Suspect Arraigned on Assault Charge in County Superior Court
A Vallejo man was arraigned Monday in Santa Clara County Superior Court in San Martin on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and intimidating a witness. Alfred R. Digiandomenico, 38, had previously entered a plea of “not guilty.” A trial date was set in the case for Jan. 17 at 8:30am.
Digiandomenico is accused of running over his wife in his Ford F350 on Sept. 9 as they prepared to move a portable building from the El Toro Fire Station on Old Monterey Road.
The couple was reportedly arguing before the incident. Digiandomenico’s wife, Dianna, was severely injured and spent more than two months in the hospital.
Digiandomenico is being held on $250,000 bail.
Downtown Development Sped Up
The city council voted unanimously Wednesday to allow the planning commission to fast track downtown development by allocating as many as 193 new residential units in the city’s main corridor.
The vote lets the planning commission guarantee that a substantial number of the 250 units allowed each year under Measure C will be built downtown.
“We need to move quickly to build housing downtwon,” Mayor Dennis Kennedy said. “Vertical, mixed-use is our No. 1 priority.”
Also Wednesday, the council approved two new planning fees.
Use permits for administrative and personal businesses downtown will cost $861 and permits to keep residential livestock will cost $261.
The fees take effect Feb. 7, 2006.
Ventura Endorsed by Former Assembly Speaker Pro Tem
Former California Assembly Speaker Pro Tem Fred Keeley endorsed Watsonville City Councilwoman Ana Ventura Phares to replace outgoing Assemblyman Simón Salinas, D- Salinas.
“I [am] impressed with her leadership skills and her ability to bring people together to achieve common goals,” Keeley said. “Sacramento needs effective legislators like Ana and that’s why I’m endorsing her candidacy for the State Assembly.”
Also running for Salinas’s Assembly seat is Bob Perkins, executive director of the Monterey County Farm Bureau. Perkins, a Republican, vied for the seat in 2004, losing to Salinas, who represents Gilroy and is ineligible for another term.
Salinas, whose term expires at the end of 2006, will take on incumbent Senator Jeff Denham, R-Merced, for the 12th Senate District seat.
