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www.smdailyjournal.comLeading local news coverage on the Peninsula

Thursday • Feb. 26, 2015 • Vol XV, Edition 166

TRADING BARBSWORLD PAGE 8

HILLSDALELOSES IN OT

SPORTS PAGE 11

BOXELDER BUGS ARELOOKING FOR HOME

SUBURBAN LIVING PAGE 17

U.S.-ISRAEL QUARREL INTENSIFIES OVERNETANYAHU SPEECH

RosaiaFine Jewelers

Providing 24K Service

$4.95 watch battery replacement

577 Laurel Street, San Carlos, 650.593.7400

By Fenit NirappilTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SACRAMENTO — AssemblySpeaker Toni Atkins announced aproposal Wednesday to expandaffordable housing in Californiaby charging a $75 fee to recordsome real estate documents.

The San Diego Democrat’s planwould send cities hundreds o f mil-lions of dollars for developmentbenefiting poor and middle-classCalifornians. Local governments

lost a key funding source foraffordable housing when Gov.Jerry Brown dissolved redevelop-

ment agenciesin 2011.

About 36 per-cent of home-owners andnearly half of renters spendmore than athird of theirincome onhousing, a

Public Policy Institute of California report this month said.

“We have a housing crisis in

California, and it’s time we offeredsome bold suggestions and solu-

Real estatefee floated

for housingAssembly Speaker Atkins’ proposal would deliverhundreds of millions to cities for new development

Toni Atkins

Hugh Rienhoff spent seven years of his life, with the help of doctors at Johns Hopkins University, devoted tofinding the cause of his daughter Beatrice’s condition which causes her eyes to be spaced wider than usual andher leg muscles to be weak. His work led to the discovery of a gene mutation in her DNA that no one else in the

world has. The family’s story will now be the subject of a documentary.

By Bill SilverfarbDAILY JOURNAL STAFF

Property, hotel and sales taxesare up i n Redwood City leading toa projected budget reserve to endthe fiscal y ear far beyond what theCity Council mandates, accordingto a mid-year budget report.

As the city starts prioritizing

spending ini-tiatives forfuture budg-ets, the coun-cil heardM o n d a ynight that thecity will haveabout $27million in

reserves when the fiscal y ear endsin June.

Much of the council discussioncentered around parking demanddownto wn as it discussed its prior-ities, which included looking at apilot program to increase streetsweeping, add more hours to theSchaberg Library and creatingprograms for seniors.

The council adopted a policythat 15 p ercent to 20 percent of itsgeneral fund budget, which totalsabout $97 million, will be setaside as reserve but the figure iscurrently projected to be closer to26 percent, Assistant CityManager Audrey Ramberg reportedto the council.

The city’s top revenue comes

from property taxes, whichtotaled about $27.5 million thisbudget cycle, a 5.6 increase overlast y ear, Ramberg said, accordingto a video of the meeting.

The increase is “driven byimproving conditions in the realestate market,” Ramberg told the

Redwood City’s budget strong, reserves upReserves may climb to $27 million when fiscal year ends in June

See page

Inside

City manager to retire


Beatrice Rienhoff, 11, is one of the most unique individuals in theworld — but without years of research by her father, she noranyon e else would know why.

“At the moment of birth weknew there was something differ-ent about her,” Hugh Rienhoff said.

But her doctors had no idea whather condition was and told her par-ents, Hugh and Lisa, th at no one inthe world may kn ow.

But Hugh felt like the doctorswere givi ng him th e runaround andhe has a low tolerance for therunaround.

So, the San Carlos doctor andgeneticist decided to figure it outhimself.

And he did.The family’s story will now be

the s ubject of a documentary abo utthe “unbreakable bond betweenfather and daughter,” said film-

maker Kori Feener.Feener plans to document Bea’s

life over the next two years and isseeking $35,000 in funding

through a Kickstarter campaign toget th e project off the ground.

So far, 228 individuals havedonated a total of $30,399 to thecampaign as of Wednesday.

Feener wants the finished prod-uct to b e an inspiring coming-of-age film about growing up with arare disease and the importance o f family advocacy.

The Kickstarter campaign endsSaturday, Feb. 28, which happens

to be Rare Disease Day.Feener points out that up to 30

One in 7 billionDocumentary to focus on girl with rare condition


The former head of theDowntown San Mateo Associatio npleaded guilty to one count of felony embezzlement for stealingabout $5,000 from the nonprofitbusiness group.

If Jessica Evans completes pro-bation and makes full restitution,the charges may be reduced to a

misdemeanor ,according to theSan MateoCounty DistrictA t t o r n e y ’ sOffice.

Evans usedDSMA funds for

p e r s o n a le x p e n s e s

Former DSMA head pleadsguilty to embezzlement

Jessica Evans

See EVANS, Page 20See BEA, Page 20

See HOUSING, Page 18

See BUDGET, Page 20

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3Thursday • Feb. 26, 2015 THE DAILY JOURNAL LOCAL

CITY GOVERNMENT• The San Carlos City Council approved an ordinance

Monday night to regulate the delivery of unsolicited or unsub-scribed paper, plastic or composite materials on private property.Deliveries are only prohibited where a resident directly informsthe persons in volved, when th e resident clearly po sts h is or herproperty or when a resident post s on th e “Refusal of Cons ent”registry of addresses, which will be promptly posted online by

the city clerk and made available at all times. Fines for violating the ordinance startat $100 and go up to $500 per offense.

• The Millbrae City Council unanimously approved granting a 5 percent pay raiseto members of th e management and confidential workers.

The raise, approved Tuesday, Feb. 24, matches the same rate of pay in crease that otherworker unions in the city have previously agreed upon. Management and confidentialworkers represent a majority of the city staff.

REDWOOD CITYStolen vehic le. A white Toyota Camrywas stolen on Charter Street before 7:56a.m. Saturday, Feb. 14.Arrests . Two men were arrested for att empt-ing to enter school grounds after hours onShearwater Parkway before 10:12 p.m.Friday, Feb 13 .Suspicious circumstances . A man in agray hoo die was seen with a metal obj ect atFarm Hill Boulevard and Emerald Hill Roadbefore 8:51 p.m. Friday, Feb 13.Burglary . A stereo was stol en from a vehi-cle on Poplar Avenue before 6:55 a.m.Friday, Feb 13 .Disturbance. A person threatened some-one with a pistol on Broadway before 1:46a.m. Friday, Feb 13.Burglary . Two bot tles of alcohol, a lap-

top and a pho ne were stolen from a homeon Alden Street before 11:06 p.m.

Wednesday, Feb. 11.Burglary . Two Chevrolet Silverados werebroken into on Spring Street before 5:18p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 11.

MILLBRAEDriving with suspended license . Awoman was cited for being in possession of controll ed substance and driving with a sus-pended license on Trousdale Drive before8:50 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 12.Arrest. A man was arrested after being

found with a glass smoking pipe and astolen passport on the 500 block of ElCamino Real before 6:46 a.m. Thursday,Feb. 12.Vandalism. A side mirror of a car wassmashed on the 1300 block of HillcrestBoulevard before 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 9.

SAN MATEOAccident . A victim of a two-car accidentcomplained about their neck but refusedmedical treatment on Fourth Avenue andSouth B Street before 2:59 p.m. Tuesday,Feb. 10.Burglary . A car was stolen from the Searsparking lot at the Hillsdale ShoppingCenter before 8:14 p .m. Tuesday, Feb. 10.Burglary . A backpack was stolen from acar parked at Jack’s Prime Burgers and

Shakes on South El Camino Real before10:20 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 10.

Police reports

A bad rideA man was arrested for showing a fakeID to officers when he was stopped forriding his bicycle on the sidewalk atSan Anselmo and Santa Maria avenuesin Millbrae before 3 a.m. Thursday,Feb. 12.

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4 Thursday • Feb. 26, 2015 THE DAILY JOURNALLOCAL

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Commercial burglarysting leads to recovery ofstolen emergency equipment

A San Francisco man was arrestedTuesday on suspicion of trying to sell

emergency equip-ment stolen inSouth SanFrancisco to a com-pany in Hayward,according to South

San Franciscopolice.

On Jan. 8, fives e l f - c o n t a i n e dbreathing appara-tus, or SCBA,

devices used by hazardous materialscrews and firefighters were reportedstol en from a locked storage trailer at abiotechnology firm on the 1200 blockof Veterans Boulevard in South SanFrancisco.

The devices were worth more than$12,5 00, according to p olice.

Investigating officers identifiedPhouthalom Phasavath, 32, as a sus-pect. Phasavath was arrested Jan. 18on suspicion of breaking into lockedconstruction storage containers at var-

ious other locations in South SanFrancisco.

Phasavath was released after makingbail. Detectives served a search war-rant at his San Francisco home, b ut didnot lo cate any additional sto len prop-erty.

A few days later, investigatorsreceived a tip regarding a suspectattempting to sell five SCBA devicesto a fire equipment company inHayward and set up a stin g o peration.

Monday morning, Phasavathallegedly delivered the SCBA devicesto Hayward as part of an attempt to sellthem. He was arrested on suspicion of burglary, possession of stolen proper-ty, possession of burglary tools andcommitting a felony while out on bail.

As of Wednesday morning,Phasavath was being held at the SanMateo County Jail on $100, 000 bail.

Yacht thief sentencedfor violating probation

A 62-year-old Wyoming man whostole a $2 million yacht from

Sausalito, got drunkand ran it agroundon a Pacifica beachin 201 3 was back in

court Friday for p ro-bation violations,prosecutors said.

