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www.smdailyjournal.comLeading local news coverage on the Peninsula

Thursday • March 26, 2015 • Vol XV, Edition 190

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By Austin WalshDAILY JOURNAL STAFF

Under an agreement reached withthe San Mateo County Office of Education, the San Mateo UnionHigh School District could bringan end to the long search for thehome of Design Tech HighSchool.

The district Board of Trustees isset to approve an agreement tohouse the district’s only charterschool, commonly known asd.tech, on property owned by thecounty Office of Education, at1800 Rollins Road in Burlingameat a meeting Thursday, March 26.

Mills High School has grantedspace on its campus in Mil lbrae tod.tech since the charter school

joi ned the district l ast year, but therelationship has been contentious

at times, asf r u s t r a t i o n sover facilityconstraints andthe impact of co-location onboth schoolshave grownover time.

Officials arenow hopeful

though that the two-year agree-ment between the district andcounty Office of Education willsquelch any future concerns regard-ing the destination for the charter

school, which offers students aneducation i mmersed in technol ogyand inno vation curriculum.

Superintendent Scott Laurencelauded the agreement, and said he

High schooldistrict findsd.tech home

By Samantha WeigelDAILY JOURNAL STAFF

Balancing competing interestsfor limited space at San Mateo’sCentral Park is an ongoing chal-lenge for city officials as plannersand the public weighed in on themaster plan update Tuesday nigh t.

Dozens of people spoke at the

Planning Commission’s studysession with concerns over theproposals to revamp the down-town park as the heavily used ten-nis courts and current recreationcenter housing the nonprofit Self Help for the Elderly may beremoved.

In the midst of the updating the1982 master plan, future public

hearings will be held during aApril 8 Public Works Co mmissionstudy session and a joint meetingof the City Council and Parks andRecreation Commission. The citydoesn’t currently have funds setaside for specific improvementsand the council must vote toapprove the plans that will shapethe future of the p ark.

“Between 198 2 and today and aswe project into the future, thecommunity is goin g to change andthis s pace has to meet the evolv-ing needs of o ur community, ” saidPlanning Commission Vice ChairJosh Hugg. “This park, in additio nto being very unique, also servesas really one of the primary urbanrespites that’s transit accessible.”

While the PlanningCommission was instructed toprovide feedback on how toenhance the visual and physicalconnection from downtown to thepark cornered by El Camino Realand Fifth Avenue, some membersof the public suggested leaving itas is.

Planners plot future of San Mateo’s Central ParkMaster plan update draws public concern; support for new recreation center, keeping tennis courts

Charter school will move to Burlingame afteragreement with county Office of Education

Scott Laurence

By Samantha WeigelDAILY JOURNAL STAFF

A statewide proposal aimed atforcing con victed drunk drivers toinstall vehicle ignition-attachedbreathalyzers hit a bump in the

road Tuesday as state Sen. JerryHill agreed to wait until theDepartment of Motor Vehiclesreleases a comprehensive report

on a four-yearpilot programaimed at reducingrecidivism.

Hill, D-SanMateo, amendedhis Senate Bill

61, which wouldhave preventedDUI offenders from having their

DUI lockout bill hits snagSee SCHOOL, Page 22

Jerry Hill

See DUI, Page 31

By Bill SilverfarbDAILY JOURNAL STAFF

When the San Mateo CountyHealth System has a backlog of patients, they are routinelyreferred to free clinics in RedwoodCity and San Mateo operated bySamaritan House.

The county’s Fair Oaks HealthCenter in unincorporatedRedwood City annually servesabout 17,000 adults and children

covered mostly by Medi-Cal butSamaritan House’s small clinicaround the corner cares forpatients who absolutely have no

health insurance at all.The clinic provides primary

care, dentistry and specialtyhealth services for 1,100 adultsannually with about 4,000 patientvisits in one of th e county’s poor-est neighborhoods, said MedicalDirector Dr. Jason Wong .

The nonprofit’s two clinics are“the safety net for the safety net,”Sharon Petersen, director of op era-tions, said about the agency’smemorandum of understanding

with the county.Samaritan House provides basic

health care needs that are goingunmet, said Bart Charlow, the

agency’s executive director.The agency’s two clinics also

have the capacity to serve morepatients with a team of volunteerdoctors and nurses, Wong said.

The clinics keep patients out of emergency rooms, which is themost costly way to provide healthcare, Charlow said.

The agency is looking to pro-mote its clinic services even moreby conducting one-on-one out-reach in the communities it

serves.“We are bringing care where the

The safety net for the safety net

BILL SILVERFARB/DAILY JOURNAL

Patient Rosa Zaldana gets a checkup form nurse practitioner Christina Pineda at the free clinic in Redwood Cityrun by Samaritan House.

Samaritan House offers health care services for uninsured

“We are bringing care where the people are.”

— Samaritan House Medical Director Dr. Jason Wong

See CARE, Page 23

See PARK , Page 23

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Suspicion surroundedFlorida businessmanwho faked his death

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jo seLantigua’s family appeared to be liv-ing the American Dream. The Cubanimmigrant claimed he had a heroicmilitary career and earned numerousdegrees before running a successfulfurniture business. He owned a Floridabeachfront condo and a new home atopa verdant North Carolina mountain .

But in 2012, as his Circle KFurniture slid deeper into debt, thosewho knew Lantigua said he’d madesome odd decision s: h e ordered tons o f new furniture on th e company dime forhis family ’s many homes. He replacedthe bookkeeper he’d used for yearswith a relative. He built a panic roomwith steel doors inside his NorthCarolina hideaway.

And, prosecutors say, he and hiswife began planning his fake death toscam almost $8 million from insur-ance companies.

Lantigua, 62, and his 57-year-oldwife, Daphne Simpson, are jailed onseven Florida insurance fraud chargeseach after he was arrested by federalagents Saturday in North Carolinawearing a brown toupee and a dyedbeard. Each count carries a possible30-year sentence.

No matter how the criminal caseturns out, his arrest gives a resolute

end to a long-running court battlebetween Lantigua’s family and insur-ance companies t hat refused to pay off on his life policies because, for manyreasons proven right, they didn’tthink he was dead.

“I’ve never seen anything quite like(this case),” said Joe Licandro, aJacksonville prosecutor working thecase. “There was always a suspicion,but they were able to evade authorit iesas long as he did, and she didn’t haveany missteps either — until recently.”

Cardboard ‘Most InterestingMan’ won’t work in carpool lane

FIFE, Wash. — A Washing ton StatePatrol trooper says it’s by far the bestcarpool scam he’s seen, but it didn’twork.

As KOMO-TV put i t “Troopers don’talways stop people in the HOV lanes,but when they do, they prefer ‘dos’passengers.”

A motorcycle trooper parked alongInterstate 5 near Tacoma on Mondayafternoon s pott ed a driver and a ratherunusual “passenger” pass by him inthe carpool lane. When the trooperstopped the car, he discovered the“passenger” was a cardboard cutout of the actor who portrays “The MostInteresting Man in the World” in DosEquis b eer ads.

The driver’s response? “He’s mybest friend.”

The Most Interesting Man was not

confiscated, but the driver was told notto use him again.

Channeling the cardboard cutout,the State Patrol tweeted: “I don’talways v iolate t he HOV lane law .. . b utwhen I do, I get a $124 ticket.”

Man gets $7M lotteryticket in get-well card

NEW CITY, N.Y. — A Pennsylvaniaman recovering from surgery has won$7 million off a lottery ticket tuckedinto his get-well card.

Joseph Amorese, of Easton, got th eticket from his father, who liv es in th ehamlet of Congers in RocklandCounty, New York.

Amorese had just undergone herniasurgery. A few scratches later on the“$7 million Golden Ticket,” and hewas feeling great.

“I had surgery so I didn’t jump up anddown, but in my mind I was jumpingup and down,” the beaming winnerrecalled Wednesday.

He sent a photo of the ticket to hisdad, who agreed that it was a winner.

The 46-year-old Verizon employeethen called his wife, Jodi, a socialworker.

Lottery officials presented Amoresewith a ceremonial check at the dollarstore in New City, New York, wherethe t icket was purchased.

The new multimillionaire and hiswife plan to keep their jobs.

FOR THE RECORD2 Thursday • March 26, 2015 THE DAILY JOURNAL

The San Mateo Daily Journal800 S. Claremont St., Suite 210, San Mateo, CA 94402

Publisher: Jerry Lee Editor in Chief: Jon Mays [email protected] [email protected]

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As a public service,the Daily Journal prints obituaries of approximately 200 words or less with a photo one time on the date of the family’s choosing.To submit obituaries,emailinformation along with a jpeg photo to [email protected] obituaries are edited for style,clarity,length and grammar.If you would like to have an obituary printedmore than once,longer than 200 words or without editing,please submit an inquiry to our advertising department at [email protected].

Aerosmith’sSteven Tyler is 67.

This Day in History

Thought for the Day

1945

During World War II, Iwo Jima wasfully secured by U.S. forces foll owinga final, desperate attack by Japanese

soldiers. Former British PrimeMinister David Lloyd George, 82,died in Ty Newydd, Llanystumdwy,Wales.

"Make voyages. Attempt them.There's nothing else."

— Tennessee Williams, American playwright (1911-1983).

Actor James Caanis 75.

Comedian MartinShort is 65.

