Morning News Round-Up -- 10.21.08: 100th Post Edition

Watch Dog is proud to announce that this is the 100th post of this blog. There have been many Atherton stories. Garbage has gotten picked up here as well. (Sorry, couldn't resist...) And Watch Dog looks forward to the next 100 posts. Thank you for your readership, your insight, and your background/insider information that you continue to provide. -- WD

All that work for nothing...sort of. The Supervisors did considerable work on a menu-labeling bill on their own before the State's version of the same thing passed the Legislature (SB 1420) and was signed by the Governor.

The San Mateo City Council studied a pot club ordinance yesterday. (Those in the room report that there was no toking during the study session...)

Andy Stulbarg was appointed to the Belmont-Redwood Shores Elementary School District to fill Eric Shrader's seat. The appointment runs through December 2009.

Michelle Durant's "Off the Beat" in the Daily Journal has something -- actually lots of things -- to say to the candidates who refer to Joe the Plumber...

Palo Alto Weekly/Almanac scores an interview with Merv Morris, of Mervyn's fame. Money quote: "Economic times changed and, frankly, Mervyn's didn't change."

Palo Alto City Manager tries to calm fears about downtown robberies -- or at least provide some context -- by going through the past six years of Caltrain-area robberies. 2008 is a low-crime year, actually. I think they'd be hard-pressed to find someone that believes that this week.

Lucky for the City Manager, super-hero Palo Alto Deputy Police Chief Dennis Burns caught a guy stealing a purse. Why super-hero? He ran him down while the perp who was on a bike. The silly robber didn't know that Burns was a sprinter at San Jose State (Speed City).

In a story that is unrelated to San Mateo County's trash saga -- Palo Alto will have a new garbage company starting next summer.

Plans for a 63-unit development in Half Moon Bay passed the California Coastal Commission yesterday.

Burlingame police introduce their newest 'officers' -- Ivan, a Czech shepherd, and Vader, a German shepherd.

The County's 'rehabilitation' jail facility in La Honda has been empty since 2003. But when they stopped using it back then -- thieves pillaged the place of its copper piping and wiring, and other valuable stuff. So now that it has been fixed, it is costing the County $21,000 per month to keep watch on an empty jail. Soon they may start using the facility. Watch Dog just likes the irony that the people that stole the stuff from the jail might actually be in that same jail one day. That would be a hell of a jail-yard story to tell the boys...