From the archives

to strengthen transbay tube

Bay Area Rapid Transit District directors approved the first major construction contract the week of April 15, 2006 to strengthen the transbay tube so it can withstand a massive earthquake.

BART board Vice President Lynette Sweet threatened to delay awarding the $9.7 million contract to the construction firm Condon Johnson & Associates Inc. because it didn’t meet BART’s goals for participation by minority and women contractors.

BART staff members said Condon Johnson made good faith efforts to find minority and women contractors, but Sweet, who is black, said, "Not only do I find that hard to believe, I know it’s not true.”

Sweet eventually decided not to stop the contract being awarded, saying, "I don’t want to be the director who held it up and we get an earthquake.”

The board ended up voting unanimously, 9-0, to approve the contract.

BART officials say that each weekday nearly half of the agency’s 325,000 daily riders go through the tube, which is entrenched in the San Francisco Bay floor and connects the East Bay with downtown San Francisco.

Storm damage rises

The wet weather claimed more victims the week of April 15, 2006 when a mudslide in Brisbane slammed into two homes, swallowed a car and forced the evacuation a home.

About four feet of mud careened down the hill behind 660 Sierra Point Drive and buried two residential backyards. The mudslide developed near 837 Humboldt St. and destroyed the road, sending a parked car crashing into a mud pit 50 feet below. The car landed about 15 feet from the house and remains stuck upside down in the mud.

Colma OKs expanded gambling

Colma election officials reported the week of April 15, 2006 that voters overwhelmingly approved expanding the town’s gambling laws by allowing unlimited wagering in card rooms.

According to the final, semi-official ballot results posted on San Mateo County’s election Web site, 88.84 percent of those who cast ballots in yesterday’s special election voted in favor of Measure R.

In total, 215 people voted for the measure, which allows "unlimited wagers instead of a limit of $200 per bet in a poker game and $200 per betting slot in an Asian game,” according to the ballot language.

Sheriff targets Libertarian

Sheriff Don Horsley was putting away his gun and taking aim at Libertarian Jack Hickey the week of April 15, 2006 in a bid for the Sequoia Healthcare District Board.

Horsley was not seeking another term as sheriff, but instead said he would run for one of three available seats on the health care district board held by Art Faro, Hickey and John Oblak. Horsley wanted to focus on funding for indigent care and automated defibrillators, but didn’t discount rumors that he was running to unseat Libertarian Hickey. Doing so would have eliminated an often contentious element on the board as Hickey ran on a platform of dissolving the district and often feuds with other board members.

Horsley had served as the San Mateo County sheriff since 1993.

From the archives highlights stories originally printed five years ago this week. It appears in the Thursday edition of the Daily Journal.