Federal documents were released that charged Dr. Aramais Paronyan with heading a $13 million Medi-Cal fraud ring from LA to SF.
    (SFEC, 3/29/98, p.E1)
1998        Mar 27, Robbers in Commerce, east of LA, escaped with $2.94 million in cash from a Dunbar Security armored car after shooting the driver.
    (SFC, 3/28/98, p.A14)

1998        Mar 31, Power de-regulation was postponed to this day to allow for software corrections at the new California ISO (Independent Systems Operator). Deregulation went into effect for the state’s $23 billion electricity market.
    (SFC,12/30/97, p.A1)(SFC, 3/31/98, p.A1)

1998        Mar, In LA County Chad MacDonald (17) was slain and his girlfriend was raped, shot in the head and left for dead. MacDonald had worked as a police informant and his death led to a new law restricting the use of minors in undercover work. In 1999 Jose Ibarra (21), Michael Martinez (22) and Florence Noriega (30) were convicted for MacDonald's murder.
    (SFC, 10/19/99, p.A26)

1998        Mar, Steven Stoft, an economist for FERC, warned that California’s deregulated energy market could be manipulated be energy generators.
    (SSFC, 5/19/02, p.A7)

1998        Apr 1, The state’s deregulated power market went into effect.
    (SSFC, 5/19/02, p.A7)

1998        Apr 2, The state agreed to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by 3 female prison workers for $4.3 million.
    (SFC, 4/3/98, p.A26)

1998        Apr 4, In Moraga Rodney Kish (46) was shot and killed. In Dec police arrested Leslie Kish (45) and son Jason Kish (21) for the murder. Kish was rich and known to have beaten his wife and children and had been convicted of spousal abuse in 1995.
    (SFC, 12/12/98, p.A19)

1998        Apr 9, Three winners shared the $102 million Super Lotto.
    (SFC, 4/10/98, p.A1)

1998        Apr 9, In Santa Cruz four teenage boys gang-raped an 11-year-old girl after getting her high on heroin.
    (SFC, 4/14/98, p.A17)

1998        Apr 15, The federal government accused A. Bruce Rozet and his business partners of illegally siphoning off $7.5 million from 73 subsidized housing projects across the nation. HUD had already sued Rozet for milking 17 projects in California and Nevada.
    (SFC, 4/16/98, p.A3)

1998        Apr 26,  In Artesia Ronald Taylor (46) jumped to his death off a bridge onto the San Gabriel River Freeway. Police found 5 people dead at his home and suspected Taylor of murder.
    (SFC, 4/28/98, p.A16)

1998        Apr 28, In Santa Rosa security guards of Monument Security at a Safeway store mistakenly beat Richard Joy Clay (72) for allegedly stealing cigarettes. Clay settled a suit in 1999 for $290,000.
    (SFC, 5/20/99, p.A1,10)

1998        Apr 29, The US Supreme Court called for ending judicial delays of execution in a 5-4 vote. This reversed the US Court of Appeals Aug, 1997, reprieve for Thomas Thompson, accused of the 1981 murder of Ginger Fleischli in California and reinstated his death penalty.
    (SFC, 4/30/98, p.A1)

1998        Apr 30, Daniel V. Jones (40) blew up his truck and fatally shot himself on a connector bridge between the harbor and Century Freeways freeway with live TV coverage. He had HIV and displayed an anti-HMO banner before killing himself.
    (SFC, 5/1/98, p.A3)(SFC, 5/2/98, p.A3)

1998        May 11, In SF Archbishop Levada planned to start a free weekly newspaper for the 100,000 registered Catholics of SF and San Mateo. He also announced plans to help fund and distribute El Heraldo Catolico, a Spanish-language newspaper for the Diocese of Sacramento and Oakland.
    (SFC, 5/12/98, p.A17)

1998        May 13, The Altamont Landfill in Livermore, the largest trash dump in Northern California, was tentatively allowed to expand its annual garbage intake from 1.6 million tons to 2.16 million tons per year.
    (SFC, 5/14/98, p.A22)

1998        May 15, Oysters from Tomales Bay were removed from market shelves due to an unknown agent causing illness. The symptoms were similar to the Norwalk virus that caused illnesses around New Orleans during the winter of 1996-1997, that was traced to human sewage.
    (SFEC, 5/31/98, p.A7)