Leslie AlanGardner admitted tothree counts of vio-lating the terms of

his probation, according to San MateoCounty District Attorney SteveWagstaffe.

“He and his two buddies stole theboat, started partying wildly, some-how steered it through t he Golden Gateout to the coast while drinking toexcess,” Wagstaffe said. “Then, whatbrought it to everyone’s attention,was that they fell asleep and the boatwas going around in circles until theygot caught in a current and washed up

on a Pacifica beach.”Wagstaffe said that Gardner’s latest

court appearance last week was notrelated to any newly committedcrimes. Gardner simply failed to paythe $1.38 million restitution orderedby the court and disappeared, which areboth violations of the terms of hisprobati on, according to Wagstaffe.

Scott Newbould, Gardner’s defenseattorney, said his client admitted a vio -lation, was given credit for timeserved, and was out of custody as of Friday.

Gardner’s probati on was terminated,but he will likely be subject to post-release supervision, according toNewbould.

Shelter-in-place liftedafter hotel pool chemical spill

A shelter-in-place order in SanMateo was instituted in San MateoWednesday after a hazardous materialssituation associated with spilled pool

chemicals, police said.The incident was reported 10:45

a.m. at the Residence Inn at 2000Winward Way and hotel guests wereasked to remain in th eir rooms, accord-ing to police. The shelter-in-placeorder was lifted around 12:25 p .m.

“It looks like the pool maintenancecrew spilled some chemicals,” policeSgt. Rick Decker said.

The spill, which was described asminor, has since been contained.Police said it posed no threat to publichealth, but residents and hotel guestsmay continue to smell an unpleasantodor in th e area.

Winward Way was temporarilyclosed to traffic as part of the emer-gency response, Decker said.

Local briefs

Phouthalom

Phasavath

Leslie Gardner

PETER MOOTZ/ DAILY JOURNAL

A hazardous materials crew wasdispatched Wednesday morning to ahotel in San Mateo to investigate spilledpool chemicals.

Fundraiser for family of fatherand son lost in canoe mishapBy Jamey PadojinoBAY CITY NEWS SERVICE

An online fundraiser has been set up for the family of afather and son killed in a boating accident off of Coyote

Point i n San Mateo County.Guillermo Ruvalcaba-Sandoval, 49, and

Luis Ruvalcaba, 2 2, were killed after their

canoe capsized last week. A GoFundMepage for their family was created onSaturday and had garnered $1,840 as of Wednesday afternoon.

A third person in the canoe, 2 2-year-oldLarissa Castaneda, was Luis’ fiancee andthe on ly s urvivo r in th e accident, accord-ing to t he GoFundMe page.

Around 10:20 p.m. on Feb. 16, the U.S. Coast Guardresponded to a report of three people who h ad left th e shoreof Oyster Point and had not returned, Coast Guard officialssaid.

The trio had gone out fishing in a 12-foot orange canoeand their vehicle was sti ll parked at the Oyster Point Marinathat ni ght, according to Coast Guard officials.

Coast Guard crews searched for the people by boat and hel-icopter. A South San Francisco fire boat crew also ass isted inthe search and at about 1:2 0 a.m. the next day, they heard acry about a mile off the coast and found a woman who they

pulled out the water, according to the Coast Guard.The GoFundMe page identified her as Casteneda.She was taken to a hospital where she was conscious and

responsiv e, Coast Guard officials said.About 30 minutes later, crews found a man later identified

as Ruvalcaba-Sandoval, who was unconscious and unrespon-sive, Coast Guard officials said.

He was transported to Mills-Peninsula Medical Center inBurlingame and later pronounced dead, according to theCoast Guard.

Later that morning around 8:50 a.m., 22-year-oldRuvalcaba was found in the water south of Coyote Point,Coast Guard officials said.

Luis Ruvalcaba was a member of the San Mateo CountySheriff’s Office’s explorer program in which he volunteeredwith the s earch and rescue unit from 2011 to 2 013, accordingto the GoFundMe page.

A funeral mass for the men was scheduled for Wednesdaymorning in Colma.

Luis Ruvalcaba

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5Thursday • Feb. 26, 2015 THE DAILY JOURNAL LOCAL

By Samantha WeigelDAILY JOURNAL STAFF

Full of optimism and pride, the mayor of

Half Moon Bay gave the first-ever state of the city address while outlining achieve-ments, highlighting partnerships andexpressing dedication toward addressing thechallenges that lie ahead for the cozy coastalcommunity.

The city is making strides in ascendingfrom the grips o f the recession coupled withdebt from a multimillion-dollar lawsuit set-tlement, forging partnerships to enhanceservices, working on capital improvementprojects and undertaking the extensiveGeneral Plan update, said Mayor MarinaFraser at Tuesday nig ht’s address.

Although state of the city addresses arecommonplace among San Mateo Countymunicipalities and offer a broad overview of current conditions, Half Moon Bay had neverpresented one. It was with the encouragement

of new City Manager Magda Gonzalez thatFraser said she was pleased to present thefirst.

“Some people say that we’ve ‘survived’ thelast number of very difficult years with therecession, legal settlements and other eco-nomic challenges,” Fraser said. “I want totell you that we have done much more thanmerely ‘survive.’ All of us in Half Moon Bayhave reason to be very proud of where we aretoday and where we can be tomorrow.”

Fraser said the city has much to be proud of over the last year, it’s invested in overduemaintenance such as repaving city streets,restructured city departments to streamlinethe process of opening a business, collabo-rated on an economic development actionplan and is officially building a new library.

Yet challenges remain. Traffic is a sig nifi-cant problem and will need a regionally coor-

dinated response, reductions in staff mean thecity must continue to do more for less andofficials are still working with CaliforniaState Parks to repair the failed PilarcitosCreek Bridge currently segmenting the com-munity’s beloved coastal trail, Fraser said.

After a heated debate over the fate of thehistoric Main Street Bridge and a proposedcontinuation o f a half-cent sales tax served aspoint s of contention in last y ear’s elections,repairing community morale and strengthen-ing communication served as an underlyingtheme.

“This must be a two-way street. We all haveto listen to each other, respect each other’sperspective, find common ground togetherand move forward with the bes t int erest of our

community at heart,”Fraser said.

She encouraged every-one in the community to

share their ideas andhopes for the future of thecity as it works to updateits General Plan — a city-wide planning documentthat guides future develop -ment and serves as aframework for policy

decisions.“[It’s] the blueprint of sustainability for

what the community wants our city to b e overthe next 20 years,” Fraser said. “I encourageeveryone to get involved and to understandand participate in making this plan some-thing that will serve us well into the nextgeneration.”

As many suffered due to the economicrecession, Half Moon Bay was also struckwith defending itself in the Beachwooddevelopment lawsuit. The city was found atfault for ruining more than 20 acres of devel-opable land due to a municipal drainage proj-ect and was facing a $42 mill ion s ettlement.

After years of hard work renegotiating,recouping a significant portion from insur-ance companies and taking out loans, Frasersaid stronger finances are ahead with about$1.2 million freed up annually after the debtis paid off.

“I’m thrilled to say we’ll be able to p ay off those bonds 20 years early. I think that’sawesome,” Fraser said. “This is a big deal andit put city finances into much better shape,including bettering o ur credit rating.”

Sustaining fiscal prudence may require thecity to continue its partnerships with localnonprofits for services as well as leverageeconomies of scale with other agencies,Fraser said.

The city paired with the Coastside Boysand Girls Club to run recreation programs,continues to contract with the San MateoCounty Sheriff’s Office for law enforcementservices, is working with the Friends of theHalf Moon Bay Library to help plan and payfor its n ew facility and will contin ue to workwith the county to i mprove the coast, Frasersaid.

In closing her speech, Fraser urged thecommunity to stay involved in city activi-ties and engage as it updates its General Planand prepares to construct a new library.

“We’ve come a long way in the last yearand I’m enormously p roud to be your mayor,”Fraser said. “I’m proud of the foundation weare creating for the future.”

Half Moon Bay has firststate of the city address

Marina Fraser

DAILY JOURNAL STAFF REPORT

Redwood City Manager Bob Bellannounced he intends to retire at the end of June, the city announced Wednesday.

He joined the city in 2005 as its HumanResources director and served as assistantcity manager until t aking ov er the city’s topleadership position in 2010.

Bell took t he interim city manager posi-tion in November 2010 after former citymanager Peter Ingram s uddenly resig ned.

He is credited for leading Redwood Cityout of the worst economic downturn indecades and implementing the CityCouncil’s vision for economic growth andfinancial solvency.

“Redwood City is a special place and I amproud to have been a part of this communi-ty. We have accomplished great thingsbecause of the v isio n, commitment and ded-

ication of everyoneinsi de and outside of CityHall who cares deeplyabout this community,”Bell wrote in a statement.

Mayor Jeff Gee saidBell exceeded the coun-cil’s expectations.

“Bob set forth a strongvision of a responsiveand accountable govern-

ment, based on the principles of customerservice, fiscal responsibility and efficien-cy,” Gee wrote in a statement.

The city paid Bell more than $223,000annually.

Bell is retirin g to p ursue new personal andprofessional opportunities and challenges.

The City Council will be meeting in thecoming weeks to develop a plan for select-ing the next city manager.

Redwood City manager to retire

BAY CITY NEWS SERVICE

The Berkeley City Council has voted toimpos e a one-year moratorium on th e use of drones by the city’s Police Department butauthorized the fire department to use themfor disaster response purposes.

The council’s vote at its meeting onTuesday night disappointed Bob Meola of the city’s Peace and Justice Commission,which had proposed a two-year moratoriumon t he use of drones.

