Stockton Ca

Police said they had no suspects in the shooting death of a Canadian teen-ager who friends say had dreamed about her own murder several nights earlier. Cherice Jacobsen, 16, of British Columbia, was shot to death early Friday morning after leaving a prayer meeting at the Christian Life Center in northern Stockton, authorities said. A church pastor and several of the victims' friends witnessed the shooting, but police said no one saw the killer.

An assistant youth football coach was arrested on suspicion of felony child abuse after allegedly rushing the field and assaulting a boy on the opposing team, police said. Cory Petero, 36, of Riverbank, Calif., turned himself in to Stockton police Saturday night after what witnesses described as a late hit that turned into a brawl, with parents and children from both teams fighting on the field. Referee Tim Winek said he had just called a penalty on Brian Wood, 13, a Stockton Bears player.

Fifteen years ago, tiny Gleason Park told the story of this hard-luck Central Valley town: It teemed with hoodlums, hookers and crack dealers. The city had battled to rid the park of its criminals but failed and ultimately gave up. For years, thugs and addicts freely shot, stabbed and robbed each other, blocks from the Police Department and City Hall. Nearby, pensioners huddled in houses they couldn't hope to sell. Today, the criminals are gone.

Fifteen years ago, tiny Gleason Park told the story of this hard-luck Central Valley town: It teemed with hoodlums, hookers and crack dealers. The city had battled to rid the park of its criminals but failed and ultimately gave up. For years, thugs and addicts freely shot, stabbed and robbed each other, blocks from the Police Department and City Hall. Nearby, pensioners huddled in houses they couldn't hope to sell. Today, the criminals are gone.

A Stockton man was killed and his 13-year-old companion wounded early Friday in a drive-by shooting police said may be gang related. Jesse Horn Jr., 19, was shot fatally as he and the 13-year-old walked down the street near Gleason Park in downtown Stockton about midnight, authorities said. The 13-year-old was hospitalized in stable condition.

A man who made a living repossessing property was shot to death while two of his daughters slept in the next room. Police have no suspects in Friday's killing of Billy Allmon, 43, of Stockton, a professional "collateral recovery agent" and the single father of daughters, 8, 16 and 18 years old. It's not clear whether Allmon's job as a repo man for Accurate Adjustments had anything to do with the shooting, police spokesman Sean Fenner said.

A man suspected of stealing an SUV and driving off with the owner clinging to the vehicle was charged with murder after the owner fell and died during a chase with police. Christopher Zanini, 26, of French Camp is accused of stealing a Chevy Suburban belonging to Angel Jimenez, 49, who jumped onto the vehicle to stop the theft Saturday, Stockton Police Department spokesman Pete Smith said. Zanini sped off and failed to stop when officers spotted the vehicle.

A woman who died, apparently from wounds caused by more than five nails in her skull, was found in the laundry room of her home Tuesday afternoon, the Police Department said. Norma Pescador's husband, Manolito, 43, told police that he fired the nails from a construction nail gun. He is being held without bail on suspicion of homicide.

A new middle school here to be named for author Maxine Hong Kingston received unanimous approval. So did the planned elementary schools that will honor Stockton's first African American schoolteacher and a local soldier who received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroism during the Vietnam War. But when it came to naming a school after the sitting president of the United States, school board members had different opinions.

The San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors will continue to pay to defend Sheriff Baxter Dunn, who is the target of a civil rights investigation. Two supervisors wanted to stop using tax money after hearing details of the allegations, but they were outvoted by three supervisors who said they saw no reason to stop paying a defense lawyer, who has charged $49,000 for seven weeks of work. Dunn is accused of physically abusing a Manteca man during an arrest in 1998.

The rising San Joaquin River flooded a habitat for endangered riparian brush rabbit and probably drowned 15 rabbits that were outfitted with tracking devices as part of a state program to help them recover. Many thought the Central Valley species extinct after a 1997 flood, said Patrick Kelly, who oversees the state's recovery effort.

A man suspected of stealing an SUV and driving off with the owner clinging to the vehicle was charged with murder after the owner fell and died during a chase with police. Christopher Zanini, 26, of French Camp is accused of stealing a Chevy Suburban belonging to Angel Jimenez, 49, who jumped onto the vehicle to stop the theft Saturday, Stockton Police Department spokesman Pete Smith said. Zanini sped off and failed to stop when officers spotted the vehicle.

Turning a battleship around is never easy -- especially in the politically roiled waters of the San Francisco Bay. Last July, San Francisco's county supervisors voted 8 to 3 against bringing the vintage World War II battleship Iowa to San Francisco as a permanent tourist attraction. Some opponents said they were taking a stand against both the war in Iraq and a military that boots out gays and lesbians, a powerful faction in local politics.

State investigators said Thursday that inhumane conditions and incompetence at a Stockton youth correctional facility may have contributed to the suicide of an 18-year-old inmate who was locked in his room alone nearly 24 hours a day for two months. In a blistering report, the state Office of the Inspector General admonished prison officials for denying the mentally unstable ward the ability to see family, meet with mental health counselors or take a walk while in lockdown.

A judge set bail at $200,000 Thursday for a Stockton woman charged with murder for allegedly dumping her newborn son in a trash can. Rozenara Chap, 19, has been held in the San Joaquin County Jail since she turned herself in to authorities earlier this month, a week after a resident found the dead baby. Deputy Dist. Atty. Janet Smith protested the bail amount, saying: "If she gets out, she's not coming back." But the judge said Chap was not a threat to society and had strong family ties.

The superintendent of the state's most notorious youth prison will be removed for using unreasonable force against a ward and failing to report the incident, corrections officials said Thursday. Steve Kruse, superintendent at Stockton's N.A. Chaderjian Youth Correctional Facility, has been on administrative leave since shortly after the May 27 incident. His appointment will be terminated Wednesday. His removal adds to the turmoil at the prison, which remains under federal investigation.

Talks between developers and environmentalists on Stockton's long-range growth have broken down, opening the door for residents to decide in November where to set boundaries for the city of 250,000. A compromise could not be reached after two weeks of meetings among participants that included the Sierra Club, former state Sen. Patrick Johnston and four major development firms. Preliminary growth maps drawn by city staffers show the city's boundaries extending to Lodi, Manteca and Lathrop.

The Port of Stockton's directors will complete an environmental report Monday explaining what will be done to limit degradation of air and water during the port's expansion onto Rough and Ready Island, but neighbors and environmental advocates are saying the expansion will increase noise and pollution. Both sides believe they may have to take the case to court to reach a consensus on how the expansion should take place.

San Francisco might be a lovely place to leave your heart, but it's not the place to park a battleship. Instead, look east to scrappy Stockton, where residents eagerly await the historic warship Iowa, which was spurned last week by San Francisco officials objecting to the war in Iraq and the military's treatment of gays. No such cautions were sounded in Stockton, where officials have orchestrated an aggressive battle plan to capture the Iowa.

The Diocese of Stockton will pay $3 million to settle a lawsuit alleging that a former Roman Catholic priest raped a boy in a church confessional while he forced the child to say penance. The settlement, announced Thursday, is the latest involving Oliver Francis O'Grady, a former Stockton priest who spent seven years in state prison for child molestation before U.S. immigration authorities deported him to Ireland in 2001.