tinyurl.com/2ssa7t -> www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/02/12/BAGOEO34AS1.DTL
View Archive Just as surely as the swallows return to San Juan Capistrano, the 2008 presidential contenders are flocking to California in search of money and support -- and there will be plenty of sightings around these parts in the next couple of weeks. Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani will speak to a nonpartisan business luncheon crowd at Santa Clara's Hyatt Regency today, following his weekend splashdown at the state Republican Party convention in Sacramento. Tom Vilsack will be in San Francisco on Tuesday to speak at the Commonwealth Club. On Thursday, Democrat John Edwards, the former North Carolina senator and ex-vice presidential candidate, will be at a $500- to $2,300-a-head dinner at the Woodside home of Andy and Deborah Rappaport. He's speaking at a pair of big-ticket re-election fundraisers for Sen. Barbara Boxer, who told The Chronicle's Carla Marinucci that she's already "lifting weights'' in anticipation of a possible challenge in 2010 from Gov. The next day, Democrat Obama will be down in Los Angeles getting some fundraising help of his own from Hollywood heavyweights Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen. Bill Richardson will be the featured guest at a fundraising lunch hosted at the Battery Street law office of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein. Hillary Rodham Clinton comes to town for a VIP reception and luncheon hosted by building mogul Walter Shorenstein, Esprit clothing co-founder Susie Tompkins Buell and investment banker Thomas Steyer. The price of rubbing elbows with the Democratic former first lady is anywhere from $250 to $25,000. Of course, the hottest ticket of all may be down in Hollywood two nights later, when Al Gore shows up to find out if he wins an Oscar for his nominated documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth." But after a wild chase that ended with seven bullets in the side of company van, Wheelcare Express is getting out of town. "We are moving to a safer city,'' said Tom Quigley, whose family-run business has been in Oakland for 25 years, the last 15 in an office on 75th Avenue near the Coliseum. The tipping point for the Quigleys came last month when they came to work to find the windows broken on one of their vans and a family car. A check of the lot's surveillance tape showed the damage had been caused by rocks kicked up by a black Mustang spinning doughnuts. As luck would have it, Quigley's brother Michael spotted an identical Mustang speeding past the business later that day. He jumped in a company van and gave chase, hoping to get close enough to take down the license plate number. The Mustang's driver made a call on his cell phone, and moments later a white car full of men came blazing up in the opposite direction -- rear window rolled down and a rifle aimed in Michael Quigley's direction. Quigley ducked and wasn't hurt, but his van was damaged by a bullet that hit the radiator. Quigley managed to drive back to the office and alert an older brother, Patrick, and another employee who were standing outside. Just then, the white car with the shooter drove past the front gate and again opened fire, spraying at least five more bullets into the van. Police sent up a helicopter that spotted a car, and squad cars on the ground gave chase and stopped it. The Quigleys were repeatedly told a tech was on the way, so they spent most of the weekend at the shop waiting. Police spokesman Roland Holmgren told us that shootings are "definitely a high priority'' and that officers had behaved appropriately for what was a typical, busy Friday night. "They are going from active call to active call, so it's not unheard of to respond (by chasing a possible suspect), and then come back later when things slow down to take an actual report,'' Holmgren said. The family plans to vacate its office within 60 days and move to neighboring San Leandro. Talk about fast: FasTrak's offer of a $1 discount on local bridge tolls for the month of January really brought out the shoppers. Randy Rentschler of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission reports that in the first week the FasTrak transponders were available at Costco stores after the discount was announced, they were the chain's best-selling item in Northern California.
Play the George Bush presidential phone call caption contest. And read the Extra, Extra, Extra musings and insights of friends including Rich "Big Vinny'' Lieberman and The Chronicle's Carla Marinucci and Don "Bad Reporter" Asmussen. Chronicle columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross appear Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Phil Matier can also be seen on CBS-5 Morning and Evening News.
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