The commission has been seeking a per-manent ban on drones for more than twoyears and Meola said today that the pro-posed two-year moratorium was merely “atemporary Band-Aid for a potentially criti-

cal wound” while the city develops a long-term policy.

Meola said of the City Council, “Theymight as well have done nothing” aboutdrones.

In their vote, the council pledged to for-mulate a poli cy for the pol ice use of drones.

Some councilmembers said at th e meetingthat the proposed two-year moratoriumwould have been too long, too broad inscope or possibly unnecessary altogether.

Seven councilmembers voted for the com-promise measure that was adopted. LoriDroste voted against it because she thoughtit’s unnecessary and Kriss Worthingtonabstained because he wants a more restric-tive poli cy.

Berkeley City Council imposingone-year ban on police drones

Bob Bell

Berkeley has temporary banned police drones.

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6 Thursday • Feb. 26, 2015 THE DAILY JOURNALLOCAL/NATION

We Serve

The Foster City Lions Club

First Annual Cioppino Fest ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT!

THANK YOU to our generous sponsor

The Fish Market Restaurant ofPalo Alto for donating the food.

Joyce Ursula HerbertJoyce Ursula Herbert, born Feb. 11, 1939, died Feb. 7,

2015.Joy ce was born in Vallejo, California,

to Jack and Ursula Musick. She attendedcollege in San Francisco and met her loveLarry Herbert. Married in 19 59, they h ada great life in San Carlos, California.Larry passed away in 2 001.

A hard worker who loved so cial activi -ties, always smiling, Joyce was a lovi ngmother, grandma, great-grandmother,sist er, aunt and goo d friend to many.

She loved movies, a good restaurant, Disneyland, NewOrleans and mahjong. Her biggest joy was spending timeand playing with her great-grandchildren.

She is survived by daughter Lavonda, granddaughtersMichelle and Crystal, t he men in th eir lives John, Doug andBen, great-grandchildren Desiree, Daniele and Deacon, herdog Zoey, sis ter-in-law and brother-in-law Janice and Joh nSilva, sister Jerrie Elser, brother Larry Musick, and sister-in-law and brother-in-law Karen and Lee Craigo. She hadmany ni eces and nephews she lo ved dearly.

A celebration o f Joyce’s life will be 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb.28 at Casa De Flores 737 Walnut St., San Carlos, CA 94070.

In lieu of flowers, donation s to Peninsula Humane Societyor th e Cancer Society would be appreciated.

Doris L. BavaDoris L. Bava, of Millbrae, died peacefully at home Feb.

23, 2015.Born to the late Lincoln and Clara

Randolph in San Francisco. Preceded indeath by her sist er Lillian Musso and sur-vived by her sister Noel Ruane. In 1948,she married her husband Gino Bava,residing in San Francisco until relocat-ing to Millbrae.

Doris loved music, dancing and social-izing at the Peninsula Italian AmericanSocial Club, the SSF Elks Cl ub, th e Verdi

Club and the ICF. She was a devoted wife, mother and grand-mother.

Survived by daughters Laurine (Jo hn) Prinv ale, Ch arlene(Ed) Bava and Valerie (Randy) Gibbs and grandchildrenMichelle, Michael, Nicole and Melissa who lovinglyreferred to her as “Gram.”

“Thanks go to Doris’ caregivers along with the staff atSutter Hospi ce.”

Friends and family may visit from 4 p.m.-8 p.m.Thursday, Feb. 26 at the Chapel of the Highlands, ElCamino Real at 194 Millwood Drive in Millbrae, with a 7p.m. vigil service. A funeral mass will be 10 a.m. Friday,Feb. 27 at St. Dunstan’s Catholic Church, 1133 Broadwayin Millbrae.

Donations preferred to St. Jude’s Children’s ResearchHospital at www.st jude.org o r to th e charity of y our choice.

As a publ ic serv ice, t he Daily Jo urnal print s ob ituaries of approximately 200 words or less with a photo one time ona space available basis. To submit obituaries, email infor-mation along with a jpeg photo [email protected].

Obituaries

By Dave BrooksherBAY CITY NEWS SERVICE

A man who wore a disguise to rob abank in Burlingame was sentencedWednesday to five years of probationand ordered to complete a drug treat-ment program after pleading no con-test last month to felony robbery

charges.Mitchell Joseph Garcia, 56, wassentenced by San Mateo CountySuperior Court Judge Leland Davis tothe probati on term and two years in theDelancey Street Foundation’s residen-tial treatment program, according toGarcia’s attorney Jeff Jackso n.

Garcia will also be required to pay$5,565 in restitution to Bank of America and to st ay away from Bank of America premises, District AttorneySteve Wagstaffe said.

On July 5, Garcia walked into theBurlingame branch at 400 El Camino

Real disguised as awoman and han ded aseries of flashcardsto a teller claimingthat he had a gunand a bomb, prose-cutors said.

Garcia also bran-dished a black-and-

white plasti c deviceemitting flashinggreen lights before fleeing the scenewith $5,565 in cash, according toprosecutors.

More than a year earlier, o n April 24,2013, Garcia had attempted to rob thesame bank in a similar fashion whilewearing fake dreadlocks and a fakemustache that kept falling off. Thatattempted bank robbery failed whenGarcia fled the scene before the tellergave him any money, pro secutors said.

Investi gators g ot a DNA match fromthe first robbery and obtained a war-

rant for Garcia’s arrest. He was eventu-ally arrested later in July 2014 at a res-idential hotel in San Francisco andpleaded no contest on Jan. 13 tofelony robbery and attempted robberycharges.

Jackson said Wednesday morning’ssentence reflects the judge’s belief thatdrug use is the root cause of hi s client ’s

criminal behavior.“Mr. Garcia has had alcohol and sig -nificant methamphetamine issues forroughly 40 years,” Jackson said. “Forthe past five months he’s been in atreatment program in a jail and donereally well.”

“My client worked hard to addresshis own substance abuse issues and hewas very honest and remorseful to the

judge and to th e tel lers th at heharmed,” Jackson said. “He took fullresponsibility and so I’m hopeful thatthe program will be what he needs toturn his li fe around.”

Disguise-wearing bank robber sentenced

Mitchell Garcia

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK — Three men were arrest-ed Wednesday on charges of plotting totravel to Syria to joi n the Islamic Stategroup and wage war against the UnitedStates, and federal officials said one of them spoke of shooting PresidentBarack Obama or planting a bomb onConey Island.

Akhror Saidakhmetov was arrested atKennedy Airport, where he was attempt -ing to board a flight to Istanbul, author-ities said. Abdurasul Hasanovich

Juraboev had a ticket to travel toIstanbul next month and was arrested inBrooklyn, federal prosecutors said. Thetwo were held without bail after a brief court appearance.

A third defendant, Abror Habibov, isaccused of helping fundSaidakhmetov’s efforts and was orderedheld without bail in Flo rida.

The three are charged with attemptand conspiracy to provide material sup-port to a terrorist organization. If con-victed, each faces a maximum of 15years in prison.

“This is real,” New York PoliceDepartment Commissioner WilliamBratton said. “This i s th e concern aboutthe lone wolf, inspired to act withoutever going to the Mideast.”

The Department of Justice hascharged roughly 20 people in the pastyear with planning to travel to theMiddle East to fight alongside mili-tants like the Islamic State group.Federal officials have been concernedabout Americans going overseas totrain with these groups and returningwith plots to carry out attacks at home.

Three in New York, Florida accused of plot to join IS group

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LOCAL/NATION 7Thursday • Feb. 26, 2015 THE DAILY JOURNAL

Exp. 2/28/15

By David Espo and Erica Werner


WASHINGTON — Three days before a par-tial Homeland Security shutdown, lawmak-ers cleared the way Wednesday for Senatepassage of legislation to fund the agencywithout immigration-related provisionsoppo sed by President Barack Obama.

Approval in the Senate would send theissue to the House, where some conserva-tives derided the plan as a surrender to theWhite House. Other Republicans predicted itwould clear, but Speaker John Boehnerdeclined to say i f he would put it to a v ote.

“I’m waiting for the Senate to act. The

House has done th eir job, ” he said at a newsconference where he repeatedly s idesteppedquestions about his plans.

Increasingly, though, it appeared the onlyalternative to House acceptance of theSenate measure — or perhaps a short-termfunding bi ll — was the partial shutdown of afederal department with major anti-terrorismresponsibilities — and the likelihood theGOP would shoulder whatever politicalblame resulted.

The developments in Congress unfoldedas Obama met at the White House withimmigration activists before departing for aspeech in Florida, where more than 23 per-cent of the population is of Hispanicdescent. One person attending the meeting,

Frank Sharry quoted Obama as sayingRepublicans were engaging in “kabuki” toappease conservatives who adamantlyoppose presidential directives that wouldallow more than 4 million immigrants toremain in the country without threat of deportation even though they came to thecountry illegally.

Obama also predicted his administrationwould win a reversal in court of a ruling t hathas temporarily blocked his policies fromtaking effect, according to Sharry, who isexecutive director of America’s Voice.

The president had already arrived inFlorida aboard Air Force One when theSenate took the first of several votes thatcould be required to pass the stand-alone

spending bil l. The tally was 98-2, reflectinga bipartisan sentiment that it was time tobring the current episode to a close.

The Homeland Security funding legisla-tion has been at the core of a politicallycharged struggle for weeks in the Senate.Democrats have repeatedly blocked actionon the measure, objecting that it includedHouse-passed immigration provisions thatthe White House oppos ed.

