Free Republic

A legal battle is raging in Bay Area courts over a landowner’s plans to transform an island in the Delta into a playground for Silicon Valley. Secluded Pt. Buckner Island in Suisun Bay has become well known for its kite-surfing and other sports. When John Sweeney bought the small Delta island, it was in pretty bad shape. The levees were breached in several places, allowing water to cover part of it. As the new owner, Sweeny says “by law” the Suisun Marsh Preservation Act now makes that his problem. “When you buy the property, you have a compliance period where...

A secret chapter in American naval research could soon reach an ignoble close when a rusty barge and its once-classified contents leave Suisun Bay for the scrap heap. Slipping through the sea like a black mirage on catamaran legs, the 164-foot Sea Shadow looks like something Darth Vader might fly. It is the world's only ship built to be invisible, assembled secretly in Redwood City in 1985 by the U.S. Navy and contractor Lockheed Martin at an estimated cost of $50 million. Sea Shadow's purpose was to test radar-cloaking technology and other naval engineering innovations. Many of its breakthroughs can...

<p>VALLEJO – Since the USS Iowa was commissioned in 1943, the famous battleship that President Franklin D. Roosevelt dubbed "The Big Stick" has seen more than its share of action over the years.</p> <p>Just ask John Wolfinbarger of San Martin.</p>

Several environmental groups have announced they are suing the federal government over a fleet of mothballed warships floating east of San Francisco Bay. The Natural Resources Defense Council and other groups are demanding the U.S. Maritime Administration curb pollution they say the vessels are causing in regional waterways. More than 70 ships comprise the Suisun (suh soon) Bay Reserve Fleet, some dating back to World War II. The old ships were once kept afloat in case of war, but many have fallen into disrepair. A congressional order set a 2006 deadline to scrap more than 50 ships, but a regulatory...