Timeline California 2001-2010
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2001 Jan 1, The
Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians opened up Tahquitz Canyon near
Palm Springs for visitors.
(SSFC, 3/11/01, p.T5)
2001 Jan 4, State regulators
approved raising electricity rates by an average 10% as state utilities
stood near bankruptcy.
(SFC, 1/5/01, p.A1)
2001 Jan 4, Dustin Thomas (20),
was killed in the Sunnydale housing projects. Thomas had recently
testified as a murder witness.
(SFC, 1/9/01, p.A1)
2001 Jan 5, Gov. Davis proposed
extending the school year for middle-school from 180 to 210 days.
(SFC, 1/6/01, p.A1)
2001 Jan 5, Southern California
Edison announced plans to cut 1,450 jobs to save $465 million due to
high power costs.
(SFC, 1/6/01, p.A1)
2001 Jan 8, Gov. Davis offered a
series of proposals to resolve the state energy crises. These included
efficiency incentives, use cutbacks and power generation capacity
increases.
(SFC, 1/9/01, p.A1)
2001 Jan 8, California unveiled
its new one-stop Web site: www.ca.gov
(SFC, 1/8/01, p.A1)
2001 Jan 10, Gov. Davis proposed a
$102 million budget.
(SFC, 1/11/01, p.A1)
2001 Jan 10, LA Mayor Richard
Riordan warned Gov. Davis that he would cut off the sale of surplus
power to the state, unless LA was paid in advance.
(SSFC, 12/16/01, p.A1)
2001 Jan 10, The State Dept. of
Fish and Game decided to slash its trout stocking program for Sierra
lakes in order to protect endangered mountain yellow-legged frogs.
(SFC, 1/11/01, p.A3)
2001 Jan 10, In Nevada County
Scott Harlan Thorpe (40) killed 3 people, including Laura Wilcox (19),
and wounded 2 others before he was apprehended by police near
Smartville. Thorpe had refused to take medication and could not be
force to do so under the 1967 Lanterman-Petris-Short state law. In 2000
a bill AB1421 named “Laura’s Law,” was pending to address the issue.
(SFC, 1/11/01, p.A1)(SFC, 5/1/02, p.A20)
2001 Jan 11, PG&E announced
the layoff of 1,000 workers and a cut back in some customer service to
save an estimated $180 million.
(SFC, 1/12/01, p.A1)
2001 Jan 12, The FERC approved a
corporate restructure for PG&E that allowed the parent company to
shield profits from the mounting debts of its utility subsidiary.
(SFC, 1/16/01, p.A1)
2001 Jan 14, It was reported that
power generators in California were suspected of shutting down power
plants to sell high-valued natural gas contributing to high costs and
power shortages.
(SSFC, 1/14/01, p.A1)
2001 Jan 16, Mike Bowers (37), a
former inmate from San Bernadino County with a grudge against Gov.
Davis, drove a semi-truck into the south side of the state Capitol. He
was killed in the resulting explosion.
(SFC, 1/17/01, p.A1)(SFC, 1/18/01, p.A1)
2001 Jan 16, Southern California
Edison said it would not be able to pay its outstanding bills. PG&E
said it was days away from a default.
(SFC, 1/17/01, p.A1)
2001 Jan 17, Gov. Davis declared a
state of emergency and ordered the Dept. of Water Resources to buy and
sell electricity to help alleviate the crises. PG&E defaulted on
$76 million in short term debt.
(SFC, 1/18/01, p.A1)
2001 Jan 18, The state legislature
signed a $400 million energy rescue measure as Pres.-elect Bush
rejected electricity price caps sought by Gov. Davis.
(SFC, 1/19/01, p.A1)
2001 Jan 18, SF sued 13 energy
providers for collusion to fix prices and restrict the energy supply.
(SFC, 1/19/01, p.A12)
2001 Jan 23, Spencer Abraham,
energy secretary, extended 2 federal emergency orders forcing power
suppliers to continue selling electricity and natural gas to California.
(SFC, 1/24/01, p.A1)
2001 Jan 24, In California the
state received bids for long-term electricity contracts in an auction
to help ease the energy crises.
(SFC, 1/25/01, p.A1)
2001 Feb 1, State lawmakers
enacted legislation to spend up to $10 billion for power. Gov. Davis
ordered large retail outlets to dim lights with penalties beginning Mar
15.
(SFC, 2/2/01, p.A1)
2001 Feb 2, Mexico agreed to sell
a small amount of power to California. The Bush administration refused
to impose energy price caps despite pleas by Western governors.
(SFC, 2/3/01, p.A3,8)
2001 Feb 5, California clinched
deals for long term power contracts at $60-65 per megawatt hour as
federal assistance ended.
(SFC, 2/6/01, p.A1)
2001 Feb 7, An appellate court
ruled that Prop 21 violated judges’ constitutional authority over
sentencing. It overturned a provision that let prosecutors charge
youths 14-17 as adults in serious crimes.
(SFC, 2/8/01, p.A1)
2001 Feb 8, The new Disney theme
park “Disney’s California Adventure” opened in Anaheim.
(WSJ, 1/22/01, p.B1)(SFC, 2/8/01, p.A1)
2001 Feb 11, It was reported that
the state PUC filed law suits against El Paso Natural Gas Co. for
restricting competition in the natural gas market.
(SSFC, 2/11/01, p.A11)
2001 Feb 16, Gov. Davis began
negotiations to purchase 32,000 miles of transmission lines from the
utilities that would allow them to issue bonds to pay off their debt.
(SFC, 2/17/01, p.A1)
2001 Feb 20, A fire at the Delta
& Pine Land Co. in Tulare County was later claimed to have been set
by the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) purportedly to destroy stored
transgenic cottonseed.
(SFC, 3/6/01, p.A2)
2001 Feb 21, The Trust for Public
Land announced the purchase of the 1,226-acre Bixby Ocean Ranch near
Big Sur for $26.25 million.
(SFC, 2/21/01, p.A22)
2001 Feb 22, The California state
PUC voted to absolve PG&E and Southern California Edison of
responsibility for costs above the revenue they collect from ratepayers.
(SFC, 2/23/01, p.A3)
2001 Feb 22, Ashley Ellerin (22),
former girlfriend of actor Ashton Kutcher, was found dead in her
Hollywood Hills home. In 2008 police matched DNA linking Michael
Gargiulo (32), an air conditioning repairman, to her murder and to
another fatal stabbing of a Monterey Park woman in 2005. They also
suspect Gargiulo in the 1993 killing of a high school girl in the
Chicago suburb of Glenview, where Gargiulo lived at the time. Tricia
Pacaccio, a senior at Glenbrook South High School, was found stabbed to
death on her front doorstep, clutching her door key.
(AP,
8/30/08)(www.lapdonline.org/february_2001/news_view/23272)
2001 Feb 23, GM sued California’s
air quality board over rules that required automakers to produce
pollution-free cars by 2003.
(SFC, 2/24/01, p.A3)
2001 Feb 23, David Edward Attias
(18), a freshman at UC Santa Barbara, rammed his Saab into a crowd in
Isla Vista and killed 4 students, Nicholas Shaw Bourdakis (20),
Christopher Edward Divis (20), Ruth Dasha Golda Levy (20) and Elie
Israel (27). A 5th victim, Albert Arthur Levy (27), was severely
battered. Attias was charged with murder the next day. Attias was
convicted on 2nd degree murder in 2002 and jurors found him insane.
(SFC, 2/26/01, p.A1)(SFC, 2/27/01, p.A13)(SFC,
6/13/02, p.A1)(SFC, 6/21/02, p.A17)
2001 Feb 28, Mardi Gras parades in
Fresno, Monterey and San Jose turned violent.
(SFC, 3/1/01, p.A2)
2001 Feb, Wesley Shermantine (35)
of Stockton was convicted of 4 brutal murders. Authorities believed
that he was responsible for another 22 slayings in the Central Valley.
(SFC, 3/5/01, p.A1)
2001 Mar 2, Pehong Chen, CEO and
founder of BroadVision, donated $15 million to Stanford Univ. to study
the power source of the Big Bang and the role of dark matter in the
universe.
(SFC, 3/3/01, p.A16)
2001 Mar 4, Sang Cho, a registered
nurse in Moraga, won the $89 million California SuperLotto Plus.
(SFC, 3/6/01, p.A15)
2001 Mar 5, Charles Andrew
Williams (15), a freshman at Santana High School in Santee, Ca., a San
Diego suburb, shot and killed 2 students and wounded 13 others.
Williams was sentenced 50 years to life in prison on Aug 15, 2002.
(SFC, 3/6/01, p.A1)(SFC, 8/16/02, p.A3)
2001 Mar 9, Federal regulators
warned power companies that they may have to refund $69 million to
California ratepayers for charging unreasonable prices.
(SFC, 3/10/01, p.A1)
2001 Mar 11, It was reported that
California’s alleged growth of electricity use was significantly less
than that portrayed by power industry.
(SSFC, 3/11/01, p.A1)
2001 Mar 17, Ray Rice, one of the
founders of the Art and Architecture movement, died at age 85 in
Mendocino. His work include 40 short films.
(SFC, 4/9/01, p.A17)(http://tinyurl.com/23geum)
2001 Mar 19, Rolling power
blackouts hit California as alternative power generators shut down due
to nonpayment by PG&E and Southern California Edison.
(SFC, 3/20/01, p.A1)
2001 Mar 20, Rolling blackouts
continued for a 2nd day. PG&E and Edison called for an end to the
rate freeze to accompany the sale of transmission lines.
(SFC, 3/21/01, p.A1)
2001 Mar 21, Pres. Vicente Fox
arrived in California for his 1st foreign trip as President of Mexico.
He appealed to Gov. Davis to allow Mexicans in California greater
access to doors of opportunity.
(SFC, 3/21/01, p.A1)(SFC, 3/22/01, p.A1)
2001 Mar 22, In California Jason
Hoffman (18) opened fire at Granite Hills High School in San Diego
County. 10 people were injured. Hoffman reached a plea agreement and
faced at least 27 years in prison. Hoffman was found dead in his cell
Oct 29.
(SFC, 3/23/01, p.A1)(SFC, 3/24/01, p.A3)(SFC,
9/14/01, p.A28)(SFC, 10/30/01, p.E10)
2001 Mar 26, California state
regulators proposed a 40% rate increase to help remedy the state’s
energy crisis.
(SFC, 3/27/01, p.A1)
2001 Mar 27, The California state
PUC voted an average monthly 40% energy rate increase.
(SFC, 3/28/01, p.A1)
2001 Mar 27, Robert Lee Massie
(59) became the 9th prisoner to be executed in California since the
death penalty was reinstated in 1997.
(SFC, 12/13/05, p.A13)
2001 Mar 30, In Half Moon Bay a
new Ritz-Carlton Hotel opened.
(SSFC, 3/25/01, p.B6)
2001 Mar, The Turning Point
Academy, espoused by Gov. Davis, opened in San Luis Obispo. It focused
on troubled youths. It closed in July 26, 2002.
(SFC, 7/27/02, p.A16)
2001 Apr 2, The D.Q. University
(f.1971), the state’s only Indian tribal college, was scheduled to
receive the deed of trust for its 643 acre campus.
(SFC, 4/5/00, p.A15,22)
2001 Apr 6, In California PG&E
filed for bankruptcy with $9 billion in debt. Just before filing the
utility awarded bonuses and raises to 6,000 senior managers and other
employees. SF Judge Dennis Montali was assigned the case.
(SFC, 4/7/01, p.A1,3)
2001 Apr 7, Gov. Davis said
“PG&E’s management is suffering from two afflictions: denial and
greed.”
(SFC, 4/9/01, p.A1)
2001 Apr 9, Gov. Davis and
California Edison agreed to a $2.8 billion bailout deal that included
state possession of 12,000 miles of power lines.
(SFC, 4/10/01, p.A1)
2001 Apr 10, Mayoral elections
were held in LA. City Attorney James Hahn led the race with businessman
Steve Soboroff and state Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa close
behind. Final results put Hahn (30%) in a runoff against Villaraigosa
(25%).
(SFC, 4/11/01, p.A3)(SFC, 4/12/01, p.A3)
2001 Apr 11, Gov. Davis singed an
$850 billion conservation package for loans and grants to make homes
and businesses more energy efficient.
(SFC, 4/12/01, p.A3)
2001 Apr 17, California reported
that daily energy costs had soared to $73.2 million per day.
(SFC, 4/18/01, p.A1)
2001 Apr 19, CHP Commissioner
Dwight O. Helmick issued an order the prohibited “consent searches,” a
practice that contributed to racial profiling.
(SFC, 4/20/01, p.A1)
2001 Apr 24, California’s credit
rating was downgraded by S&P for the 1st time since the recession
of 1994.
(SFC, 4/25/01, p.A1)
2001 Apr 25, US federal regulators
voted for a “mitigation” plan to tame wholesale electricity prices in
California.
(SFC, 4/26/01, p.A1)
2001 Apr 30, Chandra Levy (24), an
intern from Modesto, Ca., was last seen at a health club near her
apartment in Washington, D.C. On July 5 the aunt of Chandra Levy
reported that her niece told her of a relationship with US Rep. Gary
Condit before she disappeared. Levy’s remains were found May 22, 2002,
in Rock Creek Park, Washington DC. In 2009 Ingmar Guandique (27), a
Salvadoran immigrant already serving a 10-year sentence for attacking 2
women in the same park, was charged in her murder. In 2010 Scott Higham
and Sari Horwitz authored “Finding Chandra: The True Washington Murder
Mystery.”
(SFC, 5/18/01, p.A3)(SFC, 7/6/01, p.A1)(AP,
4/30/02)(SFC, 5/23/02, p.A1)(SFC, 4/23/09, p.A4)(SSFC, 5/9/10, p.F1)
2001 May 4, Gov. Davis declared a
state of emergency for Siskiyou and Modoc counties because of drought
conditions in the Klamath Basin.
(SFC, 5/5/01, p.A8)
2001 May 4, Bonny Lee Bakley (44),
the wife of actor Robert Blake (67), died from a bullet wound to the
head as she sat in a car near a restaurant in Los Angeles. Blake and
his bodyguard, Earle Caldwell, were arrested April 18, 2002, in
connection with Bakley's death. Blake, accused of the killing, was
acquitted in a 2005 criminal trial but was found liable by a civil jury
and ordered to pay damages.
(BS, 5/12/01, p.3A)(SFC, 4/23/02, p.A3)(SFC,
3/17/05, p.A1)(AP, 5/4/07)
2001 May 5, It was reported that
California faced an over-production of apricots by some 30,000 tons.
Producers hope for a federal buyout. Turkey put apricots into New York
at $1 a pound. California growers needed $2.50 to $3 a pound to pay
expenses.
(SFC, 5/5/01, p.F1)
2001 May 7, Rolling blackouts hit
the state following record high temperatures.
(WSJ, 5/8/01, p.A1)
2001 May 8, A 2nd afternoon of
rolling blackouts hit the state.
(SFC, 5/9/01, p.A1)
2001 May 9, It was reported that
El Paso Merchant Energy had crimped space in its desert pipeline and
forced power buyers to pay some $3.8 billion in excess over the past
year.
(SFC, 5/9/01, p.A7)
2001 May 14, Gov. Davis announced
a $3.5 billion budget deficit.
(SFC, 5/15/01, p.A3)
2001 May 15, In California energy
regulators adopted the highest rate increase in the state’s history.
The residential consumer burden was raised by over $100 million.
(SFC, 5/16/01, p.A1)
2001 May 15, In Stockton 3 kids
(4-6), Pearl, Ashley and Bobby Burks, and their grandmother, Mikhala
Burke (48), were slain. Police sought Roger Johnson (48), a former
boyfriend of the children’s mother. Johnson committed suicide May 19 by
his wife’s grave in Lodi.
(SFC, 5/16/01, p.A22)(SFC, 5/17/01, p.A4)(SSFC,
5/20/01, p.A23)
2001 May 16, Univ. of Cal. regents
rescinded their 1995 ban on affirmative action.
(SFC, 5/17/01, p.A1)
2001 May 17, California energy
regulators uncovered evidence that some electrical power companies
repeatedly shut down generating plants for unnecessary maintenance.
(SFC, 5/18/01, p.A1)
2001 May 24, Gov. Davis issued an
executive order requiring one hour’s notice prior to energy blackouts.
(SFC, 5/24/01, p.A1)
2001 May 25, PG&E filed for
permission to award $17.5 million in additional payouts to the
management team that guided the company to bankruptcy.
(SFC, 5/30/01, p.A1)
2001 May 29, Pres. Bush met with
Gov. Davis in California. Bush ruled out federal price controls and
Davis said he would sue to impose controls.
(SFC, 5/30/01, p.A1)
2001 May 29, Epidural cortisone
shots at the Sierra SurgiCenter in Walnut Creek caused 2 deaths from
contamination that led to meningitis. A batch of betamethasone steroid
was contaminated with serratia bacteria.
(SFC, 6/8/01, p.A1)(SFC, 6/9/01, p.A1)
2001 May 30, Gov Davis said he
would use his executive powers to claim excess power from local
utilities if they do not lower their prices to the state.
(SFC, 5/31/01, p.A1)
2001 The Black Rock Arts
Foundation, associated with the Burning Man festival, was formed to
fund artists involved with non-traditional, interactive art.
(SSFC, 8/19/01, p.E2)
2001 Jun 3, In California pilot
Daniel Katz (24) disappeared while flying over San Bernardino National
Forest. This spurred one of the most extensive and high-tech searches
in the area's history. In 2008 the wreckage of his rented plane was
found on a steep mountainside north of Rancho Cucamonga near Lytle
Creek.
(AP, 9/23/08)
2001 Jun 4, Bill Simon Jr.,
investment banker and son of former Treasury Secretary William E.
Simon, said he would pursue the GOP nomination for state governor.
(SFC, 6/5/01, p.A3)
2001 Jun 5, Voters in LA elected
City Attorney James Hahn as mayor over former Assembly speaker Antonio
Villaraigosa 54-46%.
(SFC, 6/6/01, p.A1)(SFC, 6/7/01, p.A3)
2001 Jun 6, A jury in Los Angeles
awarded more than $3 billion to lifelong smoker Richard Boeken,
deciding that tobacco giant Philip Morris was responsible for his
incurable lung cancer. The jury award was reduced by a Superior Court
judge to $100 million, then cut to $50 million by an appeals court; the
U.S. Supreme Court refused in March 2006 to consider tossing out the
award altogether; Boeken died in 2002.
(SFC, 6/7/01, p.A3)(AP, 6/6/06)
2001 Jun 9, Phil Bronstein,
executive editor of the SF Chronicle, was attacked by a Komodo dragon
named Komo at the LA Zoo. Bronstein escaped with a crushed big toe and
lacerated tendons. He had removed his white shoes to reduce the
possibility of an attack.
(SFC, 6/23/01, p.A7)
2001 Jun 11, Gov. Davis wrote an
executive order to ease air pollution standards on power plants to
avoid summer power outages.
(SFC, 6/12/01, p.A1)
2001 Jun 14, It was reported that
FERC planned to impose round-the-clock price restrictions on wholesale
electricity sold to California.
(SFC, 6/14/01, p.A1)
2001 Jun 15, In Gilroy the new
75-acre Bonfante Gardens Theme Park was scheduled to open. Michael
Bonfante (60) was the owner of Nob Hill Markets.
(SFC, 6/9/01, p.A1)
2001 Jun 18, US federal regulators
imposed a price ceiling on Western wholesale electricity prices
effective June 19 to the end of summer.
(SFC, 6/19/01, p.A1)
2001 Jun 18, Thousands of
firefighters fought the Martis fire at Floriston near Truckee that
covered 12,300 acres since Jun 17. The fire on the California-Nevada
border reached 14,500 acres with 2/3 in Nevada.
(SFC, 6/19/01, p.A1)(SFC, 6/20/01, p.A3)(SFC,
6/23/01, p.A3)
2001 Jun 19, Stanley Mosk (88)
state Supreme Court Justice for nearly 37 years, died at age 88.
(SFC, 6/20/01, p.A1)
2001 Jun 22, Former Duke Energy
workers testified that production was ramped up and down at one San
Diego plant to drive up electricity costs.
(SFC, 6/23/01, p.A1)
2001 Jun 23, It was reported that
swarms of grasshoppers were descending from the hills into the valleys
of California.
(SFC, 6/23/01, p.C8)
2001 Jun 23, Joaquin Gutierrez
(39) of Hollister shot and killed his wife (39) and stepson (15) in
Watsonville. Gutierrez killed himself Sep 6 near Patterson following a
13-hour standoff with police.
(SFC, 9/7/01, p.D2)
2001 Jun 24, A $141 million
lottery ticket, the largest in the state’s history, was reported to
have been sold from Union Avenue Liquors in San Jose. Alcario
Castellano, a retired grocery clerk, and his wife Carmen claimed the
win June 29.
(SFC, 6/25/01, p.A1)(SFC, 6/30/01, p.A13)
2001 Jul 1, A new law took effect
requiring preschool children to be immunized for chicken-pox.
(SFC, 7/19/01, p.A3)
2001 Jul 2, It was reported that
sudden oak death had turned up in California buckeye trees, Aesculus
californica, the 10th species stricken by the fungus-like organism.
(SFC, 7/2/01, p.A13)
2001 Jul 5, The aunt of Chandra
Levy reported that her niece told her of a relationship with US Rep.
Gary Condit (D-Ceres) before she disappeared.
(SFC, 7/6/01, p.A1)
2001 Jul 6, US Rep. Gary Condit
(D-Ceres) admitted to authorities that he had a sexual relationship
with Chandra Levy before she disappeared.
(SFC, 12/30/01, p.D3)
2001 Jul 13, It was reported that
California was awash with methamphetamines produced by Mexican drug
trafficking cartels. Prices were down to $20 per gram vs. $100 in the
rest of the country.
(SFC, 7/13/01, p.A3)
2001 Jul 17, A USAF F-16 crashed
in northeast San Bernadino County, Ca. Maj. Aaron George, pilot, and
Judson Brohmer, photographer, were killed.
(SFC, 7/18/01, p.A5)
2001 Jul 26, Gov. Davis signed a
$100 billion budget package. $126 million in cuts to community colleges
was part of the package.
(SFC, 7/27/01, p.A1)(SFC, 8/14/01, p.A11)
2001 Jul, The McClellan Air Force
Base in Sacramento Ct. was scheduled to close.
(SFC,12/24/97, p.A14)
2001 Aug 14, Gov. Davis signed a
law that allowed people to bet on California horse races using the
telephone and Internet.
(SFC, 8/14/01, p.A1)
2001 Aug 20, Four oil companies
(Chevron, Shell, Texaco and Unocal) agreed to clean up MTBE
contamination in California caused by leaking storage tanks. 4 others
(ARCO, Exxon, Mobil and Tosco) declined to settle the suit.
(SFC, 8/21/01, p.A3)
2001 Aug 20, Near Sacramento, Ca.,
Nikolay Soltys (27), a Ukrainian immigrant, stabbed to death his
pregnant wife and 4 other relatives including 2 young cousins. He fled
the area with his 3-year-old son. The body of Sergey Soltys (3) was
found the next day in a blood-soaked carton in Placer County. Soltys
was caught in his mother’s backyard near Sacramento Aug 30. Soltys
committed suicide Feb 13, 2002.
(SFC, 8/21/01, p.A1)(SFC, 8/22/01, p.A1)(SFC,
8/31/01, p.A1)(SFC, 2/14/02, p.A17)
2001 Aug 20, Jana
Carpenter-Koklich (41), daughter of former Sen. Paul Carpenter, was
last seen in her Lakewood home. Her blood-soaked SUV was found a week
later at Signal Hill. In 2002 police arrested Bruce Koklich for her
murder.
(SFC, 2/1/02, p.A10)
2001 Aug 23, The 2-year union
strike at Basic Vegetable Products, an onion and garlic dehydration
plant, in King City approached an end as workers voted on a new 5-year
contract.
(SFC, 8/23/01, p.A3)
2001 Aug 23, Modesto Rep. Gary
Condit acknowledged on a TV interview with Connie Chung that he had
made mistakes but that he had nothing to do with the disappearance of
Chandra Levy.
(SFC, 8/24/01, p.A1)
2001 Aug 24, Pope Shenouda III,
the 117th successor of St. Mark and head of the 12-million member
Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church, was denied access to a site in Marin,
Ca., where a new monastery was planned.
(SFC, 8/25/01, p.A10)
2001 Aug 26, It was reported that
MTBE was leaking from 251 underground gasoline tanks in the Bay Area
and reached 48 wells in public water systems.
(SSFC, 8/26/01, p.A1)
2001 Aug 27, Two Dept. of Forestry
air tanker pilots, Larry Groff (55) and Lars Stratte (45) were killed
in a mid-air collision in Mendocino County. Frank Brady (50) was later
charged with murder was well as causing the fire which started next to
his methamphetamine lab.
(SFC, 8/28/01, p.A3)(SFC, 8/29/01, p.A1)
2001 Aug 28, The 3,500 residents
of Weaverville were evacuated as fire hit the eastern edges.
(SFC, 8/29/01, p.A1)
2001 Aug 29, Residents of
Weaverville returned to their homes after fire destroyed 9 homes on the
western edge.
(SFC, 8/30/01, p.A1)
2001 Aug 30, Nikolay Soltys was
captured hiding under a desk in his mother's back yard in Citrus
Heights, Calif., after a ten-day nationwide manhunt for the Ukrainian
immigrant accused of butchering six relatives. Soltys committed suicide
in his jail cell in February. [see Aug 20]
(WSJ, 8/31/01, p.A1)(AP, 8/30/02)
2001 Sep 5, In Calaveras County a
fire destroyed a wooden water flume that provided Stanislaus River
water to some 9,000 area residents.
(SFC, 9/10/01, p.A1)
2001 Sep 5, In Simi Valley 2 kids
and an adult were shot to death. Reynaldo Herrera Rodriguez (35) was
sought.
(SFC, 9/6/01, p.A4)
2001 Sep 9, In Sacramento Joseph
Ferguson (20), a suspended security guard, killed a 5th victim in 24
hrs. He shot himself to death the next day following a police chase and
shootout that injured 2.
(SFC, 9/10/01, p.A1)(WSJ, 9/11/01, p.A1)
2001 Sep 10, Larry McNabney (53),
Sacramento lawyer, was poisoned by his wife, Laren Renee Sims (35),
with horse tranquilizer and died the next day. His body was found Feb
6, 2002. Sims (36) was arrested in Florida and confessed on Mar 18,
2002. Sims hanged herself Mar 30.
(SFC, 3/25/02, p.A1,11)(SFC, 4/1/02, p.B1)
2001 Sep 22, Volunteers celebrated
the completion of the Tahoe Rim Trail, a 150-mile loop around Lake
Tahoe that began with an idea by US Forest Service ranger Glenn Hampton
in 1980.
(SFC, 9/29/01, p.A13)(SSFC, 4/14/02, p.C5)
2001 Sep 26, Gov. Davis nominated
Carlos Moreno to the State Supreme Court.
(SFC, 9/27/01, p.A1)
2001 Sep 26, In Vacaville FBI
agents arrested Bryan Douglas Rosenquist (39) and Michelle Elaine
Serrao (41) for embezzling almost $12 million from BofA.
(SFC, 9/27/01, p.A13)
2001 Sep 26, A Senate committee
issued subpoenas to 16 California energy officials to determine whether
they colluded to manipulate the state’s power market.
(SFC, 9/27/01, p.A13)
2001 Sep 29, In California Abdo
Ali Ahmed, a Yemeni-born father of 8, was shot to death by assailants
at his store in Reedley, Fresno Ct. A carload of teenagers fled the
scene.
(SFC, 10/3/01, p.A1)
2001 Oct 2, Public tours of the
Watts Towers, made by Italian immigrant Sabato “Simon” Rodia
(1921-1954), resumed after 7 years following earthquake work.
(SSFC, 9/30/01, p.A17)
2001 Oct 3, Over half of
California 9th graders failed the math portion of a new graduation
exam, and over a third failed the language arts part. Graduates in 2004
will be required to pass the test to receive a diploma.
(SFC, 10/4/01, p.A1)
2001 Oct 5, A federal judge
approved a $3.3 billion rescue plan for Southern California Edison 3
days after the state’s PUC endorsed it.
(SFC, 10/6/01, p.A13)
2001 Oct 10, Rep. Nancy Pelosi of
California was elected House Democratic Whip, the highest post ever
held by a woman in Congress.
(WSJ, 10/11/01, p.A1)
2001 Nov 1, The Davis
administration re-increased the sales tax by a quarter cent effective
Jan 1.
(SFC, 11/2/01, p.A21)
2001 Nov 4, A freeway shooting on
I-10 in LA left 2 people dead.
(SFC, 11/5/01, p.A17)
2001 Nov 5, PG&E Corp., the
parent of bankrupt PG&E, reported a 243% jump in profits during the
3rd quarter.
(SFC, 12/30/01, p.D8)
2001 Nov 17, A state legislative
analyst reported a $12 billion shortfall in revenues for thus year and
next despite budget cuts and a hiring freeze.
(SFC, 12/30/01, p.D8)
2001 Nov 21, A series of 100 waves
broke over Maverick’s Reef in Half Moon Bay, Ca.
(SFC, 1/31/07, p.A1)
2001 Nov 23, An Amtrak passenger
ran into a tractor in Ventura County. The tractor driver (65) was
killed and 12 passengers received minor injuries.
(SFC, 11/24/01, p.A11)
2001 Nov 27, Harry Sternberg (97),
artist and teacher, died in San Diego.
(SFC, 12/5/01, p.A23)
2001 Dec 3, Gov. Davis of
California met with Pres. Fox and Mexican legislators in Mexico City to
discuss economic solutions on mutual interests.
(SFC, 12/4/01, p.A3)
2001 Dec 10, US authorities
announced the indictment of 32 people in a human-smuggling operation
that involved a Los Angeles bus company. Raid over the last 2 days had
picked up 26 of the 32 indicted.
(SFC, 12/11/01, p.A7)
2001 Dec 12, US federal agents
began a crackdown on student visa violations and arrested 10 foreigners
in San Diego.
(SFC, 12/13/01, p.A1)
2001 Dec 12, In Los Angeles police
arrested Irving David Rubin (56) head of the Jewish Defense League, and
Earl Leslie Krugel (59), for plotting to blow up a local mosque. Rubin
committed suicide in 2002. In 2005 Krugel was sentenced to 20 years in
prison.
(SFC, 12/13/01, p.A3)(SFC, 9/23/05, p.A3)
2001 Dec 12, The Amtrak Oakland to
Bakersfield train hit a van near Shafter and killed 7 Latino men.
(SFC, 12/13/01, p.A21)
2001 David Fine authored
“Imagining Los Angeles: A City in Fiction,” a literary history of Los
Angeles.
(SSFC, 2/11/01, BR p.4)
2001 The “Literature of California
Volume I: Native American Beginnings to 1945” was edited by Jack Hicks,
James D. Houston, Maxine Hong Kingston and Al Young.
(SFC, 1/17/01, p.E1)
2001 The new $214 million
California Public Health Laboratory opened on a 28-acre site in
Richmond.
(SSFC, 7/31/05, p.A1)
2001 Robert Mondavi backed the
opening of Copia, the $50 million American Center for Wine, Food and
the Arts, in Napa, Ca.
(USAT, 6/17/98, p.2D)(SSFC, 8/6/06, p.G8)
2001 Rubbersidewalks Inc. of
Gardena, Ca., began grinding old tires into crumbs, adding chemical
binders, and baking the material into sidewalk sections that weigh
under 11 pounds per square foot, or a quarter of the weight of concrete.
(AP, 7/27/06)
2002 Jan 1, A state law sponsored
by Carole Migden went into effect that added burglary, arson and
carjacking to 9 other crimes already eligible for DNA testing.
(SFC, 2/19/02, p.A13)
2002 Jan 3, Some 80 cars piled up
in Kern County on a foggy Hwy 58 near the Hwy 99 intersection. One
person was killed.
(SFC, 1/4/02, p.A24)
2002 Jan 7, Elvira Burnson (54) of
Gilroy went missing. Daughter Paula (30) and Paula’s boyfriend Robert
Beckwith were later arrested for murder.
(SFC, 1/23/02, p.A15)
2002 Jan 8, Gov. Davis made his
State of the State speech and said he would not raise taxes to close
the $12.2 billion budget deficit.
(SFC, 1/9/02, p.A1)
2002 Jan 10, Gov. Davis introduced
a $100 billion budget with a $5 billion deficit.
(SFC, 1/11/02, p.A1)
2002 Jan 15, Nancy Pelosi, US
Senator, began her position as Democratic whip.
(SFC, 1/15/02, p.A1)
2002 Jan 16, Four former SLA
members, Sara Jane Olson, William Harris, Emily Harris and Michael
Bortin, were arrested in California for the 1975 slaying of Myrna Lee
Opsahl.
(SFC, 1/17/02, p.A1)
2002 Jan 16, The Fresno Unified
School District revoked a charter contract with an agency that ran 14
campuses due to legal violations.
(SFC, 1/21/02, p.A1)
2002 Jan 18, Sara Jane
Olson, '70s radical-turned-suburban mother, was sentenced in Los
Angeles to 20 years to life in prison for plotting to blow up a pair of
police cars 27 years earlier. On March 17 2008 Olson was released on
parole, but soon returned to prison for another year due to an alleged
clerical error made in 2004. In 2009 Olson (62) was freed from prison
in California and returned to Minnesota to serve a year long
parole.
(AP, 1/18/03)(AP, 3/21/08)(SFC, 3/24/08, p.B1)(SFC,
3/18/09, p.A5)
2002 Jan 19, Benneta Buell-Wilson
(42) was left a paraplegic after her Ford Explorer rolled over in San
Diego County after she swerved to avoid an obstacle on the road. An
initial ruling awarded her $122 million in compensation and $246
million in punitive damages. The trial judge reduced the total to $150
million. In 2006 an appeals court reduced the total award to $82
million. In 2009 the US Supreme Court upheld her $55 million in
punitive damages.
(SFC, 7/20/06, p.B2)(SFC, 12/1/09, p.C3)
2002 Jan 24, The Florida state
pension fund reported a $325 million loss from the demise of Enron. The
Univ. of California reported a $145 million loss.
(SFC, 1/25/02, p.A24)
2002 Jan 29, In California Stephen
Wayne Anderson (48), was executed for the 1980 murder of Elizabeth
Lyman (81) during a robbery in her home. He spent years on death row
and wrote a number of award-winning plays, books and poems.
(SSFC, 1/27/02, p.A3)(SFC, 1/30/02, p.A13)
2002 Feb 1, Danielle van Dam (7)
went missing from Sabre Springs, her San Diego suburban home. David
Westerfield (49), a neighbor, was arrested Feb 22 after her blood was
found on his clothing and in his motor home. Her body was found Feb 27
some 25 miles northeast of San Diego at Dehesa. Westerfield was
convicted of her kidnapping and murder on Aug 21 and was sentenced to
death Jan 3, 2003.
(NW, 2/18/02, p.34)(SFC, 2/23/02, p.A3)(SFC,
2/28/02, p.A3)(SFC, 8/22/02, p.A3)(SFC, 1/4/03, p.A3)
2002 Feb 6, Larry McNabney,
Sacramento lawyer, was found in a hastily dug grave. His wife, Elisa
McNabney (35), was believed to have murdered him months earlier and was
sought by the FBI. [see Sep 10, 2001]
(SSFC, 3/10/02, p.A29)(SFC, 3/25/02, p.A1)
2002 Feb 7, A US federal court
ruled that it is unconstitutional to sentence a felon to 25 years to
life for shoplifting, which was allowed under the California “three
strikes law.”
(SFC, 2/8/02, p.A1)
2002 Feb 8, A bankruptcy judge
rejected a reorganization plan proposed by Pacific Gas and Electric.
(SFC, 2/9/02, p.A1)
2002 Feb 8, Marine Sgt. Todd
Sommer (23) died in his home in San Diego. His death was at first ruled
a heart attack but later tests found high arsenic levels in his liver.
In 2005 his wife, Cynthia Sommers, was charged with 1st degree murder.
In 2007 his wife, Cynthia Sommer (33) was convicted of murdering him
with arsenic so she could cash in on his $250,000 life insurance
policy, some of which she used to have her breasts enlarged.
