Good students locked out of Marine World

RENO -- Some reward.

Four bus loads of students from O'Brien Middle School made the four-hour trip to Six Flags Marine World in Vallejo, only to find the amusement park's gates locked Monday.

The school-sponsored trip was supposed to reward top students.

"It was pretty much a fiasco," said Washoe County School District spokesman Steve Mulvenon. "They ended up wasting a day that those kids could have better spent in class or doing what they were going to do at the park."

School officials said the $50 fee will be refunded, and the tour company that arranged the trip has agreed to pay for the next one. "The tour company neglected to check the schedule," Mulvenon said.

"It is just a bummer for the kids," said parent Jeff Wood. "Now, they will have to wait another month to go and a lot of the kids might not be able to go then."

Principal Scott Grange said the school was even given printed tickets with Monday's date on them.

"But shame on us for not checking," he said./AP

Drug ring suspect found dead on SF beach

SAN FRANCISCO -- A man suspected of storing methamphetamine for the ringleaders of an alleged Hells Angels drug ring was found shot to death at Ocean Beach, police said.

Michael Demetrescu Sr., 46, was wanted on federal drug trafficking charges after agents raided 19 Hells Angels locations last week and found a pound of methamphetamine in the garage of Demetrescu's home in San Francisco, said police Inspector Joe Toomey.

Demetrescu told his girlfriend a day before his death that he planned to turn himself in, police said. His death is being treated as a suicide.

Investigators believe Demetrescu was storing drugs for his neighbor, Jason Peterson, 32, a top Hells Angels official who was arrested in the raids Thursday along with the San Francisco chapter president, 35-year-old Joseph Wilsor. /AP

Contamination in San Jose confined to park

SAN JOSE -- Contamination at a city park where elevated levels of toxins were detected appears to be confined to the park and has not spread to surrounding homes, health officials said.

Preliminary results from soil and groundwater samples taken from San Jose's 35-acre Watson Park, which was built on the site of an underground trash dump and incinerator that operated from 1914 to 1934, show that lingering residue from the dump does not pose a threat to nearby homeowners or an elementary school, the state Department of Toxic Substances Control said Tuesday.

But further tests will be needed to determine levels of lead, arsenic and zinc within the park. A full report is expected by this fall, with cleanup scheduled to begin by the end of the year.

The park was closed eight months ago after toxic residue was found during the construction of a skate park./AP

Carpoolers may be paid to commute

OAKLAND -- Carpoolers will soon get paid to commute in the Bay Area.

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission said Tuesday that its 511 Rideshare program, which matches commuters with carpool groups in their neighborhoods, will award gas and supermarket gift cards to frequent carpoolers as part of a new promotion starting in May.

Commuters will earn $10 in gas and grocery gift cards for every five days they ride to work with others, agency officials said.

The limit is $100 per person over three months, and it's first-come, first-served until the program's $50,000 stipend is depleted or the program ends in October, officials said.