Birthdays

REUTERS

An employee arranges bottles of beer depicting German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Vladimir Putin andU.S. President Barack Obama on its labels, at “Pravda Beer Theatre” brewery in Lviv, Ukraine.

Thursday: Partly cloudy in the morningthen becoming sunny. Highs in the mid70s to lower 80s. Northwest winds 5 to10 mph.Thursday night: Clear. Lows in t he mid50s. Northwest winds 5 to 1 5 mph.Friday: Partly cloudy in the morningthen becoming sunny. Highs in th e upper60s to mid 70s. Northwest winds 5 to 15 mph.Friday nig ht: Mostly clear in the evening then b ecoming

partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 50s. West winds 10 to 20mph.Saturday: Partly cloudy in the morning then becomingsunny. Highs in the upper 60s to mid 70s.Saturday night: Mostly clear in the evening t hen becom-ing partly cloudy. Lows in the upper 40s to mid 50s.

Local Weather Forecast

In 1812, an earthquake devastated Caracas, Venezuela,causing an estimated 26,000 deaths, according to the U.S.Geological Survey.In 1827 , composer Ludwig van Beetho ven died in Vienna.In 1874 , poet Robert Frost was born in San Francisco.In 1892 , poet Walt Whitman died in Camden, New Jersey.In 1917, the Seattle Metropolitans became the first U.S.team to win the Stanley Cup as they defeated the MontrealCanadiens.In 1934, Britain enacted a Road Traffic Act reimposin g a30 mile-per-hour speed limit in “built-up areas” and requir-ing driving tests for new motorists.In 1958, the U.S. Army launched America’s third success-ful satellite, Explorer 3.

In 1964, the musical play “Funny Girl,” starring BarbraStreisand as Fanny Brice, op ened on Broadway.In 1979, a peace treaty was signed by Israeli PrimeMinister Menachem Begin (men-AH’-kem BAY’-gihn) andEgyptian President Anwar Sadat and witn essed by PresidentJimmy Carter at th e White House.In 1982 , groundbreaking ceremonies took place inWashing ton D.C., for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.In 1990, “Driving Miss Daisy” won the Academy Awardfor best picture; its star, Jessica Tandy, was named bestactress. Daniel Day-Lewis won best actor for “My Left Foot”while Oliver Stone was honored as best director for “Bornon the Fourth of July.” Designer Halston died in SanFrancisco at age 57.In 1997, the bodies of 39 members of the Heaven’s Gatetechno-religious cult who’d committed suicide were foundinside a rented mansion in Rancho Santa Fe, California.

Comedian Bob Elliott is 92. Conductor-composer PierreBoulez is 90. Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra DayO'Connor i s 8 5. Actor Alan Arkin is 8 1. Palestinian PresidentMahmoud Abbas i s 80. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi(puh-LOH'-see) is 75. Author Erica Jong is 73. Journalist Bob

Woodward is 72. Singer Diana Ross is 71. Actor JohnnyCrawford is 69. Singer and TV personality Vicki Lawrence is66. Actor Ernest Thomas is 66. Country singer RonnieMcDowell is 65. Movie composer Alan Silvestri is 65. Rockmusician Monte Yoho is 63. Radio talk show host CurtisSliwa is 61. Country singer Dean Dillon is 60.

In other news ...

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3Thursday • March 26, 2015 THE DAILY JOURNAL LOCAL

Health &Wellness Fair

Red Morton Community Center

1120 Roosevelt Avenue, Redwood City

Make wellnessyour priority!Meet vendors that helpwith every level of yourhealthy lifestyle.

Talk to the Pharmacists :

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While supplies last. Events subject to change.For more information visit smdailyjournal.com/healthfair or call 650.344.5200

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Leading local news coverage on the Peninsula

T H I S S A T U R D

A Y !

By Austin WalshDAILY JOURNAL STAFF

Millbrae is on track to enjoy a profitableyear, according to a midyear budget docu-ment which shows tax income is expected

to h elp drive the general fund balance abov einitial projections.

Should trends contin ue through th e rest of the fiscal year, officials may be able to paydown so me of the city’s debt or address nec-essary capital improvement projects,according to a budget document discussed bythe Cit y Council Wednesday, March 24.

The city’s general fund balance couldexceed projections by as much as 10 per-cent, should revenue and expenditures keeptheir current pace, according to the report.

Councilman Wayne Lee praised Millbrae’sleadership in laying the groundwork forwhat looks to be a good year for the city’scoffers.

“Council has been working really, reallyhard,” he said. “We did a great job in produc-ing revenue streams.”

Sales tax revenue has taken a hit afterKohl’s left the city, but that void has beenbackfilled by increases to parking and tran-sient occupancy, or hotel, tax revenue,according to the report.

Lee said he was pleased with the ho tel taxreturns, which are expected to exceed pro-

jecti ons by as much as 10 percent , but no tedthe unstabl e nature of the travel industry andpreferred the city not rely on it as a mainsource of revenue.

He instead suggested that officials focus

on diversifyingMillbrae’s sources of income.

“I don’t li ke the i dea of depending on TOT,” hesaid. “To me, it’s a

bonus.”In an effort to engage

fellow officials in think-ing about increasing rev-enue sources, Lee encour-

aged the city to establish an economicdevelopment committee, which wouldattempt to drive business in Millbrae.

A majority of the sales tax profit comesfrom restaurants and bars, but Lee said hewould like to see the city bring i n more rev-enue from retail sto res as well.

Lee said Millbrae should take a measuredapproach to spending, and focus on devel-oping sales tax revenue.

“We want to be more conservative, andlean toward building up our sales base,” hesaid.

The city has spent 37 percent of what is

budgeted for general fund expenditures, 2percent lower than what is typically spentthrough th e middle of th e fiscal year, whichcould result in saving s of almost 1 5 percentby the end of the year, according to thereport.

The adopted total budget for the year isroughly $53 million, according to thereport.

Councilwoman Marge Colapietro sug-gested that, if th e city is doing b etter thanexpected, officials should consider setting

aside $1 million to pay for retirement bene-fits.

“It is very, very important we be veryconscious of those long-term liabilities,”she said.

Revenue from th e city’s water and sanita-

tion fund are projected to be 10 percentsho rt of what was budgeted at the beginni ngof the year, which officials attrib ute to resi-dents complying with a request to reduceusage to address drought condition s.

Income from various fees, such as build-ing permits and fire inspections, are alsoabove what had been projected, according tothe report.

The city’s largest source of revenue isproperty taxes, which has only generated43 percent of the amount budgeted. Thereport notes a majority of this moneycomes to the city later in the year, but offi-cials expect it could still fall short of whatwas projected by as much as 5 percent.

Money generated by parking tax from thecity’s many hotels along the Bayshore,near San Francisco International Airport,

has helped offset other underperformingfunds, according to the report.

Lee said that the cit y sh ould look forwardto future opportunities for income.

“It’s v ery important we realize we are in areally good place right now, and with theSuper Bowl coming up, we will be in aneven better place,” he said.

[email protected]

(650) 344-5200 ext. 105

Millbrae budget better than expectedOfficials cite increases in hotel tax revenue, spending cuts among sources of fiscal optimism

REDWOOD CITY Public drunkenness. A person was droppedoff in front of a store on Middlefield Roadbefore 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 17.Grand theft. A large amount of cash wasstolen on Maple Street before 4:28 p.m.Tuesday, March 17.Reckles s driv er. A black Jeep was weavingin and out of traffic and cutting people off onWoodside Road beofre 5:19 p.m. Tuesday,March 17 .Public drunkeness. A person was arrestedfor being drunk in public on VeteransBoulevard before 7:39 p.m. Tuesday, March17.Stolen vehicle . A boat t railer was sto len onMarine Parkway before 10:19 a.m. Monday,March 17 .

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCOPetty theft. A couple of people went into 7-Eleven and stole two tall cans of beer before11:18 p.m. Tuesday, March 17.DUI. A man was reported for driving under theinfluence on Airport Boulevard and GrandAvenue before 12:22 a.m. Tuesday, March 17.Disturbance. A man sat in front of a publicshower facility and refused to leave because heneeds to take a shower but it was closed atOrange Park on Tennis Drive before 8:35 a.m.Tuesday, March 17.

Police reports

Did he eventually buy them?An employee got in to an argument witha customer who opened a bag of chips i nthe store before checking out at LaHacienda Market on Hillside Boulevardin South San Francisco before 9:08a.m. Tuesday, March 17.

Wayne Lee

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4 Thursday • March 26, 2015 THE DAILY JOURNALLOCAL

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By Scott MorrisBAY CITY NEWS SERVICE

A Palo Alto woman was con vict ed Tuesdayof stealing diamonds from under a clerk’snose at a San Mateo jewelry sto re last year,according to the San Mateo County District

Attorney’s Office.Angela Walker, 46 , was arrested after she

left contact information with t he store clerklast March 2 7 and returned days later, appar-ently in an attempt to steal more diamonds,police said shortly after her arrest.

After three hours of deliberations Tuesday,a jury con victed her of commercial b urglary,

grand theft and posses-sion of drugs, prosecu-tors said.

She committed thetheft at Galati J ewelers at35 E. Fourth Ave. in SanMateo, where she went

shopping for a diamondring at about 2 p.m. onMarch 27, according topolice.