1998        May 21, In Anaheim, Ca., Disney opened its world of tomorrow.
    (SFC, 5/22/98, p.A19)

1998        May 28, Comic actor Phil Hartman (49) of "Saturday Night Live" and "NewsRadio" fame was shot to death at his home in Encino, Calif., by his wife, Brynn (40), who then killed herself.
    (SFC, 5/29/98, p.A1)(AP, 5/28/08)

1998        Jun 2, California Prop. 227 was a state ballot measure that would ban bilingual education. Prop. 226 made it more difficult for unions to use member dues for political purposes. Prop. 227 won with 61% support and effectively abolished the state's 30-year-old bilingual education program by requiring that all children be taught in English. Prop. 226 lost by a 53% margin.
    (SFC, 4/27/98, p.A1)(SFC, 5/9/98, p.A22)(SFC, 6/3/98, p.A1)(WSJ, 6/4/98, p.A1)
    (AP, 6/2/99)
1998        Jun 2, Gray Davis won the Democratic nomination for governor. He was to face Dan Lungren in the fall.
    (SFC, 6/3/98, p.A1)
1998        Jun 2, Jerry Brown (60) won the election for Mayor of Oakland.
    (SFC, 6/3/98, p.A1)

1998        Jun 5, Former Los Angeles Mayor, Samuel W. Yorty, died at 88. He served three terms from 1961 to 1973.
    (SFC, 6/6/98, p.A5)

1998        Jun 6, In Antioch Larry Kiepert (13) was shot and killed by a bullet wound to the head as he played basketball. The shot was accidentally fired by an 11-year-old neighbor, Joshua, who was playing with his father’s hunting rifle. It was later reported that the shooting was intentional. Joshua was convicted of involuntary manslaughter.
    (SFC, 6/9/98, p.A20)(SFC, 6/11/98, p.A1)\(SFC, 8/11/98, p.A1)

1998        Jun 8, Wells Fargo and Norwest Corp. reported a merger plan valued at $30-34 billion to form the nation’s 6th-7th largest bank with headquarters in SF.
    (SFC, 6/8/98, p.A1)(SFC, 6/9/98, p.A10)
1998        Jun 8, Lethal algae blooms in recent weeks killed scores of birds and seal lions in Monterey Bay.
    (SFC, 6/8/98, p.A1)

1998        Jun 12, Christina Marie Williams (13) was reported missing in the Monterey area and was feared to have been kidnapped. In Jan 1999 the remains of a young woman were found in the area that she was last seen on Fort Ord. Her remains were identified with dental records.
    (SFC, 6/17/98, p.A1)(SFC, 1/14/99, p.A1)(SFC, 1/15/99, p.A1)

1998        Jun 17, Unocal announced that it would pay up to $200 million to remove an oil spill beneath the town of Avila Beach near San Luis Obispo.
    (SFC, 6/18/98, p.A1)

1998        Jun 24, Dan Lungren, the state attorney general, approved a provisional license for the $20 million Lucky Chances Card Room in Colma.
    (SFC, 6/27/98, p.A18)

1998        Jun 29, It was reported that Mike Corbin had begun manufacturing the single-seat Sparrow, 3-wheel vehicle in Hollister, Ca. The 960 pound electric vehicle was designed for a range of 60 miles on a single charge with a top speed of 60 mph. It was priced at $12,900.
    (SFC, 6/29/98, p.A17)

1998        Jun 30, Judge Joan Comparet-Cassani in Long Beach, Ca., ordered the activation of a stun belt (50,000 volts), fitted under the jail jumpsuit of defendant Ronnie Hawkins, for his repeated interruptions.
    (SFC, 7/10/98, p.A3)(SFC, 8/7/99, p.A17)
1998        Jun 30, Most of the state’s English-speaking students scored below the national average on an new controversial achievement test.
    (SFC, 7/1/98, p.A1)

1998        Jun, The California State Archives Collection opened at 10th a O streets in Sacramento. (Tuesday-Sunday 10-5; $6.50).
    (SFC, 9/23/98, p.A18)

1998        Jun, The 10.7 million Golden State Museum opened in Sacramento. Maintenance of the museum was dependent self-generated revenue.
    (WSJ, 12/15/99, p.CA1)

1998        Jul 1, The Brady/Jared Teen Driver Safety Act went into effect. Minors under 18 were required to drive with a permit for 6 months before getting a license. Other restrictions included no driving between midnight and 5 a.m.
    (SFC, 6/26/98, p.A23)

