Week in review

The San Carlos City Council Monday night didn’t let a pending lawsuit or the lingering questions of some residents about safety and aesthetics stop it from moving forward 3 to 1 with plans to renovate the Highlands Park Lower Athletic Field with coconut-based synthetic turf.

The organic infill option — a mixture of coconut husk, peat and sand or a combination of coconut fiber, cork and sand — is a way to ease concerns about heat, fumes and appearance, according to advocates.

But while the newest alternative is neither recycled or virgin rubber, opponents like the group Save San Carlos Parks were not satisfied.

The council agreed to the contract with Callander and Associates and asked City Clerk Christine Boland to put the project out to bid. Two companies, Ital-Green and Limonta, will compete for the contract and a key point is whether the cost will be comparable to rubber-based turf.

The city’s approved budget is $2.19 million.

Although the coconut-based turf has benefits over the rubber equivalents, Weil conceded it must be watered and groomed more often.

The city also expects to bring in $1.4 million over eight years from per-player fees already in place for when the field reaches the end of its life, said Parks and Recreation Director Doug Long.

The estimated replacement cost is $1.347 million.

The plan calls for converting the surface of the Highlands Park lower field from natural to synthetic turf. The field is an area of approximately 31 percent of the 11.25-acre city park. The conversion is expected to increase play space by 43.5 percent and eliminate the annual six-week maintenance closure period. During the 90-day construction period, the parking lots will be out of commission but the project isn’t expected to otherwise affect park use.

Cop killer found guilty

Jurors in San Mateo County convicted 26-year-old Alberto Alvarez of first-degree murder Wednesday for fatally shooting East Palo Alto police Officer Richard May in January 2006.

"We are relieved and overwhelmed,” May’s wife, Diana May, said in the district attorney’s office after the verdict was read in court.

The jury took just under six hours to reach a verdict after beginning deliberations Tuesday.

May’s family members cried quietly as the court clerk read the verdict early this afternoon. Jurors found Alvarez guilty of first degree-murder with the special circumstance of killing a peace officer, making him eligible for the death penalty.

Prosecuting attorney Steve Wagstaffe said the verdict was "swift” and reached unusually quickly for a murder trial.

He said that Wednesday morning, the jury, comprised of six men and six women, asked to see 17 pages of transcript from Alvarez’s testimony about the shooting, which occurred the afternoon of Jan. 7, 2006.

May had responded to a fight involving Alvarez at the Villa Taqueria in East Palo Alto at about 4:30 p.m. that day. Alvarez and May exchanged gunfire during a confrontation that followed a foot pursuit. Alvarez suffered one bullet wound to the leg, and May died at the scene.

Less than 30 minutes after the jurors received the transcript of Alvarez’s testimony, they announced a verdict had been reached, Wagstaffe said.

"The whole issue was, is it murder or self defense?” he said.

County aims for new gun laws

County officials are targeting youth gun violence by considering tighter restrictions on where firearms and ammunition dealers can operate and requiring employee background checks and permits.

The second of a set of proposed ordinances that came before the Board of Supervisor’s legislative committee Tuesday would also require gun owners to report lost and stolen firearms or risk criminal charges.

Both proposals are aimed at curbing gun violence, particularly among youth, said Supervisor Rose Jacobs Gibson who brought them to the committee.

Between 1991 and 2007, 113 San Mateo County residents under the age of 21 were killed by gunfire.

In California as a whole, 3,253 people died from firearm-related injuries and 4,305 others were wounded, according to 2006 data included in the proposed ordinance.

Jacobs Gibson was not available to comment on her suggestions, but in a memo to the committee explained the ordinances will "minimize the risk caused by handguns,” "reduce the risks created when adults illegally transfer guns to minors” and "make our community a safer place to live.”

As the board subcommittee, Jacobs Gibson and fellow Supervisor Adrienne Tissier approved the two ordinances and they are scheduled to come before the full board for consideration Dec. 15, according to her office.

Woman struck, killed by car

A woman was struck and killed by a car in Redwood City early Monday morning moments after she struck a parked construction truck herself on southbound Bay Road, according to police.

The woman, Cherril Spivey, got out of her car after striking the truck with her van to check on the damage to both vehicles. While she was standing in the road, another vehicle struck her as well as the same construction truck Spivey had collided with a short time before, according to a statement by Redwood City police Sgt. Kathryn Anderson.

Spivey, 63, was thrown underneath the parked construction truck and was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics. The man who struck Spivey called in the collision and was cooperative with police.