Week in review

A couple who left their 10-year-old German shepherd, Raven, suffering with open sores and infected wounds said they were financially strapped and didn’t believe in veterinary care, according to prosecutors who charged them with misdemeanor animal neglect.

Betty and Donald Lockett, 57, of Daly City, are both scheduled to appear for arraignment June 2 in South San Francisco. Betty Lockett’s age was not available. They remain free from custody on their own recognizance.

The Peninsula Humane Society received a digital photo of Raven via its complaint address on its Web site in mid-January and contacted the couple for further investigation, said PHS spokesman Scott Delucchi.

The dog was 10 years old but looked 21 years old and was euthanized at PHS because he was in such poor health, Delucchi said.

After the veterinarian completed the necropsy, the case was forwarded to the District Attorney’s Office which decided to file charges.

Siblings jailed for

keeping sister in shed

The Redwood City siblings accused of keeping their mentally disabled adult sister in a backyard metal shed with only a thin blanket and heater while they lived inside a house with seven pit bulls were each sentenced Tuesday to six months in jail.

Bertha Cano Lozano, 45, and her brother Jesus Cano Ramirez, 53, pleaded no contest to felony abuse and grand theft charges in return for no more than six months in jail. On Tuesday, each received that maximum along with three years supervised probation. Neither can have contact with their sister unless monitored by a probation officer and the victim’s guardian.

Sheriff’s deputies discovered Lozano and Ramirez’s sister, Amelia, Nov. 18 when responding to a call that Lozano’s teenage daughter was brandishing a knife. During a search of the MacArthur Avenue property, deputies reported finding the 58-year-old woman clad in a thin gown cold and shivering in the backyard. The woman has the mentality of a young child and told officers she lived in an 8-foot-by-12-foot metal shed because her siblings said there was no room in the house, according to Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.

Deputies also reported finding a small space heater with a frayed cord, a thin mattress on the floor and a rudimentary commode. Amelia had a Barbie doll and coloring book for entertainment. She had no injuries and was removed from the property by Adult Protective Services.

Officers also reported finding seven dogs living inside the three-bedroom home.

County officials D.C. bound

After months of publicly lambasting Lehman Brothers for the bankruptcy that leeched $150 million from its investment pool, county officials are bringing their concerns and questions directly to federal authorities they hope will help heal the wound.

While no specific action is slated for the House Financial Services Committee hearing called by chairman U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., some of the San Mateo County leaders attending are optimistic their testimony may spark some remediation.

"I want to tell them to stop supporting the bad guys who got us here and get us whole,” said Ron Galatolo, chancellor of the San Mateo County Community College District.

The college district lost about $25 million from its money in the county’s investment pool. Galatolo plans to tell the committee the loss is more than that number; the loss is also about 400 construction jobs, the rebuilding of three colleges and the faculty and staff who are falling victim to both Lehman and state budget cuts. The loss is also about the district’s 45,000 students and the growing number of dislocated workers looking to the school for opportunities.

"Overnight, I lost my operating reserves,” he said. "We’re cutting right into the core of who we are and we’ll lose a good percentage of our full-time faculty and staff.”

As the Sept. 15 Lehman collapse rippled through San Mateo County, funds came from not just the college district but also a number of school districts, cities and special agencies. In the aftermath, local officials and residents demanded answers from County Treasurer Lee Buffington about the county’s continuing investment in Lehman. Federal officials representing the county, too, took action, calling for help through the bailout program.

County: Bottled water idea all wet

San Mateo County will likely stop buying bottled water with its funds, a decision sparked by both environmentalism and the need to cut costs.

The county spends more than $146,000 annually on bottled water, water stands and cups, according to County Manager David Boesch who is asking the Board of Supervisors Tuesday to adopt an ordinance prohibiting county money from being used to buy the items.

Instead, the county will install filtration and instant hot systems and buy pitchers and cups.

The sea change against bottled water, according to Boesch, is a combination of climate change concerns, safety and cost. Tap water is tested more stringently than bottled water and runs about 0.003 cents per gallon compared to $1.50 to $3 per gallon for bottled water.

According to the Sierra Club, 85 percent of water bottles are not recycled and the transportation of the water creates more than 2.5 million tons of CO2.