From the archives

Calling him "the worst kind of monster,” prosecutor Dave Harris urged jurors Dec. 9, 2004 to recommend the ultimate sentence for Scott Peterson, while defense attorneys pleaded with panelists to see the good in him and spare his life.

"This is somebody who had everything and threw it away,” prosecutor Dave Harris said in his closing argument, pointing directly at Peterson. "He had a plan and he executed it.”

The six-man, six-woman jury, which was selected more than six months ago, began deliberating Peterson’s fate that afternoon five years ago this week. They deliberated for about two hours before retiring to an area hotel where they were to be sequestered until they were decide whether to recommend that the judge sentence Peterson to death or life without parole.

Peterson, 32, was convicted Nov. 12 of one count of first-degree murder in the death of his wife, Laci, and one count of second-degree murder for killing her fetus.

Prosecutors say he killed Laci in their Modesto home on or around Dec. 24, 2002, then dumped her body into San Francisco Bay. The remains of Laci and the fetus were discovered about four months later a few miles from where Peterson claims to have been fishing alone the day his wife vanished.

School budget slashed

Slashing $3.59 million from its 2005 budget Dec. 8, 2004, the Redwood City School Elementary District said it could not cope with unequal money distribution from San Mateo County and unpredictable cash flow from the state.

The trustees voted unanimously to increase class sizes by eliminating 57 teachers, and agreed to cut six library aides, a maintenance job, most busing services and parts of the music program. The district hoped to make up all the losses by passing a parcel tax the spring of 2005.

"In my 15 years since I’ve been here this is the worst I’ve seen,” Superintendent Ron Crates told a board room packed with parents.

Crates said only two school districts in the county get less money than the Redwood City School District, which receives $4,511 per student. Portola Valley School District receives the most money per student, $8,218.

That inequity, coupled with Sacramento-bound property taxes and the halving of state Proposition 98 money supposed to go to schools, brought the district to its knees.

Wet weather causes major road crashes

A CHP officer and a 22-year-old woman were sent to the hospital the night of Dec. 8, 2004 after a series of extremely messy chain reaction crashes on State Route 92 by Hillsdale Boulevard.

At approximately 7 p.m., a Mitsubishi Lancer traveling east on 92 crashed into a California Highway Patrol car as an officer was waiting with a car that had broken down. The crash injured the officer and another car struck the Lancer on the right shoulder.

Several other crashes took place within minutes. At approximately 7:30 p.m., officers were investigating the three-car collision when a two-axle Freightliner utility truck, trying to avoid a six-car collision on the road, swerved onto the shoulder and went over an embankment.

The truck struck a Saturn sedan on the right shoulder after the previous three-car crash.

The driver of the Saturn, a 22-year old female from Union City, was standing outside of the CHP vehicle when the truck became airborne over the Saturn and violently struck the patrol vehicle. The CHP vehicle, in turn, was pushed toward the guard rail and pinned the 22-year-old female in between. The truck continued eastbound on the right shoulder where it came to rest.

Grocers prep for boycott

Safeway and Albertson’s shoppers in San Mateo, Redwood City and Foster City were being prepped the week of Dec. 12, 2004 to sign pledges to boycott the supermarkets if a strike is called, the United Food and Commercial Workers union said.

Grocery unions were negotiating for a new contract with Safeway, Albertson’s and other Bay Area supermarket chains for two months, and had not reached an agreement on wages and health care benefits.

The first company proposal asked to reduce top-scale pay for clerks by $2 to $17 an hour, increase the time it takes to get to maximum pay to 10,920 hours from 2,080 hours and make new employees wait a year to get health care.

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