Top San Francisco Area Local News Stories
Source: MedleyStory
While rewards are not uncommon when it comes the capture of a suspect, Michael Nasser’s proved to be particularly poignant.
Nasser, who had lost his job as a San Jose police officer in a wave of budget cutbacks, was in the right place at the right time to help put three alleged banker robbers behind bars earlier this week.
When Nasser drove into the parking lot of the Wells Fargo Bank at Bernal Road and Santa Teresa Boulevard on Tuesday, his honed powers of observation told him something was wrong.
"As I was parking, I saw three guys run into the bank,"Nasser told KTVU. "They had hoods on their heads and masks around their faces."
Nasser realized a bank robbery was in progress.
Nasser followed them from a distance as they ran two blocks to a Golds Gym parking lot when they got into an SUV. Nasser said he called the license plate into 9-1-1.
"At one quick second I thought about hitting them with my car in the parking lot but didn't think it was a good idea," Nasser said.
Police arrested the trio in Salinas an hour later.
Currently, Jose Lemus, 20; Jonathan Garcia, 23; and Bryan Chavez, 20, are behind bars.
They are also believed responsible for robbing a Union Bank in San Jose on Monday.
Police are praising Nasser for what he did.
"He is the poster child of what we ask the public to do," said Sgt. Jason Dwyer of the San Jose Police Department. "He was able to maintain some distance, he was able to get a license plate number."
Nasser was pink-slipped from San Jose police last year and fearing the loss of medical insurance for his son and wife he left for another police department. But Thursday he was wearing San Jose police badge because the department called back.
"Some of the things I did I think were instinctual, just from years of working," Nasser said.
Nasser said he's glad to be back and part of his first paycheck will go towards buying his wife the Valentines day dinner they missed because he was helping catch bank robbers.
Published: Fri, 17 Feb 2012 00:12:13 -0800
Vallejo police have a $2 million arrest warrant for a man suspected of raping a 53-year-old woman in her car in a parking lot near City Hall in September.
Police Thursday identified the suspect as 21-year-old Maurice Vernon who has ties in Vallejo and Sacramento.
Vernon should be considered armed and dangerous, Lt. Ken Weaver said.
He is a member if the Oak Park Bloods gang out of Sacramento and has prior convictions on weapons, theft and assault with a deadly weapon charges, Weaver said.
Police arrested a second suspect in the Sept. 3 rape, Donshay Nichols, 18, on Jan. 18, Weaver said. Nichols' preliminary hearing on the rape charge is scheduled for March 5 in Solano County Superior Court.
The Vallejo woman, who was returning from a day trip to San Francisco on Sept. 3, was within sight of her car in the Vallejo Ferry overflow parking lot behind City Hall at 555 Santa Clara St. when two men grabbed her, Weaver said.
One of the men held a gun to her head and demanded jewelry and money, Weaver said. When she said she had no money, the suspects forcibly removed the rings from her fingers and tried to take her bracelet, Weaver said.
The suspects also took her wallet from her purse and after discovering her driver's license, told the woman they now knew where she lives and she had 'better not say a word about this or report this to anyone', Weaver said.
The suspects then forced the woman into her car, threatened to kill her and sexually assaulted her, Weaver said. The suspects then read back her name and address and threatened to kill her and her family if she told anyone about the robbery and assault, Weaver said.
Vernon also is a suspect in an assault of a 60-year-old homeless woman in Vallejo in December, Weaver said. The woman was severely beaten and was in the intensive care unit of a hospital for weeks, Weaver said.
Vernon also is suspected of robbing and carjacking a 20-year-old Vallejo man in September, Weaver said.
The Solano County District Attorney's Office has filed a complaint against Vernon regarding the December assault of the homeless woman and also is reviewing a robbery in April that Vernon is suspected of committing in Vallejo, Weaver said.
"We're looking for him and we need the public's help," Weaver said.
Vernon was described as a black man, about 5 feet 6 inches tall and 150 pounds.
Police are asking anyone with information about Vernon to call Detective Drew Ramsey or Detective Todd Tribble at (800) 488-9383.
Published: Thu, 16 Feb 2012 21:53:07 -0800
A teenager was shot and killed in East Oakland Thursday afternoon.
The fatal shooting occurred on 81st Avenue and Birch Street at around 4 p.m.
Oakland police said the young man was shot several times and when police arrived, they performed CPR but couldn’t revive the 17-year-old.
Authorities have not released his name.
Published: Thu, 16 Feb 2012 21:33:53 -0800
As basketball fans throughout the country are being swept up by "Linsanity," a contingent of Bay Area residents from New York Knicks sensation Jeremy Lin's Palo Alto past is heading east to cheer him on.
Peter Diepenbrock, Lin's former basketball coach at Palo Alto High School, is among them and is preparing for a weekend he says will include sitting courtside at Madison Square Garden and rubbing elbows with filmmaker Spike Lee.