1998        Jul 6, A planned shipment of nuclear rods was to be transported across Northern California, Nevada and Utah to Idaho for processing before final storage in South Carolina. The federal government had made 154 secret shipments of spent nuclear fuel rods over the last 40 years. Four more shipments from 7 Asian countries were planned to occur by 2009.
    (SFC, 7/6/98, p.a1)

1998        Jul 7, The US Court of Appeals ruled that condemned prisoners have the option to choose death by lethal injection or by gas in San Quentin’s death chamber. The gas chamber was shut down in 1994.
    (SFC, 7/8/98, p.A17)
1998        Jul 7, A jury in Santa Monica, Calif., convicted Mikhail Markhasev of murdering Ennis Cosby, Bill Cosby's only son, during a roadside robbery. Markhasev was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.
    (AP, 7/7/08)

1998        Jul 9, The State Fish and Game Dept. began releasing trout into Lake Davis following the Oct ‘97 poisoning of non-native pike. Trace amounts of piperonyl butoxide (PBO) still lingered and the lake was not cleared for drinking water usage.
    (SFC, 7/10/98, p.D3)

1998        Jul 12, In Auburn Arturo Juarez Suarez killed a Mexican woman’s husband, brother and 2 children and raped her at the Parnell Ranch. The woman was the sister-in-law of his estranged wife.
    (SFC, 7/15/98, p.A16)

1998        Jul 14, Thomas Martin Thompson (43) was executed at San Quentin, Ca., for the murder of Ginger Fleischli in 1981.
    (SFC, 7/14/98, p.A1)

1998        Jul 15, Owens Valley and Los Angeles struck a deal to end the massive dust storms at the 110-sq-mile lakebed to meet federal air quality standards by the year 2006. The cost was estimated at $120 million.
    (SFC, 7/16/98, p.)

1998        Jul 16, In Stockton, Ca., a jury awarded $30 million in damages to 2 brothers for enduring years sexual abuse from Rev. Oliver O’Grady. In 2006 Amy Berg produced her film “Deliver Us From Evil,” a documentary on O’Grady, who was deported to Ireland after serving time in the US.
    (SFC, 7/17/98, p.A1)(SFC, 10/25/06, p.E1)

1998        Jul 29, The O.J. Simpson 6,200 sq. foot mansion at 360 N. Rockingham in LA was demolished. It had sold to an investment banker for $4 million and a new home was planned for the site.
    (SFC, 7/30/98, p.A3)
1998        Jul 29, Nathan James Smart sped through a Santa Rosa stoplight and crashed into a 1977 Geo Metro killing Chrissy Hagle (18) and Megan White (18). Smart was convicted of gross vehicular manslaughter.
    (SFC, 6/17/99, p.C4)

1998        Jul 30, A scientific panel advised the state that diesel exhaust posed a serious cancer threat.
    (SFC, 7/31/98, p.A23)

1998        Jul 31, At Marine World a Bengal tiger mauled a woman from San Jose, Jaunell Waldo (45), during a photo shoot.
    (SFC, 8/1/98, p.A1)

1998        Jul, In Contra Costa County the Los Vaqueros Reservoir was scheduled for completion. The $450 million project was financed by bonds approved in 1988. It measured 2 1/2 mile in length and width. Pumping the damn full was expected to take 18 months. Recreation facilities were to be in place by Jul 2000.
    (SFC, 10/9/97, p.A20)(SFC, 2/9/98, p.A16)

1998        Aug 7, A fire in Tracy burned some 2.5 million tires at Royster’s Tire Disposal. Some 6-7 million tires in a 30-acre gravel pit were expected to burn for weeks. The tires were still burning in April, 1999.
    (SFC, 8/8/98, p.A21)(SFC, 8/10/98, p.A20)(SFC, 4/28/99, p.A1,15)

1998        Aug 12, A 5.4 earthquake on the San Andreas fault was centered near San Juan Bautista.
    (WSJ, 8/13/98, p.A1)

1998        Aug 13, Jose Garcia Reyes (57), an unemployed tomato picker, was murdered at the edge of the UC Davis campus. Ruben Campos, Guadalupe Franklin and Juan Palomino were arrested for the murder but their prosecution fell apart due to alleged coercive interrogation tactics.
    (SFEC, 6/18/00, p.A1,22)

