Morning News Round-Up -- 3.30.10: Open Carry Crazy...

Could the "Open Carry" movement please get itself under control? A former city worker in San Bruno left a message for the City Attorney saying that he was going to bring an unloaded weapon to a meeting... of course, the only way for someone to know that a weapon is unloaded is if you pull the trigger and nothing comes out. Which is probably a little too later for the City Attorney in San Bruno -- which is why a temporary restraining order has been brought against Harold Wulff. Now, he can't really go to that meeting at San Bruno's City Hall...

The "conversation" about Atherton Councilmember Charles Marsala continues in the Home/Loan Gate controversy on the Almanac's "Town Square Forum"... needless to say, folks in Atherton have way too much time on their hands...

We love this story and its headline: "Lawmaker (Ira Ruskin) names top term priorities..." As if his top term priority isn't to find something else to do when this term is up...

And while Ruskin does his thing, Assemblymember Jerry Hill was writing an Op-Ed for the Daily Journal. He is doing his best to remind you that everything that Sacramento does is not completely insane... that is not an easy task Mr. Hill...

The former Belmont Chamber president says he knew he would get off on the molestation charges, but now he has to put his life back together. The Belmont Chamber can't go a week without being in the news...

Do you remember the wave that knocked out Mavericks' spectators this year? Well, Supervisor Gordon is coming to the rescue with a meeting about public safety at Mavericks... the timing of this meeting probably would have been better before the competition, but...

Morning News Round-Up -- 2.23.10: Mavericks passing the buck?

Today's top story (in Watch Dog's eyes) comes from the Half Moon Bay Review and the County Times: Agencies meet to 'debrief' over Mavericks. Perhaps that would have been a good group to get together to pre-brief before folks got washed off the beach...

Coastsider has something to say on the subject too: "...the endless loop of passing the buck explains a lot about the organizational structure of the Mavericks Surf Contest..."

High-Speed Rail a.k.a. Enemy Number One is always on the mind of San Mateo County train-track cities. Belmont is especially concerned and is (probably) setting aside some money for some lobbyists... it seems like a good use of public funds to fight something a majority of Belmontians voted for.

The good folks at the Service Employees International Union and the City of Menlo Park have reach an "impasse" in their contract talks. Next stop, a State mediator and some Extra Strength Excedrin...

Speaking of employees and government agencies...

There are layoffs coming to Millbrae Elementary School District because of a $2.2 million budget shortfall...

The Community College District is looking at $7 million in cuts...

Don't fret though, sometimes cuts don't always pan out... in the Redwood City Elementary School District, four previously axed positions may be reinstated.

You may remember that Atherton had a community meeting last night with the City Manager and the Police Chief to hear from the community. Well, 60 folks apparently showed up (which is a lot in Atherton) and the City Manager and the Police Chief heard from a bunch of folks... After hearing from the "community" we would bet that the City Manager and the Police Chief would like to never, ever do this again...

Morning News Round-Up -- 2.17.10: Open Carry takes aim...

Watch Dog saw this coming... remember the East Palo Alto Police Detective that posted some funny comments on Facebook about Open Carry gun freaks? Well, the NRA-types are taking aim at the Detective, not literally, but figuratively... This is what we wrote on the 5th of February: This is a story the NRA is going to jump all over.

Everyone saw this coming... the Mavericks viewing area may be closed next time. Y'think?

The County Coroner may get a run for his money this June from someone who used to work in the office. Begging the obvious question, why is the Coroner elected in the first place? Of all the positions in the County, don't we want the Coroner to be highly trained and non-political? Just asking... In case you are wondering, we found this nugget from the California State Association of Counties: "All 58 counties in California have a Sheriff's Department and 41 of those counties also provide for the Sheriff to assume the duties of the Coroner."

And as the Coroner is being challenged, Jon Mays at the Daily Journal chimes in with a piece about how the mood of the public is one of unrest...

Like unrest in the race for Slocum's office... perhaps Ira Ruskin wants into the Assessor-Clerk-Recorder's office? That makes Supervisor Mark Church very, very uneasy... (Thank you Bruce.)

There is unrest in San Bruno certainly, that's because the string of home robberies in continuing... there is a meeting tonight to talk about it at the John Muir Elementary School. But lock your house before you go...

There hasn't been a story about Belmont schools, traffic, and crazy parents for a while. Luckily,a neighbor near Central Elementary School in Belmont gave the Daily Journal an ear-full...

Two stories of escape and survival: three kids escaped a house fire in Atherton and a man was struck by a train and survived...

Gilead Sciences got the approval for expansion yesterday by the Foster City City Council. We like writing the word City twice to describe the Foster City City Council, but the Daily Journal calls it the Foster City Council... just thought you'd be interested...

Pacifica Riptide is still pounding away on Pacifica's version of the Garbage Saga... this time, from a small business perspective.