In fact, he says, Lee will be wearing Lin's former high school jersey after hearing a comment Diepenbrock made on a New York sports radio show on Monday.
In an interview on The Michael Kay Show on ESPN Radio, Diepenbrock revealed his plans to fly to New York this weekend.
"I'm trying to get Jeremy's high school Jersey on Spike Lee," he told the interviewer. "That's my goal this weekend."
He said that a few minutes after he hung up the phone, the show called him back and told him Lee had been listening and had called in, saying he was willing to don the jersey.
"It was unbelievable," Diepenbrock said. "The timing was incredible."
Diepenbrock is leaving for New York on a red-eye on Saturday night, but former Palo Alto High School player Chris Bobel flew out Thursday and will deliver the jersey.
Also in Lin's cheering section will be several of his high school teammates and his former shooting coach Doc Scheppler.
Diepenbrock, who has been inundated with requests for media interviews in recent weeks, said he is thrilled with Lin's success.
"It couldn't have happened to a nicer kid," he said. "I just couldn't be happier for him. He's my boy."
Lin, who has been sleeping on his brother's couch, is moving into his own place at Trump Tower, Diepenbrock said.
He said he talks to Lin daily by phone or text, and that he seems to be handling his sudden fame well.
"I'm sure he's a little overwhelmed, but at the same time he's a very confident guy," Diepenbrock said.
Diepenbrock will attend Knicks games on Sunday and Monday, and is looking forward to seeing Spike Lee wear Lin's old jersey.
"It'll probably be a little bit big for him," he said, although he noted that Lin, who is 6 feet 3 inches tall, has filled out considerably since high school.
There is even a rumor that President Obama will be at Sunday's game, but the White House would not confirm that Thursday.
Published: Thu, 16 Feb 2012 20:57:16 -0800
Martin St. Louis scored his second goal of the game 4:27 into overtime, Steven Stamkos had two goals and two assists in his 300th NHL game, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the San Jose Sharks 6-5 on Thursday night.
St. Louis got the winner from close range off a pass from Victor Hedman.
Stamkos has 158 goals and 298 points overall. Teddy Purcell and Steve Downie had the other Tampa Bay goals.
The Pacific Division-leading Sharks got goals from Logan Couture, Michal Handzus, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Colin White and Tommy Wingels, who got San Jose even at 5 during a 2-on-1 with 5:10 remaining in the third.
Stamkos made it 4-4 on his league-leading 39th goal from the slot 2:44 into the third. St. Louis gave the Lightning a 5-4 lead when his shot from along the goal-line went off a San Jose defender and past goalie Antti Niemi.
Tampa Bay's Dwayne Roloson made 45 saves, including five in overtime. Niemi stopped 19 shots.
Vlasic got his first goal in 17 games at 14:37 of second and White stopped a personal 148-game goal drought, dating to Dec. 28, 2009, 67 seconds later as San Jose went ahead 4-3.
Tampa Bay, outshot 20-4 during the second, had taken a 3-2 advantage on Downie's goal at 14:08.
Handzus tied it 2 from the low slot at 1:44 of the second.
After Stamkos scored at 9:30 of the first, he assisted on Purcell's power-play goal that gave Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead with 24.4 seconds left in the first.
Couture put the Sharks up 1-0 on a power-play goal just 1:16 into the game. The center had two goals in San Jose's 7-2 victory over Tampa Bay on Dec. 21.
The teams announced a trade before the game, with the Sharks obtaining center Dominic Moore and a seventh-round draft pick this year for a 2012 second-round pick.
Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman said the team also plans to keep Pavel Kubina out of the lineup while it attempts to trade the defenseman.
Notes: Lightning D Brendan Mikkelson snapped a 31-game point drought, dating to Oct. 30, 2010, with two assists. He has no goals and eight assists in 103 NHL games. ... Sharks C Torrey Mitchell had two assists for his first points in 12 games. ... Tampa Bay D Matt Gilroy was back in the lineup after missing two games because of a hand injury.
Published: Thu, 16 Feb 2012 20:12:14 -0800
The last of 34 defendants in a federal MS-13 gang prosecution was convicted of one charge in U.S. District Court in San Francisco Thursday, but acquitted of three other counts.
Manuel Franco, 26, of San Francisco, an MS-13 member who was a government informant for several years, was convicted by a jury in the court of U.S. District Judge William Alsup of one count of conspiring to commit assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering.
The maximum sentence for the conviction is three years in prison. Alsup will sentence Franco on May 1.
The jury acquitted Franco of three charges of conspiring to racketeer, or to conduct a criminal enterprise; conspiring to commit murder in aid of racketeering; and using a gun in a violent crime.
The racketeering conspiracy charge would have carried a sentence of up to life in prison if Franco had been convicted.