The clerk showed her several loose dia-monds and a solitaire diamond ring. Whenthe saleswoman went into a back room,Walker stol e the diamond ring, poli ce said.

Walker then s witched one of the loo se dia-monds with a cubic zirconia of matchingsize.

Walker told the saleswoman she plannedon coming back to vi ew more diamonds andleft her contact information. A few hourslater, the clerk realized the items had been

stolen and called police.Investigators realized the contact infor-

mation Walker left behind was legitimateand convinced the clerk to call her back tothe store.

Walker returned days later, viewed morediamonds and attempted to sell the store asuspected stolen necklace, police said.

Officers arrested her and found her in pos-session of another cubic zirconia, one thesame size as the diamond she was sch eduledto v iew.

Searching her home, detectives foundmore suspected stolen jewelry and loosecubic zirconia gems labeled with t heir sizes,

police said.

Walker was scheduled to return to courttoday to determine whether she served twoprior prison terms, prosecutors said.

Her defense attorney Jeff Jackson couldnot immediately be reached for commentWednesday morning.

Woman convicted of stealing diamonds

Angela Walker

Three arrested forHillsborough residential burglary

Three suspects are in custody after a quick-thinking Hillsborough resident contactedpol ice after witnessin g a man kick down thedoor of a residence on Sunday afternoon .

Ivan Madero, 18, of San Jose, JesseCervantez, 25, of SantaClara and a 17-year-oldSan Jose juvenile werearrested on chargesincluding burglary, con-spiracy, possession of controlled substances,gang enhancements andcontributing to th e delin-quency of a minor,according toHillsborough police.

Police were called tothe 500 block of ElCerrito Avenue around4:24 p.m. after a neigh-bor witnessed the breakin

and provided a descrip-tion of the suspects andtheir vehicle, a blackBMW. While p olice con -

ducted their investigation, a San Mateo

County sh eriff’s deputy spot ted the car nearGolf Course and Skyline b oulevards.

The deputy followed the car ontoInterstate 280 before pulling the suspectsover at Millbrae Avenue and Vallejo Drive,according to police.

Madero, Cervantez and the juvenile werepositively identified, arrested and booked

into county jail, according to police.

Anyone with information about the crimeis asked to call Hills borough pol ice at (650 )375-7470.

Parole granted forconvict in 1994 killing

A man imprisoned since 1994 for the sec-ond-degree murder of a 16-year-old inRedwood City was granted paroleWednesday, according to the San MateoCounty District Attorney’s Office.

Kenneth Ray Donnaghe, now 39, wassentenced to 17 years to life in prison for agang-related shooting on July 21, 1993.His accomplice, Leroy Lucas, was t he actualshooter and remains imprisoned, accordingto prosecutors.

The victim was an inno cent bys tander.

Local briefs

Ivan Madero

Jesse Cervantez

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5Thursday • March 26, 2015 THE DAILY JOURNAL LOCAL/STATE

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Cameron French AshbyCameron French Ashby, late of Millbrae,

Calfornia, and formerly of Las Vegas andGreen Valley, Nevada, died at his homeMarch 24, 2015.

Husband of th e late Betty Ashby, father of Julie Nelson (her husband David), Cameron

E. Ashby and KevinAshby. Also survived bysix grandchildren and sixgreat-grandchildren.

A native of Salt LakeCity, Utah, age 93 years.

First lieutenant,artillery, in the U.S.Army during World War II

and Korea; former salesmanager in the officesupply i ndustry; a former

Mason, member of the Nellis Lodge #46 andmember of the Zelzah Shrine; past p residentof the Las Vegas Exchange Club; p ast presi -dent of the Lafayette Junior Chamber of Commerce (1957-1958); past coordinatorand student in the Excell Center forLearning in Retirement at UNLV.

Services will be private. Burial will be atSouthern Nevada Veterans MemorialCemetery, Boulder City, Nevada.Condolences may be sent c/o Chapel of theHighlands, 194 Millwood Drive, Millbrae,CA 94030.

CameronAshby

Obituary

Woman’s safe return capsbizarre kidnap-for-ransom ordeal

HUNTINGTON BEACH — A woman whos eboyfriend reported that intruders abductedher from their San Francisco Bay Area homeand held her for ransom was found safeWednesday at her father’s SouthernCalifornia apartment.

Denise Huskins’ father, Mike Huskins,

said his daughter called him around 9:30a.m. to say she’d been dropped off at hermother’s Huntington Beach house. No onewas home so she tol d him she walked the 12blocks to his home near the beach.

“She wasn’t crying at all. She just said,‘Daddy, I’m OK,”’ the emotional father toldThe Associated Press.

Her return capped a bizarre ordeal thatbegan Monday when her boyfriend toldpoli ce she was forcefully taken in the middleof the night from their home in the SanFrancis co Bay Area suburb of Vallej o.

On Tuesday, the San Francisco Chroniclereceived an email from an anonymous per-son claiming to be holding the 29-year-oldwoman.

Around the state

By Fenit NirappilTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SACRAMENTO — The state Senate onWednesday approved a $1 billion proposalto speed up spending on water projects andoffer some relief to residents and wildlife indrought-stricken California.

The Senate vot ed 35-1 o n a bil l accelerat-ing infrastructure spending, including $660million on flood protection. An accompa-nyin g measure that authorized fines for il le-gal water diversions passed on a 24-14party-line v ote, with Republicans op posed.

The bill s, AB90 and AB91, are headed tothe Assembly for a Thursday morning vot e,where they are expected to pass. The legis-lation has been fast-tracked since Gov.Jerry Brown and legislative leaders fromboth parties announced the plan last week.

“We should be responsible and get themoney out the door,” said Sen. Lois Wolk,D-Davis. “It’s step one in responding tothis really extraordinary drought.”

The largest share of money is slated forflood-protection, drawing from a $4 billionbond measure approved by voters in 2006.It must be allocated by s ummer 2016 , creat-ing urgency for legislation.

The water legislation doesn’t spell outwhich levees, dams and Central Valley com-

munities would benefit, marking a changefrom how flood bond money is usuallyspent. Lawmakers typically know whatprojects they are approving, according tothe nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’sOffice.

Communities can start applying for fund-ing next month if the bil ls pass. However,projects eligible for funding might not be

chosen until 2020.Brown said using money to prevent

floods is related to the drought because cli-mate change increases the likelihood of sudden storms overtaking communities,even in dry periods.

The analyst’s office says spending forflood protection in California has beenslowed in recent years as projects havestruggled to fin d federal and local matchin gfunds and get lengthy, mandatory environ-mental clearances. The office has criticizedearlier version s of the flood protection pl anfor not addressing these delays.

The emergency legislation also cracksdown o n water-guzzling marijuana farms b yauthorizing state fish and wildlife officialsto fine growers up to $8,000 for illegallytakin g water.

“These devastating illegal trespass growson state and federal lands are literally dryingup Northern California rivers,” said Sen.

Mike McGuire, a Democrat from the ruralNorth Coast where marijuana farms areblooming in heavy forests.

Republican lawmakers raised concernsabout growing government and the poten-tial for farmers also facing fines.

“Every ti me we do o ne of t hese emergencybill s what we really do is expand the author-ity of the government,” said Sen. Tom

Berryhill, R-Twain Harte.The legislation would also make about

$75 millio n available to help residents andwildlife affected by the dry conditions,including for food banks and emergencydrinking water. Another $267 million froma water measure approved last year wouldfund grants for water recyclin g and expand-ing drinking water in small and poor cities.

Not everything in the legislation dealswith water. One provision approves a laboragreement expanding pay for prison psy-chologists and social workers who have tohelp remove inmates with mental illnessfrom cells because of a federal court order.

Keely Bosler, deputy director of theDepartment o f Finance, told lawmakers ear-lier Wednesday that the governor’s officewanted the extra $647,000 approved asquickly as possible to ease the burden onsupervisors who are filling in until thelabor deal is fin alized.

Lawmakers approve $1 billion water plan

Jail custodian accused of smugglingdrugs pleads to lesser charges

A San Mateo County jail custodianaccused of smuggling drugs to inmates lastyear pleaded to a lesser charge Tuesday afterkey prosecution witnesses refused to testi-fy, San Mateo County District AttorneySteve Wagst affe said Wednesday.

Michael De Cartagena, 46, had beencharged last September with two counts of smuggling drugs into jail between May and

June 2014 . On Tuesday, h e pleaded no con-test to misdemeanor possession of drugsand was sentenced to two years’ probation,prosecutors said.

Prosecutors had alleged that De Cartagenahad started letting jail inmates use his cell-phone and then began delivering packagesto them, including drugs. An inmate cameforward to report the alleged smuggli ng.

Wagstaffe said prosecutors ran i nto prob-lems provi ng th e case when two of three jailinmates slated to testify against DeCartagena stopped cooperating with theprosecution.

With o nly on e inmate willing to testify,Wagstaffe said the case would have been too

difficult to prove since it would have beenthe word of one jail in mate against a countyemployee with n o criminal record.

He said prosecutors thought the plea tothe lesser charge was a “reasonable middleground.”

“We wish the case were stronger so wecould hold him accountable to a higherlevel,” Wagstaffe said, “but you’re only asgood as the evidence you have.”

De Cartagena’s attorney, MichaelHroziencik, could not immediately bereached for comment.

