From the archives

Claiming a proposal to run a 230 kilovolt line under Skyline Boulevard will have a deletrious effect on their health and property values, approximately 30 people rallied July 23, 2004 to gain support for their alternative plan.

"I believe there is a chance [that electromagnetic fields cause cancer], why take the chance when the solution is rather simple?” said Bur Treanor, a 23-year Burlingame resident.

Treanor and his neighbors stopped motorists on Skyline Boulevard and Hillside Drive to ask for support of their proposal to keep a new power line away from their homes. Members of 280 Corridor Concerned Citizens believed Pacific Gas and Electric should place the power line further away from their property and in the Crystal Springs Watershed. The proposal had the support from immediate neighbors and some local politicians, but is opposed by a coalition of environmental groups like Committee for a Green Foothills and the Sierra Club. PG&E also opposed the 280CCC alternative, spokesman Paul Moreno said.

Dubbed the Jefferson-Martin 230 kV Transmission Project, the power line was to run from Redwood City to just south of San Francisco and is needed, according to PG&E, to meet future power needs.

PG&E’s first proposal was to raise current towers that carry 60 kilovolt power lines along Interstate 280 and Skyline Boulevard and add the additional 230 kilovolt line. Outraged residents in the San Mateo Highlands, Hillsborough and upper Burlingame joined forces and formed 280CCC to fight the plan.

West Nile virus arrives

The West Nile virus landed in the Bay Area and county officials said July 21, 2004 they were ready to swat the troublesome disease away.

A dead crow was found on a residential lawn in east San Jose on June 28. After a testing process, Santa Clara County officials July 21, 2004 confirmed it to be the first case in Northern California.

The vast majority of people bitten by infected mosquitos won’t experience anything beyond the typical bug bite, said San Mateo County Health Officer Dr. Scott Morrow.

Only about one in 150 people bitten by infected mosquitos suffer long-term neurological damage, he said. These people can suffer symptoms that may have long-lasting impacts on their sight and gait. Just a small fraction of these people will die as a result, he said.

About 250 people died from West Nile virus last year, Morrow said. To put things in perspective, about 30,000 people die from influenza every year.

"It’s true that the flu is much worse,” Morrow said. "This is just frightening because it’s never been here before.”

Bayfront development fight gears up

Two groups battling over a proposed high-rise project along Redwood City’s Bayfront were digging in their heels the week of July 25, 2004 as they headed toward a likely ballot referendum this fall.

As a pro-development coalition blanketed the city with mailings, a grass roots opposition group said it gathered more than enough signatures to take the matter to voters. The 10 percent needed was met but petitioners continued to collect as many names as they can.

"We want a very large safety margin,” said Ralph Nobles, spokesman for People for Housing Not High Rises.

At stake was a billion dollar development that will irrefutably change Redwood City over the next two decades. The plan included a number of towers, including a 21-story building which will be the tallest in the city. The 43-acre village also includes 1,900 residential units, 25,000 square feet of retail space and 150,000 square feet of office space.

The organization opposed the Marina Shores Village project despite its unanimous approval by the City Council and its 6-1 approval by the Planning Commission.

Prosecution focuses on Peterson’s character

Prosecutors in Scott Peterson’s murder trial returned to familiar territory July 20, 2004, portraying the former fertilizer salesman as a lying philanderer who didn’t act the part of a grieving husband after his pregnant wife vanished.

Modesto police Detective Richard House testified that Peterson opened a private mailbox on Dec. 23, 2002, a day before he reported his wife missing. House said that on Jan. 9, 2003, Peterson received a letter to the mailbox from his mistress, Amber Frey. Prosecutors allege the affair with Frey was the motive for Laci Peterson’s murder.

House did not reveal the letter’s contents and prosecutor Dave Harris moved on to another topic.

Harris then appeared to attack Peterson’s character, implying that he intended to throw out a photo album with his wedding pictures less than two months after Laci vanished. House testified that Peterson rented a storage unit that was packed with miscellaneous items when police served a search warrant there on Feb. 18.

Prosecutors allege Peterson murdered his wife in their Modesto home on or around Dec. 24 , 2002, then drove to the Bay and dumped the body.

Peterson claims he was fishing alone on the Bay that day and returned to an empty home. Geragos asserts Peterson was framed by the real killer.

From the archives highlights stories originally printed five years ago this week. It appears in the Thursday edition of the Daily Journal.