1998        Aug 15, Michael Castillo of Salinas was murdered. In 2001 Caesar “Lobo” Ramirez and Rico “Smiley” Garcia faced murder charges in an indictment that called the murder a means of gaining entry and power in the Nuestra Familia.
    (SFC, 1/20/01, p.A21)

1998        Aug 20, Gov. Wilson signed a $71 billion budget, 52 days into the new fiscal year, the 2nd longest delay in state history.
    (SFC, 8/21/98, p.A19)

1998        Aug 21, The Univ. of Calif. at Berkeley tied with the Univ. of Virginia as the best public university in the country according to a US News & World Report.
    (SFC, 8/21/98, p.A24)

1998        Aug 24, Gov. Wilson signed the California Internet Tax Freedom Act into law at Cisco Systems.
    (SFC, 8/25/98, p.D1)

1998        Aug 24, It was reported that seawater had intruded to within 2 miles of the wells that supply drinking water to Salinas (pop. 123,000), and that seawater underlied 22,000 acres in northern Monterey County.
    (SFC, 8/24/98, p.A1)

1998        Aug 25, It was announced that Gov. Wilson would give the state prison guards’ union a 12% pay increase. State firefighters were to get a 7% pay hike.
    (SFC, 8/26/98, p.A20)

1998        Aug 28, A fire was reported at a waste dump at Santa Clarita Greenwaste in LA County. Numerous firefighters later reported health problems that were related to toxins from the fire.
    (SFC, 4/19/99, p.D8)

1998        Aug 29, The 1,864-acre Round Valley Regional Park, east of Mt. Diablo, was to be dedicated.
    (SFC, 8/27/98, p.A20)

1998        Aug 29, A fire began in Yolo County and expanded to 2,000 acres in 2 days. In Inyo Nat’l. Forest a fire covered 3,000 acres.
    (SFC, 8/31/98, p.A1)

1998        Sep 1, The California Legislature salvaged the Headwaters forest deal by one vote and approved $425 million to acquire 9,400 acres of redwood forest. The federal government already approved $250 million.
    (SFC, 9/2/98, p.A3)

1998        Sep 7, Disneyland’s new Tomorrowland was scheduled to open this Memorial Day in Anaheim, Ca., with whirling orbs and speeding starships.
    (SFC, 7/14/96, p.T3)

1998        Sep 10, In Monterey County, Ca., narcotics investigators busted a khat plantation. The plant leaves contain cathinone, a natural amphetamine.
    (SFC, 9/11/98, p.A19)

1998        Sep 14, Margarita Flores disappeared. She had been 8 ½ months pregnant and parts of her body were found after several days outside Tijuana, Mexico. The next day Josephina Sonia Saldana brought the fetus of Flores to a hospital and claimed it was hers and stillborn. In 1999 Fresno judge Edward Sarkisian ordered that Saldana stand trial for the deaths.
    (SFEC, 5/23/99, p.D6)

1998        Sep 17, David Chain of Texas was killed by a falling redwood tree logged by Earl Ammons near the Headwaters Forest near Eureka, Ca. Chain's family filed suit in 1999 against Pacific Lumber. In 2004 Patrick Beach authored "A Good Forest for Dying: The Tragic Death of a Young Man on the Front Lines of the Environmental Wars."
    (SFEC, 3/14/99, p.A1)(SFC, 9/13/99, p.A28)(SSFC, 4/11/04, p.M1)

1998        Sep 18, The UC Chancellors received a 3.5% pay raise to make their salaries an average $253,133.
    (SFC, 9/19/98, p.A17)

1998        Sep 20, William D. Hohenthal Jr., a retired anthropology professor at SF State, died while writing a monograph on the Tipai Indians of Lower California.
    (SFC, 10/15/98, p.C6)

1998        Sep 21, Louis P. Martini (79), son of Louis Martini (d.1974) - founder of the Louis M. Martini vineyards, died. He was the first vintner in the US to make a wine wholly from the Merlot grapes.
    (SFC, 9/22/98, p.E2)

1998        Sep 25, The body of Lanett White was found in a watery ditch near Lodi. Her death was later attributed Wayne Adam Ford.
    (SFC, 11/7/98, p.A1)

