Features

Former schools superintendent gave his girlfriend district contract 

EMERYVILLE — The former schools superintendent of Emeryville awarded his girlfriend a lucrative contract as his district fell deeper in debt, a newspaper reported Sunday. 

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that former schools chief J.L. Handy paid his girlfriend Jean Cross $213,000 to write grants and fill out reimbursement forms from 1998 to last May. 

Cross was also awarded 10 percent of every grant she brought in to the schools. 

The grant writing duties are typically performed by school principals without such incentives. 

Handy resigned as Emeryville schools chief in October and is under investigation for using school funds for personal expenses. 

Man arrested for battering  

anti-abortion protestors 

SANTA CRUZ — A man was arrested Saturday for battery against anti-abortion protesters. 

A 37-year-old transient named James Wilson was arrested after he punched and kicked two members of Voice For Life, an anti-abortion group that was protesting in front of Sutter Maternity & Surgery Center. 

The sheriff’s office said Wilson also took out a knife and told one protester he was going to stab him. 

Building owners paying tenants money to leave apartments 

SAN FRANCISCO — A growing number of renters are being paid big bucks to leave their apartments. 

Some building owners want to start charging more money for their rental space, and getting the old tenants out is the only way to do it. 

Rent-control has forced landlord and building owners to offer thousands of dollars to apartment dwellers paying low rents. One woman who lived in the same Pacific Heights apartment for the past eight years was given $26,500 to vacate her apartment. 

Evictions haven’t slowed up either. The city’s Rent Board recorded about 20 evictions in December under the Ellis Act, the law that allows landlords to stop renting the apartment to get rid of their tenants.