Morning News Round-Up -- 7.31.09: "I had pony"... in Menlo Park

Belmont City Manager Jack Crist is encouraging the City Council to hop the lawsuit bandwagon against the State led by the California Redevelopment Association. Belmont laments that the State is raiding its Redevelopment Agency, resulting in a $2.8 million loss. He told the Daily Journal that there is strong evidence that the “heist” is illegal. Regardless, it’s crippling Belmont’s rockin' downtown.

The Daily Journal reports that a four-alarm fire that consumed South San Francisco salami plant last week left 34 of the factory’s 95 employees unemployed. More importantly, the blaze destroyed 200,000 pounds of deli meats. It’s not likely a disgruntled employee or a vegetarian started the fire. Fire Marshal Luis Da Silva says arson has been ruled out.

The Exotic Erotic Ball that skipped town last year is returning to the Cow Palace in October with its costumes, exotic dancers, and adult movie stars. The Ball's organizers (no pun intended) are expecting a healthy turnout of more than 30,000 people over the two days.

San Carlos resident Vivian Heinzel gets to choose between a $2.4 million house near San Francisco's Golden Gate Park or take a cool $1.8 million in cash as her grand prize in the "San Francisco Dream House Raffle," a four-month fundraising event sponsored by the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Watchdog thinks she should take the cash and replace the burned salami in SSF -- or perhaps buy us all tickets to the Exotic Erotic Ball.

Three baggage handlers at San Francisco International Airport were convicted of stealing from luggage, the Chronicle reports. The baggage handlers were busted during an undercover sting that was launched in the wake of the theft of a retired police sergeant's gun.

East Palo Alto officials and residents were caught off guard when SamTrans officials announced Wednesday night that four out of six bus lines that link East Palo Alto and Palo Alto may be eliminated or cut back. Resident Sara Hassani, who has been following transit issues in South County, made astute observation: "There would be no way for people in East Palo Alto to get to the Palo Alto Caltrain. There are also no grocery stores in East Palo Alto.”

Palo Alto husband and wife have been charged in federal court in San Jose with ripping off a computer networking company when they submitted more than $80,000 worth of false claims for rebates, the paloaltoline reported.

This is for the horse lovers out there: More than 500 equestrians, including 2008 Olympic gold medalist Will Simpson, plan to compete in the 39th Menlo Charity Horse Show, set for Aug. 4 through 9 at the Menlo Circus Club in Atherton, according to the Almanac.



In case you couldn’t get enough… BART and its labor unions are dragging out their transit drama. The two entities bargained through the wee hours of the morning today in hopes of reaching agreements that would save the transit agency millions and dodge a commute-crippling strike, the Chronicle says.

Cities everywhere are screwed when it comes paying their part of retirement benefits... Now its Palo Alto’s turn. According to the Mercury News, the projected cost of medical benefits for retired Palo Alto City employees has increased 28 percent in two years. Meanwhile, the City’s trust fund for paying those benefits has lost millions. The reason? It’s not just rising cost. More people are retiring from the City than expected.