The verdict came after a month-long trial and eight days of jury deliberations.
Defense attorney Geri Green said outside of court, "The acquittals were the right result. I think he wasn't part of the racketeering conspiracy."
Green said she plans to appeal Franco's sole conviction.
Franco, whose gang nickname was "Dreamer," belonged to a branch of the MS-13, or Mara Salvatrucha, gang based in the area of Mission and 20th streets in San Francisco.
He is one of 34 Bay Area MS-13 members and associates who were charged in four successive versions of an indictment in 2008 and 2009.
Including Franco, 32 were convicted in trials or pleaded guilty to various charges. Two were acquitted.
Another of those convicted, Danilo Velasquez, nicknamed "Triste," was sentenced on Wednesday to life in prison by Alsup, who called him "a vicious, heartless murderer."
Velasquez was convicted in November of four counts including racketeering conspiracy and murder conspiracy.
Although he was not specifically convicted of murder, Alsup made a finding during sentencing that Velasquez participated in the gunfire slaying of college student Moises Frias, 21, near the Daly City BART station on Feb. 19, 2009.
Prosecutors said Velasquez and two other MS-13 members mistakenly thought Frias and three companions were rival gang members because some of them were wearing red, the color of the Nortenos gang.
Franco, who came to the United States from El Salvador at 13, joined the gang at age 19 in late 2004 or early 2005. He became an informant for the San Francisco Police Department in September 2005 and then for the FBI beginning in February 2006.
Green contended at the trial that Franco believed he remained an informant until and even after his arrest on Oct. 22, 2008, and believed he was acting under government authority when he met with the gang.
Prosecutors said he was deactivated as an informant in January 2008 and claimed he played an active role in the gang after that.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Wilson Leung told the jury at the start of the trial that Franco allegedly "went out and shot at suspected Nortenos, helped fellow gang members obtain guns and assisted by driving other gang members on hunting expeditions."
The international MS-13 gang originated in El Salvador and Southern California. Prosecutors contend members engage in murder, assault, drug dealing, theft and extortion, and gain status by attacking and killing rival gang members.
The federal indictments in the San Francisco case alleged that racketeering acts carried out by various defendants included a total of six murders on San Francisco and Daly City streets in 2008 and 2009 as well as numerous assaults and attempted murders.
Four of the murder victims, including Frias, were people who had no gang affiliation but were apparently mistaken for Nortenos.
The other victims were a rival gang member and a seller of false documents who had refused to pay extortion "taxes" to the 20th Street MS-13 clique.
In addition to Velasquez, Alsup meted out life sentences last year to six other MS-13 members who were convicted of racketeering conspiracy and murder conspiracy in August after a five-month trial.
In an order following today's verdict, Alsup instructed Franco's defense and prosecution attorneys to figure out by Tuesday how long Franco, who is in custody without bail, has been in jail. Alsup said that if Franco has already served three years, the maximum sentence, he will hold the sentencing hearing sooner than May 1.
Separately, former MS-13 member Edwin Ramos, 25, of El Sobrante, is currently on trial in San Francisco Superior Court on charges of murdering Anthony Bologna and two of his sons in San Francisco in June 22, 2008.
Published: Thu, 16 Feb 2012 19:37:37 -0800
All lanes of southbound U.S. Highway 101 have reopened following a fatal crash in San Mateo Thursday evening.
A motorcyclist was killed in the crash, which was reported at around 5 p.m. near East Poplar Avenue, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Several southbound lanes were closed to traffic and reopened at around 7:30 p.m.
Published: Thu, 16 Feb 2012 19:31:41 -0800
A medical institute with campuses in Oakland and San Jose was shut down by state regulators Thursday because of financial and accreditation problems, leaving the institute's approximately 300 students wondering if they've wasted their time and money.
Some students questioned if their school was an institution of learning or a Ponzi scheme.
Early Thursday morning as students arrived for class, the State Department of Consumer Affairs shut down the Institute of Medical Education's two facilities.
They're falsely claiming to be accredited, which they're not, said State Enforcement Department spokesman Russ Heimerich. And they have financial problems. They're not financially viable.
So to give current and previous students who graduated in the last 60 days their best chance to get some or all of their money back, the state closed the schools.
We had an option here to immediately cease the operations so that they can begin applying for a student tuition recovery and discharge of their Federal loans, said Heimerich.
Despite the school's assurances, many students who need hundreds of hours of unpaid, on-the-job experience can't find healthcare facilities that will let them work as interns.
Even if we were to continue, our teacher wasn't even licensed, said student Brook Ferreria. So even if we were to continue, it would have no effect. There's a lot of wasted time and a lot of unhappy people from what has happened.
Without those hours, I have nothing, said school graduate Cory Nettleton. Without those hours I can't take a test to be accredited. State Boards can't recognize me without any of that.
