Morning News Round-Up -- 5.28.10: Drive safe...

This is a Friday before a long weekend, so you must, must, must read the newspaper tomorrow. Late today is a great time to release horrible news if you are a government agency, elected official, corporation, or candidate. So, Watch Dog will be watching, but you should be too...

In a story that may get overlooked today, but will have lasting implications, Caltrain got an important "waiver" from the Federal government to move forward with electrification. Yes, it sounds boring, but it seems really important.

Speaking of lasting implications... there is oil spilling out of a sunken boat off of Pillar Point Harbor in Half Moon Bay. Authorities are trying to contain the spill -- which seems small potatoes compared to the Gulf Coast. But there is no such thing as small potatoes when you are talking about oil washing up on shore...

Campaign finance filings were due this week. And the Daily Journal chronicles the contributions for the Coroner's race... Can you imagine the fundraising pitch from someone running for Coroner?

You'll remember a while back that there is a new plan for Menlo Park's "downtown"... well, it seems some of the businesses and property owners (like 100 of them) don't really like the new plan all that much... This could get interesting.

Lots of property reassessments are happening these days, according to a story in the Daily Journal. That might be good for lowering property tax bills, but it is a tough thing for a lot of school districts who rely on the higher property tax bills... hence the flood of parcel taxes on the ballot in May, June, and probably November...

The Burlingame drive-in may become a mixed-use development... which is not nearly as cool as a drive-in... The Burlingame Voice has some perspective...

The Daily Journal chimes in on local measures and state propositions:

Local: Yes

State: Yes, Yes, No, No, No

You got that?

Watch Dog has less and less patience these days. This is not a news story: Bay Area families packing up and leaving for Memorial Day. Right, like every year since it was called Decoration Day following the Civil War...

Morning News Round-Up -- 5.21.10: Simitian gets some anti-High-Speed Rail company...

Last week State Senator Joe Simiitian started hedging his High-Speed Rail bets and pulled up a chair to the NIMBY table... well, Congresswoman Jackie Speier may be following Joe...

Get ready for some fireworks... M-A is getting lights! Expect a high-energy NIMBY-meeting sometime soon...

That is a very slow news day... but like a Major League Baseball General Manager, Watch Dog can only do so much if the players aren't very good... and today, our best player, the San Mateo Daily Journal, seems to be having an off day. Some forgot to press the PUBLISH button...

Sorry...

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.14.10: iMansion friends...

Menlo Park onced loved the Bohannon project and especially the money that will come from it... but it may not be smooth sailing after all for Mr. Bohannon

based on the tone of a meeting this week.

Speaking of unpopular developments: The iMansion gets another friend... the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The National Trust for Historic Preservation should not expect their Steve Jobs' check this year...

San Carlos will mandate businesses recycle starting next January... While that doesn't sound groundbreaking, it really seems to be. San Carlos Councilmember Matt Grocott voted against it, he hates recycling. (Just kidding MG.)

A woman fell into an open manhole on Stanford's campus yesterday. No word if Senator Simitian is a looking to pass a "no texting while walking" law...

A woman in San Mateo has been voted as "Exhalted Ruler"... and we aren't talking about the Klan. Rather, that's the hightest position in the Elks Lodge in San Mateo. Congrats Jeanne Atno... cool hat...

The Daily Journal Editorial Board gets its third bite at the apple with the Medical Center. The rapes caused the Editorial Board to write last Friday, the Medical Center chief wrote yesterday, and the Editorial Board writes again today to give props to the Medical Center chief who wrote yesterday...

Daly City mobile home residents vs. mobile park owner will face off in federal court... that should be fun.

Here we go... Senator Leland Yee is dumpster diving (sort of) to get to the bottom of the Sarah Palin speech as CSU Stanislaus. You go Leland...

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 -- 2.12.10: When the going gets tough...

Mavericks Saturday... Now we see what the delay was. The organizers probably wanted the combination of big waves and a weekend...

