From the archives

A six-foot boulder and a growing gap at Devil’s Slide on Highway 1 closed the dangerous road indefinitely the week of April 8, 2006, cutting off crucial traffic to many coastside businesses whose owners fear they may not make it through the time it takes to fix the damage.

More than a month of solid rain saturated the soil beneath the pavement and caused the dangerous road to slip closer to the ocean. A one-inch gap developed in the road the previous week and later increased to four inches, forcing Caltrans to close the road "indefinitely,” said Caltrans spokeswoman Lauren Wonder.

At the same time, crews were beginning construction on the Devil’s Slide tunnel — a $270 million project expected to be completed in early 2012. The tunnel is slated to allow drivers to safely bypass the narrow road along the cliff and travel safely through the bedrock of the mountain.

Students walk out of class

In protest of proposed legislation that could make helping illegal immigrants a felony, scores of school children from San Mateo, Aragon, Hillsdale, South San Francisco and Sequoia high schools walked out of class and marched on city halls four separate times the week of April 8, 2006.

District officials tried to tell students could organize in a more effective way by having guest speakers at their schools. City officials told the student they appreciated their peaceful protest and for sharing their perspective.

Former mayor on trial

The witness list for the felony fraud trial of former San Carlos Mayor Mike King read like a who’s who in local city government as court proceedings began the week of April 8, 2006.

At issue is a faxed invoice King allegedly sent to political consultant Peg Collier with instructions on how she should get paid for her work on a failed parcel tax campaign. Paying a campaign consultant through public funds is illegal. King’s defense attorney said the invoice was a mere template and that officials from Belmont were out to get King since they disagreed with how a shared South County Fire Authority was being run.

The trial was slated to be completed the following week.

Year-round Beresford approved

Beresford Elementary School in San Mateo got the OK the week of April 8, 2006 to switch to the new schedule beginning the following school year.

It was practically all praise for the idea to make the calendar change by parents, teachers and the San Mateo-Foster City School District Board of Trustees before a unanimous vote was made in favor of the switch. The idea came just months before the implementation of a year-round schedule change at Abbott Middle School.

The new schedule would keep students in school for 45 days followed by a 15-day break. The extra breaks could be used to allow students who excel in class to enroll in enrichment courses while those falling behind have some extra time to catch up.

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