Anything interesting where you are?

Danny Tse

In national news, we hear about yet another oil rig explosion, the unemployment rate, dismal car sales, etc., but what's happening in your neck of the woods?

From the San Francisco peninsula....

When Mary Bollero heard that her dog was found after seven years she was elated. A vet found the dog by scanning the animal for a micro chip, but before she could get to the vets office he gave the dog away.

"Little Girl was my little girl, she was part of the family," said Bollero.

She was crushed when her dog was stolen seven years ago and elated when just nine days ago she got a call in the middle of the night that her dog had been found.

"Your Little Girl has been found and you need to go pick her up at the emergency vet hospital," recalled Bollero.

Bollero rushed to the veterinary clinic where the dog had been scanned and a microchip found, but by the time she got there the dog was gone and given back to the couple that bought it in.

"They were still wanting to keep the dog and felt that it was their dog," said Noel Koeman, the emergency clinic manager.

The manager of the clinic says he called the Peninsula Humane Society and was told anyone who finds a dog and keeps it for 30 days without anybody claiming it, the dog is theirs.

"Again, it's not a law, it's just what most shelters use as a general rule of thumb," says Scott Delucchi fromt eh Peninsula Humane Society.

Koeman said he heard the same thing from the San Mateo Police.

"Because the people had the dog more than 30 days, under the law it was now their dog. It doesn't make sense to me, but I'm bound to oblige it," said Koeman.

So when Bollero got to the clinic with the dog's license and papers, the police report from seven years ago, none of that mattered.

"My dog had been given to the person that brought the dog in. I was absolutely horrified," said Bollero.

The veterinary clinic did put the Bollero on the phone with the young man who took her dog.

"He said I found your dog. I love your dog and I'm not giving your dog back," said Bollero.

When asked why the clinic didn't just wait until the woman got there with the documents to prove that the dog was hers, Koeman replied, "Well again we were following the instructions we were given."

When Koeman was asked what about common sense in this case, he replied, "Well common sense is one thing, the law is another."

The watch commander at the San Mateo Police Department said he was not on duty when this happened, but he has never heard of a 30-day finders keepers law.

ABC7 tried to speak with the South San Francisco man who has the dog, but the clinic could give out his information or give his information to Bollero. For any information, the manager said Bollero would have to get a subpoena.

messiah

Wow, San Fran sure has some funny laws! If you steal a dog, and manage to keep it for 30 days you get to keep it? I wonder if the same applies to a car.

fatchowmein

Well, it didn't happen in my neck of the woods but I heard a story on news radio on the way into work. Some parents are suing a shop teacher. On the day of an electricity experiment, their son decided to attach one of the nodes/clips to his nipple, the other node/clip to his friend's nipple, while another friend plugged the wire into a 110v outlet. Kid was dead for 3 minutes before EMS was able to revive him and it looks like he may have brain damage. Parents are suing because the shop teacher didn't teach their son that electricity was dangerous. No age or grade level was given in that report but I'm assuming 8th grade or higher.

mhardy6647

hurricane passing by off the coast (Cape Cod).

messiah

fatchowmein wrote: »

Well, it didn't happen in my neck of the woods but I heard a story on news radio on the way into work. Some parents are suing a shop teacher. On the day of an electricity experiment, their son decided to attach one of the nodes/clips to his nipple, the other node/clip to his friend's nipple, while another friend plugged the wire into a 110v outlet. Kid was dead for 3 minutes before EMS was able to revive him and it looks like he may have brain damage. Parents are suing because the shop teacher didn't teach their son that electricity was dangerous. No age or grade level was given in that report but I'm assuming 8th grade or higher.

The shop teacher needs to file a counter-suit for them breeding.

Sherardp

Typhoon just ripped through last week, another on the way tonight. Other than crappy weather, bought a new car, the military is in the news and have been issued a midnight curfew, and the Japanese want us the hell out of the country.

Polkersince85

My hotdog buns were sliced on the wrong side.

tonyb

Polkersince85 wrote: »

My hotdog buns were sliced on the wrong side.

