Battle of the bots
LOCAL NEWS Bay Area News Group » Sunday, February 12, 2012
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CONTRACOSTATIMES.COM » SANRAMONVALLEYTIMES.COM » THEWESTCOUNTYTIMES.COM » THE EASTCOUNTYTIMES.COM » THETRIVALLEYTIMES.COM 112 SECTION B
PLEASANTON NIGHT LIFE
Nightclub faces city crackdown Planning commissioners vote to sharply reduce occupancy and move up ‘last call’ time to 1 a.m.
According to city staff reports, there were six incidents requiring police presence at Neo Nightclub between Nov 26 and Jan. 14, when a Fremont man was shot.
By Robert Jordan [email protected]
PLEASANTON — Hoping to avoid the spotlight that has plagued some other Bay Area cities with night-life problems, Pleasanton cracked down on its lone dance club, limiting the number of patrons and reducing the hours alcohol can be sold. Pleasanton’s planning commis-
DAN HONDA/STAFF
Remains of more victims unearthed By Matthias Gafni and Chris De Benedetti Staff writers
LINDEN — Detectives unearthed a skull fragment and other human remains Saturday in this rural San Joaquin County town while excavating a well identified by a serial killer’s hand-drawn map as a dumping ground of a dozen bodies, a sheriff’s spokesman said. Investigators began digging up the buried well on a cattle ranch along East Flood Road near the town of Linden in recent days after following death row inmate Wesley Shermantine’s detailed maps to two other human remains in Calaveras County. See REMAINS, Page 8
Battle of the bots
Fatal drive-by shocks quiet city 21-year-old killed while standing outside house By Rick Hurd and Chris De Benedetti Staff writers
PLEASANT HILL — Two young girls played basketball in a driveway near quiet Devonshire Court on Saturday, next to the nice SUVs and sports cars that lined the large homes. Save for two potted flowers and a pair of candles on the sidewalk corner, little seemed to indicate that the quiet neighborhood was barely more than 12 hours removed from the city’s first homicide since 2010. Michael Jones, 21, of San Pablo, was standing in front of the house with others Friday night shortly after 10 p.m. when he was shot and killed in a drive-by. Few neighbors wanted to talk about it Saturday, and others were shocked. “Nothing ever happens here,” said Phyllis Adcock, who lives three houses up from where the shooting took place. “It’s stunning.” About 10:06 p.m., officers responded to reports that shots were See SHOOTING, Page 8
Drive-by shooting SUSAN TRIPP POLLARD/STAFF
Michael Kintscher, 17, left, a senior at Heritage High School in Brentwood, works to remove a spacer on “Asimov,” a computer-controlled robot that Kintscher and other robotics engineering students, including junior Joseph Cliscagne, 17, right, built.
Pleasant Hill
Heritage team taking ‘Asimov’ to regionals With just a few weeks left to improve their invention, Rob Pardi’s robotics engineering students were all business. Clustered around lab tables and writing code on computers, teens at Heritage High School in Brentwood were putting the finishing touches on a robot that might just be their ticket to a world championship. “I enjoy making something and watching it move,” said 16-year-old Jacob Olsen of the boxy apparatus that he and other members of Heritage’s robotics club have been working on since September. On March 4, they’ll go head to head with 31
Devonshire Ct.
other teams from around the Bay Area and beyond at FIRST Tech Challenge’s regional championship in Newark. If they succeed there, it’s on to St. Louis in April to vie for the top title. Designed for grades 9-12, the competition is one of various activities organized by FIRST, a nonprofit dedicated to fostering young people’s interest in science and technology. This year, Heritage’s robotics club is pinning its hopes on “Asimov,” an approximately 18-inch square battery-powered contraption made from thin aluminum bars and featuring motors, magnetic sensors, cogs, wheels and conveyor belts,
Scene of shooting
e. .