(SFC, 12/16/05, p.A2)(AP, 1/30/07)
2002 Feb 10, A wildfire in
Fallbrook, San Diego Ct., destroyed at least 30 homes. Santa Ana winds
were blamed.
(SFC, 2/11/02, p.A2)(SFC, 2/12/02, p.A3)
2002 Feb 17, There were 3 reported
winning Lotto tickets in the record $193 million Cal. state lottery.
Andy Kampe (57) picked up a claim form at Albertson’s in Half Moon Bay
on Feb 18.
(SFC, 2/18/02, p.A2)(SFC, 2/19/02, p.A1)
2002 Feb 19, Adair Xavier Garcia
(30) killed 5 of his children in Pico Rivera after he left a grill on
inside the family home. Garcia was charged with murder on Feb 25.
(SFC, 2/26/02, p.A5)
2002 Feb 22, The California state
Supreme Court struck down the “Son of Sam” law that required felons to
turn over profits from books and movies to their victims.
(SFC, 2/22/02, p.A1)
2002 Feb 22, Police in San Diego
arrested David Westerfield in connection with the disappearance of
7-year-old Danielle van Dam. Westerfield was later sentenced to death
for Danielle's murder.
(AP, 2/22/07)
2002 Feb 28, The body of a young
girl found outside San Diego, Ca., was positively identified as that of
7-year-old Danielle van Dam, who'd disappeared from her bedroom about a
month earlier; a neighbor, David Westerfield, was later convicted of
her murder and sentenced to death.
(AP, 2/28/07)
2002 Feb, Charles Jackson (64)
died at Folsom prison of a heart attack while serving a life term for a
1982 rape-murder. DNA evidence later linked him to 6 unsolved knife
slayings in the East Bay in the 1970s and early 1980s.
(SFC, 3/19/02, p.A1)
2002 Mar 5, In California state
elections Bill Simon won the Republican race over Richard Riordan
(49-30) to face Gov. Davis in Nov. In Modesto Rep. Gary Condit lost to
Assemblyman Dennis Cardoza (56-37) for the Democratic nomination to
Congress. Voters rejected Prop 45, an easing of term limits.
(SFC, 3/6/02, p.A1)(SFC, 3/7/02, p.A13)
2002 Mar 15, Gov. Davis delayed a
ban on the gasoline additive MTBE for one year.
(SFC, 3/16/02, p.A1)
2002 Mar 19, A 5th body was found
in New Melones Lake near Sonora, Ca. Meyer Muscatel (58), a Sherman
Oaks contractor, was found last October. A Russian crime gang was
suspected. Alexander Umansky (35) and George Safiev (37), found Mar 17,
were suspected to be among the 4 dead. The body of Nick Kharabadze
(29), was found Mar 18. 4 men were already indicted in connection with
their disappearance: Iouri Mikhel, Jurijus Kadamovas, Petro Krylov and
Ainar Altmanis. Altmanis, a Latvian citizen, later admitted
orchestrating the plot to kidnap wealthy businessmen. In 2004 Aleksejus
Markovskis pleaded guilty to conspiracy and was later sentenced to 15
years in prison. In 2007 Jurijus Kadamovas and Iouri Mikhel were
convicted of orchestrating the kidnapping-for-ransom scheme and
sentenced to death. Petro Krylov was convicted April 26 and sentenced
to life in prison.
(SFC, 3/21/02, p.A3)(SFC, 3/22/02, p.A3)(SFC,
6/7/02, p.A9)(SFC, 1/18/07, p.B10)(SFC, 4/27/07, p.B5)(SFC, 1/18/08,
p.B4)
2002 Mar 26, In Merced John P.
Hogan (49) shot and killed his 3 step-children (14-17) and daughter (5)
over the break-up of his marriage.
(SFC, 3/27/02, p.A17)
2002 Mar 26, The bodies of 3 young
people, David Bachman (26), Melinda Leippe (19) and Brenda White (19),
from Littleton, Colorado, were found on Bonny Doon Beach, 5 miles north
of Santa Cruz. A possible suicide pact was suspected.
(SFC, 3/27/02, p.A19)(SFC, 3/28/02, p.A17)
2002 Mar 28, A US Navy helicopter
crashed on Split Mountain in the Sequoia National Forest and 2 crew
members were killed.
(SFC, 3/29/02, p.A5)
2002 Mar 29, At Fort Irwin, Ca., a
mortar round exploded prematurely and 3 soldiers were killed.
(SFC, 3/30/02, p.A3)
2002 Mar 29, John Thomas (71),
poet, died in LA. He was born as John Thomas Idlet and grew up in
Baltimore. His work included “From Patagonia.”
(SFC, 4/13/02, p.A21)
2002 Mar 31, In Windsor Carl
Donohue (71) shot and killed his wife’s grandson, Jesse Brady (19) and
then killed himself.
(SFC, 4/1/02, p.B1)
2002 Apr 1, The American Rivers
environmental group listed the most endangered US rivers and included
the Missouri, Big Sunflower (Mississippi), and Klamath (California) in
the top 11.
(SFC, 4/2/02, p.A3)
2002 Apr 8, At Folsom State Prison
warring gangs waged a bloody battle that left 24 inmates injured and
one guard disabled.
(SFC, 1/17/04, p.A1)
2002 Apr 9, The LA civilian police
commission voted to deny a 2nd term to chief Bernard Parks. Black
leaders described the vote as a betrayal.
(SFC, 4/10/02, p.A3)
2002 Apr 20. A US Navy F-4 crashed
during an air show at Ventura, Ca., and its 2 crew members were killed.
(SSFC, 4/21/02, p.A29)
2002 Apr 22, Estimates for the
state budget showed a $22 billion shortfall. Long-term energy contracts
were reworked to save ratepayers $3.5 billion.
(SFC, 4/23/02, p.A1)
2002 Apr 23, The US Supreme Court
ruled that property owners were not entitled to compensation in cases
where a temporary freeze stops development. The ruling stemmed from a
development freeze around Lake Tahoe.
(SFC, 4/24/02, p.A1)
2002 Apr 23, The Metrolink Train
from Riverside to Orange County collided with a Burlington Northern
Santa Fe freight train and 2 people were killed. Over 260 were injured.
The freight train failed to heed line signals.
(SFC, 4/24/02, p.A3)(SFC, 4/25/02, p.A3)
2002 Apr, A PG&E rate freeze
was scheduled to end and the company planned to implement heavy rate
increases to cover an estimated $15 billion in expenses.
(SFC, 9/6/00, p.A1)
2002 May 1, California’s Dept. of
Insurance released a list of former slaves and slaveholders. Records of
613 salves and 433 slaveholders were made public.
(SFC, 5/1/02, p.A1)(SFC, 5/2/02, p.A17)
2002 May 2, Gov. Davis forced Arun
Baheti, chief technology officer, to resign for accepting a check from
Oracle Corp. during contract negotiations. Elias Cortez, director of
the Dept. of Information Tech., was suspended.
(SFC, 5/3/02, p.A1)
2002 May 6, Federal regulators
released documents that showed Enron Corp. had manipulated the
California power system to increase profits.
(WSJ, 5/7/02, p.A1)
2002 May 7, David Geffen (59),
co-founder of DreamWorks, donated $200 million to the school of
medicine at UCLA. This was the largest ever donation to a school of
medicine in the US
(SFC, 5/8/02, p.A12)
2002 May 9, Conservation groups
acquired a 10,000 acre area of Big Sur called the Palo Corona Ranch
from Craig McCaw.
(SFC, 5/10/02, p.A1)
2002 May 11, A wildfire burned
3,200 acres of the Angeles National Forest and forced hundreds of
residents to evacuate.
(SSFC, 5/12/02, p.A23)
2002 May 12, Six train cars
derailed in Placer County and one hung over the China Wall.
(SFC, 5/13/02, p.A6)
2002 May 14, Gov. Davis proposed
program cuts, loans and new taxes to close a $23.6 billion budget gap.
(SFC, 5/15/02, p.A1)
2002 cMay 16, Ralph Dills (91),
former state senator, died. He had married his stepdaughter (57) on Sep
13, 2001.
(SSFC, 8/18/02, p.A16)
2002 May 21, Citigroup agreed to
buy Cal Fed Bank for $5.8 billion in cash and stock.
(SFC, 5/22/02, p.A1)
2002 May 28, It was reported that
state garlic farmers were greatly challenged by imports of low priced
Chinese garlic, despite tariffs of nearly 400%.
(SFC, 5/28/02, p.A1)
2002 May 28, State officials
levied $88.7 million in fines to 2 LA pharmacists for filing over 3,500
illegal prescriptions over the Internet.
(SFC, 5/29/02, p.A1)
2002 May 30, Federal regulators
dismissed state attempts to add billions to the existing demand of $9
billion in alleged overcharges by power sellers during the 2001 energy
crises.
(SFC, 5/31/02, p.A5)
2002 May 31, Antonio Pineiro (48),
opened fire in a Top Valu market in Long Beach, Ca., and killed Marcela
Perez (38), a store clerk, and Barbara Ibasco (8). Police shot and
killed Pineiro and found the year old remains of an elderly couple,
believed to be his parents, dead in his apartment.
(SFC, 6/1/02, p.A2)
2002 Jun 3, Lew Wasserman (89),
movie mogul, died in Beverly Hills, Calif. In 2003 Connie Bruck
authored his biography: "When Hollywood Had a King."
(AP, 6/3/03)(WSJ, 6/6/03, p.W8)
2002 Jun 5, Phyllis Wattis (97),
SF arts patron, died. Her contributions to Northern California cultural
institutions exceeded $150 million. Her husband, Paul L. Wattis, headed
the construction company that built Boulder Dam (Hoover Dam).
(SFC, 6/6/02, p.A22)
2002 Jun 5, The California Supreme
Court decided that a man who raises a child, but is not the biological
father, can still be the legal parent.
(SFC, 6/7/02, p.A1)
2002 Jun 7, Los Angeles county
firefighters worked to contain the 23,500 acre Copper Fire that was
ignited by a grinding tool in Green Valley. A fire in Ventura county
covered 20,800 acres.
(SFC, 6/8/02, p.A20)
2002 Jun 11, Quincy Troupe (62),
prof. of creative writing at UC San Diego, was named California state
poet laureate. Troupe resigned Oct 18 after he acknowledged that he
lied in his resume about graduating from college.
(SFC, 6/12/02, p.D5)(SSFC, 10/20/02, p.A14)
2002 Jun 12, The Los Angeles
Lakers finished off the New Jersey Nets in four games, winning their
third straight NBA title with the 113-to-107 victory.
(AP, 6/12/03)
2002 Jun 12, Gov. Davis signed
into law and proclaimed the 3rd Saturday of June as National Juneteenth
Freedom Day.
(SFC, 6/18/04, p.B2)
2002 Jun 17, A converted C-130 air
tanker crashed over a flaming ridge near Walker in Mono County, Ca.,
and 3 crew members were killed. It was later reported that the 1956
plane had been used by the CIA and lacked maintenance records.
(SFC, 6/17/02, p.A1)(SFC, 1/7/03, p.A3)
2002 Jun 19, California reached a
$45.8 million settlement with BP over inadequate underground storage
tanks at Arco gas stations.
(SFC, 6/20/02, p.A1)
2002 Jun 26, In LA a van with 27
suspected illegal immigrants crashed after it tried to avoid a border
patrol check and 6 people were killed.
(SFC, 6/26/02, p.A3)
2002 Jul 3, The federal government
agreed to nullify the 2001 designation of most of 4.1 million acres as
protected habitat for the red-legged frog in an agreement with the Home
Builders Association of Northern Calif.
(SFC, 7/4/02, p.A1)
2002 Jul 3, State regulators made
a tentative settlement with Pac Bell over incorrect DSL billing to
30-70 thousand customers. It included a $27 million fine.
(SFC, 7/4/02, p.A1)
2002 Jul 4, Hesham Mohamed Hadayet
(41), an Egyptian-born 10-year resident of Irvine, opened fire at
Israel’s El Al airline ticket counter in Los Angeles' airport. Victoria
Hen and Yaakov Aminov were killed before Hadayet, born July 4, 1961,
was shot to death by a guard.
(AP, 7/5/02)(Reuters, 7/5/02)(SFC, 7/5/02,
p.A1)(SFC, 7/6/02, p.A12)
2002 Jul 6, In Ingleside, Ca.,
police officer Jeremy Morse was caught on video tape beating Donovan
Jackson (16), who was already subdued and handcuffed. Jackson’s father,
Coby Chavis, was being investigation for expired registration tags. The
video led to federal involvement in the case. Mitch Crooks (27), the
man who made the tape, was arrested July 11 on an outstanding warrant
for petty theft. Officers Morse and Bijan Darvish were indicted July
17. Morse was dismissed Oct 14.
(SFC, 7/11/02, p.A3)(SFC, 7/12/02, p.A2)(SFC,
7/18/02, p.A1)(SFC, 10/26/02, p.A5)
2002 Jul 6, In California Bob
Stern (77) left his Central Valley home and committed suicide. He had
discussed his plans with family members the previous evening. In 2005
his daughter Susan Stern produced the documentary film “The Self-Made
Man” for PBS TV.
(SFC, 7/25/05, p.1)
2002 Jul 12, The IRS named Bill
Simon, GOP candidate for California state governor, in a case involving
potentially illegal offshore tax shelters. Dozens of other wealthy
investors were also named.
(SFC, 7/13/02, p.A1)
2002 Jul 13, A family of 4 were
found stabbed to death in their home near Whittier, Ca. Jasmine Ruiz
(8) was sexually assaulted before being killed. Alfonso Ignacio Morales
(23) was arrested July 15.
(SSFC, 7/14/02, p.A7)(SFC, 7/16/02, p.A4)
2002 Jul 15, In Stanton, Ca.,
Samantha Runnion (5) was kidnapped. Her body was found the next day in
Riverside county. An autopsy revealed that she had been sexually abused
and died from a crushed abdomen. A sample of DNA was also found under
her fingernail. On July 19 police arrested Alejandro Avila (27),
previously acquitted for child molestation. In 2005 Avila was convicted
of kidnapping, murder and sexual assault. On May 16 a jury called for
the death penalty. He was sentenced to death on July 22.
(SFC, 7/17/02, p.A2)(SFC, 7/20/02, p.A1)(SFC,
4/29/05, p.A4)(SFC, 5/17/05, p.B8)(SFC, 7/23/05,
p.B7)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samantha_Runnion)
2002 Jul 16, The body of Samantha
Runnion (5), who had been kidnapped a day earlier from her home in
Stanton, Calif., was found in a heavily forested area about 50 miles
away.
(AP,
7/16/03)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samantha_Runnion)
2002 Jul 18, The California
Supreme Court ruled that the state’s marijuana law can help pot smokers
avoid being tried for drug offenses.
(SFC, 7/19/02, p.A1)
2002 Jul 19, West Coast
Homebuilders under Albert Seeno agreed to pay $1 million for draining
frog-breeding ponds for 3,200 homes in Pittsburg, Ca. Seeno also agreed
to turn hundreds of acres over to a frog refuge.
(SFC, 7/20/02, p.A1)
2002 Jul 22, Gov. Davis signed a
bill for California air regulators to enact measures by 2009 to cut
vehicle emissions of greenhouse gases believed to contribute to global
warming.
(SSFC, 7/21/02, p.A1)(WSJ, 7/23/02, p.A1)
2002 Jul 22, Factory worker
Alejandro Avila was charged with murder and kidnapping in the abduction
and slaying of 5-year-old Samantha Runnion of Stanton, Calif.
(AP, 7/22/03)
2002 Jul 23, In California the
Davis administration and Oracle Corp. agreed to cancel a $95 million DB
software contract.
(SFC, 7/24/02, p.A18)
2002 Jul 23, In California a
growing fire in Sequoia Nat’l. Park consumed 48,200 acres in 3 days.
(SFC, 7/24/02, p.A1)
2002 Jul 26, The Turning Point
Academy in San Luis Obispo, set up by Gov. Davis as a military-style,
troubled youth program in Mar, 2001, was closed. The program had served
34 students and graduated 11 at a cost of some $1 million per graduate.
(SFC, 7/27/02, p.A15)
2002 Jul 28, A wildfire near
Klamath claimed 3 state firefighters when their fire engine slipped off
a mountain road and plunged 800 foot into a ravine.
(SFC, 7/29/02, p.A3)
2002 Jul 29, A fire broke out
northeast of San Diego after a National Guard helicopter clipped a
power line. Residents of Warner Springs and Chihuahua Valley prepared
to evacuate on Aug 8.
(SFC, 8/9/02, p.A9)
2002 Jul 31, A state jury awarded
$65 million in a fraud case against a firm founded by GOP candidate for
governor Bill Simon. On Sep 12 a judge dismissed the verdict saying the
fraud was done by a former partner.
(WSJ, 8/1/02, p.A1)(SFC, 9/13/02, p.A1)
2002 Aug 1, In California 2 girls
(one 16 and Jacqueline Marris, 17) were rescued in Kern County 12 hours
after being kidnapped and raped near Lancaster by Roy Ratliff (37).
Police shot Ratliff dead. Police credited the new Amber alert system,
named after a Texas girl abducted and killed in 1996.
(SFC, 8/2/02, p.A1,8)(SFC, 8/3/02, p.A5)
2002 Aug 5, Shell Oil agreed to
pay $28 million to the Tahoe Public Utility District to help cleanup
contamination from the gasoline additive MTBE.
(SFC, 8/6/02, p.A17)
2002 Aug 6, Surgeons in LA
completed a 22-hour operation on Guatemalan twins, Maria de Jesus Quiej
Alvarez and sister Maria Teresa, joined at their heads. UCLA doctors
donated their services in the $1.5 million operation. They returned to
Guatemala Jan 13, 2003.
(SFC, 8/7/02, p.A1)(SFC, 8/8/02, p.A3)(SFC, 2/7/03,
p.A12)
2002 Aug 9, US officials said they
broke up an int’l. child pornography ring headquartered in Clovis, Ca.
10 Americans were arrested in Operation Hamlet. Lloyd Alan Emmerson
(45), chiropractor, was arrested Jan 26 on a tip from Danish police.
(SFC, 8/10/02, p.A1,11)(SFC, 8/13/02, p.A13)
2002 Aug 11, Galen Rowell (61) and
his wife (54), acclaimed outdoor photographers, were killed in a small
plane crash in Inyo County.
(SFC, 8/13/02, p.A13)
2002 Aug 27, Jonathan Patrick
Klausen (19), a California Conservation Corps (CCC) firefighter, was
arrested for allegedly starting 5 fires in San Diego County.
(SSFC, 9/1/02, p.A23)
2002 Aug 29, The federal
government approved a plan to store Colorado River water under the
Mohave Desert and tap it for use by Southern California during times of
drought.
(SFC, 8/30/02, p.A10)
2002 Aug 31, The state Assembly
approved a budget to plug a $23.6 billion deficit. Gov. Davis was left
with finding $750 million in additional cuts.
(SSFC, 9/1/02, p.A1)
2002 Sep 1, In Salinas Jaime
Hernandez shot and killed 3 teenagers (17-18) in retaliation for an
earlier shooting. In 2003 Hernandez (17) was sentenced to 180 years in
prison.
(SFC, 8/22/03, p.A23)
2002 Sep 2, The $195 million Our
Lady of the Angels Cathedral in Los Angeles was dedicated. It was
designed by Spanish architect Rafael Moneo.
(SFC, 9/2/02, p.A2)
2002 Sep 3, Gov. Davis signed
legislation requiring landlords to give at least a 60-day notice before
evicting a tenant and a formal notice before entering their property.
(SFC, 9/4/02, p.A19)
2002 Sep 4, In California it was
reported that the Phytophthora ramorum microbe, responsible for sudden
oak death, had infected the coastal redwood saplings.
(SFC, 9/5/02, p.A1)
2002 Sep 5, Gov. Davis signed a
$98.9 billion state budget. Some projected a $12 billion shortfall.
(SFC, 9/6/02, p.A23)
2002 Sep 9, A state appellate
court ruled that government agencies in California may not open their
public meetings with sectarian prayers.
(SFC, 9/10/02, p.A13)
2002 Sep 12, Gov. Davis signed
legislation to dramatically increase California’s use of renewable
energy.
(SFC, 9/13/02, p.A23)
2002 Sep 15, Stephen Tauzer (57),
Kern County prosecutor, was found murdered in his garage in
Bakersfield. On Oct 22 Chris Hillis (47), a former police officer, was
charged with the murder.
(SFC, 9/19/02, p.A1)(SFC, 10/23/02, p.A3)
2002 Sep 17, Gov. Davis signed
into law a bill that allows the use of force to get DNA samples from
convicted murderers, rapists and child abusers.
(SFC, 9/18/02, p.A17)
2002 Sep 22, Gov. Davis signed
legislation intended to make California a haven for stem cell research.
(SFC, 9/23/02, p.A1)
2002 Sep 23, Governor Gray Davis
signed a law making California the first state to offer workers paid
family leave.
(SFC, 9/24/02, p.A1)(AP, 9/23/03)
2002 Sep 23, The Croy grass fire
broke out in Morgan Hill. It grew to 3,150 acres threatening Santa Cruz
County before it was contained Sep 27. Complete control was expected by
Oct 11.
(SFC, 9/26/02, p.A1)(SFC, 9/28/02, p.A13)(SFC,
10/1/02, p.A15)
2002 Sep 27, The federal
government increased the flow of water into the Klamath River from
Upper Klamath Lake in Oregon following the die-off of some 20-30,000
salmon in northern California.
(SFC, 9/28/02, p.A2)(SFC, 10/3/02, p.A3)
2002 Sep, The Charles M. Schultz
Museum and Research Center opened in Santa Rosa.
(SSFC, 9/29/02, p.C1)
2002 Oct 1, Arturo Tapia Martinez
(27), a transient from LA, stabbed Greyhound bus driver Abel Hernandez
on I-5 near Coalinga. The bus slid onto its side and 2 passengers were
killed.
(SFC, 10/2/02, p.A17)
2002 Oct 2, West Coast dockworkers
and shippers agreed to federal mediation as the 4-day lockout paralyzed
29 ports.
(SFC, 10/3/02, p.A1)
2002 Oct 3, The new $57 million
Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts opened at UC Davis.
(SFC, 9/26/02, p.D1)
2002 Oct 9, West Coast
longshoremen returned to ports crammed with cargo after a lockout that
ended only after President Bush intervened.
(AP, 10/9/03)
2002 Oct 13, The Anaheim Angels
routed the Minnesota Twins 13-5 to win the American League Championship
Series in five games.
(AP, 10/13/03)
2002 Oct 14, In New Mexico VP
Cheney met with representatives of Bajagua, a start-up waste processing
firm targeting waste water in Tijuana, Mexico. Waste from Tijuana
flowed into San Diego County and its Tijuana River estuary. Bajagua
spent $585,000 in lobbying efforts from 2001-2006. Estimates of costs
to the US ranged from $580-780 million. A 1999 environmental impact
statement called the Bajagua plan not feasible.
(WSJ, 1/27/07, p.A15)
2002 Oct 17, Timothy Belden,
former Enron executive, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and agreed to
cooperate with federal prosecutors. Belden admitted to giving grid
operators false information and shipping power from within California
out of state and selling it back at higher prices.
(SFC, 10/18/02, p.A1)
2002 Oct 18, Two US Navy planes,
F/A-18F Super Hornet jets, collided off the Big Sur coast of California
and 4 pilots were killed.
(SFC, 10/19/02, p.A17)
2002 Oct 20, It was reported that
Gov. Davis helped a number of political contributors get coastal
building permits despite environmental concerns.
(SSFC, 10/20/02, p.A1)
2002 Oct 24, It was reported that
over 8,000 backyard poultry had been killed in southern California to
stop the spread of Exotic Newcastle disease. The deadly avian infection
last surfaced in California the 1970s when some 12 million birds were
destroyed. The number of chickens killed reached 100,000.
(SFC, 10/24/02, p.G2)(SFC, 10/26/02, p.A3)(SFC,
12/28/02, p.A3)
2002 Oct 25, A judge ordered the
release of Marva Wallace (44), who had been convicted of shooting her
husband to death in 1984. She was released pending trial under a new
state law that gives battered women, convicted prior to 1992, a 2nd
chance in court.
(SFC, 10/26/02, p.A1)
2002 Oct 27, The Anaheim Angels
beat the SF Giants in the 7th game of the baseball World Series 4-1.
(SFC, 10/28/02, p.A1)
2002 Oct 29, In SF the 9th Circuit
Court of Appeals said the federal government cannot punish California
doctors who recommend marijuana use to their patients.
(SFC, 10/30/02, p.A1)
2002 Oct, Pat Derby opened the Ark
2002 elephant sanctuary in San Andreas, Ca.
(SFC, 6/21/04, p.A8)
2002 Nov 8, The California State
Medical Board moved to suspend the licenses of Dr. Chae Hyun Moon and
Dr. Fidel Realyvasquez of Redding Medical Center for performing
needless heart surgeries from 1992-2002. In 2003 Tenet Healthcare,
owner of RMC, paid $54 million to settle federal charges related to the
allegations. In 2004 Tenet agreed to pay an additional $395 million to
settle cases with over 769 heart patients. In 2007 Stephen Klaidman
authored “Coronary: A True Story of Medicine Gone Awry.”
(SSFC, 11/10/02, p.A18)(SFC, 12/22/04, p.A1)(SSFC,
2/18/07, p.E1)
2002 Nov 10, A Hetch Hetchy pipe
ruptured near Modesto and some 70 million gallons of water were lost in
about 9 hours.
(SFC, 11/12/02, p.A1)
2002 Nov 19, In Red Bluff, Ca.,
police officer David Mobilio (31) was shot to death at a gas station.
On Nov 25 Andrew Hampton McCrae (23), an ex-soldier and drifter, posted
a message on the Internet admitting the murder. On Nov 26 McCrae was
arrested in Concord, NH.
(SFC, 11/27/02, p.A1)
2002 Dec 18, In California Gov.
Davis announced a $34.8 billion cash shortage over the next 18 months
and that tax increases would be needed. A legislative analyst later
assessed the deficit at $21 billion.
(SFC, 12/19/02, p.A1)(SFC, 1/8/03, p.A17)
2002 Dec 24, Laci Peterson (27)
disappeared from her Modesto, Ca., neighborhood. She was 8-months
pregnant. A reward for her return soon reached $500,000. On Jan 24
Amber Frey stepped forward and admitted to an affair with Scott
Peterson, the husband of Laci. Laci’s body was found April 14 near the
SF Bay Berkeley Marina, where Scott had gone fishing on Dec 24. [see
Apr 18, 2003] Peterson convicted of 1st degree murder on Nov 12, 2004.
(SSFC, 12/29/02, p.A23)(SFC, 1/25/03, p.A1)(AP,
11/12/04)
2002 Dec 27, The hamlet of
Bridgeville on Highway 36 in Humboldt County, Ca., was sold on Ebay for
$1.77 million. The eBay deal failed and in 2004 Southern California
investor purchased the 82-acre town for $700,000.
(SFC, 12/28/02, p.A3)(SFC, 5/21/04, p.B3)
2002 Ray McDevitt authored “The
Courthouse of California,” an outline of the courthouses in all 58
state counties.
(SFC, 4/13/02, p.A15)
2002 David L. Ulin edited “Writing
Los Angeles: A Literary Anthology.”
(SSFC, 10/12/02, p.M1)
2002 Kevin Shelley was elected as
Sec. of State. In 2004 it was reported that $100,000 in campaign funds
was linked to sources that received California state grants brokered by
Shelley.
(SSFC, 8/8/04, p.A1)
2002 Garland Hardeman (45),
lobbyist and former LA police officer, became a government informant
after being convicted of attempting to bribe an official. He recorded
17 people, including a girlfriend and close associates in cases
involving bribes and kickbacks for municipal contracts in southern
California. In 2006 he began serving a sentence reduced to a year and a
day.
(WSJ, 10/21/06, p.A1)
2003 Jan 3, David Westerfield, the
man who'd kidnapped and murdered 7-year-old neighbor Danielle van Dam,
was sentenced to death by a judge in San Diego.
(AP, 1/3/04)
2003 Jan 6, California Gov. Davis
promised to create 500,000 new jobs over the next 4 years.
(AP, 1/7/03)
2003 Jan 10, Gov. Davis announced
tax increases that included a 1 cent increase in the sales tax and
higher income taxes for the state’s wealthiest. His budget plan
included a 1% funding increase for state prisons and an $8 million
increase for the Legislature.
(SFC, 1/10/03, p.A1)(SFC, 1/13/03, p.A1)(SFC,
1/17/03, p.A1)
2003 Jan, Matthew B. Montejo (15)
and half brother Jason V. Bautista (20) were arrested in Riverside,
Ca., for the murder of their mother, Jane Bautista (41). Her headless
and handless body was found dumped in the Cleveland National Forest.
(SFC, 1/4/05, p.B8)
2003 Feb 3, Phil Spector (62),
rock-n-roll producer, was arrested in LA for murder after Lana Clarkson
(40) was found dead in his mansion. In 2007 his murder case ended in a
mistrial with a 10-2 deadlock.
(SFC, 2/4/03, p.A1)(SFC, 9/27/07, p.A2)
2003 Mar 19, Pacific Lumber began
removing tree sitters near Eureka, Ca. Some of the 18 sitters had been
in the trees for almost a year.
(SFC, 1/19/02, p.A23)
2003 Mar 20, El Paso Corp. agreed
to pay California $1.7 billion to settle claims over manipulation of
natural gas prices in 2000 and 2001.
(SFC, 1/20/02, p.A1)
2003 Mar 29, A rented Ford
Econoline 3-350 crashed on I-15 in southern California and 5 women
enroute to a retreat were killed. Families in 2004 sued Ford alleging
negligence.
(SFC, 8/4/04, p.B5)
2003 Mar 31, A state web site,
http://nocall.doj.state.ca.us, began registering Californians to block
telemarketing calls.
(SFC, 4/3/03, p.A17)
2003 Apr 18, Scott Peterson was
arrested in San Diego for the deaths of Laci Peterson and her baby.
Genetic testing proved that two bodies found Apr 13-14 near the SF Bay
Berkeley Marina were Laci Peterson and her baby. [see Dec 24, 2002]
(AP, 4/19/03)(SFC, 4/19/03, p.A1)
2003 Apr 29, California biologists
reported that some 92 southern sea otters had died since the beginning
of the year between Point Conception and Half Moon Bay. A cat parasite,
Toxoplasma gondii, was cited as one factor weakening the animals.
(SFC, 4/30/03, A1)(SFC, 5/7/03, p.A1)
2003 Apr, The Arcata City Council
approved an ordnance telling its management workers they cannot assist
or voluntarily cooperate with investigators carrying out provisions of
the federal Patriot Act.
(SSFC, 4/13/03, p.A17)
2003 May 8, A federal grand jury
indicted Chinese-born California socialite Katrina Leung on charges
that she'd illegally taken, copied and kept secret documents obtained
from an FBI agent. A federal judge later dismissed the case against
Leung, rebuking prosecutors for misconduct.
(AP, 5/8/08)
2003 May 18, It was reported that
many California community state pension expenses will soon exceed 40%
of the public safety payroll.
(SSFC, 5/18/03, p.D3)
2003 May 12-13, Thieves overnight
broke into the museum at Pt. Lobos on the Monterey Peninsula and stole
a collection of 48 abalone scrimshaw carvings.
(SFC, 5/20/03, p.A1)
2003 Jun 4, Corey Marques Jasmin
(20), an airman at Travis Air Force Base, robbed an adult book store in
Fairfield, Ca. Hours later he killed two homeless women, Otilia
Carrington (48) and Ricksehlla Harrison (29). In 2008 a state appeals
court upheld his life sentence without parole.
(SFC, 9/27/08, p.B2)
2003 Jun 4, Delmar E. Brown (84),
renowned fly fisherman, died in Watsonville, Ca. He invented the Del
Brown Crab Fly and held a record-setting catch of a tarpon 15 times the
test of his line.
(SSFC, 6/8/03, p.A29)
2003 Jun 6, In California a small
plane plunged into an apartment building near Hollywood, sending the
three-story structure into flames within minutes and killing at least
two people.
(AP, 6/6/03)
2003 Jun 20, Gov. Davis announced
that car license fees would triple as of Oct. 1 and Finance Director
Steve Peace said California was now operating off of borrowed money.
(SFC, 6/21/03, p.A1)
2003 Jun 20, In Los Angeles County
31 train cars broke loose and rolled over 30 miles before workers
forced a derailing at Commerce.
(SFC, 6/21/03, p.A3)
2003 Jun 26, The US Supreme court
ruled that a provision of the 1994 California penal code that extended
the statute of limitations for child molestation was unconstitutional.
(SFC, 6/27/03, p.A1)
2003 Jun 29, Joseph Parker (30), a
bagger at Albertson's in Irvine, Ca.,, killed 2 people with a sword
before police fatally shot him.
(SFC, 6/30/03, p.B4)
2003 Jul 1, Rancho Cordova, a
community that arose around the edges of Mather Air Force Base, became
the 478th city of California.
(SSFC, 8/3/03, p.D6)
2003 Jul 2, The film "Ken Parks"
by Larry Clark and Edward Lachman received an illegal public screening
in Balmain, a suburb of Sydney, Australia. The film was about the
dysfunctional lives of skateboarders in the suburbs of Visalia, Ca.,
and was banned due to its explicit sex and violence.
(SFC, 7/7/03, p.D2)
2003 Jul 4, Manuel Gehring (44)
shot and killed his 2 children, Philip (11) and Sarah (14), following a
dispute with his wife in Concord, NH. He was later arrested in Gilroy,
Ca. He confessed to police that he shot and killed his 2 children in
New Hampshire and buried them in the Midwest. In 2005 authorities found
the bodies of the 2 children buried off I-80 in Ohio. Gehring committed
suicide in his jail cell on February 19, 2004 at the Merrimack County
Jail in Boscawen, New Hampshire.
(SFC, 8/1/03, p.A3)(SSFC, 12/4/05,
p.A22)(http://tinyurl.com/62dfka)
2003 Jul 8, A California petition
drive by Republican backers to recall Gov. Davis ended with enough
signatures to force a vote in the fall.
(WSJ, 7/9/03, p.A1)
2003 Jul 8, Joanie Harper (39),
her 3 children aged 2 months to 4 years, and her mother, were shot and
killed in Bakersfield, Ca. Husband Vincent E. Brothers (41), a
Bakersfield teacher and administrator, was arrested and released, but
remained a prime suspect. In May, 2007, Brothers was convicted. On Sep
27 he was sentenced to death for the murders.
(SFC, 7/9/03, p.A13)(SFC, 7/11/03, p.A17)(SFC,
9/28/07, p.B12)
2003 Jul 16, In Santa Monica, Ca.,
10 people were killed and over 70 injured when a car driven by George
Russell Weller (87) plowed through a crowded street market in an
apparent accident. In 2006 a jury convicted Weller on 10 counts of
felony manslaughter. He was sentenced to 5 years probation due to his
failing health. Weller was also ordered to pay about $107,100 in fines
and restitution.
(SFC, 7/18/03, p.A1)(SFC, 11/21/06, p.A3)(AP,
7/16/08)
2003 Jul 23, California's 1st
statewide recall for Gov. Davis qualified for ballot, which was soon
scheduled for Oct 7.
(SFC, 7/24/03, p.A1)(SFC, 7/25/03, p.A1)
2003 Jul 26, Backers of a drive to
oust California Governor Gray Davis held a boisterous celebration at
the state Capitol in Sacramento, more than two months before the Oct. 7
recall election.
(AP, 7/26/04)
2003 Jul 29, The state Assembly
sent Gov. Davis a nearly $100 billion spending plan.
(SFC, 7/30/03, p.A1)
2003 Aug 1, In San Diego, Ca., a
206-unit complex under construction was leveled by a fire. Members of
the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) claimed responsibility.
(SFC, 9/20/03, p.A5)
2003 Aug 2, Gov. Davis signed a
nearly $100 million budget for California and blamed Republicans for
the budget's painful cuts.
(SSFC, 8/3/03, p.A1)
2003 Aug 4, California Governor
Gray Davis asked the state Supreme Court to delay his Oct. 7 recall
election until the following March. The recall went ahead as originally
scheduled.
(AP, 8/5/04)
2003 Aug 6, Arnold Schwarzenegger
on The Tonight Show told Jay Leno and a national TV audience of his
candidacy to replace Gray Davis as governor of California. Hours later,
Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante said he was entering the recall race as well.
