By Denis Cuff
STAFF WRITER

Two men in a ski boat were injured this morning when their boat hit a levee on Bethel Island and sank, the U.S. Coast Guard reported.

At least one of the men was sent to a hospital.

The boat was traveling along Taylor Slough between Bethel and Jersey islands about 5 a.m. when it hit the levee on the Bethel Island side of the water, said Coast Guard Petty Office Matt Doby.

Only one of the men was accounted for initially. The other man later was found on land as the Coast Guard was about to launch a search-and- rescue helicopter to look for him, Doby said. The two men were believed to be in their 40s.

The Coast Guard sent a boat to the accident site. The Contra Costa County Sheriff’s marine patrol also responded, and took over the accident investigation.

By Bay City News

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) - A San Diego television reporter was arrested Friday evening on suspicion of battery against his girlfriend in a South San Francisco hotel, according to the Police Department.

Officers responded at about 7:50 p.m. to a hotel and found a 42-year-old woman whose mouth and upper lip area were injured, according to police. The woman and her boyfriend, 58-year-old Rodney “Ron” Luck, are both from La Jolla, police said.

The woman told police Luck hit her in the mouth with his fist, police said. She was treated at the scene and released after giving a statement.

Luck, a reporter on the television shows “Good Morning San Diego” and “Inside San Diego,” was arrested and booked into the Redwood City Jail on suspicion of battery, police said.

By Bay City News Service

Fires that ignited at two Bay Area Regional Transit substations today may mean that longer trains promised by the agency to shuttle commuters to the KFOG KaBoom! celebration in San Francisco this evening will not be available.

The extra train cars that were supposed to be added to BART trains are located in the Hayward substation yard, which is where one fire was, spokesman Linton Johnson said. The other fire was in the South Hayward substation.

The Hayward yard remained inaccessible at about noon, and if the problem is not restored, BART will not be able to run longer trains for the anticipated heavy crowds.

Celebration organizers are estimating that 350,000 people will attend the celebration that begins at 4 p.m. on piers 30-32. Fireworks are expected to start at 9 p.m.

A fire at about 4:35 a.m. in the South Hayward train yard cut power to the Hayward, South Hayward, Union City and Fremont stations, Johnson said.

Bus bridges began operating at about 6:30 a.m., with two buses running south and two running north between the Fremont and Bay Fair stations, Johnson said. Service was restored to the Hayward station at about 7:30 a.m.

A second fire ignited when a test train was running between the Hayward and Fremont to see if mechanical problems from the first fire were resolved, according to Johnson. When the train turned around in Fremont and headed back to Hayward it crossed over something that apparently caused the second fire at the substation.

Fire crews quickly extinguished the flames, and BART crews were continuing to work and find out what was going on in that area, Johnson said. Bus service was operating between the Hayward and Fremont station every 10 minutes at about 2 p.m., Johnson said. Other BART service is operating regularly.

By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) - Barack Obama erased Hillary Rodham Clinton’s once-imposing lead among superdelegates Saturday when he added more endorsements from the group of Democrats who will decide the party’s nomination for president.

Obama added superdelegates from Utah and Ohio, as well as two from the Virgin Islands who had previously backed Clinton. The additions enabled Obama to surpass Clinton’s total for the first time in the campaign. He had picked up nine endorsements Friday.

The milestone is important because Clinton would need to win over the superdelegates by a wide margin to claim the nomination. They are a group that Clinton owned before the first caucus, when she was able to cash in on the popularity of the Clinton brand among the party faithful.

Those party insiders, however, have been steadily streaming to Obama since he started posting wins in early voting states.

“I always felt that if anybody establishes himself as the clear leader, the superdelegates would fall in line,” said Don Fowler, a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

“It is perceived that he is the leader,” said Fowler, a superdelegate from South Carolina who supports Clinton. “The trickle is going to become an avalanche.”

Superdelegates are the party and elected officials who will automatically attend the Democratic national convention this August in Denver. They can support whomever they choose, regardless of what happens in the primaries.

They are key because neither Obama nor Clinton can win the nomination without them.

Nearly 800 superdelegates will attend the convention. Obama has endorsements from 275, according to the latest tally by The Associated Press. Clinton has 271.5.

Many of the superdelegates who endorsed Obama in the past week said it is time for the party to unite behind him. Obama is coming off a big win in North Carolina’s Democratic primary Tuesday. Clinton narrowly won the primary Indiana’s primary the same day, but Obama did better than many expected.

Since then, Obama has added 20 superdelegates since and Clinton has had a net increase of one.

Kevin Rodriquez of the Virgin Islands said in a statement that he switched from Clinton to Obama because he thinks Obama has brought energy and excitement to the party.

“He has shown he can connect with Democrats, Republicans and independents across this country, whether we live on the mainland or an island,” Rodriquez said.

By Dennis Cuff

Staff Writer

BART is struggling to restore train service between the Hayward and Fremont stations that was knocked out of commission at 4:26 a.m. today by a power substation fire.

BART continues to run buses to carry passengers between Hayward and Fremont.

Service is normal elsewhere on the rapid transit system. However, BART operators are uncertain whethe they will be able to run longer trains tonight to carry passengers to the KFOG Kaboom fireworks show. The extra cars needed currently cannot be moved from a Hayward storage yard because the power is out there, BART spokesman Linton Johnson.

“If we can’t get service started, we won’t have the longer trains tonight,” he said.

