Week in review

Man shot dead ... An early-morning shooting at a Redwood City apartment complex Sunday left one man dead and put a woman in the hospital with several gunshot wounds.

Alejandro Vargas, 28, was discovered dead in the carport area of the building on the 3200 block of Rolison Road near southbound Highway 101.

Police originally said he was shot once in the head, but it was later reported he was shot three times and that the shooters discharged approximately 50 rounds.

Vargas, the shot woman and her boyfriend were reportedly sitting in Vargas’ car drinking Tecate beer when the shooting began.

Police do not believe the shooting was gang-related.

Fleming shines with silver ... Olympic silver medalist Valerie Fleming rolled into town this week to pick up a resolution of appreciation from the Foster City Council and to visit Mike Lewis, javelin coach at the College of San Mateo.

Fleming, a 1994 Hillsdale High School graduate placed silver in the two-man bobsled event in the Turin Olympics. She came to CSM to improve her javelin throwing, a sport she picked up while attending school at UC Santa Barbara.

Though Fleming said the attention took her by surprise, she understands it comes with the territory and is happy when children want to meet her.

Track barred from lawsuit ... The Bay Meadows Land does not belong in a lawsuit between the city and county of San Mateo and a grassroots group of residents seeking to save the race track from the wrecking ball, Superior Court Judge Mark Forcum ruled Tuesday.

The land company wanted in on the lawsuit so it could protect its interests but the matter in dispute is centered on what signatures on a petition were deemed by county to be invalid. The petition sought to place an initiative on the ballot to overturn the San Mateo City Council’s decision to allow the race track to be redeveloped into housing, retail and office buildings.

If the judge would have allowed the land company to join the suit, it would have borne a great deal of the legal costs.

Speaking of legal costs, the Friends of Bay Meadows is holding a fundraiser called "Dollars for Democracy.” The brunch is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and the evening gala is from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. The gala is at the American Legion Hall, Post 82, 130 South Blvd., San Mateo. There will be a silent auction, information tables, food and beverages.

For more information call 344-5424.

Indicted former mayor leaves bank post ... It didn’t seem it would get any worse for former San Carlos mayor Mike King, who is facing felony fraud charges in a billing scandal about how a political consultant was to be paid. But perhaps it did as it was revealed King is no longer employed as CEO and president of the Bank of Santa Clara.

King’s attorney is talking and neither is the bank. But there were some questions about how a potential felony conviction might affect his position heading a financial institution.

King is facing the charges after it was alleged that he ordered political consultant Peg Collier to file fake invoices so she could be paid for her work in a parcel tax campaign to fund the city’s fire department. The measure may have been needed because of lackluster fundraising efforts.

Week in review is a look back at the most interesting local stories found in the pages of the Daily Journal. It is compiled by Editor in Chief Jon Mays.

From the archives, this week five years ago, March 2000

Mayor begins to form

teen center committee

The Burlingame City Council moved to create a committee that would address concerns a proposed teen center in Washington Park the week of March 10, 2001.

Mayor Joe Galligan said he and the City Council were searching for committee members, but did not know who will be appointed.

Some parties he and the council were looking to see represented are recreation staff, the Historical Society, the Lion’s Club, Parca/Poplar Recare, the school board, students, seniors, the Burlingame Mothers Club and close neighbors.

The committee would make recommendations to the City Council and the Parks and Recreation Department.

The idea of a teen center was later dropped because of financial reasons.

Hillsdale Inn tower

ordered demolished

The Hillsdale Inn tower was ready for demolition after nearly 20 years of misuse and a proclamation from the fire department that the structure was a "life safety hazard,” the week of March 10, 2001.

City building inspectors issued a demolition permit March 8, 2001, and General Manager Cheryl Beaver said demolition was to begin "as soon as possible.”

The 40-year old tower at the corner of East Hillsdale Boulevard and Highway 101 was a San Mateo landmark, although it had no historical value.

The steel posts are topped with an hexagonal wooden structure, originally built to advertise the Hillsdale Inn’s large sign. The sign was too high for city code at the time, so the owners got around the law by creating a honeymoon suite out of the structure.

Atherton students slap Gap

Under police presence, more than a dozen students from a Catholic high school in Atherton protested outside Burlingame’s Gap store March 5, 2001, saying that the company’s clothing is made in sweatshop conditions in U.S. and international apparel factories.

The students, from Sacred Heart Preparatory High School, sought to educate Burlingame shoppers about Gap’s link to alleged human rights abuses — including factory wages that sometimes amount to 50 cents an hour, poor sanitary conditions in the workplace and employee dismissals for union organizing and pregnancy.

"Our clothes are being made by decent people for unjust wages. We need to pay people what they deserve!” shouted one student to the shoppers strolling along Burlingame Avenue.

Beverages & More!

accused of deception

Beverages & more!, the embattled liquor store company that was trying to establish its presence in the San Mateo market in early 2001 mailed letters to its club card members asking them to support the move to Hillsdale Boulevard on the edge of the San Mateo/Glendale Village neighborhood.

Neighbors, most notably San Mateo/Glendale Village Homeowners Association President Norman Word, were annoyed by what they called misleading information in the letter. The letter, signed by Executive Vice President David Richards, stated that neighbors, "are protesting that the store will cause crime and violence in their neighborhood and will endanger their children. We have told them that this isn’t true, and have asked them to look at our other stores for proof. The [Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control] agrees with us and is recommending that our license be issued. The police and the local schools agree with us and are not protesting.”

But both police and school officials said the information in the letter is false. The store eventually opened.<