Morning News Round-Up -- 2.16.10: A very Mavericks long weekend...

It was a long weekend, but it was also a Mavericks weekend... so we'll start in Half Moon Bay:

Big waves at Mavericks, and some chaos among the spectators...

But all the Mavericks competitions in the world may not help Half Moon Bay's bottom line... this year they are in the hole $2.1 million.

Perhaps Half Moon Bay could dim their streetlights to save cash... that's what San Carlos is going to do...

Or perhaps layoffs, like the Redwood City School District are hatching... just as a neighboring School District (Sequoia Union) is losing their Superintendent...

Don't be surprised Redwood City friends... your garbage rates are going up by more than 9 percent. Call it a Garbage Saga repurcussion.

High Speed Rail meeting in Menlo Park... doesn't that sound fun? If you can't get enough, February 19th there will be another one.

There was a pending legal battle between San Francisco Baykeepers and a bunch of local government agencies... well, they can all stop sweating it, and now start fixing the sewer spillage problems...

Morning News Round-Up -- 1.12.10: EPA vs Army Corps & Belmont vs San Carlos

It isn't just Belmont that is concerned about the Cargill Saltworks development in Redwood City, it seems another government agency (the EPA) sent a strongly-worded letter to the Army Corps of Engineers talking about how the Corps needs to account for sea level rises when talking about the restoration of wetlands. In regular-people terms, it sounds like the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers don't see eye-to-eye on this -- sort of like Belmont and Redwood City... oh, and Menlo Park is jumping into the fray as well, and not on the pro-development side.

Speaking of Belmont, the opposition to the Cargill project will come with a (sort of) new Mayor -- Dave Warden...

And Belmont's Mayor Dave Warden will have to deal with a challenge on the Fire Board front as well. You see, Belmont shares that cost with San Carlos, and San Carlos has been unhappy with the way that Belmont is sharing (or not sharing) the cost. San Carlos' Mayor Randy Royce has taken an interesting step by replacing Councilmembers Matt Grocott and Bob Grassilli on the Fire Board with Councilmembers Omar Ahmad and Andy Klein. In San Carlos, this passes for political intrigue. Expect fireworks (that's a pun) at the Fire Board as San Carlos tries to lower its cost...

Safeway + Burlingame = Fun, Fun, Fun... and 19 more trees than originally planned. It passed the Planning Commission yesterday with flying colors.

Local leaders are mad as hell and they aren't going to take it anymore... so they held a press conference. Oh, and they joined with the California League of Cities to support an initiative (awkwardly) titled the Local Taxpayer, Public Safety, and Transportation Protection Act of 2010 to try to stop the State from taking more money. We just like the idea of someone standing a post and protecting transportation...

2,000 tons of riprap are in place near the 330 Esplanade Avenue apartments in Pacifica. That's the good news. The bad news? Well, it probably won't be enough as another storm approaches...

And even though the big waves may take out 330 Esplanade, there will be no Mavericks Wednesday.

Not actual waves, but political waves in this coastside story. The San Mateo County League for Coastside Protection (a political action committee) will be fined $3,500 for violations in the 2005 election cycle. It is good to know that the Fair Political Practices Commission works quickly...

Coastsider has a breakdown of the story too...

You have got to love the ever-vocal Lee Duboc. And finally, she is taking action by pushing a pension reform initiative in her Menlo Park. If you want to email Lee, her email is menlofuture@gmail.com.

Bruce at the PP Examiner has been busy typing... he provides us all a Top Ten Political Stories of 2009... number 1 is Pay-Gate... number 10 is Lee Buffington "retiring"... click through to the see the rest.

Morning News Round-Up -- 1.7.10: A Styrofoam-Free Pacifica...

A new chapter in the Garbage Saga may soon unfold... the South Bayside Waste Management Authority, along with San Carlos and San Mateo, are exploring mandatory recycling ordinances in the County for commercial businesses. Begging the question: businesses aren't required to recycle but residents are?

The Governor promised some stuff (like not cutting education) during his State of the State while acknowledging the obvious (the State has major problems...) Thank you Governor Out-the-Door... We'll see what the impacts are to the County -- and schools -- and roads -- and everything else.

Michelle Durand's Off the Beat is pretty serious in today's Daily Journal. She chronicles a San Carlos family's effort to keep their home and includes a mention of a growing trend, online begging. (It is real. Check out begslist...)

Deep in the Reporters' Notebook in the Daily Journal we cull this nugget: David Lim and Robert Ross, the two new Councilmembers in San Mateo, voted against a recommendation made by San Mateo Public Works Director Larry Patterson about sewer contracts... too bad Lim and Ross weren't their during the garbage sage. No doubt Mr. Patterson is longing for the pre-Lim/Ross days...