With the threatened partial shutdownapproaching , Senate Majority Leader MitchMcConnell, R-Ky., retreated on Tuesday,offering separate votes on two bills. Onewould provide DHS funding, while th e oth erwould repeal Obama’s immigration direc-tives issued last year.

Deal sets up Homeland

Security vote in Senate

REUTERS

Speaker of the House John Boehner speaks about funding for the Department of HomelandSecurity during a news conference.

White House threatens vetoof bill to overhaul education law

WASHINGTON — The White House threat-ened Wednesday to veto a Republican bill tooverhaul the widely criticized No Child LeftBehind law, calling the effort “a significantstep backwards.” The veto threat came as law-makers began debate on the measure in theHouse. A vote i s expected on Friday.

Republicans say the bill would restore localcontrol in schools and stop top-down educa-

tion mandates. Democrats say it would allowbillions in federal dollars to flow out withoutensuring they will improve student learning.

The White House said the b ill “abdicates thehis toric federal role in elementary and second-

ary education of ensuring the educationalprogress of all of America’s students, includ-ing students from low-income families, stu-dents with disabilities, English learners, andstudents of color.”

The White House statement was the latest ina series of veto threats issued by PresidentBarack Obama since both chambers of Congress went under Republican control lastmonth.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio,called the education measure “a good conser-vative bill that empowers America and doesnot empower the bureaucracy here inWashington.”

Around the nation

Assemblywoman introducesbill to ban BART strikes

Assemblywoman Catharine Baker, R-Dublin, has introduced legislation thatwould ban strikes by BART employees s uchas the two walkouts that crippled Bay Areacommuters in 2013.

Baker’s chief of staff, Nanette Farag, saidWednesday that Baker’s bill takes a differentapproach than a bill by introduced by stateSenator Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar, last year

that would have banned strikes by publictransit employees. Huff’s bill was killed bythe Senate Public Employees andRetirement Committee in January 2014.

Farag said Baker’s bill, AB 528, whichwas introduced on Tuesday, wouldn’t imposean outright ban on transit strikes and wouldsimply enforce no-strike clauses in con-tracts for BART employ ees and other p ublictransit workers.

Local brief

8/9/2019 02-26-15 Edition

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NATION/WORLD8 Thursday • Feb. 26, 2015 THE DAILY JOURNAL

U.S.-Israel quarrelintensifies over

Netanyahu speech

By Deb Reichman and Matthew LeeTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State JohnKerry played defense Wednesday on CapitolHill, fielding dozens of questions from law-makers worried about what Iran could get in adeal being negotiated to block its ability tomake an atomic weapon.

California Republican Rep. Ed Royce,chairman of the House Foreign AffairsCommittee, told Kerry at a hearing t hat mem-bers of the panel have serious concerns aboutthe direction of the more than 1-year-oldtalks, which are at a critical juncture.Negotiators are rushing to try to meet a March

31 deadline for a frame-work agreement betweenIran and the U.S. and fiveother world powers.

“I’m hearing less aboutdismantlement and moreabout the performance of Iran’s nuclear program,”Royce told Kerry. “That’sparticularly disturbingwhen you consider that

international inspectors report that Iran hasstill not revealed its past bomb work.”

New York Rep. Elliot Engel, the rankin gDemocrat on the committee, expressed skep-ticism too.

Representatives grill Kerry onaspects of Iran nuclear talks

By Ian DeitchTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS

JERUSALEM — In his sharpest criticismyet, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin

Netanyahu said Wednesday that world pow-ers “have given up” on stopping Iran fromdeveloping nuclear weapons in ongoingnegotiations.

Netanyahu’s comments, at a meeting of

his Likud Party outside of Jerusalem, come

as he plans to address the U.S. Congress onthe nuclear negotiations.

The West fears Iran could build an atomicbomb with it s nuclear program. Iran says itsprogram is for peaceful purposes. The

Islamic Republic is now negotiating a finaldeal with the U.S., Britain, France, Russia,China and Germany, with hopes o f on a pre-liminary deal in March and a foll ow-up p actin June.

Netanyahu, as well as many in Israel,view a nuclear-armed Iran as a threat to itsvery existence, citing Tehran’s repeatedcalls for Israel’s destruction and its s upportfor groups like Hezbollah.

In his remarks, Netanyahu said that thegreatest challeng e Israel faces is “the th reatof Iran arming itself with nuclear weaponswith a declared goal of annihilating us.”

“From the agreement that is forming itappears that they (world powers) have

given up on that commitment and areaccepting that Iran will gradually, within afew years, develop capabilities to producematerial for many nuclear weapons,” hesaid. “They might accept this but I am not

willing to accept this.”Netanyahu’s remarks come amid an uproar

over his upcoming visit to Washington. Heaccepted a Republican inv itatio n to addressCongress about Iran in early March, but thespeech has angered the Obama administra-tion because it was arranged without con-sulting the White House, a breach of diplo-matic protocol.

Relations between Netanyahu and theWhite House always have been tense. Hisplanned speech also has drawn fire in Israel,coming just t wo weeks before nation al elec-tions. Netanyahu has rejected the criticism,saying it is his duty to lobby against thenuclear deal.

By Julie Pace and Laurie Kellman


WASHINGTON — Trading barbs, the U.S.and Israel escalated their increasingly pub-lic spat Wednesday over BenjaminNetanyahu’s GOP-engin eered congressio nalspeech next week, with the Israeli primeminister accusing world powers of rollingover to allow Tehran to develop nuclearweapons. Secretary of State John Kerryopenly questioned Netanyahu’s judgmenton the issue.

The comments injected new tension into

an already strained relationsh ip bet ween theclose all ies ahead of Netanyahu’s address t oCongress next Tuesday. More Democraticlawmakers announced they would skip thespeech, which was orchestrated by GOPleaders without the Obama administration ’sknowledge.

Netanyahu hopes his speech willstrengthen opposition to a potential

nuclear deal with Iran, President BarackObama’s signature foreign policy objec-tive. U.S. and Iranian officials reportedprogress in negotiations this week on a dealthat would clamp down on Tehran’s nuclearactivities for at least 10 years but thenslowly ease restrictions.

Netanyahu lashed out at the U.S. and otherusual staunch alli es of Israel.

“It appears that they have given up onthat commitment and are accepting t hat Iranwill gradually, within a few years, willdevelop capabiliti es to p roduce material formany nuclear weapons, ” he said in Israel.

“They migh t accept this b ut I am not will-ing to accept this, ” he said in remarks deliv-ered in Hebrew and translated. “I respect theWhite House, I respect the president of theUnited States, but in such a fateful matterthat can determine if we exist or not, it ismy duty to do everything to prevent thisgreat danger to the state of Israel.”

Kerry, testifying on Capitol Hill in

Washington, dismissed Netanyahu’s wor-ries. He argued that a 2013 interim agree-ment with Iran that the prime minister alsoopposed had in fact made Israel safer by

freezing key aspects of the Islamic repub-lic’s nuclear prog ram.

“He may have a judgment that just maynot be correct here,” Kerry said.

His comments, as well as st atements fromother top U.S. officials, made clear theObama administ ration had no plans to maskits frustration s during Netanyahu’s vis it.

In an interview Tuesday, National

Security Adviser Susan Rice said plans forNetanyahu’s speech had “injected a degreeof partisanship” into a U.S.-Israel relation-ship th at should be above politics.

“It’s destructive to the fabric of the rela-tionship,” Rice told the Charlie Rose show.“It’s always been bipartisan. We need tokeep it that way.”

Netanyahu’s plans to speak to Congresshave irritated many Democratic members,but also have put them in a difficult spot —fearing they will look anti-Israel if theydon’t attend.

Netanyahu: World powers ‘have given up’ in Iran nuke talks

REUTERS

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pauses while he speaks to supporters of his Likudparty as he campaigns in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Maale Adumim, near Jerusalem.

John Kerry

8/9/2019 02-26-15 Edition

9/28

WORLD 9Thursday • Feb. 26, 2015 THE DAILY JOURNAL

LARGESTSELECTION

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By Zeina KaramTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BEIRUT — Islamic State militantshave moved a large group of Christians they abducted to one of their strongholds as fight ing raged onWednesday b etween the ext remists andKurdish and Christian militiamen forcontrol of a chain of villages along astrategic river in northeastern Syria,activis ts and state-run media said.

The Khabur River in Hassakehprovince, which borders Turkey andIraq, has become the latest battle-ground in the fight against the IslamicState group in Syria. It is predomi-nantly Kurdish but also has popula-

tions of Arabs and predominantly

Christian Assyrians and Armenians.In pre-dawn attacks, the IS on

Monday attacked communities nestledalong the river, seizing at least 70people, including many women andchildren. Thousands of others fled tosafer areas.

The fate of those kidnapped, almostall of them Assyrian Christians,remained unclear Wednesday, two daysafter they were seized. Relatives o f thegroup searched frantically for word onthe fate of the loved ones, but nonecame.

“It’s a tragedy ... It is t rue what theysay: history repeats itself,” saidYounan Talia, a hig h rankin g o fficialwith the Assyrian Democratic

Organization who spoke to the

Associated Press from Hassakeh.He was referring to the 1933 mas-

sacre by Iraqi government forces of Assyrians in Simele, a town in north-ern Iraq, after which the communityfled to the Khabur region, and mas-sacres against Armenian and AssyrianChristian s under the Ottoman empi re.

State-run SANA news agency and theAssyrian Network for Human Right s inSyria said the hostages have beenmoved to the Islamic State-controlledcity of Shaddadeh, south of the city of Hassakeh. The United States and acoalition of regional partners are con-ducting a campaign of airstrikesagainst the group, and have on occa-sion struck Shaddadeh, a predominant-

ly Arab town.

