Morning News Round-Up -- 5.26.10: 4,500 homes, 10,000 cars...

4,500 new homes in Brisbane? That's part of Universal Paragon Corporation's plans for the Brisbane Baylands unveiled last night to the Brisbane City Council. That should be great for traffic on 101...

Speaking of great for traffic... Check out this Almanac (hysterical) headline: Stanford medical facilities expansion could bring 10,000 more vehicle trips per day to the area. If they are that worried about car traffic, shouldn't they support High-Speed Rail? We're just saying...

It takes a special kind of asshole to "ransack" a school... but it happened again at James Flood Magnet School in East Palo Alto for the second time in a year.

It looks like Burlingame School District may buy, renovate, and eventually reopen the long-closed (former Buddhist center) Hoover Elementary School on Summit drive.

While we're there: the Burlingame Voice has a little perspective on the red-light cameras in Burlingame...

This should surprise absolutely nobody... the City of Belmont needs to dip into reserves to balance the budget next year. So does Watch Dog...

Jon Mays at the Daily Journal hearts the idea of a San Mateo/Foster City Fire Department...

A bit of really good news today: a bigger, better Ron Robinson Senior Care Center at the San Mateo Medical Center will reopen today...

Today is Yoriko Kishimoto's turn for a Will Oremus profile... Unfortunately for her, the Mercury News endorsed Rich Gordon today...

We mentioned earlier this week that we can't resist pointing out imperfections with the online Merc... we are clearly wildly immature. We wouldn't argue agains that... (There is a story linked here too...)

Morning News Round-Up -- 5.18.10: Garbage Saga, The Original, Continues...

Ah, we thought the original Garbage Saga had ended and was giving way to the new Garbage Saga II in Pacifica... actually, Menlo Park and Atherton are asking questions about the original Garbage Saga and those two towns are pissed about it. (What aren't they pissed about though...) You see, the current garbage company, Allied Waste, signed a contract with Teamsters that extends beyond Allied Waste's contract with Peninsula cities... and it is pretty generous. Of course, Allied Waste won't be on the hook to pay it, and really, the new company that will take over in January, Recology, won't be on the hook either, garbage customers will be. Which puts the overseer of the garbage companies, Kevin McCarthy in a tough spot explaining things:

"On the face of it, it doesn't seem unreasonable. Certainly, I think we would have liked to have seen a shorter term. To say it's awkward to have a lame-duck service provider negotiating future agreements ... well, it's a very awkward situation."

What?!

There is no way you have forgotten about the series of sexual assaults at the County's psych ward perpetrated by patients on other patients... well, investigators are going to look to see if employees could have done something to prevent these attacks. Y'think? The psych unit isgetting another night nurse and security officer to help make things a bit more secure. Sounds like that move is a bit overdue...

A new housing proposal in San Mateo will be 50 percent affordable housing units developed in partnership between the Mid-Peninsula Housing Coalition and Palo Alto Partners...

SSF Unified may go to the ballot in November for a bond measure... which bucks the trend of school districts going for parcel taxes. Bonds can't be used for operating expenses, just for bricks and mortar...

Dude... the Blue Heaven Collective, a medical-marijuana dispensary, was denied its license by the County. To be continued... no doubt.

Burlingame Voice shows that it knows and cares about something other than High-Speed Rail as they dive into the ongoing negotiations between Burlingame and their Police Department over pension and benefits. The Voice also shows they have a very good sense of humor, calling yesterday's piece: Friends with Benefits... (If you don't know what this funny, you are not hip at all...)

The Tour of California rolls through the Bay Area today and tomorrow... So shave your legs and head out...

Morning News Round-Up -- 5.17.10: Pension Reform in Burlingame? Lee Duboc is jealous...

Here's something... Burlingame and its police department have started the long road toward pension reform. From the County Times: "Police sergeants and captains in Burlingame have agreed to pay freezes through the end of the year and are ready to cut retiree benefits, the first union contract that includes pension reform for a city struggling to deal with escalating employee costs..." Menlo Park, and everyone else, are you reading this?