By Rowena Coetsee [email protected]
Late Friday night, a 21-year-old man was killed in a drive-by shooting outside a home in the 200 block of Devonshire Court in Pleasant Hill.
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Ple as an tH ill . Rd
KILLER’S MAP
PLEASANT HILL
Av
See POLITICS, Page 8
YOUNG MINDS AT WORK
bra am Alh
When Pittsburg Councilman Sal Evola ran for office for the first time in 2006, skeptics predicted he would be a stooge for the Seenos, his powerful developer employer and family. None of the prophecies came to pass. On the contrary, the unfailingly courteous 36-year-old Pittsburg native has without exception steadfastly maintained an arms’ length distance between his role as an elected official and that of his job. People who LISA VORDERBRUEGGEN questioned Evola’s moPOLITICAL COLUMNIST tives when he ran six years ago now say he has proved his independence and consistently demonstrated personal integrity. Evola no longer works for the Seenos, where he shepherded development requests and federal and state permits through the application process. He was laid off last September, another casualty of the housing meltdown. But no matter how hard he tries to keep his public and work roles separate, Evola’s ties to his former employer resurfaced last week when news broke of dueling civil lawsuits involving his cousins that reads like a “Sopranos” script. The Seenos say their partner, Nevada developer and gaming lobbyist Harvey Whittemore, embezzled $40 million from their joint holding company for several Nevada master-planned communities, including the eye-popping 100,000-home Coyote Springs, located an hour’s drive outside Las Vegas. In response, Whittemore accuses Albert Seeno Jr. and his
See PLEASANTON, Page 8
vd
Councilman finds old ties hard to shake
sion voted 5-0 to a series of changes to Neo Nightclub— on the outer edge of the Hacienda Business Park — that has had its share of problems since opening in October 2011. A Jan. 14 shooting there left one man with a gunshot wound to the leg. Commissioners approved a set of conditions that include reducing the club’s occupancy from 812 patrons to 300 and moving the “last call”
time up from 1:45 a.m. to 1 a.m. The occupancy number could increase if there are no incidents for 30 days after the commission’s approval. Walnut Creek leaders took action this past week to curtail some of that city’s night-life problems, cutting back alcohol-service hours at a popular lounge and stepping up police presence downtown after a series of brawls brought unwanted attention. “We certainly don’t want to expe-
Map area
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY
1/4 mile
Grayson Rd.
See ROBOTICS, Page 2
BAY AREA NEWS GROUP
CONTRA COSTA COURTS
One parent late, one a no-show to truancy arraignment Two women face prosecution under new state law By Tom Lochner [email protected]
The first two Contra Costa parents charged under a tough new state truancy law were supposed to be arraigned last week, but one was late and the other did not show
ONLINE EXTRAS
up at all. Contra Costa Superior Court Judge Christopher Bowen issued a $5,000 bench warrant for each of the two but rescinded one when the defendant showed up, albeit more than an hour and a half late,
during an afternoon court session in Richmond on Thursday. Bowen set the next court date for March 23. The two parents, a Crockett woman and a Rodeo woman, are being prosecuted under a state law effective January 2011 that criminalizes chronic truancy, sub-
jecting parents to a misdemeanor count punishable by up to $2,000 and a year in jail upon conviction. This newspaper is not publishing the parents’ names to protect their children’s privacy. One parent has a fifth-grader See TRUANCY, Page 2
» EXPANDED FEATURES ON THE WEB
Live tweeting from Grammys Follow @jimthecritic as he tweets live on tonight’s Grammy Awards show. www.contracostatimes.com/music
Who’s the top hottie on TV?
The Grammys in pictures
Golden State slideshow
Vote in our contest for your male, female TV crushes.
Check out a slideshow from the Grammy Awards.