(SFC, 8/7/03, p.A1)(AP, 8/6/04)
2003 Aug 9, California Gov. Davis
signed legislation banning 2 forms of flame-retardant chemicals (PBDEs)
effective Jan 1, 2008.
(SSFC, 8/10/03, p.A32)
2003 Aug 13, Arnold
Schwarzenegger, candidate for governor of California, named Warren
Buffet as his economic adviser. 135 candidates were certified.
(WSJ, 8/14/03, p.A1)
2003 Aug 19, Deborah B. Franzman
(50) was attacked and killed by a suspected white shark near the Avila
Beach pier near San Luis Obispo. She was the 10th California shark
victim since 1952.
(SFC, 8/20/03, p.A1)(SFC, 8/21/03, p.A17)
2003 Aug 22, In southern
California members of the Earth Liberation Front struck 4 car
dealerships. Damage at a Chevrolet dealership in West Covina was over
$1 million.
(SFC, 8/23/03, p.A2)
2003 Sep 5, Gov. Davis signed
legislation to permit illegal residents to obtain driver's licenses.
(SFC, 9/6/03, p.A1)
2003 Sep 5, A roller coaster
derailed at Southern California's Disneyland theme park, killing one
man and injuring 10 other people, including a 9-year-old.
(Reuters, 9/5/03)
2003 Sep 13, The California
Democratic Party voted to endorse Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante while
continuing to support Gov. Gray Davis in the Oct. 7 recall election.
(AP, 9/13/04)
2003 Sep 14, Yetunde Price (31),
older sister of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams, was shot and
killed in LA County. Suspect Aaron Michael Hammer (24) was arrested 2
days later.
(SFC, 9/16/03, p.A1)
2003 Sep 15, In California a
judicial panel postponed the Oct 7 recall balloting because old ballot
equipment could deprive voters of their right to be counted. On Sep 23
the 9th Circuit Court ruled that the recall be held on Oct 7.
(AP, 9/16/03)(SFC, 9/16/03, p.A1)(SFC, 9/20/03,
p.A1)(SFC, 9/24/03, p.A1)
2003 Sep 19, Gov. Davis signed
AB205, a California domestic partners bill.
(SFC, 9/20/03, p.A1)
2003 Sep 19, Joy Risker (25)
disappeared following dinner in San Diego with her husband Sean Goff.
Risker was one of 2 women married to Goff. In 2006 Goff admitted that
he stabbed Risker during an argument, mutilated her body and buried her
in the Arizona desert.
(SFC, 7/19/06, p.B10)
2003 Sep 22, California signed
into law a privacy bill, effective Jul 1, 2004, that prevents use of
vehicle recorded data without the consent of the owner. GM began
installing data boxes in the 1970s.
(SFC, 9/23/03, p.A1)
2003 Sep 23, A federal appeals
court unanimously put California's recall election back on the calendar
for Oct. 11.
(AP, 9/23/04)
2003 Sep 23, In California's Gov.
Gray Davis signed a law to prohibit spam effective Jan 1.
(SFC, 9/24/03, p.A1)
2003 Sep 24, In California's Gov.
Gray Davis signed a law to tack $6-10 onto each new computer and
television sold in the state to pay for recycling costs.
(SFC, 9/26/03, p.B1)
2003 Sep 30, In California Gov.
Davis signed 2 bills aimed at tracking water contamination from
perchlorate use over the past 53 years. Ariana Huffington dropped out
of the race for governor.
(WSJ, 10/1/03, p.A1)
2003 Sep, Sonora, Ca., held its
1st annual US Jousting Championship.
(SSFC, 9/11/04, p.B1)
2003 Oct 1, Robert Dynes assumed
the office of president of the Univ. of California.
(SFC, 8/14/07, p.A4)
2003 Oct 1, California state car
license fees increased $150 from $73 to $223.
(SFC, 9/29/03, p.A1)
2003 Oct 1, California approved a
phosphite product developed by Agrichem of Australia to treat sudden
oak death.
(SFC, 10/3/03, p.A17)
2003 Oct 3, The Diamond Valley
Lake Reservoir in Riverside County opened to fisherman and boaters. The
$1.9 billion, 8-sq.-mile lake took 4 years to fill.
(SFC, 10/2/03, p.A16)
2003 Oct 7, California voters
recalled Gov. Davis. Among the replacement candidates, Arnold
Schwarzenegger won with 3.74 million votes or 49%. Propositions 53 on
racial privacy and 54 on state infrastructure funding were defeated.
(AP, 10/8/03)(SFC, 10/8/03, p.A1)(SFC, 10/9/03,
p.A15)
2003 Oct 8, A day after
being elected governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger said he was
promised "a very smooth transition" by ousted Gov. Gray Davis and vowed
to "open up the books" in dealing the state's ailing economy.
(AP, 10/8/08)
2003 Oct 12, Some 70,000 employees
of Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons grocery stores began a strike in
southern California, Missouri, Kentucky, West Virginia and Ohio. Health
care costs were a main issue. Workers approved an agreement for
southern California on Feb 29, 2004.
(SFC, 10/14/03, p.B2)(SFC, 11/5/03, p.B1)(SFC,
3/1/04, p.A5)
2003 Oct 14, In LA, Ca., some
2,000 train and bus mechanics went on strike and halted the
mass-transit system.
(SFC, 10/15/03, p.A9)
2003 Oct 14, The Rohnert Park City
Council approved a revenue sharing agreement with the Federated Indians
of Graton Rancheria for a casino. $200 million over 20 years was
pledged.
(SFC, 10/15/03, p.A25)
2003 Oct 23, The new Walt Disney
Concert Hall in LA, designed by Frank Gehry, was set to open.
(SFC, 10/16/03, p.A1)
2003 Oct 16, Pres. Bush met with
Calif. Gov-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger during a stopover at the start
of a weeklong trip to Asia and Australia.
(ST, 10/17/03, p.A5)
2003 Oct 19, Decorated Marine Cpl.
Sok Khak Ung (22), just back from service in Iraq, was shot and killed
by an unknown gunman at a family barbeque in Long Beach.
(SFC, 10/22/03, p.A1)
2003 Oct 23, In Santa Clara,
California, 7-Eleven owner Narinder Badwal learned that he had sold the
winning California Lottery and was entitled to a $250,000 commission.
He then learned that he had sold the winning ticket worth $49,747,500
to himself.
(SFC, 10/28/03, p.A15)
2003 Oct 25, Trainer Richard
Mandella won a record four races at the Breeders' Cup.
(AP, 10/25/08)
2003 Oct 26, Flames stoked by
powerful winds raced through parts of Southern California, torching
more than 208,000 acres, destroying 500 homes and causing at least 11
deaths. A major radar facility was forced to close and many flights in
the area were cancelled.
(AP, 10/26/03)(SSFC, 10/26/03, p.A1)(SFC, 10/27/03,
p.A1)
2003 Oct 27, The southern
California fires crossed into Mexico. The death toll climbed to 15 and
damages were estimated to top $500 million.
(SFC, 10/28/03, p.A1)(WSJ, 10/28/03, p.A1)
2003 Oct 28, The California
unemployment insurance program was expected to go bankrupt in January.
(SFC, 10/28/03, p.A1)
2003 Oct 28, Southern California
fires covered 600,000 acres. The death toll climbed to 20. Some 11,467
firefighters covered the blazes. Arson was suspected in most of the 10
fires. Firefighters saved hundreds of homes in the San Fernando Valley
from California's deadliest wildfires in more than a decade. In 2009
Rickie Lee Fowler (28) was indicted on murder and arson charges for a
2003 wildfire that destroyed nearly 1,000 homes in San Bernadino County.
(SFC, 10/29/03, p.A1)(AP, 10/28/08)(SFC, 10/21/09,
p.A4)
2003 Oct 29, Arnold Schwarzenegger
met with leaders in Washington DC and pushed for fire relief in
California and a stronger ban on assault weapons. Steven Rucker (38), a
firefighter from Novato, was killed in the Cedar blaze as the death
toll rose to 20.
(SFC, 10/30/03, p.A1)(WSJ, 10/30/03, p.A1)
2003 Oct 31, In California lawyer
Gerald Curry was shot 5 times by William Strier outside a courthouse in
San Fernando Valley. The shooting was caught on videotape by crews
covering actor Robert Blake's murder case in Van Nuys. In 2006 Strier
(66) was convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to life in prison
plus 25 years.
(SFC, 1/21/06, p.B2)(AP, 10/31/08)
2003 Nov 4, California
firefighters gained control over record south state fires that killed
20 people and destroyed over 3,570 homes.
(WSJ, 11/4/03, p.A1)
2003 Nov 7, The 16,116-seat,
$103-million Save Mart Center, planned home for Fresno State Univ.
basketball games, opened with a concert featuring Andrea Bocelli.
Fresno Grand Opera paid $1 million to entice the artist.
(SFC, 11/7/03, p.A3)
2003 Nov 11, Gov. Davis appointed
187 people to state posts, most of which could be repealed by incoming
Gov. Schwarzenegger.
(SFC, 11/12/03, p.A3)
2003 Nov 17, Arnold
Schwarzenegger, who arrived in the United States 35 years ago as a
bodybuilder dreaming of fame and fortune, was sworn in as the 38th
governor of California in a low key inauguration ceremony. He
immediately rolled back the state's 300% increase in the vehicle
license fee, which would have produced some $4 billion in annual
revenue.
(AP, 11/17/03)(SFC, 11/18/03, p.A1)
2003 Nov 17, A 35-day transit
strike in LA ended.
(SFC, 11/18/03, p.A8)
2003 Nov 18, California Gov.
Schwarzenegger laid out a plan for a $15 billion bond issue to ease the
state budget crises.
(WSJ, 11/19/03, p.A1)
2003 Nov 18, A judge in Modesto,
Calif., ordered Scott Peterson to stand trial for the killing of his
wife, Laci, and their unborn son. Peterson was later convicted and
sentenced to death.
(AP, 11/18/08)
2003 Nov 20, California Gov.
Schwarzenegger let stand a state parole decision to release Fred Nesbit
(63), who served 17 years for shooting to death the boyfriend of his
estranged wife.
(SFC, 11/22/03, p.A5)
2003 Nov 20, Record producer Phil
Spector was charged with murder in the fatal shooting of actress, Lana
Clarkson, on Feb 3, 2003, at his home in Alhambra, Calif.
(AP, 11/20/04)(SFC, 9/27/07, p.A2)
2003 Nov 20, Michael Jackson
turned himself over to police in Santa Barbara, Ca., on an arrest
warrant alleging multiple counts of child molestation. He posted a $3
million bail bond. Jackson was later acquitted at trial.
(AP, 11/20/08)
2003 Nov 24, Gov. Schwarzenegger
proposed nearly $2 billion in midyear spending cuts. The state Senate
voted to repeal a bill that would have allowed illegal immigrants to
obtain driver's licenses starting Jan 1. Gov. Schwarzenegger signed it
Dec 3.
(SFC, 11/25/03, p.A1)(SFC, 12/4/03, p.A9)
2003 Nov 28, It was reported that
the New Zealand mud snail had invaded trout streams in Northern
California. They were capable of stripping entire river systems of
algae and had already infested trout streams in Montana.
(SFC, 11/28/03, p.A21)
2003 Nov, Officer Matthew Pavelka
(26) was fatally shot in Burbank, Ca. David Garcia was later arrested
in Mexico and returned to the US for the killing.
(SFC, 6/29/05, p.B4)
2003 Dec 3, A California state
commission denied a Texas company's plan to sell GloFish,
genetically-altered glow-in-the-dark fish. National sales of the
transgenic fish were set for Jan.
(SFC, 12/4/03, p.A2)
2003 Dec 5, A tractor in Tracy,
Ca., punctured a Chevron oil pipeline and over 21,000 gallons of oil
leaked out. Officials said the leak could exceed 40,000 gallons.
(SFC, 12/6/03, p.A17)
2003 Dec 12, In California
Hispanics protested the repeal of a law allowing illegal immigrants to
get driver's licenses, taking to the streets in a statewide boycott of
schools and businesses.
(AP, 12/12/03)(SFC, 12/12/03, p.A1)
2003 Dec 15, California's longest
strike by nurses ended after workers at Doctors Medical Center in San
Pablo and Pinole approved a new contract with Tenet Healthcare Corp.
ending a 13-month walkout.
(SFC, 12/17/03, p.A23)
2003 Dec 16, Dr. Peter Valk (63),
Sacramento internist and pioneer in the clinical use of P.E.T. scans,
died. He had recently finished editing "Positron Emission Tomography:
Basic Science and clinical Practices."
(SFC, 1/15/04, p.A19)
2003 Dec 17, UC and Cal Tech
received 2 grants totaling $35 million to design the world's most
powerful telescope, a 30-meter telescope (TMT) to be built on a yet to
be chosen mountaintop.
(SFC, 12/18/03, p.A23)
2003 Dec 18, The small Sierra
Railroad (b.1897) announced a successful $1.4 million bid for the
40-mile Mendocino County Skunk train.
(SFC, 12/19/03, p.A21)
2003 Dec 22, A 6.5 earthquake
jolted the central California coast. Marilyn Zafuto (55) and Jennifer
Myrick (20) were killed in Paso Robles when the 1892 Mastagni Building
and its 15-foor clock tower collapsed. Damages were estimated at some
$100 million.
(AP, 12/23/03)(SFC, 12/23/03, p.A1)(SFC, 12/24/03,
p.A1)
2003 Dec 23, A medical helicopter
crashed in Mendocino County and 3 people were killed.
(SFC, 12/24/03, p.A14)
2003 Dec 24, A twin-engine Piper
Seneca crashed on Santa Catalina Island and all 5 people aboard were
killed.
(SFC, 12/25/03, p.A16)
2003 Dec 25, Near San Bernadino,
Ca., 16 people were killed at a youth camp after mudslides, triggered
by heavy rain, swept down the San Gabriel Mountains recently scorched
by wildfire. 2 of the 14 people killed were at a KOA campground near
Devore.
(SFC, 12/27/03, p.A1)(SFC, 12/29/03, p.A1)(AP,
12/25/05)
2003 Dec 29, Heavy rain and snow
closed down I-5 between Redding, Ca., and Ashland, Ore.
(SFC, 12/30/03, p.A1)
2003 Federal energy regulators
(FERC) validated California claims to 2000-2001 overcharges for energy
and said the state is owed $3.3 billion in refunds from Enron and 5
other energy firms. California called for $9 billion.
(SFC, 3/27/03, p.A1)
2003 Doctors at St. Vincent
Medical Center in LA, Ca., performed a liver transplant on a Saudi
citizen, who was 52nd on a transplant list. The Saudi Arabian Embassy
paid $339,000 for the operation. In 2005 the hospital suspended its
liver program after determining that the 2003 operation was improper.
(SFC, 9/28/05, p.A7)
2004 Jan 1, A California ban on
the gasoline additive MTBE went into effect. Ethanol became the new
additive of choice, even though it could increase air pollution.
(AP, 12/31/04)
2004 Jan 1, Restrictions on
wood-burning stoves in the San Joaquin Valley went into effect. Fresno
County was noted for the highest childhood asthma rate in California
and the SJ valley was considered the 2nd dirtiest air basin in the US
outside of Los Angeles.
(SFC, 1/1/04, p.A20)
2004 Jan 1, A new California law,
aimed at boosting recycling, increased redemption values for all
containers under 24 ounces to 4 cents and for those over 24 ounces to 8
cents.
(SFC, 2/17/04, p.B1)
2004 Jan 6, Gov. Schwarzenegger
gave his 1st major policy speech and asked voters to support a $15
billion bond issue to get through the current fiscal crisis.
(SFC, 1/7/04, p.A1)
2004 Jan 6, Jirayr Zorthian,
Armenian-born eccentric painter of nudes, died in southern California.
He had hosted the Pasadena Doo Dah queen coronation at his Altadena
ranch.
(SFC, 1/10/04, p.A18)
2004 Jan 8, A mountain lion was
shot and killed following 2 attacks on people. Mark Jeffrey Reynolds
(35) was found dead and partly eaten near his bike in the Whiting Ranch
Wilderness in Orange County, Ca.
(SSFC, 1/11/04, p.A23)
2004 Jan 9, Gov. Schwarzenegger
proposed a $76.1 billion California state budget. He said it would
solve the state's money troubles in 2 years.
(SFC, 1/9/04, p.A1)(SFC, 1/10/04, p.A1)
2004 Jan 13, An independent
analyst said Gov. Schwarzenegger's proposed budget would leave a $6
billion shortfall.
(SFC, 1/14/04, p.A1)
2004 Jan 20, Gov. Schwarzenegger
fired John Chen, a state investigator for an independent agency that
watches over the penal system. Chen had urged that oversight be
strengthened.
(SFC, 1/20/04, p.A1)
2004 Jan 20, California Youth
Authority counselors in Stockton severely beat 2 youths. The event was
caught on film and charges against the counselors were recommended.
(SFC, 3/25/04, p.A1)
2004 Feb 6, Gov. Schwarzenegger
reversed his position on an independent state agency to oversee prisons
and said he would seek to increase its funding and clout.
(SFC, 2/7/04, p.A1)
2004 Feb 20, Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger directed the California state attorney general to take
immediate legal steps to stop SF from granting marriage licenses to gay
couples.
(AP, 2/21/04)(SFC, 2/21/04, p.A1)
2004 Feb 21, Bill Lockyer,
California state Attorney General, rebuffed Gov. Schwarzenegger's
demand to force an end to same-sex marriages in SF, calling the
directive political rhetoric.
(SSFC, 2/22/04, p.A1)
2004 Feb 27, Bill Lockyer,
California state Attorney General, asked the California Supreme Court
to stop SF officials from issuing same-sex marriage licenses and
invalidate the 3,400 gay and lesbian weddings that have taken place at
City Hall since Feb 12. The justices halted the weddings the following
month.
(SFC, 8/13/04, p.A16)(AP, 2/27/05)
2004 Mar 2, Californians voters
approved Proposition 57, Gov. Schwarzenegger's $15 billion bond
measure, to be repaid over the next 9 to 14 years. Prop 58 to prohibit
future deficit financing also passed.
(SFC, 3/03/04, p.A1)
2004 Mar 9, California public
schools became beneficiaries of $28.5 million after a 6-month window
closed on a Sep 8 Lotto winner.
(SFC, 3/09/04, p.A1)
2004 Mar 10, The Monrovia Growers
in Azusa, LA County, reported that its camellias were infested with oak
disease, Phytophthora ramorum. Plants from the nursery were distributed
around the country.
(SFC, 3/11/04, p.B1)
2004 Mar 11, The California
Supreme Court halted gay weddings in San Francisco for at least a few
months while it decides whether they are legal.
(AP, 3/12/04)(SFC, 3/12/04, p.A1)
2004 Mar 11, The California Office
of Environmental Health Hazzard Assessment raised the action level for
reporting perchlorate pollution in drinking water from 4 to 6 ppb.
(WSJ, 3/12/04, p.A8)
2004 Mar 11, San Diego opened its
new 46,000 downtown Petco Park baseball stadium with the Aztec
Invitational, a 4-day series between the San Diego Univ. Aztecs and the
Univ. of Houston Cougars.
(Econ, 4/10/04, p.23)
2004 Mar 12, In Fresno, Ca.,
Marcus Wesson (57) was arrested on suspicion of killing 9 family
members, aged 1-24. He lived a bizarre life of polygamy and incest,
even fathering two of his victims with his own daughters. In 2005
Wesson was convicted on 9 counts of murder and sentenced to death. In
2009 reporter Alysia Sofios authored “Where Hope Begins: One Family's
Journey Out of Tragedy-and the Reporter Who Helped Them Make It.”
(AP, 3/14/04)(SSFC, 3/14/04, p.A1)(SFC, 6/18/05,
p.B7)(SFC, 7/28/05, p.B4)(SFC, 9/14/09, p.A1)
2004 Mar 13, Near Barstow,
California, robotic vehicles began a 200-mile road race sponsored by
DARPA. The Pentagon sponsored race ended without a winner, as none of
the autonomous vehicles built by the 15 qualifying teams was able to
travel farther than 7 miles from the starting line.
(SFC, 3/13/04, p.A1)(AP, 3/14/04)
2004 Mar 18, It was reported that
the California Dept. of Parks and Recreation had purchased a 1,785 acre
parcel in Sutter Buttes at Peace Valley near the North Butte for $2.9
million.
(SFC, 3/18/04, p.B1)
2004 Mar 26, The US Department of
Agriculture ordered a 60-day ban on the interstate sale of host plants
from California due to infestation by the sudden oak death disease.
(SFC, 3/27/04, p.A1)
2004 Mar 29, Gov. Schwarzenegger
unveiled a new California quarter to be minted in Jan 2004. It featured
John Muir and Yosemite's Half Dome along with a flying condor.
(SFC, 3/30/04, p.B3)
2004 Mar 31, The Vallejo school
board voted to turn over the debt-ridden district to state control. A
$20 million shortfall faced the 20,000 student district. 57 districts
across California recently filed reports warning they may not be able
to pay their bills during the next 2-3 years.
(SFC, 4/1/04, p.B1)(SSFC, 4/4/04, p.A1)
2004 Apr 2, It was reported that
the PG&E bankruptcy reorganization resulted in the permanent
protection of some 140,000 acres of California land. A 10-year $100
million fund by ratepayers would contribute to management costs of the
land divided over nearly 1000 parcels.
(SFC, 4/2/04, p.A1)
2004 Apr 8, The San Diego Padres
hosted the SF giants at the new 46,000 downtown Petco Park baseball
stadium. It anchored a new 26-block re-development area.
(SSFC, 3/21/04, p.D2)
2004 Apr 15, The US EPA warned
California and a 30 other states to clean up smog-plagued regions. 474
counties fell short of standards including 36 in California.
(SFC, 4/16/04, p.A1)
2004 Apr 15, It was reported that
over 20 sea otters have turned up dead or sick at Morro Bay over the
last week. Scientists suspected a natural marine toxin. 62 otters died
by the end of the month and the opossum parasite Sarcocystis neurona
was later found to be responsible.
(SFC, 4/15/04, p.A1)(SFC, 5/21/04, p.B10)
2004 Apr 16, California lawmakers
passed legislation aimed at reforming the nation's most expensive
workers' compensation program, a move that businesses applauded but
critics derided as a sellout to insurance companies.
(AP, 4/17/04)
2004 Apr 21, Thomas Steiner (35),
CHP officer, was assassinated by a 15-year-old gang member wannabe
after leaving the Pomona courthouse in Southern California.
(SFC, 11/19/05,
p.B3)(www.camemorial.org/htm/steinert04.htm)
2004 Apr 23, The California Dept.
of Food and Agriculture ordered milk processors to pay dairy farmers an
additional 47 cents per gallon as of May 1. Farm price of raw milk
would be $1.83 a gallon in Northern California.
(SFC, 4/24/04, p.A1)
2004 Apr 25, Thom Gunn (b.1929),
British-born poet, died in SF. His 1st book, titled "Fighting Terms"
(1954), was recognized as part of the British group called "The
Movement."
(SFC, 4/28/04, p.B7)
2004 Apr 26, California officials
reported that a tentative $281.5 million settlement had been reached
with Dynegy and NRG Energy over price gauging during the last energy
crisis.
(SFC, 4/27/04, p.C1)
2004 May 3, California Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger paid a hastily arranged visit to King Abdullah II of
Jordan following criticism from Arab-Americans that his Mideast trip
excluded a meeting with Arabs.
(AP, 5/3/04)
2004 May 4, Some 3,000
firefighters battled wildfires in Southern California.
(SFC, 5/5/04, p.A7)
2004 May 7, William J. Knight
(74), California state senator and former US Air Force test pilot,
died. In 1967 he set a speed record in a rocket-powered X-15-2A that
reached 4,520 mph. In 2000 he authored Proposition 22, the Defense of
the Marriage Act, which defined marriage as between a man and a woman.
(SSFC, 5/9/04, p.B7)
2004 May 13, Gov. Schwarzenegger
presented a revised spending budget of $77.6 billion.
(SFC, 5/14/04, p.A1)
2004 May 20, Regents of the Univ.
California voted to increase student fees.
(SFC, 5/21/04, p.A1)
2004 Jun 13, Robert Lees, former
screenwriter, was decapitated at his Hollywood home. Keven Lee Graff
(27) was later charged with Lees’ murder and that of a neighbor.
(SFC, 7/29/04, p.B3)
2004 Jun 21, Five of 61 California
Indian tribes signed gaming compacts setting standards for future
negotiations. They agreed to higher payments in exchange for removing a
cap of 2,000 slot machines per tribe.
(SFC, 6/21/04, p.A1)
2004 Jul 1, AB 1627 declared that
beginning on this day each California hospital will be required to make
one written or electronic copy of its charge description master
(chargemaster) available at the hospital’s location or on its Internet
Web site.
(www.oshpd.cahwnet.gov/hid/hospital/chrgmster/index.htm)(WSJ, 12/28/04,
p.A1)
2004 Jul 4, The new Sundial
Pedestrian Bridge in Redding opened to the public. It was designed by
Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava.
(SSFC, 6/27/04, p.D5)
2004 Jul 17, California Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger mockingly used the term "girlie men" during a
rally as he claimed Democrats were delaying the state budget by
catering to special interests.
(AP, 7/17/05)
2004 Jul 18, A spokesman said
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger would not apologize for mocking
certain lawmakers as "girlie men," despite criticisms from Democrats
that the remark was sexist and homophobic.
(AP, 7/18/05)
2004 Jul 19, The Dept. of
Veteran’s Affairs announced it would purchase the 561-acre farm in
Dixon of Alvin Hayman to create a new national cemetery. Hayman (80)
died the next day.
(SFC, 7/21/04, p.B1)
2004 Jul 28, In California police
in Irvine said they were looking for a man who may have witnessed the
contamination of baby food jars with ground-up castor beans containing
tiny amounts of the poison ricin. Notes were found in jars on May 31
and June 16.
(SFC, 7/29/04, p.A3)
2004 Jul 31, Gov. Schwarzenegger
signed a $78.8 billion California spending package.
(SFC, 7/30/04, p.A1)
2004 Jul-2004 Sep, A string of
fires in California’s Los Padres National Forest burned 800 acres and
cost $2.5 million to fight. In 2006 Craig Matthew Underwood, former US
forest fighter, pleaded guilty to starting the fires.
(SFC, 2/14/06, p.B3)
2004 Aug 4, The 2,500 California
Performance Review, commissioned by Gov. Schwarzenegger in February,
was made public.
(SFC, 8/4/04, p.A1)
2004 Aug 10, Gov. Schwarzenegger
reached an agreement with attorneys in the Williams vs. California case
to improve education access to low-income students.
(SFC, 8/11/04, p.A1)
2004 Aug 11, A 3-day wildfire near
Lake Shasta broke out and covered some 10,000 acres destroying 86 homes
in Jones Valley. Matt Rupp (44) served 2 years in jail for accidentally
igniting the fire while riding a mower over a field of dry grass.
(SSFC, 8/15/04, p.B2)(SSFC, 8/10/08, p.A1)
2004 Aug 12, California’s supreme
court struck down San Francisco’s attempt to legalize same-sex
marriages, saying Mayor Newsome had illegally defied state law.
(SFC, 8/13/04, p.A1)
2004 Aug 18, In California federal
agents raided a farm in lake County where Charles Lepp grew over 32,000
marijuana plants. He said he had informed local authorities that his
land would be used to enable patients who didn’t own land to grow
marijuana for medical purposes. In 2009 Lepp (56) was sentenced to 10
years in prison under federal law that required a 10-year term for
growing at least 1,000 marijuana plants.
(http://fugitive.com/archives/6212)(SFC, 5/19/09,
p.B4)
2004 Aug 18, Two campers were
found slain at Fish Head Beach in Sonoma Ct., Ca. Lindsay Cutshall (23)
of Fresno, Ohio, and Jason Allen (26) of Holland, Mich., were found
with gunshots to the head. They had planned a wedding next month.
(SFC, 8/21/04,
p.A1)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenner,_California_Double-Murder_of_2004)
2004 Aug 19, Sudden oak death,
Phytopthora ramorum, was confirmed in trees in Golden Gate Park, making
SF the 14th infected country in California.
(SFC, 8/20/04, p.B1)
2004 Aug, The Eureka Reporter in
Eureka, California, began as an online publication. It was owned by
Robin P. Arkley II, head of Security National Holding Co., a national
real estate development and loan acquisitions company. By April, 2005,
it published 3 editions per week. In January, 2006, it expanded to a
daily paper with free distribution.
(SFCM, 8/13/06, p.13)
2004 Sep 6, Some 2,600
firefighters gained ground on the 12,200 acre Geysers Fire in Sonoma
and Lake Counties.
(SFC, 9/7/04, p.B1)
2004 Sep 10, California Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill barring necrophilia.
(Reuters, 9/10/04)
2004 Sep 14, Arizona, California
and Nevada joined with the federal government to undertake a 50-year,
$620 million project to restore wildlife habitat along 342 miles of the
lower Colorado River.
(SFC, 9/15/04, p.A8)
2004 Sep 15, The California
Coastal Commission approved a deal to protect over 80,000 acres of
Central Coast at Hearst Ranch from development.
(SFC, 9/16/04, p.A1)
2004 Sep 22, Some 20 dentists in 3
Central Valley clinics were accused of defrauding the Medi-Cal system
of $4.5 million by performing unnecessary procedures.
(SFC, 9/23/04, p.A1)
2004 Sep 23, Gov. Schwarzenegger
signed bills allowing some hybrid vehicles to use freeway carpool lanes
and requiring older autos to pass smog checks. He also authorized the
Sierra Nevada Conservancy, a new California agency dedicated to
preserving 25 million Sierra acres.
(SFC, 9/24/04, p.A1)
2004 Sep 23, California’s
Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board approved restrictions on
hand-weeding in most commercial crops.
(SFC, 9/24/04, p.B7)
2004 Sep 23, Edward Zelinsky (82),
historian and owner of the Musee Mecanique, died.
(SFC, 9/25/04, p.B6)
2004 Sep 24, The California Air
Resources Board backed sweeping reductions in auto emissions.
(AP, 9/24/05)
2004 Sep 28, A 6.0 earthquake
shook central California, cracking pipes, breaking bottles of wine and
knocking pictures from walls. The quake was centered about seven miles
southeast of Parkfield, a town of 37 people known as California's
earthquake capital.
(AP, 9/28/04)
2004 Sep 30, Gov. Schwarzenegger
rejected the current Bay Bridge bid. New bids and a redesign were
expected.
(SFC, 10/1/04, p.A1)
2004 Oct 5, Supermarket janitors
in California won a $22.4 million settlement against 3 grocery chains
and a cleaning contractor in a class-action suit over failure to pay
for overtime.
(SFC, 10/6/04, p.B3)
2004 Oct 10, The Rumsey Fire began
in Capay Valley in northeast Napa Valley and soon covered 29,500 acres.
It was contained Oct 16 after burning over 39,000 acres.
(SFC, 10/12/04, p.B3)(SSFC, 10/17/04, p.B5)
2004 Oct 16, The body of Richard
Celebrini (32), a suspected arsonist, was found in the Hetch Hetchy
basin where a fire burned over 2,000 acres. Police in Brentwood found
Celebrini’s wife and 3 daughters dead.
(SSFC, 10/17/04, p.B1)(SFC, 10/18/04, p.A1)
2004 Oct, California authorities
charged Chester D. Turner, a former pizza delivery man, for murdering
10 women between 1987 and 1998 after DNA evidence linked him to the
victims. Turner’s trial began in 2007.
(SFC, 4/4/07, p.B5)
2004 Nov 1, In Napa, Ca., Leslie
Ann Mazzara (26) and Adriane Michelle Insogna (26) were stabbed to
death as a 3rd roommate escaped and called police. In 2005 police used
DNA evidence and arrested Eric Matthew Copple (26) as a suspect. In
2007 Copple was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of
parole.
(SFC, 11/3/04, p.B2)(SFC, 9/29/05, p.B1)(SFC,
1/11/07, p.B1)
2004 Nov 2, California Prop. 64,
limiting citizen’s rights to file lawsuits, won. Prop 71, a $3 billion
stem cell research initiative, won. Prop 72, requiring business owners
to pay for employee health insurance, was defeated. Prop 66, a measure
to amend the 3 strikes law, was defeated.
(SFC, 11/4/04, p.B5,C1)
2004 Nov 4, Gov. Schwarzenneger
announced that former Republican Rep. Tom Campbell (52) would head his
finance dept.
(SFC, 11/5/04, p.A1)
2004 Nov 12, Scott Peterson (32)
was convicted of 1st degree murder of his pregnant wife and dumping her
body in San Francisco Bay in Dec 2002 in what prosecutors portrayed as
a cold-blooded attempt to escape marriage and fatherhood for the
bachelor life. He was also convicted of 2nd degree murder for the
unborn child.
(AP, 11/12/04)(SFC, 11/13/04, p.A1)
2004 Dec 1, Tom Campbell (52),
former Republican legislator and dean of UC Berkeley’s Haas School of
Business, took over as director of California’s Dept. of Finance. He
faced a budget deficit of at least $8.1 billion.
(SFC, 12/28/04, p.B1)
2004 Dec 17, The California state
budget deficit for the coming fiscal year was reported to be $8.1
billion, a billion higher than previously forecast.
(SFC, 12/18/04, p.A1)
2004 Dec 17, Robert N. Klein (59),
lawyer and financier, was appointed head of the 29-member board of the
new California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, created as a result
of Prop. 71 for stem cell research.
(SFC, 12/18/04, p.B1)
2004 Dec 17, Johnnie Carl (57),
longtime conductor of the Crystal Cathedral Orchestra, shot himself to
death following a 9-hour standoff at the church in Garden Grove, Ca.
(SFC, 12/18/04, p.A4)
2004 Dec 20, Attorneys presented
opening statements in the Robert Blake murder trial in Los Angeles.
(AP, 12/20/05)
2004 Kevin Starr, USC history
professor, published “Coast of Dreams: On the Edge 1990-2003,” the
final volume of his multi-volume California history.
(WSJ, 9/21/04, p.D8)
2005 Jan 1, A new California law
took effect giving gay couples who register as domestic partners nearly
the same responsibilities and benefits as married spouses.
(AP, 1/1/05)
2005 Jan 1, A new California law
took effect levying a surcharge on computer sales to defray recycling
costs.
(Econ, 1/29/05, p.60)
2005 Jan 1, Robert Matsui (63),
13-term California Democratic congressman, died. On April 13 US
Representatives voted to name the federal courthouse in Sacramento in
his honor.
(SFC, 1/3/05, p.A1)(SFC, 4/14/05, p.B3)
2005 Jan 5, Gov. Schwarzenneger
outlined austerity proposals including a call to privatize California
pension plans.
(WSJ, 1/6/05, p.A1)
2005 Jan 8, Lance Cpl. Andres Raya
(19) shot and killed Ceres police officer Sgt. Howard Stevenson. Police
returned fire and killed Raya, who was high on cocaine.
(SSFC, 1/16/05, p.A17)
2005 Jan 8, Richard P. Rodriguez
(29) stabbed to death Angela M. Smith (51) in Tucson, Az. Rodriguez was
found dead of a gunshot wound the next day in Blythe, Ca., near the
Arizona border. He had grown up in the evangelical sex cult “Children
of God” also known as the Family. Smith, a member of the cult, was
involved in his upbringing. The cult was later linked to the San Diego
based Family Care Foundation. In 2007 Don Lattin authored “Jesus
Freaks: A True Story of Murder and Madness on the Evangelical Edge.”
(SFC, 1/11/05, p.B8)(SSFC, 2/6/05, p.A1)(SSFC,
10/20/07, p.M1)
2005 Jan 9, More heavy rain spread
across parts of California and snow piled deeper in the mountains as
the state sat under a storm system that left at least 7 dead.
(AP, 1/9/05)(SFC, 1/10/05, p.B1)
2005 Jan 10, Gov. Schwarzenneger
proposed an $85.7 billion California state budget with cuts in programs
to the poor, elderly and disabled to help close a $9.1 billion deficit.
(SFC, 1/11/05, p.A1)
2005 Jan 10, Randall W. Harding
pleaded guilty to money laundering and wire fraud charges as part of a
scam that authorities say bilked investors from Palm Springs to Orange
County, including church members at Crossroads Christian Church in
Riverside, Ca.
