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Leading local news coverage on the Peninsula
Friday
Dec. 23, 2016
XVII, Edition 110
SIGNIFICANT VICTORY 
WORLD PAGE 31
‘PASSENGERS’A BORING RIDE
WEEKEND PAGE 19
SYRIAN GOVERNMENT TAKES BACK FULL CONTROL OF ALEPPO
By Austin Walsh
DAILY JOURNAL STAFF
San Bruno students enjoying improvedschool music programs and more femaleathletes participating in a traveling basket-ball league are among the communityenhancements possible through a grantprogram fueled by restitution funds from thegas pipeline explosion. The San Bruno Community Foundationannounced last week the inaugural winnersof $200,000 in grants offered to a variety of local organizations dedicated to improvingthe quality of life in San Bruno. The foundation started the grant programalong with a variety of other initiatives toallocate the nearly $70 million paid byPacific Gas and Electric following the gaspipeline explosion which devastated theCrestmoor neighborhood in 2010. The 14 grants announced Monday, Dec.12, include a combined nearly $45,000 torevitalize music education at local highand elementary schools; $10,000 to pur-chase uniforms and pay league dues forlow-income girls to participate in theProspects Basketball Academy; $25,000to support rehabilitation and improve-ments to the Belle Air CommunityBuilding and a variety of other efforts. Steve Hoff, a coordinator for theProspects Basketball Academy, said hedeeply appreciated the generous offering. “We want to be able to do something forgirls because it seems like boys have all theopportunities through athletics, and thisgrant gives us another layer to what we are
Blast grants improve San Bruno organizations
Foundation managing PG&E restitution money announces first grant winners
NICK ROSE/DAILY JOURNAL
 Travelers wait to pass through security at San Francisco International Airport during the busiest travel period of the season.Officials expect 166,000 holiday flyers to pass through airport Friday, Dec. 23.
low
: A mother and child look at an arrivalsand departure board in Terminal 2.
By Austin Walsh
DAILY JOURNAL STAFF
As one of the year’s busiest travel day arrives at SanFrancisco International Airport, a spokesman suggestedflyers take advantage of the advance registration opportuni-ties offered to avoid hassles associated with holiday trips. Through the help of a variety of pre-flight preparationsthat travelers can take to avoid getting bogged down ontheir way to their plane, SFO spokesman Doug Yakel said
SFO preparing forhectic travel day
Planning, preparation recommendedto assure easy, painless holiday flight
New report backsgovernor’s tunnels
Brown’s plan one step closer tofinal state and federal decision
By Ellen Knickmeyer
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN FRANCISCO — Gov. JerryBrown’s plans to build two giant tunnelsto move Northern California watersouthward moved one step closer to afinal state and federal decision Thursday,with the state’s release of a more than90,000-page environmental reviewThursday supporting the $15.7 billionproject.Brown’s administration is pushing toward federal andstate decisions whether to permit the 35-mile-long, 40-foot-wide tunnels, touted to ensure more reliable waterdeliveries to city and farm water agencies in central andSouthern California.The state’s environmental report concludes the tunnels,while taking 5 percent more water from the SacramentoRiver, would be the least disruptive of all possible optionsfor water deliveries from California’s largest river. Brown’s earlier proposals to redo water delivery from the
Still shopping for gifts?
Merchants offer last-minute holiday ideas
By Anna Schuessler
DAILY JOURNAL STAFF
Merchants in downtown San Carlos are ready forPeninsula residents looking at their holiday gift lists withtrepidation at the last hour. At a time when almost anything can be purchased online,a walk through downtown offers creative ideas for findingthe perfect gift close to home. Just ask Mike Fitch at The Olive Crush.“Everything we sell here is something that cannot befound in a grocery store,” he said. The Olive Crush at 653 Laurel St. is brimming with high-quality ingredients that food lovers at any level can appre-ciate. Fitch’s oil and balsamic vinegar pairings are knownto inspire the home chef and promote healthy eating. In
HILLSDALESCORES WIN
SPORTS PAGE 11
 Jerry Brown
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FOR THE RECORD2
Friday
Dec. 23, 2016
 THE DAILY JOURNAL
Police: Sandwich links man torecent burglaries in Wyoming
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — A half-eatenpeanut butter and jelly sandwich foundat the scene led Wyoming police toarrest a burglary suspect. The Wyoming Tribune Eagle reportsthat Zachery Munoz has pleaded notguilty to three counts of burglary.Cheyenne police say someone onthree separate occasions in Septemberstole power tools and equipment froma business. In the first case, police saythey found a half-eaten peanut butterand jelly sandwich at the scene. Theydubbed the suspect the “PB&J burglar.” Police say subsequent DNA testingdone at the Wyoming State Crime Lablinked 26-year-old Munoz to the sand-wich.He entered a plea earlier this month,and his trial is scheduled for February.
