Editorials

East Bay park district  

acquires new land 

SAN RAMON – The East Bay Regional Park District says it will be able to purchase a 196-acre ranch next to the Las Trampas Regional Preserve with a grant recently approved by the State Coastal Conservancy. 

With the $438,000 grant approved by the conservancy Thursday and its own matching funds, the park district will buy the undeveloped land and add it to the San Ramon Valley preserve. 

The property lies on the border of Alameda and Contra Costa counties south of Bollinger Canyon Road. It has been owned since the 1930s by the Mueller family, which is selling the land to the East Bay Regional Park District for almost $400,000 less than its appraised value, according to the conservancy. 

A conservancy spokesman says the property contains oak woodlands, chaparral-covered hillsides, small ponds and over a half-mile of Bollinger Creek. Much of the property is known or likely habitat for endangered or threatened species such as the Alameda whipsnake and the California red-legged frog, as well as mountain lions, bobcats, eagles and rainbow trout, the spokesman says. 

Man falls from building, dies
OAKLAND – The Alameda County Coroner's Office says an autopsy will be conducted today on an 28-year-old Oakland man who died in a fall at a lumber yard in the 4000 block of Coliseum Way this morning. 

Oakland police say that homicide detectives were notified about the 4:15 a.m. death, but are not investigating because it appears the death was accidental. 

A coroner's spokesman says the man apparently died after jumping over a razor fence from the roof of a tin shed. He said it is unclear what the man was doing on the property, noting that he was not an employee of the lumber yard. 

The victim's identity has not been released, pending notification of next of kin. 

Fury over flags  

SAN FRANCISCO — Ed Yee says he loves America for the opportunities it has given him and his family. 

But now San Francisco’s public works department is pushing police to arrest him amid complaints by North Beach business owners that Yee is plastering Old Glory over their traditional Italian flags and decor. 

Yee has spent years decorating North Beach — San Francisco’s Italian neighborhood — with American flags. He defends his actions as patriotic. 

He ramped up his efforts after Sept. 11 and is now protesting the city’s effort to spruce up the area with more Italian flags to attract tourists. 

Yee says public money should have been spent to add American flags rather than painting light poles and trash cans in red, white and green — the national colors of Italy. 

Car wreck fuels fire  

POINT REYES STATION – The Marin County Fire Department reports a four-vehicle accident east of Point Reyes Station Sunday sent six people to the hospital with serious injuries and sparked a small grass fire. 

A fire department spokesman said the collision took place on Point Reyes-Petaluma Road near Platform Bridge Road at 2:15 p.m. 

Two seriously injured patients were taken by helicopter to area hospitals, while two adults were taken to Marin General Hospital and two children to Kaiser Hospital in Terra Linda by ground ambulance. 

While at the scene, emergency crews accidentally sparked a small grass fire with a traffic flare, but units at the scene controlled the fire before it grew beyond control.