local briefs

A 34-year-old man who is believed to be a member of the California Hells Angels motorcycle club was arrested at his Pacifica home Thursday morning on assault charges, following several months of police investigation, the Police Department announced.

At about 6 a.m., Pacifica police, in coordination with the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office and the Daly City Police Department, served search warrants in Pacifica and East Palo Alto, according to police.

Rodney Gee was arrested at his home on charges of assault with a deadly weapon or force likely to produce great bodily injury, police reported.

He was booked into the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office detention facility in Redwood City with bail set at $50,000.

No other information was immediately available.

Nonstop flights to Dubai to begin in October

Emirates Airlines will begin nonstop daily service from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to San Francisco International Airport in October, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announced Friday.

The Dubai-based airline will be the first airline to connect the two cities, using a Boeing 777-200LR for the 16-hour flight, according to Newsom’s office. The aircraft can seat up to 266 passengers for the 8,103-mile flight.

"It’s my pleasure to welcome Emirates to San Francisco,” Newsom said in a prepared statement. "We know this will be a long and advantageous relationship between two of the leading tourism centers of the world.”

Emirates Airlines serves 99 cities in 62 countries across the Middle East, Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Europe, the Far East and four destinations in North America, Newsom’s office reported. The airline’s other U.S. destinations are New York, Houston and Los Angeles.

"There is a strong demand for connections the between the San Francisco Bay Area and both the Middle East and Indian subcontinent,” chairman and chief executive of Emirates Airlines and Group HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed said in a statement. "We see San Francisco as an integral part of our network development.”

Governor signs bill

providing relief to salmon fishing industry

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill Friday morning that will provide $5.3 million in urgent funding to the state Department of Fish and Game for coastal salmon and steelhead fisheries restoration projects.

The bill sponsored by state Sen. Patricia Wiggins, D-Santa Rosa, takes effect immediately.

The $5.3 million is part of $45 million included for salmon and steelhead restoration projects. The $45 million is part of a $180 million water quality and supply and coastal protection bond act approved by voters in 2006.

The signing Friday comes a day after the federal Pacific Fishery Management Council recommended a season-long ban on Chinook salmon fishing for California and most of Oregon. The Commerce Department will act on that recommendation May 1.

Don Hansen, chairman of the council, called the recommendation "a disaster for West Coast salmon fisheries under any standard.”

When the bill passed the Senate on April 1, Wiggins said it would leverage $20 million in federal funding for salmon this spring.

Wiggins said the state’s $100 salmon industry goes beyond fishermen to include tackle shops, processors, ice suppliers, restaurants and tourism.

Two-alarm apartment fire extinguished

A two-alarm fire that ignited in a Pacifica apartment complex Friday morning was extinguished around 2 p.m., according to a North County Fire Authority officer.

The flames were first reported at 9:04 a.m. at Ramallah Plaza, located at 2400 Skyline Drive, a fire dispatcher said. A second alarm was called at 9:09 a.m.

When crews arrived they found smoke pouring from one of the four-unit buildings, spokesman Clyde Preston said. The complex is comprised of dozens of four-unit, free-standing buildings.

The fire was contained to the single building by 13 fire companies, Preston said. The damage to the structure is estimated to be around $500,000.

One resident was treated for smoke inhalation at the scene. Approximately six residents were displaced, and the American Red Cross provided housing assistance for those who did not have friends and family to stay with, Preston said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.