Rambo the pet alligator can stay, Florida officials say
LAKELAND, Fla. — A Floridawoman is being allowed to keep her 6-foot-long pet alligator at home fol-lowing a fight with state wildlife offi-cials over the growing size of the rep-tile.A spokesman for the Florida Fishand Wildlife ConservationCommission said Thursday that theagency had reached an agreement withMary Thorn, allowing her to keep her125-pound reptile named Rambo athome.Wildlife officials say alligators thatmeasure more than 6 feet must have 2.5acres of land. Rambo has earned local celebritystatus in Lakeland, which is locatedbetween Tampa and Orlando. The alli-gator has been with Thorn for morethan 11 years and wears clothes.Rambo was recently captured wearing aSanta hat.Thorn is not allowed to exhibitRambo under the terms of the agree-ment.
Happy birthday to Colo: Oldest gorilla in U.S. turns 60
COLUMBUS, Ohio — She is a moth-er of three, grandmother of 16, great-grandmother of 12 and great-great-grandmother of three. She recently hadsurgery to remove a malignant tumor,but doctors say she’s doing well.She’s Colo, the nation’s oldest liv-ing gorilla, and she turned 60 onThursday at the Columbus Zoo andAquarium.Colo was the first gorilla in theworld born in a zoo and has surpassedthe usual life expectancy of captivegorillas by two decades. Her longevityis putting a spotlight on the medicalcare, nutrition and up-to-date therapeu-tic techniques that are helping length-en zoo animals’ lives.“Colo just epitomizes the advancesthat zoos have made, going all the wayback to her birth at Columbus,” saidDr. Tom Meehan, vice president forveterinary services at Chicago’sBrookfield Zoo and veterinary adviserto a national gorilla species survivalplan.The changes also mean more ani-mals living with the normal aches andpains of growing older. Today, zooveterinarians regularly treat animalsfor heart and kidney disease, arthritis,dental problems and cancer.Hundreds of people gathered at thezoo Thursday to see Colo, singing“Happy Birthday” moments before thegorilla ambled into an enclosure deco-rated with multicolored constructionpaper chains and filled with cakes suchas squash and beet and cornbread withmashed potato parsley frosting.Among the first in line was PamSchlereth of Columbus, who at 63 was just a little girl when her fatherbrought her to see the newborn Colo ina gorilla incubator in 1956. “It’s a tribute to the zoo that she’salive at 60 years old,” Schlereth said.Colo represents so much to the zoo,Tom Stalf, president of the zoo, toldthe crowd. “It’s all about connectingpeople and wildlife,” he said.Colo is one of several elderly goril-las around the country. The oldestknown living male gorilla, Ozzie, is55 years old and lives at the AtlantaZoo, which has a geriatric gorilla spe-cialty.
The San Mateo Daily Journal
1900 Alameda de las Pulgas, Suite 112, San Mateo, CA 94403
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As a public service,the Daily Journal prints obituaries of approximately 200 words or less with a photo one time on the date of the family’s choosing.To submit obituaries,emailinformation along with a jpeg photo to news@smdailyjournal.com.Free obituaries are edited for style,clarity,length and grammar.If you would like to have an obituary printedmore than once,longer than 200 words or without editing,please submit an inquiry to our advertising department at ads@smdailyjournal.com.
Rock musicianDave Murray is 60.
This Day in HistoryThought for the Day
1941
During World War II, American forceson Wake Island surrendered to theJapanese.
“Life began for me when I ceased to admire and began to remember.”
— Willa Cather, American author
Actor-comedianHarry Shearer is73. Rock singer EddieVedder is 52.
Birthdays
TOM JUNG/DAILY JOURNAL
Friday, Dec. 23, is the last day to visit Bethlehem A.D. 2016, a recreation of the city as it may have appeared 2000 years ago. Itis located at 1305 Middlefield Road in Redwood City, and will be open from 6 p.m. to 9:30 pm. Visitors can view the stalls of potters, bakers and metal smiths, and speak with ‘citizens’ dressed in period costumes. Here some children examine a four-horned Jacob Sheep, an ancient, old world breed that may have been common at the time.