Power between the Hayward and Fremont stations was cut off by the early morning substation fire at BART’s south Hayward train yard. Crews quickly extinguished the flames, but there have been two more substation fires since then as BART tried to restore service, Johnson said.

BART initially ran buses every 15 minutes between Hayward and Fremont stations, but plans shortly to increase the frequency to every 10 minutes, Johnson said.

SACRAMENTO (AP) – California workers permanently injured on the job would get an average 16 percent increase in disability payments under proposed new rules.

The state Division of Workers’ Compensation says its disability formula is based on data that links wage losses to the type of injury.

The formula proposed Friday would be used to estimate how much a disabled worker could have earned if he or she wasn’t permanently injured. That would determine how much the employee should be paid.

Critics say the current disability formula is already too low, so a small increase isn’t nearly enough.

The proposed change will go through several months of public hearings and revisions before a final formula is adopted.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.

ESCONDIDO, Calif. (AP) – The last time angler Mac Weakley saw Dottie, the 25-pound big bass that gained worldwide attention for its size, she was on the end of his hook.The legendary big bass, which was released after its 2006 capture, was found belly-up this week in Escondido’s Dixon Lake. The Florida-strain largemouth bass had been dead about a day.

Nicknamed Dottie for a distinctive birthmark spot below her jawline, the dead fish measured 29½ inch long and weighed about 19-pounds. When Weakley caught Dottie two years earlier, she was bulging with eggs that significantly added to her weight.

Weakly never officially submitted the fish to shatter the bass record because he had foul-hooked the fish. He had accidentally hooked the fish below its dorsal fin instead of the mouth, something that would have stirred controversy in the fishing world.

After word got out about Dottie’s girth, catching the elusive bass became an obsession for many anglers who traveled to Escondido from as far away as Japan with their poles.

The biggest bass on record was caught at Georgia’s Montgomery Lake and weighed 22 pounds, 4 ounces.

For the past week, a camera crew working for the National Geographic Channel had been recording attempts by Weakley, 35, and Jed Dickerson, 35, to find and catch Dottie again.

Instead, the anglers were called in to identify the fish, which now sits in the ranger’s freezer.

Someone found Dottie floating among weeds, netted her and left her with an attendant at the boat dock. She had apparently died after spawning.

“That’s it that’s the fish,” Weakley said.

California Fish and Game officials are expected to come by Monday and take tissue samples so they can determine the fish’s age. Dottie was estimated to be between 15 to 17 years old at the time of her death.

Weakley and Dickerson said they were not unhappy that their two-year pursuit was over. Finding the big bass proved that they had not killed her in 2006 and that she had lived out her natural life.

Park ranger supervisor Jim Dayberry predicted that Dottie’s progeny could provide the next record fish.

“It could come tomorrow,” he said.

___

Information from: The San Diego Union-Tribune, http://www.signonsandiego.com

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.

SACRAMENTO (AP) _ A new study finds that more Californians are becoming nurses, thanks to a government initiative to address the state’s nursing shortage.

The report released Friday by the state Labor and Workforce Development Agency found that California nursing programs are projected to graduate nearly 10,400 registered nurses this year. That’s a 68 percent increase from the 2003-04 academic year.

The study attributes the increase to the California Nurse Education Initiative, which Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger launched in April 2005 to expand the number of nursing programs.

The state’s community colleges account for about 70 percent of registered nurse graduates.

But experts warn that it’s too early to say the state’s nursing shortage is over.

___

Information from: San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.

    By Bay City News Service

Two men were rescued from waters near Bethel Island this morning
after their boat capsized, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

The men, both in their 40s, were riding in a 23-foot ski boat when
they apparently crashed into the Bethel Island levee, Coast Guard Petty
Officer Danielle Couture said.

Both were ejected into the water at about 5 a.m., and rescued
about 45 minutes later, Couture said. The boat sunk.

The men were sent to a nearby hospital, Couture said. One was
experiencing hypothermia and the other hurt his leg, she said.
    
Copyright © 2008 by Bay City News, Inc. — Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.

By Associated Press

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) _ Riverside and San Bernardino county leaders are considering laws to ban sex offenders from driving ice cream trucks.

A proposed ordinance was scheduled to be considered Tuesday by the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors while Riverside County is drafting a similar proposal.

The laws would apply to unincorporated county areas. They would require background checks for drivers and bar those convicted in the past five years of sex offenses or other crimes, including burglary and drug dealing.

“These guys are totally unregulated,” said John Field, chief of staff for Riverside County Supervisor John Tavaglione, who is drafting the law.

“Their trucks look pretty bad. The guys inside look pretty sketchy,” he said. “Maybe it’s time to make them go through some kind of process so we know who’s out there dealing with our kids.”

Last year, residents of a Perris neighborhood waged an awareness campaign after discovering that a registered sex offender was driving an ice cream truck there. He has since left the area.

The campaign prompted Assemblyman Paul Cook to sponsor a state ban on sex offenders driving ice cream trucks. The measure effectively died recently and Cook has not decided whether to reintroduce it, said Matt Knox, a spokesman for the Yucca Valley Republican.

Several cities and at least two states, New York and Illinois, have in recent years have adopted such bans.

There are more than 250 ice cream trucks in San Bernardino County, said David Zook, spokesman for Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt. None of the drivers are on the state’s list of registered sex offenders, he said.

Riverside County has 346 ice cream trucks registered with the county Environmental Health Department, Deputy Director Steve Van Stockum said.

___

Information from: The Press-Enterprise, http://www.pe.com

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.