A 43-year-old parolee plead guilty to killing an Oakland college teacher found in his car at Montara State Beach, reports the Chronicle.

Thomas reportedly wanted to take over Dennis’ identity, live under his name and take control of his assets, including his house and car.

Authorities said Thomas went to Dennis’ home in the Sequoyah Hills neighborhood of Oakland on Feb. 9. Thomas told investigators he shot and killed Dennis later that day and drove the body in the victim’s car to Montara State Beach in San Mateo County.

A sheriff’s deputy found Thomas sitting in the car about 11 p.m. with Dennis’ body under coverings in the backseat. Oakland police sent to Dennis’ home found evidence of a bloody struggle.

Thomas told investigators he met Dennis when he was 13, when Dennis mentored him in a program for disadvantaged youth.

The body of a man with a single gunshot wound to the head was found at Poplar Beach Wednesday morning, reports the County Times.

The police officer was conducting a regular patrol of the Poplar Beach parking lot on Wednesday morning at 4:25 a.m. when he came across a car with a white male inside, slumped back on the reclining driver’s seat. The man, a 40-year-old resident of Santa Clara whose name has not yet been released, appeared to have died of a single gunshot wound, O’Keefe said.

Police said they believe the shot was self-inflicted. O’Keefe cited as evidence the fact that the car doors were locked and a handgun was found inside. The man’s wallet and keys were with him and had not been stolen, he said.

Yesterday I sent the following email to Don Haug, the person in charge of air traffic emanating out of the San Carlos and Half Moon Bay airports. His phone number is 573-3700.

The HMB airport number is 573-3701. If you reach a live person there, it will most likely be either “Mike,” or DJ Cullins. When I called Mike yesterday, he told me that he didn’t need the plane identifying information because he could see them from the airport.

It took a bit of persuasion to get him to write down the numbers, but he eventually took them and said that he would write a report. I’m going over there today to see to what extent planes are visible when they’re flying low over Montara.

This issue bubbles to the surface now and then, so I know it’s a matter of concern for many of you. Please feel free to send your email address to me at PO Box 371295 if you’d like to contact me.

Hello Mr. Haug,

I spoke with you a number of weeks ago about pilots ignoring noise abatement rules when they fly small planes at low altitude over Montara. At that time, you said you would take action against a the pilot of Belair flight school plane N238542. I hope to hear from you what action was taken.

I don’t normally have time or inclination to take photographs of the planes as they go overhead, but now that I’m working from home—better said, trying to work in spite of the airplane noise— that’s no longer a problem. Since the planes prevent me from concentrating on my business, I’ve decided to take as many pictures as I can and identify the pilots who have been intelligent enough to make it through flight school, but somehow lack the ability to “be considerate to airport neighbors” and “avoid flying over homes whenever possible,” as is stated in the Half Moon Bay Airport noise abatement guidelines.

For instance, this past Saturday (6/21/08) between the hours of 11:12:59 and 12:23:24, I captured 29 images of planes flying low over this community. That’s 29 fly-overs in the space of approximately 70 minutes, or one noise abatement violation about every 2.4 minutes.

Today, Tuesday the 24th of June, I shot pictures between 14:23:48 and 14:38:18. In these 14+ minutes, I captured images of two planes making a combined total of 7 flights low overhead. That’s once about every 2 minutes. Here is a chart showing the time, the aircraft, and the corresponding image. The rest of the images were taken to show the aircraft approaching, turning and leaving the area. Long shots with structures and foliage, plus shots that capture fuselage numbers show how low and close these pilots are maneuvering. The camera used is a Canon EOS 20D with a 70-200 mm lens.

TIME         AIRCRAFT  IMAGE NUMBER 


----         --------  ------------                      


14:23:48     N2395V    2616


14:27:00     N67169    2623


14:28:24     N2395V    2624


14:31:56     N67169    2630


14:33:12     N2395V    2637


14:37:10     N67169    2644


14:38:18     N2395V    2652

That certainly doesn’t provide a full record of today’s flights (they began before and after I took out my camera. However, it is the beginning of what will be a very comprehensive look at which planes, from which companies, with which pilots at the controls, are turning a quiet coastside village into a headache for its residents.

I know that this issue has come up on numerous occasions over the years, but to my knowledge the actions of the pilots has not changed. I suspect that residents who have tried to restore order have simply despaired and quit trying to effect change. I don’t despair about anything except the aircraft noise that distracts me from my work, and that keeps me from being able to enjoy my moments of rest.

I hope that you and I, and perhaps the FAA and certain individuals in Congress will be able to change the harassing and abusive behavior of those pilots who don’t have consideration for the people of our local communities. If they don’t stop their activities, I hope they will see their pilot licenses revoked.

But perhaps one of the first places to start is with a change to the HMB noise abatement map which does not show Montara as a noise sensitive area. How can this be accomplished?

Sincerely,

Hans Andreas
Montara, CA
650-728-9518

I am visiting a relative here and read the article about bad behavior at a football game. How can adult citizens of Half Moon Bay allow naked people and egg & rock throwers etc to exhibit unacceptable behavior at a football game?

Has the excessively ostentatious ball fields gone to the communities head? Are your sports youths overindulged?

Where is the communities conscience? No public outcry and no suspension of ball games for a season after such behavior!

And, how can grown adults cheer when naked children run around the field? Shame on you!

I can only hope the grand jury’s investigation and hopeful indictments will teach what parents haven’t.

I remain,

Michael Sherman
West Palm Beach, Florida

That’s all the news we have right now, but the county advises planning an alternate route. We’ll let you know when the route is open again.

I have just received word from a contact in the County Airports department that to mark the start of Dream Machines this Sunday, at 10 AM there will be a LOUD blast from an air horn.  I asked, “how long?” He didn’t know but he emphasized loud.

Caltrans has set up one-way traffic control on Devil’s Slide from 8am until noon Sunday morning for “roadwork”.

After noon, you should confirm the status of Highway 1 at 511.org.

On the evening of April 15 several items were taken from our car including two bags and a cell phone.

The bag was a silver Tumi brand computer bag with the computer in it (unfortunately). The computer has a capital asset tag on it with a phone number on it. There was also a light blue scrapbooking bag with cropping tools and paper in it.The paper was returned to me by a gracious neighbor that found it.

If anyone knows where these items are I would greatly appreciate them being returned no questions asked. Please either take them to the Sheriff’s station, call the number on the asset tag and arrange for them to claim it or contact me at .