Features

Teacher found dead in her car 

BENICIA — A high school teacher was found dead inside the trunk of a car in her garage Saturday night and one of her sons has been arrested, Benicia police said. 

Lieutenant Michael Daley said two friends found the body of Kathryn Scarpaci, 50, a special education English teacher at Benicia High School and an employee at a local bookstore. 

The friends were trying to locate Scarpaci at the request of her mother and a son who lives in Long Beach. Scarpaci’s relatives were unable to reach hear and she failed to show up at her job Saturday, Daley said. 

When police arrived they found the victim’s son, Patrick Scarpaci, 18, at the house and arrested him. 

Benicia High School Principal Bob Palous said the staff was advised of the death Sunday. Patrick Scarpaci is a senior at the school. 

Nonprofits receive early Christmas bonuses 

SUNNYVALE — The Silicon Valley Urgency Fund on Monday awarded $2 million to 38 regional nonprofit organizations. 

Each nonprofit received a grant of between $5,000 and $175,000. 

EBay co-founder, Jeff Skoll, initiated the SVUF in October with a grant of $2.5 million. It was an effort to persuade others to help nonprofits suffering a drop in donations due to the Sept. 11 attacks and recessed economy. 

Skoll said at the time he wanted to raise $25 million, which was his estimate of what Silicon Valley nonprofits will lose this year. 

Several local philanthropists joined the effort, raising the fund’s total to $2.82 million. 

The fund reserved approximately $800,000 to meet additional needs for critical services in early 2002. The fund will continue to accept donations through January. 

The nonprofits were chosen for delivery of critical services in the areas of shelter, food, and primary health care. They were asked to verify their budgets, to estimate the increased need for their services, and to estimate the gap between community needs and their available resources.