The case was unrelated to a separate case

allegin g two corrections o fficers and a sher-iff’s deputy smuggled cellphon es and drugsto a Hells Angels member over th e course of seven months in 2013. Those charges arestill pending.

Deputies investigatesexual battery on coastal trail

Sheriff’s deputies are investigating thesexual battery of a woman who was grabbedby a man while she jogged on the CaliforniaCoastal Trail in Miramar Tuesday evenin g.

The victim, an El Granada woman in her30s, was running on the trail near MagellanAvenue at Mirada road around 6:45 p.m.

when a man ran past her, according to theSheriff’s Office.

The man turned around, caught up to thevictim and touched her lower torso in aninappropriate manner before fleeing southon Magellan Avenue. Deputies conducted anextensive search but were unable to locatethe suspect described as a Hispanic manbetween 18 and 22 years old, approximate-ly 5 feet 4 i nches tall, with a slight to medi-um build. He had no facial hair and was lastseen wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt andfaded black jeans, according to t he Sheriff’sOffice.

Anyone with information is asked to con-tact Detective John Carroll at (650) 259-2473 or leave an anonymous tip at (800)547-2700.

Police seek residential burglarAn apartment was burglarized on Nation al

Avenue in San Bruno sometime between11:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, accord-ing to police.

The suspect pried open the interior frontdoor and stole computers and jewelry beforefleeing the area, according to police.

Anyone with any information on thiscrime is asked to call the San Bruno PoliceDepartment at (650) 616-7100.

Local briefs

8/9/2019 03-26-15 edition

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By David EspoTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON — Normally quar-

relsome House Republicans cametogether Wednesday night andpassed a boldly cons ervative budgetthat relies on nearly $5 trillion incuts to eliminate deficits over thenext decade, calls for repealing thehealth care law and envisions trans-formations of the tax code andMedicare.

Final passage, 228-199, cameshortly after Republicans bumpedup recommended defense spendingto levels proposed by PresidentBarack Obama.

Much of the budget’s savingswould come from Medicaid, foodstamps and welfare, programs thataid the low-income, althoughdetails were sketchy.

Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., chairmanof the House Budget Committee,called the plan a “balanced budgetfor a stronger America” — and onethat would “get this economyrolling again.”

Democrats rebutted that the GOPnumbers didn’t add up and calledtheir p olicies wrong-headed.

“People who are running in placetoday are not going to be movingforward under the Republican budg-et, they’re going to be fallingback,” said Rep. Chris Van Hollenof Maryland.

The Republican-controlled Senateis likely to approve its version of abudget by week’s end.

The plans themselves are non-binding and do not require a presi-dential signature. Instead, once theHouse and Senate agree on a com-mon approach, lawmakers will haveto draft legislation to carry out theprogram that Republicans havevowed to follow in the wake of cam-paign victories last fall that gavethem control of both houses of Congress.

Still, House passage of a budgetmarked a significant victory forSpeaker John Boehner and the GOPleadership, which have struggledmightily to overcome differenceswithin a fractious rank and file.

An equally notable second tri-umph appeared on the horizon.Legislation to stabilize the sy stemof payments to doctors who treat

Medicare patients is expected toclear the House Thursday, andObama’s declaration of supportenhanced its chances in th e Senate.

It includes a requirement for upper-income Medicare beneficiaries topay more for their coverage, a pro-vision Republicans hailed as a tri-umph in their drive to curtail thegrowth of benefit programs.

There was nothing bipartisanabout the budget debate, though.Republicans supported it, 228-17,while all 182 Democrats who votedwere opposed.

The House plan calls for $5. 4 tril-lion in deficit reduction over adecade, including about $2 trillionfrom repeal of the law known as

Obamacare. Nearly $1 trillio n wouldbe saved from from Medicaid andCHIP, health care programs for thelow-income, and $1 billion fromother unspecified benefit programs.Another $500 billion would comefrom general government programsthat already have been squeezed inrecent years by deficit-reductionagreements between Congress andthe White House.

The budget outline itself providesfew if any details of the cuts envi-sioned, although once they appearin legislation they are highly likelyto spark a veto showdown withObama.

The president has also vowed todefend the health care law thatstands as his signature domesticachievement. The House has alreadyvoted more than 60 times to repeal itin part or whole, but for the firsttime since the law passed, Housemembers have a willing partner inthe Senate.

The prospect of sending Obamalegislation to repeal the health carelaw contributed to the unusual degreeof unity among House conserva-tives. Without a budget in place,they noted, t he repeal measure wouldnot h ave special protection againsta Senate filibuster — and would notreach the White House.

Budget to cut deficitpassed by the House

By Lisa Leff THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SAN FRANCISCO — CaliforniaAttorney General Kamala Harrisasked a state court on Wednesday for

permission toreject a propo sedballot initiativestipulating thatanyone whoengages in gaysex be kill ed.

Harris issued astatement say-ing she wasmaking theunusual request

to stop the measure filed by aSouthern California lawyer late lastmonth. The initiative seeks toamend the California penal code tomake sex with a person of the samegender an offense punishable by“bullets to the head or by any otherconvenient method.” The distribu-tion of gay “propaganda” would bepunishable by a $1 million fine or

banishment from the state.“This proposal not only threatens

public safety, it is patently uncon-stitutional, utterly reprehensible,and has no place in a civil society,”

Harris said.Matthew McLaughlin, the Orange

County lawyer who paid $200 tosubmit the initiative, did notrespond to a telephone call seekingcomment. A Democratic state sena-tor, Ricardo Lara, has asked theCalifornia bar to investigatewhether McLaughlin’s actions makehim unfit to practice law.

The measure puts Harris in a diffi-cult position. Although the bill hasno discernible momentum or likelychance of success, she said unless a

judge rules otherwise, she will haveno choice but to give McLaughlinthe go-ahead to gather the nearly366,000 votes needed to qualify themeasure for the November 2016 bal-lot.

California is one of 21 stateswhere citizens can petition to havelaws put on the ballot through thegathering of voter signatures Under

California’s initiative process, stateofficials do not have authority torefuse to administer initiatives theyfind objectionable, the CaliforniaSupreme Court has ruled.

Although few of the dozens sub-mitted to the attorney general eachyear make it on the ballot, the easewith which a resident with a petpeeve can gain clearance to circulatetheir proposals while seeking signa-tures has prompted calls for reform.

University of California, Davislaw professor Floyd Feeney, anexpert on California’s initiativeprocess, said Harris alone cannotimpede the proposed law. Anddespite the numerous l egal problemswith McLaughlin’s proposal,Feeney said he was no t convinced acourt would agree to halt it at thisstage.

“The courts, rightly or wrongly,treat the initiative as sort of the citi-zen right and they are reluctant to getinvolved in trying to get rid of it, atleast in advance, by using the law tokeep something from being present-ed to the electorate,” he said.

California AG moves toend anti-gay initiative

By Judy LinTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SACRAMENTO — In a videorecorded 19 days before BrittanyMaynard took life-ending drugs, shetells California lawmakers that noone should have to leave home tolegally kill themselves under thecare of a doctor.

“Unfortunately, California lawprevented me from getting the end-of-life option I deserved,” she said inthe recording released Wednesday,hours ahead of the first state Senatecommittee hearing on the issue.Lawmakers gave initi al approval, 5-2, after a moving debate before apacked Capitol room.

The 29-year-old San FranciscoBay Area woman had terminal braincancer and moved with her family toOregon before killing herself lastyear. Her death drew widespreadattention and recharged legislativeefforts in California and elsewhere to

make it legal for terminally illpatients to kill themselves withdrugs.

“No one should have to leave theirhome and community for peace of mind, to escape suffering, and toplan for a gentle death,” Maynardsaid In the video.

The bill being considered inCalifornia is expected to face astrong challenge led by medical, dis-ability and religious groups.Opponents see huge consequencesfor allowing doctors to prescribefatal drugs and questioned the moral-ity of the bill.

Opponents told lawmakersWednesday that the bill would sanc-tion physician assisted suicide withno way to undo mistakes or abuses.

“Do not mistake t emporary popu-larity with wisdom,” said WarrenFong, president of the MedicalOncology Association of SouthernCalifornia and an oncologist.

Other terminally ill patients such

as Kara Tippetts, a 38-year-oldColorado mother of four, wrote anopen letter to Maynard in Octoberurging her not to end her life.

Tippetts wrote that suffering canbe “the place where true beauty canbe known.” She died this month of breast cancer.

Advocates for aid-in-dying lawssay legislators in at least 17 stateshave introduced similar measuresthis year. However, proposals in atleast four states have already stalledfor the year and many have not yetreceived a hearing.

Past proposals have foundered instatehouses amid emotionallycharged debates and strong opposi-tion.

Some medical groups say prescrib-ing l ife-ending medication violates adoctor’s oath to do no harm, whilesome advocates for people with dis-abilities fear some sick patientswould feel pressured to end their livesto avoid being a financial burden.

Posthumous video supports aid-in-dying bill

Kamala Harris

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LOCAL/BAY AREA 7Thursday • March 26, 2015 THE DAILY JOURNAL

5

DAILY JOURNAL STAFF REPORT

Emergency service workers h ave ratified athree-year contract with American MedicalResponse, which provides ambulance serv-ices in San Mateo County.