If you have twenty minutes, perhaps you should take a look at videos put together by the candidates for County Supervisor (Rich Gordon's seat)... they are on Coastsider and a bunch of other places...

If you are going to build in Belmont, you are going to need to build it green. Trying to become the Emerald City that many in Belmont already view themselves as, the City Council adopted a green building ordinance...

This has been on Watch Dog before, but the San Mateo County Times gets in on the Garbage Saga II unraveling in Pacifica, where Lionel Emde is suing the City of Pacifica over the rate hike tied to Recology's takeover of Coastside Scavenger. We might all want to care about this because Recology is taking over on this side of the hill too starting next year...

Finally, Ken Yeager and the rest of the Santa Clara County Supervisors (except Don Gage and George Shirakawa) get props from Dorothy Dimitre in the San Mateo Daily Journal for their fast food toy ban...

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.16.10: All Tea Partied Out...

San Mateo City Councilmember David Lim has something to say about the planned San Mateo-Burlingame marraige of Police Departments. Specifically, he does not like the idea of the San Mateo Deputy Police Chief becoming Burlingame's Interim Police Chief... Marraige is a very difficult thing... Remember what Rita Rudner said about marraige: "I love being married. It's so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life." Perhaps San Mateo and Burlingame have already started annoying each other...

Ah, more Charter School/School District drama. This time in the Ravenswood City School District and the Charter School is the Stanford New School... the District denied the charter.

Burlingame and San Mateo may not need to consolidate their Police Departments after all... because Jon Mays at the Daily Journal declared an end to the recession. From your mouth to the economy's ear Mr. Mays...

Morris Brown, a Menlo Park anti-train dude, filed another lawsuit against the California High-Speed Rail Authority and Caltrain yesterday. When all else fails, get legal on their asses...

The San Francisco Chronicle's Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area has been published... and there are only two in San Mateo County. One in the north part of the County -- Koi Palace, and one in the south part of the County -- Kaygetsu in Menlo Park. Happy eating everyone...

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.7.10: An Atherton Blog... Yippee!

Oh no. Earlier in the week we learned about a man who raped a woman in the County's psych unit... it turns out it wasn't the first time such an insident occurred. We said the story had lawsuit written all over it, now it seems to have scandal written all over it...

Jon Mays at the Daily Journal writes about the Benjamin Franklin Hotel in San Mateo is up for sale... again. Perhaps it would be a great Daily Journal Headquarters building...

The irony of this story is rich: the Town of Atherton has launched a blog to keep residents informed... informed of all the lawsuits they settle? Or informed about the latest political backstabbing on the Town Council? Or perhaps informed about the next anti-High-Speed Rail actions the Town is taking... At least they didn't spend any money to create the free blog... on the other hand, they didn't do much design work either. Watch Dog loves the fact that the "Comments" are turned off on the blog -- probably because the Town of Atherton knows that it would quickly get out of control... (Watch Dog predicts a 3 month time frame before this becomes a political issue in Atherton...)

Here's a non-shocking story: Residents crowd Menlo Park meeting on Bohannon project... Wait, Menlo Park residents have something to say?

Also not shocking, Burlingame (and everyone else) has massive budget problems... $3.1 million in Burlingame.

Also, also not shocking: "Peninsulans plan to bombard high-speed rail authority with letters, emails." Yes, Peninsulans, because what everyone government agency loves is to get bombarded with complaints...

Also, also, also not shocking, Half Moon Bay has budget problems and may seek a sales-tax hike...

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.1.10: A little long...

We missed yesterday... so today's version is a little long. (As Michael Scott would say...)

Jon Mays at the Daily Journal caught our vibe with all the consultant-hiring going on in the County. Redwood City hired a consultant to fight the jail and a bunch of other cities hired consultants to deal with High Speed Rail.

As if waiting for the perfect timing to prove Jon Mays' point... Menlo Park is hiring a lobbyist to argue against High-Speed Rail...

The Burlingame Voice doesn't like High-Speed Rail much either...

Sally Leiber has been wanting to re-enter the political fray for sometime... and she did today in a big way in San Mateo County. She had an Op-Ed bashing the salt pond development plans for Redwood City in the Merc.