Abducted Syrian Christiansmoved to militant stronghold

Official: Afghan avalanches kill at least 124 peoplePANJSHIR VALLEY, Afghanistan — Avalanches caused by

a heavy winter snow killed at least 124 people in northeast-ern Afghanistan, an emergency o fficial said Wednesday, asrescuers clawed through debris with their hands to savethos e buried beneath.

The avalanches buried homes across four northeastprovinces, killing those beneath, said Mohammad AslamSyas, the deputy director of the Afghanistan NaturalDisaster Management Authority. The province worst hit

appeared to be Panjshir province, about 100 kilometers (60miles) northeast of the capital, Kabul, where the avalanch-es destroyed or damaged around 100 homes, Syas said.

The acting governor of Panjshir, Abdul Rahman Kabiri,said rescuers used their b are hands and shovels in an effort toreach survivors. Rescue teams had been dispatched to theaffected areas and casualties were expected to rise, Syas said.

Irishman wounded bybooby-trap bomb as he removes IRA sign

DUBLIN — Officials say a Northern Ireland man has suf-fered serious wounds when a bo oby -trapped bomb expl odedas he removed a sign bearing threats from an IrishRepublican Army faction .

The Irish nationalist Sinn Fein party says the man maylose an eye after Wednesday’s blast near Crossmaglen, aNorthern Ireland border town long known as a power basefor the outlawed IRA.

Sinn Fein l awmaker Conor Murphy s ays th e man was try-ing to take down a poster on a pole outside his home whenan attached device exploded in his face. He says an IRAspli nter group opp osed to Northern Ireland’s peace processrecently th reatened the man’s family. The si gn accused resi-dents of informing police about that IRA faction’s criminalactivities.

Ukrainian POWs dig outbodies of comrades killed at airport

DONETSK, Ukraine — Ukrainian POWs in the separatiststrong hold of Donetsk b egan a task Wednesday that strainedtheir hearts as well as their muscles: digging through therubble to retrieve the bodies of fellow soldiers killed lastmonth in the bitter battle for the city’s airport.

Associated Press jo urnalist s saw at least four bodies beingcarried out of the once-glittering, now-obliterated Donetskairport terminal. A Ukrainian o fficial said seven in all were

retrieved.

Around the world

REUTERS

Fighters of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units stand near a pickup truck mounted with an anti-aircraft weapon in front of a church in the Assyrian village of Tel Jumaa, Syria.

8/9/2019 02-26-15 Edition

10/28

BUSINESS10 Thursday • Feb. 26, 2015 THE DAILY JOURNAL

Your investments shouldn’t be a

THRILL RIDEThe markets can do all sorts ofcrazy things. Doesn’t mean youhave to just hold on. Ask us fora second opinion. Call Hans inSan Mateo.

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Investing involves risk including loss of principal.Hans Reese is a Registered Representative with andsecurities and advisory services offered through LPLFinancial. A Registered Investment Advisor, MemberFINRA/SIPC

Dow 18,224.57 +15.38 10-Yr Bond 1.97 -0.02

Nasdaq 4,967.14 -0.98 Oil (per barrel) 51.13S&P 500 2,113.86 -1.62 Gold 1,203.50

Stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily Wednesday on theNew York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market:NYSEHewlett-Packard Co., down $3.82 to $34.67 The computer maker reported worse-than-expected fiscal first-quarterresults and issued a weaker-than-expected outlook.Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc., down $18.15 to $50.63 The seller of hardwood floorings warned it may face criminal chargesand be the subject of an upcoming “60 Minutes”segment.Boston Beer Co., down $32.12 to $278.59 The brewer of Samuel Adams beer reported worse-than-expected fourth-quarter results and gave a disappointing financial outlook.Chesapeake Energy Corp., down $1.90 to $17.98 The natural gas company reported worse-than-expected fourth-quarterprofit and will cut spending because of low crude oil prices.Dycom Industries Inc., up $6.35 to $43.65

The provider of specialty contracting services reported better-than-expected fiscal second-quarter profit and revenue.NasdaqFirst Solar Inc., up $3.84 to $58.54 The solar company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter profit.Benefitfocus Inc., up $10.85 to $33.82 The human resources software provider reported better-than-expectedresults and an equity investment from Mercer.SodaStream International Ltd., down $1.64 to $17.25 The maker of beverage carbonization systems reported better-than-expected earnings, but its revenue fell short of forecasts.Century Aluminum Co., down $2.86 to $19.30 The aluminum producer reported worse-than-expected fourth-quarterresults.

Big movers

By Alex Veiga THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

The Dow Jones industrial averagenotched its thi rd record high close in arow Wednesday, even as other marketindexes ended lower.

Trading was relatively subdued asinvesto rs reviewed the latest corporateearnings news. Utilities stocks wereamong the biggest decliners. Energystocks rebounded as oil prices broke afive-day slide and climbed back above$50 a b arrel.

Wall Street also kept an eye onFederal Reserve Chief Janet Yellen’ssecond appearance before Congress intwo days. Her remarks didn’t generateany major market-movin g news. A dayearlier, Yellen suggested that the Fed isnot in a hurry to raise interest rates.

“The market is just trying to figureout whether the next move is up ordown,” said David Lebovitz, globalmarket strategist at J.P. Morgan AssetManagement.

The Dow ended up 15.38 points, or0.1 percent, to 18,224.57.McDonald’s was the biggest gainer inthe 30-company index, climbing 3.9percent.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 indexslipped 1.62 po ints, or 0.1 percent, to2,113.86. The Nasdaq shed 1 point, or0.02 percent, to 4,967.14. The threeindexes are all up for the year.

The Dow and S&P 500 closed at

record high s on Tuesday after investo rswere encouraged Yellen’s remarks oninterest rates. Lower rates make bor-rowing easier and tend to be a p lus forfinancial markets.

The Fed has kept its benchmark ratenear zero since 2008. Most economis ts

anticipate that a rate increase is notlikely before June or even later thisyear.

A key factor in that decision will beinflation. That’s one reason investorswill be focused on t he release of the lat-est consumer price index on Thursday.

“That should provide a little bit of insight on what the Fed’s next movemight be and when it may occur,”Lebovi tz said.

The three indexes opened lower onWednesday, then veered between smallgains and losses through much of theday. In the last hour of trading, the Doweked out a gain .

Hewlett-Packard and Boston Beerslumped early. Both reported disap-pointing quarterly results late Tuesday.

Hewlett-Packard tumbled 9.9 percent,while the brewer of Samuel Adams beersank 10 .3 p ercent. Chesapeake Energyand Lumber Liquidators also declinedafter reporting weak earnings earlyWednesday. Chesapeake fell 9.6 per-cent, while the hardwood floors retailerslid 26.4 percent.

Investors bid up shares in severalcompanies whose latest quarterly earn-ings fared better.

TJX, the parent company of T.J.Maxx and Marshalls, rose 3.3 percentafter its profit beat analysts’ expecta-tions. The company also said wouldraise wages for it s workers.

Benefitfocus vaulted 47.2 percent,while specialty contracting services

company Dycom Industries surged 17percent. Discount retailer Dollar Treerose 2.2 percent.

In all, half of the 10 sectors in theS&P 500 moved lower. Utilit ies sto cksfell 1. 6 p ercent and are now down 4 per-cent thi s year. Cons umer discretionarystocks notched the biggest gain. Thesector is up 5.6 percent this year.

The price of oil rose after the EnergyDepartment reported that diesel andgasoline inventories fell more thanexpected, indicating a pickup indemand. Benchmark U.S. crude rose$1.71 to close at $50.99 a barrel inNew York. Brent crude, a bench mark forinternational oils used by many U.S.refineries, rose $2.97 to close at$61.63 i n London.

In other futures trading on theNYMEX: Wholesale gasoli ne rose 9.9cents to close at $1.719 a gallon,while heating oil rose 7.5 cents toclose at $2.104 a gallon. Natural gasfell 0.8 cents to close at $2.894 per1,0 00 cubic feet.

Gold rose $4.20 to $1,201.50 anounce, silver rose 24 cents to $16.43an ounce and copper rose two cents to$2.66 a pound.

Dow ekes out another record close

Federal jury orders Apple topay $532.9M in patent dispute

SAN FRANCISCO — Apple has been ordered to pay near-

ly $ 533 milli on b y a federal jury that found Apple’s iTunesmusic store uses software that infringes on patents held bya Texas company.

An attorney for plaint iff Smartflash LLC praised the ver-dict. Apple i mmediately ann ounced plans to app eal and saidthe case shows the need for Congress to reform the U.S.patent system.

The case involves three patents that Smartflash holds forsoftware used in storing data files and managing accessthrough an online payment system. The outcome will like-ly add fuel to a broader debate over t he federal patent syst emand complaints that it’s easily abused by companies thatmake most of their revenue through patent lawsuits.

“Smartflash makes no products, has no employees, cre-ates no jobs, has no US presence and is exploiting ourpatent system to seek royalties for technology Appleinvented,” Apple said in a printed statement.

Google releases worktools designed for Android phones

SAN FRANCISCO — Google is releasing a set of toolsdesigned for businesses and employees who want to getwork done on Android-powered smartphones, setting up askirmish on another key front of mobile computing.

The technology unveiled Wednesday launches Google’sattempt to turn Android phones into the digital hub of peo-ple’s personal and professional lives. The expansion willpit Google Inc. against Microsoft Corp. and BlackBerryInc., which have been focusing on the corporate market foryears.

Business briefs


SAN FRANCISCO — A dog ownerhas filed a lawsuit against a pet foodcompany alleging that thousands of dogs have been sickened or died fromeating a brand of the company’s drydog food.