Nearly 1,800 EMS professionals across13 counties ratified the union contract.

“The agreement will improve safety bylimiting the number of consecutive workshifts, provide pay increases and protecthealth care for the nation’s largest collec-tive bargaining unit of private EMS person-nel,” Justin Lee, with the AmericanFederation of State, County and MunicipalEmploy ees, said in a p ress release.

The agreement is in effect for nearly1, 800 emergency medical technicians , para-medics, dispatchers, registered nurses,mechanics, vehicle supply technicians andoffice support personnel employed at AMRin: Contra Costa, Placer, Sacramento, SanBenito, San Francisco, San Joaquin, SanMateo, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Stanislaus,

Sonoma, Tulare and Yolo counties.“Standing together in a union gives us

strength t o improve patient care and provi desecurity for our families,” said Sami Abed, a13-year paramedic in Santa Cruz County andpresident of United EMS Workers-AFSCMELocal 4911. “Having that power is impor-tant for EMS professionals anywhere.”

The new contract is the result of two yearsof intense negotiations.

Ambulance services in San Mateo Countyare provided in a public/private partnershipmodel that includes both paramedic emer-gency ambulance service p rovided by AMRand paramedic first resp onse.

The collaborative arrangement hasreceived a number of awards from theNational Council for Public-PrivatePartnerships, International City-CountyManagement Award for OutstandingPartnerships, the League of Cities HelenPutnam Award for Excellence in PublicSafety, and the International Association of Fire Chiefs.

Ambulance workersagree to new contract

By Jeff BurbankBAY CITY NEWS SERVICE

Local and state officials, including Gov.Jerry Brown, expressed sympathy for thefamily of a 38-year-old San Jose police offi-cer shot to death while on duty Tuesday in EastSan Jose.

California Gov. Jerry Brown, AttorneyGeneral Kamala Harris, Santa Clara CountyDistrict Attorney Jeff Rosen and San Jose’spolice union were among those to issue state-ments following the death of Officer MichaelJohnson, a 14-year veteran of the San JosePolice Department.

“Anne (Brown) and I extend our deepestcondolences to Officer Johnson’s family,friends and fellow officers,” Brown said in

statement fromSacramento, where heordered flags at the

Capitol to be flown athalf-staff.“Officer Johnson will

be remembered for hiscourage and dedicatedservice and we join theentire San Jose communi-ty in mourning this tragicloss,” Brown said.

Johnson’s parents,Katherine Decker and Daniel Johnson, sur-vive hi m, according to t he governor’s office.

San Jose poli ce reported that Johnson waskilled at 6:50 p.m. Tuesday after officersexchanged gunfire with the alleged shooter,57-year-old Scott Dunham, at an apartment inthe 2600 block of Senter Road.

Dunham was located at 3:20 a.m.Wednesday lying dead from at least one gun-

shot wound on a balcony of the apartment.Police have n ot yet said whether he died froma shot fired by officers or a self-inflicted shot.

A family member of Dunham’s phonedpolice Tuesday evening saying he wasdespondent, in toxicated, possibl y h ad accessto weapons, including a rifle, and might hurtsomeone, pol ice said.

Dunham, who was alone in the apartment,allegedly started firing gunshot s from the res-idence at responding officers, who returnedfire, according to police.

Johnson, who also worked as a field train-ing officer, was wounded and died at the scene.

Officers set up a p erimeter around the neigh-borhood to prevent the suspect’s escape and

remained outside for several hours untilDunham’s body was discovered earlyWednesday morning.

Police said that officers had no contact withDunham from after the shooting to when hisbody was found and it was possible he hadbeen dead on his balcony during t he interven-ing ho urs.

Harris, in a statement from Sacramento,said she wanted to “extend my deepest sym-pathies to the family and loved ones of Officer Michael Johnson, who made the ulti-mate sacrifice in service of his communityand his state.”

“My condolences also go out to Chief LarryEsquivel and the entire San Jose PoliceDepartment, which has lost not only a dedi-cated colleague, but a family member,” shesaid.

Rosen, in a statement, said that the “dailyrisks and sacrifices of our police officers are

bluntly measured by these sad and tragicdays.”

“Michael Johnson lost hi s life, a life spentprotecting ours, trying to help someone whohad lost the value of his own. I hop e today wewill all take a moment to honor the v alue of this valiant officer’s life,” he said.

Tom Saggau, spokesman for the San JosePolice Officers’ Association, in a statementalso expressed condolences to the family andfriends of Johnson, who was “tragicallystruck down in th e prime of his l ife while pro-tecting and serving the residents of SanJose.”

“Even during this time of grief and sorrowthe men and women who make up the SanJose Police Department did their jobs lastnight and ensured that the community wasprotected and that the coward who perpetrated

this horrific crime did not harm anyone else,”Saggau said.

Saggau thanked people in law agenciesfrom “throughout the country” who haveexpressed their sympathy over Johnson’sdeath.

“We also owe a debt of gratitude to our locallaw enforcement family who deployed offi-cers and sheriff deputies to assist during thisunmitigated tragedy,” he said. “Their selfless-ness honored the spirit of our fallen brother,Officer Michael Johnson.”

Santa Clara County Board of Supervisorspresident Dave Cortese Wednesday orderedflags flown at half-staff at all county faciliti esuntil April 1 in h onor of Johnso n.

Sympathy pours in forfallen San Jose officer

Michael

Johnson

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NATION8 Thursday • March 26, 2015 THE DAILY JOURNAL

Bergdahl to be charged with desertionWASHINGTON — The Army sergeant who abandoned

his post in Afghanistan and was held captive by theTaliban for five years will be court-martialed on chargesof desertion and avoiding military s ervice, a U.S. officialsaid Wednesday.

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl will also be charged with misbe-havior before the enemy, said the official, who was notauthorized to discuss th e announcement on the record andspoke only o n condition of anonymity.

The charges are the latest development in a long andbitt er debate over Bergdahl’s case, and underscore the mil -itary and political ramifications of his decision on June30, 2009, to leave his post after expressing misgivingsabout the U.S. military’s role, as well as his own, in theAfghani stan war.

Desertion can carry a maximum penalty of death, butmost military officials have said they believe that is notlikely in this case.

The U.S. military planned an announcement at FortBragg in North Carolina, which is exp ected to in clude thelocation of the court-martial.

After leaving his post, Bergdahl was captured by theTaliban and held by members of the Haqqani network, aninsurgent group tied to the Taliban that operates both inPakistan and Afghanistan.

Last May 3 1, Bergdahl was handed over to U.S. specialforces in Afghanistan as part of an exchange for fiveTaliban commanders who were imprisoned at GuantanamoBay, Cuba.

After spending about two weeks recuperating at a U.S.military hospital in Germany, Bergdahl was sent toBrooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston inTexas on June 13. He has been doing administrativeduties at the base, awaiting the conclusion of the case.

Around the nation

By Robert BurnsTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON — At Iraq’s request,the U.S. began airstrikes in Tikrit onWednesday in support of a stalled Iraqiground offensive to retake the city fromIslamic State fighters, a senior U.S.official said.

The airstrikes were “ongoing,” theofficial said without providing details.The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the attacks had notyet been officially announced.

An Associated Press correspondent i nTikrit reported hearing warplanes o ver-head late Wednesday, followed by mul-tiple explosions.

Iraq began t he Tikrit ground offensivein early March without requesting U.S.air support, even as it welcomed helpfrom Iran.

In an address t o th e nation Wednesdayevening, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi predicted success in Tikrit b ut didnot say the U.S. was providingairstrikes.

“We have started the final phase of the operation in Tikrit,” he said. “Youwill liberate your ground, not anyonebut you,” he said, in a speech to the

Iraqi peop le.Al-Abadi praised all the groups

involved in the battle against theIslamic State group, including the so-called Popular Mobilization Forces,which the U.S. calls Iranian-backedmilitias, the Sunni tribes and coalitionforces. But he fell short of confirming

that the coalition is playing a directrole in Tikrit.

U.S. airstrikes in Tikrit raise highlysensitive questions about participatingin an Iraqi campaign that has beenspearheaded by Iraqi Shiite militiastrained and equipped by Iran, an avowedU.S. adversary.

Iran has provided artillery and otherweaponry for th e Tikrit b attle, and sen-ior Iranian advisers have helped Iraqcoordinate the offensive. Iraq poin tedlydid not request U.S. air support when itlaunched the o ffensive in early March.

Recently, the offensive has lostmomentum. Col. Steve Warren, aPentagon spokesman, said Wednesdaythe Iraqi forces have encircled Tikri t butnot yet made significant inroads intothe heavil y defended city l imits.

“They are stalled,” he said.The U.S. has hundreds of military

advisers in Iraq helping its security

forces plan operations against theIslamic State, which occupies largechunks of northern and western Iraq.But the U.S. has said it is not coordi-nating any military actions with theIranians.

Warren sai d that at Baghdad’s requestthe U.S. b egan aerial surveillance over

Tikrit in recent days and is sharing thecollected intelligence with the Iraqigovernment.

The U.S.-led air campaign, launchedin August and joined by severalEuropean allies, has allowed Iraqiforces to halt the IS group’s advanceand claw back some of t he territory mil-itants seized last summer.