Here's a strange story: On New Year's night, SSF police chased Cecilio Zaparolli from his car into his house because the police knew the guy had some outstanding warrants for his arrest (drug and knife possession). Zaparolli hid in his attic from the police, so the police called down to San Bruno's "Artie" the police dog to get Zaparolli from the attic. One problem, Zaparolli apparently isn't afraid of dogs and choked Artie and then surrendered... Zaparolli and Artie are both fine, although there is a pretty good chance that Zaparolli will spend as much time a cage in the coming weeks and months as Artie.

Can someone in Atherton Town government please wake up? Recently they settled a sexual harassment lawsuit with a former police officer for $230,000 but never informed the public about the settlement. Turning up the political heat on the issue is the Atherton Civic Interest League (whatever that is) President Peter Carpenter saying: "Frankly, I think the town was morally derelict in the way that they have handled this..." Mr. Carpenter, please tell us what you really think.

No Mavericks this week... perhaps next week? The tension builds.

In case you are looking for Styrofoam food containers, you'll need to look somewhere other than Pacifica these days. Their ban went into affect on January 1...

Barry Bonds' son, who allegedly assaulted his mother, will face five misdemeanor charges. He sounds like a swell kid: he threw a door knob at his mother, he spit in her face, and he destroyed $400 worth of property. Perhaps he wasn't able to get his own cushy chair by his locker and got enraged...

Morning News Round-Up -- 1.5.10: Maverick's Friday?

Kaiser meet San Mateo. San Mateo -- meet Kaiser new 65,000 square foot facility... The facility got unanimous approval from the San Mateo City Council.

But who cares about that... because the real fun issue in San Mateo is that dogs may be able to run off-leash. Watch Dogs off-leash... watch out...

Convention center versus open space versus financing... these are the issues that Burlingame is deciding on related to the Bayshore Golf Center...

Maverick's Friday? Perhaps. Even the HMB Review is predicting such...

In an unrelated story, the US Coast Guard had to rescue (with a helicopter) a surfer off of San Francisco's Ocean Beach yesterday...

Here's a good news/bad news story: East Palo Alto officials say that the gun shot detection system is working well. That's the good news. The bad news is that they need one and that they have enough data to know it is working well...

As anyone who has read Watch Dog for a while knows, we love Atherton politics. So when Kathy McKeithen becomes Mayor with a unanimous vote of her colleagues, we must anxiously wait for the fireworks...

Morning News Round-up --12.04.09: Watch out for Peeping Shon

Surfers await the world-class Maverick wave(s), which may or may not arrive off the coast on Tuesday.

A 75-year-old Daly City man lost control of his vehicle near Skyline Elementary School Thursday afternoon, hitting three young students who had just gotten out of class. Fortunately, the kids are expected to survive.

San Carlos is getting the shit sued out of them. Literally.

And Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Menlo Park said she opposes President Barack Obama's plan to increase the number of U.S. military troops in Afghanistan, which she referred to as “the graveyard of nations.” Leave it to the Democrats to be divided.

Caltrain riders will soon (as in 2011) be able to check online or even call to find out about delayed trains. Please welcome Caltrain to the 20th Century!

Convicted peeper Shon Yean Chow will face trial in December for four new counts of peeping. Shon gives a whole new meaning to the phrase 'peeping Tom.'

Highway 1 re-opened after a 12-year-old boy was hit by a vehicle while riding a bike across the highway at Moss Beach. The highway was shut down to all traffic. Be careful, people.

Erick Romeo Morales, 29, the extradited Long Island man who was accused of participating in the death of a Daly City teen eight years, ago pleaded not guilty to murder charges.

San Bruno continues the debate about whether to allow dogs to roam freely off leash at some city parks. More to come in 2010. Woof!

And finally.... high speed rail derailed….again?

Morning News Round-up --11.13.09: Thank. God. it's. Friday.

Here is a good use of time...environmental economists have taken up “surfonomics,” putting a $23.9 million price tag on the Maverick wave.

And the winner is… Leonard Woren has retained his director seat on the Granada Sanitary District, beating challenger Lisa McCaffrey by just 10 votes. Recount!

The Belmont City Council decided to purchase about 35 acres of open space in the San Juan Canyon. But Councilman Warren Lieberman voted against it, saying he doesn’t believe the purchase would be revenue neutral. Open space = no money.

A South San Francisco man is in jail after he allegedly abducted his daughter and cleared out the family’s joint bank accounts. His attempted vacation is now a staycation.

Alexander Robert Youshock’s preliminary hearing was pushed back until Jan. 7 when he will learn whether he will stand trial for plotting a massacre at Hillsdale High School.

T.G.I Friday's in San Mateo has even more to be thankful for....the shuttered restaurant gets a second chance after a homicide and employee issues forced the popular chain to close its doors last year (thank God?)