From the archives

A criminal grand jury indicted former San Carlos Mayor Mike King the week of Feb. 4, 2006 for his alleged role in defrauding the South County Fire Authority through $13,000 worth of false invoices.

King was to be arraigned the following week on a single felony count of fraud. King was required to personally appear in court and enter a plea to the charge because it is a felony.

Prosecutors could not comment on the proceedings before formal arraignment but King’s defense attorney Chuck Smith confirmed his client was indicted by the grand jury.

The indictment ended more than a year of speculation about whether King would be charged for his alleged role in the invoicing scandal. When political consultant Margaret "Peg” Collier, 68, pleaded no contest in December 2005 to misdemeanor fraud and promised to testify in any future court hearings, it appeared the case was nearing an end.

Based on prosecutors’ explanation of events and a preliminary hearing last May, Collier submitted $13,000 worth of invoices implying she performed consulting work to help several firefighters find new jobs. The firefighters were laid off by the South County Fire Authority after voters rejected Measure I — a proposed per-square-foot parcel tax to fund the Fire Department — in November 2003.

Coach fired, basketball season ends

Allegations of recruiting violations and questions about two varsity basketball players’ residency prompted Sequoia High School Principal Morgan Marchbanks the week of Feb. 4, 2006 to fire coach Peter Simos and forfeit the remainder of the team’s South Division leading season.

However, there was some question whether Marchbanks may have acted too quickly. Both the coach and the players’ brother said they live in the district.

Once the allegations were brought to Marchbanks’ attention, she went to the address the players listed and canvassed the neighborhood with pictures of the players to see if neighbors recognized them.

The school, in effort to pre-empt more severe penalties from the Central Coast Section, decided to forfeit its final three games of the regular season, as well as the 20 wins the Cherokees already earned.

In his third season, Simos compiled a win-loss record of 57-23. He took over the program for the 2003-04 season with the Cherokees coming off a dismal 1-21 2002-03 season.

Battle over Senate seat under way

Three Democrats were kicking their June primary campaigns into high gear the week of Feb. 4, 2006 in what was promising to be one of the most watched state races of the year.

Three political heavyweights — Lou Papan, Mike Nevin and Leland Yee — were vying for the empty Senate District 8 seat. The seat was occupied by state Sen. Jackie Speier who was making a bid for lieutenant governor.

Electronic Arts lays off 145

Electronic Arts, the world’s largest video game publisher based in Redwood City, announced the week of Feb. 4, 2006 it will lay off 145 workers from its local campus as part of a transition into new consoles for its games.

The company notified San Mateo County of the pending changes as required by all local companies expecting mass layoffs.

Trudy Muller, senior manager of corporate communications for Electronic Arts, said the jobs are a "relatively small percentage” of the company’s global workers. She estimated EA employs between 6,500 and 7,000 people globally and 1,600 at its Redwood City campus.

According to EA’s Web site, it operates development studios throughout the United States, Canada, Japan and England. The sales staff extends even further worldwide.

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