But the growing Iranian presence onthe ground has complicated the mis-sion, with Washington refusing towork directly with a country it views asa regional menace, yet is currentlyembroiled with Iran in sensitive nego-tiation s o ver a nuclear deal.

The prominent role of the Shiitemilitias in the fight to retake Tikrit andother parts of Iraq’s Sunni heartland hasmeanwhile raised concerns that theoffensive could deepen the country’ssectarian divide and drive Sunnis intothe arms of the Islamic State group.

U.S. helping Iraq retake Tikrit

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON — Afghan PresidentAshraf Ghani thanked Congress onWednesday for b illio ns of American t axdollars and vowed his war-wracked coun-try will be self-reliant with in th is decade.

“We’re not going to be the lazy UncleJoe,” he said.

In a speech to a joint meeting of Congress, Ghani moved to mend U.S.-Afghan relations that were frayed underformer President Hamid Karzai.Lawmakers have been critical about thelengthy U.S. troop presence inAmerica’s longest war, wasteful spend-ing in Afghanistan and were stung byKarzai’s anti-American rhetoric.

Ghani humbly thanked Congress forthe nearly $107 billion i t has appropri-ated for Afghanis tan so far. He paid hom-age to the 2,200 U.S. servicemen and -women who lost their lives in the warand the thousands more who were wound-ed, and thanked the U.S. aid workers whobuilt schools, wells and cured the sick.

“At the end of theday, it is th e ordinaryAmericans whosehard-earned taxeshave over the yearsbuilt the partnershipthat has led to ourconversation today,”he said to applause inthe House chamber

packed with hundredsof lawmakers, dignitaries and guests.

Ghani, wearing a gray western suit,peppered his speech with anecdotesabout the time he’s spent in America,noting that he graduated from ColumbiaUniversity in New York and was in hisWorld Bank office in Washington whenthe first plane smashed into the WorldTrade Center on 9/11.

Perhaps trying to shed his image as atechnocrat, Ghani recalled that he “atecorned beef at Katz’s, New York’s great-est, greasiest, pickle-lined melting pot. ”

He touched on themes he h oped wouldconvince lawmakers that he will be a

reliable U.S. partner. He admitted thatdecades of war have resulted in h igh lev-els of fraud and graft in Afghanistan andpromised to eliminate corruption. Ghanialso voiced support for women’s rightsand said he would emphasize law and jus-tice and focus on self-reliance and eco-nomic development.

“We don’t want your charity. We have

no more interest in perpetuating a child-ish dependence than you have in beingsaddled with a poor family member wholacks the energy and drive to get out andfind a job,” Ghani said.

That’s a t all order for Afghanist an.

The national unity government thatGhani runs with chief executive AbdullahAbdullah has not yet seated a full cabi-net, and some of the country’s 30-plusprovinces are still run by acting gover-nors. The country recently had a $500million budget shortfall and domesticrevenues missed targets by 26 percent,forcing the U.S. to step in in recentmonths to help cover the fiscal gap.

Ghani says his nation won’t be ‘lazy Uncle Joe’

Ashraf Ghani

8/9/2019 03-26-15 edition

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WORLD 9Thursday • March 26, 2015 THE DAILY JOURNAL

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ABUJA, Nigeria — Hundreds of civilians,including many children, have been abductedand are being used as human shields by BokoHaram extremists, a top Nigerian official con-firmed Wednesday.

The news of the mass kidnappings comes asNigeria prepares for crucial elections onSaturday.

Several hundred people were taken captive bythe Islamic militants as they retreated earlierthis month from Damasak in northeasternNigeria, Mike Omeri, the Nigerian spokesmanfor the fight against Boko Haram, told TheAssociated Press Wednesday. He said he couldnot specify how many were taken captive butlocal reports say as many as 500 people wereseized.

When troops from Chad and Niger advancedtoward Damasak, Boko Haram began takingcaptives, said Omeri, speaking in Nigeria’scapital, Abuja.

“Boko Haram ... rushed to primary schools

they took children and adults that they areusing as shields to protect themselves from themenacing advance of troops,” said Omeri.“They are being used as shields by BokoHaram.”

Damasak, near the border with Niger, wasrecaptured from Boko Haram on March 16. The

kidnappings of civilians has only been con-firmed now.

The soldiers who recaptured Damasak foundthe town largely deserted. Damasak had beenheld for months by Boko Haram, who used thetrading town as an administrative center.

The troops from Chad and Niger who nowhold Damasak have discovered evidence of amass grave, Chad’s ambassador to the U.N.Mahamat Zene Cherif confirmed Wednesday.

Almost a year ago some 276 girls were kid-napped before dawn from a government board-ing school in Chibok. Dozens escaped in thefirst couple of days, but 219 remain missing.The case of the missing schoolgirls has gainedwidespread international attention andspawned the (hash)BringBackOurGirls cam-

paign on social media.

Nigeria’s battle against the Islamic extrem-ists i s a major issue for the elections to be heldSaturday. The 6-year-old Islamic insurgencyhas killed thousands, including an estimated10,000 last year. Boko Haram has vowed toviolently disrupt the elections.

International assistance desperately is need-ed for the thousands of Nigerian refugees whohave fled the violence, the head of the U.N.refugee agency said Wednesday as he visited acamp in Cameroon.

Violence in Nigeria has forced more than192,000 people to flee to the neighboringcountries of Cameroon, Chad and Niger. But theU.N. refugee agency says the crisis hasn’tdrawn sufficient international support, callingit one of the most underfunded emergencies inthe world.

At Cameroon’s Minawao refugee camp, resi-dents aren’t getting enough to eat or drink, andthere aren’t enough toilets or medical supplies,Isaac Luka, a representative of the refugees,said Wednesday.

Boko Haram abducts hundreds of civilians

REUTERS

A Nigerien soldier checks a building while onpatrol in Duji, Nigeria. Niger seized controlfrom Boko Haram militants last month.

By Ken DilanianTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON — Saudi Arabia beganairstrikes Wednesday against Houthi rebelpositions in Yemen, vowing that th e Sunnikingdom will do “anything necessary” torestore a deposed government that has beenrouted by the Iranian-backed group.

In an unusual tableau, Saudi Arabia’sambassador to the United States announcedthe rare military op eration by hi s country ata Washin gton news conference about a half-hour after the bombing began. The strikesstarted at 7 p.m. EDT, he said.

Loud, house-shaking explosions could be

heard in the Yemen capital of Sanaa and fireand smoke could be seen in the night sky,according to an Associated Press correspon-dent whose home is near the military air-base in the capital.

The Houthis said in a statement toreporters that Saudi jets are hitting the mil-itary base, known as al-Duleimi, in Sanaa.They said they fired anti-aircraft missiles inresponse.

Ambassador Adel al-Jubeir said his gov-ernment had consulted closely with the U.S.

and other allies, but said the U.S. militarywas not involved in the operations. Nineother countries have joined the militarycoaliti on, he said from a podium at the Saudiembassy, b ut he declined to name them.

“Havin g Yemen fail cannot be an o ptio nfor us or our coalition partners,” he said.

He declined to say whether the Saudi cam-paign involved U.S. intelligence assis-tance, and a White House spokeswomanreferred questions to the Saudis.

The Saudi strikes were the latest in a s eriesof fast movi ng developments in Yemen — arugged, poor, isolated country that is hometo an al-Qaida affiliate th at has b een the tar-get of repeated American drone s trikes.

Driven weeks ago from the capital by theHouthis, U.S.- and Saudi-backed YemeniPresident Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi aban-doned the country Wednesday, leaving on aboat from the s outhern po rt of Aden, Yemenisecurity officials said. His departure cameafter Houthi air strikes rained down on histroops, a sign that rebels held air superiori-ty and that Hadi’s calls for an internationalno-fly zone had been disregarded. On theground, the rebels were advancing towardhis position.

Al-Jubeir said the Saudiairstrikes were designed“to prevent Yemen fromfalling into the hands of the Houthis,” but thereality i s that the capitaland some of the country’smain cities already havefallen to the group, andground troops will berequired to take them

back. The ambassador said he didn’t want todiscuss mili tary details.

It was unacceptable, Al-Jubeir said, that a“militia,” as he called the Houthis, shouldhave air power, along with “ballistic mis-siles, heavy weapons as well as militarybases and ports.”

Al-Jubeir recounted a series o f diplomaticefforts to diss uade the Houthi from contin u-ing their offensive. But, he said, they “havealways chosen the path of violence.”

He says the Saudis “will do anyt hing nec-essary” to p rotect the peop le of Yemen and“the legit imate government o f Yemen.”

Airstrikes begin against Yemen rebels

Abed Hadi

France gets audio from jet’sblack box, but cause a mystery

SEYNE-LES-ALPES, France — The lastcommunication from a doomed German jet-liner was routine. The mangled black boxhas yielded sounds and voices, the leadinvestigator said Wednesday, but so far notthe “slightest explanation” why the planeplunged into an Alpine mountainside,killing all 150 on bo ard.

Midway through a flight from Barcelonato Duesseldorf on Tuesday, GermanwingsFlight 9525 was chilling in its normalcy.The last communication was a routinerequest to continue on its route, said RemiJouty, the head of the accident investig ation

bureau, or BEA.Then minutes later, at 10:30 a.m., theAirbus A320 i nexpl icably beg an to descend.Within 10 minutes it had plunged some32,000 feet from its cruising altitude of 38,000 feet, slamming into the remotemountainside at an altitude just above 6,0 00feet, Jouty said.