(SFC, 8/14/06,
p.A2)(http://tinyurl.com/qhm4u)(http://home.att.net/~fcwriter/news29.htm)
2005 Jan 10, A mudslide at La
Conchita in Ventura County, Ca., crushed over 15 homes and killed 10
people.
(SFC, 1/12/05, p.A1)(SFC, 1/13/05, p.A3)
2005 Jan 19, Donald Beardslee (61)
became the 11th prisoner to be executed in California since the death
penalty was reinstated in 1997.
(AP, 12/13/05)
2005 Jan 26, In Glendale, Ca., a
Metrolink commuter train struck a vehicle, derailed and sideswiped
another train, killing 11 people and injuring about 180 others. Juan
Manuel Alvarez (25) left his SUV on a railroad track after changing his
mind about committing suicide. Alvarez was convicted in 2008 on 11
counts of murder and was sentenced to 11 consecutive life terms in
prison. In 2009 Metrolink agreed to pay some $30 million to settle most
of the lawsuits related to the derailment.
(AP, 1/27/05)(SFC, 1/27/05, p.A1)(SFC, 8/21/08,
p.A3)(SFC, 10/14/09, p.A6)
2005 Feb 2, Matthew Carrington, a
student at Cal State Chico, died of heart failure after drinking
excessive amounts of water while doing calisthenics during a hazing
ritual for the Chi Tau fraternity.
(SFC, 1/18/07, p.A5)
2005 Feb 4, Kevin Shelley resigned
as California’s secretary of state amidst allegations of questionable
fund raising and misuse of federal voting funds.
(SFC, 2/4/05, p.A1)
2005 Feb 4, It was reported that
California’s mysterious explosion of autism cases increased by 13% in
2004. State services for autism had increased from some 5,000 in 1993
to 26,000 in 2004. The US federal Dept. of Education reported that
autism in schoolchildren increased 1,700% nationally from 1992 to 2002.
(SFC, 2/4/05, p.A1)
2005 Feb 8, The California Lottery
commission voted 3-0 to join the Mega Millions multistate lottery
rather than Powerball. Odds in the big prize will be 1 in 135 million.
(SFC, 2/9/05, p.A1)
2005 Feb 10, California sued
Canadian energy firm Powerex Corp. a 2nd time for overcharges during
the electricity crises of 2000-2001.
(SFC, 2/11/05, p.C1)
2005 Feb 11, Gov. Schwarzenegger
picked former state Sen. Bruce McPherson to replace Kevin Shelley as
Sec. of State.
(SFC, 2/12/05, p.A1)
2005 Feb 16, It was reported that
Georgia Pacific has put up 434 acres for sale in Fort Bragg.
Contamination levels on the land were not yet determined.
(SFC, 2/16/05, p.A1)
2005 Feb 21, Heavy storms in
California left 3 people dead.
(WSJ, 2/22/05, p.A1)
2005 Mar 4, A California court
ruled that hospitals must comply with a 1:5 nurse to patient ratio that
was set under a 1999 law.
(SFC, 3/5/05, p.B7)
2005 Mar 10, The US Dept. of
Transportation authorized $150.3 million for the construction of a $270
million tunnel to bypass Devil’s Slide on Highway 1 between Pacifica
and Montara.
(SFC, 3/11/05, p.A1)
2005 Mar 14, San Francisco
Superior Court Judge Richard Kramer declared California’s ban on
same-sex marriage unconstitutional.
(SFC, 3/15/05, p.A1)
2005 Mar 16, In California a judge
sentenced a Scott Peterson (32) to death for the 2002 murder of his
wife and unborn son.
(AP, 3/17/05)(SFC, 3/17/05, p.A1)
2005 Mar 16, Robert Blake (71),
actor, was found not guilty of murder charges in the 2001 shooting
death of his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley.
(SFC, 3/17/05, p.A1)
2005 Mar 30, Former Calif. State
Sen. Bruce McPherson was sworn in as Sec. of State.
(SFC, 3/31/05, p.A1)
2005 Apr 5, A few thousand
demonstrators protested Gov. Schwarzenegger’s fund raiser at the SF
Ritz-Carlton.
(SFC, 4/6/05, p.A1)
2005 Apr 7, California state
prosecutors charged Julie Lee, a top volunteer fund-raiser for former
Sec. of State Kevin Shelley, with grand theft and other felonies. In
2008 Lee (62) was found guilty on 5 of 7 charges relating to Shelley’s
2002 campaign, All the charges related to a $500,000 grant for a SF
Sunset District community center that was never built. In state court
Lee pleaded guilty to 9 counts.
(SFC, 4/8/05, p.A1)(SFC, 7/12/08, p.A1)(SFC,
7/17/08, p.B1)
2005 Apr 10, Steve Vaught (39)
left his San Diego, Ca., home on a walking trip to New York in an
effort to loose some of his 400 lbs. By July he was in Arizona and down
to 350 lbs. A year later he was in Ohio with less than 400 miles to
NYC. His weight was down to 292. He completed his walk at 178th and
Broadway in New York City on May 9, 2006; he had lost approximately 100
lbs.
(SFC, 7/9/05, p.A2)(www.thefatmanwalking.com)
2005 Apr 20, An air tanker
Lockheed P-3 Orion crashed in California’s Lassen National Forest
killing 3 crew members during a training run. A report in 2006 was
unable to determine the cause of the crash.
(SFC, 4/22/05, p.B3)(SFC, 9/5/06, p.B1)
2005 Apr 22, Roberta Saum (44)
won $3.3 million settlement from the Santa Rosa Catholic diocese
for sexual abuse by now defrocked Rev. Donald Kimball when she was 15.
(SFC, 4/23/05, p.B5)
2005 Apr 25, Mayor Dick Murphy
(62) of San Diego announced his resignation effective July 15 under the
weight of mounting scandals and fiscal probes. San Diego faced a $50
million budget deficit and a $1.3 billion pension shortfall.
(SFC, 4/26/05, p.A1)(WSJ, 4/26/05, p.A1)
2005 May 10, The northern
California 3,373-acre Willow Creek site was purchased for $20,787,000
from Mendocino Redwood Co. by a coalition of state and non-profit
agencies to become part of Sonoma Coast State Beach.
(SFC, 5/11/05, p.B1)
2005 May 10, In Riverside County,
Ca., David McGowan (44) killed his wife, mother and 3 children, a boy
(14) and 2 girls (8 and 10), while they slept. He then killed himself
at their home in Garner Valley.
(SFC, 5/12/05, p.A5)
2005 May 11, Teachers across
California honored the 23rd annual Day of the Teacher by protesting
deep cuts to education and changes to their retirement system.
(SFC, 5/12/05, p.B1)
2005 May 17, Los Angeles
Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa (52) trounced Mayor James Hahn to
become the city's first Hispanic mayor in more than a century as voters
embraced the promise of change in a metropolis troubled by gridlock,
gangs and failing schools.
(AP, 5/18/05)
2005 May 25, Thousands of public
employees rallied in Sacramento and Los Angeles charging that Gov.
Schwarzenegger’s policy agenda shortchanges schoolchildren and
undermines the fabric of California’s poor and middle class.
(SFC, 5/26/05, p.A1)
2005 Jun 1, In California a
landslide destroyed 17 multimillion-dollar houses and damaged nearly 11
others in Laguna Beach.
(AP, 6/2/05)
2005 Jun 5, FBI agents in Lodi,
Ca., arrested Hamid Hayat (22) for training at an al Qaeda camp in
Pakistan and his father (47) for lying about his son’s activities. In
2006 Umer Hayat pleaded guilty to charges of lying to customs agents to
avoid a trial. In 2007 Hamid was sentenced to 24 years in prison for
supporting terrorists by training with them in Pakistan.
(SFC, 6/9/05, p.A1)(SFC, 6/1/06, p.B1)(SFC, 9/11/07,
p.D2)
2005 Jun 13, California Gov.
Schwarzenegger called for a special election on his initiatives to
change state government.
(SFC, 6/14/05, p.A1)
2005 Jun 14, The 7.0-magnitude
quake struck northern California about 90 miles southwest of the
coastal community of Crescent City, where a 1964 tsunami killed 11
people.
(AP, 6/15/05)
2005 Jun 17, Marcus Wesson, the
domineering patriarch of a large clan he'd bred through incest, was
convicted in Fresno, Calif., of murdering nine of his children. Wesson
was later sentenced to death.
(AP, 6/17/06)
2005 Jun 20, California state and
federal officials set aside $2 million to determine why smelt and other
species in the San Joaquin and Sacramento River Delta has dropped
sharply. Numerous causes were suspect including nonnative predators and
increasing herbicide and pesticide runoff as well as water draw down to
supply Southern California and the Central Valley.
(SFC, 6/21/05, p.B3)
2005 Jun 21, It was reported that
the number of California state employees who earned over $132,000
nearly doubled from 2002 to 2004.
(SFC, 6/21/05, p.A1)
2005 Jun 21, Some 1,300 federal
and local law enforcement agents arrested 23 people in raids across San
Fernando Valley on racketeering charges related to the 2003 slaying of
Burbank police officer Matthew Pavelka.
(SFC, 6/29/05, p.B4)
2005 Jun 22, US drug agents
launched a wide-ranging crackdown on medical marijuana providers in
northern California, raiding pot clubs, homes and businesses in San
Francisco and arresting a husband and wife in Sacramento. The operation
followed a 2-year investigation dubbed “Operation Urban harvest.”
(AP, 6/23/05)(SFC, 6/23/05, p.A1)(SFC, 6/24/05, p.B4)
2005 Jun 23, An indictment,
unveiled in US federal court in Los Angeles, said Seymour Lazar and his
family were plaintiffs in over 50 class action lawsuits against both
large and small companies. Prosecutors claimed that he received $2.4
million in illicit kickbacks from a New York law firm believed to be
Milberg Weiss. In 2008 Melvyn Weiss (72) agreed to plead guilty to
racketeering and acknowledge that his firm, Milberg Weiss, concealed
secret payment arrangements with plaintiffs in class-action suits.
(Econ, 7/2/05, p.65)(SFC, 3/21/08, p.C3)
2005 Jun 24, California Gov.
Schwarzenegger and state Senate Pres. Don Perata finalized plans to
build the original Bay suspension bridge at a total cost of $6.2
billion.
(SFC, 6/25/05, p.A1)
2005 Jun 29, The Catholic Diocese
of Sacramento agreed to pay $35 million to 33 people who said they were
sexually assaulted by area priests. Half of the plaintiffs said their
abuse came from Rev. Mario Blanco, a Sacramento priest, between
1969-1973.
(SFC, 6/30/05, p.B3)
2005 Jun 30, A federal judge
ordered that a receiver take control of California’s prison health care
system and correct what he called deplorable conditions.
(SFC, 7/1/05, p.A1)
2005 Jun 30, At El Cahon, Ca., 5
illegal immigrants were killed and six others injured when their van
collided with a pickup truck shortly after it sped around a border
checkpoint.
(AP, 7/1/05)
2005 Jul 1, A force of 400 federal
and local law officers raided 11 suspected brothels, 10 in SF and one
in Emeryville, and arrested 27 suspects in what was described as a
major Bay Area sex trafficking operation that preyed on Korean women
brought into the country illegally. A similar operation took place in
southern California.
(http://tinyurl.com/pxmc4)
2005 Jul 5, Police in Torrance,
Ca., arrested 2 men for robbing gas stations. Investigations soon
revealed that they were associated with Kevin James, an inmate at
California State Prison in Sacramento, a founder of Jamiyyat Ul-Islam
Is Saheeh (JIS). The group was planning terrorist attacks in the LA
area. Another participant was arrested Aug 2. In 2007 Kevin James (31)
and Levar Haley Washington (28) pleaded guilty to conspiring to levy
war against the US.
(SFC, 9/1/05, p.A4)(SFC, 12/15/07, p.A3)
2005 Jul 7, The California
Legislature, 7 days into the fiscal year, approved a $90.1 billion
state budget.
(SFC, 7/8/05, p.B1)
2005 Jul 10, Police in LA killed
Jose Raul Pena (34) as well as Susie Marie Lopez (19 months) as Pena
fired at police while holding the child.
(SFC, 7/12/05, p.A3)
2005 Jul 11, Gov. Schwarzenegger
signed a $90 billion California general budget.
(SFC, 7/12/05, p.B1)
2005 Jul 13, A helicopter crash
near Nimbus Dam, south of Folsom Lake, killed 2 Sacramento County
sheriff’s deputies.
(SFC, 7/15/05, p.B3)
2005 Jul 14, California Gov.
Schwarzenegger said he intended to keep his 2nd job as editor of two
bodybuilding magazines. Income from the magazines was at least $1
million per year.
(SFC, 7/15/05, p.A1)
2005 Jul 15, California Gov.
Schwarzenegger said he would quit his 2nd job as editor of two
bodybuilding magazines following criticism of the lucrative
moonlighting. Following this he soon severed ties with the Arnold
Classic, a premier bodybuilding event.
(SFC, 7/15/05, p.A1)(SFC, 7/23/05, p.A1)
2005 Jul 15, Dick Murphy resigned
as mayor of San Diego amid a pension fund scandal.
(SFC, 7/19/05, p.A10)
2005 Jul 15, Bankrupt Enron Corp.
agreed to pay up to 1.52 billion dollars to settle charges of market
manipulation during the energy crisis that hit California and other
western US states in 2000 and 2001. The actual payout was expected to
be closer to $260 million due to Enron’s bankruptcy and limited assets.
(AFP, 7/16/05)(SFC, 7/16/05, p.C1)
2005 Jul 18, California Gov.
Schwarzenegger signed legislation to allow construction to go forward
on the new eastern half of the Bay Bridge.
(SFC, 7/19/05, p.B1)
2005 Jul 18, California reinstated
a program to issue identity cards to patients who have been prescribed
medical marijuana.
(SFC, 7/19/05, p.B1)
2005 Jul 18, San Diego acting
Mayor Michael Zucchet and councilman Ralph Inzunza were convicted in
federal court of taking illegal campaign cash from a strip club owner.
Councilwoman Toni Atkins succeeded Zucchet.
(SFC, 7/19/05, p.A10)
2005 Jul 21, Sealed court
documents were filed in which the U.S. Attorney's Office initiated
attempts to seize the home of U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham,
alleging that the California Republican's $3.5 million estate in Rancho
Santa Fe, a San Diego suburb, was purchased with bribe money. In 2006
prosecutors alleged that Brent Wilkes, a San Diego businessman, paid
Cunningham over $626,000 in bribes between 2000 and 2004 to win
government contracts for his companies.
(AP, 8/19/05)(SSFC, 5/14/06, p.A18)
2005 Jul 28, Stephen McCullagh
(29), an assistant scoutmaster from St. Helena, and Boy Scout Ryan
Collins (13) were killed by lightning in Sequoia National Park in the
Sierra Nevada.
(SFC, 8/6/05, p.B2)
2005 Jul, The California Supreme
Court ruled that favoritism could be used as evidence in cases of
sexual harassment.
(Econ, 7/23/05, p.30)
2005 Aug 1, The California State
Supreme Court ruled that state businesses must treat same-sex domestic
couples the same as married couples.
(SFC, 8/2/05, p.A1)
2005 Aug 8, In California 42
inmates were injured when a simmering dispute between two ethnic groups
erupted into the largest riot at San Quentin State Prison in 23 years.
(AP, 8/9/05)
2005 Aug 9, Officials in San Jose,
Ca., opened their new $390 million, 18-story City Hall. It was designed
by Richard Meier with an original budget of $214 million.
(SFC, 8/10/05, p.B4)
2005 Aug 12, The annual California
state Fair opened for a 25-day run at CalExpo.
(SSFC, 8/7/05, p.F7)
2005 Aug 18, A riot at Calipatria
State Prison, east of San Diego, Ca., left one inmate dead.
(SFC, 8/19/05, p.B10)
2005 Aug 19, In California Skylar
James Deleon (26), a former child actor, was charged with luring John
Jarvi to Mexico in December of 2003, slitting his throat and leaving
the body by the side of a road. Deleon was already facing trial for
hijacking a yacht and throwing the owners overboard in Nov 2004.
(Reuters, 8/20/05)
2005 Aug 22, The California
Supreme Court ruled that lesbian and gay partners who plan a family and
raise children should be considered legal parents after a breakup.
(SFC, 8/23/05, p.A1)
2005 Aug 25, California sued 39
pharmaceutical companies for allegedly inflating prices.
(SFC, 8/26/05, p.A1)
2005 Aug 25, in Southern
California summer heat and the loss of key transmission lines forced
power officials to impose rolling blackouts, leaving as many as half a
million people without power for an hour at a time.
(AP, 8/25/05)
2005 Aug, Judi Werthein (38),
Argentine-born artist, introduced special shoes at Insite, an art
exhibition in San Diego and Tijuana, designed to help migrants cross
the US-Mexico border. The “Brinco” sneakers were equipped with a
compass, flashlight and other special features.
(SFC, 11/18/05, p.A2)
2005 Sep 6, The California
Legislature became the first legislative body in the nation to approve
same-sex marriages, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger later vetoed the
bill.
(SFC, 9/7/05, p.A1)(AP, 9/6/06)
2005 Sep 6, An appeals court ruled
that government run utilities that overcharged California during the
2001 energy crises do not have to repay an estimated $1 billion.
(WSJ, 9/7/05, p.A1)
2005 Sep 6, The California state
Assembly approved a bill to legalize same-sex marriage.
(SFC, 9/7/05, p.A1)
2005 Sep 6, UC Merced, the 10th
campus of the Univ. of California system, opened with an inaugural
class of 1000 students.
(SFC, 9/6/05, p.A1)
2005 Sep 7, Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger said he would veto a bill to legalize same-sex marriage
"out of respect for the will of the people." He cited Proposition 22, a
ballot measure passed in 2000 that defined marriage in California.
(AP, 9/8/05)(SFC, 9/8/05, p.A5)
2005 Sep 9, A Nevada couple
pleaded guilty in San Jose, Calif., to all charges related to planting
a human fingertip in a bowl of Wendy's chili in a scheme to extort
money from the fast food restaurant chain.
(AP, 9/9/06)
2005 Sep 15, California’s Gov.
Schwarzenegger signed a bill to reduce obesity in schools.
(SFC, 9/16/05, p.A1)
2005 Sep 29, In southern
California a wind-whipped brush fire quickly doubled in size to at
least 7,000 acres, destroying at least one home and prompting
evacuations in the San Fernando Valley as flames rose along a ridge for
miles.
(AP, 9/29/05)
2005 Oct 7, California’s Gov.
Schwarzenegger signed legislation to allow local governments to
regulate certain breeds of dogs.
(SFC, 10/8/05, p.A11)
2005 Oct 10, In Half Moon Bay,
Ca., Joel Holland, a retired Washington state firefighter, won the
annual Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off, presenting a
gigantic pumpkin that weighed 1,229 pounds. This matched his winner in
2004. The contest here began in 1974.
(AP, 10/10/05)(SFC, 10/10/06, p.B3)
2005 Oct 12, Human Rights Watch
reported that 2,225 inmates in the US were serving life-without-parole
terms for crimes committed when they were under 18. California had 180
prisoners serving such sentences for murders committed when they were
17 or 18.
(SFC, 10/13/05, p.B3)
2005 Oct 15, Marcia and Ken
Powers, a husband-and-wife team, reached the Pacific Ocean on after a
4,900-mile cross-country hike, becoming the first to backpack the
transcontinental American Discovery Trail in one continuous trek. They
had started Feb. 27 at Cape Henlopen in Delaware.
(AP, 10/16/05)
2005 Oct 24, Edward Roybal
(b.1916), former US Representative from Los Angeles (1962-1992), died
in Pasadena. He was the 1st Hispanic to serve in Congress since 1879.
(SFC, 10/27/05, p.B9)
2005 Oct 29, In Aliso Viejo a
19-year-old in a black cape and a paintball mask went on a shooting
rampage in his upscale Southern California neighborhood, killing a man
and his daughter before committing suicide.
(AP, 10/30/05)
2005 Nov 1, Paul Richards (49),
former mayor of Lynwood, Ca., was convicted of federal charges
involving the funneling of millions of dollars in city contracts to a
sham consulting company he secretly controlled.
(SFC, 11/2/05, p.B3)
2005 Nov 3, Kevin Henry (39), of
Albion, Ca., was murdered by Nathan McWilliams (22) and Trevor Conley
(23) of Ukiah, Ca., near Lake Mendocino following use of crystal
methamphetamine. In 2007 Conley and McWilliams were sentenced 15 years
to life in prison.
(SFCM, 1/20/08, p.17)
2005 Nov 8, California voters
rejected Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's efforts to reshape state
government during a special election that darkened his prospects for a
second term.
(AP, 11/9/05)(SFC, 11/9/05, p.A1)
2005 Nov 11, In Vallejo, Ca.,
Curtis Mack Allen (35) was killed. Police issued a murder warrant for
Kim Saelio (22), a pimp who had planned to rob Allen using a prostitute
as bait. On June 21, 2006, police killed Saelio following a chase in
Oakland.
(SFC, 6/22/06, p.B7)
2005 Nov 14, Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger arrived in China on a six-day mission to promote
California products and encourage Chinese officials to crack down on
the piracy of copyrighted music, movies and software.
(AP, 11/14/05)
2005 Nov 16, The US House passed a
bill authorizing up to $38 million in federal funds to preserve and
restore 10 WW II internment camps, including Tule Lake and Manzanar in
California, as well as 17 assembly centers. Nonprofits would need to
come up with 75% of the money for the projects.
(SFC, 11/17/05, p.A15)
2005 Nov 17, Andy Stevens (37), a
California CHP officer, was shot and killed during a routine traffic
stop in Yolo County. Police the next day arrested suspects Brendt
Anthony Volarvich (20) in Rocklin and Gregory Fred Zielesch (47) of
Woodland. Volarvich was later convicted of murder and sentenced to
death. In 2009 a Sacramento district court upheld a murder conviction
against Zielesch and his sentence of 57 years to life in prison.
(SFC, 11/18/05, p.B2)(SFC, 11/19/05, p.B3)(SFC,
11/25/09, p.C2)
2005 Nov 27, In Santa Maria, Ca.,
a Greyhound bus overturned, killing two people and injuring dozens of
others.
(AP, 11/27/05)
2005 Nov 28, Randy "Duke"
Cunningham (63), a Republican US congressman, resigned after pleading
guilty in San Diego, Ca., to taking 2.4 million dollars in bribes in
return from a military contractor to influence the award of defense
deals. Cunningham’s exploits as a Navy fighter pilot inspired the 1986
film “Top Gun.” In 2007 Seth Hettena authored “Feasting on the Spoils:
The Life and Times of Randy “Duke” Cunningham, History’s Most Corrupt
Congressman,” and Marcus Stern, Jerry Kammer, Dean Calbreath, and
George E. Condon Jr. authored, a team from the San Diego Tribune, ”The
Wrong Stuff.”
(AFP, 11/28/05)(Econ, 12/3/05, p.32)
2005 Dec 7, In Clearlake, Ca.,
Shannon Edmonds (31) shot and killed 2 of 3 intruders at his home.
Renato Hughes Jr. (21), the 3rd intruder, was charged with 2 counts of
1st degree murder under a controversial legal theory. In 2008 Hughes
was acquitted of murder by a jury in Contra Costa County. He was found
guilty of 2 lesser charges, assault and burglary. The jury deadlocked
on a final charge of assault causing great bodily injury. On Sep 8
Hughes was sentenced to 8 years in prison with credit for 33 months in
custody.
(SFC, 2/7/06, p.B8)(SFC, 8/9/08, p.B1)(SFC, 8/12/08,
p.B3)(SFC, 9/9/08, p.B3)
2005 Dec 12, California Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger refused to block the imminent execution of
Stanley Tookie Williams, rejecting the notion that the founder of the
murderous Crips gang had atoned for his crimes and found redemption on
death row.
(AP, 12/12/06)
2005 Dec 12, US federal agents
raided 13 San Diego-area marijuana dispensaries.
(SFC, 12/14/05, p.B3)
2005 Dec 13, Stanley Tookie
Williams maintained his innocence right up until his death, even when
an admission of guilt may have spared him execution. California's
execution of Stanley Tookie Williams outraged many in Europe who regard
the practice as barbaric, and politicians in Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger's native Austria called for his name to be removed from
a sports stadium in his hometown.
(AP, 12/13/05)
2005 Dec 21, US Energy Sec. Samuel
Bodman announced that the Univ. of California would retain management
of the New Mexico Los Alamos nuclear weapons lab in a 7-year, $512
million contract in a consortium that includes Bechtel Corp.
(SFC, 12/22/05, p.A1)
2005 Dec 28, US officials said the
number of indictments for bilking victims of Hurricane Katrina has
grown to 49 at a Bakersfield, California, call center used by the Red
Cross.
(WSJ, 12/29/05, p.A1)
2005 Dec 31, A powerful storm
plowed through Northern California, causing mudslides and widespread
flooding and snarling holiday traffic from Sonoma to Monterey.
(AP, 12/31/05)
2005 Dec 31, Guillermo Martinez
(18) died in a Tijuana hospital one day after he was shot by a US
Border Patrol agent near a metal wall separating that city from San
Diego. On Jan 2 Mexico opened an investigation into the killing saying
he was shot while sneaking into California, using the death to draw
attention to a contentious US anti-immigration measure. In 2008 the US
Dept. of Justice cleared the Border Patrol agent of any wrongdoing.
(AP, 1/3/06)(SFC, 2/16/08, p.A4)
2005 California first lady Maria
Shriver conceived of a California state Hall of Fame. Since 2006, the
museum has hosted an annual ceremony to induct roughly a dozen
individuals per year into the California Hall of Fame.
(SFC, 12/2/09,
p.C6)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Hall_of_Fame)
2005 In southern California a gang
alliance between Public Enemy and the Aryan Brotherhood was cemented in
when Donald Reed "Popeye" Mazza, an alleged leader of Public Enemy, was
inducted into the Aryan Brotherhood. In 2007 police agencies in Orange
County arrested 67 suspected members after learning about the hit list
against officers in Anaheim, Buena Park and Costa Mesa. Those arrested
in the raid were charged with conspiracy to commit murder, possession
of illegal weapons and identity theft, among other things.
(AP, 3/5/07)
2005 The new Central Valley campus
of UC Merced was scheduled to open on a 2,000 acre site 6 miles
northeast of Merced.
(SFC, 1/16/98, p.A17)
2005 The new $700 million
California state prison at Delano was due to open.
(SFC, 1/5/04, p.A1)
2005 The insect myoporum thrips, a
native to eastern Australia, was first detected in the US in Orange
County, Ca.
(SSFC, 5/9/10, p.L3)
2005 California this year was the
world’s 12th biggest producer of greenhouse gases. The state’s 36
million cars contributed to the pollution.
(Econ, 8/19/06, p.30)
2006 Jan 1, The California Energy
Commission introduced mandatory standby requirement for various
electronic devices.
(Econ, 3/11/06, Survey p.34)
2006 Jan 2, California’s Gov.
Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in 7 northern counties
making them eligible for disaster aid. The aid was soon extended to 16
more counties.
(SFC, 1/3/06, p.A1)(SFC, 1/4/06, p.B1)
2006 Jan 5, California’s Gov.
Schwarzenegger in his State of the State speech called for over $222
billion for public works projects.
(SFC, 1/6/06, p.A1)
2006 Jan 9, California’s Gov.
Schwarzenegger had a minor motorcycle accident in Los Angeles and was
found not to have a motorcycle driving license.
(SFC, 1/11/06, p.A1)
2006 Jan 10, California’s Gov.
Schwarzenegger proposed a $97.9 billion general fund budget with
increased spending on education, transportation and prisons.
(SFC, 1/11/06, p.A1)
2006 Jan 12, California energy
regulators approved a $2.9 billion plan for solar energy.
(SFC, 1/13/06, p.C1)
2006 Jan 12, In Palm Springs, Ca.,
Richard Milanovich, chairman of the Agua Caliente Ban of Cahuilla
Indians, apologized to other tribal leaders for the scandal tied to
Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff. He addressed tribal leaders on the
2nd day of a 3-day conference for casino-operating tribes. Abramoff and
associates had collected some $66 million from 6 American Indian tribes
seeking influence in Washington.
(SFC, 1/13/06, p.B14)
2006 Jan 17, California executed
Clarence Ray Allen, its oldest death row inmate, minutes after his 76th
birthday, despite arguments that putting to death an elderly, blind and
wheelchair-bound man was cruel and unusual punishment. He was sentenced
to death in 1982 for hiring a hit man who killed a witness and two
bystanders.
(AP, 1/17/06)
2006 Jan 20, A federal judge
ordered Los Angeles to pay $1.1 million in legal costs to the family of
slain rapper Notorious B.I.G. as sanctions for intentionally
withholding evidence during the family's civil lawsuit trial.
(AP, 1/21/06)
2006 Jan 23, Albertson's Inc., the
nation's second biggest traditional grocery store chain, said it has
agreed to sell the company. The deal was valued at about $17.4 billion
in cash and stock and debt to an investment group including supermarket
chain Supervalu Inc. and drugstore chain CVS Corp. In June the new
owners announced the closure of 37 underperforming stores in Northern
California. In 2007 the remaining stores were renamed under the Lucky
name.
(AP, 1/23/06)(SFC, 1/24/06, p.E1)(SFC, 6/8/06,
p.C1)(SFC, 7/19/07, p.C3)
2006 Jan 24, Officials said 4
people were killed in Carlsbad, Ca., when a twin-engine plane from
Idaho skidded off an airport runway and burst into flames.
(AP, 1/24/06)
2006 Jan 25, US authorities
discovered what they say is the largest and most sophisticated tunnel
under their border with Mexico, one that was used by drug trafficking
gangs. The tunnel began near Tijuana’s airport and ended 2,400 feet
away in a warehouse on the US side of the border. The find included 2
tons of marijuana.
(AFP, 1/27/06)(SFC, 1/27/06, p.B14)
2006 Jan 26, California
legislators became the 1st in the US to designate secondhand tobacco
smoke as a toxic air contaminant.
(SFC, 1/27/06, p.B1)
2006 Jan 30, In Goleta, Ca.,
Jennifer San Marco, a female ex-postal worker, opened fire at a mail
processing plant, killing 5 people before committing suicide. A former
neighbor was found slain the next day and a critically wounded worker
died Feb 1.
(AP, 1/31/06)(SFC, 2/2/06, p.A4)
2006 Feb 2, In California Lawrence
Livermore National Laboratory announced that it will install a battery
of machine guns to deter terrorists. The Gatling guns will be capable
of firing 4,000 rounds a minute from 6 barrels with a range of nearly a
mile.
(SFC, 2/4/06, p.B1)
2006 Feb 4, In Southern California
nearly 2,000 inmates rioted at the Castaic North County Correctional
Facility, throwing mattresses and banging heads against bunk beds, in
an uproar that officials said stemmed from racial tensions. One inmate
was killed.
(AP, 2/5/06)
2006 Feb 10, The FBI and the
California attorney general’s office said they had begun investigations
in the theft by an int’l. counterfeiting ring of debit card numbers
belonging to as many as 200,000 consumers.
(SFC, 2/11/06, p.A1)
2006 Feb 12, In northern
California 2 people were killed when their home-built aircraft crashed
into a 2-story house in Roseville.
(SFC, 2/13/06, p.B1)
2006 Feb 15, A three-judge panel
of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals halted California's recall
election, saying it was unacceptable for several counties to use
punch-card ballots. A larger panel of eleven judges from the 9th
Circuit later ordered the election to go forward.
(AP, 2/15/07)
2006 Feb 15, Police in Los
Angeles, Ca., busted 8 people connected to an int’l. car theft ring.
The racket, disguised as a charity group, was linked to Chechnya and
police believed proceeds from the stolen cars was used to finance
Chechen terrorist operations.
(WSJ, 12/29/06, p.A1)
2006 Feb 17, CHP Officer Earl
Scott (36) was shot and killed during a routine traffic stop on Highway
99 in Salida, Ca. A few hours later Columbus Jr. Allen II (30), turned
himself in to the Stockton Police Dept., and was arrested on suspicion
of murder.
(SFC, 2/18/06, p.B1)
2006 Feb 21, In California the
execution of Michael Morales at San Quentin was put on hold after 2
anesthesiologists backed out of assuring that he would be unconscious
while dying per a requirement by US District Judge Jeremy Fogel.
(SFC, 2/23/06, p.A14)
2006 Feb 21, Stefan Eriksson (44)
was involved in the crash of a million-dollar Ferrari Enzo in northern
Malibu, Ca. In 2005 he and some partners had racked up some $400
million in losses in Gizmondo, a London-based subsidiary of Tiger
Telematics, that was developing a handheld gaming device. Prior to
Gizmondo Eriksson had served time in a Swedish prison for
counterfeiting. Eriksson was arrested on April 8 for failing to make
payments on 3 cars worth $3.5 million. On Nov 7 Eriksson was sentenced
to 3 years in prison for embezzlement and gun possession.
(SSFC, 4/9/06, p.A1)(SFC, 4/10/06, p.A2)(SFC,
11/8/06, p.A4)
2006 Feb 24, California’s Gov.
Schwarzenegger issued an emergency declaration to speed improvement on
24 severely eroded portions of Bay Area delta levees.
(SFC, 2/25/06, p.A1)
2006 Feb 27, Five California state
prison employees, who objected to questionable purchases for inmate
drug treatment programs, testified that they were told to stay quiet.
(SFC, 2/28/06, p.A1)
2006 Feb 27, Otis Chandler
(b.1927), former publisher of the LA Times (1960-1980), died in Ojai,
Ca.
(SFC, 2/28/06, p.A2)
2006 Mar 2, LA prosecutors said 19
people, many of them former police officers or with police connections,
have been charged with staging home robberies in Southern California to
steal drugs, money and weapons.
(Reuters, 3/2/06)
2006 Mar 3, Former US Congressman
Randy "Duke" Cunningham (64), who pleaded guilty last year to taking
$2.4 million in bribes, was sentenced by a federal judge in San Diego,
Ca., to eight years and four months in prison.
(Reuters, 3/4/06)
2006 Mar 3, Officials in southern
California said archaeologists, excavating a housing development site,
had found a prehistoric milling area at the base of the Angeles
National Forest estimated to be 8,000 years old. Workers removed and
catalogued about 100 tools and implements used by the Gabrielino-Tongva
tribe. Azusa Land Partners is developing 1,250 homes on the 520-acre
site.
(AP, 3/3/06)
2006 Mar 5, Rodney Strong (78),
dancer-turned winemaker, died in Healdsburg, Ca.
(SFC, 3/7/06, p.B5)
2006 Mar 9, California authorities
ordered Michael Jackson to shut down his Neverland Valley Ranch and
fined the pop star $169,000 for failing to pay his employees or
maintain proper insurance.
(Reuters, 3/9/06)
2006 Mar 16, The Univ. of
California regents, citing genocide in Darfur, voted to divest UC of
tens of millions of securities from 9 foreign companies doing business
with Sudan.
(SFC, 3/17/06, p.A1)
2006 Apr 5, Brown-Forman said it
will lay off 76 people and close its Fetzer Vineyards’ Valley Oaks
Hospitality Center in Hopland. Brown-Forman acquired Fetzer in 1992.
(SFC, 4/6/06, p.F2)
2006 Apr 6, In California 3 ski
patrollers were killed when snow collapsed around a volcanic gas vent
at Mammoth Lakes.
(SFC, 4/7/06, p.A2)
2006 Apr 13, In California an
independent task force issued a 29-page report faulting UC executives
and the Board of Regents for lack of oversight in pay practices and the
use of public funds.
(SFC, 4/14/06, p.A1)
2006 Apr 17, In California Gov.
Schwarzenegger signed a law mandating names-based reporting of HIV
cases.
(SSFC, 4/23/06, p.A3)
2006 Apr 21, Pres. Bush began a
4-day visit to California. He denied Gov. Schwarzenegger’s request for
federal funds to repair Bay Area levees.
(SFC, 4/22/06, p.A1)
2006 Apr 22, Pres. Bush declared
hydrogen to be the fuel of the future in an Earth Day speech in
Sacramento on the 2nd day of his visit to California.
(SSFC, 4/23/06, p.A1)
2006 Apr 22, Ed Davis, former LA
police chief (1969-1978) and California state representative
(1980-1992), died in San Luis Obispo.