Pat Gemma is retiring... and you might too if you were him. He is the Superintendent at the Sequoia Union High School District. He is probably exhausted from fighting the Charter Schools in his District and constant cuts... But there are some real long timers getting out of the action: Buffington, Slocum, Gemma... when the going gets tough...

Well, some of the tough try to get elected to a different office... like Supervisor Mark Church, who officially threw his hat into the ring for Slocum's office.

South San Francisco Unified has a little problem on their hands... Administrators are due to receive raises and teachers are none too pleased...

The Daily Journal advocates that some school districts team up to spread resources around better... good luck with that idea.

The COWs of Woodside wrote up the City Council meeting in January -- or you could take an Ambien...

(Late) Morning News Round-Up -- 12.11.09: Scammers and Christmas, like peas in a pod...

Here is a story that will warm your heart. Someone is using the holiday season good cheer to rip people off by telling them they are donating to the San Mateo Police Officers' Association... fuckers.

On the other hand, a good way to spend money would be to help schools -- which is what the San Mateo County Community College District might ask you to do next year... but it would be for taxes, not for gifts...

And while the Community College District is looking for a tax, the Belmont-Redwood Shores Elementary School Distrit is looking for a bond... maybe.

The San Bruno Park School District is also looking to improve their facilities -- specifically the Parkside Intermediate School.

You go Daily Journal Editorial Board! They say that pots clubs are worthy of discussion in cities... especially if that discussion is slightly slurred and interspersed with giggles...

You know the economy is bad when this is the headline for a company and it reads as good news: Bay Area-based airline startup Virgin America narrows loss. (Thank you County Times...)

The Governor honored two lifeguards from the Coast this week. Other than that, the Governor is keeping a higher profile in Copenhagen than he is in California...

Here is some more good Coastside news thanks to the Review. The clinic formerly knows at the Coastside Family Medical Center is getting some federal stimulus money to renovate. Thank you Congresswoman Eshoo...

Morning News Round-Up -- 10.28.09: The Bay Bridge is closed (seriously)...

Remember that Bay Bridge repair on Labor Day weekend. Y'know, that really important piece that they hadn't planned on fixing but saw a crack in when the Bay Bridge was closed and they fixed it. Well, it kind of broke last night. Don't worry though, Watch Dog can't see how having the Bay Bridge closed indefinitely could possibly screw things up throughout the Bay Area... (For all you very literal people out there, we are kidding. The Bay Area will be a traffic disaster for a while... stay in your pajamas, stay home, and log-in to work...)

In what has become one of the most written-about elections next week, Dave Boyce at the Almanac goes into even more detail about the Sequoia Union High School District Board race for two open seats. The Almanac Editorial pages support Chris Thomsen and Bob Ferrando... we'll see what happens Tuesday.

San Carlos's billboard/First Amendment issue took another turn yesterday. The guy who wants to promote Sarah Palin for President in 2012 (really?) will have to wait for at least 45 days while San Carlos's emergency moratorium on new billboards take effect.

Some SSF neighbors of a proposed pot club are none-too-pleased with the plan for a club down the street. Watch Dog just likes the fact that Heather Murtagh of the Daily Journal used the word "sparked" in the second sentence of her story today about a pot club...

The ever-efficient, always-helpful folks in Sacramento will be looking at the implications legalized marijuana would have on communities. Don't worry everyone, Assemblymember Tom Ammiano is leading the hearings...

A 13 year old boy brought a BB gun to school yesterday at Burlingame Intermediate. He must not have gotten the message that guns only belong at Skyline College...

The Daily Journal comes out in favor of Measure L in San Mateo. BUT, it isn't the strongest endorsement you'll ever read and it comes less than a week before election day, which means that a huge chunk of people have already voted. The Daily Journal also provides a run-down of all their campaign thoughts, at least in terms of local measures: F/Yes, H/Yes, I/Yes, J/Yes, K/Yes, L/Yes, M/Yes, (noticing a pattern?), O/Yes, U/Yes, V/Yes, W/Yes, X/Yes, Y/Yes... tough crowd at the Editorial Board at the Daily Journal...

