Morning News Round-Up -- 3.5.09: Yes We Can(nabis)

As much as we have written about the Garbage Saga, sometimes there are some surprises. Like yesterday, when the Board of Supervisors went against the recommendation by the South Bayside Waste Management Authority (SBWMA) about which company should run the recycling facility off of 101 in San Carlos. The SBWMA wants South Bay Recycling to handle that facility -- but the County Supervisors voted to give the contract to Hudson Baylor, a rival vendor. The Supervisor's vote, may not mean much if other members of the SBWMA vote for South Bay Recycling...but it certainly does add to the drama. The real drama will come when the Civil Grand Jury has their say on this issue...when will that report be done?

The Kmart site on Delaware Street in San Mateo is already slated for "transit oriented development" -- but now the developer wants to tweak those plans in order to best accommodate uncertain economic conditions. The new plans including more flats, fewer townhomes, and more office space.

And some crime news to start your day off right:

• The 15 year old Daly City kid who shot a stolen gun at a Lexus carrying a mom and her 3 year old is going to be charged as an adult...the 15 year old kid pleaded not guilty yesterday...
• A 20 year old karate instructor in Foster City was arrested by San Carlos Police yesterday for child molestation. Police are investigating to see if there are other victims.
• As the Republican Party on the state and national level is struggling, one California Republic Party official (who lives in Palo Alto) is not suffering and made nearly $900,000 over the past two years from the GOP...(this isn't a crime story, rather Watch Dog's attempt at humor...)
  

Usually, when Sequoia Union High School District stories appear on Watch Dog is it either about the District's views on the proposed Everest Charter School (the District doesn't like it) or about Carlmont High School parents anger about a missing traffic lane (parents want the lane back) -- today, however, it is about Sequoia High School's principal who is stepping down to get her doctorate...

There is (apparently) a big-time power outage in Palo Alto this morning. Crews are "scrambling" to get folks back online...this is the type of problem that the Utilities Department should be handling, rather than this type of problem with Federal law enforcement agents...

Yesterday the Daily Journal's Editorial pages came on line after the Round-Up was already done...so here is Editor Jon Mays' take on how screwed up Sacramento is. He details the silly bills the Legislators introduce instead of doing their jobs...

And Jon's reporter/columnist Michelle Durand's "Off the Beat" discusses Assemblymember Ammiano's Yes We Cannabis campaign...and some potential risks to having more people smoke more pot...

My goodness...if the race for the 21st State Assembly District in 2010 is going to be in the news everyday then Watch Dog will have to give the race its own daily Round-Up...so far we have San Mateo Supervisor Rich Gordon, former Palo Alto Mayor/Councilmember Yoriko Kishimoto, Community College Trustee Hal Plotkin, and...now add San Mateo County Supervisor Rose Jacobs Gibson. Let's see how PP Examiner examines the race now that two San Mateo County Supervisors are in (or so-to-be-in) the race...does PP Examiner still think that Supervisor Gordon has a clear advantage?

Cuts are coming to the Jefferson Elementary School District ($691,000)...and a parcel tax is going to voters in that District on May 5th...

East Palo Alto may be getting a long awaited supermarket. San Jose-based Mi Pueblo is considering a space in the Gateway 101 shopping center the was formerly Circuit City...

As some folks (in Palo Alto, Atherton, and Menlo Park) protest High-Speed Rail, some folks are still in favor of it, like the San Mateo City Council.

We often search the blogosphere for San Mateo County-centric stuff...here is an update:

• Recently, we noticed that that David Lim's desire to be on the San Mateo City Council didn't end when Fred Hansson was hand-picked by the current City Council to be their colleague. David has continued to run for City Council, he has a blog up, and updates regularly. Today we learn that David received the endorsement of Mountain View Mayor Margaret Abe-Koga...congrats David and we will keep an eye on your updates...
• The Citizens of Woodside (COW) blog has an update about that city's General Plan update that is ongoing...