Friday:
A slight chance of thunderstormsin the morning. Showers. A slight chanceof thunderstorms in the afternoon. Somethunderstorms may produce small hail inthe afternoon. Highs in the lower 50s.South winds 10 to 20 mph...Becomingwest 15 to 20 mph in the afternoon.
Friday night:
Mostly cloudy. A slightchance of thunderstorms in the evening. A chance of show-ers. Some thunderstorms may produce small hail in theevening. Lows in the upper 30s to mid 40s. Northwestwinds 10 to 20 mph. Chance of precipitation 40 percent.
Saturday
: Mostly cloudy in the morning then becomingpartly cloudy. A slight chance of showers. Highs in theupper 40s to mid 50s. Northwest winds 10 to 20 mph.Chance of showers 20 percent.
Local Weather Forecast
In 1788
, Maryland passed an act to cede an area “notexceeding ten miles square” for the seat of the national gov-ernment; about 2/3 of the area became the District of Columbia.
In 1823
the poem “Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas”was published in the Troy (New York) Sentinel; the verse,more popularly known as “‘Twas the Night BeforeChristmas,” was later attributed to Clement C. Moore.
In 1893
, the Engelbert Humperdinck opera “Haensel undGretel” was first performed in Weimar, Germany.
In 1913, 
the Federal Reserve System was created asPresident Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Reserve Act.
In 1928
, the National Broadcasting Company set up a per-manent, coast-to-coast network.
In 1933, 
President Franklin D. Roosevelt restored thecivil rights of about 1,500 people who’d been jailed foropposing World War I.
In 1948, 
former Japanese premier Hideki Tojo and sixother Japanese war leaders were executed in Tokyo.
In 1954
, the first successful human kidney transplant tookplace at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston as a sur-gical team removed a kidney from 23-year-old RonaldHerrick and implanted it in Herrick’s twin brother, Richard.
In 1968
, 82 crew members of the U.S. intelligence shipPueblo were released by North Korea, 11 months after theyhad been captured.
In other news ...
(Answers tomorrow)VIRUS TITLE CABANAMIRRORYesterday’sJumbles:Answer:When fans from opposing teams got off theplane, it was — “A-RIVAL” TIMENow arrange the circled letters to form the surprise answer, assuggested by the above cartoon.
THAT SCRAMBLED WORD GAME
by David L. Hoyt and Jeff Knurek
Unscramble these four Jumbles,one letter to each square,to form four ordinary words.
RHILWTIDOTLAFTUNDRUVOE
 ©2016 Tribune Content Agency, LLCAll Rights Reserved.
   C   h  e  c   k  o  u   t   t   h  e  n  e  w ,   f  r  e  e   J   U   S   T   J   U   M   B   L   E  a  p  p
Actor Ronnie Schell is 85. Emperor Akihito of Japan is 83.Pro and College Football Hall of Famer Paul Hornung is 81.Actor Frederic Forrest is 80. Rock musician Jorma Kaukonenis 76. Rock musician Ron Bushy is 75. U.S. Army Gen.Wesley K. Clark (ret.) is 72. Actress Susan Lucci is 70. Singer-musician Adrian Belew is 67. Actress Joan Severance is 58.Singer Terry Weeks is 53. The former first lady of France, CarlaBruni-Sarkozy, is 49. Rock musician Jamie Murphy is 41.Jazz musician Irvin Mayfield is 39. Actress Estella Warren is38. Actress Elvy Yost (TV: “The Catch”) is 29.
Lotto
 The Daily Derby race winners are Eureka, No. 7,in first place; Hot Shot, No.3, in second place; andWinning Spirit, No. 9, in third place. The race timewas clocked at 1:41.76.
9 7 81 12 14 48 65 2
Meganumber
Dec. 20 Mega Millions
25 33 40 54 68 3
Powerball
Dec. 21 Powerball
9 24 29 34
Fantasy FiveDaily three midday
28 0 3
Daily Four
4 2 1
Daily three evening
16 21 28 40 41 16
Meganumber
Dec. 21 Super Lotto Plus
3
 
3
Friday
Dec. 23, 2016
 THE DAILY JOURNAL
LOCAL
NEWSPAPER DELIVERY ROUTE
Seeking delivery driver to manage newspaper route
Requires early morning work six days per week Mon-Sat. Papers are picked up early morning between 3am and 4:30am
Call Roberto 650-344-5200
HALF MOON BAYCOAST SIDE
IMMEDIATEOPENING
BELMONT
Theft
. A vehicle’s front license plate wastaken on Shoreway Road before 8:16 p.m.Monday, Dec. 19.
