Leandro

California’s secretary of state has officially certified Alameda County’s upgraded voting machines, paving the way for instant runoff voting in some cities’ elections, likely including next year’s Oakland’s mayoral race. The certification from Secretary of State Debra Bowen could allow the cities of Oakland, Berkeley and San Leandro to bypass a possible June primary for city elections and instead just hold one vote for those races in November. Instant runoff voting — also called ranked choice voting, as county officials refer to it — is where voters rank their choice of candidates in the fall’s general election. Oakland voters approved instant runoff voting under ... Read Full Story

The Barack Obama Freshman Campus could be the name of San Leandro High School’s new adjunct campus, or it just might be named for Stephen Colbert. The nominations are in for the new freshman campus, to open next year at 13900 E. 14th St. The campus, just a short walk from San Leandro High, will be home to 700 to 800 freshmen to ease overcrowding at the high school. Other possible namesakes for the campus are Maya Angelou, Al Gore, Bill Lockyer and Cesar Chavez, all on a list of 29 names submitted by 73 people and groups. On Tuesday, school board trustees will ... Read Full Story

OAKLAND — A man arrested at the West Oakland BART station Saturday was held on battery charges after a thick glass window broke during his arrest, badly cutting the BART police officer at the scene, officials said. BART officials held a news conference Sunday to address the incident because a video of the arrest was posted on YouTube.com . Posted under the title “BART cop breaks window w/drunk guy’s face,” the video is shot from inside a train and shows Michael Joseph Gibson, a 37-year-old San Leandro man, shouting at other riders. In the video, an officer enters the train, grabs Gibson and walks ... Read Full Story

SAN LEANDRO — Newark resident Andrew “Rudy” Limtiaco was driving to his job as a video editor with KTVU Channel 2 about 4:15 a.m. Wednesday when he saw a burning van upside down in the center median on north Interstate 880 near Marina Boulevard. Limtiaco — who moonlights as a reserve police officer with the Hayward Police Department — pulled his car over onto the shoulder and made his way across the freeway. “The vehicle was engulfed in flames,” he said. “No emergency vehicles were there. I called the assignment desk at Channel 2 to tell them I was going to be late for ... Read Full Story

SAN LEANDRO — Police arrested a suspected bank robber as he hailed a cab near the San Leandro BART station on Tuesday. Shortly before 2:30 p.m., officers responded to a report of a robbery at Fremont Bank, 1480 E. 14th St. in San Leandro. A teller told police a man had entered the bank and demanded money. Fearing he was armed, the teller complied. Responding officers saw a man matching the description of the bank robber getting into a cab at the BART station about six blocks away, police said. Officer arrested the man, 42-year-old transient Virgil Thomas Lee. Lee is on parole in ... Read Full Story