See a Warriors slideshow after tonight’s game vs. Houston.
www.contracostatimes. com/tv
www.contracostatimes. com.com/extra
www.contracostatimes. com/warriors
INTRODUCING
BAY AREA NEWS APPS
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CONTRACOSTATIMES.COM » SANRAMONVALLEYTIMES.COM » THEWESTCOUNTYTIMES.COM » THE EASTCOUNTYTIMES.COM » THETRIVALLEYTIMES.COM 112 SECTION B
PLEASANTON NIGHT LIFE
Nightclub faces city crackdown Planning commissioners vote to sharply reduce occupancy and move up ‘last call’ time to 1 a.m.
According to city staff reports, there were six incidents requiring police presence at Neo Nightclub between Nov 26 and Jan. 14, when a Fremont man was shot.
By Robert Jordan [email protected]
PLEASANTON — Hoping to avoid the spotlight that has plagued some other Bay Area cities with night-life problems, Pleasanton cracked down on its lone dance club, limiting the number of patrons and reducing the hours alcohol can be sold. Pleasanton’s planning commis-
DAN HONDA/STAFF
Remains of more victims unearthed By Matthias Gafni and Chris De Benedetti Staff writers
LINDEN — Detectives unearthed a skull fragment and other human remains Saturday in this rural San Joaquin County town while excavating a well identified by a serial killer’s hand-drawn map as a dumping ground of a dozen bodies, a sheriff’s spokesman said. Investigators began digging up the buried well on a cattle ranch along East Flood Road near the town of Linden in recent days after following death row inmate Wesley Shermantine’s detailed maps to two other human remains in Calaveras County. See REMAINS, Page 8
Battle of the bots
Fatal drive-by shocks quiet city 21-year-old killed while standing outside house By Rick Hurd and Chris De Benedetti Staff writers
PLEASANT HILL — Two young girls played basketball in a driveway near quiet Devonshire Court on Saturday, next to the nice SUVs and sports cars that lined the large homes. Save for two potted flowers and a pair of candles on the sidewalk corner, little seemed to indicate that the quiet neighborhood was barely more than 12 hours removed from the city’s first homicide since 2010. Michael Jones, 21, of San Pablo, was standing in front of the house with others Friday night shortly after 10 p.m. when he was shot and killed in a drive-by. Few neighbors wanted to talk about it Saturday, and others were shocked. “Nothing ever happens here,” said Phyllis Adcock, who lives three houses up from where the shooting took place. “It’s stunning.” About 10:06 p.m., officers responded to reports that shots were See SHOOTING, Page 8
Drive-by shooting SUSAN TRIPP POLLARD/STAFF
Michael Kintscher, 17, left, a senior at Heritage High School in Brentwood, works to remove a spacer on “Asimov,” a computer-controlled robot that Kintscher and other robotics engineering students, including junior Joseph Cliscagne, 17, right, built.
Pleasant Hill
Heritage team taking ‘Asimov’ to regionals With just a few weeks left to improve their invention, Rob Pardi’s robotics engineering students were all business. Clustered around lab tables and writing code on computers, teens at Heritage High School in Brentwood were putting the finishing touches on a robot that might just be their ticket to a world championship. “I enjoy making something and watching it move,” said 16-year-old Jacob Olsen of the boxy apparatus that he and other members of Heritage’s robotics club have been working on since September. On March 4, they’ll go head to head with 31
Devonshire Ct.
other teams from around the Bay Area and beyond at FIRST Tech Challenge’s regional championship in Newark. If they succeed there, it’s on to St. Louis in April to vie for the top title. Designed for grades 9-12, the competition is one of various activities organized by FIRST, a nonprofit dedicated to fostering young people’s interest in science and technology. This year, Heritage’s robotics club is pinning its hopes on “Asimov,” an approximately 18-inch square battery-powered contraption made from thin aluminum bars and featuring motors, magnetic sensors, cogs, wheels and conveyor belts,
Scene of shooting
e. .