(SSFC, 4/23/06, p.B7)
2006 Apr 23, Some 10,000 people
marched in SF to denounce a bill in the US House of Representatives
that would make illegal immigration a felony. Latinos organized a day
of protests in over 100 cities. As many as 500,000 marched in Los
Angeles.
(SFC, 4/24/06, p.A1)(Econ, 5/8/10, p.14)
2006 Apr 25, California
legislators demanded that UC reveal details of extra pay and perks to
dozens of top executives following an audit that found 91 exceptions to
policy and procedures over the past decade. In Feb. Pres. Dynes had
appeared before the state Senate Education Committee to apologize for
the compensation scandal.
(SFC, 4/26/06, p.B1)(SFC, 8/14/07, p.A4)
2006 Apr 28, The US government
adopted a federal advisory council’s recommendations for deep cuts to
the 2006 salmon season for California and Oregon.
(SFC, 4/29/06, p.B1)
2006 Apr 28, Mexican police in
Tijuana found the body of a US citizen kidnapped nearly 3 weeks
earlier. They said he had been beaten, strangled, stripped naked and
stashed in the trunk of a car. George Kwok Choi Chu, a seafood
wholesaler, worked in Tijuana but lived across the border in San Diego.
(AP, 4/29/06)
2006 May 7, Golden West Financial
Corp. of Oakland, Ca., agreed to sell itself to Wachovia Corp. for
$25.5 billion. Investors soon expressed skepticism calling the
transaction risky and too costly.
(AP, 5/8/06)(SFC, 5/8/06, p.A1)
2006 May 8, US federal Judge Gary
Klausner in Los Angeles sentenced "botmaster" Jeanson Ancheta (20) to
57 months in jail for taking control of an array of computers he had
corralled into his "Botnet."
(AFP, 5/9/06)
2006 May 16, After months of
intense pressure, the director of Los Angeles' J. Paul Getty Museum
agreed to recommend to the museum's board to return ancient artifacts
in its collections that Greece claims were illegally spirited out of
the country.
(AP, 5/16/06)
2006 May 16, UC spokesman Paul
Schwartz said that the university had negotiated at least 700
separation agreements worth over $23 million over the last 5 years.
(SFC, 5/17/06, p.A1)
2006 May 25, Mexican President
Vicente Fox addressed the California legislature. He praised a US
Senate which had just approved sweeping immigration reforms as a
"monumental step forward" in the relationship between his country and
the United States.
(AP, 5/26/06)
2006 May 26, Gov. Schwarzenegger
signed legislation making California the 1st state in the country to
adopt comprehensive controls on fish farming.
(SFC, 5/27/06, p.B2)
2006 Jun 1, California Gov.
Schwarzenegger reluctantly reached an agreement with the federal
government to deploy 1,000 members of the California National Guard
along the US-Mexico border.
(SFC, 6/2/06, p.B1)
2006 Jun 3, John Finley Scott
(b.1934), a retired UC Davis sociology professor, went missing from his
home outside Davis, Ca. Much spattered blood was found in his bedroom
and foyer. Scott was also known for inventing the mountain bike. In
January 2007 Yolo County authorities arraigned his handyman, Charles
Cunningham (38). Cunningham was charged with murdering a witness and
five other felonies. In December Cunningham was sentenced to 31 years
in prison.
(www.charleyproject.org/cases/s/scott_john.html)(SFC, 12/5/07, p.B2)
2006 Jun 11, Phoenix (b.1923), a
100-foot-long, glass-bottom paddleboat, sank while passing Malibu on
its way to Martinez, Ca.
(SFC, 6/12/06, p.B2)
2006 Jun 21, In California some
830 firefighters battled a fire in the Los Padres National Forest,
which grew to an estimated 14,000 acres. It was 35% contained.
(SFC, 6/22/06, p.B4)
2006 Jun 24, Denice Denton (46),
UC Santa Cruz Chancellor, jumped to her death from the roof of the
42-story Paramount apartment building in SF. She had assumed office on
Feb 14, 2005, and soon called for some $600,000 in upgrades to her
university provided housing.
(SSFC, 6/25/06, p.A13)
2006 Jun 26, In California 2 Navy
jets collided near King City and one pilot was killed.
(SFC, 6/27/06, p.B5)
2006 Jul 1, An estimated 5,000
bikers rode into Hollister, Ca., for the annual 4th of July motorcycle
rally, even though it was officially cancelled last year by the City
Council.
(SSFC, 7/2/06, p.B1)
2006 Jul 4, In Gustine, Ca.,
Trevor Branscum (38) killed his 4 young children with a hunting rifle
and then turned the weapon on himself.
(SFC, 7/5/06, p.B3)
2006 Jul 8, In Fresno as many as
10 men allegedly sexually assaulted an 11-year-old girl.
(SFC, 7/13/06, p.B2)
2006 Jul 11, The Land Trust of
Napa County planned to acquire the 3,045-acre Wildlake Ranch for $18.75
million.
(SFC, 7/8/06, p.B1)
2006 Jul 12, The 37,000-acre
Sawtooth Complex fire in southern California was only 15% contained as
it destroyed at least 42 homes.
(SFC, 7/13/06, p.A1)
2006 Jul 13, The Sawtooth Complex
fire in southern California grew to 40,000 acres and remained out of
control. It looked to soon merge with the 2,500-acre Millard fire.
(SFC, 7/14/06, p.A1)
2006 Jul 14, The Sawtooth Complex
fire in southern California merged with the Millard fire creating a
69,000-acre blaze. Some 1,800 firefighters battled the fire which so
far had destroyed 45 homes.
(SFC, 7/15/06, p.A1)
2006 Jul 20, California’s Gov.
Schwarzenegger authorized $150 million in loans to the state’s stem
cell agency. A day earlier Pres. Bush vetoed legislation that would
have expanded federal funding for stem cell research.
(SFC, 7/21/06, p.B1)
2006 Jul 21, The California Dept.
of Education said an estimated 5% of high school seniors (40,173 of
436, 374) did not qualify for graduation because they failed exit exam.
(SFC, 7/22/06, p.B1)
2006 Jul 24, Power companies
worked to restore electricity to thousands of customers throughout
California as a scorching heat wave threatened to push the state into a
power emergency with the potential for more blackouts. Storm problems
cut power to areas of New York and Missouri.
(AP, 7/24/06)(WSJ, 7/25/06, p.A1)
2006 Jul 27, In California as many
as 126 people were reported dead over the last 12 days from a heat
wave. The heat also killed an estimated 16,000 livestock in the Central
Valley as well as some 1 million poultry. By the end of the month the
heat wave left 164 dead in California and moved east.
(SSFC, 7/30/06, p.A12)(WSJ, 8/2/06, p.A1)(SFC,
8/3/06, p.C2)
2006 Jul 27, In California the
Trust for Public Land donated 6,845 acres of coastline property north
of Santa Cruz to the state for public use. The Coast Dairies property
was initially settled by the Moretti and Respini families in 1866.
(SFC, 7/28/06, p.A1)
2006 Jul 29, The Middle East
crisis dominated the first full day of PM Tony Blair's tour of
California, forcing his promotion of British business interests here to
take a back seat. Blair's former foreign secretary, Jack Straw,
condemned Israeli action against Lebanon as "disproportionate" in the
first such comment by a senior British government minister. PM Blair
said an international agreement, leading to a cease-fire in the
Israel-Hezbollah conflict, is possible sometime in the next few days.
(AFP, 7/30/06)(AP, 7/29/06)
2006 Jul 29, The Junction Fire
broke out near Junction City, northern California. It threatened the
historic gold-mining town of Weaverville. After 2 days fire fighters
managed to contain 70% of the 3,126 acre fire.
(SFC, 7/31/06, p.B1)(SFC, 8/1/06, p.B3)
2006 Jul 31, In Los Angeles 2
women, Olga Rutterschmidt (73) and Helen Golay (75), were charged with
killing homeless men in hit-and-run car crashes in order to collect
over $2 million in life insurance. In 2008 both women were convicted of
murder and conspiracy. They were sentenced to spend the rest of their
lives in prison.
(SFC, 8/1/06, p.A3)(SFC, 4/18/08, p.B6)(SFC,
7/16/08, p.B5)
2006 Aug 17, Several large
California auto insurers said they will set premiums based on driving
records rather than ZIP codes and reduce rates for most motorists.
(SFC, 8/18/06, p.A1)
2006 Aug 19, In California
explorers from the Cave Research Foundation discovered a large cave in
Sequoia National Park, which they named Ursa Minor.
(SSFC, 9/24/06, p.A1)
2006 Aug 21, California’s Gov.
Schwarzenegger and Democratic lawmakers agreed to raise California’s
minimum wage by $1.25 over the next year to $8.00 per hour, making it
the highest minimum wage in the nation.
(SFC, 8/22/06, p.A1)
2006 Aug 30, In California Gov.
Schwarzenegger and Democrats struck a deal to require state industries
to lower greenhouse gas emissions.
(SFC, 8/31/06, p.A1)
2006 Aug 31, J.S. Holliday
(b.1924), California historian, died. His book included “The World
Rushed In” (1981), a history of the California gold rush.
(SFC, 9/2/06, p.B1)
2007 Sep 3, A fire began east of
Morgan Hill, Ca., that burned 47,760 acres in and around Henry W. Coe
State Park. Margaret Pavese was later charged with a misdemeanor for
accidentally starting the fire when burning trash near her cabin.
(SFC, 9/27/07, p.B2)
2006 Sep 8, The Day fire in
California’s Los Padres National Forest burned out of control for a 5th
day and blackened over 11,500 acres (18 square miles).
(SFC, 9/9/06, p.B2)
2006 Sep 9, Joanna Veil, aged 28
and pregnant, vanished after leaving work in Ben Lomond, Ca. Her body
was found Sep 14 in a remote area of Santa Cruz County. In 2007
authorities named Michael McClish (38) a suspect in the case. McClish
was convicted in 2007 for another murder and sentenced to 18 years in
prison. In 2008 he was charged with Veil’s murder.
(SFC, 9/16/06, p.B1)(SFC, 5/8/08, p.B2)
2006 Sep 13, In California water
users and environmentalists announced a settlement that requires Friant
to release 364,000 to 462,000 acre-feet of water in normal years to the
San Joaquin River, the state’s 2nd longest river.
(SFC, 9/13/06, p.B1)
2006 Sep 14, US federal health
officials said an outbreak a deadly strain of E. coli (0157:H7) had
left at least one person dead in Wisconsin over 100 others sick and
warned consumers not to eat bagged fresh spinach. The outbreak in 8
states soon extended to 25. The number sickened rose to at least 190.
Most of the spinach crop at this time of the year comes from
California. A special effort was under way in the Salinas Valley of
California, a major leafy-vegetable growing region, to look for any
possible source of contamination there. The outbreak was traced to
California’s Natural Selection Foods of San Juan Bautista, which
recalled all suspect products. This was the same deadly strain that in
1982 had sickened at least 47 people in Oregon and Michigan who ate
McDonald’s burgers. A surveillance system setup after a 1993 outbreak
at the Jack-in-the-Box fast food chain helped single out spinach as the
likely source of this outbreak. A 2nd death on Sep 20, a 2-year-old boy
in Idaho, was attributed to the spinach E. coli. A 3rd death in late
August, a woman (84) in Nebraska, was also attributed to the spinach E.
coli. On Sep 29 the FDA cleared spinach from California’s Monterey, San
Benito and Santa Clara counties.
(SFC, 9/23/06, p.A9)(WSJ, 9/25/06, p.A4)(SFC,
9/30/06, p.A5)(SFC, 10/7/06, p.A6)
2006 Sep 15, In Costa Mesa, Ca.,
the new $200 million Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall opened. It
was designed by Cesar Pelli (79).
(www.ocpac.org/about/PressDetail.asp?PressReleaseID=509)
2006 Sep 15, In California Gov.
Schwarzenegger signed legislation requiring the driver use of
hands-free devices for cell phones starting in 2008.
(SFC, 9/15/06, p.B1)
2006 Sep 17, In California a fire
in Los Padres National Forest crossed 60,589 acres, or about 93 square
miles, since it began on Labor Day. Containment was estimated at 15%.
(AP, 9/18/06)
2006 Sep 19, George Lucas, creator
of "Star Wars," announced that his private foundation will give his
alma mater, the University of Southern California, $175 million to
endow and rebuild its School of Cinematic Arts in what amounts to the
largest donation in USC history.
(Reuters, 9/19/06)
2006 Sep 20, California sued 6
major auto makers for greenhouse-gas inaction.
(WSJ, 9/21/06, p.A1)
2006 Sep 23, California Gov.
Schwarzenegger singed a bill to crack down on illegal street racing and
another to allow motorists who lose their car keys to get a replacement
from a locksmith rather than just the car dealer.
(SSFC, 9/24/06, p.B2)
2006 Sep 25, California Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger signed two bills to bar the state's massive
pension funds from investing in companies in Sudan and to indemnify the
University of California system from liability from divesting its
investments in the country.
(Reuters, 9/25/06)
2006 Sep 27, California Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger signed AB32. The legislation called for the state
to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases by 25% by 2020.
(SFC, 9/28/06, p.A1)
2006 Sep 29, In Oakland, Ca.,
Anthony J. Quintero, a Brink’s security guard and former Marine, was
shot dead during a daylight robbery. Quintero’s partner, Clifton Wherry
Jr. (28), was soon arrested for the murder and admitted that he had
planned the robbery. On Oct 5 Dwight Omar Campbell (23) was arrested in
San Diego County for allegedly shooting Quintero.
(SFC, 9/30/06, p.B1)(SFC, 10/3/06, p.B3)(SFC,
10/7/06, p.B3)
2006 Oct 3, In California
Cambodian and US representatives signed a sister park accord between
Samlaut Park and Sequoia National Park.
(SFC, 10/4/06, p.A1)
2006 Oct 5, In California a state
appeals court ruled 2-1 that gays and lesbians have no constitutional
right to marry in California.
(SFC, 10/6/06, p.A1)
2006 Oct 13, Mayme Clayton
(b.1923), librarian and collector of black Americana, died in
Inglewood, Ca. Local officials planned a Mayme A. Clayton Library,
Museum & Cultural Center in Culver City to house and catalogue some
30,000 items in her collection.
(SFC, 10/21/06, p.B6)
2006 Oct 16, California’s Gov.
Schwarzenegger announced that he was planning to set up an
emissions-trading scheme between California and other states to try to
curb the output of greenhouse gases.
(Econ, 10/21/06, p.14)
2006 Oct 17, It was reported that
teams of scientists from the Dubna nuclear research center in Moscow
and Livermore Lawrence National Laboratory in California had detected
element 118 after bombarding californium with calcium ions in a Russian
cyclotron.
(SFC, 10/17/06, p.A1)
2006 Oct 20, Corrections officials
said California will begin shipping thousands of inmates to prisons in
four other states next month at a cost of more than $51 million a year.
(AP, 10/20/06)
2006 Oct 26, An arson fire near
Palm Springs, Ca., killed 4 US Forest Service firefighters as they
attempted to protect a home close to where the fire began in Cabazon.
The fire raced across almost 38 square miles as more than 1,100
firefighters worked to protect homes and build fire lines. A 5th
firefighter of Engine 57 died Oct 31. Raymond Lee Oyler (36) was
arrested on Oct 31 for setting the Esperanza Fire. It was later
reported that he set the fire as a diversion to free his family’s
impounded pit bull. On March 6, 2009, Oyler was convicted of 5 counts
of first degree murder. On June 5, 2009, Oyler was sentenced to death.
(AP, 10/27/06)(SFC, 11/1/06, p.A3)(SFC, 3/16/07,
p.B7)(SFC, 3/7/09, p.A5)(AP, 6/6/09)
2006 Oct 27, In Sacramento, Ca.,
Deputy Jeffrey Mitchell (38) was shot an killed following an early
morning traffic stop. A van matching the one he stopped was found that
evening in the Consumnes River with 2 dead occupants.
(SFC, 10/28/06, p.B2)
2006 Oct 30, A new ranking
compiled by Morgan Quitno Press listed St. Louis as the most dangerous
city in the USA, leading a trend of violent crimes rising much faster
in the Midwest than in the rest of nation. The study looked at crime
only within St. Louis city limits, with a population of about 330,000
under Mayor Francis Slay. The safest city in 2005 was Brick, N.J., with
a population about 78,000, followed by Amherst, N.Y., and Mission
Viejo, Calif. The second most dangerous city was Detroit, followed by
Flint, Mich., and Compton, Calif.
(AP, 10/30/06)
2006 Oct 31, In Long Beach, Ca., 9
African-American youths accosted and severely beat 3 white women in a
racially charged attack on Halloween night. In 2007 a judge ruled the
attack a hate crime and the 9 youths were convicted in juvenile court
in Long Beach, Calif.
(SFC, 1/27/07, p.A3)(AP, 1/26/08)
2006 Nov 7, Jerry Brown, mayor of
Oakland and former California state governor, was elected as state
attorney general.
(AP, 11/9/06)
2006 Nov 16, The Vermont based
Conservation Fund partnered with the state of California to purchase
16,000 acres in northern California from the Hawthorne Timber Co. for
$48.5 million.
(WSJ, 11/17/06, p.A4)
2006 Nov 17, Ivan Hill, the
so-called Freeway Slayer, was convicted of killing six prostitutes in
1993 and 1994 in southern California. On Jan 2 a jury recommended the
death penalty.
(SFC, 1/3/07, p.B10)
2006 Nov 27, California
authorities announced the arrests of 2 men involved with the theft of
almonds and walnuts in the Central Valley. About $400,000 of stolen
nuts were recovered, part of an estimated $2 million stolen over the
past year.
(SFC, 11/28/06, p.B1)
2006 Nov, Cheryl Athene Miller
(58) was arraigned in Ukiah, Ca., on 4 counts of murder following a
claim by her brother that she had killed her 4 children between 1965
and 1970. She allegedly confessed to killing 2 daughters in Escondido
(1965-1966), a son in Long Beach, and a daughter in Mendocino County
(1970). In 2007 prosecutors dropped the charges for lack of evidence.
(SFC, 6/23/07, p.B6)
2006 Dec 2, A sport utility
vehicle driven by actor Lane Garrison hit a tree in Beverly Hills,
killing a 17-year-old passenger; Garrison was later sentenced to three
years and four months in prison for drunken driving.
(AP, 12/2/07)
2006 Dec 6, In California the
inaugural class to the state Hall of Fame included: Ronald Reagan,
Cesar Chavez, Walt Disney, Amelia Earhart, Clint Eastwood, Frank Gehry,
David D. Ho, M.D., Billie Jean King, John Muir, Sally K. Ride, Ph.D.,
Alice Walker and the Hearst and Packard Families.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Hall_of_Fame)
2006 Dec 15, A federal judge
declared California's execution procedure unconstitutional, extending
the state’s execution moratorium. Florida Gov. Jeb Bush suspended all
executions there after a bungled execution this week. Florida's death
row has 374 inmates. California's is the largest, with more than 650
inmates.
(AP, 12/16/06)(WSJ, 12/16/06, p.A1)
2006 Dec 15, New US rules went
into effect governing the reporting of public sector pension assets. A
number of US states faced pension asset shortfalls. Taxpayers in
Connecticut and Rhode Island faced some $3500 in unfunded liabilities
per citizen. California faced $49 billion in unfunded pension
liabilities.
(Econ, 11/18/06, p.36)
2006 Dec 16, In Petaluma, Ca.,
Gibb Theopolis Olivarez Jr. (16) stabbed and wounded Salvador Cucci
after demanding that Cucci buy liquor for him. Olivarez fled but was
chased down by Nathaniel Reifers (31) of Santa Rosa. Olivarez then
stabbed Reifers, who died within minutes. In 2009 Olivarez was
sentenced to 11 years in prison.
(SFC, 12/18/09, p.C3)
2006 Dec 18, A small plane crashed
into a raw sewage plant in Gilroy, Ca., killing a flight instructor and
2 students.
(SFC, 12/19/06, p.C2)
2006 Dec, Fresno, Ca., Mayor Alan
Autry said “we must find a way to become energy self-sufficient” as
local businessmen unveiled plans for a nuclear power plant.
(SSFC, 4/8/07, p.A15)
2006 Ruth Wilson Gilmore authored
“Golden Gulag: Prisons, Surplus, Crisis and Opposition in Globalizing
California.”
(SSFC, 12/31/06, p.M1)
2006 The California Dept. of
Corrections and Rehabilitation had an operating budget of $8.8 billion
for this year to oversee the state prison system, which housed some
172,000 inmates. 1,423 employees earned at least $50,000 in overtime.
36 workers received over $100,000 in overtime pay.
(SSFC, 7/15/07, p.A1,11)
2006 In California the top 1% of
earners paid 48% of all income taxes.
(Econ, 2/21/09, p.31)
2006 In California an epidemic of
valley fever, clinically known as coccidioidomycosis, resulted in over
5,500 cases and 33 deaths. The cases included 514 among inmates at
Pleasant Valley State Prison. The disease was endemic in the southwest
US and was triggered by spores rising from disturbed soil.
(SFC, 12/29/07, p.A3)
2007 Jan 8, California’s Gov.
Schwarzenegger proposed to extend medical insurance to all
Californians, including illegal immigrants. He said the $12 billion
cost would be spread among employers, individuals, insurers, government
and health care providers.
(SFC, 1/9/07, p.A1)
2007 Jan 10, California’s Gov.
Schwarzenegger released a proposed $143.4 billion budget.
(SFC, 1/11/07, p.A1)
2007 Jan 10, California State
coastal regulators voted to impose restrictions on the US Navy's use of
sonar, which has been linked to harmful effects on whales and other
marine mammals.
(AP, 1/11/07)
2007 Jan 12, In California the
Fresno-based Westlands Water District purchased 3,000 acres on the
McCloud River for $35 million. They planned to sell the land to the
federal government if officials and lawmakers decide to raise the
nearby Shasta Dam.
(SSFC, 1/28/07, p.A1)
2007 Jan 12, Jennifer Strange (28)
of Rancho Cordova, Ca., died after guzzling a large quantity of water
as part of a Sacramento KDND-FM radio show contest. In 2009 Entercom
Sacramento LLC was found negligent and ordered to pay nearly $16.6
million to the family of Jennifer Strange.
(SFC, 1/18/07, p.A1)(SFC, 10/30/09, p.A8)
2007 Jan 15, California’s top
agricultural official said 3 days of freezing temperatures had ruined
as much as 70% of the state’s citrus crop.
(SFC, 1/16/07, p.A1)
2007 Feb 17, At Camp Pendleton,
Calif., Marine Lance Cpl. Robert B. Pennington was sentenced to 8 years
in military prison for his role in the kidnapping and killing of an
Iraqi civilian.
(AP, 2/17/08)
2007 Jan 22, The US Supreme Court
struck down a California sentencing law because it allowed judges to
add years to a prison term based on their own fact finding. The court
said juries must rule on any evidence used to justify longer prison
terms.
(SFC, 1/23/07, p.A1)(WSJ, 1/23/07, p.A1)
2007 Jan 22, It was reported that
federal officials had arrested 119 people in Contra Costa County, Ca.,
in a weeklong immigration crackdown that was part of “Operation Return
to Sender.” Immigration officials arrested over 750 illegals in the Los
Angeles area. The operation has arrested 13,000 nationwide people since
June 2006.
(SFC, 1/23/07, p.B8)(WSJ, 1/24/07, p.A1)
2007 Jan 26, A US Navy helicopter
crashed during a training mission in the ocean about 50 miles off the
southeastern coast of California. One sailor was reported dead and 3
missing.
(SSFC, 1/28/07, p.A2)
2007 Jan, In California
construction began on new execution chambers at San Quentin State
Prison. Lawmakers did not learn of the project until April because it
fell just under a $400,000 mark that would have required legislative
approval. Construction was halted in April pending legislative
approval. $725,000 was already spent on the new room.
(SFC, 4/14/07, p.A1)(SFC, 4/21/07, p.A1)
2007 Jan, Carl Malamud of
Sebastopol, Ca., introduced www.public.resource.org, a web site
offering a variety of public code manuals free online.
(SFC, 9/27/08, p.B1)(www.public.resource.org)
2007 Mar 2, The US Energy and
Defense departments chose Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to
design the country’s first new nuclear warhead since the Cold War.
(SFC, 3/3/07, p.A1)
2007 Mar 6, Ernest Gallo (97), who
parlayed $5,900 and a wine recipe from a public library into the
world's largest winemaking empire, died at his home in Modesto, Ca.
(AP, 3/7/07)
2007 Mar 8, Winners were announced
for the annual Ted Prize at the annual TED conference in Monterey, Ca.,
where attendees examined technology, entertainment and design.
(SSFC, 3/11/07, p.D1)(www.ted.com/ted2007/)
2007 Mar 11, Richard Jeni (49), a
standup comedian who played to sold-out crowds, was a regular on the
"Tonight Show" and appeared in movies, died of a gunshot wound in an
apparent suicide in West Hollywood.
(AP, 3/12/07)
2007 Mar 12, Firefighters in
Southern California faced another day of scorching heat and dry weather
as they tried to corral a wind-whipped blaze that had already damaged
two homes amid what is shaping up to be one of the driest years yet.
The 2,036-acre wildfire was ignited by flames from a stolen car that
was set ablaze.
(AP, 3/12/07)(SFC, 3/13/07, p.B5)
2007 Mar 14, A US appeals court
ruled that a California woman with an inoperable brain tumor may not
smoke marijuana to ease her pain even though California voters have
approved its medicinal use.
(Reuters, 3/14/07)
2007 Mar 14, Regents of the Univ.
of California voted to raise student fees by 7% and professional school
fees by 12%. CSU trustees voted a 10% increase. This marked the 5th
tuition hike in 6 years.
(SFC, 3/15/07, p.A1)
2007 Mar 15, In Sacramento, Ca., a
fire burned hundreds of feet of a railroad trestle at the American
River causing part of the bridge to collapse. This halted passenger and
freight traffic on Amtrak and the Union Pacific lines on the main
east-west route in Northern California.
(SFC, 3/16/07, p.A2)
2007 Mar, An insect-borne virus
that has killed tomato plants across Central America, Florida and
Georgia was been detected in California for the first time. Tomato
yellow leaf curl, has devastated crops in the Dominican Republican and
in Mexico, forcing those countries to curtail the growing season to
contain the spread of the disease. The bemisia white flies, which carry
the disease, are native to Imperial, Riverside and San Diego counties,
but not to any counties in the Central Valley.
(AP, 5/22/07)
2007 Apr 4, Film director Robert
Clark (67), best known for the holiday classic "A Christmas Story"
(1983), was killed in southern California with his son in a head-on
crash with a vehicle steered into the wrong lane by a drunken driver.
(AP, 4/5/07)
2007 Apr 7, Thousands of people
marched through downtown Los Angeles, demanding a way for the country's
estimated 12 million illegal immigrants to become citizens and
condemning President Bush's latest proposal.
(AP, 4/8/07)
2007 Apr 21, Rep. Juanita
Millender-McDonald (b.1938), a 7-term congressman from Southern
California, died of cancer.
(SFC, 4/23/07, p.A2)
2007 Apr 26, California lawmakers
approved a $7.4 billion prison construction proposal. This was called
the biggest prison expansion plan in American history.
(SFC, 4/27/07, p.B1)
2007 Apr 27, In Santa Cruz, Ca.,
Steven Harold Smith (50),a supervisor at a wastewater treatment plant,
wounded his estranged wife, shot and killed a co-worker and then killed
himself.
(SFC, 4/28/07, p.B2)
2007 May 10, A US federal jury in
Santa Ana, Ca., convicted Chi Mak, a China-born engineer, of passing
submarine data to Beijing. Mak was later sentenced to 24 1/2 years in
federal prison.
(WSJ, 5/11/07, p.A1)(AP, 5/10/08)
2007 May 11, In California
firefighters struggled to protect Avalon, Catalina island's main city,
from a wildfire that forced hundreds of residents to flee on ferries as
ash rained down like snow.
(AP, 5/11/07)
2007 May 11, In California the
high school graduation rate fell to 67%, a 10-year low, as the exit
exam for basic skills was required for the first time.
(SFC, 5/12/07, p.A1)
2007 May 12, Joseph Rattigan (87),
former California state senator and justice, died. He represented
Sonoma County from 1958 to 1966. In 1966 Gov. Pat Brown appointed him
to the First District Court of Appeal in SF, where he served for 18
years.
(SFC, 5/17/07, p.B5)
2007 May 13, A mother humpback
whale and her calf were spotted in the Sacramento River. They reached
close to Sacramento before turning around back to SF Bay as thousands
watched media marked their wayward progress. On May 29 the pair reached
SF Bay and the next day were spotted outside the Golden Gate.
(SFC, 5/31/07, p.B1)
2007 May 21, It was reported that
California’s spending trends would have the prison budget overtake
spending on state universities in five years.
(SFC, 5/21/07, p.A1)
2007 May 23, The California Energy
Commission announced rules that barred municipal utilities from signing
new contracts with coal-fired power plants. Coal generated about 20% of
the state’s electricity.
(SFC, 5/28/07, p.A17)
2007 May 30, Ontario and
California leaders said they will work together to develop new stem
cell therapies to help conquer cancer, and will cooperate on curbing
greenhouse gas emission.
(Reuters, 5/31/07)
2007 May, UC San Diego, home to
the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information
Technology (Calit2), received $29 million to design and construct
technology and networking components for the Ocean Observatories
Initiative to monitor activity on the ocean floor. It will likely
become part of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems.
(SSFC, 7/29/07, p.A8)
2007 Jun 1, In California a
federal court judge barred the state from seizing abandoned assets
until officials find a better way to notify people that their property
is about to be taken.
(SFC, 6/2/07, p.B1)
2007 Jun 4, In California 9 Hmong
leaders, Gen. Vang Pao, a former Laotian military general, and Harrison
Jack, a former officer in the California National Guard, were arrested
during a sweep by more than 200 federal, state and local agents for
their alleged plot, hatched last winter, to overthrow the communist
government of Laos. They were charged with violating the US federal
Neutrality Act. In 2009 federal prosecutors in Sacramento, Ca.,
dismissed charges against Vang Pao.
(AP, 6/5/07)(SFC, 5/12/09, p.A5)(SFC, 9/19/09, p.A1)
2007 Jun 7, After three days in
jail for a reckless-driving probation violation, Paris Hilton was
released by Los Angeles County sheriff's officials because of an
undisclosed medical condition to be sent home under house arrest. The
next day, a judge ordered Hilton back to jail.
(AP, 6/9/08)
2007 Jun 8, Paris Hilton was sent
screaming and crying back to jail after a judge in Los Angeles ruled
she had to serve out her sentence for a probation violation behind bars
rather than under house arrest.
(AP, 6/9/08)
2007 Jun 8, Japan’s Inamori
Foundation announced that a California-based earthquake scientist,
Japanese chemist and German choreographer have won the $410,000 Kyoto
Prize for achievement in the arts and sciences. The basic sciences
award went to Hiroo Kanamori of the California Institute of Technology
for his research on major earthquakes along the Pacific Rim; Hiroo
Inokuchi at the University of Tokyo received the advanced technology
award for his work in organic electronics; German choreographer Pina
Bausch was awarded the arts and philosophy prize for her pioneering
work in developing a new genre of ballet dubbed "Tanztheater," or dance
theater.
(AP, 6/9/07)
2007 Jun 18, In California a
citizen’s commission, appointed by the governor, voted to raise the
compensation of legislators and most constitutional officers by 2.75%.
(SFC, 6/19/07, p.B1)
2007 Jun 23, Donna Jou (19), a
student a San Diego State Univ., was last scene on the back of a
motorcycle driven by John Steven Burgess (35), a convicted sex
offender. In August Burgess pleaded guilty to a drug charge in Florida
and waived extradition to California.
(SFC, 8/16/07, p.B9)
2007 Jun 25, In California a
forest fire raged out of control for a 2nd day near Lake Tahoe. The
7-day Angora fire destroyed 254 homes burning 3,100 acres with damages
estimated at over $150 million.
(SFC, 6/26/07, p.A1)(SFC, 6/30/07, p.A1)(SFC,
6/21/08, p.A1)
2007 Jul 1, In California the
price for milk, set by the state Dept. of Food and Agriculture, rose to
$1.98 per gallon, up from $1.06 a year ago.
(SFC, 6/30/07, p.A1)
2007 Jul 4, In California the Zaca
wildfire began in Santa Barbara County. By the end of the month it had
consumed 32,000 acres and was 70% contained.
(SFC, 7/30/07, p.A4)
2007 Jul 5, The last feral pig on
California’s Santa Cruz Island was killed. They had been introduced by
island ranchers as farm animals in the 1850s but some escaped. Some
5,036 pigs were killed on the 96-square-mile island in an effort to
restore native species.
(SFC, 8/31/07, p.B6)
2007 Jul 7, Wildfires in
California consumed 17,000 acres in Inyo National Forest and 7,500
acres in Los Padres National Forest. An 8,000-acre wildfire forced
hundreds of people in the town of Winnemucca to leave their homes, one
of more than a dozen blazes that charred a combined 55 square miles in
northern Nevada. In Utah a 160,000-acre wildfire forced evacuations at
Cove Fort and the Blundell Geothermal Power Plant. Wildfires also
burned in Colorado, Arizona, Oregon and Washington states.
(AP, 7/8/07)(SSFC, 7/8/07, p.A5)
2007 Jul 10, A judge in Los
Angeles sentenced pizza deliveryman Chester Turner to death for
murdering 10 women and a fetus during the 1980s and '90s.
(AP, 7/10/08)
2007 Jul 14, The Los Angeles
archdiocese agreed to a landmark $660 million clergy abuse settlement.
Over 500 claimants will get an average payout in excess of $1.3 million.
(AP, 7/15/07)(SSFC, 7/15/07, p.A1)
2007 Jul 17, The California State
Water Resources Control board passed a 70-year mercury cleanup plan for
the SF Bay.
(SFC, 7/19/07, p.B1)
2007 Jul 18, NYC and New Jersey
claimed $170.2 million in anti-terrorism funds, LA and Long Beach, Ca.,
claimed $72.6 million, DC claimed $61.7 million, Chicago got $47.3
million, the SF Bay Area got $34.1 million and Houston got $25 million.
(SFC, 7/19/07, p.B3)
2007 Jul 23, In northern
California a helicopter crashed while delivering water to firefighters
in the Klamath National Forest, killing the pilot. More than 1,100 fire
crews were battling a cluster of about 30 lightning-sparked fires
covering 14 square miles near the Oregon state line. The fires started
July 10 and had threatened up to 550 homes near the town of Happy Camp.
(AP, 7/24/07)
2007 Jul 25, In Stockton, Ca.,
police arrested 51 alleged gang members and seized $400,000 worth of
drugs following a 6-month investigation. Members and affiliates of the
Norteno and south side Stockton gangs were arrested with state and
federal warrants.
(SFC, 7/27/07, p.B12)
2007 Jul 26, There was an
explosion at a remote test facility in the Mojave Desert belonging to
Scaled Composites LLC during testing of a new space tourism vehicle. 2
people died at the scene and one later died at a hospital after surgery.
(AP, 7/27/07)
2007 Jul 27, California’s top
court ruled that police can no longer seize vehicles of suspects in
drug or prostitution arrests.
(WSJ, 1/28/07, p.A1)
2007 Aug 3, Two dogs belonging to
actor Ving Rhames mauled Jacob Adams (40), a caretaker for the actor's
dogs, to death at the star's Brentwood, Ca., home.
(AP, 8/4/07)(AP, 8/5/07)
2007 Aug 10, Federal regulators
said that they are pulling $200 million in funding from the Martin
Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital a troubled hospital that serves one of
LA’s poorest neighborhoods, forcing it to all but shut down. The
hospital was built after the 1965 Watts riots to bring health care to
poor, minority communities in south Los Angeles.
(AP, 8/11/07)
2007 Aug 16, Kathleen Culhane
(40), former private investigator in California, was sentenced
to 5 years in state prison for forging documents to save the
lives of Death Row inmates.
(SFC, 8/16/07, p.B5)
2007 Aug 21, California state
senators ended a 52-day budget impasse and agreed on a $145 million
spending plan for 2007-2008.
(SFC, 8/22/07, p.A1)
2007 Aug 24, In California Gov.
Schwarzenegger signed the overdue state budget after cutting $703
million in exchange for the support of Senate Republicans. Line-item
cuts included $527 million in health and human services, $70 million in
raises to state workers and $39 million in prison funding.
