Alameda County Ca

A black woman has attained the rank of captain for the first time in the 150-year history of the Alameda County Sheriff's Department. LaDonna Harris, 46, a 22-year department veteran and married mother of four, was sworn in Friday. About 13% of the Alameda County Sheriff's Department's 1,000 sworn officers are women, including two captains, a commander, three lieutenants and 15 sergeants.

PG&E Corp., the San Francisco-based parent of Pacific Gas & Electric Co., on Tuesday proposed building an $850-million natural-gas fueled power plant in Alameda County, near Oakland, to meet rising electricity demand. The utility acquired the Tesla Generating Station site and development rights July 17 from closely held ESI Energy, PG&E said Tuesday in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The utility wants state regulatory approval by Jan.

Alameda County declared a local state of emergency Thursday because of the high incidence of HIV/AIDS infection among African Americans, hoping to place the region at the head of the line for new federal funding aimed at staunching the epidemic.

Alameda County fire officials say a 3-year-old boy died in a fire he accidentally set inside his family's home. The child's grandfather told firefighters the blaze started Thursday night when the youngster poked a piece of cardboard into the fireplace and then placed the burning object on a sofa bed. The grandfather says he tried to extinguish the flames with a glass of water and a garden hose while the boy hid in the bathroom.

A couple have sued Alameda County, claiming that their adopted daughter had not been tested for HIV. The unidentified couple said that although county child welfare workers assured them the girl was healthy, she suffered unexplained illnesses, rashes and infections, the San Jose Mercury News reported. They first cared for the girl as a foster child and learned after adopting her that she was infected with HIV, according to the lawsuit.

A Superior Court has turned down a request by Cerritos and 35 other California cities to block a key part of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's $15-billion borrowing plan. The cities filed a suit on March 4 asking the court to bar the state from raiding their sales tax revenues to repay the deficit bond. Under the plan approved by voters March 2, the state would dedicate a quarter-cent of the sales tax, which cities normally would keep, toward repaying the bond.

Alameda County shoppers have begun to pay an additional half-cent sales tax to fund public health services. In March, 70.8% of voters approved the tax hike to 8.75% to generate an estimated $90 million a year for the county Medical Center and private healthcare providers serving indigent and Medi-Cal patients.

Advocates sued Tuesday to halt the planned closure of two Alameda County health clinics that serve 25,000 low-income and disabled patients. The suit seeks an injunction to stop the closures of the Central Health Center in Oakland and the outpatient clinic at Fairmont Hospital in San Leandro. A hearing is scheduled for June 26. The Alameda County Medical Center board decided in April to close two of its six outpatient clinics by June 30 to fill a $12-million budget gap.

Five years ago, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors got special state legislation to form a new governing body -- the first one like it in California -- to oversee the county's troubled public health system. Now, the bold experiment is faltering. Five of the 11 trustees on the Alameda County Medical Center Authority Board recently resigned, the chief executive has been fired and the authority faces a growing deficit now estimated at $63 million.

Alameda County has opened its new jail, nicknamed the "Santa Rita Hilton" by area residents because of its $174-million price tag, high-tech innovations and rooms with windows. The new jail replaces the overcrowded converted Navy barrack that has housed county prisoners since 1946.

Hundreds of trash haulers could be back at work Monday after a monthlong lockout that has left garbage piling up around Alameda County. Union workers are scheduled to vote today on a new contract with Waste Management Inc. and end the bitter labor dispute that led the Houston-based company to lock out 481 employees, mostly drivers, on July 2 after contract talks broke down.

The family of a Newark, Calif., man has filed a $10-million claim against an Alameda County jail, alleging that the staff ignored his calls for help as he slowly died from internal bleeding. Michael Decoite, 42, suffocated last year as the bleeding blocked his ability to breathe, according to a claim filed Thursday against the county's Santa Rita jail. He died at a hospital after he was found barely responsive in the jail's infirmary.

A massive Bay Area jail will unveil a state-of-the-art cell today, but it's not the kind that holds prisoners. Instead, Alameda County officials will show off California's largest fuel cell, a battery-like system expected to cut the Santa Rita Jail's yearly electric bill by more than $260,000. The $6.1-million undertaking, funded in part with $2.

Voters in Alameda County, the most strongly Democratic of the state's big counties, will use paper ballots for tonight's election, raising fears that a tardy vote count might delay overnight results for the party's gubernatorial primary. The battle between state Treasurer Phil Angelides and state Controller Steve Westly was a dead heat going into today's election, and both candidates were counting on an advantage in Alameda County, home to an estimated 5.7% of the state's 6.6 million Democrats.

The California Supreme Court on Thursday rejected claims that a judge advised a prosecutor to remove prospective jurors from a death penalty trial because they were Jewish. The justices found insufficient evidence of misconduct by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Stanley Golde, who died in 1998. A misconduct finding could have led the courts to overturn dozens of death sentences.

A grass-roots advocacy group sued the state in Alameda County Superior Court this week, seeking more time for the Legislature to review alternatives to the high school exit exam. If successful, thousands of public high school students in the class of 2006 who have failed the test would receive their diplomas. The suit was brought by the nonprofit San Francisco law firm Public Advocates on behalf of the Californians for Justice Education Fund.

PG&E Corp., the San Francisco-based parent of Pacific Gas & Electric Co., on Tuesday proposed building an $850-million natural-gas fueled power plant in Alameda County, near Oakland, to meet rising electricity demand. The utility acquired the Tesla Generating Station site and development rights July 17 from closely held ESI Energy, PG&E said Tuesday in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The utility wants state regulatory approval by Jan.

Hundreds of trash haulers could be back at work Monday after a monthlong lockout that has left garbage piling up around Alameda County. Union workers are scheduled to vote today on a new contract with Waste Management Inc. and end the bitter labor dispute that led the Houston-based company to lock out 481 employees, mostly drivers, on July 2 after contract talks broke down.

Alameda County officials voted this week to force Altamont Pass windmill operators to take action to reduce bird fatalities in one of the nation's most productive wind power regions. The Board of Supervisors voted 4 to 1 Thursday to renew 29 permits covering more than 3,600 wind turbines in the pass, which has become a death trap for thousands of migrating birds that collide with fast-rotating turbine blades.

Windmills in the Altamont Pass near Livermore will be partially shut down this winter to protect birds that have been flying into turbine blades and dying in large numbers. This is the first time since the wind farm opened 24 years ago that the operation will be curtailed to protect migrating birds and raptors, such as golden eagles, red-tailed hawks and Western burrowing owls.