Surprise, surprise. The Menlo Park City Council approval of a massive development, coupled with the stipulation that the development be "carbon neutral" wasn't as clear as it could have been.

Speaking of carbon neutral... Pacifica is banning Styrofoam. The earth thanks you Pacifica. And we thank Riptide for bringing us the news...

The COWs of Woodside are celebrating their 4th anniversary... by continuing their crusade... or is it a COWsade?

And finally:

Here's a good headline from the County Times: San Mateo County dentists trying to keep kids from Halloween candy. They only thing more laughable would be a headline that read: San Mateo County patients trying to keep dentists away from golf courses.

Morning News Round-Up -- 10.14.09: Politics, Politics, Politics...

Local politics...

Sequoia Union High School District (a.k.a. the District that continues to try to keep Charter schools out) has an election coming up. The Daily Journal gives us all insight into the race, then proceeds to make an endorsement in the race... two actually: Chris Thomsen and Alan Sarver.

Newcomer Michael Brownrigg is taking on three heavy-weight incumbents for Burlingame City Council. We always knew Brownrigg had some balls. Burlingame Vice Mayor Cathy Baylock tattled on her neighbors and now has set a historic precedent… no pun intended. Wonder how Brownrigg would handle this one...

San Mateo Union High School newcomer Mike Loy shakes up the race. Not hard considering the District has been mired in financial problems, a.k.a: mismanagement.

Now crime...

Police arrested two men accused of stealing nine iPhones worth $5,400 from a Burlingame store. Police caught up with them after a short car chase Monday night. Perhaps the thieves should have turned off the GPS in the iPhones...

The former Daly City man authorities believed was at large in Guatemala to avoid prosecution on murder charges stemming from the 2001 fatal stabbing of his high school classmate was busted in New York Monday morning after being pulled over on suspicion of drunk driving.

Menlo Park is attempting to save the Belle Haven neighborhood from facing any more home foreclosures. Groundbreaking stuff for MP...

Now rain...

The heavy storm, which left hundreds of Coastal residents without power, has come and gone, expected to taper off today. Rain, rain go away.

Now breaking story...

A bicyclist was hit by a dump truck in San Carlos this morning and killed. The driver left the scene.

Morning News Round-Up -- 8.18.09: Tesla/ OTB/ Bay Meadows Trifecta Edition

Not a ton of stories today, but several updates on stories you have heard before...

Much to the dismay of the City of San Jose (and probably San Carlos as well), Tesla is moving its powertrain production facilities to Palo Alto. For a recap of Tesla's on-again/off-again love affair with every City in the Bay Area, check out Watch Dog Silicon Valley's Tesla Chronicles.

The OTB Battle rages on... another chapter in San Mateo County's quest to keep OTB out of San Francisco happened yesterday when the San Francisco folks yanked their application that was being considered by the California Horse Racing Board. Why did the San Francisco folks pull their application at the 11th hour: "business reasons"... yeah right. Anyway, the OTB Battle rages on...

In other race track news... As if you couldn't tell from driving by the eye-sore, we get this headline from the County Times: One year after Bay Meadows' closure, redevelopment of racetrack has been halted by economy.

You may have heard that the State of California is in a bit of a financial bind... now, fees are going up at local State parks. HMB Review has the rundown...

The aftermath of the averted BART strike will carry on for several days and/or weeks... riders were angry and didn't support the strike, etc., etc., etc.

"We didn’t know they were closing the store until we read about it in the Daily Journal," those are the words of Maurissa Heffran who owns the property formerly occupied by Starbucks at the Gateway Crossing in San Mateo. Starbucks pulled out of their lease, which was to run until 2017. We guess landlord/tenant relationships aren't what they used to be. (We feel you Maurissa, we don't really know anything until we read it in the Daily Journal either...)

Morning News Round-Up -- 7.17.09: Newsy Friday...