65 employees could lose their jobs in the San Mateo-Foster City Elementary School District... thank you Sacramento (and the economy...)

The County budget isn't much better, but County parks may stay open... "barely"

Here's a reoccurring story... Everest vs. Sequoia, Sequoia vs. Everest... Sequoia Union High School District has made a "final offer" to Everest by offering them space at Woodside High School. However, it might take a few more weeks to have Everest and Sequoia work things out... after several years, what's a few more weeks, right?

Riptide informs us all that Pacifica Lumber has closed...

It is no secret that the Menlo Park FIre District and the City of Menlo Park haven't been getting along lately -- heck, firefighters have been working without a contract for two years. Unfortunately, the mediation process that they were going through failed... to be continued...

Small victories can make the COWs of Woodside so happy... consider this selection: "Clap your hooves and toot your horns, the Town has finally posted their new online permit and project research engine called eTRAKit! We are genuinely excited and delighted with this program. We whole heartedly COW-ngratulate staff on a job well done." Whatever floats your cow-filled boat...

Morning News Round-Up -- 3.16.10: Bracket Tuesday...

It is fill out your bracket Tuesday today... so forget work. Start research Murray State!

It is pink slip week at School Districts in California. Need we write any more? Send complaints to Capitol Mall, Sacramento, California...

To High-Speed Rail...

• Here's irony: A Southern California Republican Assemblywoman is becoming the best friend of all the NIMBYs up and down the Peninsula who hate High Speed Rail. Diane Harkey is introducing a bill to stop the sale of High Speed Rail bonds... Perhaps they will throw her a ticker-tape parade up and down El Camino Real...
• When the budget is tough, spend more money on an uphill battle... that's what Burlingame is doing.
• Quentin Kopp wrote a pro-High Speed Rail piece for the Merc. Surprised?

Atherton is getting in the business of police oversight... sort of like San Jose... Like all things Atherton, don't expect this to be anything short of hyper-political...

And more Atherton news... Actually, Menlo-Atherton news. The M-A field lights won't be installed in time for Fall... surprised?

If you are going to be a member of the Open Carry movement -- don't be so drunk you can't stand.

The PP Examiner gets in on the prognistication game about what is going to happen with Supervisor Mark Church as he runs for Assessor-Clerk-Recorder. Will his seat get appointed or elected? Let's wait to see what Carole Groom has to say about this...

Morning News Round-Up -- 3.1.10: http://mercurynews.com/san-mateo-county

To start March 2010, we have to comment on the change that happened over the weekend on the San Mateo County Times website. They actually have their own website, and now it is obvious that they are the same paper as the Mercury News. Also, instead of saying "Oakland Tribune" on the top of their homepage, it actually says San Mateo County Times. Kudos to all those busy web developers... and their bosses who got the go-ahead to change things up... Oh yeah, and they got their own URL, http://www.mercurynews.com/san-mateo-county

DMB's water rights that they intend to use if the Saltworks project ever goes through in Redwood City gets the microscope treatment today. The headline: "Redwood City Saltworks developer poised to become major Bay Area water baron" pretty much says it all. The story hints that Redwood City might be tempted to approve the DMB proposal in the salt flats because the City needs the water that could come with it...

Speaking of controversial... High-Speed Rail on the Peninsula. A big report is coming out in April and everyone is figuring out how to oppose it... like hiring lobbyists or having public meetings...

You don't think people are crazy about schools in Belmont? How about camping out for Kindergarten... we get camping out for Miley Syrus tickets, but Kindergarten?

In the land of constant elections, Burlingame voters have until 8 p.m. Tuesday to return their ballot on the parcel tax measure for the Burlingame School District.

The former Belmont Chamber of Commerce president's molestation trial has begun. For the Belmont Chamber, this trial flies in the face of the old adage that any coverage in the news is good news...

The San Mateo Police Chief Susan Manheimer is now also the head the California Police Chiefs Association...

It is Sue Lempert Monday in the Daily Journal. She looks at the sale of the Crestmoor High School site calling it deja vu... she also talks about all the local races happening, like for Coroner...

