Sean Dodd, 40, of Napa was reported missing at 1:30 p.m. Saturday near the railroad grade of the Corte Madera trail above Mill Valley. More than 39 search and rescue personnel, including five sheriff’s deputies, five rangers from four different agencies, six firefighters from two departments and three dog teams, spent six hours combing the mountain before locating Dodd about 7:30 p.m.
“He was ultimately able to make his way down to surface streets, where he summoned a taxi to deliver him back to his car,” said Michael St. John, search and rescue coordinator for the Mill Valley Fire Department. “There he encountered our incident personnel.”
Search and rescue teams were also looking for a group of 12 hikers from the East Bay who were additionally reported missing on Mount Tamalpais. That group was also able to find its way out of the woods and contact rescue personnel, St. John said.
“One of the things that was a common denominator in both of these incidents was the fact that it’s getting dark earlier. We’re right at the solstice, and it’s pretty dark by 5 p.m.,” St. John said. “We encourage people to plan accordingly, to make sure they’ve completed their hike before it gets dark and to bring a map and flashlight along. The most important thing is to tell people where they are going.”
Neither the Marin County Search and Rescue Team nor its member agencies charge groups or individuals for the cost of a rescue, St. John said.
In this film publicity image released by Summit Entertainment, Vera Farmiga, left, and Jeffrey Wright are shown in a scene from "Source Code." (AP Photo/Summit Entertainment, Jonathan Wenk)
In this film publicity image released by Summit Entertainment, Michelle Monaghan, left, and Jake Gyllenhaal are shown in a scene from "Source Code." (AP Photo/Summit Entertainment, Jonathan Wenk)
In this film publicity image released by Summit Entertainment, Jake Gyllenhaal is shown in a scene from "Source Code." (AP Photo/Summit Entertainment, Jonathan Wenk)
Duncan Jones’ first film, the mesmerizing, sci-fi character drama “Moon” from 2009, was a marvel of efficiency, tension and pacing. It signaled the arrival of an artist with an appreciation for the past but also with his own clear, unique voice, ready to leave a distinctive stamp on the culture. And it was the best movie of the year — according to this critic, at least.
“Source Code” represents his evolution as a director, now that he has a bigger cast and more expensive toys to play with. It’s swifter, glossier, more ambitious. And for a long time, it’s a thrilling and challenging puzzle based on a clever idea — until it pushes its central gimmick and gets too greedy at the end, that is.
It’ll make your brain hurt (in a good way) trying to determine whether it all makes sense — until it quite obviously and frustratingly doesn’t make sense anymore. It also aims for some emotional connections it doesn’t fully develop. Maybe we’re nitpicking needlessly, and should just let ourselves go with it. Still, it leaves you with the nagging sensation that this is a good film that could have been great, if only it had quit while it was ahead.
Based on a script by Ben Ripley, “Source Code” keeps us as consistently confused and off-guard from the start as its main character, U.S. Army Capt. Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal). And, to be fair to you, it’ll be tough to describe what happens here without giving the aforementioned fun-of-the-puzzle away. But we’ll try.
A decorated soldier from the battle in Afghanistan, Colter wakes up one morning, disoriented, on a commuter train heading toward Chicago. Across from him is a sweet and beautiful woman (Michelle Monaghan) whom he’s never seen before, yet she’s talking to him with the familiarity of a friend. He takes a quick glance at himself in the bathroom mirror and is startled to discover he’s in the body of another man, one he doesn’t know.
Within minutes, the train has blown up, killing everyone on board — but Colter suddenly finds himself still alive, strapped inside a crude metal pod, communicating by monitor with an Air Force captain (Vera Farmiga). She explains that he’s part of a special assignment called “Source Code,” designed to allow him to enter the body of another man for eight minutes. His task is to gain valuable information and hopefully prevent a later, larger terrorist attack.
And so Colter must go back and relive the same eight minutes over and over again, gleaning more details each time. Yes, this will probably remind you of “Groundhog Day,” but this is also where “Source Code” is at its most zippy and compelling — and, strangely, at its most plausible.
Gyllenhaal, who helped develop the character, makes Colter’s fear, anger and general discombobulation palpable, but “Source Code” also allows him some much-needed flashes of humor. The supporting cast is strong down the line, including Jeffrey Wright as the coldly driven brains of the operation, and even in the choice of actors on the train who only get a couple of lines, but have significance with each eight-minute go-round.