Pet owner Frank Lucido filed the suiton Feb. 5 in U.S. District Court in t heNorthern District o f California againstNestle Purina PetCare Company.

Lucido claims he fed his three dogsBeneful “kibble” style dog food, andwithin a sh ort period of time, two weresick and one was dead.

The suit alleges the food containspropylene glycol, which it says is an

animal toxin used in automobileantifreeze, and mycotoxins, a group of toxins produced by fungus that occursin grains.

In the suit, Lucido alleges th at in th epast four years, there have been morethan 3,000 complaints online aboutdogs becoming ill or dying after eat-ing Beneful, having shown “consis-tent symptoms,” including stomachand related internal bleeding, liver

malfunction or failure, vomiting, diar-rhea, dehydration, weight loss,seizures and kidney failure. The com-plaints about Beneful report symp-toms that are consistent with myco-toxin poisoning, according to thesuit.

Purina issued a statement saying“there are no quality issues withBeneful,” and dog owners could con-tinue feeding it to their dogs withoutany concern.

“Like other pet foods, Beneful isoccasionally the subject of socialmedia-driven misinformation,” thecompany said in its statement. “On-line postings often contain false,unsupported and misleading allega-tions that cause undue concern andconfusion for our Beneful customers.”

The Food and Drug Administrationhas approved the use of propylene gly -col as an additive in human food andanimal feed, and Purina screens itsgrain to prevent mycotoxins from get-ting into its products, spokesmanKeith Schopp said.

The FDA has not issued any warn-

ings about Beneful “kibble” style dogfood. In a statement, the FDA said itdoes not comment on pending litiga-tion.

Jennifer Dooren, a spokeswoman,declined to comment on whether theFDA was investigating Beneful “kib-ble” style dog food.

The results o f toxicology testing onLucido’s Engl ish Bulldog, Dozer, whodied, are pending, according to thelawsuit. The lawsuit says one of Lucido’s dogs that fell si ck, a Labradornamed Remo, is undergoing medicaltesting.

A call and email to Lucido’s attorn ey,Jeffrey Cereghino, were not immedi-

ately returned.The suit asks the court to expan d thecase to include other dog ownerswhose dogs were sickened or died. Itasks for unspecified damages and resti-tution, although it says the claimsexceed $5 million.

In recent years, Beneful has facedtwo lawsuits that were dismissed bythe courts, according to Purina’s state-ment.

Lawsuit filed against Purina

claims food sickens, kills dogs

By The Krisherand Dee-Ann DurbinTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS

DETROIT — Buick, the brand thatonce was the p ace car for the drive tothe senior center, has made a come-back by appealing to b uyers not yetready for retirement.

U.S. sales rose 11 percent in 2014.In China, Buick’s biggest market,sales gained almost 14 percent.

This week, strong showings in twoinfluential quality surveys are bring-ing good publicity to a nameplatethat was inches from the grave whenits parent company, General Motors,was in bankruptcy six years ago.

On Wednesday, Buick finished sec-ond to perennial winner Lexus in the

annual dependability rankings byJ.D. Power and Associates. A day ear-lier, it was the first U.S. brand tocrack the to p 10 in Cons umer Reportsmagazine’s annual rankings, finish-ing seventh. The Buick Regal mid-size car even bested the BMW 328ifor top sports sedan honors from themagazine.

It is al l part o f a turnaround at Buickled by some creative television ads,updated cars and the almost perfectlytimed debut of the Buick Encore, anew small SUV that hit showroomstwo years ago just as con sumers wereabandoning cars in favor of higher-sitting v ehicles.

Buick has been on J. D. Power’s top10 brand list for long-term reliabilityevery year for the past decade, even

winning top honors in 2007 and2009. This year, the firm surveyedoriginal owners of 2012 models.That helped Buick because all but oneof its 2012 models had been in pro-duction for at least a year, and oldermodels tend to have fewer problemsthan new ones, said Dave Sargent,J.D. Power’s global automotive vicepresident.

Also, Buick has older customersthan other brands, and they tend totake better care of cars and complainless than younger buyers, Sargentsaid. All General Motors brands,which share many components, haveseen reliability improvements forseven straight years, he said.

Despite the gains, Buick has notreturned to it s h eyday.

Strong reliability scores should help Buick brand’s rebirth

8/9/2019 02-26-15 Edition

11/28

NATHAN MOLLAT/DAILY JOURNAL

Hillsdale’s Austin Mah heads home the Knights’ only goal off an assist from Zoen Ebinger ina 3-1 overtime loss to Scotts Valley in the first round of the CCS Division III tournament.

By Nathan MollatDAILY JOURNAL STAFF

The Hills dale boys’ soccer team was th is-close to winning its opening round CentralCoast Section Division III soccer matchagainst Scotts Valley Wednesday afternoon .

The Knights were clinging to a 1-0 leadthank s to a spectacular Austin Mah header inthe first half and it appeared it would beenough.

Turns out, the Knights needed to keep ittogether for 10 more seconds. Scotts Valley

got the equalizer off a corner kick in s econd-half st oppag e time and then added two morein two, 10-minute periods of overtime torecord a 3-1 vi ctory.

“We didn’t play as hard as we could untilthe very end,” Mah said. “Everyone fellapart after that goal.”

Hillsdale (11-1-8 overall) — which waswithout four key pl ayers because of injuriesand eligibility issues — used its speed andpinpoint passing to fire off eight shots inthe first half, half of which were on goal. Inthe 13th minute, Zoen Ebinger slammed afree kick off the crossbar from 45 y ards out.Two minutes later, Mah made a long rundown the right sideline. He got to the endline and somehow managed to lo ft a cross tothe front o f the Scotts Valley go al, where it

just miss ed fin ding the side of the n et just

inside the far left post. The ball fell to thefeet of Bryen Lau, who took a touch to createsome space, but when it opened up, his shotsailed over the top of the goal.

The Knights came close again on anotherfree kick, th is one in the 17th minute. NicoNaar tried to catch the Falcons sleeping byquickly taking the kick.

The Scotts Valley goalkeeper was on histoes, however, pushing Naar’s shot over thecrossbar for a corner kick. On the ensuingcross, Mah snapped a header on goal thatwas saved.

An agonizing loss

By Don Ketchum


MESA, Ariz. — In the last year, theOakland Athletics traded away two of theirtop shortstop prospects, Addison Russelland Daniel Robertson.

To fill th e hole in t heir organization, th eA’s acquired Marcus Semien in a trade thiswinter.

Now the kid from the Bay Area is set onbeing in the opening-day lineup for his

hometown team.

The 24-year-old Semien was born in SanFrancisco and played high school and col-lege ball in Berkeley came to th e A’s in atrade that s ent pi tcher Jeff Samardzija to t heChicago White Sox.

Semien, 6 -foot-1, 195 pounds, is seen asa gifted all-around athlete who is quick tothe ball on defense and has the potential forsome pop at th e plate.

A’s manager Bob Melvin mentioned theathleticis m aspect after the team’s first full-

squad workout of the spring on Wednesday

at Fitch Park.Semien was put through defensive drills

by infield coach Mike Gallego, who also isthe team’s third base coach.

“Gags’ was a g ood glo ve man and he willmake a great teacher. He will be good for(Semien),” Melvi n said.

Semien won’t be alone in learning theOakland way. The three other projectedinfield starters — third baseman BrettLawrie, second baseman Ben Zobrist and

first baseman Ike Davis — were with other

organizations last season.It is very early in camp, and the job cer-tainly hasn’t been handed to Semien. Notyet, anyway.

“We are goin g to g ive him every op portu-nity,” Melvin said. “Now, you have to cre-ate your own reps (repetition s) once yo u aregiven that opportunity. Our feeling is thathe will.”

Semien isn’t taking anyth ing for granted.

Bay Area’s Semien in the mix for A’s shortstop job

When my daughter was born, Ienvisioned her strapping onthe tools of ignorance and

becoming an all-st ar catcher. I figured,no one ever willingly wants to be acatcher, s o if I s tarted her from an earlyage, s he would be that much furtherahead.

Turns out, I may h ave an all-st ar firstbaseman inst ead. No, not my daught er.

She is n ow in middleschoo l and is muchmore of an artistthan an athlete. No,I’m talking about

Rolo, our dog.For those who

don’t kno w, weadopt ed Rolo fromthe p ound last April— an adult, full-blooded chocolateLabrador retriever.Someone had spent a

lot of time prior to him coming homewith us. He already kn ew all h is com-mands, walked well on a leash and washouse broken.

He is a 85-pound couch pot ato for mostof the day — except for our dailysojourns to the dog park. It is there Rolotransforms from mild-mannered dog to atennis ball v acuum. He will run at fullsprint all day long if I let him. While not

the fastest dog at the park, there is nocanine who has more stamina. He is alocomotive who just keeps churningaway.

But, he has also developed into one of the best first base candidates I’ve everseen. Rolo can straight pick it. Using aChuck-It — a plasti c throwing arm with acup on the end to allo w the thrower towhip th e ball across a wide space — I puthim through his paces. Line drives.Grounders. Cho ppers. To his l eft. To hi s

See LOUNGE, Page 16See KNIGHTS, Page 16

See ATHLETICS, Page 14

PAGE 12

Thursday • Feb. 26 2015

Hillsdale, less than a minute away from a win, loses in overtime

A new, hot

prospect


MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — TwoTennessee girls basketball high schoolcoaches have been suspended for trying toget their teams to lose a game in an attemptto avoid the top-ranked squad and improvetheir chances of advancing in t he state tour-nament.