And onto Recession news...

• New water rates are coming to Foster City. The new rates will save you money if you save water and cost you lots if use lots...
• SSF Unified is looking at raising taxes, cutting offerings and jobs, or all of that...
• Teachers may be laid off in the Menlo Park City School District. That ought to go over well with Menlo Parkians... and ought to push them to vote yes on the upcoming parcel tax.

Cool stuff about the tsunami that (thankfully) wasn't on Coastsider...

To end today's Round-Up, we go to Pacifica Riptide... Riptide does some reporting today (and perhaps provides some opposition research for the Josh Becker/ Yoriko Kishimoto camps)... it seems Supervisor Rich Gordon has missed half of the San Mateo County Transportation Authority meetings in the past year... oops.

Morning News Round-Up -- 2.3.10: No Battle Royale...

Jackie Speier isn't going to leave DC... yet. She announced yesterday that she will not run for Attorney General. Which makes Watch Dog sad because we sort of looked forward to Battle Royale locally that would have ensued...

Remember last week when the County Executive David Boesch sent a stern letter to Deputy Sheriff's union explaining how the union must not understand the economic crisis affecting the County? Well, the union shot back yesterday saying that they did offer salary concessions to the County, but County Administrators (in Boesch's office) never forwarded the union's proposal to the Board of Supervisors...

Menlo Park is about to make national news. Following in Belmont's footsteps, MP is about to enact a pretty far-reaching anti-smoking ordinance. Menlo Park, meet Fox News. Fox News, meet Menlo Park...

San Carlos has a major parks problem... and we aren't talking about the 'to turf or not to turf' issue. They have no money for maintenance and may close some parks, stop mowing lawns, and stop cleaning up graffiti. Welcome taggers...

San Bruno neighbors continued to tell the San Mateo Union School District not to sell the Crestmoor High School site in San Bruno...

Folks in the Burlingame Elementary School District have ballots in their hands for Measure B, renewing a parcel tax for schools. 2/3 of them need to say yes for the tax to get renewed... vote early and often, that's Watch Dog's motto.

Speaking of Burlingame, the Daily Journal's Jon Mays chimes in on the epic, 13 year struggle to get Safeway approved. In the process, he gives us all a pretty good indication of reporter Heather Murtagh's age...

Continuing the big weak for Safeway on the Peninsula, the Menlo Park City Council is allowing Rubio's and Peet's to get outdoor seating in the Safeway plaza...

This is sad, the Half Moon Bay Downtown Business Association is taking a vote on whether to disband. That isn't a very good sign...

Morning News Round-Up -- 2.2.10: Ground-Hog Fundraising Reports...

Cut-throat local politics make blogs a lot more interesting to read... sorry, we have to say it. Sowhen Congresswoman Jackie Speier's name popped up as a possible candidate for Attorney General, not only did the Attorney General's race get a lot more exciting, but the real action is going to happen if she decideds to give up her seat... then the local political scene becomes very interesting: Simitian? Yee? Hill? Lempert?...

Bruce at the PP Examiner looks into all the incarnations of what might happen if Speier jumps...

There was a big, 2009 year-end political filing due yesterday which had candidates all over the place scrambling to get their stuff in. In the huge primary battle for the Democratic nomination for the 21 Assembly seat (the one Ira Ruskin will be leaving) -- race newcomer Josh Becker kicked everyone's ass in fundraising and has the most cash on hand going into the new year, over $200k+ to be exact. San Mateo County Supervisor Rich Gordon has $133k+ on hand and Palo Alto City Councilwoman Yoriko Kishimoto has just over $100k to work with... of course, Kishimoto put in $40k of her own money this period, so she is being way outpaced on the fundraising side of the campaign. Becker is new to the race so his fundraising has been impressive...

Yay! Safeway in Burlingame! The plans got approved by the City Council last night. Can you believe it?

And while NIMBYs take a hit in Burlingame, they are getting their voices heard about the "transit village" plans in San Carlos.

Speaking of NIMBYs and Safeway... Safeway's plans to have a few outdoor seats in Menlo Park is going to be heard on the City Council because one resident sent a hand-written note objecting to the plan...

