Obit: David Robert Ruenzel

Connecting Success Factors to Bennett

The Dubious Phone Call and Time Wasting Project

The folks at TPG will have to answer to my Whistleblower Complaints on the truly odd collection of RFPs emanating from companies connected to Richard Blum, William McGlashan, CBRE, Regency Centers, Trammel Crow, Lennar, Catellus.

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My story is about witness murders, private equity, mergers and acquisitions linked back to the Matter of Bennett v. Southern Pacific lost in 1989. It was a winnable case as long the witnesses testified.

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Writer-teacher slain in Oakland park where he loved to hike

By Kurtis Alexander

 Updated 6:46 pm PST, Wednesday, November 26, 2014

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Photo: Courtesy Of Nancy Ruenzel

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David Ruenzel

A 60-year-old man found shot to death in the Huckleberry Botanic Regional Preserve was a longtime writer, editor and English teacher who loved to hike in the Oakland hills park, his wife said Wednesday.

David Robert Ruenzel of Oakland was found on a park trail by a woman who had reported hearing gunshots about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to the East Bay Regional Park Police Department. Investigators said they were looking into whether Ruenzel had been killed during a robbery.

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Ruenzel’s family said he often visited and hiked in the small preserve on Skyline Boulevard, just south of Elverton Drive.

“We’re just in an absolute state of shock,” said his wife, Nancy.

David Ruenzel taught English and journalism for more than a decade at the Athenian School in Danville. He was also an award-winning writer and editor at Teacher Magazine.

“He was an affable man,” said David Smock, a former colleague at Athenian. “He cared a lot about educational issues and his students.”

Most recently, Ruenzel worked at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which issued a statement Wednesday calling him “a beloved educator, talented writer and valued partner in our work. He will be missed greatly.”

Ruenzel was shot at least twice, apparently where he was found, said park police. Officers found shell casings at the scene.

No arrests have been made, but police said witnesses had seen two men on the trail just before three gunshots rang out. Police said the two were “persons of interest.”

One was described as a black or of mixed race, in his late 20s or early 30s, thin, with dreadlocks, high cheekbones and a narrow face, wearing dark clothes.

The second was an “out of shape” black man, 6 feet tall and 240 pounds, clean-shaven and with short hair, wearing dark clothes and a black backpack, police said. Investigators said he was described as “overly friendly.”

San Francisco Chronicle

staff writer Henry K. Lee contributed to this report.

Kurtis Alexander is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: kalexander@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kurtisalexander

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Obit: UC Berkeley chief legal counsel dead in hit-and-run near Guerneville

UC Berkeley’s chief legal counsel, Christopher Patti, was killed in a hit-and-run accident Sunday. (Alain McLaughlin/Impact Fund) 

Westbound Highway 116 at Summer Crossing, west of Guerneville.

SONOMA COUNTY — A member of UC Berkeley’s legal team died Sunday after being hit by a car in a hit-and-run crash near Guerneville, authorities said.

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The Sonoma County Coroner’s Office confirmed Monday that 59-year-old Christopher Patti, the campus’ chief legal counsel, died Sunday morning. He was stopped on his bike on the right shoulder of westbound Highway 116 around 8:45 a.m. when a BMW slid onto the shoulder and hit him, according to a statement by the California Highway Patrol.

“I speak for the Berkeley community in saying how grief-stricken we are at Chris Patti’s untimely death,” UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ said in a statement. “He was an extraordinary colleague. He loved the university, and he had a deep core of integrity that motivated everything he did. He was smart, he was compassionate. He was everything you wanted the counsel of the campus to be. We offer our sympathy to his family and his friends for this tragic loss.”

Patti joined the university in 2010. Before that, he worked for two decades in the general counsel’s office at UC’s Office of the President.

“Chris was a wonderful colleague and friend who cared about people and doing the right thing. He was an extraordinary lawyer to whom we all turned for advice and counsel. His loss is unfathomable,” Charles F. Robinson, general counsel and vice president of legal affairs with UC, said in a statement.

The CHP on Monday identified 28-year-old Jonathan Ritter, of Rio Nido/Monte Rio, as a person of interest. The driver of the vehicle that hit Patti continued west on Highway 116, then turned around and went back past the scene in the eastbound direction, the agency said.

Police want to find out if Ritter was driving the car.

Officer Jon Sloat told the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat that Patti was about 20 feet to the right of the highway, and that evidence at the scene indicates the vehicle drove fast and perhaps recklessly.

“He was well off the road,” Sloat told the Press-Democrat. “He should have been safe.”

Patti earned his bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and his law degree from the University of Virginia. Before joining UC, he worked as a litigation associate in San Francisco. He is survived by a wife and two sons.

Check back for updates

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