No one from the school could be reached for comment.
I don't have a degree, fumed student Dana Brown-Rodgers. I'm out $30,000 and now I have to find another place to pursue my dreams.
They're criminals, said another student named Allan Moller. They found the perfect crime. They've taken everybody's Stafford Loan money. They've targeted single mothers.
Kyi Maung is one of many students at these schools who was laid off from NUMMI motor plant.
NUMMI'S career transition office helped get him into the school and receive unemployment checks while attending.
All the schools we send our clients to have to be on the state approved list, said Karen Ledoux of the NUMMI Career Transition Center. So, at that point, it was this school.
"But I invested all my time, about two years," said Maung "So, that's it. I'm gonna to be screwed. If I'm not in the school as a full-time student, what's gonna happen to my EDD?"
Now the school is gone.
And with that, as soon as the training ends, the unemployment ends too, said Ledoux. And we want to make sure they're not stuck in a hard place.
Ledoux is looking to enroll former NUMMI employees elsewhere.
We will work with some of our other training providers to transfer those credits, said Ledoux.
If prosecutors find this as some sort of fraud or Ponzi scheme, the owners and administrators could be looking at fines and jail.
According to the institute's website, it offers programs in nursing, ultrasound technology, MRI technology, psychiatric technology, lab technology and phlebotomy.
The website says the institute also used to have a dental hygiene program but its accreditation in that field was withdrawn on Feb. 2.
Published: Thu, 16 Feb 2012 17:43:47 -0800
A man accused of playing a role in an allegedly drug-related explosion that injured a woman and her son at a home in San Francisco's Ingleside neighborhood last week pleaded not guilty to several felony charges during a lively arraignment hearing Thursday.
Thomas Weed, 26, was arrested on Tuesday in connection with the Feb. 7 blast at a home in the 1200 block of Capitol Avenue near Ocean Avenue.
Investigators believe a butane tank exploded as Weed and 33-year-old Angelica Cisneros were trying to manufacture hash oil at the home, prosecutor Andrew Clark said outside of court.
Cisneros and her 12-year-old son were injured in the explosion. The boy's injuries required him to get skin grafts on his face and body, and he remained at the hospital as of Thursday, Clark said.
Cisneros was arrested the day after the blast and has pleaded not guilty to felony charges of recklessly causing a fire resulting in bodily injury, causing a fire to a structure, child endangerment, attempting to manufacture a controlled substance, and having a house used for drug sales and manufacturing, prosecutors said.
Police investigators later identified Weed as a second suspect in the explosion and he was arrested Tuesday with the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Service.
During his arraignment on charges identical to those Cisneros is facing, Weed initially refused to waive his right to have a preliminary hearing within 10 court days, apparently out of concern that he would get ratted out by Cisneros.
"I don't want any time for her to come up with lies against me," he told his defense attorney George Borges. "I didn't get burned, I wasn't there."
San Francisco Superior Court Judge Richard Ulmer gently recommended that Weed listen to the advice of his attorney, who wanted to waive the right so he would have more time to look at the evidence in the case.
"Mr. Borges has been in court a little more than you have," Ulmer said.
After a long pause, Weed acquiesced and agreed to the time waiver, telling his attorney "I want to give you the time to do what you have to do."
Ulmer ordered Weed held in custody on $350,000 bail, the same amount as Cisneros.
They will both return to court on Feb. 27 to set a date for the preliminary hearing.
Published: Thu, 16 Feb 2012 17:15:38 -0800
Wind power is supposed to be a big part of the nation's energy future, and yet there are numerous idle windmills.
But a new turbine-renewal project is underway. In the Montezuma Hills, Enxco is planning to replace 255 idle windmills with 50 new turbines.
"We're capable of generating four times more electricity than what's existing out here," said Hanson Wood of Enxco Wind Farms.
The 23-megawatt site will soon produce 100 megawatts of clean, green, more-reliable energy -- enough for 50,000 homes.
But, as with all renewable power sources, though the wind and sunlight is free, there are problems.
Many wind turbines in the Altamont Pass are idled to protect a bird species that get hit by the turbine blades.
Some of the turbines are down for maintenance. And then there's the turbine's dependence on Mother Nature.
"If the wind doesn't show up, we have to make up for that electricity or the lights go out," said Stephanie McCorkle, California Power Grid operator.
When the sun isn't shining, solar is inefficient or non-existent. "There's not gonna be one solution, one silver bullet for our energy dependence," Wood said. "It's gonna come from multiple solutions like wind power, solar power and geothermal."
In other words, to keep the power grid reliable and instantly available, natural gas and nuclear power plants are essential to jump in when the wind stops blowing or the sun stops shining.
"Already on the grid, we're seeing the disappearance of 800 megawatts of wind power in an hour," McCorkle said. "That's a large power plant that was forecast to be there."
