Copyright 1995 The San Diego Union-Tribune
The San Diego Union-Tribune
May 25, 1995, Thursday
SECTION: NEWS; Ed. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8; Pg. A-3
LENGTH: 644 words SERIES: State Update
BODY: Snow delays opening of Yosemite roads
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK -- Yosemite's high-country roads won't be opened in time for the busy Memorial Day weekend because of heavy snow, park officials said yesterday.
Tioga and Glacier Point roads normally are opened by the end of May, but will remain closed at least until mid-June this year.
Road crews have been slowed by up to 16 feet of snow covering several layers of ice since they began plowing Tioga Road on April 17. Crews have been able to plow only 23 miles of the 47-mile road from Crane Flat gate to Tioga Pass, park officials said.
And because of extremely wet soil conditions, campgrounds along Tioga and Glacier Point roads aren't expected to begin opening until late June or early July.
FBI focuses on labs in hunt for Unabomber The search for the Unabomber has the FBI questioning staff members and searching laboratories at colleges and universities throughout Northern California.
"These interviews are a logical outgrowth of previous interviews conducted within and around machine shops in the (San Francisco) Bay area," FBI spokesman George Grotz said.
Two FBI agents interviewed school officials at the College of Marin's Kentfield and Indian Valley campuses May 17, and at Dominican College last Friday.
The FBI said it was looking for possible suspects, including former students or employees who may have had access to chemicals in science labs or in machine and maintenance shops.
Since 1978, the Unabomber has killed three people and injured 23 with 16 explosive devices sent through the mail. Nine of those bombs were aimed at universities.
Court takes dim view of anti-loitering law FRANCISCO -- A judge is about to pull the teeth from a city ordinance banning loitering within 30 feet of automatic teller machines.
The law making it illegal to linger for more than a minute near ATMs when customers are doing business was passed as Proposition J by the San Francisco electorate last June.
The test case pits the city against Lloyd Maxwell, 45, a homeless man who was arrested in the Tenderloin district Aug. 20 after he was observed seated near a Wells Fargo ATM, holding a paper cup.
Municipal Court Judge Wallace P. Douglas on Tuesday said that the ordinance, on its face, attempts to prohibit constitutionally protected activity such as speechmaking, voter registration or distributing leaflets.
He declined to grant a demurrer sought by Maxwell's lawyer, Deputy Public Defender Grace Suarez, but strongly indicated that the ordinance needs more work.
Santa Clara yields, repeals smoking ban The city is repealing its tough anti-smoking law.
The City Council, bowing to restaurant owners who said the law hurt business, voted Tuesday to overturn the ordinance.
But that doesn't mean you can light up anywhere. A new state measure bans smoking in most commercial places but temporarily allows it in bars, and will replace the city law. Associated Press
Travel-trailer blast, fire kill 3; girl survives
GRASS VALLEY -- A father and two children died when a fire raced through their trailer home. Another youngster was in critical condition yesterday with third-degree burns on 85 percent of her body.
Nevada County sheriff's deputies said the fire broke out after an explosion tore apart the 25-foot travel trailer shortly before 11 p.m. Tuesday. Other houses in the area were shaken by the force of the blast, they said.
The explosion was under investigation. The victims were living in the trailer while their permanent home was being rebuilt. Their names were withheld pending notification of relatives.
The children's mother wasn't home at the time of the explosion.
Officials at University Medical Center in Sacramento said the surviving child, an 8-year-old girl, was in critical condition in the hospital's burn unit.