Get shot by San Mateo Police by accident collect $210,000. Seems like a low dollar amount to Watch Dog. After all, a person that was hit (by car) by accident by State Assemblywoman Carole Migden collected $300,000+.

In other police news... A Federal appeals court will allow a civil rights case to proceed against the San Carlos Police. This may cost the San Carlos Police a bunch more than the accidental shooting cost the San Mateo Police...

Watch Dog has covered NIMBYism in the area as it relates to High-Speed Rail, to housing developments, to grocery stores, and to artificial turf... but these episodes will seem like child's play compared to the NIMBY reaction Sheriff Greg Munks is about to walk into when he tries to convince the cities on the "short-list" of where to put a new jail of the following: "The jail is actually a service to the community..." Good luck Sheriff... Menlo Park is already very concerned... Half Moon Bay, on the other hand, isn't...

Here are three stories that are tailor-made to follow the previous one...

• Folks in San Mateo are getting annoyed with cars on the street that are for sale...
• 21 homes were approved for development in Redwood City...
• A decision to allow (or disallow) a massage parlor in Redwood City was delayed because of neighbors' "concerns"...

Another re-occurring story we have been tracking is the Sequoia Union High School District versus Everest Charter School. After several appeals, Everest has its Charter. Now, the battle about where Everest will actually be located is the question. Sequoia wants Everest in East Palo Alto. Everest doesn't want to be in East Palo Alto. Everest has tried to get into a building in Redwood City, and Sequoia is fighting Everest at every step... So the question is now being asked (by the Almanac) is: Will Everest Charter School open in August?

A bad (5-alarm) fire destroyed three (connected) homes in Sharon Heights/ Menlo Park yesterday.

The Daily Journal gives props to Belmont for not going forward with a hotel tax hike.

SamTrans + Bad Economy = Fare Increases + Service Cuts. (Same thing for our friends down south and VTA...)

The meth salesman that was (allegedly) operating outside of Safeway in Menlo Park pleaded not guilty yesterday...

The final escapee from Camp Glenwood was taken back into custody. Thank you HMB Review for the follow-up story...

Morning News Round-Up -- 7.15.09: Taxes, taxes everywhere...

The molestation trial of William Ayres is in the jury's hands now. So we wait... if you haven't already, you should check out William Ayres Watch(dog) for more details.

Yesterday we learned that Palo Alto's Mayor won't seek reelection in November, today it's San Bruno Mayor Larry Franzella's turn to call it quits...

And in an unexpected move, at least to Watch Dog, the Belmont City Council said no to putting a hotel tax on the November ballot. Perhaps Belmont wants their hotels to be cheaper than San Mateo...

Because San Mateo put two measures on the November ballot: 1/4 cent sales tax increase and a 2 percent hotel tax hike.

Atherton is also (likely) going to the ballot with a tax. In Atherton's case, it is a renewal of a parcel tax that seems to fund everything in Town and is expensive... the average household pays $750 per year.

Speaking of taxes... Millbrae property owners voted to renew (or not) a fire assessment. The ballots were due yesterday and are now being counted...

Daily Journal Editor Jon Mays gets Congresswoman Jackie Speier's perspective on the State Budget mess. She's been to Sacramento and now she's in DC -- so she knows her stuff. A choice quote: "...I think they've lost their way..." Yup.

Morning News Round-Up -- 7.10.09: Two local, legal battles heat up...,

Sorry to begin with, but it is certainly the quote of the day: "I've never massaged a penis..." You guessed it, that's Dr. William Ayres' speaking in his own defense.

Another very serious local legal battle is heating up. The Burlingame Museum of Pez Memorabilia is being sued by Pez Candy Inc. for copyright infringement. (The previous two sentences are true.)

We have seen lots of reports coming out of the San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury, but we haven't learned a lot about the folks on the actual Grand Jury. Until today. The Daily Journal does a write up of Virginia Chang Kiraly, the Grand Jury forewoman...

