Morning News Round-Up -- 1.22.10: One giant leap for lights at M-A...

Storm, storm, storm... but drought not over... power out because of storm... etc., etc., etc....

Watch Dog loves this story: Menlo-Atherton High School may get lights on its football field. (Welcome to 1985... right?) Anyway, because of where M-A is located (in the NIMBY capital of the world), the Sequoia Union High School District is approaching the idea carefully. They are doing an Environmental Impact Study and talking to "stakeholders." We expect lawsuits to challenge the EIR but that lights will be a reality before the current crop of Freshman graduate... hopefully.

If State Senator Joe Simitian hosts it, anti-High Speed Rail people will come... that was the scene last night in Palo Alto when hundreds showed up to have their voices heard, or at least their heads counted for a State Senate Committee hearing in Palo Alto.

Tesla is getting an influx of cash the new (as opposed to old) fashioned way... from the Federal Government... $465 million from the Department of Energy. That's a lot of scratch for a company that sells $100,000 cars to venture capitalists...

This is the type of story that warms your heart, and may hasten your grabbing your kid's cell phone from their hands and smashing it on the floor... A substitute teacher pleaded no contest to sexting (and having phone sex with) a San Mateo High School student... There were 400 "sexually explicit text messsages" involved in this case -- now there are 60 days in jail where John Oliver Jacobson will no doubt learn some interesting things about sex that he never knew...

This isn't good. Both Congressmembers from the area said yesterday that they will not vote from the Senate health care bill. It is unclear why Speier and Eshoo did this now, other than the fact that Democrats are worried about a Republican winning in Massachusetts. Trust Watch Dog Jackie and Anna, San Mateo County is more blue than Massachusetts. Vote for the health care bill that comes back before you... please. Watch Dog needs to see the vet sometime soon...

Morning News Roundup - 8.12.09: healthcare, food and transportation

Daniel James Longorio, the accused invasion robber, tried to make a run for it when he jumped from the police van transporting him from a preliminary hearing back to the Maguire Correctional Facility. It was pretty simple: he opened the rear doors of the van and ran. He was only free for about 60 seconds before he was nabbed.

U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier was on defense last night during a teleforum she hosted where thousands of folks listened in as she fielded questions from residents who are skeptical about the health care reform legislation mandating insurance for all. Speier supports the legislation, which has drawn angry crowds across the nation in townhall meetings, because it eliminates co-pays for preventative care, protects people with pre-existing health conditions and puts a cap on out-of-pocket expenses. Oh, and she dispelled talk that the bill calls for a “death panel” for the elderly.

Thank you Bonnie and Tony Addario who have pledged $500,000 to build and equip the new Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City, helping the campaign reach its $20 million goal.

Briana Nicole Balancier, the bride accused of stealing to fund her wedding, pleaded no contest yesterday to four felonies and will have to pay restitution if she hopes to avoid spending up to nine months in jail.

The City Council will study, study, study a submitted proposal to build on the Cargill Saltworks site. Hopefully, the council will then have a better understanding of things like jurisdictional rights, water, transportation, traffic and open space tax benefits.

San Mateo municipal workers said they would consider anything to help save city jobs. All employees already agreed to forgo scheduled pay raises for the rest of the year, and some workers also took furloughs to help offset the city’s $8 million deficit.

The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District is stepping up to try and protect the 450-acre portion of UC Elkus Ranch, an environmental and agricultural education center for Bay Area youth south of Half Moon Bay and owned by the University of California. The UC Board of Regents already has signed off on the sale and The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District is expected to do the same tonight.

The Redwood City School District board will now have a healthy election. At the last minute Friday two challengers filed to run against two incumbents who will try to defend their seats.

Two burglars who were stealing electronic items from a home Tuesday were surprised by to find the resident. It took a little while to get the cops out there, because the burglars, who had run off, had taken the man’s phone with them.

A stray bullet hit a 12-year-old boy in the ankle as he was standing in front of his house in East Palo Alto Monday afternoon.

Local chef Jesse Cool is teaming up with Stanford to make hospital meals a little tastier for patients. Cool’s new program, Farm Fresh, gives patients the option of choosing a meal created from seasonal ingredients picked from within a 200-mile radius of the medical center.

Atherton resident Russell Peterson filed a lawsuit against the California High-Speed Rail Authority and Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board in San Mateo County Superior Court.

Coastsiders seem to be losing their most basic needs. First SamTrans threatens to cut their bus service and now the state eliminated funding for the community’s Second Harvest Brown Bag Program. More than 100 seniors count on that program for weekly food stipends.

BART management and its union are going to attempt to settle their differences after the union rejected the most recent contract offer. Even though negotiations are resuming, it’s not clear that management is willing to make any further concessions.