The more renewables put online, the more they are subject to radical swings in their ability to supply reliable power.
To maintain reliability, both PG&E and the state power grid have completely modernized their control centers so they can better predict where and when renewable power will or will not be available.
Published: Thu, 16 Feb 2012 17:00:21 -0800
A Daly City woman accused of killing her ex-husband by throwing a pot of boiling water on him while he slept pleaded not guilty to murder in San Mateo County Superior Court Thursday.
Jesusa Ursonal Tatad, 40, was divorced from 36-year-old Ronie Tatad on the night of the attack on Nov. 26, 2011, though the two still shared an apartment together, according to the district attorney's office.
Tatad allegedly waited for her ex-husband to fall asleep and then went into his bedroom with a pot of boiling water and poured it over him, causing second- and third-degree burns over 60 percent of his body, prosecutors said.
When he jumped out of bed and ran into the bathroom, Tatad reportedly hit him on the head with a baseball bat, according to the district attorney's office.
The victim was able to run out of their apartment complex and flag down a security guard, who called 911.
He was taken to an intensive care unit at San Francisco General Hospital, where he remained in critical condition until succumbing to his injuries on Dec. 9.
Jesusa Tatad, who prosecutors believe was motivated by jealousy, was arrested shortly after the attack.
On Dec. 7, she pleaded not guilty to two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, domestic violence, aggravated mayhem, and torture.
Tatad is being held without bail and is due back in court to set a date for a preliminary hearing on March 26.
Published: Thu, 16 Feb 2012 16:52:10 -0800
Buying ads on Twitter is about to get easier for small businesses as the online messaging service adds a key piece to its moneymaking model.
Twitter is unveiling a long-awaited automated system that will enable advertisers to manage their marketing campaigns and budgets without having to deal with sales representatives.
Before Twitter opens the system to all comers later this year, the self-service approach announced Thursday will only be available to advertisers who accept or use American Express cards
To get the ball rolling, American Express Co. will buy $100 in Twitter ads for each of the first 10,000 qualified businesses in the U.S. that sign up at http://ads.twitter.com/amex . The ads, which Twitter calls "promoted products," will begin appearing within the flow of users' messages in late March.
Flipping the switch on self-service advertising is the latest sign of Twitter's ambition to build a powerful online marketing vehicle in the mold of Internet search leader Google Inc., by far the Web's most profitable company, and online social network Facebook Inc., technology's fastest-rising star.
It marks another stepping stone toward an eventual initial public offering of stock from Twitter, which has attracted more than 100 million users since its creation nearly six years ago.
The timetable for Twitter's IPO remains a mystery, although CEO Dick Costolo said in an interview Thursday that the company's decision won't be influenced by how well Facebook fares in its stock market debut this spring.
"I don't look at what other companies are doing," he said. "We don't think in terms of building this company for a particular IPO date. We are trying to build this company for the long term."
The company, which is based in San Francisco, isn't in desperate need of capital, having raised at least $700 million last year.
Twitter also probably needs a little more time to prove its financial chops. Last year, Twitter generated ad revenue of about $140 million, according to the research firm eMarketer Inc. That compared to $36.5 billion at Google and $3.2 billion at Facebook. This year, eMarketer expects Twitter to sell $260 million in advertising, helped in part by the new self-service platform.
The automated system will be similar to Google's. Advertisers will be able to specify how much they are willing to spend, pick the cities or regions where they want their ads to appear and write their own commercial messages, which will be confined to Twitter's 140-character limit per tweet. Twitter will only charge for ads that get a user response, such as when a viewer decides to follow the business, retweets the message or clicks on a link.
Selling ads through a self-service system will test Twitter's ability to prevent bad actors from polluting the atmosphere with spam and scams. It's a problem that still plagues Google, which has gotten into trouble for showing ads for from unlicensed pharmacies and other shady operators.
But Twitter's self-service ad system seems less likely to encounter trouble in the early going because only small businesses that have already been vetted by American Express will be allowed to participate during first few months, said eMarketer analyst Debra Williamson.
Twitter is allowing self-service advertising after about three months of tests with a small group of hand-picked small businesses.
Twitter has been easing into advertising to ensure the commercial messages don't spoil the ambiance of service that has been likened to a town square teeming with wildly divergent observations and conversations.
The response to the ads so far has been mostly positive, Costolo said, helping to convince him that the privately held company can open up its revenue spigot even more without facing a big backlash.
"I have every expectation that we will be able to scale this very rapidly," Costolo said Thursday.
Twitter ads paid off for Glennz Tees, an online merchant in Austin, Texas, that has been testing the self-service marketing system. The company's December sales more than doubled from the previous year, said CEO Walter Stokes. In another sign the ads resonated, Glennz Tees' followers on Twitter have more than tripled to 22,000 during the test phase.