(SFC, 8/25/07, p.A1)
2007 Aug 26, In northern
California the 17th annual Cotati Accordion Festival ended with some
5,000 people and 30 bands attending the 2-day event. Day tickets rose
to $17.50.
(SFC, 8/27/07, p.D2)
2007 Aug 27, In California the
Santa Rosa Roman Catholic Diocese agreed to pay over $5 million to
settle a sexual abuse lawsuit involving fugitive priest Francisco
Ochoa-Perez, who fled to Mexico in May, 2006.
(SFC, 9/13/07, p.B3)
2007 Aug 28, Paul MacCready
(b.1925), designer of the Gossamer Albatross, died in California. His
bicycle powered plane crossed the English Channel in 1979. He founded
AeroVironment in 1971 to monitor air pollution.
(www.sas.org/maccready.htm)(Econ, 9/8/07, p.88)
2007 Aug 31, A federal appeals
court allowed the US Navy to resume underwater sonar blasts in
anti-submarine warfare tests off of Southern California, saying
military needs come before whales. A federal judge ruled that giant
pumps in northern California supplying water to southern California
were killing smelt and would have to be shut down for much of the year.
(SFC, 9/1/07, p.B3)(Econ, 9/8/07, p.36)
2007 Sep 3, In California
temperatures headed back toward triple digits, the seventh day of a
heat wave that has contributed to blackouts leaving thousands without
air conditioning.
(AP, 9/3/07)
2007 Sep 5, Coroners in Southern
California said as many as 28 people may have died of heat-related
causes during the last 8-day run of hot weather.
(SFC, 9/6/07, p.A3)
2007 Sep 7, The Roman Catholic
Diocese of San Diego said it has agreed to pay $198.1 million to settle
144 claims of sexual abuse by clergy, the second-largest payment by a
diocese. The agreement caps more than four years of negotiations in
state and federal courts.
(AP, 9/7/07)
2007 Sep 14, The Monitor Group of
Cambridge issued a scathing review of the administration of the Univ.
of California finding widespread poor performance in the UC president’s
office and a broad lack of confidence in the office by the governing
regents and 10 UC campuses.
(SFC, 9/15/07, p.A1)
2007 Sep 16, An out-of-control
wildfire raged through the San Bernardino National Forest, keeping
about 5,000 people from their homes in two mountain communities.
(AP, 9/16/07)
2007 Sep 19, The governing Board
of Trustees of California State Univ. approved hefty executive pay
increases ranging from 9-18 percent for Chancellor Charles Reed, his
four top deputies and 23 campus presidents.
(SFC, 9/20/07, p.B1)
2007 Sep 19, In California
AT&T ended its automated time phone service, saying it needed the
prefix for new phone numbers.
(SFC, 9/3/07, p.D1)
2007 Sep 20, Univ. of California
regents voted substantial pay raises to faculty and sharply increased
fees students pay at the university’s law, medical and other
professional schools.
(SFC, 9/21/07, p.B1)
2007 Sep 25, In northern Plumas
County, California, state Dept. of Fish and Game began poisoning Lake
Davis to rid the reservoir of northern pike. A similar attempt in 1997
failed.
(SFC, 9/26/07, p.A1)
2007 Sep 28, In Yuba City, Ca.,
Willie Dean Roberts Jr. (32) was dragged to death under a car. In 2010
2 Nortenos gang members were convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
(www.plumaslakelife.com/articles/ouellette-92634-marysville-roberts-sanudo.html)(SSFC,
6/20/10, p.A8)
2008 Sep 29, Kyle Dustin Foggo
(53), former executive director of the CIA, pleaded guilty to
defrauding the government. His guilty plea to a single charge wiped out
27 additional counts. The case was linked to the corruption scandal
involving Randy Cunningham, former Republican congressman from San
Diego. In 2009 Foggo was sentenced to 37 months in prison.
(SFC, 9/30/08, p.A3)(SFC, 2/27/09, p.A5)
2007 Oct 3, US federal authorities
said they had rounded up more than 1,300 illegal immigrants in Southern
California during the past two weeks in the largest sweep of its kind.
(AP, 10/3/07)
2007 Oct 8, Thad Starr of Pleasant
Hill, Oregon, won the 34th annual pumpkin competition in Half Moon Bay
with his 1,524 pound squash. The world record was set this year by Joe
Jutras of Rhode Island with a 1,689-pound squash.
(SFC, 10/9/07, p.B1)
2007 Oct 10, California Gov.
Schwarzenegger signed a law termination investment by the state’s
pension funds in companies doing business with Iran. He also signed a
bill that will give California motorists fines of up to $100 next year
if they are caught smoking in cars with minors, making their state the
third to protect children in vehicles from secondhand smoke.
(AP, 10/11/07)(Econ, 10/20/07, p.42)
2007 Oct 12, Two men were
sentenced to prison in the first successful criminal prosecution under
the CAN-SPAM Act. James R. Schaffer, 41, of Paradise Valley, Arizona,
and Jeffrey A. Kilbride, 41, of Venice, California, were convicted in
June of fraud, conspiracy, money laundering, and obscenity. Last week,
the judge in the case sentenced Schaffer to 63 months and Kilbride to
72 months in federal prison.
(www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=1000096UTGDC)
2007 Oct 12, In southern
California 28 commercial vehicles and one passenger vehicle were
involved in the crash in the southbound truck tunnel of Interstate 5
that killed three people and injured at least 10.
(AP, 10/14/07)
2007 Oct 14, In California Gov.
Schwarzenegger signed legislation banning toys that contain toxic
plastic softeners, i.e. phthalates, becoming the first state in the US
to do so.
(SFC, 10/16/07, p.A1)
2007 Oct 15, In San Diego, Ca.,
local and federal agents seized over 5,000 trained birds in the largest
cockfighting bust in US history.
(SFC, 10/16/07, p.D12)
2007 Oct 16, In California a
blinding sandstorm north of Los Angeles caused a pileup of some 15
vehicles leaving at least 2 people dead and 16 injured.
(SFC, 10/17/07, p.B4)
2007 Oct 21,
More than a half-dozen wildfires driven by powerful Santa Ana
winds spread across Southern California, killing one person near San
Diego and destroying several homes and a church in celebrity-laden
Malibu. The Buckweed fire started rampaging across 38,000 acres in the
Santa Clarita area, 30 miles north of downtown Los Angeles. An
unidentified youngster, believed to be a preteen, later admitted to
playing with matches and starting the fire.
(AP, 10/21/07)(Reuters, 10/31/07)
2007 Oct 23,
Thousands more residents were ordered to evacuate their homes,
bringing the number of people chased away by the wind-whipped flames
that have engulfed Southern California to at least 300,000. At least
700 homes were already destroyed. President Bush declared a federal
emergency for seven counties.
(AP, 10/23/07)(AP, 10/23/08)
2007 Oct 24,
US federal and local law enforcement officials, targeting a
violent Mexican heroin drug ring, raided numerous locations in Oakland
and northern California arresting 30 people and confiscating drugs,
guns and cash.
(SFC, 10/25/07, p.A2)
2007 Oct 24,
Fires in southern California expanded destruction to 1,500 homes
and charred over 500,000 acres. Over half a million residents were
forced to flee the area, the largest evacuation in state history.
(WSJ, 10/25/07, p.A1)(WSJ, 10/26/07, p.A1)
2007 Oct 25, President Bush
visited Southern California, telling residents weary from five days of
wildfires: "We're not going to forget you in Washington, D.C."
(AP, 10/25/08)
2007 Oct 26, Thousands of southern
Californians returned to their neighborhoods as wildfires charred some
800 square miles. At least 7 people had died in the fires including 4
in a migrant camp. 7 other deaths were reported from various causes
following evacuation.
(SFC, 10/27/07, p.A6)(WSJ, 10/27/07, p.A1)
2007 Oct 30, In California Orange
County Sheriff Michael S. Carona was indicted on seven counts,
including conspiracy, mail fraud and witness tampering, according to a
sweeping indictment unsealed a day earlier. Carona and others allegedly
accepted $350,000 in gifts and cash in exchange for political favors in
a scheme that began as early as 1998, the year he was first elected. On
Jan 16, 2009, a jury convicted Carona on one count of witness-tampering
and acquitted him of bribery charges.
(AP, 10/31/07)(SFC, 10/31/07, p.A3)(SFC, 1/17/09,
p.A3)
2007 Nov 1, In California the
Trust for Public Land announced that it had agreed with a group led by
Perry Norris to purchase the 1,462-acre Waddle Ranch near Truckee for
$23.5 million.
(SFC, 11/2/07, p.A1)
2007 Nov 3, Boss, a robotic
Chevrolet Tahoe from Carnegie Mellon Univ., won the annual DARPA
sponsored race in San Bernadino County, Ca. 6 of 11 starting vehicles
finished the 10-mile race, designed to simulate a town. No car finished
the first race in 2004.
(Econ, 11/10/07, p.100)
2007 Nov 3, Eighteen big rigs were
involved in the massive pileup on Highway 99 just south of Fresno, Ca.,
as patches of dense fog obscured visibility on the heavily traveled
roadway. More than 100 cars and trucks crashed, killing at least two
people and injuring dozens more.
(AP, 11/4/07)
2007 Nov 8, California Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger, joined by 14 other states, sued the Bush
administration over its refusal to let them enforce bigger auto
emissions cuts than those required by the federal government.
(WSJ, 11/9/07, p.A6)
2007 Nov 10, Patrick Healy
(b.1946), manager of Fetzer Vineyards in Hopland, Ca., died. Healy had
initiated the company’s recycling program and cut waste from operations
by 95%.
(SFC, 11/24/07, p.A8)
2007 Nov 12, Constellation Brands
said it will pay $885 million for the US wine business of Fortune
Brands, which includes the Geyser Peak, Wild Horse, Buena Vista
Carneros and Gary Farrell labels. The deal also included 1,500 acres of
vineyards in Sonoma and Napa counties.
(SFC, 11/13/07, p.B1)
2007 Nov 16, San Diego County
District Attorney Bonnie M. Dumanis, the Regional Auto Theft Task Force
(RATT), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
(ATF) announced an undercover operation resulting in the break up of an
extensive and highly organized auto theft ring in the South Bay. The
auto theft ring bust is the largest in San Diego County and possibly in
the state of California.
(http://tinyurl.com/3xwk6s)
2007 Nov 19, California Sec. of
State Debra Bowen sued Election Systems and Software, a Nebraska voting
machine company, for allegedly selling nearly 1,000 uncertified
machines to San Francisco and 4 other counties. Bowen sought
reimbursements of nearly $15 million.
(SFC, 11/20/07, p.D1)
2007 Nov 24, In southern
California a fast-moving wildfire destroyed more than a dozen homes and
spread through the canyons and hills above Malibu, forcing dozens of
residents to flee ahead of the flames. 53 homes were destroyed with 7
square miles scorched. On Dec 13 authorities arrested five men on
allegations they caused the fire which caused over $100 million in
losses in Malibu.
(AP, 11/24/07)(SSFC, 11/25/07, p.A1)(WSJ, 11/26/07,
p.A1)(AP, 12/14/07)
2007 Nov 26, The US Bureau of
Reclamation halted drainage on Prospect Island in the Sacramento River
delta following the death of thousands of game fish. The drainage was
part of a levee repair program.
(SFC, 11/27/07, p.B3)
2007 Dec 5, California Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver inducted the 2007
California Hall of Fame inductees: Ansel Adams, Milton Berle, Steve
Jobs, Willie Mays, Robert Mondavi, Rita Moreno, Jackie Robinson, Jonas
Salk, M.D., John Steinbeck, Elizabeth Taylor, Earl Warren, John Wayne,
and Tiger Woods.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Hall_of_Fame)
2007 Dec 7, US federal officials
outlined a new plan on how to allocate water to California, Arizona and
Nevada from the Colorado River in case of shortages.
(SFC, 12/10/07, p.A9)
2007 Dec 12, Igor Olenicoff (65),
California billionaire real estate developer, pleaded guilty to lying
on his tax returns and paid $52 million in back taxes, one of the
largest individual tax cases in Southern California history.
(www.ocregister.com/money/olenicoff-tax-million-1940962-company-agreement)
2007 Dec 12, Police in northern
California arrested Art Cheney, a winery tour guide dubbed “The Highway
101 Bandit,” following his robbery of a bank in Fairfield. He had
robbed at least 17 banks, including at least 8 in the Bay Area, most of
which were on the Highway 101 corridor. In 2008 Cheney (65) was
sentenced to 90 months in prison and ordered to pay back the $50,760
that he stole.
(SFC, 12/14/07, p.A1)(SFC, 10/21/08, p.B3)
2007 Dec 18, PG&E reported
plans to support the first commercial wave power plant off California’s
Humboldt County coast. 8 power generating buoys, to built by Canada’s
Finavera Co., was expected to begin operations in 2012.
(SFC, 12/18/07, p.A1)
2007 Dec 18, The city council of
Half Moon Bay, Ca., voted to hire a team of appellate lawyers to fight
a federal court decision that ordered the city to pay a developer $36.8
million in a property dispute. The city’s annual budget was $10
million. On April 1, 2008 the City Council approved a settlement under
which it would pay $18 million only if it was unable to get special
legislation passed to allow Charles Keenan to build 129 lots on
property in question and an adjoining parcel, bypassing wetlands
protection laws.
(SFC, 12/19/07, p.B1)(SFC, 4/2/08, p.B1)
2007 Dec 19, The United States
government rejected a request by California for it to be allowed to
introduce tough new vehicle emissions standards, dealing a blow to the
state's hopes of slashing greenhouse gas levels over the next decade.
(AFP, 12/20/07)
2007 Dec 31, In California murders
for 2007 in the Florence-Firestone neighborhood of Los Angeles held at
19 as of Dec 24. Murders there had dropped from 43 in 2005 to 19 in
2006. In a murderous quest aimed at "cleansing" their turf of snitches
and rival gangsters, members of Florencia 13, or F13, one of Los
Angeles County's most vicious Latino gangs sometimes killed people just
because of their race.
(AP, 12/31/07)
2007 Derek Hayes authored his
“Historical Atlas of California.”
(SSFC, 12/2/07, p.M1)
2008 Jan 1, In California a batch
of new state laws took effect including a 50-cent raise in the minimum
wage to $8 per hour. AB1298 too effect. It expanded the state’s
data-breach notification law to include unencrypted medical histories.
(SFC, 1/2/08, p.A1)(SFC, 1/4/08, p.C1)
2008 Jan 2, California led 15
other states and 5 environmental groups into federal court to challenge
the Bush administration’s refusal to let the state limit vehicle
emissions of gases that contribute to global warming.
(SFC, 1/3/08, p.A1)
2008 Jan 4, Flights were grounded
and trucks overturned in Northern California as wind gusted to 80 mph
during the second wave of the arctic storm that has sent trees crashing
onto houses, cars and roads. Hundreds of thousands of customers lost
power from central California into Oregon and Washington. An estimated
1.9-2.1 million PG&E customers lost power.
(AP, 1/5/08)(SFC, 1/8/08, p.A1)
2008 Jan 8, California’s Gov.
Schwarzenegger in his 5th State of the State speech proposed a
constitutional amendment to keep the state from spending more than it
collects in taxes. He said the projected $14 billion deficit was driven
by voter-approved mandates escalating faster than state income. The
proposed cost cutting included a the shutdown of 48 state parks.
(SFC, 1/9/08, p.A1)(SFC, 1/17/08, p.A12)
2008 Jan 14, California officials
confirmed that zebra mussels have been found in the San Justo
Reservoir, a dam near Hollister. This type of mussel was first detected
in the US in the Great lakes in 1989 and has spread like a plague.
Colorado officials had recently confirmed zebra mussels in Lake Pueblo.
(SFC, 1/25/08, p.B1)(http://tinyurl.com/2nojd2)
2008 Jan 15, Pres. Bush signed an
exemption to allow the US Navy to continue using high-power sonar off
the coast of Southern California. Anti-submarine warfare training would
still not go forward because an injunction was in place against the
practice due to its effect on whales and other marine mammals. On Feb 4
a federal judge rejected the Bush exemption.
(SFC, 1/17/08, p.A3)(SFC, 2/5/08, p.A3)
2008 Jan 19, In southern
California a Hummer, suspected of carrying drugs and heading to Mexico,
cut through a campground and hit and killed Luis Aguilar (32), a US
Border Patrol, as he threw a spike strip in front of the vehicle. On
Jan 23 Jesus Navarro Montes (22) was arrested in the northern state of
Sonora for hitting Aguilar.
(SFC, 1/21/08, p.A3)(AP, 1/23/08)
2008 Jan 20, In southern
California The two small Cessnas crashed near the small Corona
Municipal Airport, killing five and raining debris and bodies down on
car dealership parking lots.
(AP, 1/21/08)
2008 Jan 28, It was reported that
security costs for California Gov. Schwarzenegger and other top state
officials approached $38 million a year. A state senate panel rejected
a proposed $14.7 billion health-care plan supported by Gov.
Schwarzenegger.
(SFC, 1/28/08, p.D1)(WSJ, 1/29/08, p.A1)
2008 Jan 29, Federal fishery
regulators said the number of chinook salmon returning to California's
Central Valley has reached a near-record low, pointing to an
"unprecedented collapse" that could lead to severe restrictions on West
Coast salmon fishing this year.
(AP, 1/29/08)
2008 Feb 7, In Los Angeles a man
barricaded himself in a house after telling police he had killed 3
relatives, then opened fire on a SWAT team, killing one officer and
wounding another. Randall Simmons (51) was the first SWAT officer
killed in the line of duty in the unit’s 41-year history.
(AP, 2/7/08)(SFC, 2/8/08, p.A4)
2008 Feb 11, A US defense
official, an ex-Boeing engineer and two others were charged in 2
separate spy cases with spying for China involving sensitive military
and aerospace secrets, including on the space shuttle. Dongfan Chung, a
longtime aerospace worker in Southern California, was indicted for
allegedly passing classified documents to China in an elaborate
espionage endeavor that spanned two decades and exposed trade secrets
from the space shuttle, the Delta IV rocket and the C-17 military
transport aircraft. In 2010 Chung was sentenced to over 15 years in
prison.
(http://articles.latimes.com/2008/feb/12/nation/na-espionage12)(SFC,
2/12/08, p.A3)(SFC, 2/9/10, p.A4)
2008 Feb 11, Rep. Tom Lantos (80)
of California, the only Holocaust survivor to serve in Congress, died.
(AP, 2/11/08)
2008 Feb 17, The US Department of
Agriculture ordered the recall of 143 million pounds of frozen beef
from a California slaughterhouse, the subject of an animal-abuse
investigation, that provided meat to school lunch programs.
(AP, 2/18/08)
2008 Feb 22, California state
Senator Leland Yee introduced a bill to let Daly City purchase the
68-acre Cow Palace property, owned by the state, and tear it down for
redevelopment.
(SFC, 2/28/08, p.A1)
2008 Feb 22, John Heath (81) was
sentenced In Los Angeles to 28 years in prison in an investment scam
that prosecutors say seeped across half the country and bilked 1,800
people, many of them elderly, of about $190 million.
(AP, 2/23/08)
2008 Feb 23, In Santa Monica,
California, "Juno," a runaway hit comedy about a wisecracking pregnant
teen, picked up the top prize at the Spirit Awards, the independent
film community's version of the Oscars.
(Reuters, 2/23/08)
2008 Feb 27, The annual TED
conference opened for a 4-day session in Monterey, Ca.
(SFC, 2/28/08, p.A1)
2008 Feb 27, Boyd Coddington (63),
car-building legend, died in southern California. His
testosterone-injected cable TV reality show "American Hot Rod"
introduced the nation to the West Coast hot rod guru.
(AP, 2/28/08)
2008 Feb 28, California’s Second
District Court of Appeal ruled that California law requires parents to
send their children to full-time public or private schools, or have
them taught by credentialed tutors at home. The ruling put an estimated
166,000 children as possible truants. On March 7 Gov. Schwarzenegger
denounced the ruling and promised to change the law if necessary to
guarantee that parents are able to educate their children at home. On
August 8 a state appeals court ruled that parents have a right to
educate their children at home even if they lack a teaching credential.
(SFC, 3/7/08, p.A1)(SFC, 3/8/08, p.A1)(SFC, 8/9/08,
p.A1)
2008 Feb 28, At the TED conference
in Monterey, Ca., Geneticist Craig Venter, who mapped his genome and
the genetic diversity of the oceans, said he is creating a life form
that feeds on climate-ruining carbon dioxide to produce fuel.
(AFP, 2/28/08)
2008 Mar 5, The US Federal Housing
Authority (FHA) raised loan limits in California.
(WSJ, 3/6/08, p.A1)
2008 Mar 27, The Univ. of
California Board of Regents confirmed Mark Yudof as the university’s
new president and will pay the former Univ. of Texas chancellor
$591,084.
(SFC, 3/28/08, p.A1)
2008 Apr 1, The US EPA took over
cleanup of an oil spill in Santa Barbara, Ca., after failed efforts by
Greka Oil & Gas to clean up a spill. 2 spills since last summer had
left some 29,000 gallons of crude oil and toxin-laden water in a creek
in Los Olivos.
(SFC, 4/2/08, p.B6)
2008 Apr 1, A California state
Senate committee declined to act on a bill by Senator Leland Yee to
declare the Cow Palace in Daly City to be surplus property.
(SFC, 4/2/08, p.A1)
2008 Apr 17, In Fresno, Ca., Jesus
Carrizales (17), a Roosevelt High School sophomore, attacked a campus
police officer with a baseball bat. Officer Junus Perry received a
2-inch gash in the head before shooting and killing Carrizales.
(SFC, 4/18/08, p.B14)
2008 Apr 22, In California Gov.
Schwarzenegger designated the historic Irvine Ranch, nearly 40,000
acres of protected habitat, as the 1st California Natural Landmark.
(SFC, 4/23/08, p.B6)
2008 Apr 22, In California a
grizzly bear named Rocky (5) killed a trainer (39) in San Bernadino
County.
(SFC, 4/23/08, p.A2)
2008 Apr 23, It was reported that
home foreclosures in California and the SF Bay Area soared over 300%
during the first 3 months of 2008.
(SFC, 4/23/08, p.A1)
2008 Apr 25, In San Diego a bomb
exploded at the FedEx building. Another bomb exploded at a downtown San
Diego courthouse on May 4. There were no injuries in either of the
early morning bombings. On August 6 authorities indicted 3 people:
Rachelle Carlock, Ella Louise Sanders and Eric Reginald Robinson, for
both bombings.
(SFC, 8/7/08, p.A7)
2008 Apr 25, Near San Deigo, Ca.,
a shark killed triathlete David Martin (66) at Solano Beach.
(AP, 4/26/08)
2008 Apr 26, A wildfire broke out
in southern California, 10 miles northeast of Pasadena. Officials the
next day said that it has scorched 270 acres and forced the evacuation
of about 100 homes in neighborhoods might not be under control for days.
(AP, 4/27/08)
2008 Apr 29, California’s Gov.
Gov. Schwarzenegger said the state deficit could grow to as much as $20
billion.
(SFC, 4/30/08, p.A1)
2008 May 1, The National Marine
Fishery Service announced a ban on fishing for chinook salmon in the
ocean off California and most of Oregon.
(SFC, 5/2/08, p.B2)
2008 May 8, Federal officials
arrested 13 fraternity members in San Diego, Ca., in a drug bust.
Officials said 128 people, including at least 75 SDSU students, had
been arrested as part of a 5-month investigation.
(SFC, 5/9/08, p.B2)
2008 May 11, In Santa Rosa, Ca.,
the body of Patricia Barrales (25) was found by her mother in a closet
buried under toys in a toy chest. She had been stabbed 68 times. In
Dec, 2009, Honorio Pantaleon (32) was convicted of the murder of the
mother of his 2 children.
(SFC, 12/19/09, p.C2)
2008 May 13, In California
Assemblywoman Karen Bass (54) became the 67th speaker of the Assembly,
the 1st African American woman speaker of the state Assembly.
(SFC, 5/14/08, p.B3)
2008 May 13, Timothy Kooyman (24),
a homeless man in Rancho Cucamonga, Ca., was arrested on animal cruelty
charges. In 2009 additional charges of using scissors to cut off feline
tails was added to counts of soaking cats in gas and torching them.
Kooyman pleaded insanity.
(www.animalshelter.org/forum/Serial_Cat_Torturer,_Timothy_Kooyman/m_1804/tm.htm)
(SFC, 2/27/09, p.B4)
2008 May 14, In California UC
regents announced a 7.4% tuition increase and CSU voted for a 10%
increase. These marked the 6th increases in 7 years.
(SFC, 5/15/08, p.A1)
2008 May 15, The California
Supreme Court affirmed the right of same-sex couples to marry.
(SFC, 5/16/08, p.A1)
2008 May 15, Anthony Pellicano
(64), a Hollywood private eye, was convicted on federal racketeering
and other charges for digging up dirt on well-heeled LA clients. He and
14 others were initially indicted in February, 2006. On August 29
Pellicano and entertainment lawyer Terry Christensen (64) were
convicted of conspiring to illegally wiretap the ex-wife of billionaire
Kirk Kerkorian. The verdicts were the result of a 2002 FBI probe into
Pellicano’s business. On Dec 15, 2008, Pellicano was sentenced to 15
years in prison.
(SFC, 5/16/08, p.B4)(SFC, 8/30/08, p.A2)(SFC,
12/16/08, p.A15)
2008 May 22, The Summit Fire began
in the California’s Santa Cruz mountains. After 5 days it had covered
4,270 acres and destroyed 31 residences before becoming fully contained.
(SFC, 5/23/08, p.A1)(SFC, 5/28/08, p.B2)
2008 May 24, In California a tour
helicopter crashed on Santa Catalina Island killing 3 people and
injuring 3 others.
(SSFC, 5/25/08, p.A6)
2008 Jun 4, California’s Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a statewide drought after two years of
below-average rainfall, low snowmelt runoff and a court-ordered
restriction on water transfers.
(AP, 6/5/08)
2008 Jun 6, Pres. Bush signed a
transportation bill that freed $45 million for environmental studies
for a levitating train planned to run from Disneyland to Las
Vegas.
(SFC, 6/7/08, p.C2)
2008 Jun 12, Chile’s Pres.
Bachelet visited California on a trade mission, addressed the state
Assembly and signed a cooperation agreement with Gov. Schwarzenegger.
(SFC, 6/13/08, p.B12)
2008 Jun 13, Leonard B. Auerbach
(61), an American fugitive, was deported from Cuba to face federal
charges in California of sexually abusing a Costa Rican girl and
possessing child pornography. He was arrested on May 7, about a month
after his arrival.
(AP, 6/14/08)
2008 Jun 13, In northern
California some 2,800 firefighters battled the Humboldt Fire in Butte
County. 9,000 residents were evacuated as the fire covered 23,00 acres.
Bt June 15 most of the fire was under control after destroying 74 homes
and damaging 20 more in Paradise.
(SFC, 6/14/08, p.B1)(SFC, 6/16/08, p.B1)
2008 Jun 16, In California county
clerks began issuing marriage rights to gay men and lesbians, becoming
the 2nd US state to grant such rights.
(SFC, 6/17/08, p.A1)
2008 Jun 22, The Walker Fire began
in Lake County, Ca. By June 25 it had covered 14,000 acres and was only
5% contained.
(SFC, 6/26/08, p.B1)
2008 Jun 23, More than 840
wildfires sparked by an "unprecedented" lightning storm burned across
Northern California, alarming the governor and requiring the help of
firefighters from Nevada and Oregon.
(AP, 6/24/08)
2008 Jun 25, Jerry Brown,
California’s attorney general, sued Countrywide Financial for unfair
business practices relating to home loan mortgages. Lisa madigan, the
attorney general of Illinois, also filed suit against Countrywide,
which is being acquired by Bank of America. The Washington State Dept.
of Financial Institutions filed an administrative action against
Countrywide alleging discriminatory lending practices.
(SFC, 6/26/08, p.C1)(WSJ, 6/26/08, p.A3)
2008 Jun 26, Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE) Assistant Chief Counsel Constantine Peter
Kallas (38) and wife Maria Kallas (39), both of Alta Loma, Ca., were
arrested at the San Manuel Indian Bingo and Casino on suspicion of
accepting thousands of dollars from both legal and illegal immigrants
in exchange for immigration benefits.
(AP, 6/27/08)
2008 Jun 28, US President George
W. Bush declared a state of emergency in California and ordered federal
aid to help authorities battle more than 1,000 wildfires burning out of
control.
(AFP, 6/28/08)
2008 Jul 2, In California Hans
Florine (44) and Yuji Hirayama (39) broke a World Record for the
fastest climb up the Nose of El Capitan (2:43:33) in Yosemite National
Park. On Oct 12 they broke the record again with a time of 2:37:5.
(SFC, 7/3/08, p.A1)(SFC, 10/13/08, p.A1)
2008 Jul 4, In California 27 major
fires were considered active. These included the Basin Complex Fire in
Los Padres National Forest where over 68,700 acres were scorched and
the Indians Fire in Monterey County with 81,300 acres consumed.
(SFC, 7/4/08, p.A1)
2008 Jul 8, In California the
Butte Lightning Complex Fire destroyed 41 homes overnight in and around
Paradise. The next day 10,000 people were evacuated from the area.
(SFC, 7/10/08, p.A1)
2008 Jul 9, The California state
Board of Education voted to make algebra mandatory in the eighth grade
beginning in 2011, in order to bring the state into compliance with the
federal No Child Left Behind program.
(SFC, 7/10/08, p.A1)
2008 Jul 11, US banking regulators
seized IndyMac Bancorp Inc., Pasadena-based mortgage lender, after
withdrawals by panicked depositors led to the second-largest banking
failure in US history. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac said that their
finances were sufficiently sound to withstand the housing crisis as
government officials scrambled to restore confidence in the country's
two largest mortgage finance companies.
(Reuters, 7/12/08)(SFC, 7/12/08, p.A1)
2008 Jul 15, In California 2
vehicles collided on a bridge and fell into the Delta-Mendota Canal
near Westley. 6 farm workers and a septic truck driver died.
(SFC, 7/16/08, p.B3)(SFC, 7/17/08, p.B2)
2008 Jul 16, California state
educators said 24% of the state’s high school students had dropped out
of school during the 2006-2007 school year.
(SFC, 7/17/08, p.A1)
2008 Jul 17, California became the
first US state to approve green building standards.
(SFC, 7/18/08, p.A1)
2008 Jul 22, California Gov.
Schwarzenegger signed SB685 giving state pet owners the right to set up
a legally enforceable trust to care for their animals. The bill was
sponsored by Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco/San Mateo).
(SFC, 7/26/08, p.C1)(http://tinyurl.com/5uppps)
2008 Jul 22, California reported
63,061 foreclosures during the 2nd 3 months of this year.
(SFC, 7/23/08, p.A1)
2008 Jul 25, California’s Gov.
Schwarzenegger signed a bill banning trans fat in restaurants and food
facilities, making California the first state to do so. The law takes
effect in two stages: Jan 1, 2010 and Jan 1, 2011.
(WSJ, 7/26/08, p.A1)(SSFC, 7/27/08, p.C1)
2008 Jul 25, US regulators took
over two banks and sold them to Mutual of Omaha Bank, the sixth and
seventh bank failures this year as financial institutions struggle with
a housing bust and credit crunch. The Office of the Comptroller of the
Currency said it closed First National Bank of Nevada and First
Heritage Bank NA of California.
(Reuters, 7/26/08)
2008 Jul 31, California’s Gov.
Schwarzenegger ordered the layoffs of thousands of state workers along
with steep pay cuts for most other state employees to ease the state’s
budget gap of $17.2 billion.
(SFC, 8/1/08, p.A1)
2008 Aug 2, In Santa Cruz, Ca., 2
firebombs exploded outside the homes of 2 UC Santa Cruz biologists.
They were similar to some used in the past by animal rights activists.
(SFC, 8/4/08, p.A1)
2008 Aug 5, In California 9
firefighters were killed and 4 injured when their helicopter crashed
after battling a blaze in Trinity County.
(SFC, 8/7/08, p.A1)
2008 Aug 7, It was reported that
the Dubai-based Al Yousuf Group has invested $10 million in Zap, a
Santa Rosa, Ca., firm that makes electric cars.
(SFC, 8/7/08, p.C1)
2008 Aug 11, California’s Gov.
Schwarzenegger sued state Controller John Chiang for refusing to follow
the governors order to slash pay for thousands of state workers during
the budget impasse.
(SFC, 8/12/08, p.B1)
2008 Aug 11, Jurors in Stockton,
Ca., convicted William Choyce (54) for the murders of 3 prostitutes. He
was serving time in state prison for rape when DNA evidence linked him
to the murders dating back to 1988.
(SFC, 8/13/08, p.B12)
2008 Aug 12, In California state
and federal officials celebrated the official transfer of 3,300 acres
from the US Army to the Fort Ord Reuse Authority, which will oversee
the redevelopment of the 28,000-acre base on Monterey Bay.
(SFC, 8/13/08, p.A1)
2008 Aug 18, California’s supreme
court barred doctors from denying medical care to gays and lesbians
based on religious beliefs.
(WSJ, 8/19/08, p.A1)
2008 Aug 26, California’s Gov.
Schwarzenegger signed a measure for a statewide bullet train system to
be placed on the November ballot.
(SFC, 8/27/08, p.A1)
2008 Aug 26, California Attorney
General Jerry Brown said he expected raids on medical pot clubs that
sell for big profits in the Bay Area. He had recently issued guidelines
on sales of medical marijuana and state officials over the weekend
raided a club in Los Angeles County.
(SFC, 8/27/08, p.B1)
2008 Sep 1, In Fairfield, Ca.,
councilman Matt Garcia (21) was critically wounded outside a friend’s
house. He was declared brain dead the next day. There were no suspects
and police had no idea why he was shot. Garcia was taken off life
support on Sep 5. On Sep 13 police announced the arrest of 2 suspects.
On Sep 16 murder charges were filed against Henry Don Williams (32),
who remained at large. On Sep 18 murder charges were filed against Gene
Allen Combs (45). Police released Nicole Stewart (33), who was pregnant
by Williams and remained a witness. Garcia appeared to be the innocent
victim of an attempt to collect drug debts. On May 28, 2010, Williams
was convicted of first degree murder. On Aug 30 Williams was sentenced
to 50 years to life in prison.
(SFC, 9/3/08, p.A1)(SFC, 9/6/08, p.B3)(SSFC,
9/14/08, p.B1)(SFC, 9/19/08, p.B6)(SFC, 5/29/10, p.C2)(SFC, 8/31/10,
p.C2)
2008 Sep 5, In Lancaster, Ca., a
road was paved, at the request of Honda’s Santa Monica advertising
agency, with grooves so that passing cars would hear a rendition of
Rossini’s William Tell Overture. On Sep 23, following complaints and
safety concerns the road was repaved.
(WSJ, 10/24/08, p.A1)
2008 Sep 11, Javier Sanchez
Perfino (30) pleaded guilty in San Diego to running a smuggling
organization from 2003 to 2006, which at its peak smuggled 60-80 people
per day and charging $1,500 per person. The operation ran through a
live bombing range in southeastern California.
(SFC, 9/12/08, p.B12)
2008 Sep 12, In southern
California a commuter train smashed head-on into a freight train
killing at least 25 people in the deadliest US passenger train accident
in 15 years. Officials the next day attributed the accident to failure
of the passenger train engineer to stop at a red light. It was later
found that engineer Robert Sanchez, who died in the crash, had sent a
text message 22 seconds before the crash.
(AP, 9/13/08)(Reuters, 9/13/08)(WSJ, 10/2/08, p.A11)
2008 Sep 16, California’s Gov.
Schwarzenegger promised to veto a state budget approved by lawmakers
just hours earlier.
(SFC, 9/17/08, p.A1)
2008 Sep 17, The Bush
administration released $100 million in disaster relief to West coast
salmon fisherman, $70 million less that was approved by Congress. About
$63 million will go to California, $25 million to Oregon and $12
million to Washington state.
(SFC, 9/18/08, p.A8)
2008 Sep 18, California’s budget
standoff ended as Gov. Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders struck a
deal on a $104 billion budget after 80 days of stalemate.