Damn,and I thought I had it rough.:)

Saw a story last week of an elementary school principle banning the Happy Birthday song...you know that singing in all is disruptive to other cultures.

Danny Tse

Gas Line Rupture Resulted in Giant Explosion. This is very close to San Francisco International Airport, but the area affected is mostly residentual. "Mutual Help" from other Bay Area fire departments has been requested. As of this post: 53 homes destroyed, 120 homes damaged.

SAN BRUNO, Calif. – The utility company that serves the San Francisco Bay area says one of its gas lines ruptured in the area where a massive blast and fire destroyed homes and sent residents fleeing.

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. officials said in an e-mailed statement that the ruptured gas line was theirs, although they cautioned that the cause of the blast has yet to be determined.

The company said it would "take accountability" if it was found to be responsible for the explosion.

Utility crews were on the scene in San Bruno in the hills south of San Francisco working with emergency officials as the explosion was investigated.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

SAN BRUNO, Calif. (AP) — A massive fire burned homes as it roared through a mostly residential neighborhood in the hills south of San Francisco following a loud explosion that shot a fireball more than 1,000 feet into the air and sent frightened residents fleeing for safety Thursday.

A local fire chief said a gas line explosion likely caused the blast that sent flames tearing through the streets, incinerating possibly more than a dozen homes just after 6 p.m.

"We believe it's a high-pressure gas line that's blown," San Bruno Fire Chief Dennis Haag told KPIX-TV.

Pacific Gas and Electric, the utility company that serves the San Francisco Bay area, had crews in the area investigating the possibility of a natural gas explosion but had no additional information, said spokesman J.D. Guidi.

Following the initial blast, flames reached as high as 60 feet in the air as the fire fueled itself on burning homes. Planes and helicopters flew over the neighborhood dumping water in an effort to stanch the flames.

Witnesses said the blaze was preceded by a loud explosion and huge fireball. They described seeing residents fleeing for safety and rushing to get belongings out of their burning homes.

Connie Bushman returned home to find her block was on fire. She said she ran into her house looking for her 80-year-old father but could not find him. A firefighter told her he had left, but she had not been able to track him down.

"I don't know where my father is, I don't know where my husband is, I don't know where to go," Bushman said.

Victims suffering from serious burns began arriving at San Francisco Bay area hospitals shortly after the blast. An estimate of the number of injured was not immediately available. Hospitals reported receiving at least four victims in critical condition but anticipated more.

Jane Porcelli, 62, said she lives on a hill above where the fire is centered. She said she thought she heard a plane overhead with a struggling engine.

"And then you heard this bang. And everything shook except the floor, so we knew it wasn't an earthquake," Porcelli said.

"I feel helpless that I can't do anything. I just gotta sit by and watch."
Stephanie Mullen, Associated Press news editor for photos based in San Francisco, was attending children's soccer practice with her two children and husband at Crestmoor High School when she saw the blast at 6:14 p.m.

"First, it was a low deep roar and everybody looked up, and we all knew something big was happening," she said. "Then there was a huge explosion with a ball of fire that went up behind the high school several thousand feet into the sky.

"Everybody grabbed their children and ran and put their children in their cars," Mullen said. "It was very clear something awful had happened."

Several minutes later, Mullen was near the fire scene, about a half-mile away in a middle-class neighborhood of 1960s-era homes in hills overlooking San Francisco, the bay and the airport. She said she could feel the heat of the fire on her face although she was three or four blocks away from the blaze. It appeared the fireball was big enough to have engulfed at least several homes.
"I could see families in the backyards of the homes next to where the fire was, bundling their children and trying to get them out of the backyards," she recounted.

She said people in the neighborhood were yelling, "This is awful," "I live down there," and "My family is down there."

Judy and Frank Serrsseque were walking down a hill away from the flames with a makeshift wagon carrying important documents, medication and three cats.

Judy Serrsseque said she heard an explosion, saw that fire was headed toward their home and knew they had to leave. As they fled, they said they saw people burned and people struggling to get their things out of burning houses.

"We got everything together, and we just got out," Judy Serrsseque. "Mostly we're wondering if we have a house to go back to."

Let's go to the video....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-N3aaLwDkT8