Around the world

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BUSINESS10 Thursday • March 26, 2015 THE DAILY JOURNAL

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Dow 17,718.54 -292.60 10-Yr Bond 1.92 +0.04

Nasdaq 4,876.52 -118.21 Oil (per barrel) 48.97S&P 500 2,061.05 -30.45 Gold 1,194.70

NEW YORK — Stocks that moved substantially or traded heavilyWednesday on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market:NYSELumber Liquidators Holdings Inc., up $3.03 to $31.86 The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is investigating the safetyof the company’s laminate flooring made in China.Lexmark International Inc., up $2.48 to $43.27 The printer maker will buy software developer Kofax Ltd. for about $1billion, doubling the size of its software business.EnLink Midstream Partners LP, down $2.42 to $24.50 The energy company priced an offering of stock sold by a Devon Energyunit at $25.71 apiece, below the prior day’s closing price.NasdaqApollo Education Group Inc., down $7.95 to $20.04 The for-profit education company said student enrollment fell at its

flagship University of Phoenix and offered a disappointing revenueoutlook.Francesca’s Holdings Corp., down 91 cents to $15.93 The clothing retailer reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter resultsbut provided an outlook below forecasts.Mondelez International Inc., up 80 cents to $35.81Competitors Heinz and Kraft announced plans to merge, stirringspeculation of further consolidation by food and beverage companies.Stamps.com Inc., up $9.48 to $67.78 The Internet-based postage company will buy Newell Rubbermaid Inc.’sshipping technologies unit Endicia for $215 million in cash.

Big movers

By Matthew Craft


NEW YORK — Investors dumpedhigh-flying technology and biotechcompanies and sent the stock marketdown for a third straight day

Wednesday.Major indexes drifted lower in early

trading, following n ews that orders forlong-lasting U.S. goods sank lastmonth. The selling gathered strengthin the afternoon, with companies likeAvago Technologies and SkyworksSolutions losin g the most.

Peter Cardillo, chief market econo-mist at Avalon Partners, a New Yorkbrokerage, said the market’s fall wasdriven by big investors selling someof their winni ngs before the first quar-ter closes next week. The drop in facto-ry orders also raised concerns that aslowdown in economic activity couldcontinue.

“A weak first quarter could spill into

the s econd quarter,” Cardillo said, “andthat probably leads to a poor earningsseason.”

The Standard & Poor’s 500 indexlost 30.45 points, or 1.5 percent, to2,061.05. The Dow Jones industrialaverage fell 292.60 points, or 1.6 per-cent, to 17,718.54, while the Nasdaqcomposite fell 118.21 points, or 2.4

percent, to 4,876.52.

It was the worst day for stocks sinceMarch 10, when speculation over theFederal Reserve’s plans to raise inter-est rates helped knock the S&P 500down 1.7 percent.

Jack Ablin, chief investment officer

at BMO Private Bank, said he thinksit’s goin g to be tough for the market tosustain a strong run higher. Majorindexes still trade near record highsreached at the start of the month, eventhough analysts expect earnings toshrink in th e first half of the year. Thatmakes the t ypical stock look pricey.

“We’re going to h ave a difficult t imecontinuing to make new highs if theunderlying economy isn’t followingthe direction of the market,” he said.“At some point we’re going to hit theintersection of reality and expecta-tions.”

Before the market opened onWednesday, the Commerce Departmentreported that orders to U.S. factories

for long-lasting manufactured goodsfell in February for the third time infour months. Demand for commercialaircraft, cars and machinery waned.

“You can put th is durables report intoyour Surprise Index as it missed marketexpectations,” said ChristopherRupkey, chief financial economist atMUFG Union Bank, in a note to

clients. “But more importantly it isanother piece of data that shows thereal GDP economy is runnin g 2 percentand not 3 percent.”

Among companies making bigmoves, H.J. Heinz and Kraft Foodsannounced plans to merge in a deal th at

would create one of the world’s largestfood companies. The merger was engi-neered by Heinz’s owners, WarrenBuffett’s Berkshire Hathaway andBrazilian investment firm 3G Capital,and still needs a nod from federal regu-lators and Kraft shareholders. Kraft’sstock shot up $21.85, or 36 percent,to $83.17.

Apollo Education Group turned in aquarterly loss as enrollment fell at itsfor-profit University of Phoenix. Thecompany’s stock p lunged $7.95, or 28percent, to $20.04.

Major indexes closed with lossesacross Europe. Germany’s DAXdropped 1.2 percent and France’s CAC40 lost 1.3 percent. Britain’s FTSE100 sank 0.4 percent.

U.S. government bond prices fell,pushing the yield on the 10-yearTreasury note up to 1.93 percent.

In the commodity markets, gol d rose$5.60 to settle at $1,197 an ounce andsilver inched up 2 cents to $17 anounce. Copper slipped a penny to$2.79 a pound.

Market indexes slump, extend decline


NEW YORK — Some of the most familiar

names in ketchup, pickles, cheese and hotdogs are set to come under the same roof afterH.J. Heinz Co. announced plans Wednesdayto buy Kraft and create one of the world’slargest food and beverage companies.

The deal would bring together an array of longtime staples in American kitchens,including Oscar Mayer lunchmeats, Jell-Odesserts, Mi racle Whip spreads, Ore-Ida pota-toes and Smart Ones diet foods.

The combination of the two companies —

each more than a century old — was engi-neered by Warren Buffett’s BerkshireHathaway and Brazilian investment firm 3G

Capital, which teamed up just two years agoto buy Heinz. While sho ppers are not expect-ed to see any major changes, t he creation of The Kraft Heinz Co. reflects the pressuresfacing some of the biggest packaged foodmakers in the U.S.

As consumers increasingly migrate awayfrom popular packaged foods in favor of options they consider less processed, com-panies including Campbell Soup, General

Mills and Kellogg have been slashing costsor striking deals to update their productsofferings. The Heinz-Kraft deal is in many

ways just the latest example of that,although Buffett noted that the two compa-nies sti ll have a strong base of customers.

“I think the tastes Kraft and Heinz appealto are pretty enduring,” he s aid in a telephonecall to the business news channel CNBC.

Still, the early plans outlined by Kraft andHeinz executives in a conference callWednesday focused largely on the savingsthat would be achieved through the deal,

rather than the potential for sales growth inNorth America. They said they expect to save$1.5 billio n through moves such as combin-

ing manufacturing and distribution net-works.

James Angel, an associate professor of finance at Georgetown University’sMcDonough School of Business, said thatwill probably result in job losses.

“Even though it is painful for the peopleinvolved, those resources will be freed up forother, potent ially more productive, uses,” hesaid.

Heinz buys Kraft to build $28 billion food giant


SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook’s

Messenger app is evolving into amultitaskin g too l equipped to send ananimated fist bump to a friend at onemoment and then get a little businessdone in the next.

In an effort to pull off the transfor-mation, Facebook Inc. is openingMessenger so outside programmerscan build features tailored for theservice. By the end of April,Messenger will also be adding theability to display store receipts and

shipping information to help con-sumers keep track of their interac-tions with merchants and other busi-

nesses.The push to diversify Messenger

addresses a potential threat toFacebook’s ubiquitous so cial networkposed by a variety of mobile messag-ing maps offering more intimate anddirect ways to connect with friends.

Younger people, in particular, areincreasingly using a wide range of mobile messaging apps to communi-cate while spending less time broad-casting their activities on

Facebook’s more expansive socialnetwork. The list of apps pullingpeopl e away from Facebook includes

Snapchat, KakaoTalk, Kik, Line,Secret, Tango, Viber, and Whisper.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerbergtouted the Messenger expansionWednesday to abo ut 2,0 00 app devel-opers at the opening of a two-dayconference in San Francisco.

“We have b een building Messeng erinto a service to express beyondtext,” Zuckerberg said. He promisedeven more features will be roll ing outthe months ahead.

Messenger app adds more ways to connectWells Fargo cutting 1,000 jobs, closing office

NEW YORK — Wells Fargo will close its home lendingservicing office in Milwaukee and eliminate 1,000 jobs,saying fewer homeowners are falling behind on payments

and seeking help keeping their homes.Employees at th e office work with U.S. residents who were

behind on their home loan payments.Wells Fargo will clo se the office in late J uly. It says i t will

inform employees of other job opportunities within thecompany.

Silicon Valley genderdiscrimination lawsuit goes to jury

SAN FRANCISCO — Jury deliberations are underway in a high-profile sex discrimination lawsuit against one of Silicon Valley’smost prestigious venture capital firms.

The jury of six men and six women began discussing EllenPao’s lawsuit against Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers onWednesday after attorneys concluded closing arguments.

Pao’s attorneys said she was an accomplished junior partner atthe firm who was passed over for a promotion because she was awoman. Kleiner Perkins portrayed Pao as a failure who sued to get

a big payout as she was being shown the door.

PayPal to pay $7.7M insanctions violations settlement

WASHINGTON — PayPal Inc. has agreed to pay $7.7 millionto settle with U.S. regulators who said the payments companyallowed violations of U.S. sanctions against Iran, Cuba andSudan.

The Office of Foreign Assets Cont rol, an agency of the TreasuryDepartment, announced Wednesday the civil settlement with thedigital payments processor.