1998        Sep 26, The Liberian tanker Command owned by Anax Int'l. spilled 3,000 gallons of oil during an illegal transfer from one holding tank to another. The captain pleaded guilty in 1999 and Anax was fined $9.4 million.
    (SFC, 9/28/99, p.A18)

1998        Sep 27, A pair of 3-4 mile-long oil slicks, each a mile wide, were found about 9 miles out to sea between the Golden Gate and half Moon Bay. Lab tests later matched this oil to a small spill in the Bay on Sep 24 to the Liberian tanker, M-T Command, owned by Pearl Shipping of Monrovia. In Dec. the owner, captain and chief engineer were indicted for dumping fuel. In 1999 Anax Int'l. was fined $3.8 million. The Greek firm had earlier paid $5.5 million in civil penalties.
    (SFC, 9/30/98, p.A1)(USAT, 10/9/98, p.10A)(SFC, 12/3/98, p.A25)(SFC, 12/14/99, p.A28)

1998        Sep 28, Gov. Wilson signed legislation to move the California primary to March 7 in the year 2000.
    (SFC, 9/29/98, p.A1)

1998        Sep 29, Tom Bradley, former mayor of Los Angeles (1973-1993), died at age 80.
    (SFC, 9/30/98, p.A1)

1998        Sep 30, In California Gov. Wilson signed legislation to require the use of safety needles to protect health care workers from accidental needle sticks. It was the first state in the nation to enact such legislation.
    (SFC, 10/1/98, p.A1)(SFC, 12/18/98, p.A1)

1998        Oct 1, State regulators said that most gas stations in the Bay Area and Northern California will be allowed to sell gas without MTBE from Oct. to Jan.
    (SFC, 10/2/98, p.A1)

1998        Oct 1, Some 2,500 high school students rallied in San Leandro demanding more state money for schools rather than jails.
    (SFC, 10/2/98, p.A21)

1998        Oct 2, Gene Autry (b.1907), America’s first singing cowboy, died at age 91 in Studio City, CA.
    (SFC, 10/3/98, p.A1)

1998        Oct 5, A Grumman S-2 air tanker crashed while fighting the 18,000 acre blaze burning near Banning in Riverside Ct. The pilot was presumed dead.
    (SFC, 10/6/98, p.A17)

1998        Oct 6, An anonymous donor gave $35 million to St. Mary’s College in Moraga. It would be used for a new science center and 2 new science majors.
    (SFC, 10/7/98, p.A16)

1998        Oct 6, In Riverside a former parks employee burst into City Hall and opened fire. Joseph Neale Jr. (48) wounded the mayor and 2 Council members and was himself wounded by police along with 2 others.
    (SFC, 10/7/98, p.A3)

1998        Oct 12, In Santa Monica, Ca., Horst Fietze, a German tourist, was killed by robbers as he strolled with his wife on an ocean promenade. In 2009 Paul Carpenter (31), a suspect in the murder, was arrested in Jamaica. Three others had already been convicted and sentenced for their roles in the killing.
    (SFC, 2/13/09, p.B6)

1998        Oct 14, The San Diego Padres won the National League championship over the Atlanta Braves in 4 games to 2.
    (WSJ, 10/15/98, p.A1)

1998        Oct 19, The Altamont Commuter Express (ACE) was scheduled to begin carrying passengers from the Central Valley to San Jose.
    (SFC, 10/12/98, p.A1)

1998        Oct 23, Horst “Hans” Grahlmann (57) was shot and killed near Guerneyville in Monte Rio along with employee Jason Aaron (26). Grahlmann was the owner of several gay bars. In 2002 police arrested Zachariah Judson Ruthledge, a massage therapist and handyman.
    (SFC, 10/28/98, p.A15)(SFC, 11/18/99, p.A25)(SFC, 5/8/02, p.A17)
1998        Oct 23, The body of Patricia Anne Tamez (29) was found in San Bernadino. Her death was later attributed Wayne Adam Ford.
    (SFC, 11/7/98, p.A1)

1998        Oct 24, The new $250 million Genentech facility in Vacaville was christened.
    (SFC, 10/23/98, p.B1)

1998        Oct 26, The 7,000 acre Coast Dairies & Land Co. ranch north of Santa Cruz was acquired by the Trust for Public Land for $43 million with partial funding from the David and Lucille Packard Foundation.
    (SFC, 10/27/98, p.A12)