The key, Stokes said, was just doing two or three ads per week. "We didn't want to go overboard with it because we didn't want to annoy people."
Published: Thu, 16 Feb 2012 16:29:27 -0800
A San Francisco elementary school in the city's Inner Richmond neighborhood was evacuated after a suspicious package was discovered nearby Thursday afternoon, police said.
The package was found in the 600 block of Sixth Avenue at 2:40 p.m., police Officer Albie Esparza said.
A bomb squad responded and determined a little more than an hour later that the report was without merit, Sgt. Carlos Manfredi said.
Sixth Street had been shut down between Balboa and Cabrillo streets, and an apartment building was also evacuated, Esparza said.
The package was discovered in an alleyway, he said.
Manfredi said that the streets reopened and the evacuation orders were lifted at about 4:10 p.m.
San Francisco Unified School District spokeswoman Gentle Blythe said most students who attend Frank McCoppin Elementary School, which is located on that block, had already gone home for the day when the package was reported. The school dismisses students at 2:45 p.m., she said.
About 100 students who remained on the K-5 campus for after-school programs were safely evacuated at about 3 p.m. to a nearby location. Blythe said the school has been contacting parents to come pick up the students.
"Those who cannot be picked up will remain with teachers until their parents can arrive," Blythe said.
Published: Thu, 16 Feb 2012 15:42:37 -0800
President Barack Obama is preaching an economic message aimed at the 99 percent and raising campaign cash among the 1 percent, walking an election year tight rope complicated by the need for hundreds of millions of dollars at a time of high unemployment.
At a beachside community in southern California on Thursday, fresh off a dinner that included actor George Clooney, Obama was in the middle of a three-day fundraising tour through opulent homes along California's coast -- a trip to be bookended by images of the president inside factories talking up job creation.
The president hauled in $750 million in 2008, shattering records, and his campaign has outpaced his Republican opponents, collecting more than $220 million in 2011 even as it faces the prospect of hundreds of millions from GOP-backed outside groups targeting his re-election.
To be sure, Obama's campaign has mastered the art of raising money among the masses. In 2011, the campaign said it received money from 1.3 million donors, including 583,000 people who gave during the final three months of the year. More than 98 percent of supporters gave donations of $250 or less and the average donation was $55.
Yet a list of prominent donors released by the campaign shows nearly 450 well-heeled backers who have collectively steered at least $74.7 million to the president's campaign so far. Fully 62 of them collected at least $500,000 each to give to the campaign, including movie producers Jeffrey Katzenberg and Harvey Weinstein, and Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour.
California, where Obama scheduled six fundraisers during this three-day trip, figured most prominently on his roster of big-money "bundlers." Sixteen are from California; 13 are from New York.
Fundraising is an inescapable aspect of politics, and candidates from both parties tap deep-pocketed supporters for cash and for help raising more from their network of wealthy friends. Many of those donors are the same ones that Obama is referring to when he tells audiences -- whether well-off or working class -- that the rich must pay a greater share in taxes.
Obama's campaign pitch is aimed at the middle class. He sharpened his focus in a December speech in Osawatomie, Kan., where he decried a growing inequality between chief executives and their workers. He reprised the theme in his State of the Union address last month and unveiled a budget proposal this month that put a policy sheen on that populist message.
As he pushes his economic agenda and as he raises money, Obama more and more is being forced to juxtapose working-class audiences and posh surroundings.
In Los Angeles, 1,000 Obama supporters watched a performance of the Grammy-winning rock band Foo Fighters on the well-manicured grounds of the home of Brad Bell, a prominent television producer.
"Love the Foo Fighters," Obama told the crowd. "They were tired of winning so many awards, so they said, `Let's do something else tonight."'
Later, 80 people paying $35,800 apiece attended a dinner at Bell's home, where guests drank wine from Kistler Vineyards and champagne by France's Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin. Hollywood celebrities such as Clooney and actor Jim Belushi joined Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and others in a large dining room beneath a soaring chandelier.
In Orange County, Obama's motorcade traveled along the Pacific Ocean to a beachside community in Corona del Mar, where the neighborhood was lined with Mercedes-Benz sedans, Toyota Prius hybrids and even a light-blue Nissan Leaf electric car. Speaking to guests beneath a white tent at the home of real estate developer Jeff Stack, Obama thanked the family for opening its "spectacular home."
Obama later attended a dinner with 70 supporters at the home of novelist Robert Mailer Anderson and his wife, Nicola Miner, in San Francisco's exclusive Pacific Heights neighborhood. Guests paid $35,800 to attend the dinner, which included a performance by the Rev. Al Green.
The fundraisers contrasted with a more modest official stop in Milwaukee on Wednesday. Obama visited the Master Lock plant where unionized workers manufacture padlocks famous for being "tough under fire."
