Courting Justice for Veterans

FED GOVT FAILED TO TWIN REFERENDUM STATE PRIMARY, INSPECT OIL WELLS PRO-RUSSIAN INSURGENTS: UKRAINE REGION VOTES FOR CHIEF OF SCHOOLS SOVEREIGNY WORLD PAGE 7 BUSINESS PAGE 10 STATE PAGE 6 Leading local news coverage on the Peninsula Monday • May 12, 2014 • Vol XIII,Edition 229 www.smdailyjournal.com Courting justice for veterans San Mateo County Veterans Court offers alternative to incarceration,unique support By Michelle Durand vets had to be better than what I was alternative San Mateo County country was the impetus behind the ans court, say organizers — but DAILY JOURNAL STAFF looking at,” he said. Superior Court program and facing a county’s Veterans Court. The treat- those who succeed get their records Sixteen months later — months future he hopes includes mentoring ment court launched in July 2012, expunged and sealed, their fines for- When a judge first told Kyle he of regular bi-weekly check-ins with others and establishing a nonprofit joining the county’s other diversion- given and often a new view on life. could go to Veterans Court to Judge Jack Grandsaert, attending retreat for others in his position. ary alternatives that offer partici- “It’s important because we owe vet- resolve his alcohol-related run-ins services with the Department of “Sometimes you have to go down pants therapy, substance abuse reha- erans different treatment. We’re rec- with the law, the 29-year-old former Veterans Affairs and dealing with to go back up,” said Kyle, who asked bilitation and support in place of ognizing they are the ones serving Army infantryman said he had no his post-traumatic stress disorder that his last name not be used. incarceration. The program isn’t and protecting us and in doing so idea what that meant or the hard from tours in Afghanistan and Iraq Helping convicted veterans like easy — some defendants opt for developed PTSD or traumatic brain work that was in store. — the once-guarded and defensive Kyle reach those heights and giving straight probation rather than the “But I figured anything set up for veteran is the third graduate of the back to those who’ve given to their strict rules and supervision of veter- See COURT, Page 19 Concerns over CSM INTO FINAL FOUR Eshoo faces charterschool not subsiding Republican Complaints center on location at Mills High By Angela Swartz challengers DAILY JOURNAL STAFF Primary vote slated June 3 for Hundreds turned out to a high school district board meeting District 18 congressional seat last week for and against a new By Samantha Weigel design tech charter being placed at DAILY JOURNAL STAFF Mills High School, as some feel it will put even more strain on stu- U.S. Rep. Anna dents who had a tough year with Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, Advanced Placement test invalida- will have to defend her tions and that the decision was seat to represent the made without transparency. Parents learned at the end of 18th District in March the San Mateo Union High Congress against three School District approved sending a Republican opponents letter to the new charter offering in the June 3 primary six Mills classrooms, each with election who say the Anna Eshoo 960 square feet of space. Safety, nation’s current big financial costs of the school to the government policies district and traffic issues were also are eroding personal of concern. Design Tech High liberties. School’s leadership wanted it to be Bruce Anderson, a housed at Burlingame High TERRY BERNAL/DAILY JOURNAL Palo Alto resident and a The Lady Bulldogs celebrate their walk-off win in Sunday’s Super Regional at the College of San math and science See MILLS, Page 20 Mateo on a hotly disputed call at home plate. teacher at Westmont High School in Bruce Anderson Campbell, said he wants to simplify the government starting Attorney,commissioner run for judge slot with taxes and give cit- izens more say on how Seat to be vacated by upcoming retirement of Judge Craig Parsons Congress chooses to By Michelle Durand one of two San Mateo County Daily Journal to discuss their spend their money. Oscar Braun, a Half DAILY JOURNAL STAFF Superior Court judge positions qualifications and why they are before voters on the June 3 bal- seeking the job. While both were Moon Bay resident who Oscar Braun San Mateo County voters have lot. The other, Office Four, was quite open about their general is the executive direc- a rare opportunity next month to vacated by Beth Freeman, who views, judicial candidates are lim- tor of the coastside’s choose their next judge in a con- was named to the federal bench. It ited in that they cannot discuss California Watershed tested race between two candi- is being contested between Susan concrete details about what they Posse and