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Bay Area Briefs

Staff
Thursday August 15, 2002

Shark sighting prompts
closing of Stinson Beach
 

STINSON BEACH – A shark sighting at Stinson Beach means no swimming or surfing at the popular Marin County spot through the weekend. 

The National Park Service closed the waters off the beach Tuesday after a shark was spotted patrolling offshore. 

A group of youths told lifeguards they saw the shark about 100 yards offshore, according to park service spokesman Rich Weideman. 

On May 31, a surfer was attacked by a shark. He survived, but needed 100 stitches to close his wounds and spent a week in a hospital. 

 

County to get $1.6 million for
solar energy at Santa Rita jail
 

DUBLIN – Alameda County officials will gather at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin Wednesday to receive a $1.6 million check from PG&E, a result of the county's investment in solar energy. 

The check is a rebate under the state's Self-Generation Incentive Program, in which the Pacific Gas & Electric Co. gives money back to those who build sources of renewable energy to help underwrite the installation. 

The $1.6 million rebate for Alameda County is the largest that the utility has given out. 

The solar panel on the roof of the jail, installed by Berkeley's PowerLight Corp., is believed to be the largest rooftop harvester of solar power in the United States and the fourth-largest solar installation in the world. 

Spreading out three acres and composed of some 9,000 photovoltaic tiles, the solar energy unit can produce 1.18 megawatts of electricity – or enough to power 1,100 homes. 

 

Wyoming man with loaded gun
arrested at San Jose airport
 

SAN JOSE — A Wyoming man arrested after airport security screeners discovered a loaded semi-automatic handgun in his carryon luggage was being held in Santa Clara County jail. 

William Simmons, 57, was arrested around 2:45 Tuesday afternoon at Mineta San Jose International Airport after a screener found the gun in his luggage and notified police, said Officer Joseph Deras, a spokesman with the San Jose Police Department. 

Simmons was being held on charges of possessing a concealed loaded firearm, Deras said. Simmons was uncooperative with police and had to be forcibly arrested, he said. Simmons was taken to a nearby hospital after complaining he was hyperventilating. He was examined and released, Deras said.