Parking complaint
. A vehicle was par-tially blocking a driveway on Chula VistaDrive before 1:34 p.m. Monday, Dec. 19.
Traffic hazard.
A large truck was blockingthe road on Oak Knoll Drive before 9:48a.m. Monday, Dec. 19.
Found property
. A large knife was foundin some bushes on Old County Road before3:43 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 18.
FOSTER CITY
Lost property
. A purse was lost onMarlin Avenue before 5:51 p.m. Tuesday,Dec. 20.
Citation
. A 20-year-old San Mateo resi-dent was cited and released for driving with-out a license near East Hillsdale Boulevardand Norfolk Street before 12:33 p.m.Tuesday, Dec. 20.
Animal call
. A dog was found and returnedto its owner on Constitution Drive before4:13 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 18.
Arrest
. A 34-year-old San Mateo man wasarrested for driving while intoxicated onBowsprit Lane before 5:50 a.m. Saturday,Dec. 17.
Two killed by hit-and-run drivers, woman turns herself in
Two pedestrians have died from hit-and-run accidents this week and police are stillsearching for one of the drivers.A 64-year-old San Mateo woman turnedherself into sheriff’s deputies earlyThursday morning for allegedly hitting a30-year-old man in Millbrae then fleeingthe scene, according to the Sheriff’s Office.A 29-year-old woman who was struckMonday evening by a hit-and-run driver inSan Bruno died from her injuries Wednesdayand police are still searching for the sus-pect. Siu Mui Woo was accompanied by familymembers when she turned herself in to sher-iff’s deputies at 12:30 a.m. Thursday at theMillbrae Police Bureau for Tuesday’s acci-dent, according to the Sheriff’s Office.Woo is accused of being the driver of anSUV that struck Chicago resident RohanDargad as he was crossing El Camion Realin a crosswalk at Ludeman Lane around 8:40p.m. Dargad was found in the road withmajor injuries when deputies arrived. Hewas taken to San Francisco GeneralHospital but succumbed to his injuries.Woo was booked into county jail for felonyhit-and-run and vehicular manslaughter. Herbail was set at $300,000, according to theSheriff’s Office.In the San Bruno case, a 29-year-oldwoman was walking in a crosswalk atCherry and San Bruno avenues when shewas struck around 5:33 p.m. Monday, Dec.19. Police are reviewing video surveillancefootage of the area and asking anyone withinformation to come forward. The victim was walking southboundcrossing San Bruno Avenue when the vehi-cle turned from southbound Cherry Avenueonto eastbound San Bruno Avenue. The caris described as a mid-sized SUV, accordingto police.Investigators believe there were severalother vehicles present in the intersection atthe time of collision and are in the processof identifying and contacting the driversand witnesses. Anyone with information isasked to call (650) 616-7100 or sbpdtime-line@sanbruno.ca.gov.
Man arrested for alleged sex assault at Mavericks Beach
A 20-year-old man was arrested Thursdaymorning on suspicion of attempting torape his 17-year-old ex-girlfriend at MavericksBeach last month, sher-iff’s officials said.The victim reportedthe assault on Nov. 30.She said that onThanksgiving Day shehad been at the popularsurfing beach on Half Moon Bay with her ex-boyfriend, ErickMendez-Corona, when he tried to rape her,according to the San Mateo CountySheriff’s Office.Investigators obtained additional evi-dence that corroborated her allegations andobtained a $500,000 warrant for Mendez-Corona’s arrest.He was arrested at his home on the 100block of Avenue Alhambra in El Granada atabout 7:45 a.m. Thursday. He was thenbooked into jail in Redwood City, sheriff’sofficials said.Mendez-Corona remains in jail and isnext scheduled to appear in court onWednesday, according to jail records.
Police reports
Don’t water down the problem
An arrest was made after workers at aresident’s property were sprayed with ahose by a neighbor on South Road inBelmont before 9:53 a.m. Monday,Dec. 19.
Local briefs
Erick Mendez-Corona

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