1998        Oct, Leiner Health Products of Carson lost over 4 million pseudoephedrine pills, which were used by illegal drug makers to produce methamphetamine. As many as 20 barrels of the substance was later reported stolen in this year from an Alza plant in Vacaville.
    (SFC, 4/7/00, p.A4)

1998        Nov 3, In California Gray Davis was elected governor over Dan Lungren and Barbara Boxer retained her Senate seat from Mat Fong. Prop. 5, the Indian casino gambling issue, also won. Prop. 10, a 50-cent tax on cigarettes, was also narrowly approved.
    (SFC, 11/4/98, p.A1)(SFC, 11/13/98, p.A1)

1998        Nov 3, Oakley voters appeared to approve the town as Contra Costa’s 19th city.
    (SFC, 11/4/98, p.23)

1998        Nov 3, A Medfly quarantine of some 160 sq. miles was planned for Riverside County.
    (SFC, 11/4/98, p.C5)

1998        Nov 5, In Eureka, Ca., Wayne Adam Ford (36), a truck driver, surrendered himself to the sheriff’s office and confessed to killing at least 4 women. He was finally brought to trial after several legal delays and was found guilty of four counts of first-degree murder on June 27, 2006, and was sentenced to death on August 11, 2006. 
    (SFC, 11/6/98, p.A1)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Adam_Ford)
1998        Nov 5, In Chico 2 football players, Dereck Jonathan Phillips (19) and Trevor McDonald Bird (19) of Butte Comm. College, beat and killed Lloyd Brown (47), a local homeless man.
    (SFC, 11/11/98, p.A1)

1998        Nov 14, In Oceanside Matthew Cecchi (9) was killed in a restroom by a knife slash to the neck. Brandon Wilson (20), a drifter from Wisconsin, was picked up within days and admitted to the murder. A jury in 1999 recommended that Wilson be executed. Wilson was sentenced to death Nov 4.
    (SFC, 11/19/98, p.C6)(SFC, 10/7/99, p.A3)(SFC, 11/5/99, p.A6)

1998        Nov 17, In Napa 3 students were gunned down by a gunman in clash between the Norteno and Sureno gangs. A 17-year-old youth was arrested Nov 21.
    (SFC, 11/18/98, p.A17)(SFC, 11/26/98, p.A21)

1998        Nov 25, The Federal Railroad Administration issued an emergency order directing the Northwestern Pacific Railroad to shut down. The NWP line had 286 miles of old track from Lombard in Napa to Arcata in Humboldt County.
    (SFC, 11/26/98, p.A21)

1998        Nov 30, In LA 3 people were left dead following a drive-by shooting, carjacking and police chase. Officer Brian Brown (27) was killed as was suspect Oscar Zatarain (23). The victim of the drive-by was unnamed.
    (SFC, 12/1/98, A3)

1998        Nov, San Diego voters approved a new $411 baseball stadium.
    (SFC, 6/25/99, p.A4)

1998        Nov, Rachel Newhouse, a junior at California Polytechnic, was assaulted near the Amtrak station in San Luis Obispo. Her body was found on the Jennifer St. Bridge. Rex Allen Krebs (33), a registered sex offender, was associated with the murder in 1999, while being held on parole violations.
    (SFC, 4/26/99, p.A19)

1998        Dec 4, Former state Senator Milton Marks died in SF at age 78.
    (SFC, 12/5/98, p.A1)

1998        Dec 11, In Dublin a botched robbery at the Outback Steakhouse left Deputy John Paul Monego (33) dead. Three suspects were arrested. Ruben Eliseo Vasquez (23), Miguel Galindo Sifuentes (19) and Hai Minh (19) were held for the murder.
    (SFEC, 12/13/98, p.C1)(SFC, 12/15/98, p.A21)(SFC, 10/2/02, p.A19)

1998        Dec 22, California gas stations faced this deadline to replace or improve their underground fuel tanks. Hundreds of rural gas stations were expected to go out of business due to the costs.
    (SFC, 12/7/98, p.A1)

1998        Dec 23, Two days of severe cold caused an estimated $591 million in agricultural damage. Hard hit were the lemon and navel orange crop of the central San Joaquin Valley. Damage estimates later rose to over $700 million.
    (SFC, 12/24/98, p.D1)(SFC, 4/2/99, p.)