(SFC, 9/19/08, p.A1)
2008 Sep 18, The last redwood
sitters in northern California came down near Scotia in Humboldt
County, after the president of the new Humboldt Redwood Co. said old
growth redwoods would not be cut.
(SFC, 9/24/08, p.B6)
2008 Sep 20, The California
Coastal Commission sponsored its annual coastal cleanup. Some 55,634
volunteers collected over 742 thousand pounds of debris.
(SSFC, 9/21/08, p.B1)
2008 Sep 23, California’s Gov.
Schwarzenegger signed a $144.5 billion spending plan. The state budget
was a record 85 days late.
(SFC, 9/24/08, p.A1)(WSJ, 9/24/08, p.A1)
2008 Sep 24, California’s Gov.
Schwarzenegger began signing bills including legislation that bans text
messaging while driving and a law that forbids companies that do
business with the state from having investments in Sudan.
(SFC, 9/25/08, p.B1)
2008 Sep 24, In California a
mercury spill at Searles Valley Minerals in San Bernardino County
released some 90 pounds during a demolition project. Another 90 pounds
was released in a 2nd spill at the site on Oct 10.
(SSFC, 2/8/09, p.A21)
2008 Oct 4, In the Porter Ranch
area of Los Angeles County Karthik Rajaram (45), an unemployed
financial adviser despondent over his troubles, shot and killed his
wife (39), mother-in-law (69), and 3 sons (7,12,19), before taking his
own life.
(SFC, 10/7/08, p.A6)
2008 Oct 5, In northern California
8 people were killed when a passenger bus, carrying 41 senior Laotian,
casino-bound gamblers, ran off a rural road near Williams. Police the
next day arrested driver Quintin J. Watts (52) on suspicion of
driving under the influence. Daniel E. Cobb (68), owner of the bus, was
among the dead. The bus had invalid plates and identification numbers
and a lapsed corporate registration. A 9th victim died on Oct 10.
(SFC, 10/6/08, p.A1)(SFC, 10/7/08, p.A1)(SFC,
10/11/08, p.B3)
2008 Oct 7, California State
Controller John Chiang warned that state revenues and cash flows were
deteriorating and that the state was already short $1.1 billion after
the first 3 months of its fiscal year.
(WSJ, 10/8/08, p.A9)
2008 Oct 10, In Los Angeles Leland
Wong (51), a former city commissioner (2002-2004) under Mayor James
Hahn, was sentenced to 5 years in prison and ordered to pay about
$139,000 in restitution for accepting bribes from companies seeking
city business.
(SSFC, 10/12/08, p.B7)
2008 Oct 10, A ribbon-cutting
ceremony was held at Pacific Ethanol, California’s largest ethanol
plant. The Stockton plant, already running for 2 weeks, will process 21
million bushels of corn a year.
(SFC, 10/14/08, p.D1)
2008 Oct 12, In California Hans
Florine (44) and Yuji Hirayama (39) broke their own World Record for
the fastest climb up the Nose of El Capitan (2:37:5) in Yosemite
National Park. They first record was set on Jul 2 with a time of
2:43:33.
(SFC, 7/3/08, p.A1)(SFC, 10/13/08, p.A1)
2008 Oct 13, In Half Moon
Bay, Ca., Thad Starr of Pleasant Hill, Ore., won the 35th annual
Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off. His 1,528 pumpkin beat
the record he set last year by 4 pounds.
(SFC, 10/14/08, p.B3)
2008 Oct 14, A wildfire in
northern Los Angeles covered 13,285 acres.
(SFC, 10/15/08, p.B6)
2008 Oct 15, At Camp Pendleton,
California, Sgt. Jan Pietrzak (24) and his wife, Quiana
Jenkins-Pietrzak (26) were found gagged, tied and shot in the head in
the living room of their Winchester home. Investigators said the house
had been ransacked and a fire had been set, an apparent effort to
destroy evidence. 4 Marines were later charged with two counts of
first-degree murder and special-circumstance allegations of committing
multiple murders, committing the crime during a robbery and rape by
instrument.
(AP, 11/21/08)
2008 Oct 22, Near Livermore, Ca.,
2 horses were found shot to death in a pasture on Collier Canyon Road.
A calf was also found shot to death on Manning Road in Alameda County.
A reward of $17,000 was later offered for information on the killing of
the horses.
(SFC, 10/31/08, p.B4)
2008 Oct 23, In California a new
solar thermal power plant, built by startup Ausra, opened north of
Bakersfield. It will generate as much as 5 megawatts, enough for 3,750
homes. Ausra and other companies planned bigger plants in the future.
(SFC, 10/24/08, p.C1)
2008 Oct 26, John Campbell (1941),
Australia-born mayor of Fortuna, Ca., and former head of Pacific Lumber
(PALCO), died.
(SFC, 10/27/08, p.B3)
2008 Oct 28, In Anaheim, Ca., a
newlywed, killed by police after he stepped outside his home to
confront suspected burglars, was shot in a case of mistaken identity.
Julian Alexander died after being shot twice in the chest by a police
officer who was chasing four burglary suspects.
(AP, 10/29/08)
2008 Oct 28, In California Bill
Martin (65), Mendocino realist painter and art teacher, died. His 3
books included “Paintings “1969-1979.”
(SFC, 11/13/08, p.B4)
2008 Oct 29, Marc M. Keyser (66)
was arrested at his home in Sacramento for sending hoax anthrax threats
by mail to media outlets.
(SFC, 10/31/08, p.B4)
2008 Oct 30, In California Randall
Cover (46), a former city of Sonoma Water Department supervisor, was
indicted by a federal grand jury in SF for receiving $102,795 in
kickbacks from Underground Express. In November a suit was filed
against 2 former employees of San Francisco’s Public Utilities
Commission for taking thousands of dollars in kickbacks from Sheldon
Morris and his Novato plumbing company, Underground Express. In 2009
Morris was sentenced to nearly 3 years in federal prison.
(SFC, 11/1/08, p.B2)(SFC, 11/25/08, p.B1)(SFC,
5/30/09, p.B2)
2008 Nov 2, In southern California
police in Long Beach found 5 people shot to death in a homeless
encampment in the shadow of the San Diego Freeway.
(SFC, 11/4/08, p.A2)
2008 Nov 4, California voters put
a stop to gay marriage, creating uncertainty about the legal status of
18,000 same-sex couples who tied the knot during a four-month window of
opportunity opened by the state's highest court. On Nov 19 the
California state Supreme Court agreed to decide on the legality of the
Proposition 8 measure. It was later reported that opponents and
supporters had pumped a total of $85 million in to the measure. State
voters approved Proposition 2 for improved treatment of farm animals.
Voters also approved Proposition 1A, a $9.5 billion bond for high-speed
rail service from SF to LA. Marin and Sonoma voters approved Measure Q
for a quarter cent sales tax increase to build and operate a commuter
train for Cloverdale to Larkspur. Prop. 11, a measure to overhaul state
redistricting rules, passed as the final tally was completed 3 weeks
later.
(AP, 11/6/08)(SFC, 11/5/08, p.A17)(SFC, 11/6/08,
p.A17, B1)(SFC, 11/20/08, p.A1)(SFC, 11/27/08, p.A1)(SFC, 2/3/09, p.B1)
2008 Nov 4, Michael Crichton
(b.1942), doctor turned author and film director, died in LA. His books
included “The Andromeda Strain” (1969), “The Great Train Robbery”
(1975) and “Jurassic Park” (1990), all of which were made into popular
films. He also created the TV series ER in 1994.
(SFC, 11/6/08, p.A4)
2008 Nov 6, Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger proposed $4.4 billion in new taxes and a similar amount
in spending cuts to deal with California's worsening fiscal crisis,
saying, "We must stop the bleeding."
(AP, 11/6/08)
2008 Nov 13, Police in Richmond,
Ca., arrested 18 people in conncetion with a crackdown on the Deep
Central (Deep C) gang. Officials served 43 arrest warrants in Richmond
as well as other Bay Area and Sacramento counties wrapping up a
yearlong investigation by California drug agents.
(SFC, 11/14/08, p.B5)
2008 Nov 14, In California
firefighters and a squadron of aircraft launched a desperate daylight
attack to push back a wind-whipped wildfire that destroyed 210 homes
and forced thousands to evacuate near Santa Barbara. The fire was later
traced to a bonfire out at a tea garden by a group of young adults, who
thought they had put the fire. Further south a wildfire broke out in
the foothill community of Sylmar on the edge of the Angeles National
Forest and quickly spread across 2,600 acres. By the next day it tore
through the city's northern foothills, sending thousands of residents
fleeing in the dark, forcing a hospital to evacuate and destroying an
untold number of homes.
(AP, 11/14/08)(AP, 11/15/08)(SFC, 11/19/08, p.A4)
2008 Nov 15, In southern
California the Triangle Complex broke out in Corona and Orange
counties. The fire soon covered 10,475 acres and damaged or destroyed
119 residences.
(SFC, 11/17/08, p.A9)
2008 Nov 19, California state and
federal officials said they have seized 5.2 million marijuana plants
from public and private land during this year’s growing season, half of
which were grown in California.
(SFC, 11/20/08, p.B8)
2008 Nov 23, In Hollywood, Ca.,
Mario Majorski (48) of Oregon was shot and killed by a security guard
at the Scientology Celebrity Center as he tried to attack guests with a
pair of Samurai swords.
(SFC, 11/25/08, p.B8)
2008 Nov 23, In New Jersey Joseph
Pallipurath (27) of Sacramento, Ca., shot and killed Reshma James (24),
his estranged wife, at the Syrian Orthodox Knayaya Church in Clifton.
He also killed a 2nd man at the church and wounded a 3rd person.
Pallipurath was arrested late the next day in Georgia.
(SFC, 11/25/08, p.A3)(SFC, 11/26/08, p.A3)
2008 Dec 1, California’s Gov.
Schwarzenegger declared a fiscal emergency and called legislators into
a new special session in order to trim a $11.2 billion budget deficit.
(SFC, 12/2/08, p.A1)
2008 Dec 5, Cliff Lambert (75), a
Palm Springs retiree, was stabbed to death and buried in the desert. To
date his body has not been found. The murder was orchestrated by
Kaushal Niroula, a SF New College exchange student from Nepal along
with 2 other students. Miguel Bustamante was the alleged murderer. In
2010 the three faced trial on murder charges.
(SSFC, 5/23/10, p.A17)
2008 Dec 8, In San Diego The
F/A-18D Hornet crashed into a street about two miles from Marine Corps
Air Station Miramar as the pilot was returning from a training flight.
4 people, a mother, 2 children and a grandmother, were killed in one
house. Two homes were destroyed.
(AP, 12/9/08)(WSJ, 12/9/08, p.A1)(SFC, 12/10/08,
p.A6)
2008 Dec 11, California’s air
quality board approved the nation’s most sweeping plan to reduce global
warming by curbing emissions.
(SFC, 12/12/08, p.A1)
2008 Dec 11, California
conservation officials said a $9.9 million deal to buy the Sonoma
Ranch, also known as the Walsh Property, would be completed by the end
of the year.
(SFC, 12/12/08, p.B1)
2008 Dec 11, In Los Angeles the
husband and daughter of Karine Hakobyan were killed. On March 26, 2010,
Karine Hakobyan was shot to death in Hollywood.
(AP, 3/30/10)
2008 Dec 15, California Senator
Diane Feinstein (75) was tapped as the chairwoman of the US Senate
Intelligence Committee.
(SFC, 12/16/08, p.A1)
2008 Dec 15, California Governor
Schwarzenegger and First Lady Shriver gave introductory speeches
broadcast live via video from the California Museum website for the
2008 inductees to the California Hall of Fame. The inductees included
Dave Brubeck, Jane Fonda, Theodor Geisel ("Dr. Seuss"), Robert Graham,
Quincy Jones, Jack LaLanne, Dorothea Lange, Julia Morgan, Jack
Nicholson, Linus Pauling, Leland Stanford and Alice Waters.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Hall_of_Fame)
2008 Dec 19, California’s Gov.
Schwarzenegger ordered layoffs and mandatory unpaid time off for state
workers.
(SFC, 12/20/08, p.B1)
2008 Dec 22, California's chief
financial officer warned that the state would run out of money in about
two months as hopes of a Christmas budget compromise melted into
political finger-pointing by the end of the day.
(AP, 12/23/08)
2008 Dec 22, In California it was
announced that the Sebastiani Vineyards and Winery has been sold to the
Foley Wine Group of Los Olivos, Ca.
(SFC, 12/23/08, p.A1)
2008 Dec 24, In Covina, Ca., a man
dressed as Santa who had been having marital problems opened fire at a
Christmas party, leaving 9 people dead in a home that then caught fire.
Hours later police found the body of the suspect, Bruce Jeffrey Pardo
(45), at the home of his brother in the Sylmar area of Los Angeles.
Police said he killed himself but would not say how.
(AP, 12/25/08)(AP, 12/26/08)(SFC, 12/27/08, p.A3)
2008 Dec 31, SF ended the year
with 98 homicides. In Milwaukee, Wisc., the total number of homicides
dropped 32%, from 105 in 2007 to 71 in 2008, the lowest number since
1985. Detroit had 344 slayings, a 13% drop from the 396 in 2007;
Philadelphia's 332 killings were a 15% drop from the 392 in 2007; and
the 234 homicides in Baltimore were 17% less than the 392 the year
before. Cleveland recorded 102 homicides in 2008, down from a 13-year
high of 134 in 2007. Homicides in New York rose 5.2%, to 522 from 496
the year before. Slayings in Los Angeles were down to 376 in 2008
compared to 400 the prior year. Preliminary data in Chicago showed 508
homicides were reported in 2008, the first time the city had more than
500 murders since 2003 and about 15% more than the 442 homicides
reported in 2007. Washington, D.C., ended 2008 with 186 homicides, up
from 181 in 2007.
(SFC, 1/2/09, p.1)(AP, 1/3/09)
2009 Jan 5, The California Supreme
Court decided that churches that break away from a national
denomination may not take church assets with them.
(SFC, 1/6/09, p.A3)
2009 Jan 9, California officials
said they will close state offices two Fridays a month as the state
faced a $42 billion budget gap.
(WSJ, 1/12/09, p.A1)
2009 Jan 13, The city of Los
Angeles, plagued by 23,000 violent gang crimes since 2004, including
784 murders and 12,000 felony assaults, announced that it had won its
first civil judgment, for $5 million, against a criminal gang that had
dominated the heroin trade downtown for decades.
(CSM, 1/15/09)(http://tinyurl.com/85n3cl)
2009 Jan 20, State Attorney
General Jerry Brown said California will get $54 million as its share
of a national settlement with drug maker Eli Lilly & Co. for
marketing the antipsychotic drug Zyprexa for unapproved uses. Lilly
agreed to pay $1.415 billion to US state and the federal government,
the largest recovery in a health care fraud case in US history.
(SFC, 1/21/09, p.A21)
2009 Jan 26, In Bellflower,
California, Nadya Suleman (33) gave birth to eight babies, only the
second time in history octuplets have survived more than a few hours.
The woman already had six other children and never expected to have
eight more when she took fertility treatment. Her mother later said the
woman had conceived all 14 of her children through in vitro
fertilization, is not married and has been obsessed with having
children since she was a teenager.
(AP, 1/27/09)(AP, 1/30/09)(AP, 1/31/09)(SFC,
1/31/09, p.A2)
2009 Jan 27, In California federal
prosecutors said purchasing managers for Kraft Foods and Frito-Lay have
admitted to taking $318,000 in bribes from Randall Rahal, a former
sales broker for SK Foods of Lemoore, a major Central California tomato
processor. On August 11 Robert Watson (59), former Kraft Foods
purchasing manager, was sentenced to 2 years and 3 months for taking
$158,000 in bribes.
(SFC, 1/28/09, p.B3)(SFC, 8/12/09, p.D2)
2009 Jan 27, Near Los Angeles
police found the bodies of 7 people at a home in Wilmington.
Ervin Lupoe (40) killed his five children and his wife before turning
the gun on himself. Both adults were recently fired from their hospital
jobs.
(AP, 1/28/09)
2009 Jan 29, A California judge
ruled that Gov. Schwarzenegger can force state workers to take
furloughs to help close the budget gap.
(WSJ, 1/30/09, p.A1)
2009 Feb 1, In California police
officers and two armed robbers exchanged gunfire at a Papa John's Pizza
outlet in Chino, 35 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. Bystander
Daniel Baledran (21), of Rubidoux, died after he was shot by officers.
(AP, 2/3/09)
2009 Feb 6, California ordered
200,000 employees, 90% of the state work force, to take an unpaid day
off amid a fiscal crises.
(WSJ, 2/7/09, p.A1)
2009 Feb 8, In Fort Bragg, Ca.,
Aaron Vargas (31) shot and killed Darrell McNeill (63), a former
neighbor. McNeill, a former boy Scout leader and Big Brother, had begun
molesting Vargas at age of 11 and continued as Vargas grew into his
20s. 12 other men soon came forward with stories of molestation by
McNeill. On April 6, 2010, Vargas pleaded no contest to voluntary
manslaughter charges. On June 15 Vargas was sentenced to 9 years in
prison.
(SSFC, 2/21/10, p.A1)(SFC, 4/7/10, p.A1)(SFC,
6/16/10, p.A1)
2009 Feb 9, US Federal judges
tentatively ordered California to release tens of thousands of inmates,
up to a third of all prisoners, in the next three years to stop
dangerous overcrowding.
(Reuters, 2/10/09)
2009 Feb 13, In Southern
California Amber Dubois (14) disappeared while on her way to Escondido
high school. Her body was found on March 6, 2010, on the Pala Indian
Reservation. On May 15, 2010 John Albert Gardner was sentenced to life
in prison for attacks on Chelsea King (17) and Amber Dubois (14).
(SFC, 3/8/10, p.C3)(SFC, 5/18/10, p.A4)
2009 Feb 19, The California state
Senate approved a long-awaited budget intended to wipe out a $42
billion deficit, possibly steering the state clear of a fiscal disaster.
(AP, 2/19/09)
2009 Feb 20, California’s Gov.
Schwarzenegger made nearly $1 billion in line-item trims and signed the
new budget bill. The 33 bills in the budget plan included $15 billion
in spending cuts, $11.4 billion in borrowing, $12.8 billion in taxes
and about $2 billion in funds from the new federal stimulus package.
(SFC, 2/20/09, p.A12)(SFC, 2/21/09, p.A1)
2009 Feb 23, California’s
Assemblyman Tom Ammiano of San Francisco introduced a bill to legalize
the recreational use of marijuana.
(SFC, 2/24/09, p.B1)
2009 Feb 27, California’s Gov.
Schwarzenegger declared a statewide drought emergency.
(SFC, 2/28/09, p.A1)
2009 Mar 4, In California David
Paradiso (28), a man accused of killing his girlfriend, was shot to
death in a Stockton courtroom after he attacked the judge presiding
over his murder trial.
(AP, 3/5/09)
2009 Mar 6, In California Annette
Yeomans (51) surrendered at the Vista jail and was booked for
investigation of grand theft and embezzlement. The former bookkeeper
reportedly embezzled $9.9 million, forcing her company to make layoffs
as she bought 400 pairs of shoes that she kept in a room-sized closet
decorated with a crystal chandelier and a plasma television.
Authorities alleged that Yeomans embezzled the money from 2001 to 2007
while she was chief financial officer for Quality Woodworks, Inc., a
cabinetry business in San Marcos.
(AP, 3/8/09)
2009 Mar 11, A California state
study said global warming is expected to cause a rise of nearly 5 feet
along the coastline and severely threatening SF Bay by 2100. The rising
waters could cost the state $14 billion of more to safeguard the coast.
(SFC, 3/12/09, p.A1)(WSJ, 3/12/09, p.A1)
2009 Mar 12, The Pacific Fishery
Management Council agreed to extend for a 2nd year the fishing ban of
chinook salmon in California and Oregon.
(SFC, 3/13/09, p.B1)
2009 Mar 13, California said it
faced a new $8 billion shortfall by July 2010 due to declining tax
revenues.
(WSJ, 3/14/09, p.A1)
2009 Mar 22, In Montana a
single-engine turboprop airplane crashed just short of Butte’s Bert
Mooney Airport, killing all 14 people aboard, including 7 children. The
aircraft had departed from Oroville, Calif., and the pilot had filed a
flight plan showing a destination of Bozeman.
(AP, 3/23/09)
2009 Mar 22, Frank Bogert (1910),
long time mayor of Palm Springs, Ca., died. He was elected to the City
Council as a Republican in 1958 and was appointed major. He stepped
down after 9 years in office and in 1992 became the city’s first
elected mayor.
(WSJ, 4/4/09, p.A4)
2009 Mar 24, Kraft Foods Inc.
notified the FDA that it had detected salmonella in roasted pistachios
through routine product testing. Kraft and the Georgia Nut Co. recalled
their Back to Nature Nantucket Blend trail mix the next day. The FDA
contacted California-based Setton Pistachio and California health
officials shortly afterward. California alone is the second-largest
producer of pistachios in the world.
(AP, 3/31/09)
2009 Mar 25, The US House voted to
set aside over 2 million acres in 9 states as protected wilderness.
Legislators also approved a $400 million project to restore a 3-mile
stretch of the San Joaquin River in central California.
(SFC, 3/26/09, p.A1)(WSJ, 3/26/09, p.A5)
2009 Mar 25, One of the US Air
Force's top-of-the-line F-22 fighter jets crashed in the high desert of
Southern California, killing test pilot David Cooley (49), an employee
of prime contractor Lockheed Martin Corp.
(AP, 3/26/09)(WSJ, 3/26/09, p.A5)
2009 Mar 26, In Los Angeles US
automaker Tesla Motors unveiled its state-of-the-art five-seat sedan,
billed as the world's first mass-produced, highway-capable electric car.
(AFP, 3/26/09)
2009 Mar 27, In Tracy, Ca., Sandra
Cantu (8) went missing from her mobile park home. On April 6 her body
was found in a suitcase dumped in an irrigation pond a few miles away.
On April 10 Melissa Huckaby (28), a Sunday school teacher, was arrested
on suspicion of kidnapping and killing Cantu. In 2010 Huckaby was
sentenced to life in prison without parole.
(AP, 4/7/09)(AP, 4/11/09)(SFC, 6/15/10, p.C2)
2009 Apr 7, In southern California
a gunman in Temecula opened fire at a Korean Christian retreat center,
leaving one woman dead and four people injured.
(AP, 4/8/09)
2009 Apr 12, Marilyn Chambers
(born in 1952 as Marilyn Ann Briggs), adult film star, was found dead
at her home in the Los Angeles suburb of Canyon Country. The pretty
Ivory Snow girl helped bring hard-core adult films into the mainstream
consciousness when she starred in the explicit movie "Behind the Green
Door" (1972).
(AP, 4/14/09)
2009 Apr 13, In California a jury
found Phil Spector (69), former rock-n-roll producer, guilty of
second-degree murder in the 2003 shooting death of actress Lana
Clarkson (40).
(AP, 4/14/09)
2009 Apr 16, In Sacramento, Ca., a
tent city of some 150 homeless people was closed. It had been around
for close to a decade on a strip of land between the American River and
a power company.
(Econ, 4/25/09, p.39)(http://obrag.org/?p=6660)
2009 Apr 16, In California
pharmacy worker Mario Ramirez (50) showed up at the Long Beach Memorial
Medical Center and shot Hugo Bustamante (46) and Kelly Hales (56)
before turning the gun on himself and pulling the trigger.
(AP, 4/17/09)
2009 Apr 17, California received a
windfall of over $3 billion for its schools and universities from the
federal stimulus package, becoming the first state to receive an
infusion of cash meant to stop a downward spiral in public education.
(SFC, 4/18/09, p.B1)
2009 Apr 21, San Francisco Mayor
Gavin Newsom formally declared his 2010 campaign for California
governor.
(SFC, 4/22/09, p.A1)
2009 Apr 23, In California
Attorney General Jerry Brown filed a securities fraud lawsuit against
Wells Fargo & Co. for deceptively marketing a financial instrument
to thousands of state investors who suffered losses of over $1.5
billion.
(SFC, 4/24/09, p.A1)
2009 Apr 27, Five members of the
US Congress were arrested while protesting the expulsion of aid groups
from Darfur in front of the Sudanese Embassy in Washington, DC. The
included Democratic Reps. Keith Ellison of Minnesota, Jim McGovern of
Massachusetts, John Lewis of Georgia, Donna Edwards of Maryland and
Lynn Woolsey of California.
(AP, 4/27/09)
2009 Apr 28, In California a
charter bus carrying French tourists overturned near Soledad killing at
least 5 people.
(SFC, 4/29/09, p.B1)
2009 May 3, In California Briant
Rodriguez (3) was kidnapped by 2 gunmen who broke into his family’s
home in San Bernadino.
(www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,518779,00.html)(SFC,
5/5/09, p.A7)
2009 May 4, California’s State
Water Resources Control board released a study that said only 21 of 152
lakes studied were free of mercury and other contaminants. 131 lakes
showed one or more pollutants above state health guidelines.
(SFC, 5/5/09, p.A1)
2009 May 5, California’s Gov.
Schwarzenegger said that the time is right to debate legalizing
marijuana for recreational use in California.
(SFC, 5/6/09, p.A1)
2009 May 5, A Marine Corps
helicopter crashed shortly before midnight in a remote area of Southern
California, killing the two people who were on board.
(AP, 5/6/09)
2009 May 5, In California a
wildfire broke out in the Santa Ynez mountains near Santa Barbara. By
May 15, after destroying 80 homes, it was 90% contained. On Dec 10
officials charged 2 men with misdemeanors for allegedly sparking the
Jesusita fire.
(SFC, 5/15/09, p.B7)(SFC, 12/11/09, p.A11)
2009 May 6, In California a
wildfire surged into Santa Barbara forcing at least 8,000 residents to
evacuate.
(SFC, 5/7/09, p.B6)
2009 May 7, LA Dodger’s star Manny
Ramirez (36) was suspended by Major League Baseball for 50 games for
using HCG, a banned drug.
(SFC, 5/8/09, p.A1)
2009 May 7, Univ. of California
regents voted 17-4 to raise tuition by 9.3%, the 6th increase in 7
years.
(SFC, 5/8/09, p.B3)
2009 May 8, In California the
4-day Jesusita fire in Santa Barbara was only 10% contained as of the
evening, after charring more than 13 square miles and destroying about
31 homes with another 47 damaged. By the next day the fire was 40%
contained and residents were allowed to return to the area.
(AP, 5/9/09)(SSFC, 5/10/09, p.A12)
2009 May 13, RealtyTrac Inc. said
new data indicated that the number of US households faced with losing
their homes to foreclosure jumped 32 percent in April compared with the
same month last year, with Nevada, Florida and California showing the
highest rates.
(AP, 5/13/09)
2009 May 13, The California State
Univ. Board of Trustees voted 17-2 to adopt a 10% tuition increase at
its 23 campuses. This was its 7th increase since 2002.
(SFC, 5/14/09, p.B3)
2009 May 19, California voters
defeated 5 of 6 propositions aimed to reduce the state’s $21.3 billion
budget deficit. Voters approved Prop. 1F, which barred elected
officials from receiving pay raises when the state’s reserve fund has a
deficit larger than 1% of the general fund.
(SFC, 5/20/09, p.A1)
2009 May 19, In Ventura, Ca., an
intruder dressed in black and wearing a motorcycle helmet barged into a
beach home and stabbed to death a pregnant Davina Husted (42) and
father, Brock Husted (42) as their two children were in other
rooms.
(AP, 5/21/09)
2009 May 21, In northern
California police arrested James Stanley Koenig (57), Gary T. Armitage
(59) and Jeffery A. Guidi (54) for running an alleged Ponzi scheme that
swindled thousands of people of more then $200 million since 1997.
(SFC, 5/23/09, p.B1)
2009 May 24, The space shuttle
Atlantis and its 7 astronauts landed at Edwards Air Force Base in
California ending a 13-day mission that repaired and enhanced the
Hubble Space Telescope. Stormy weather in Florida prevented a return to
NASA's home base.
(AP, 5/24/09)(SFC, 5/25/09, p.A5)
2009 May 26, The California
Supreme Court ruled 6-1 to uphold proposition 8, the November
initiative that amended the state constitution to define marriage as
the union of a man and a woman. The court said same-sex couple married
before Nov. 4 remain legally wed.
(SFC, 5/27/09, p.A1,6)
2009 May 26, Russia's uranium
export company signed a groundbreaking $1 billion package of contracts
to supply three US utilities with enriched fuel for nuclear power
plants. Tenex signed contracts to provide enriched uranium fuel to San
Francisco, California-based Pacific Gas & Electric Company; St.
Louis, Missouri-based AmerenUE; and Dallas, Texas-based Luminant. Tenex
will supply fuel to the US utilities from 2014 through 2020 under the
contracts, which provide the option for renewal.
(AP, 5/26/09)
2009 May 27, US federal
prosecutors dropped a 5-year probe on former California state Senate
leader Don Perata (64). The FBI had begun a probe of the Oakland
Democrat in 2003 following charges of financial improprieties.
(SFC, 5/28/09, p.A1)
2009 May 29, In California the new
National Ignition Facility was dedicated at Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory. It was designed to create conditions like those found in
stars and in the explosions of hydrogen bombs. The project was over 5
years behind schedule and costs to date reached $4 billion, almost 4
times the original estimate.
(SFC, 5/30/09, p.A1)(Econ, 5/30/09, p.81)
2009 Jun 5, Raymond Lee Oyler
(38), a convicted arsonist, was sentenced to death for setting the
October 26, 2006, Southern California Esperanza wildfire that killed
five federal firefighters struggling to defend a rural home from
raging, wind-driven flames.
(AP, 6/6/09)
2009 Jun 8, The US border patrol
said a Mexican truck driver was arrested over the weekend at a
checkpoint in San Diego County after 73 illegal Mexican immigrants were
found in the back of his rig.
(SFC, 6/9/09, p.A5)
2009 Jun 9, In California, George
Torres, founder of a grocery store chain, was released on $1 million
bond after a judge tossed out racketeering and conspiracy charges
regarding orders for killing a rival. He remained convicted of 53
lesser charges.
(SFC, 6/10/09, p.B3)
2009 Jun 10, California's state
controller said the government risks a financial "meltdown" within 50
days in light of its weakening May revenues unless Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger and lawmakers quickly plug a $24.3 billion budget gap.
(Reuters, 6/11/09)
2009 Jun 15, In California the
body of Joanne Witt (47) was found at her home in El Dorado Hills, east
of Sacramento. On June 17 her daughter Tyler Marie Witt (15) and
boyfriend Steven Paul Colver (20), suspects in the stabbing death, were
arrested at a strip mall in the Bay Area city of San Bruno.
(SFC, 6/18/09, p.B3)
2009 Jun 23, In Santa Cruz,
California, Clyde Persley (49) turned in his winning SuperLotto Plus
ticket and should get his first check for about $16 million in four to
six weeks.
(AP, 6/28/09)
2009 Jun 27, In Los Angeles County
a gunman opened fire outside a restaurant in Pico Rivera during a
fundraiser by the motorcycle group know as the Old School Riders. 3
people were killed and 7 others injured.
(SFC, 6/29/09, p.A4)
2009 Jun 30, In California August
Provost (29), a black and gay sailor, was burned and killed during an
arson attack at Camp Pendleton. On July 31 Petty Officer Jonathan (32)
was found dead of suicide in the base’s brig.
(SSFC, 8/2/09,
p.A9)(http://socialistworker.org/2009/07/20/why-did-august-provost-die)
2009 Jul 1, California’s Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a fiscal state of emergency after
Lawmakers failed to balance the state's main checkbook. State
Controller John Chiang said his office is prepared to issue IOUs
totaling $3.3 billion in July.
(AP, 7/2/09)
2009 Jul 1, California began
enforcing a new menu-labeling law. It required chain restaurants with
over 20 branches to post the calories of their fare on menus.
(Econ, 7/25/09, p.30)
2009 Jul 2, California State
Controller John Chiang began to issuing IOUs to pay taxpayer refunds
and vendors. On July 9 the SEC classified the IOUs as municipal
securities subject to regulation to prevent their being traded by
entrepreneurs in an open secondary market.
(SFC, 7/10/09, p.A1, 12)
2009 Jul 5, John Bachar (b.1957),
free-style rock climber, fell to his death from a dike wall in the
eastern Sierra near Mammoth Lakes, Ca.
(Econ, 7/18/09,
p.84)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bachar)
2009 Jul 12, In Novato,
California, James Raphael Mitchell (27) bludgeoned to death Danielle
Keller, the mother of his one-year-old daughter. He was arrested late
the same day. Mitchell’s father, Jim Mitchell, was the co-founder of
San Francisco’s x-rated O’Farrell Theater.
(SFC, 7/14/09, p.A1)
2009 Jul 15, California tax
officials said a bill to tax and regulate marijuana in California like
alcohol would generate nearly $1.4 billion in revenue for the
cash-strapped state.
(AP, 7/16/09)
2009 Jul 16, In California the UC
Board of Regents cut $813 million from US budgets and approved pay
raises, dividends and other benefits for over two dozen executives.
(http://tinyurl.com/n3hcj3)(SFC, 8/7/09, p.A1)
2009 Jul 20, In California Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger and four legislative leaders agreed to bridge a
$26.3 billion gap between expenditures and the state's plummeting
revenues. The agreement composed of cuts, borrowing and fund shifts was
not expected to resolve California's financial problems as the economy
continues to struggle and tax revenue lags far behind the level of the
boom years.
(AP, 7/21/09)
2009 Jul 23, US Border Patrol
Agent Robert Rosas was killed near Campo, Ca. On July 25 Mexican
federal police detained four men suspected of involvement in the
killing of Rosas. Included was Ernesto Parra Valenzuela, identified as
the suspected killer of Rosas. In 2009 Christian Daniel Castro Alvarez
(17) pleaded guilty to murdering Rosas. On April 29, 2010, Alvarez was
sentenced to 40 years in prison.
(AP,
7/26/09)(http://texasfred.net/archives/4628)(SFC, 7/27/09, p.A4)(SFC,
11/21/09, p.A4)(AP, 4/29/10)
2009 Jul 24, It was reported that
federal and state agents have arrested 82 people for growing over $1.2
billion worth of marijuana in California’s Sierra Nevada. Over the last
10 days more than 314,000 plants at 70 different sites were destroyed.
Several Mexican drug cartels were said to involved and all but one of
those arrested were from Mexico.
(SFC, 7/24/09, p.D7)
2009 Jul 28, California’s Gov.
Schwarzenegger cut a half billion more from the state budget and signed
a package of legislation to wipe out the state’s $24 billion deficit.
It was later reported that state lawmakers added 336 employees between
January and the end of July adding about $14.4 million a year to the
state payroll.
(SFC, 7/29/09, p.A1)(SSFC, 8/9/09, p.A1)
2009 Jul 30, Bill Leigon,
president of Hahn Family Wines in Soledad, Calif., said that visits to
the company's Web site have increased tenfold since news of an Alabama
ban on his Cycles Gladiator wine broke late last week. Callers from
across the country have been asking where they can buy the wine. It was
reported that the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board had recently
told stores and restaurants to quit serving Cycles Gladiator wine
because of a label that features a nude nymph. The wine's label is
copied from an 1895 French advertising poster for Cycles Gladiator
bicycles. It shows a side view of a full-bodied nymph flying alongside
a winged bicycle.
(AP, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 31, California
authorities said the white striped fruit fly has been found in Southern
California, marking the first detection of the Southeast Asian pest in
the Western Hemisphere. Several thousand traps were soon placed in the
La Verne area of eastern Los Angeles County, where 7 of the flies were
found.
(SFC, 8/1/09, p.A4)
2009 Aug 4, A US federal court
panel ordered California to reduce its prison population by 40,000 over
the next 2 years to meet constitutional standards for inmate health
care.
(SFC, 8/4/09, p.A1)
2009 Aug 8, In Dinuba, Ca., a car
fleeing from police ran a stop sign and slammed into a pickup, killing
three people in the car and four young children in the truck.
(AP, 8/9/09)
2009 Aug 8, In Chino, Ca., a 2-day
prison riot began. It housed almost twice as many prisoners as it was
designed for and was typical of California’s 33 state prisons. At this
time California spent about $49,000 a year on each prisoner, almost
twice the national average.