And what would a week be without another story about how DMB Associates plans to bring water into the the Cargill Salt Flats development in Redwood City? Put it this way, it sounds pretty complicated, feasible, but complicated...

Morning News Round-Up -- 1.21.10: Dude... lawsuits are NOT cool

Weather, weather, weather...

Some Mavericks news... and not the "it's go time" type, either. More of the disagreement between Jeff Clark, Mavericks' founder, and Mavericks Surf Ventures, Inc., which runs the event (and kicked out Clark last year)... the disagreement is now in court as Clark filed a complaint in San Francisco Superior Court. Dude, this entire thing is so not cool...

Jon Mays at the Daily Journal gives his thoughts about how Matt Grocott's entrance into the race to replace Supervisor Rich Gordon is a "game changer." Shoot, with Don Horsley, Michael Stogner, April Vargas, Jack Hickey, and David Mineta already in the crowded field, a game-changer might actually be really fun to watch.

Online, Bruce at PP Examiner also chimes in on the race...

You remember the jewelry heist last week at a Burlingame hotel parking lot... well, 6 guys were arrested in LA in connection with that robbery. Very Law and Order...

Court workers in the County are protesting state cuts, furloughs, and financial mismanagement... and they are doing it in the rain, which counts for something. Home healthcare workers who are paid by the State/County are also joining the protests...

Hey all you folks in Burlingame -- get ready for your fees on just about everything in 2010 to go up: water, sewer, and garbage. Oh, and then they will up again in 2011 and again in 2010. Joy.

Morning News Round-Up -- 1.20.10: lights at M-A... the sky is falling!

Oh man, this is going to be really great. The Sequoia Union High School District is going to consider putting lights on the football field at Menlo-Atherton High School. Heather Murtagh covers the story for the Daily Journal, but she didn't mention that this idea for lights at M-A may cause a full-scale riot in the Lindenwood neighborhood of Atherton where folks like their enclave exactly the way it was in 1945... seriously.

In other Atherton school news, the Principal at Las Lomitas Elementary School is leaving after 10 years. His statement about why he is leaving is pretty funny, but has a bit negativity to it... check it out. And the Las Lomitas Elementary School District teachers just penned a new agreement as one of the principals packs his bags...

Here is something new and different: the State of California is actually paying back some of the money they stole from local governments. The County got $10.5 million back last week. Do you have to say thank you when someone (or the State) returns something they stole?

The State taketh (and giveth back) but the tough times aren't going anywhere. Burlingame is still cutting services and possibly employees...

San Carlos could see a 'transit village' spring up around its train station. This is a great idea, but the funniest part of the story is how the Daily Journal's Michelle Durand categorizes the current station as an "...underwhelming gateway of San Carlos..." We thought her funny columns ran on Tuesdays and Thursdays...

Pacifica Riptide is monitoring the stormy weather and its impacts coastside, including the Esplanade Apartments.

Morning News Round-Up -- 1.8.10: Burlingame News Day

The race to replace Assemblymember Ira Ruskin just got a little more interesting... or perhaps it got a little less interesting. One of the people that was in the race, Kai Stinchcombe, dropped out to support the latest entry into the race, Josh Becker. So the field looks like this, for those of you keeping score: Josh Becker, Rich Gordon, and Yoriko Kishimoto. Stinchcombe joined Marc Berman as folks who were once in the race but are now out of the race..

It is Friday Burlingame News Day:

• Could there be a new school coming to Burlingame to meet enrollment at the growing Burlingame Elementary School District? That's what the discussion will be Tuesday. Burlingame + Schools = Good times...
• Burlingame + Safeway = Good times as well... now the plan includes more trees, in case you were concerned. And it seems like some folks in Burlingame were.
• The Daily Journal chimes in on Burlingame's Bayshore golf center/convention hall proposal... their message: "Anyone in support of such a development should not get their hopes up."

A family in Atherton came home from a New Year's vacation to find their home burglarized and their car ripped off... we like to joke about Atherton politics, but this isn't funny.