In San Francisco, Obama made an unscheduled stop in the heart of the city's Chinatown neighborhood, shaking hands with diners and holding a crying baby. After posing for photos, the president pulled out some cash and paid for two bags of dim sum dumplings.
Obama was scheduled to end his three-day trip Friday in Seattle, where he planned to address workers at Boeing's Everett Production Facility.
Republicans have repeatedly cited his high-wattage fundraisers to try to undercut Obama's image with working-class voters. "President Obama campaigned on hope and change, but three years later he's just another typical politician," said Kirsten Kukowski, a Republican National Committee spokeswoman.
Democratic strategist Chris Lehane said the public generally understands that presidential candidates need to raise money among the wealthy but that the key is to have a consistent message whether they're talking to Hollywood moguls and tech titans or blue-collar workers.
"You certainly do not want to come off where you appear that you're elitist," Lehane said. He said Obama's message has remained consistent that Americans deserve a "fair shake" regardless of their economic background.
Published: Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:28:15 -0800
A woman was bitten in the ear after struggling with a robber who stole cash from her in San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood late Wednesday night, police said.
The 51-year-old victim was in the 100 block of Eddy Street atabout 11:50 p.m. Wednesday when a man approached her and reached into her pockets, according to police.
When the victim resisted, he bit her ear, then took the cash and ran away, police said. The woman did not require hospitalization for the injury.
The suspect, a man around 40 years old, remains at large. Anyone with information about the robbery is encouraged to call the Police Department's anonymous tip line at (415) 575-4444 or send a tip by text message to TIP411.
Published: Thu, 16 Feb 2012 13:22:50 -0800
A Salinas man was arrested by San Francisco police Tuesday night on suspicion of driving under the influence after he allegedly crashed a car into a home in the city's Outer Richmond neighborhood, a police spokesman said.
Jovanni Ramirez, 23, was driving west on Balboa Street when he veered into a home at 43rd Avenue at about 9:30 p.m., Officer Albie Esparza said.
The residents, who were home at the time of the crash, were uninjured, he said.
Ramirez was transported to a hospital for treatment of a minor injury. Upon his release, he was cited on suspicion of misdemeanor DUI, Esparza said.
A city building inspector responded to the home and red-tagged it for limited use, Esparza said.
Published: Thu, 16 Feb 2012 13:22:02 -0800
A passenger in a Honda that was involved in a minor accident on southbound Interstate Highway 880 was struck and killed Thursday as she was getting out of the car, a California Highway Patrol spokesman said.
The crash, which is blocking the two left lanes just north of The Alameda, was reported at 5:55 a.m. A Sig-alert was issued for the area at 6:13 a.m.
The victim was a passenger in a Honda Accord that was traveling south when it suddenly spun out of control and came to rest in the No. 1 lane, Officer D.J. Sarabia said.
A Volvo also traveling in the No. 1 lane was able to stop behind the Honda, and the driver of that car got out and ran safely to the right shoulder of the freeway, Sarabia said.
However, as the passenger in the Honda was getting out of the car, a Mercedes traveling in the No. 1 lane hit the Volvo and then the Honda, Sarabia said.
The victim ended up trapped under the Honda and was pronounced dead at the scene, he said.
The driver of the Honda was taken to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. Sarabia did not know the extent of his injuries.
The driver of the Volvo and the driver and passenger in the Mercedes were not injured.
The lanes are expected to reopen at about 9 a.m., Sarabia said.
Published: Thu, 16 Feb 2012 13:17:49 -0800
On his way to a San Francisco fundraiser, President Barack Obama made a surprise stop Thursday at a famed Chinatown restaurant for a little takeout.
According to a tweet sent out by the press pool, the president's motorcade pulled up at Great Eastern restaurant around 1:22 p.m., where he jumped out of the car and ran into the eatery.
The surprised diners began getting up out of their chairs, rushing to the president.
"How are you? Good to see you!" Obama said repeatedly according the tweet.
The president spent time, walking around the dining room -- posing for pictures and shaking hands.
After picking up two big bags of food, he paid for his lunch, handing the cashier some cash, according to the tweet.
Obama was in the Bay Area for a series of fundraising events in San Francisco for his 2012 re-election campaign.
Air Force One touched down at San Francisco International Airport at 12:39 p.m. The president, wearing a dark suit and a striped tie, exited the plane at 12:49 p.m., waved, then trotted down the stairs to the tarmac.
At the bottom of the stairs he gave a salute, then stopped to greet San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Kamala Harris, chatting with Newsom briefly and patting Harris on the back.
He also greeted a crowd that had assembled for his arrival, giving one person a hug, and waved to members of the media before getting into a black Cadillac and being driven off at 12:57 p.m.
One of the people he spoke with was 44-year-old Jodi Fisher, of Cayucos, Calif., a cancer patient who made headlines recently by giving out free ice cream in her town -- something she said was on her "bucket list."