(Econ, 8/15/09, p.28)
2009 Aug 15, In southern
California the body of Jasmine Fiore (28), a swimsuit model, was found
stuffed in a suitcase and dumped into a trash bin in Orange County. Her
husband Ryan Alexander Jenkins (32), a reality TV show contestant and
CEO of Skyhomes in Calgary, Canada, reported her missing the same day.
On Aug 20 Jenkins was charged with murder and believed to be hiding in
Canada. On Aug 23 Jenkins was found dead of apparent suicide in a motel
in Hope, British Columbia.
(SFC, 8/20/09, p.A5)(SFC, 8/20/09, p.A9)(Reuters,
8/24/09)
2009 Aug 22, Vicki Cruse (40) from
Santa Paula, Calif., died in an accident during the World Aerobatic
Championships at Britain's Silverstone motor racing circuit. She was a
former member of the US national aerobatics team and was the first
woman to qualify to race in her class at the Reno National Championship
Air Races.
(AP, 8/22/09)
2009 Aug 26, In California Phillip
Garrido (58) and his wife Nancy (55) were arrested for their 1991
kidnapping of Jaycee Lee Dugard (11) from a bus stop outside her
home in South Lake Tahoe. Police freed Dugard and her 2 children who
were fathered by Dugard, who had kept them in tents in a fenced,
backyard compound in Antioch, Ca.
(AP, 8/28/09)
2009 Aug 26, In southern
California the Station Fire began in Los Angeles County and soon grew
to become the largest wildfire in county history. It did not get
contained until Sep 1.
(SFC, 11/14/09, p.A4)
2009 Aug 28, California Gov.
Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in Los Angeles and
Monterey counties due to wild fires.
(SSFC, 8/30/09, p.A10)
2009 Aug 29, California Gov.
Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in Mariposa County due to
a wild fire in Yosemite National Park.
(SSFC, 8/30/09, p.A10)
2009 Aug 30, In southern
California 2 firefighters died north of Los Angeles when their vehicle
rolled down a mountainside amid wildfire flames.
(SFC, 8/31/09, p.A4)(SFC, 9/4/09, p.A7)
2009 Aug 31, In southern
California fashion designer Anand Jon Alexander was sentenced to 59
years to life in prison for sexually assaulting aspiring models he
lured to Los Angeles.
(AP, 9/1/09)
2009 Aug 31, In southern
California a massive fire in the Angeles National Forest nearly doubled
in size overnight, threatening 12,000 homes in a 20-mile-long swath of
flame and smoke and surging toward a mountaintop broadcasting complex.
(AP, 8/31/09)(SFC, 8/31/09, p.A4)
2009 Sep 1, In Southern California
the Station wildfire continued to rage with 53 homes up in smoke,
thousands more threatened and new rounds of evacuations as towering
flames crackled close to foothill neighborhoods just 15 miles north of
downtown Los Angeles. On Sep 3 investigators said the fire was an act
of arson. On Oct 17 the US Forest Service said the 250-square-mile
Station fire was 100% contained, 52 days after it began.
(AP, 9/1/09)(SFC, 9/4/09, p.A7)(SFC, 10/20/09, p.A5)
2009 Sep 3, California state
wildlife regulators canceled the San Francisco Bay herring fishing
season for the first time as the population plunged to a dangerous low.
(SFC, 9/4/09, p.A19)
2009 Sep 9, California Assemblyman
Mike Duvall, R-Yorba Linda, resigned after a videotape surfaced of his
bragging about sexual exploits with 2 women, one of whom reportedly
worked as a lobbyist.
(SFC, 9/10/09, p.A11)
2009 Sep 9, James Krenov,
world-renowned cabinetmaker, died in Fort Bragg, Ca. His first book was
titled “A Cabinetmaker’s Notebook” was published in 1976.
(SFC, 9/30/09, p.D6)
2009 Sep 15, California’s Gov.
Schwarzenegger signed an executive order mandating that the state Air
Resources Board create a regulation requiring that 1/3 of energy sold
by utility companies in the state over the next decade come from
renewable sources.
(SFC, 9/16/09, p.A16)
2009 Sep 23, It was reported that
solar power company SolarCity and Dutch Bank RaboBank have teamed
together to build 5 recharging stations along Highway 101, between the
SF Bay Area and Los Angeles, to support the new Tesla electric cars.
The $109,000 roadster was limited to range of about 250 miles.
Recharging would take 30-45 minutes. Fully charging the cars took over
3 hours at a cost of about $4.
(SFC, 9/23/09, p.A1)
2009 Sep 24, In California
thousands of students, professors and workers at UC campuses across the
state poured out of classrooms to rally against deep cuts to public
education.
(SFC, 9/25/09, p.A1)
2009 Sep 24, Susan Atkins (61), a
follower of cult leader Charles Manson, died at a prison facility in
Chowchilla, Ca. Her remorseless witness stand confession to killing
pregnant actress Sharon Tate in 1969 shocked the world. She had been
suffering from brain cancer.
(AP, 9/25/09)
2009 Sep 25, In Sacramento, Ca.,
Garret Griffith Gililland III (28) pleaded not guilty to charges that
included 24 counts in an alleged $100 million mortgage fraud
ring. He was arrested last year in Spain and was returned to the US to
face federal fraud charges.
(SSFC, 9/27/09, p.A8)
2009 Sep 25, Robbers in Pebble
Beach, Ca., allegedly stole some 30 pieces of art valued at $27
million. Angelo Amadio (31) and Dr. Ralph Kennaugh (62) said the stolen
art included paintings by Jackson Pollock, Henri Matisse and Vincent
Van Gogh. Investigators on Oct 6 said the heist appeared to be a
scam.
(SFC, 9/30/09, p.D3)(SFC, 10/7/09, p.A1)
2009 Sep 29, In California 28
parties, after a decade of negotiations, reached a tentative agreement
to remove 4 dams on the Klamath River, which have blocked salmon
migrations.
(SFC, 9/30/09, p.A1)
2009 Oct 1, In California
operators at the Friant Dam began releasing pulses of water in a move
to rewet the San Joaquin riverbed in preparation for reintroducing
salmon species beginning next year. The dam, completed in 1944, had
turned 64 miles of the river into a dusty trench.
(SFC, 10/1/09, p.A1)
2008 Oct 4, Luis Santos (b.1986),
a Concord, Ca., resident, was stabbed to death after a party near the
San Diego college campus. Esteban Nunez (19), the son of former
Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, was later arrested along with three
others in connection with the stabbing death. In 2010 Esteban Nunez
pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and on June 25, 2010, he and a
co-defendant were sentenced to 16 years in prison.
(SFC, 5/6/10, p.A4)(http://tinyurl.com/2eaav49)(SFC,
6/26/10, p.A4)
2009 Oct 8, In southern California
Damon Thompson (20) was arrested in a UCLA chemistry building shortly
after stabbing a female student in the throat. He was booked on
suspicion of attempted murder and was being held on $1 million bail.
The woman underwent surgery for multiple stab wounds at Ronald Reagan
UCLA Medical Center and was in stable condition.
(AP, 10/9/09)
2009 Oct 12, Don Young of Des
Moines, Iowa, won the 39th Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival
with his 1,658-pound pumpkin. It broke the year-old record of 1,528
pounds. His first prize of $9,948 came out to $6 per pound. The world
record had just been set on Oct 10 in Ohio by a 1,725-pound Atlantic
giant pumpkin.
(SFC, 10/13/09, p.C1)(SSFC, 10/11/09, p.A14)
2009 Oct 22, California
authorities said a grand jury has indicted 18 people on charges of
marijuana growing and mortgage fraud. The San Francisco Bay Area
residents allegedly operated marijuana gardens in 50 homes in the
Central Valley in 2006 and 2007.
(SFC, 10/23/09, p.A14)
2009 Oct 23, Anthony Pellicano and
associate Alexander Proctor pleaded no contest to threatening LA Times
reporter Anita Busch, who was putting together a story on actor Steven
Seagal’s possible connections to organized crime. Pellicano, a former
Hollywood private eye, was already serving a 15 year sentence for
digging up dirt public figures.
(SFC, 10/24/09, p.A8)
2009 Oct 24, City and state
officials in Los Angeles dedicated the new 10-story, $437 million
police headquarters.
(SSFC, 10/25/09, p.A8)
2009 Oct 25, In California a fire
broke out in the Santa Cruz Mountains between Morgan Hill and Sant
Cruz. The Loma Fire covered 485 acres and was only 20% contained. The
Loma Fire was fully contained on Oct 27.
(SFC, 10/26/09, p.A1)(SFC, 10/28/09, p.A9)
2009 Oct 29, A US panel that
refers cases to the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct
announced that it was investigating two California Democrats, Reps.
Maxine Waters and Laura Richardson, even as its embarrassed leaders
took pains to explain that several other lawmakers also were identified
in the leaked confidential committee memo but may have done nothing
wrong.
(AP, 10/30/09)
2009 Oct 29, A US Coast Guard
airplane on a nighttime search for a boater collided with one of four
Marine Corps helicopters flying in formation to a military training
island off Southern California. All seven people aboard the Coast Guard
plane and the two-person crew of the Marine Corps AH-1W Super Cobra
helicopter were missing.
(AP, 10/30/09)
2009 Oct 30, SF Mayor Gavin Newsom
announced that he was dropping out of the race for governor of
California.
(SFC, 10/31/09, p.A1)
2009 Oct 30, US banking regulators
closed nine banks in California, Illinois, Texas and Arizona. They were
all divisions of privately held FBOP Corp. based in Oak Park, Ill.
(SSFC, 11/1/09, p.A15)
2009 Oct 31, In Mendota, Ca.,
searchers found the body of Alex Mercado (4) stuffed into a clothes
dryer. Raul Renato Castro (14) later told investigators that he drowned
his neighbor in a bathtub and then hid the body in a dryer because the
child was going to reveal that the teen had molested him.
(SFC, 11/5/09, p.C3)
2009 Nov 3, In California Democrat
John Garamendi (64) won the US House seat vacated by Rep. Ellen
Tauscher, who has taken an arms control job in the State Dept.
(SFC, 11/6/09, p.A10)
2009 Nov 4, US federal prosecutors
said Alan Huey (53), a former top executive of SK Foods, has agreed to
plead guilty to taking part in a 4-year conspiracy in which the
California tomato processor bribed food companies and mislabeled tomato
paste that exceeded government mold standards.
(SFC, 11/5/09, p.C2)
2009 Nov 6, US banking regulators
shut down United Commercial Bank of San Francisco. The government had
invested $300 million from the Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program
(TARP) in the parent UCBH Holdings. The assets, loans and 63 branches
of UCBH were sold to East West Bank of Pasadena.
(SSFC, 11/29/09, p.D1)
2009 Nov 14, In Riverside County,
Ca., Maysam Barbar and daughter Tamara (6) were found dead in their
Perris home. Suspect Michael Barbar, the husband and stepfather, was
arrested the next day in Deming, NM.
(SFC, 11/16/09, p.A6)
2009 Nov 14, In Lassen County,
Ca., a medical Aerospatiale AS350 helicopter crashed near the Nevada
state line killing all three crew members. They were returning to
Susanville after dropping off a patient in Reno.
(SSFC, 11/15/09, p.A12)
2009 Nov 16, In Los Angeles the
new $898 million Metro Gold Line extension began regular service from
Union Station to Atlantic Boulevard.
(SFC, 11/16/09, p.A6)
2009 Nov 16, Iraqi officials said
gunmen wearing Iraqi army uniforms abducted and killed at least 13
people in the village of al-Saadan, a village west of Baghdad, in what
some described as revenge against Sunnis who helped fight al-Qaida. In
Kirkuk a parked car bomb exploded in a market, killing two civilians
and wounding 10 others. An American soldier died of injuries sustained
in a vehicle accident during a patrol. California Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger dropped in on US troops in Iraq, thanking them for the
sacrifices they and their families are making.
(AP, 11/16/09)(AP, 11/17/09)
2009 Nov 17, California Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger visited his native Austria.
(AP, 11/18/09)
2009 Nov 18, California’s
Legislative Analyst Office reported that the state will face a $20.7
billion deficit next year.
(SFC, 11/19/09, p.A1)
2009 Nov 19, California Attorney
General Jerry Brown issued an opinion that the salaries of legislators
and other elected officials can be cut in the middle of their terms.
The decision was expected to save the state $2.8 million next year. UC
regents passed a 32% tuition increase despite protests by angry
students.
(SFC, 11/20/09, p.C1)(SFC, 11/20/09, p.C2)
2009 Nov 28, In Sonoma County,
Ca., John Maloney (45), his wife Susan (42), and 2 children Aiden (8)
and Gracie (5) were killed when Steven Culbertson (19) of Lakeport
broadsided their car on Highway 37. The family was on its way home from
a vacation in Hawaii. News of the tragedy prompted Michael Vincent
Gutierrez (26) of Redwood City and girlfriend Amber Marie True (29) to
break into the Maloney’s empty house. They ransacked the home and drove
off in the Maloney’s 2006 Nissan 350Z. Gutierrez and True were arrested
Dec 1 just hours after a neighbor noticed the Maloney’s garage door
open.
(SFC, 12/3/09, p.A1)
2009 Dec 1, California Governor
Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver inducted the latest nominees to the
California Hall of Fame. They included: Carol Burnett, Andy Grove,
Hiram Johnson, Rafer Johnson, Henry J. Kaiser, Joan Kroc, George Lucas,
John Madden, Harvey Milk, Fritz Scholder, Danielle Steel, Joe Weider
and General Chuck Yeager.
(SFC, 12/2/09, p.C6)
2009 Dec 5, It was reported that
US federal regulators have approved the use of the name Calistoga as an
appellation for vintners in Calistoga, Ca. James Barrett, proprietor of
the Chateau Montelena winery, had begun petitioning the Treasury Dept.
for the name in 2003.
(SFC, 12/5/09, p.D1)
2009 Dec 7, Virgin Galactic
unveiled its first commercial spaceship, the VSS Enterprise, at the
Mohave Air and Space Port in California. Initial trips to the edge of
space were expected to cost $200,000 per person.
(Econ, 12/12/09, p.91)
2009 Dec 10, In California the
Assembly’s Democratic Caucus selected openly gay Latino Democrat John
Perez from Los Angeles as the lower house’s leader. He was expected to
be voted in as the 68th Assembly speaker in January.
(SFC, 12/11/09, p.A1)
2009 Dec 11, US immigration agents
arrested 280 people in California as they fanned out across the state
for a 3-day search for illegal immigrants.
(SFC, 12/12/09, p.A5)
2009 Dec 14, Researchers from US
Santa Barbara and the Univ. of Mich published a study describing their
synthetic red blood cells, which are capable of delivering medicine,
oxygen or MRI contrast agents throughout the body.
(SFC, 12/18/09, p.A28)
2009 Dec 17, In California the
Sonoma Land Trust completed the $36 million purchase of 5,630 acres of
coastal grasslands and redwood forest known as the Jenner Headlands.
(SFC, 12/18/09, p.A1)
2009 Dec 17, Xcor Aerospace of
Mohave, Ca., said it has been selected to supply launch services to the
Yecheon Astro Space Center, a nonprofit organization in South Korea.
(SFC, 12/18/09, p.A21)
2009 Dec 31, In Mexico Roberto
Salcedo (33), an assistant principal and Southern California school
board member, was killed while he and his wife were visiting relatives
in Gomez Palacio.
(AP, 1/31/10)
2009 Elaine Elinson and Stan Yogi
authored “Wherever There’s a Fight: How Runaway Slaves, suffragists,
Immigrants, Strikers, and Poets Shaped Civil Liberties in California.
(SFC, 12/18/09, p.F6)
2009 Kevin Starr, historian,
authored “Golden Dreams: California in an Age of Abundance 1950-1963,”
the 8th book in his epic series “American and the California Dream.”
(Econ, 8/8/09, p.72)
2009 William T. Vollman authored
“Imperial,” a look at the struggle for water and jobs in California’s
Imperial Valley.
(Econ, 8/1/09, p.71)
2010 Jan 1, In the Rose Bowl at
Pasadena Terrelle Pryor passed for a career-high 266 yards and two
touchdowns, rushed for 72 more and threw a 17-yard scoring pass to
DeVier Posey with 7:02 to play, leading the No. 8 Buckeyes to a 26-17
victory over No. 7 Oregon.
(AP, 1/2/10)
2010 Jan 5, In California 3
biologists with the California Dept. of Fish and Game were killed along
with their helicopter pilot while they were surveying deer in the
foothills of Sierra national Forest after their vehicle clipped a power
line and crashed.
(SFC, 1/6/10, p.C2)
2010 Jan 6, It was reported that
Santa Barbara-based Cybersitter has filed a $2.2 billion lawsuit
against China, accusing Beijing of stealing its technology to bar
Internet access to political and religious sites in China. The suit
alleges that the Chinese makers of Green Dam illegally copied more than
3,000 lines of code from its filtering software, and conspired with
China's rulers and computer manufacturers to distribute more than 56
million copies of the pirated software throughout China.
(AFP, 1/6/10)
2010 Jan 9, California-based
eSolar Inc. said it will help build a series of solar thermal power
plants in China, as the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases
tries to decrease its heavy reliance on coal, imported gas and oil.
(AP, 1/9/10)
2010 Jan 12, In California a state
commission voted unanimously to approve the most stringent,
environmentally friendly building code standards of any state in the
nation. The new code, dubbed Calgreen, will take effect next January.
(SFC, 1/13/10, p.A1)
2010 Jan 16, A small boat packed
with illegal immigrants overturned off the San Diego coast at Torrey
Pines State Park. 2 people died and 5 were injured. 16 people, all
Mexican citizens, were accounted for. On Jan 28 two men were indicted
on charges of illegal smuggling.
(SSFC, 1/17/10, p.A14)(SFC, 1/18/10, p.A6)(SFC,
1/30/10, p.A4)
2010 Jan 18, US officials said on
some 390 tons of ground beef produced by a California meat packer, some
of it nearly two years ago, is being recalled for fear of potentially
deadly E. coli bacterium tainting.
(Reuters, 1/18/10)
2010 Jan 23, Abby Sunderland (16)
of Thousand Oaks, Ca., sailed into the Pacific aboard a 4-foot craft
called wild Eyes in an effort to become the youngest person to sail
solo around the world. On April 24 Sunderland wrote on her blog that it
would be "foolish and irresponsible" to keep going after losing use of
her boat's main autopilot.
(SFC, 1/25/10, p.A5)(AP, 4/25/10)
2010 Feb 4, The McStay family of
Fallbrook, San Diego County, went missing. Their white, 1996 Isuzu
Trooper was found four days later in a strip mall in San Ysidro, about
70 miles from their home.
(AP, 2/25/10)
2010 Feb 9, California lawmakers
called for federal and state investigations into Anthem Blue Cross
regarding new rates hikes of as much as 39% for thousands of
policyholders statewide. On Feb 13 Anthem announced that it would delay
the increase for two months to allow state regulators to conduct a
review. On April 29 WellPoint, the parent of Anthem Blue Cross, said it
was withdrawing the proposed rate increase and planned to file new
rates.
(SFC, 2/10/10, p.A1)(SSFC, 2/14/10, p.A1)(SFC,
4/30/10, p.C1)
2010 Feb 13, In California, South
African Chris Bertish won the $50,000 first prize at the 7th Mavericks
Surf Contest north of Half Moon Bay. Earlier in the day a series of
waves crashed into some of the thousands of fans who had flocked to a
beach to try to see the action.
(SSFC, 2/14/10, p.A1)
2010 Feb 19, Pres. Obama, speaking
in Nevada targeted Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan and Nevada in
a $1.5 billion “innovation fund” to assist homeowners struggling
against foreclosure.
(SFC, 2/20/10, p.A1)
2010 Feb 19, In California Albert
Halluin (70), former biotech patent attorney, and his fiance Judy
Perchonock (60) were killed when Halluin’s single-engine plane crashed
near Pine Lake Airport in Tuolemne County.
(SFC, 2/22/10, p.A1)
2010 Feb 25, In California Rick
Ray Liles (51) shot and killed deputy Joel Wahlenmaier (49) in Minkler,
Fresno County, during an investigation of arson blazes in the village.
Liles took his own life in the gunbattle at his mobile home.
(SFC, 2/27/10, p.A7)
2010 Feb 25, In California Chelsea
King (17) failed to return from a run at a San Diego park. On Feb 28
John Albert Gardner III (30) of Lake Elsinore man was arrested for
investigation of murder and rape. King’s body was found buried on March
2 in a shallow grave on the south shore of Lake Hodges. On April 16,
2010, Gardner pleaded guilty to the murder of King and Amber Dubois
(14), who had vanished in February, 2009. On May 15 Gardner was
sentenced to life in prison for attacks on King and Amber Dubois (14).
(AP, 3/3/10)(SFC, 4/17/10, p.A5)(SFC, 5/18/10, p.A4)
2010 Mar 2, In California Jerry
Brown, former 2-term Democrat state governor (1975-1983), announced
that he would run for a 3rd term as governor.
(SFC, 3/2/10, p.A1)
2010 Mar 4, In California
thousands of protesters lashed out against budget cuts to the state’s
educational system in the “Day of Action to Defend Public Education.”
(SFC, 3/5/10, p.A1)
2010 Mar 8, In California GOP
State Sen. Roy Ashburn (55) announced that he was gay on a Kern County
radio station. 5 days earlier he was arrested near a gay bar in
Sacramento on suspicion of drunk driving.
(SFC, 3/10/10, p.A1)
2010 Mar 9, Rodney Alcala (66), an
amateur photographer, was convicted in southern California of killing a
girl and 4 women between 1977 and 1979. The Santa Ana jury recommended
a death penalty. Photographic evidence from a Seattle storage locker,
rented before his arrest in 1979, linked him to at least one woman
listed for decades as missing. On march 30 Alcala was sentenced to
death.
(SFC, 3/11/10, p.A8)(SFC, 3/17/10, p.C3)(SFC,
3/31/10, p.A7)
2010 Mar 12, San Francisco mayor
Gavin Newsom formally announced that he is in the race for the office
of California lieutenant governor.
(SFC, 3/13/10, p.A1)
2010 Mar 17, In California US
Border patrol agents seized 580 pounds of marijuana inside a
tractor-trailer near Blythe in Riverside County.
(SFC, 3/20/10, p.A5)
2010 Mar 22, Scientists, policy
experts and journalists gathered at Asilomar on the Monterey peninsula
of California for a 5-day discussion on geoengineering, a term to
describe deliberate large-scale actions to combat the climate changing
effects of greenhouse gas emissions, without actually curbing those
emissions.
(Econ, 4/3/10, p.81)
2010 Mar 30, San Francisco City
Attorney Dennis Herrera sued the escrow firm Rehab Financial Corp.
after learning the company had abruptly shuttered its Huntington Beach
office and drained accounts holding city funds. The suit accused the
company of misappropriating several million dollars from SF and at
least a dozen other California cities.
(SFC, 4/1/10, p.C2)
2010 Apr 1, The US national board
for ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now,
closed its California state affiliate field offices. The group, formed
in 1970, was under pressure due to videotapes in 2009 of ACORN
assisting a proposed prostitution ring.
(http://tinyurl.com/54o77a)(SFC, 4/2/10, p.c2)
2010 Apr 3, In Los Angeles Nerse
Arthur Galstyan (28), an Armenian national killed, 4 people in a
restaurant following a dispute and escaped the scene.
(SFC, 4/10/10, p.A4)
2010 Apr 14, Federal agents in
northern California arrested 18 people on charges of defrauding banks
and lenders with bogus mortgage loan applications. Losses totaled at
least $10 million from 2005 to 2009.
(SFC, 4/15/10, p.C3)
2010 Apr 14, In Los Angeles Dr.
Daniel Healy (45) was sentenced to 4 years in federal prison for
dispensing over a million hydrocodone tablets for cash. He made nearly
$700,000 in 2008 from selling the powerful painkiller.
(SFC, 4/15/10, p.A7)
2010 Apr 16, Daryl Gates (83), the
blunt former Los Angeles police chief best known for his handling of
the Rodney King beating and 1992 race riots, died.
(Reuters, 4/16/10)
2010 Apr 16, US banking regulators
shut down 8 banks, including 2 in northern California, 3 in Florida,
one in Washington state, one in Massachusetts, and one in Michigan,
bringing the total this year to 50. In 2009 140 banks failed in the US
compared to 25 in 2008 and 3 in 2007.
(SFC, 4/19/10, p.D3)
2010 Apr 19, San Diego, Ca.,
Sheriff Bill Gore said that 24 documented gang members and eight gang
associates have been booked on suspicion of various offenses following
the two-day multi-agency operation called "Allied Shield."
(AP, 4/19/10)
2010 Apr 19, In Los Angeles Brian
Alexik (34) slipped out the back window of his apartment as detectives
interviewed local tenants regarding a gas odor. Detectives found a
cache of loaded weapons, including an AK-47, next to a mosaic depicting
the CIA seal. They found equipment for counterfeiting money.
High-powered binoculars were trained on the US Federal Reserve building
next door. Alexik had been paying about $4,000 cash for his rent but
had recently stopped paying and was on the verge of getting evicted. He
allegedly had been bleaching low-denomination bills then using a
printer to change the value to $100 or $50. In all, police recovered
about $15,000 in bogus bills. Alexik was caught on June 3.
(AP, 6/27/10)
2010 Apr 25, In California Fresno
police began a crackdown on gangs after 3 people were killed in
separate shootings. By May 10 police made some 648 arrests including
216 for felony offenses.
(SFC, 5/10/10, p.A4)
2010 Apr 28, The US Supreme Court
refused to order the removal of a cross from the Mohave National
Preserve in southern California. Veterans of Foreign Wars had
placed a cross there in 1934 to honor soldiers killed in WWI. The first
wooden cross was later replaced by a metal cross, which was around May
9-10, 2010.
(www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=69916)
2010 Apr 28, Sempra Energy, the
parent company of San Diego Gas and Electric Co., agreed to pay $410
million to settle claims that it played Enron-style games with
California’s electricity market during the 2000-2001 energy crises.
(SFC, 4/28/10, p.D1)
2010 Apr 30, Peter Lopez (60), a
successful entertainment attorney who was married to actress Catherine
Bach, was found dead at his home in the Encino Hills, Ca., in an
apparent suicide.
(AP, 5/1/10)
2010 May 3, Prosecutors said
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has agreed to pay $27.6 million to settle
allegations that it improperly handled and dumped hazardous waste at
stores across California in a case that led to changes in the
retailer's practices nationwide.
(AP, 5/3/10)
2010 May 6, In California Joseph
Mercado (27) shot and killed Serena Tarin, his ex-girlfriend, as well
as her father and brother. 6 other family members escaped the rampage
in Hawaiian Gardens, LA County. Mercado was arrested by police after a
bullet grazed his head.
(SFC, 5/7/10, p.C6)
2010 May 7, In California former
Burbank middle school teacher Amy Victoria Beck (33) was sentenced to 2
years in prison for unlawful sexual intercourse and committing a lewd
act on a child. Back had pleaded no contest to having sex with a former
student (14).
(SFC, 5/8/10, p.A5)
2010 May 7, In southern California
CHP officer Danny Benavides (39) was killed when his patrol plane went
down near Highway 78 in Imperial County.
(SSFC, 5/9/10, p.A8)
2010 May 13, The Los Angeles City
Council voted to boycott Arizona businesses, making it the largest city
to take such action to protest the state's tough new law targeting
illegal immigration.
(AP, 5/13/10)
2010 May 15, In Fresno, Ca.,
police arrested 60 people and impounded 37 vehicles as part of
crackdown on gangs that began last month.
(SFC, 5/17/10, p.A4)
2010 May 22, Jordan Romero (13),
an eighth-grader from California, became the youngest climber to reach
the top of Mount Everest, surpassing the previous record set by Temba
Tsheri (16) of Nepal.
(AP, 5/22/10)
2010 May 23, Jose Lima
(1972-2010), a right-hand Dominican pitcher who was a 20-game winner
and an All-Star during a 13-year major league career, died in Pasadena,
Ca., of an apparent heart attack.
(AP, 5/23/10)
2010 May 23, British screenwriter
Simon Monjack (39), the husband of Brittany Murphy, was found dead at
his Los Angeles home, five months after the Hollywood actress died.
Murphy, best known for her major roles in "Clueless," "Girl
Interrupted," and "8 Mile" in 2002, died Dec. 20, at age 32 after
collapsing in her home.
(AP, 5/24/10)
2010 May 28, US Regulators shut
down three banks in Florida and one each in Nevada and California,
bringing the number of US bank failures this year to 78.
(AP, 5/29/10)
2010 May 31, Mexican migrant
Anastasio Hernandez was shocked by a Customs and Border Protection
agent at the San Ysidro border crossing between Tijuana and San Diego.
A US coroner later ruled the death a homicide.
(AP, 6/4/10)(AP, 6/8/10)
2010 Jun 1, In Van Nuys, Ca., a
porn actor went on a rampage with a machete-style weapon killing a
fellow adult-film performer. Herbert Hin Wong (30) was killed in the
attack. Suspect Stephen Clancy Hills (34) died on June 5 of head
injuries after he fell from a hillside following an 8-hour standoff
with police.
(SFC, 6/3/10, p.A6)(SSFC, 6/6/10, p.A10)
2010 Jun 4, John Wooden (99),
college basketball's gentlemanly Wizard of Westwood, died. He built one
of the greatest dynasties in all of sports at UCLA and became one of
the most revered coaches ever.
(AP, 6/5/10)
2010 Jun 8, Voters in 12 states
expressed their anger with Washington and special interests by
defeating a $10 million union campaign to unseat Arkansas, Sen. Blanche
Lincoln (D), who had the courage to stand up against their special
interest legislation, promoting women outsiders who have run public
companies but never held office, and supporting candidates aligned with
Tea Party values. In the California governor’s race, Meg
Whitman’s victory over state insurance commissioner Steve Poizner
places her in a faceoff against the quintessential career
politician—Jerry Brown, governor of California from 1975 to 1983, then
mayor of Oakland and now the state attorney general.
(AP, 6/9/10)
2010 Jun 12, A French fishing
vessel rescued Abby Sunderland (16), a California teenager from her
crippled sailboat in the turbulent southern Indian Ocean, bringing
relief to her family but ending her around-the-world sailing effort.
Sunderland had set out from Los Angeles County's Marina del Rey on Jan.
23, trying to become the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe
solo and nonstop.
(AP, 6/12/10)
2010 Jun 17, The Los Angeles
Lakers basketball team won their 16th championship following a gritty
83-79 victory over the Boston Celtics.
(AP, 6/18/10)
2010 Jun 24, The California Budget
Project issued a report titled “Making Ends Meet.” It estimated that a
single adult must earn nearly $32,000 to live in San Francisco and that
2 working parents with 2 children must take in a little more than
$84,000 to get by in the city.
(SFC, 6/25/10, p.D1)
2010 Jul 2, In California a
state appellate court sided with the Schwarzenegger administration in
its attempt to temporarily impose the $7.25 per hour federal minimum
wage on tens of thousands of state workers.
(AP, 7/2/10)(SFC, 7/2/10, p.C1)
2010 Jul 2, More than 180,000
people packed into the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum over two days for
a rave party. A suspected overdose led to the death of a girl (15).
Scores of injuries resulted when people tried to force their way closer
to the event's five stages.
(AP, 7/2/10)
2010 Jul 6, California Gov.
Schwarzenegger signed into law a bill extending voter approved mandates
for the humane treatment of egg-laying hens in the state.
(SFC, 7/7/10, p.C1)
2010 Jul 8, In California a Los
Angeles jury found BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle guilty of
involuntary manslaughter for the Jan 1, 2009, shooting of Oscar Grant
(22). The verdict sparked a riot in downtown Oakland, Ca., with at
least 50-100 people arrested for smashing windows and looting.
(SFC, 7/9/10, p.A1)
2010 Jul 9, In California scuba
divers began killing invasive Asian clams in Lake Tahoe. Long rubber
mats were laid over half an acre in a test effort starve the clams of
oxygen.
(SFC, 7/10/10, p.C2)
2010 Jul 12, Police in Los Angeles
County discovered thousands of pounds of marijuana in a railroad car
that entered this month from Mexico.
(SFC, 7/13/10, p.A6)
2010 Jul 22, In California a
Greyhound bus crashed just outside downtown Fresno killing 6 people
with 9 injured. It had struck an overturned SUV. 3 of the dead were
women in the SUV. The driver (18) of the SUV was later found to have a
.11% blood alcohol level.
(SFC, 7/23/10, p.C3)(SFC, 8/4/10, p.C4)
2010 Jul 23, In Bell, Ca., 3
administrators whose huge salaries sparked outrage in this small
blue-collar suburb of Los Angeles agreed to resign. Chief
Administrative Officer Robert Rizzo (56) was being paid $787,637 a
year. Assistant City Manager Angela Spaccia made $376,288 a year, and
Police Chief Randy Adams made $457,000. On July 26 the City Council
voted to slash salaries by 90%.
(AP, 7/23/10)(SFC, 7/27/10, p.A6)
2010 Jul 28, California Gov.
Schwarzenegger, citing an impending cash crises, ordered furloughs for
156,000 state employees, requiring them to take 3 unpaid days a month
beginning on July 31. On Aug 12 a judge denied Schwarzenegger’s request
pending a full hearing in September. On Aug 18 the state Supreme Court
allowed the furlough program to resume as it continued to revue his
authority to do so.
(SFC, 7/29/10, p.C2)(SFC, 8/13/10, p.C1)(SFC,
8/19/10, p.C1)
2010 Aug 2, The US House ethics
committee said California Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Los Angeles, will face
a trial for her 2009 role in steering federal funds to a bank she is
personally connected.
(SFC, 8/3/10, p.A6)
2010 Aug 4, US Federal Judge
Vaughn Walker struck down California's same-sex marriage ban as an
unconstitutional violation of gay couples' civil rights, but a pending
appeal of the landmark ruling could prevent gay weddings from resuming
in the state any time soon.
(AP, 8/5/10)(Econ, 8/7/10, p.30)
2010 Aug 5, US federal indictments
were unsealed in Alabama, California and Minnesota charging 14 people
with terrorism offenses for allegedly aiding the radical Islamist
al-Shaba organization in Somalia.
(SFC, 8/6/10, p.A8)
2010 Aug 9, In California a
federal grand jury charged Samuel “Maoli” Cohen of Belvedere, Marin
County, with 32 counts of wire fraud and money laundering related to
defrauding over 55 victims of some $30 million.
(SFC, 8/9/10, p.D1)
2010 Aug 16, Celebrity plastic
surgeon Dr. Frank Ryan (50), who made headlines for performing multiple
surgeries on reality TV star Heidi Montag, died in a car crash in
southern California. He was texting while driving and accidentally went
over a cliff. Ryan opened his private practice in 1994, the same year
he established his namesake charitable foundation that provides free
removal of gang-related tattoos and hosts day and overnight camps for
children at Malibu's Bony Pony Ranch.
(http://tinyurl.com/2fv4r8f)
2010 Aug 20, US regulators shut
down 8 more banks including 4 in California, one in Chicago, one in
Virginia and two in Florida. This brought the total number of failed US
banks to 118 for the year thus far.
(SFC, 8/23/10, p.D2)
2010 Aug 23, California Attorney
Gen’l. Jerry Brown sued Roni Deutch for $34 million for allegedly
swindling thousands of people. Deutch, who billed herself as the “tax
lady,” has appeared in nationwide TV ads to help people with tax
problems.
(SFC, 8/24/10, p.C3)
2010 Aug 24, In SF the temperature
hit a record 98 degrees. Records were broken across much of northern
California.
(SFC, 8/25/10, p.C2)
2010 Aug 25, The California Energy
Commission approved the Beacon Solar Energy Project, which a Florida
company plans to build on the western edge of the Mojave Desert. This
was the first in a series of large scale solar projects planned in
California.
(SFC, 8/26/10, p.D1)
2010 Aug 28, In California a drug
task force found 47,800 marijuana plants hidden in an 8-acre cornfield
in Atwater. 2 men were arrested.
(SFC, 8/30/10, p.A5)
2040 By this time an estimated 58
million people will live in California. Latinos will account for 48%,
whites for 31%, Asians for 15% and Blacks for 6%.
(SFC, 12/18/98, p.A35)
2050 California population was
expected to jump from 34 million in 2004 to 50 million in 2050.
(SSFC, 7/11/04, p.E6)
Go to http://www.timelinesdb.com
Subject = California
End of file.