Just down the street, the Citizens of Woodside announce COWmission and COWmittee openings of Woodside...

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 1.4.10: Weeee're back...

Ok all you loyal readers and fans, Watch Dog San Mateo is back. We took a few weeks off (due to a forced furlough from Failing Company X). By some miracle (bail out money) the company survived into 2010 -- so we are back at "work"...

And we'll start the new year with this... the San Mateo Postmaster Carol Conroy is retiring. Rain, nor sleet, etc., etc. Thank you Carol.

One thing Ms. Conroy won't miss is the abundance of campaign mail come campaign time... which is exactly what you are about to see if a new intiiative makes it to the ballot to lower the threshold to pass school parcel taxes to 55 percent.

And while Watch Dog has been away, PP Examiner took the holiday weeks to type this up about how the San Mateo County Supervisors are "stacking the deck against reform" with their appointed "Charter Review Commission"

Sue Lempert talks school crossings and walking to school in her Daily Journal column today...

226 folks got nabbed at drunk driving check points throughout the Bay Area this New Year's weekend... safety first people, that's what Watch Dog preaches...

Menlo Park is taking action on its plan to buy foreclosed homes to save neighborhoods...

And on the other end of the spectrum in Menlo Park, they are debating lawn sizes...

One can assume that human remains weren't one of the things an unlucky hiker thought he would find in the El Corte de Madera Creek Open Space over the holiday week. Yikes.

We'll end on a sad note: Bud Harrison died. He was the former Mayor of Burlingame. We'll let others write a fitting farewell because we didn't know the man, but he sounds like one helluva guy.

Morning News Round-Up -- 12.14.09: Garbage is Back...

The Garbage Saga starts a new chapter soon... The new (controversial) garbage contract is due to start in January 2011, but today's story in the Daily Journal suggests that talks are in the works for Recology (the new guys) to take over the contract early from the Republic/Allied Waste (the old guys). Interestingly, Recology provided no comment to Michelle Durand for the story...

If there is one thing in San Mateo County that is certain to cause drama, it is a new (or redesigned) Safeway. (Think Burlingame...) Safeway has big plans for their Millbrae location -- including a two-story store and underground parking. Don't worry y'all, the mural will stay intact.

Speaking of Burlingame's Safeway, the Daily Journal said it best in their headline: At last -- Safeway nears approval. Those Safeway people have been busy here lately...

The UN Climate Change party (?) was preceded by UNICEF's 2009 Children's Climate Change Forum, and Chloe Songer from Menlo-Atherton High School was there... cool.

If you like to skateboard (or smoke) in Courthouse Square in Redwood City -- you better find a new place to hang out... new rules will ban both and require new fees and permits if you want to rent it out.

The California Coastal Commission isn't listening to the our County folks. They rejected all of the recommendations put forward for the Midcoast Local Coastal Program by the County.

Today is Sue Lempert's day in the Daily Journal. Topics: Jan Fraser (the new head of the County health system) and the correct pronunciation of San Mateo's Jan Epstein and Fred Hansson.

Morning News Round-Up -- 11.17.09: A mani/pedi with your downtown?

Burlingame wants a nicer downtown, with more trees, a creek, open space, and shorter pedestrian walkways. Spoiled, spoiled. Perhaps a mani/pedi could also be provided?

Stanley Hilton, 60, of Hillsborough is suing SFO, claiming the loud roar of jet planes over his house is responsible for his divorce. Perhaps that is something he should have considered before moving there... SFO has been an active airport since 1927. Perhaps it is Mr. Hilton's litigious nature that is responsible for his divorce...

San Mateo-Foster City Elementary School District wants to ask voters to renew a tax this time with a $96 increase. Good timing and good luck...

And here is another public agency that could use a new influx of cash...

Layoffs are coming down the pike at SamTrans. Apparently cutting routes and raising fares didn’t do the budget trick.

Burlingame says 'see ya' to one of its political fixtures… Rosalie O’Mahony.

Rancho Corral de Tierra near Montara is $5 million closer to being a National Park.

