Thursday, February 12, 2009

Morning News Round-Up -- 2.12.09: The electric car hum you hear is Tesla leaving town...

Well, there was a good news/bad news Tesla story yesterday which we wrote and commented on. The good news is that the San Carlos-based electric car manufacturer is getting a huge $350 Federal loan to build a manufacturing facility. The bad news is that in early February the New Mexico Business Weekly reported that the company was in "late stage" negotiations to move the (previously slated for San Jose) manufacturing plant there...

San Mateo County history was made yesterday when a 14 year old kid, Vladmir Santos of Redwood City, was the youngest person in the County ever to be charged as an adult. His crimes -- attempted murder and other felonies. The will instill community pride...(In an (un)related and ironically timed story, the County Times profiles the County's juvenile camp program to help young people in trouble with the law...)

But better history was being made yesterday as well. A Burlingame-based law firm is suing the CEOs of Merrill Lynch and Bank of America for lying/misleading investors and paying out huge bonuses as the two companies lost billions (trillions?). San Mateo County's own Super (Hero) Lawyer, Joe Cotchett is spearheading the class action lawsuit...

Surprise, surprise. (NIMBY) Hillside residents in (unincorporated) San Mateo don't want any neighbors...Ticonderoga Partner's San Mateo Highlands project was the on the County Planning Commission's docket last night and people made sure to have their voices heard. The current plans is for 11 homes...but remember, (apparently) the original plan 20 years ago was for 199.

Michelle Durand's "Off the Beat" column today in the Daily Journal talks about the State's gamble on gambling...Michelle offers that the gamble doesn't seem to have paid off, based on the State's new IOU strategy...

Ed McGovern, COME ON DOWN...San Mateo County's busiest (and most successful) political consultant went from consultant to contestant recently on The Price is Right...no kidding...the show hasn't aired yet, however.

Here is a nice piece on the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice that honors Congressman Tom Lantos' legacy...

Palo Alto is considering transferring money from its Utility Department to its General Fund...to the tune of nearly $20 million. And why not? It is a way to get into Palo Alto residents' pocket books without having to raise taxes...just raise electric/water/gas rates...And if robbing rate payers isn't enough...Palo Alto is also considering "altering" their hotel tax to make sure they collect every last penny from visitors too...

1,000 folks showed up on Sunday for a job fair for the soon-to-open Rosewood Hotel in Menlo Park. 75 folks were offered jobs and 125 folks will be called back (like on American Idol?) for interviews...Watch Dog is waiting patiently by the phone...

Just when Half Moon Bay's lawsuit with Chop Keenan dies down, a different lawsuit pops up. This time over the ownership of the Oak Avenue Park. The dispute is between the City's contention that the Oak Avenue Park is City land and the Cypress-by-the-Sea Homeowners Association who believe it is private land...for Half Moon Bay's sake, Watch Dog hopes Joe Cotchett isn't working for the Homeowners Association...

Pacifica Riptide must not read Watch Dog because they go on a mini-rant about capturing methane in landfills and ask why San Mateo County's landfill (Ox Mountain in Half Moon Bay) can't do this. Well, apparently Ox Mountain can and does...we posted about it in our Morning News Round-Up on January 8th.

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