Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Morning News Round-Up -- 7.29.09: Conflicted NIMBYs and Saving the Plastic Bag...

This will be little solace to William Ayres' victims: Apparently the jury was leaning toward a conviction. (Does that mean they didn't have the conviction to convict...) They were deadlocked at 11-1, according to a juror. A bit of news in today's story is that Prosecutor Melissa McKowanw will likely retry Dr. Ayres. Williams Ayres Watchdog has all the details...

If you live in San Mateo County, you have heard the Caltrain horn blasts. Well, they might be doing something about it -- but they aren't going to make everyone happy. That's because Caltrain really can't win. When they have quiet horns, people are concerned about safety. When they have loud horns, people are concerned about noise. Watch Dog likes the loud horns. We think it speaks to the romantic notion of train travel...

In Foster City, it seems not a day goes by when there isn't something in the news about either the battle between the San Mateo-Foster City School District and the City or about the skate park not happening (yet). Today, it is the skate park's day in the limelight. But these two issues are now being looked at in the larger context of the City's budget as they begin to define what are "essential services"... Just a Watch Dog hunch: Schools and Skate Parks will not be two of the essential services for the Foster City City Council.

Election Journal 2009 goes in depth about the race for the San Mateo Union High School District Board this November. Six candidates, including three incumbents, for three open seats... fireworks!

The Daily Journal Editor Jon Mays takes us on a journey through his inbox... if you want to jam his email box too, he gives out his email address...

You may have noticed that the Governor signed the budget yesterday. Now the real panic in local government sets in... Coastside school districts are worried, so is everyone else.

If you care about the future of San Mateo, you should care about the (dry, boring) process to revamp its General Plan.

But if you live in Redwood City and you care about getting a massage, you can forget about it. The City Council rejected the planned massage parlor on Woodside Road (near Cypress Street). This story has no happy ending for the folks who wanted to open the parlor.

Trouble in paradise: The "deal" to preserve some of Woodside's Jackling House (that Steve Jobs wants to rip down) doesn't measure up, according to some preservationists. Of course, another preservationist actually cut the deal with Jobs and the Town of Woodside, so this is getting pretty confusing, even for Watch Dog. (Especially confusing because our window into Woodside, the blog Citizens of Woodside, has been quiet on the subject lately...)

Menlo Park NIMBYs have a busy schedule today: SamTrans is hosting a community meeting about service reductions and cuts in MP and the Menlo Gateway/ Bohannon project is due to be discussed at a separate location. We poke fun, but what if someone is concerned about SamTrans cuts AND the Bohannon project? Where to go then? I'm glad you asked. SamTrans folks can also go to a public meeting in Half Moon Bay on August 6th... Plus, you can grab dinner before (or after) at Cetrella that way.

The plastic bag war has been settled, for now, in Palo Alto. The City can't implement the bag ban without an environmental review. Incredibly, the group that brought suit against Palo Alto is called SaveThePlasticBag.com. There are somethings worth saving, like baby seals and the rain forest, but who would have thought that a plastic bag would be worth a "save"? I mean, aside from these folks and this guy -- being followed by Watch Dog Silicon Valley.

HP employees got an interesting welcome to work yesterday: Greenpeace was protesting at their facility. (Ironically) They are concerned about plastics in HP products. Perhaps Greenpeace should protest SaveThePlasticBag.com headquarters next. Here is a map.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for keeping the posts coming about the Ayres trial. Watch for them to retry the case as quickly as possible. Outrage in the community is mounting.

And we hope that the young woman lawyer who voted to acquit in the 11-1 counts to convict is hiding her head in shame now.