From the Archives

The Board of Supervisors unanimously agreed the week of July 22, 2006 to place a one-eighth cent sales tax measure on the November 2006 ballot for dedicated park funding.

The money generated was not buy new land but maintain the county's current green space and programming. The tax was estimated to cost $18 a year per county resident. The measure would rake in between $15 million and $16 million each year, based on 2002 sales tax information. It needed two thirds to pass.

Track lawsuit stumbles

There were not enough valid signatures to qualify a Bay Meadows referendum petition for a citywide ballot, San Mateo County Judge Mark Forcum ruled the week of July 22, 2006.

Friends of Bay Meadows, a grassroots organization trying to block the demolition of the 72-year-old race track, needed Forcum to approve at least 89 signatures to validate the petition. He only ruled three were valid, said Friends of Bay Meadows attorney Stuart Flashman.

The pending petition was the only thing standing in the way of the Bay Meadows Land Company development plans. The company wants to replace the 83.5-acre race track on Delaware Street near Hillsdale Boulevard with 1,250 residential units, 1.25 million square feet of office space and 150,000 square feet of retail space.

The San Mateo City Council unanimously approved the plan in November 2006 after five years of public hearings. Friends of Bay Meadows quickly began collecting signatures to send the council's decision to the ballot and ultimately put the future of the race track in the hands of voters.

Devil's slide to open a month early

Devil's Slide was set to open Aug. 4, 2006 -- a month ahead of schedule after three months of round-the-clock work, Caltrans officials announced the week of July 22, 2006.

The dangerous stretch of road on Highway 1 between Montara and Pacifica was closed April 2, 2006 after months of heavy rains caused the road to slip toward the ocean. This was the second closure of Devil's Slide in just over a decade.

The road's closure forced many businesses to shut their doors in 1995. In 2006, businesses were still seeing about 40 percent to 50 percent drop in revenue.

A state of emergency was declared for San Mateo County after the closure of state Highway 1 at Devil's Slide April 2, 2006. In May 2006, Caltrans District 4 Director Bijan Sartipi said the slide occurred in the same spot as a 1995 failure that closed the road for several months.

Hearing delay for

teen in Tongan death

A hearing to determine if 18-year-old Edith Delgado would stand trial on three counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence was delayed the week of July 22, 2006 while her defense attorney investigated the fatal accident which killed three, including two members of Tongan royalty.

Delgado, of Redwood City, was scheduled for a preliminary hearing only weeks after her arrest in the July 5, 2006 deaths of Prince Tu'ipelehake, 55, his wife, Princess Kaimana, 45, and the couple's driver, Vinisia Hefa, 36, of East Palo Alto. The hearing was rescheduled for Sept. 20, 2006.

Delgado was arrested at the scene of the fatal crash after striking the red Explorer carrying the three victims. The three, with Hefa driving, were driving northbound Highway 101 near Marsh Road in Menlo Park when allegedly Delgado tried passing. She was allegedly traveling with an 18-year-old passenger between 90 and 110 mph. She struck the SUV which flipped multiple times, killing the three inside.

From the archives highlights events five years ago this week. It appears in the Thursday edition.