Rutherford County Director of SchoolsDon Odom announced Wednesday thatSmyrna’s Shawn Middleton and Riverdale’sCory Barnett wouldn’t be permitted to coachat their schools or at any other RutherfordCounty Schools at hletic prog ram during th e

2015-16 school year.Odom said Smyrna pri ncipal Rick Powell

already had decided to remove Middleton ascoach.

In a statement, Odom also s aid the schooldistrict “apologizes to the Riverdale andSmyrna High basketball players and par-ents for th e lack of leadership” exhi bited bythe coaches. He also apologized to the citi-zens of Rutherford County “because of theembarrassment generated locally andnationally for teams motivated to throw agame.”

“Good athletic coaches possess skillsthat maximize the players’ skills, strategize

winning game plans, instill self-discipline,and impart the v alue of teamwork t o reach acommon goal,” Odom said. “Players alsolearn skills that build integrity and charac-ter, primarily by how their coach modelsbefore them. In these last two areas, wefailed last Saturday eveni ng. ”

Odom also said the two coaches wouldn’tbe eligible for the coach stipend pay duringthe 2015-16 year, which totals $8,393each.

Smyrna and Riverdale were banned fromthe pl ayoffs Monday.

Tennessee Secondary School AthleticAssociation executive director Bernard

Childress wrote that the teams “made amockery” of Saturday’s game with inten-tional t urnovers off various v iolations andmissed free throws. The game’s refereereported he stopped play ordering thecoaches not to make a travesty of the gamewith a Smyrna player about to shoot at thewrong basket.

Smyrna (21-8) won the game 55-29Saturday against Riverdale (22-8), a pro-gram that won its third state title in fouryears in March 2013 with a 58th straightwin. The winner was on track to playTennessee’s defending Class AAA championBlackman (25-2).

Tennessee coaches suspended after teams tried to lose

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SPORTS12 Thursday • Feb. 26, 2015 THE DAILY JOURNAL

By Nathan Mollat

DAILY JOURNAL STAFF

Sometimes when things come too easilyto a soccer team, it might get away from itsgame plan in an effort to put a team awayquickly.

The Carlmont girls’ soccer team experi-enced just such a dilemma as the Scot s to oka 1-0 lead just 10 minutes into their matchwith visiting San Benito Wednesday nightin the first round of the Central CoastSection Division I playoffs.

The Scots spent most of the rest of thehalf trying to force through the heart of theHaybalers defense, on ly t o be denied.

In the second half, the Scots stuck to thegame plan of knocking the ball around andwaiting until the opportunities presentedthemselves. It resulted in two more goals asthe Scots advanced to th e second round witha 3-1 win over th e Haybalers.

“My whole theme this season is to havepatience and move the ball, move the balland then the gaps open up,” said Carlmontcoach Tina Smith. “At times, we showed

great patience and at other times we wereshoving it down their throats.”

The Scots will face No. 4 Salin as (10-1-5)in a quarterfinal match Saturday at a time andplace to be determined. Salinas downed No.13 Fremont (11-8-1) 2-1 in overtime.

Carlmont (12-7-2) wasted little time in jumpin g on San Benit o (7-9-3 ). The Sco ts

control led the game from the outset, puttin ga lot of pressure on th e Haybalers’ defense.

Just 10 minutes in, the Scots struck off acorner kick. Rhea Subramanian sent thekick into the middle of the San Benitopenalty box. The Haybalers goalkeeper ini-tially got her hands on the ball but couldn’tsecure it. The ball pinballed around in thebox before it s quirted out to Soha Said, whowas stationed just outside the penalty box.She stepped into the ball and fired a shotthrough traffic and into left side of the netfor a 1-0 Carlmont lead.

The Scots spent most of the rest of thehalf trying to attack right down the middleto Said. Kayla Fong also had some strongruns, but after giving up the goal, theHaybalers seemed to settle down and held

Carlmont out of the net the rest of the half.Despite not getting that second goal,

Smith was pl eased with her team’s p lay.“I was very happy with our possession,”

Smith said. “I don’t think we could havestarted the game any better.”

Early in t he second half, th e Scots made it2-0 to take some pressure off. After spend-

ing the first half looking to distribute,Fong spent the second half looking toscore.

She managed just that three minutes intothe second period. Taking a pass i n the mid-dle of the field about 30 yards from goal,Fong used some nifty footwork to beat apair of San Benito defenders and work herway into the penalty box.

Suddenly, Fon g was all alon e with just thegoalkeeper to beat, who had no chance asFong calmly slotted her shot just inside thefar right p ost to give the Scots a two-goallead.

With about 12 minutes to play, Said icedthe match with her second goal of the night— again off a corner kick. Siena Riqatusosent the cross into the box where itbounced. Said took the ball off the half vol-

ley and roofed it in to th e net to put the Scotsup 3-0.

Smith acknowledged her team has theadvantage with p layers lik e Said and Fong.

“It’s an awesome luxury to have,” Smithsaid. “Who do you mark out of the game? Ithink they (teams) try, they over-focus onone an d we have an other forward over here.”

San Benito came back four minutes laterwith its lone goal of the game — a perfectstrike from Chace Miguel from about 25yards out.

Now that the first CCS win is out of theway, the Scots are hoping to make a deeprun and possibly pick up their first CCSchampionship since 2006.

“This year, my team is really focused,”Smith said. “They want th is (CCS title) real-

ly bad.”In ot her CCS action, King’s Academy, the

No. 12 seed, buried No. 5 Capuchino 5-1 inthe first round of the Division III bracket.Menlo School, the No. 6 in Division III,cruised to a 7-0 victory over No. 11 SummitPrep-Redwood City.

Burlingame (12-5-4), the No. 7 seed inDivision II, fell to No. 10 Valley Christi an(11-6-2) 1-0.

Menlo-Atherton (11-5-4), the No. 7 seedin Division I, routed No. 10 Alisal (15-3-2)4-0.

Scots score early in each half, beat San Benito

NATHAN MOLLAT/DAILY JOURNAL

Carlmont’s Kayla Fong turns upfield duringthe Scots’ 3-1 win over San Benito in the firstround of the CCS Division I playoffs.

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SPORTS 13Thursday • Feb. 26, 2015 THE DAILY JOURNAL

By Janie McCauley THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Major leagueplayers are against many of the radicalchanges introduced during the Arizona FallLeague to speed up games.

Baseball players’ association head TonyClark is encouraging his membership tomake slight adjustments that will improvethe pace of games witho ut completely alter-ing th e way they do their jobs .

A former All-Star first baseman and thefirst player to head the union, Clark saidWednesday on the first stop of his springtraining tour that extreme methods aren’tfeasible at t he sport’s highest level.

“With this particular discussion, havingan opp ortunity t o see if we can address so meconcerns that some have, while creatingsome new habits without jeopardizing theintegrity of the p lay on t he field, th is was

the hope here,” Clark said. “With the bat-ter’s box rule, with the in-between inningstiming, with the pitching change timing,we’re simply hopeful that those adjust-ments have some affect on the length of thegame but do so witho ut significantly chan g-ing the way the guys play, prepare, do whatthey need to do.”

Players agreed to ti me limits for between-innings breaks and pitching changes, and arequirement batters keep on e foot in t he boxin many instances. But the only penaltieswill be warnings and fines, not balls andstrikes, and the fines won’t start until May1.

“The biggest thing was they were tryingto explain the rules of the pace of play, justclarifying what’s goin g on with it,” pit cherand Giants player rep Matt Cain said after

Clark spoke with the team. “He did a great job of si mpli fyin g th ing s. ”Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz has

strong feelings about the new rules anddoesn’t plan to alter his app roach — even if it means he will b e regularly fined. He stepsout of the box to try to gain a mental edge.

The rule requiring hit ters to k eep a foot inthe box contains many exceptions, includ-ing s winging at a pitch, getting forced outby a pitch, calling time, faking a bunt, andwild pitches and passed balls.

“Well, I might run out of mon ey. Period,”Ortiz said Wednesday. “I’m not going to

change my game. I don’t care what th ey say.... I’ve got to take my time to think aboutwhat they’re going t o try t o do against me... . They put the rules tog ether but they don’ttalk to us as a hitter. .. . Why don’t you comeand ask questio ns first and then we come toan agreement?”

The AFL experiment included a 20-secondclock between pitches, a limitation of pitcher’s mound conferences involvingcatchers and managers, and no-pitch inten-tional walks.

“I think i t’s great that they had a 16-gameexperiment in the Arizona Fall League, butthat is not reflective of a major league gameduring the season,” Clark said. “They’vedecided to implement any number of rulesthat they want to implement in the minorleagues, and that’s fine, too. Unfortunatelywe don’t represent those players, but evenin the minor leagues it’s a different ball-game than it is in the major leagues, and Ithink you would have any player, coach oranybody who’s been around the game for along time suggest that those games are dif-ferent.”

Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford saidanother focus of the h our-long meeting wasgearing up for bargaining that will startnext year for a labor contract to replace thecurrent deal, which expires in December2016. Clark insists there are plenty of lawyers on staff and availabl e to handle thenegotiations.

He hopes to build on the last bargaininground of 2011, when 240 p layers participat-ed in various stages. While players whowere part of the last work sto ppage in 1 994 -95 are mostly long gone from the game,Clark expects participation from activeplayers to be a key again.