Two men armed with semiautomatic handguns confronted a resident outside his Menlo Park home, forced him inside, and held him and his girlfriend at gunpoint while they looted the place, taking gadgets and cash. That's scary...

Morning News Round-Up -- 11.11.09: Veterans Day Edition...

As we predicted, the idea for San Carlos to charge its partner in fire protection (Belmont) more money isn't being that well received... neighbor vs. neighbor. What do they say about fences and neighbors?

Here is a unique story: Folks in Burlingame are mad that there is a truck parked downtown... which normally isn't a problem. Except this truck is serving Indian food. Watch Dog does love Burlingame...

A federal lawsuit is being filed against the City of Millbrae and its Police Department accusing them of racial discrimination. And here we thought that federal lawsuits against cities and their police departments only happened in San Jose...

"Grade separation" may be coming to train tracks near you -- if you live in San Bruno. (And no, grade separation has nothing with the achievement gap in our schools...)

The commercial crab season is looking bad... which is neither good for business or for your taste buds...

From Portola Valley to Geneva... it isn't a direct flight. But that's where Portola Valley resident Eileen Chamberlain is headed. She was appointed as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Council. A lot for a business card... but pretty awesome nonetheless...

Fix Pacifica chimes in with some questions about why nothing has happened with the old Waste Water Treatment Plant in Pacifica for 10 years...

In case you missed it -- Bruce at PP Examiner wrote up the election results on his blog...

Morning News Round-Up -- 11.3.09: Political Nervousness...

The nervousness of local elections is palpable... isn't it?

The Bay Bridge is open again but Caltrans says there is still work to be done. Um... like rebuild their record and reputation? The Bridge might actually close again sometime soon... seriously.

Menlo Park goes Belmont on us and may toughen anti-smoking rules. Cough, cough, cough...

Perhaps this is why Menlo Park is looking to fine people more... dropping revenue to City coffers.

Speaking of money that doesn’t exist… the County is still feeling the State's money grab pain...

Burlingame has a different definition of what's “historic.” At least Councilwoman Cathy Baylock does.

San Mateo County teens are starting to get their 8 square of sleep each night. Zzzzz...

East Palo Alto's Jack Farrell Park is re-open. Word on the street is that it’s pretty.

Here is a story of a struggling cat shelter and its nine lives.

Fuel tank explodes in Atherton, which is pretty exciting for Atherton.

Morning News Round-Up -- 11.2.09: Bridge (Still) Closed Edition...

Yes, we took Friday off. We didn't see you working that hard either...

It is a political week for those of you really paying attention and aren't totally consumed with guessing when the Bay Bridge will reopen or close again...

• San Bruno Park School District has a race...
• Portola Valley has a renewal of a utility tax and Atherton is renewing its parcel tax...
• A hotel tax (or an increased one) is on the ballot in San Mateo, SSF, Millbrae, Burlingame, Brisbane, and San Bruno...
• And then there is a race for the Menlo Park Fire Protection District Board. There are three folks the Menlo Park Firefighters Legislative Action Group is supporting, but don't bother looking about how much money that group is spending to get these three elected. They seemingly believe they are above the law and not reporting their campaign finance spending. Good thing the Almanac is a good watchdog when it comes to these things.
  

County workers have agreed to a contract. They agreed on Friday. If the unions and County have any tricks of the trade, perhaps you could let your colleagues in Palo Alto in on the secret. They are locked in a pitched battle...

Speaking of contentious... the Foster City City Council is going to approve the Chess-Hatch Master Plan tonight... Here is what you need to know: 10 stories of office above 4 stories of parking and probably lots and lots of taxes to the General Fund.

Those kids at Sacred Heart Prep really know how to party apparently. Two students were expelled for "marijuana-related activities"... what the hell does that mean? Were they smoking it? Were they selling it? Or were they just having a related activity to it? The interesting part of the story is that the Atherton Police know nothing about it -- and Sacred Heart officials are pretty much keeping quiet about what went down. Just a question for the Atherton Police: Don't you have jurisdiction if there is a drug issue on campus? Just asking...

The watch-and-wait season of Mavericks has begun. So get your board and your sex wax ready...