Bay Area briefs

to killing his baby girl

SAN FRANCISCO — A 24-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter in the death of his 5-month-old daughter whose body was found buried in a San Francisco park.

Anthony Demone Theard appeared in court Thursday, answering to manslaughter and child abuse charges. He was being held without bail.

Theard told investigators he picked up his daughter, Camille, the night of Aug. 24 from her mother, Leidi Ferguson, and the child had been suffering from a cold. He said he left her downstairs while he went to play video games, then fell asleep.

Authorities said Theard told them he awakened to find the girl dead. He reportedly said he panicked and buried the child in a backpack in McLaren Park.

Theard reported her missing three days later, saying she had vanished from his parked car when he went into a convenience store.

Theard changed his account after failing a polygraph examination, said Chief Assistant District Attorney Russ Giuntini.

Woman stabs attacker

with his own knife

OAKLAND — A woman stabbed her attacker with the same knife he used to threaten her during a sexual assault, police said.

Curtis Frazier, 29, was in critical but stable condition Thursday at a local hospital, under arrest on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and rape, authorities said.

The attack happened about 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at the woman’s home. Frazier took a knife from her kitchen and assaulted her, police said. The woman’s name was not released. Despite suffering some minor cuts and being punched, the woman was able to stab Frazier’s arm and side, Officer Herb Webber said. She was treated for minor cuts and bruises.

Frazier was convicted in February 1999 of forcible rape by threat, sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to register as a sex offender. He has been jailed several times for violating parole and most recently was released from prison last year, police said.

New utility tax calculation could cost Richmond $4.6M

RICHMOND — Richmond could lose $4.6 million in annual revenue because of the new way the Chevron refinery calculates its utility tax.

For 20 years, the refinery has determined its tax payments by using a "cap rate,” or flat rate method, which provided the city with reliable monthly installments of about $1.2 million. Utility taxes are typically calculated according to the actual usage of electricity, gas, water and telephone services, which fluctuates from one month to the next.

Two months ago, the refinery switched to the actual method to calculate its payment. The refinery’s first installment under the new method, for the month of July, was $390,000 less than last year’s.

The city does not know whether the new, reduced payment is accurate because the refinery, which generates more than 50 percent of its own energy, does not release energy production or usage information, said Richmond Finance Director Jim Goins.

We received their July payment by wire transfer last week, and it was unaccompanied by any documentation,” Goins said. "This is a brand-new experience, and I don’t want to speculate what it means. As soon as we get their records, we can give a response.”

But that’s not likely to happen anytime soon, said Chevron refinery spokeswoman Camille Priselac.

"The city can’t audit our energy usage because of business confidentiality,” she said. "We don’t disclose information about our energy production.”

Safer water fountains

in San Jose’s future

SAN JOSE — County health officials plan to implement safety measures to protect children from potential contaminants in fountains designed for water play.

The decision comes a few weeks after seven children were infected by a microscopic parasite while playing in a fountain at Plaza de Cesar Chavez in downtown San Jose. Tests found Cryptosporidium, which causes nausea, diarrhea and other gastrointestinal distress.

City officials immediately shut off the fountain and closed another as a precaution.

Both work by running the same water through the jets over and over, increasing the chance that Cryptosporidium and other contaminants from human and animal feces will build up.

City and county officials will meet next week to review filtration systems that would remove the parasite and other dangerous microbes, according to Ed Bautista, a spokesman for the city parks and recreation department.

Unlike traditional fountains, interactive fountains are meant to be played in.

The county has never applied the same scrutiny to fountains as it does to public pools, hot tubs, spas and water parks, which are regularly monitored to make sure they’re properly chlorinated.

"Up until this incident, we were not considering these fountains as swimming pools” and evaluating them accordingly, said Richard Fuchs of the Santa Clara County environmental health department. "But in all likelihood, we’ll be doing that in the future.”

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