Morning News Round-Up -- 4.6.09: Garbage Saga...continued and continued and continued...

You didn't expect the Garbage Saga to go away, did you? There have been challenges to the integrity of the garbage collection part of the contract (remember Jerry Hill's insistence that the Civil Grand Jury look into the contract)...now we have complications and drama on the part of the new recycling and sorting contract. The South Bayside Waste Management Authority (SBWMA), the folks that oversee the contracts, wants one company (South Bay Recycling) while Teamsters (and the County Board of Supervisors) want another (Hudson Baylor). In fact, the Supervisors plan to pull their money from the new San Carlos facility if they don't get their way. So, this is all coming to head in the next month and lobbyists, Teamsters, and everyday Joe's are chiming in. Is it possible for the SBMWA to make some decisions that don't cause a massive garbage shit-storm?

Now, back to the other story of the year:

• Budget cuts are coming to the San Mateo Adult School...
• As if the Everest Charter School issue wasn't enough, the Sequoia Union High School District has to cut staff...
• Half Moon Bay parents raised $70,000 to keep some high school classes from being cut...
• Voters who live in Woodside will be getting their ballots this week in the mail to renew a parcel tax ($242/parcel) for the Woodside Elementary School District. Wait, schools need money to run? Perhaps someone should tell someone in Sacramento about that...
  

San Mateo Police are moving to a new HQ...sort of like San Mateo's version of 1 PP...

Belmont and PG&E go together like oil and water...(sort of like this)...I guess rising rates for garbage, recycling, and sewer weren't enough, Belmont wants to take on electricity too. Here is a hint for Belmont -- take a look at Palo Alto's electrical utility this month:

• They considered raising rates to pump up the City's general fund, only to have to back off. They are still raising rates, but it won't go to the General Fund...
  
• They had outages on a weekend, but no one to answer the phone to let customers (or the media) know about when the lights would come back on...
• AND, they are being investigated by Federal Agents with the U.S. Department of Transportation for fraud...

This is your future Belmont. Good luck.

A new level of NIMBYism has emerged...where else?...but in Palo Alto. A Palo Alto resident has created a video of what an elevated track might look like for High-Speed Rail through Palo Alto...I guess everyone in Palo Alto has a lot of free time.

Palo Alto Weekly's blog presence (thanks to a helpful and consistent push from Watch Dog) is updated again. It is Paul Losch's turn to talk about college admissions...

Redwood City's wastewater treatment plant (which is set to get a $339 million facelift) needs repairs sooner...and is getting some. Don't worry, this won't affect your rates like the massive facelift will, it will be covered by reserves.

Sue Lempert gets nostalgic for locally-based, locally-focused journalism in the locally-based, locally-focused Daily Journal.

Citizens of Woodside give a big "Hooves-Ray" to the Yerba Buena Nursery...do you think you might be overdoing it with the puns COW?