a former web- dates who tout their experience in L. Greenberg and Jeffrey Hayden. would and would not do on the site designer, said he the courtroom — one as a sitting In California, judges serve six- bench. wants local control and court commissioner and another year terms and are elected in non- Garratt, 46, spent nine years would reduce or disperse as a trial attorney for two Stephanie Ray partisan races. Vacancies on the bench as a commissioner most federal agencies decades. Garratt Buenaventura between elections are filled by before court cuts eliminated three or departments. Stephanie Garratt and Ray gubernatorial appointments. of the seven positions including Richard Fox, a Los Richard Fox Buenaventura are seeking the ing retirement of Judge Craig Both Buenaventura and Garratt seat to be vacated by the upcom- Parsons. The Office Six spot is sat down individually with the See JUDGE, Page 8 See CONGRESS, Page 28 Family Owned & Operated Established: 1949 2 Monday • May 12, 2014 FOR THE RECORD THE DAILY JOURNAL Thought for the Day “Dissent is not sacred; the right of dissent is.” — Thurman Arnold,American lawyer (1891-1969) This Day in History The Soviet Union lifted the Berlin Blockade, which the Western powers 1949 had succeeded in circumventing with their Berlin Airlift. In 1780, during the Revolutionary War, the besieged city of Charleston, South Carolina, surrendered to British forces. In 1870, an act creating the Canadian province of Manitoba was given royal assent, to take effect in July. In 1914, author and broadcast journalist Howard K. Smith was born in Ferriday, Louisiana. In 1922, a 20-ton meteor crashed near Blackstone, Virginia. In 1932, the body of Charles Lindbergh Jr., the kidnapped son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh, was found in a wooded area near Hopewell, New Jersey. In 1937, Britain’s King George VI was crowned at Westminster Abbey; his wife, Elizabeth, was crowned as queen consort. In 1943, during World War II, Axis forces in North Africa surrendered. The two-week Trident Conference, headed by REUTERS President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Denmark’s goaltender Simon Nielsen fails to save a goal of Norway’s Ken Andre Olimb (unseen) during the second period Winston Churchill, opened in Washingt on. of their men's ice hockey World Championship Group A game at Chizhovka Arena in Minsk. In 1958, the United States and Canada signed an agreement to create the North American Air Defense Command (later the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD). In other news ... In 1963, Betty Miller became the first woman to fly solo New Mexico librarian blame for a series of recent car “Blinkah” is how Bostonians across the Pacific Ocean as she landed her Piper Apache in break-ins. pronounce “blinker,” otherwise Brisbane, Australia, having left Oakland, California, on finds letters from 1967 The New Hampshire Fish and known as a turn signal. April 30, making three stopovers along the w ay. FARMINGTON, N.M. — A New Game Department says several The signs are scheduled to stay In 1970, the Senate voted unanimously to confirm Harry A. Mexico librarian discovered a cars have been broken into over up through the Mother’s Day on Blackmun as a Supreme Court justice. blast from the past, specifically the last few weeks in the same Sunday, which state officials say In 1982, in Fatima, Portugal, security guards overpowered 1967. North Conway neighborhood. is one of the busiest traffic days of a Spanish priest armed with a bayonet who attacked Pope Lola Delaney tells The Daily Officials say the likely culprit is a the year. John Paul II. (In 2008, the pope’s longtime private secretary Times that she was recently clean- bear looking for food. Drivers who fail to use their revealed that the pontiff was slightly wounded in the ing the library of Hermosa Middle Terry Leavitt tells WMUR-TV “blinkah” when changing lanes on assault.) School in Farmington when she the radio was pulled out of her a Massachusetts highway are sub- went through a cardboard box. dashboard. The interior was ripped je ct to a fi ne . Po li ce ac ro ss th e Delaney says inside were 31 let- apart and a window was smashed. state handed out almost 5,000 Birthdays ters all dated April 196 7. Other residents also reported simi- tickets for the offense last year. According to the letters, they lar damage. were written by students and meant Conway police Sgt. George Authorities help to be given to the class of 1987. Walker says it’s a common occur- runaway cows get back home In the letters, the students touch rence this time of year as bears on numerous topics including the stop hibernating and search for GRAFTON, N.Y. — Five cows Vietnam War, the space race and food.

Load more