News Roundup from April 4-8

Friday

• A report released by California Watch – the state’s largest investigative reporting team – outlines potentially significant seismic issues within San Rafael and many California schools, and the state’s failure to hold the schools accountable by not fully enforcing seismic safety regulations. At least three schools within San Rafael– , l and – were identified within the report as potentially having structural deficiencies or seismic safety issues, while the issue could be that all paperwork on the projects was not completed.

• A team of California Watch reporters and researchers spent the last 19 months investigating how the state enforces the Field Act, a strict seismic safety law that is supposed to protect school children at public schools. Among the findings to be presented in a three-part series.

Thursday

• The Marin County Sheriff’s Department is searching for a woman suspected of abandoning her two female children at a Marinwood home on April 5. At 4:30 p.m. a woman called the sheriff’s deputies when she found a 2-year-old and a 9-month-old sitting on the front porch of her house on the 2500 block of Opalstone Terrace. When the deputies arrived, they found toys and dirty blankets near the porch and the children were at the front door crying, filthy and hungry, the report said.

• The Downtown San Rafael Farmers Market kicks off its 2011 season this evening, bringing a festive mix of farmers, food vendors, artisans and entertainment to Fourth Street. But this year a shadow hangs over the market—one that could affect how, or even whether, the market is run next year. According to San Rafael Acting Economic Development Director Stephanie Lovette, the market—a municipal venture of the City of San Rafael—has traditionally received an annual allocation of $40,000 to $45,000 from the San Rafael Redevelopment Agency to cover police presence at the event and some market cleanup. Starting next year, that funding will no longer be available.

Wednesday

• San Rafael police officers arrested three teenage girls at 12:47 p.m. today on suspicion of burglary after the resident found them in his home in Gerstle Park, according to police spokeswoman Margo Rohrbacher. The girls, one 15-year-old and two 14-year-olds, entered through an unlocked rear door after they rang the doorbell of the man’s house on the 200 block of C Street. The homeowner was working in the basement downstairs and heard noises. He caught the girls in his living room.

• Grocery and drug stores would experience the most competition should a new Target be built at Shoreline Center in East San Rafael, according to the community impact report released today. The community impact report, requested by the San Rafael City Council in December 2010, stated that the proposed 137,000-square-foot complex would result in 200 new jobs (164 of them retail jobs), a net increase of 3.6 percent total retail sales in San Rafael and a total $646,000 in revenues for the city. The study, conducted by research and consulting firm AECOM in San Francisco, used Davis, Livermore, Napa, Novato, San Mateo and Walnut Creek as case studies for the possible effects of introducing a Target.
• A San Rafael man was sentenced to 16 years to life in prison this morning for fatally stabbing his mother in her home last year. Richard Leroy Carlson, 31, was sentenced to 15 years to life for the second-degree murder of Eleanor Carlson, plus one year for use of a knife in the killing, Deputy District Attorney Tom Brown said. Carlson was acquitted of first-degree murder when he was convicted of the lesser charge in October.

Tuesday

• What if your child died in an alcohol related accident and you never got to say those things you wanted before he or she passed? That's what some parents of San Rafael High School students wondered as a result of the Every 15 Minutes program -- a two-day exercise where students experience a "real life" scenario of what happens after a drunk driving accident.
• San Rafael police are investigating a rash of commercial burglaries in downtown San Rafael and near Northgate that occurred between March 26 and April 4, according to the San Rafael Police Department. During that 10-day period, five businesses were forcibly entered in the late evening when the burglar or burglars smashed the front windows with bricks or other heavy objects. The burglars then stole cash and miscellaneous items.
• San Rafael police officers arrested a Palo Alto man on April 4 on suspicion of stalking a San Rafael family for the past two years, according to Cpl. Eberle. John C. Singleton, 47, met the victim in 2009, according to Eberle. After a falling out, authorities said Singleton began stalking the victim and his family over the Internet and telephone.

Monday

• City Council extended the moratorium on large unlicensed group homes to the end of December 2011. Check out the of the meeting.