From the archives

ecstasy ring busted

Federal agents arrested five people and were looking for a sixth the week of Aug. 12, 2006 in connection to a Hillsborough-based drug ring, which smuggled large amounts of ecstasy in imported pianos, transmissions and sofas.

The ring is suspected of smuggling at least 906 kilograms of ecstasy into the country, the equivalent of more than three million doses. The organization allegedly smuggled the drug into the country hidden inside BMW transmissions, European pianos and high-end leather sofas. In an affidavit filed that week, officials allege the defendants laundered more than $3 million in proceeds from the sale of the drug, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.

Approximately 70,000 ecstasy pills, three guns, $40,000 to $50,000 in cash and three cars were seized.

Grand plans for

Coyote Point unveiled

The Coyote Point Museum Board of Directors was envisioning a world-renowned global warming educational center with an IMAX theater, high-end organic restaurant, Napa Valley-inspired grocery store and a biodiesel ferry, according to the group’s proposal obtained the week of Aug. 12, 2006 by the Daily Journal.

The 11th Hour Project made its proposal to the Coyote Point Museum and San Mateo County in May 2006, with plans to take over the museum’s lease the following fall. The group represented a coalition of high-powered Silicon Valley executives or their spouses — led by Wendy Schmidt, wife of Google CEO Eric Schmidt — willing to raise $50 million in five years. The museum was facing financial difficulty.

No charges in

fatal San Francisco crash

A Millbrae man arrested the week of Aug. 12, 2006 during a soccer match at Golden Gate Park in connection to a crash that led to the deaths of two men will not be charged with a crime, the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office .

Police arrested Brian McCarthy, 19, on charges that he caused a crash on Brotherhood Way in the Ingleside Heights neighborhood.

Half Moon Bay fire

chief resigns — again

For the third time in a year, a Half Moon Bay fire chief resigned the week of Aug. 12, 2006 — leaving the department with yet another problem to solve as it goes into a historic meeting the following week to decide its future.

Interim Fire Chief Vern Hamilton announced his resignation at the Point Montara Fire Protection District meeting. Hamilton filled the top spot after former interim chief Peter Bonano resigned following a meeting in which he delivered a critical assessment of the department as he called for a merger or contract for service with another agency. Bonano was picked to replace longtime chief Jim Asche. Hamilton was the third chief in a year to lead the troubled department, which was facing financial, organizational and political problems.

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