Features

Santa Clara voters barely approve bond measure 

SANTA CLARA (AP) — Finally, somebody has finished counting election-day ballots. 

Voters in Santa Clara County narrowly approved a $375 million creek restoration and flood control bond, county officials reported yesterday. 

The water tax proposal authorizes $25 million a year for 15 years to control flood waters, preserve the environment and boost water quality. The average homeowner’s tax bill will rise 39 dollars a year. 

The bond needed a two-thirds majority to pass. It cleared that bar by a mere thousand votes of 480,000 cast. 

Car chase ends in crash, arrests 

EAST PALO ALTO (AP) — Some 15 police cruisers chased a carload of suspects in an East Palo Alto shooting across the Dumbarton Bridge, firing shots along the way until the fleeing car crashed Friday evening. 

In the end, police said they arrested eight people, several of them teen-agers. 

The chase began when East Palo Alto police told neighboring departments that a black Chevrolet Suburban had fled the scene of a shooting around 5:20 p.m. Menlo Park Police spotted the car and followed it onto Highway 101. 

The holiday made for light traffic and the car took off over the bridge toward the East Bay at speeds up to 100 mph. 

It crashed on Ardenwood Road in Fremont. Several of the suspects suffered minor injuries, police said. 

The motive for the original shooting was not known. The man injured was taken to Stanford Medical Center. 

School district in turmoil 

SAN JOSE (AP) — A tiny school district near San Jose is experiencing big-time problems. 

The superintendent of the Luther Burbank school system has said he will resign and almost half of the district’s teachers promise to follow him. 

The turmoil is shaking the independent school district of 450 students, which is located near San Jose in an unincorporated part of Santa Clara County. 

The problems surfaced several weeks ago when the district’s superintendent, who is also principal of its only school, said he would resign. Superintendent Paul Madarang cited “irreconcilable and philosophical differences” with the district’s school board. 

Following his lead, eleven teachers and four other staff said they too would quit at the end of the school year. 

The district has been facing financial troubles, including the loss of a large federal grant for bilingual education. 

Gunman takes shot at police, ends up dead 

DALY CITY (AP) — A gunman who fled a highway median and fired at least one shot at police was killed Thanksgiving Day, police said. 

The man’s identity is being withheld, pending identification through the San Mateo County Coroner’s Officer. 

California Highway Patrol officers spotted the man alone in the center divider of Highway 280 Thursday night just opposite the southbound Westlake off ramp. 

Officers said they tried to talk him, but noticed he was carrying a handgun. The man then took cover in a wooded area. 

Daly City police were called to the scene as backup. Police exchanged gunfire with the man. The suspect was pronounced dead on scene.