The agency said PayPal, a division of eBay Inc., didn’t ade-quately screen transactions so it could detect those by people orentiti es subject to sanctions against Iran, Cuba and Sudan. OFACsays the lapses occurred over several years through 2013.

Business briefs

8/9/2019 03-26-15 edition

11/32

By Terry BernalDAILY JOURNAL STAFF

The Lady Vikings are fast proving one of the fiercest li neups in the Penin sula AthleticLeague Ocean Division.

Mills softball (3-0 in PAL Ocean, 5-3overall) rolled to a 16-5 win Wednesday atSan Mateo. The Vikin gs bang ed out 14 hits,nine of which came from the heart of theirbatting order.

No. 5 hitter Gabriella Zucchiatti l ed the hitparade with a 4-for-5 day with five RBIs. No.3-hitter Sara Cisneros was 2 for 5 with four

RBIs. Cleanup hitter Lusi Stanley was 3 for3 with one RBI, though she was creditedwith a seventh-inning single and no RBIsby virtue of a three-base error that shouldhave been scored as a three-run home run,according to Mills head coach DanaYnostroza.

“We took care of business today,”Ynostroza said.

With Zucchiatti’s four-hit day, the juniorupped her batting average 80 points to .444on the season. The sweet-swinging leftycapped a two-run rally in the first in ning byrippin g an RBI double up the left-center field

gap. And while Stanley is currently pacingthe Vikin gs i n each of th e triple-crown cate-gories, Zucchiatti’s oppo site-field approachexemplifies the team’s strong hitting abili-ties throughout the lineup.

“[Stanley], sh e can just hit it through peo-ple, b ut I try to encourage all-field hitting, ”Ynostroza said. “And Gabriella [Wednesday]… two of her three hits were to the op posit efield. And that’s a complete hitt er to me.”

Zucchiatti added a three-run triple in thethird as Mills sent 10 batters to the plate in

Mills making noise in Ocean

TERRY BERNAL/DAILY JOURNAL

Carlmont junior Tyler Brandenburg slides home with the final run of a 6-1 Scots victory overSequoia Wednesday. Brandenburg’s sixth-inning run exemplified a wild afternoon, as hereached base on a walk then advanced all the way around to score on three wild pitches.

By Terry BernalDAILY JOURNAL STAFF

Missing four regular starters, Carlmontbaseball was stricken by a glut of defensivemiscues in Wednesday’s Penin sula AthleticLeague Bay Divisi on matchup with Sequoia.Despite committing four errors, however,the new-look Scots still l ooked pretty g ood.

Carlmont (3-2 in PAL Bay, 8-4 overall)countered its season-high error spree byturning three double plays to soldier to a 6-1 home win over Sequoia. Junior shortstopTyler Brandenburg — making his first varsi-ty start at the position — was integral toturning all three twin kill ings.

Brandenburg was not the only Carlmontplayer debuting at a new position. With theScots being struck by the inj ury bug, regularcorner outfielder Julian Billot was forced tomake his first varsity start in center. Also,

junior right -handed pi tcher Spencer Stewart— the rotation ’s No. 2 man and regular Fridayarm — made his debut as a Wednesday starter.

Billot came up bi g with a leadoff home runin the first inning to get the Scots on theboard. And Stewart worked five-plus inn ingsof two-hit ball to earn the win, improvinghis record to 3-1.

“I’m really proud of our kids,” Carlmontmanager Rich Vallero said. “For other g uysto get an opportunity and to work their tailoff at practice and be ready when th e opp or-tunity came, and then to get out here in a

rival g ame against a g reat Sequoia program,it makes you happy as a coach.”The Scots also benefitted from Sequoia’s

shaky defense. The Cherokees (2-1, 7-3)also committ ed four errors, whil e their th reepitchers combined to issue seven walks, ahit batsman and eight wild pitches.

“We just made too many mistakes to b eat agood baseb all team to day,” Sequoia managerCorey Uhalde said.

One of Carlmont’s defensive letdowns ledto a Sequoia run in the first inning. Stewartgot into an early jam, hitting Cherokeesleadoff man Matt Lopez with a pitch beforeMike Michelini singled and AntonioArellano walked to load the bases. Then

Scots’ depth pays off

By Eric OlsonTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS

The NCAA Tournament has never had somany teams with so many losses make it sofar.

Six of the regional semifinalists have 10or more losses, i ncluding t hree with 13 . Thereaction around college bask etball has b eena collective shrug.

There simply are more opportunities tolose n owadays.

That’s because teams are playing more

regular-season gamesthan ever, and topprograms are tryingto schedule mostlyhigh-caliber noncon-ference opponentswhich can enhancetheir resumes forNCAA Tournamentselection and seeding.

“There was a time years and years agowhere you’d feel like if you had 20 winsyou’d get in the tournament,” North

Carolina State coachMike Gottfried said.“Now it comes downto who you schedule.You may lose somegames because you’replaying a difficultn o n c o n f e r e n c eschedule. And then inour league, it’s tough

night i n and night out with 18 games in th eACC.”

Gottfried’s Wolfpack, Xavier and UCLA

all have 13 losses heading into this week’sgames. Michigan State and North Carolinahave 11 each and Oklahoma has 10.

The previous record for number of Sweet16 teams with double-digit losses was five,last year and in 1985 and ‘86, according toSTATS. The only other time there were eventwo 13-loss t eams was 2000.

The NCAA has allowed teams to play asmany as 31 regular-season games since2006 -07. Before that the maximum was 28.

Six teams with 10 or more losses reach Sweet 16

By Barry WilnerTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PHOENIX — Spice it up.The NFL’s dullest play, the extra point,

appears to b e headed for some changes, per-haps significant ones, for the 2015 season.

While team owners didn’t vote on any extra-point proposals Wednesday, there was so much

discussion and interest in potential changesthat the is sue will be a main focal poin t for thenext set of league meetings in May.

“There’s a clear movement to wanting tochange and change it this year,” said RichMcKay, co-chairman of the competitioncommittee and president of the Falcons.

McKay’s committee will “develop alterna-tives and be ready for a potential vote” intwo months in San Francisco.

Among the possibilities are moving thelin e of scrimmage back for PAT kicks; p lac-ing the ball on the 1 1/2-yard line for a 2-point conversion; eliminating t he PAT kicksentirely, requiring teams to run a play fromscrimmage; and allowing the defense toscore, as in college football, if the ball isturned over on a 2-poi nt try.

McKay described the discussio ns as “liv e-

ly, with lots of ideas .. . it ’s time to make thisa football play.”

“A couple coaches said they favor just lin -ing up on the 2 and going for the 2-pointplay,” he said. “Or move the ball to the 1 1-2 for two points, or kick from the 15 for one,your choice.”

The league experimented with extra-pointkicks from a longer distance last preseason.

Currently, the line of scrimmage for bothan extra point and 2-point conversion try isthe 2-yard line.

Voted down as the meeting s concluded wasChicago’s proposal th at each team get a pos-session in overtime regardless of what hap-pens on the first series.

Extra-pointrule changelikelyinNFL

See MILLS, Page 14

See NFL, Page 19See SCOTS, Page 12

See NCAA, Page 19

PAGE 12

Thursday • March 26 2015

TERRY BERNAL/DAILY JOURNAL

Mills’ Gabriella Zucchiatti drills an RBI double.

8/9/2019 03-26-15 edition

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SPORTS12 Thursday • March 26, 2015 THE DAILY JOURNAL

with two outs, Stewart looked on the vergeof escaping unscathed by inducing a ground-ball off the bat of Tommy Lopiparo, butCarlmont committed its first error of thegame allowing Lopez to s core.

However, it was the only run Sequoiawould generate on the afternoon .

“The pitcher they threw today was one of the better pitchers we’ve seen,” Arellanosaid. “I don’t think we came out with the

intensity that we usually do. I think we’re just goi ng to come out and get ‘em nexttime.”

Billot turned the ti de in t he Scots’ favor ina hurry when he l aunched a solo home run toleft-center to lead off the bott om of the first.Billot said it was the first leadoff homer he’sever hit in his li fe.

“It’s really important when I can set thetable for everybo dy, b ut my teammates backme up,” Billot said. “As long as everybodyis doing their job, putting the ball in p lay,we always pick each ot her up.”

That’s precisely what the Scots did.Brandenburg followed Billot’s bomb by

reaching on an infield error, then advancedtwo bases on a pair of wild pitches. Thenwith one out, Carlmont designated hitterRyan Callahan manufactured a groundball to

drive home Brandenburg with the go-aheadrun, staking the Scots to a 2-1 lead.Carlmont kept Sequoia in check with a

pair of 4-6-3 double plays, one in the sec-ond inning and another in the fourth. Thenthe Scots scored in each of their last threeat-bats.

In the fourth, Mike McGill openedCarlmont’s half of the frame by scorching adouble over the third-base bag. Afteradvancing on a sacrifice bunt by ConnorLoucks, McGill scored on a sacrifice fly b yBillot.

In the fifth, Carlmont cleanup hitter AlexPennes was hit by a pitch and advanced tosecond on a wild pitch. After a walk t o Alex

Smith, Stewart hit a would-be double-play

ball that turned into an infield error to load

the bases. McGill followed with a sacrifice

fly to score pin ch run

03-26-15 edition

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