Court watcher and Foster City resident Michael Stogner asked the Board of Supervisors this week to create an ombudsman position to review the District Attorney's Office. Stogner has repeatedly raised concerns about the office, particularly District Attorney Jim Fox and Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe, on a number of issues but most recently in the triple-murder trial of Eddie Rapoza.
Stogner also unsuccessfully pushed the county to establish a guard rail at the Moss Beach cliff that Rapoza claimed he accidentally drove off, killing his pregnant wife and child. The county declined to follow through on Stogner's suggestion and a jury ultimately convicted Rapoza of three counts of first-degree murder.
***
On Nov. 12, the county is hosting Disaster Preparedness Day at the County Expo Center in San Mateo. According to Sheriff Don Horsley, most residents have the tools already at home to survive three to five days. During the event, Horsley said demonstrations will show attendees how best to prepare for a natural disaster like Hurricane Katrina or an earthquake.
***
Sunset Publishing, in conjunction with a host of public agencies, is planning on building a 47-unit development in Menlo Park in conjunction with its successful "idea home" program. The single-family homes are all being constructed with environmentally friendly materials and water-conserving landscaping. Each house is earmarked for sale to a Bay Area teacher. The new homes, off Willow Road near Highway 101, will be open to the public today.
***
Recommended for you
The city of Belmont received the 2005 Helen Putnam Award from the League of California Cities yesterday. The award was received in the public safety category for its Belmont Safe Schools program. The program seeks to facilitate communication between all the city's schools to prepare for a disaster.
Foster City received the Ruth Vreeland Award for Engaging Youth in City Government for its Youth Advisory Committee.
State Sen. Dick Ackerman, R-Irvine, and Assemblyman Gene Mullin, D-South San Francisco, are co-recipients of the coveted "Legislator of the Year" award by the League of California Cities.
***
John's Valley Foods of Portola Valley was listed on the county's health department Web site for repeatedly violating two major health code violations. The violations were: Cloth cleaning towels were not being properly sanitized and vermin were not being properly excluded. The store is at 4420 Alpine Road.
The reporters' notebook is a weekly collection of facts culled from the notebooks of the Daily Journal staff. It appears in the Friday edition.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.