Also on her list was appearing on the Ellen DeGeneres Show and shaking President Obama's hand. Shortly after a local newspaper quoted her saying that, Fisher got a call inviting her to meet the president Thursday.
"I didn't think it was real," she said.
After meeting Obama, Fisher was beaming from ear to ear.
"I couldn't believe he knew my name," she said. "That was exciting."
The president's first stop will be at a private reception at the Mark Hopkins Intercontinental Hotel on Nob Hill at 2 p.m.
Obama will then head to a private fundraising dinner at a Pacific Heights home, and then give a speech at an 8 p.m. fundraiser at the Nob Hill Masonic Center featuring a performance by Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell.
Among those in attendance at tonight's event will be 15 excited teenagers from the Boys & Girls Clubs of San Francisco, spokeswoman Brittany Johnson said.
The 15-, 16-, and 17-year-olds were selected to see the president based on their achievements in school and leadership roles they have taken on in the community, Johnson said.
"They're absolutely thrilled," Johnson said.
Several activist groups plan to protest Obama's visit.
"Frostpaw," a polar bear mascot for the environmental protection group Center for Biological Diversity, will appear outside the Masonic Center to call on the Obama administration to halt oil drilling in the Arctic.
Medical marijuana activists also plan to gather outside the Masonic Center as part of a nationwide day of protest against the administration's crackdown on marijuana dispensaries, organizers said.
Activists from CodePink, World Can't Wait SF, and the Occupy movement have also indicated they will protest outside that event.
Obama is scheduled to spend the night in San Francisco tonight before departing for Washington state Friday morning. His visit to San Francisco follows fundraising stops in Los Angeles.
Published: Thu, 16 Feb 2012 11:57:03 -0800
A two-alarm fire badly damaged the historic Kelley House in San Jose's Kelley Park Thursday morning.
The fire was reported at 1300 Senter Road at about 8:45 a.m. by an employee at the Happy Hollow Park and Zoo, located within the park.
Firefighters fought the fire from the outside, and the front part of the building collapsed at about 9:05 a.m., fire Capt. Mary Gutierrez said.
As of 10:30 a.m., the flames were out but smoke could still be seen coming from the attic, and the fire was not yet considered under control.
Firefighters planned to remain at the scene through the afternoon extinguishing hot spots.
No injuries were reported.
The 5,600-square-foot, two-story Craftsman-style house was built in 1912 and is the last remaining historical structure associated with the Kelley family.
The land was once owned by Louise Kelley, who inherited it from her father, former San Jose mayor Lawrence Archer, according to the park's website.
Happy Hollow Zoo spokeswoman Vanessa Rogier said the house was heavily damaged in the Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989, which shook it off of its foundation.
It would have cost $8 million to renovate it, so the renovations weren't made, she said.
These days, the building was mostly empty and was boarded-up. It was being used for storage, and contained tables, chairs and historical artifacts.
"It was a real beauty in its time," Rogier said of the house.
Gutierrez said firefighters were able to recover some photos and an envelope containing negatives.
She said it appears the fire started in the front of the house, but the cause remains under investigation.
Fire Capt. Rob Brown said 50 to 60 percent of the structure was damaged.
Kelley Park is open to the public Thursday, and visitors are not being charged admission, which is normally $12.
Published: Thu, 16 Feb 2012 10:32:18 -0800
The U.S. Geological Survey has downgraded the magnitude of Thursday morning's earthquake near Vallejo from 3.7 to 3.5.
The quake, which was centered two miles south of Vallejo, occurred at 9:13 a.m. On Wednesday, a 3.5-magnitude temblor occurred at 6:09 p.m. three miles south of Vallejo, according to the USGS.
Sue Simon, the assistant to the Vallejo city attorney, said she felt both.
"It was a small jolt then a big jolt," Simon said of this morning's quake.
She said the jolts were about a half-second apart, and that she felt them from City Hall.
"I was told the large windows in the building flexed out a little," Simon said.
The USGS has received responses from throughout the Bay Area about the quake, most of them from the cities of Vallejo, Benicia, Napa, American Canyon and Martinez.
Richard Allen, director of the Seismological Laboratory at the University of California at Berkeley, said he felt the "weak shaking" this morning that lasted a less than a second.
He said it occurred close to the continuation of the West Napa Fault, which runs east of Santa Rosa southeast to Vallejo and is parallel to the Rodgers Creek and Hayward faults.
Because both quakes were of magnitude 3.5, he considers them a cluster. If this morning's quake had been of a lesser magnitude, it would be considered an aftershock, Allen said. Both quakes had a depth of 5.7 miles, Allen said.
Clusters are not that unusual, Allen said, noting that there were three or four small quakes in Berkeley in October.
Published: Thu, 16 Feb 2012 09:28:53 -0800
HillsboroughCA.com
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