“Collectively, we are more connectedthan most. We have a staff who are on thefront lines and experienced any number of work stopp ages,” he said. “We have playerswho are on teams now that are aware of orfamiliar with 2002, when although we did-n’t have a work stoppage there was a strikedeadline, the clock hit zero. ... I haveabsolutely no concerns about the resolve of our guys if we can’t come to a place where afair and equitable deal can be made. I’mhopeful that is the case, but our guys will b eprepared to negotiate over any topic at anytime and be equipped to do so. ”

Clark says MLB playersagainst radical changes


MESA, Ariz. — Tom Ricketts says hethinks the Chicago Cubs are set to take bigsteps this year toward ending their century-plus of failure.

“Obviously, we all believe this year’s teamhas what it takes to win the division and go tothe playoffs,” the Cubs owner saidWednesday at spring training. “Now it’sabout getting on the field and getting i t start-ed.”

Chicago hasn’t won the World Series since1908 and hasn’t reach the playoffs since2008. Ricketts called midseason trades suchas the one that sent pitchers Jeff Samardziaand Jason Hammel to Oakland for topprospect Addison Russell “really the end of the beginning for us.”

“We’re looking forward to winning,” hesaid. “We feel this i s the year we start to s how

results.”Ricketts said the reconstructed bleachers at

Wrigley Field should be ready to open byMay 11, five weeks after the season op ener. Afederal judge last week denied a request fromrooftop clubs overlooking the ballpark totemporarily halt installation of signs theysay will block their view and violate a con-tract they have with the team.

He said the team’s inability to sell bleachertickets in April is “not a big financial hit forus, to be honest,” adding: “April in thebleachers is k ind of tough sometimes.”

Chicago is looking to a new beginningunder manager Joe Maddon, who was hiredfrom Tampa Bay. Ricketts denied the Cubshad tampered with Maddon, who used a provi-sion i n his contract to terminate his deal with

the Rays.

“From everything I know, we did nothingwrong, ” Ricketts said.

Ricketts spoke to Cubs players Wednesday.“I want to make sure they are professional

off the field,” he said. “I want them to treat ourfans like gold. We have the best fans in base-ball. And if they want to do anything in thecommunity, let us help them. A lot of guyswant to do charity th ings but don’t have thetime or the help.”

The Ricketts family bought the Cubs,Wrigley Field and related properties from t heTribune Co. in 2009 for $845 million andhired Theo Epstein from the Boston Red Soxin October 2011 to become Chicago’s presi-dent of baseball operations. The Cubs havenot had a winning season since 2009 andhome attendance has been about 2. 65 millio nin each of the last two seasons, Chicago’slowest totals since 1998.

Ricketts praised Cubs fans for enduring

tough seasons.“Walking around the ballpark is encourag-

ing. Fans are almost exclusively support-ive,” he said. “They want to see everythingdone the right way. They want to get to theWorld Series. We’re not going to do that bymaking short-term decisions. Frankly, thefans have helped me get through the badyears, as opposed to the other way around.”

Ricketts said Epstein “has done an incredi-ble job of turning the organization around.The fact is a few years ago we didn’t havemuch depth in the system. We didn’t have alot of h ope to win at the major league level.”

Chicago is considering options for futurelocal broadcast rights, which could increaserevenue. Ricketts said for now, “we’ll havethe flexibility to do whatever Theo needs to

do in the middle of the season.”

Playoffs within reachfor Cubs, owner says

8/9/2019 02-26-15 Edition

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SPORTS14 Thursday • Feb. 26, 2015 THE DAILY JOURNAL

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“The best th ing for me was getti ng in hereearly, meeting my teammates and the staff,”

he said.He is excited that his family will be able

to see him play on a regular basis.

He already has worked a lot with Zobristaround second base so they can establish arhythm.

“I’m trying to work on every part of thegame, the angles, jumps and throws,”Semien said.

He also lo ves hit ting , and said he was for-tunate to be able to use some of the facilitiesover the winter at the University of California-Berkley. Melvin also played atCal, as did another new Oakland player:infielder-outfielder Mark Canha.

Semien, who has played 85 major leaguegames and has hit eight home runs, likes tothink of himself as a complete hitter. But

the allure of the home run is there.

“Yeah, I can hit for a littl e bit o f power,but you can’t force it. You have to let itcome to you,” he said. “I also want to con-tinue to build up my strength.”

He was in t wo previous spring camps withthe White Sox, who drafted him in t he six thround in 2011, but this is a whole new deal.

“I’ve never been traded, never been in thissituation,” he said. “I am going out andplayi ng as hard as I can. I am very hungry. Iknow I can help this team win.”

NOTES: Melvin addressed the team priorto t he workout and had a few players speak.Catcher Stephen Vogt helped interpret so meof the new rules with humor reminiscent of late comedian Chris Farley, Melvin said.Owner Lew Wol ff was there an d had his ownwalk-up song, “Louie, Louie” (not theoldies version by the Kingsmen). ...Melvin gave kudos to his new bench coach,Mike Aldrete, who organized the workout.“That Stanford education paid off,” Melvinsaid with a mischievous smile. ... The teamopens Cactus League play at HoHoKamStadium against the Giants on March 3, andwill play intrasquad games the two days

before that.

Continued from page 11

ATHLETICS

Greek soccer leagueagain suspended over violence

ATHENS, Greece — Greece’s top soccerleague has been suspended for a third timethis season b ecause of contin ued violence atmatches.

Stavros Kontonis, the deputy minister forsport in Greece’s new left-wing govern-ment, said Wednesday that the decision

would be reviewed next week, but thatgames would again be called off if clubsfailed to respond to government demandsfor improved security.

The action fol lowed weekend violence at aleague match between rivals Olympiakosand Panathinaikos, and a brawl betweenofficials of the two clubs on Tuesday at aboard meeting of league organizers.

“This violence is an insult to all of us and

our national heritage,” Kontonis said aftermeeting Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.“When it comes to addressing the issue of violence in football, we will be unrelent-ing.”

Kontonis previously told Tsipras in tele-vised remarks that “drastic measures” wererequired to pressure the 18 clubs in the topleague to introduce improved security,including smart-card ticketing and securitycamera sys tems at matches. League organiz-ers had committed to int roducing such meas-ures several years ago.

The Greek league has already been sus-pended twice this season because of vio-lence, and the government said it had takenWednesday’s decision after consultin g withtop football officials and a police depart-ment that deals with major crimes.

Olympiakos currently leads the leaguewith 58 points from 25 matches, three clearof second-place Panathinaikos.

Sports brief

By Doug FergusonTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Fansstood three-deep and formed a corridor from the18th green at PGA National as they tried to getan autograph, a picture or even a close look atRory McIlroy. Moments later, another groupof fans pressed against him with souvenir flags

to sign as McIlroy left aconference room.

The attention comeswith being the No. 1 play-er in golf, the apparent heirto Tiger Woods. McIlroy isused to this by now. He hasbeen the best player in theworld since August, fillingthe void of a sport lookingfor a dominant figure.

“This is the position Iwant to be in,” McIlroy said Wednesday. “And Iwant to be in it as long as I can.”

It’s only going to get more chaotic.McIlroy competes on American soil for thefirst time in five months when the HondaClassic begins on Thursday. The palm trees andtropical warmth of south Florida are the suresigns that the Masters is around the corner.McIlroy, who blew a four-shot lead in the finalround at Augusta National in 2011, goes therewith a chance to become only the sixth playerto capture the career Grand Slam.

Like other players, th e 25-year-old will ven-ture up to Augusta to practice in the comingmonth. The real preparation is to play goodgolf, and to allow that confidence to becomemomentum that he can carry to the first majorof the year.

“People talk about momentum and talk aboutsort of riding it, but I think momentum andconfidence are two very similar things in

golf,” McIlroy said. “If you’re confident andyou’ve had good performances, that confidenceseems to carry on. And if you’re happy withhow practice goes, then you’re obviouslygoing to be confident going in to tournaments.So that’s sort of how I’m feeling right now. Andtry to keep that feeling for as long as I can.”

It seems like it’s been a long time already.McIlroy still isn’t anywhere near the roll

Woods enjoyed during his peak years. Goinginto the 2000 Masters, for example, Woodswon 11 times in 19 starts and only twice fin-ished out of the top 10. No one was close tohim.

In his last 12 starts worldwide dating to theBritish Open, McIlroy has four victories

(including back-to-back majors and a WorldGolf Championship), four runner-up finishesand has finished out of the top 10 two times.

In his last six tournaments, he has finished

no worse than s econd place in all but one tour-nament, the Australian Open. So yes, he’sgoing along quite nicely.

The obstacle at the Honda Classic might berust.

McIlroy hasn’t played since winning theDubai Desert Classic on Feb. 1. He got past onepotential distraction when he settled a courtcase involvin g his former management compa-ny. He has been home in south Florida the lastthree weeks, practicing and playing and tryingto stay on this roll during an important part of the season.

McIlroy won the Honda Classic in 2012, thefirst time he rose to No. 1 in the world. A yearago, h e was poised to win again until h e stum-bled on the back nine at PGA National, only tohit 5-wood into 10 feet on the final hole for atwo-putt birdie to get into a four-man playoff.Russell Henley won on the first extra hole.McIlroy didn’t really get going until a fewmonths l ater, but he’s been tough to beat eversince.

“He’s the best player in the world,” RickieFowler said. “And when he’s driving the ballwell, that’s when he’s deadliest. So he did agood job of putting himself in play last yearand obviously hits longer than a lot of guys,too.”

Woods isn’t around. He said two weeks agohe wouldn’t return to competition until hisgame was in tournament shape. So far, that’s

just one tournament — the Honda Classic —though the attent ion on the absence of Woodsis sure to ratchet up if he misses Bay Hill.

McIlroy is mixing up his schedule slightlyth

02-26-15 edition

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