By Rowena Coetsee [email protected]
Late Friday night, a 21-year-old man was killed in a drive-by shooting outside a home in the 200 block of Devonshire Court in Pleasant Hill.
e. Av Dev on
yl o Ta
rB
l
Ple as an tH ill . Rd
KILLER’S MAP
PLEASANT HILL
Av
See POLITICS, Page 8
YOUNG MINDS AT WORK
bra am Alh
When Pittsburg Councilman Sal Evola ran for office for the first time in 2006, skeptics predicted he would be a stooge for the Seenos, his powerful developer employer and family. None of the prophecies came to pass. On the contrary, the unfailingly courteous 36-year-old Pittsburg native has without exception steadfastly maintained an arms’ length distance between his role as an elected official and that of his job. People who LISA VORDERBRUEGGEN questioned Evola’s moPOLITICAL COLUMNIST tives when he ran six years ago now say he has proved his independence and consistently demonstrated personal integrity. Evola no longer works for the Seenos, where he shepherded development requests and federal and state permits through the application process. He was laid off last September, another casualty of the housing meltdown. But no matter how hard he tries to keep his public and work roles separate, Evola’s ties to his former employer resurfaced last week when news broke of dueling civil lawsuits involving his cousins that reads like a “Sopranos” script. The Seenos say their partner, Nevada developer and gaming lobbyist Harvey Whittemore, embezzled $40 million from their joint holding company for several Nevada master-planned communities, including the eye-popping 100,000-home Coyote Springs, located an hour’s drive outside Las Vegas. In response, Whittemore accuses Albert Seeno Jr. and his
See PLEASANTON, Page 8
vd
Councilman finds old ties hard to shake
sion voted 5-0 to a series of changes to Neo Nightclub— on the outer edge of the Hacienda Business Park — that has had its share of problems since opening in October 2011. A Jan. 14 shooting there left one man with a gunshot wound to the leg. Commissioners approved a set of conditions that include reducing the club’s occupancy from 812 patrons to 300 and moving the “last call”
time up from 1:45 a.m. to 1 a.m. The occupancy number could increase if there are no incidents for 30 days after the commission’s approval. Walnut Creek leaders took action this past week to curtail some of that city’s night-life problems, cutting back alcohol-service hours at a popular lounge and stepping up police presence downtown after a series of brawls brought unwanted attention. “We certainly don’t want to expe-
Map area
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY
1/4 mile
Grayson Rd.
See ROBOTICS, Page 2
BAY AREA NEWS GROUP
CONTRA COSTA COURTS
One parent late, one a no-show to truancy arraignment Two women face prosecution under new state law By Tom Lochner [email protected]
The first two Contra Costa parents charged under a tough new state truancy law were supposed to be arraigned last week, but one was late and the other did not show
ONLINE EXTRAS
up at all. Contra Costa Superior Court Judge Christopher Bowen issued a $5,000 bench warrant for each of the two but rescinded one when the defendant showed up, albeit more than an hour and a half late,
during an afternoon court session in Richmond on Thursday. Bowen set the next court date for March 23. The two parents, a Crockett woman and a Rodeo woman, are being prosecuted under a state law effective January 2011 that criminalizes chronic truancy, sub-
jecting parents to a misdemeanor count punishable by up to $2,000 and a year in jail upon conviction. This newspaper is not publishing the parents’ names to protect their children’s privacy. One parent has a fifth-grader See TRUANCY, Page 2
» EXPANDED FEATURES ON THE WEB
Live tweeting from Grammys Follow @jimthecritic as he tweets live on tonight’s Grammy Awards show. www.contracostatimes.com/music
Who’s the top hottie on TV?
The Grammys in pictures
Golden State slideshow
Vote in our contest for your male, female TV crushes.
Check out a slideshow from the Grammy Awards.
See a Warriors slideshow after tonight’s game vs. Houston.
www.contracostatimes. com/tv
www.contracostatimes. com.com/extra
www.contracostatimes. com/warriors