1998        Dec 24, In Anaheim Luan Phi Dawson (33) died after being hit in the head by an 8-pound cleat from the sailing ship Columbia at Disneyland.
    (SFC, 1/9/99, p.A22)

1998        Dec 28, In Morgan Hill a speeding car caused an accident that left 4 people dead and 3 injured. The driver, Scott Davis (33), escaped from the scene but was picked up the next day.
    (SFC, 12/30/98, p.A1)

1998        Dec 28, In Riverside Tyisha Miller (19) was killed by a hail of police bullets as she sat in her car with a gun. Her car had some 27 bullet holes. Miler died from bullets to her head and chest with a total of 12 bullets in her body. A coroner's report later said that she was legally drunk with traces of marijuana present. In May, 1999, four police officers were cleared of criminal charges in the killing. The case remained under FBI investigation for civil rights violations. In July officers Paul Bugar (24), Wayne Stewart (26), Daniel Hotard (23) and Michael Alagna( 27) were fired. Sgt. Gregory Preece (38), supervisor of the 4 officers, was told he would be fired July 27.
    (SFC, 12/30/98, p.A1)(SFC, 1/1/99, p.A5)(SFC, 1/8/99, p.A12)(SFC, 5/7/99, p.A7)(SFC, 7/14/99, p.A3)(SFC, 7/28/99, p.A3)

1998        Mike Davis authored "Ecology of Fear," a 484-page diatribe about the ecological and social disasters threatening Los Angeles.
    (SFC, 8/31/99, p.A5)

1998        Patrick Dowling (d.1998) authored "Irish Californians: Historic, Benevolent, Romantic."
    (SFC, 12/23/98, p.C5)(SFEC, 3/14/99, BR p.9)

1998        J. Kahn authored “An Adventurer’s Guide to Humboldt County.”
    (SFEC, 10/11/98, p.T10)

1998        The book "California Votes: The 1998 Governor's Race: An Inside Look at the Candidates and Their Campaigns by the People Who Managed Them" was edited by Gerald C. Lubenow and published in 2000.
    (SFEC, 1/30/00, BR p.3)

1998        Robert Mondavi published “Harvests of Joy: My Passion for Excellence: How the Good Life Became Great Business."
    (SFEC, 11/8/98, BR p.8)

1998        Los Angeles A to Z was published by Leonard and Dale Pitt.
    (SFEC, 4/12/98, Par p.20)

1998        Lionel Rolfe authored “Fat Man on the Left” Four Decades in the Underground.” The book was 16 essays on his life in LA.
    (SFEC, 10/18/98, BR p.6)

1998        Stephen Schwartz, reporter for the SF Chronicle, published “From West to East: California and the Making of the American Mind.”
    (WSJ, 3/3/98, p.A16)

1998        Charles L. Sullivan authored “A Companion to California Wine: An Encyclopedia of Wine and Winemaking from the Mission Period to the Present.”
    (www.amazon.com/Companion-California-Wine-Encyclopedia-Winemaking/dp/0520213513)

1998        The Latino Museum of History, Art and Culture opened in downtown Los Angeles in a former Bank of America building.
    (SFEC, 10/18/98, p.T3)

1998        A new LegoLand theme park was to open in the state.
    (WSJ, 2/9/98, p.A1)

1998        California passed a law regulating unwanted commercial messages (spam). The law was upheld in 2002.
    (SFC, 1/4/02, p.A1)
1998        California voters approved the nation’s first and only law outlawing the killing of horses for human consumption. In the US 3 firms operated three plants that slaughtered horses. The 2 plants in Texas and one in Illinois were owned by French and Belgian firms.
    (SFC, 4/3/06, p.A10)

1998        The Department of Education began a grants program for arts education.
    (SFC, 5/13/02, p.A9)

1998        The Quincy Library Group Forestry Act was passed. It grew out of recommendations from a committee of residents in Plumas County who tried to strike a balance between logging and conservation demands.
    (SFC, 6/11/99, p.A19)

1998        Barry Munitz was appointed as the president and chief executive of the Getty Trust. In 2005 the California endowment was valued at $5.2 billion.
    (Econ, 11/19/05, p.29)

1998        Richard Krupp, computer analyst for the California Department of Corrections, sounded the alarm that sick leave and overtime costs at state prisons were spiraling out of control. Officials asked him to revise the numbers to show decreasing expenses. Krupp refused and was moved to a do-nothing position.
    (SFC, 3/23/04, p.A1)

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