The score is a little insistent and intrusive, especially compared to the gorgeous and haunting score from “Moon,” and Jones could have made more of an impact at times with silence. But we should probably quit while we’re ahead, too, and let you discover the secrets of “Source Code” for yourself — and decide whether they actually add up.
SAN JOSE — Worried about getting a fair hearing on whether the petition drive to recall Judge Aaron Persky can resume in time for the June election, advocates of his ouster moved Friday to disqualify a visiting judge from deciding the pivotal issue.
The move is the latest skirmish in a legal battle pitting the judge against the Santa Clara County Registar of Voters and recall supporters led by Stanford law professor Michele Dauber. Persky went to Santa Clara County Superior Court to stop the recall campaign’s petition drive to put the issue on the spring ballot.
The recall battle lines were drawn last summer when proponents decided to take to the polls to remove Persky from office for giving a Stanford athlete what many considered a light sentence for sexual assault. Recall opponents note that Persky’s sentence for Turner was lawful and followed a probation department recommendation. And they argue that a recall would threaten judicial independence. By this week, 90 law professors and deans had signed a letter opposing the campaign.
Last week, retired Orange County Judge Marjorie Laird Carter dealt the campaign a blow by granting Persky’s request to temporarily block the campaign from gathering the 58,634 signatures necessary by Jan. 16 to get the issue on the spring ballot. The judge suspended the petition drive, which had begun the day before, for 12 days, until after an Aug. 23 hearing, prompting Dauber move to get her off the case..
In California and 18 other states, anyone who believes that a specific judge would not be fair has the right to object to one judge per case, without explaining why. In a statement Friday, Dauber questioned Laird Carter’s judgment.
‘’Unfortunately, the fact that Judge Carter would issue a prior restraint of protected First Amendment speech without any finding of a compelling government interest, and indeed without even letting us discuss the question, demonstrates that she does not have a sufficient appreciation for or does not fully understand the important First Amendment issues at stake in this case,” Dauber said.
Laird Carter took on the case after Persky’s fellow judges declined Friday to hear the matter since they are colleagues. She is a member of the California Judges Association, which endorsed Persky. Both she and Persky are constrained by strict state rules from commenting on pending matters or criticizing opponents in an election.
If Laird Carter recuses herself, it is unclear who would be assigned to the matter and how soon. Persky’s lawyers declined to comment Friday on whether Laird Carter should allow the campaign to push her off the case. One way to block it is to argue it’s too late since California law requires the affidavit be “timely,” essentially before a trial begins. But the timing is a fuzzy concept that often turns on whether the judge has made any decisions on the merits of the case.
In legal documents, Persky argues that because he is a state officer, California’s secretary of state, not the county registrar, has jurisdiction over the recall election and should decide whether the campaign’s signature-gathering effort can proceed.
Lawyers for the recall and the county registrar of voters disputed that contention in an opposition brief filed Wednesday.
Persky also has asked the judge to permanently block the petition drive, forcing proponents to start over — by filing their petitions with the state rather than the county — which would delay the recall until the November election and significantly increase the county’s administrative costs. It also could be much more time-consuming to go through the state if a new law signed by Gov. Brown is upheld by the courts. One of Persky’s lawyers, Elizabeth Pipkin, contended that those procedures, which include giving voters 30 days to withdraw their signatures, would benefit Persky.
Persky also contends that if he winds up losing his seat, the governor should fill the vacancy — not voters. As it stands now, the question of who would replace the judge would appear on the same ballot as the recall. The recall campaign claims that the issue already has been settled by case law — in favor of voters. Whoever is elected would serve out the rest of Persky’s six-year term, which ends in 2022.
Recall proponents also contend they have a fundamental right protected by the First Amendment to circulate petitions. But Persky’s lawyers argued in new legal briefs Friday that requiring the campaign to comply with the state constitution does not violate their rights. They also contend that Secretary of State Alex Padilla’s opinion — that the recall should be overseen by the county — is irrelevant.
Gov. Jerry Brown, shown at a Caltrain event, is the last hope for California cities to keep control of where telecom antennas go. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)	
Editorial: California should butt out of cities’ dealings with telecom companies using public facilities	
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