Speaking of the Civil Grand Jury... today's report says that the County is losing out on all kinds of money. And anther update on the Civil Grand Jury: the full TRASHTALK report is published for all of you with nothing to do this weekend...

On the flip side, there are folks at Sustainable San Mateo County and San Mateo Acting Responsibly Together are looking to save folks money through energy efficiency programs in your home.

We hope that the local folks in Sacramento photocopy the Daily Journal Editorial today about the dysfunction in Sacramento and pass the copies around to their colleagues.

COWs of Woodside delve into the new cost for Woodside for outsourcing their police protection to the Sheriff's Department.

A letter on Coastsider does its best to imitate the Civil Grand Jury calling for new leadership at the Coastside County Water District.

Ahhh, politics. In Palo Alto, expect the next City Council race to be a biggy. Councilman John Barton is not seeking another term. That makes three Council-folk from Palo Alto that won't be on the ballot in November: Barton, Yoriko Kishimoto, and Jack Morton. The other folks up in November are Larry Klein, who is running again, and Peter Drekmeier, who will let us all know on Monday. Hold on to your hats, it could be a real barnburner in Palo Alto in November.

Morning News Round-Up -- 6.5.09: Kung Fu Remembrance Edition

No doubt this Daily Journal headline is true, given the Governor's speech earlier in the week: Jail faces more crowding.

Caltrain just let us know that weekend service isn't being cut but regularity of mid-week trains is... now they declare a 'fiscal emergency.' They must have learned that trick from San Carlos..

The (prolific) Civil Grand Jury took time to study an issue that seems relatively obvious to most folks who observe local governments: employee costs for local governments are high. Thank you Civil Grand Jury for proving that (sometimes) you have a keen sense for the obvious. We have to ask: where is the Grand Daddy of Grand Jury Reports?

A Daily Journal Editorial supports the San Mateo flood zone assessment for homeowners. (In case you were holding your breath for a positive Daily Journal Editorial on this topic...)

If you are one of the people that can't wait for the local gun show every year... you may need to make other plans. A bill that just passed the California State Senate (written by Senator Mark Leno) aims to ban the gun show at the Cow Palace. (Perhaps the bill will also ban the horrible fluorescent signs everywhere for the gun show too?)

Pacifica Riptide's Editor/Publisher John Maybury proposes a House of Commons-type regular series of debates in the Pacifica City Council Chambers. Let's see where this idea goes... it does sound interesting...

As two teens are mourned in Palo Alto, another train-related suicide was narrowly averted this week.

Morning News Round-Up -- 6.2.09: Great Prank Tuesday...

Cuts, cuts, cuts, taxes, taxes, taxes. Today's government agency in the headlines is the City of San Mateo, with two possible tax hikes headed to the ballot in November.

Also on the chopping block are the music programs in the Millbrae Elementary School District, prompting the headline Editor at the Daily Journal to write: The day the music died.

Let's stick with the government in crisis theme for a bit, shall we?

More State cuts mean more State beach closures, including many of those in San Mateo County. Some could be closed as soon as Labor Day. Thank you Governor Schwarzenegger, State Senators Yee and Simitian, and Assemblmember Jerry Hill... (But with the bad State news comes a (little) bit of good, the Half Moon Bay Bail-Out Bill (AB 650) has been altered and may line up an interest-free $10 million loan for HMB from a bunch of State funds. Let's hope...)

And joining San Mateo on the tax-hike train, Palo Alto is still planning on putting a business license tax on the November ballot, over the objection of the Palo Alto business community. The biggest businesses are going to be whacked with a new, $50,000 tax, which seems like a pretty bad idea these days, at least to Watch Dog.

Perhaps if Palo Alto wasted less money on stuff like this...

City officials in Palo Alto apologized to the Palo Alto Children's Theatre (and the non-profit that funds it) for a probe that the Palo Alto Police conducted last year. It turns out, the Police screwed up, at least according to Palo Alto's Independent Police Auditor. (On a separate note, in San Jose, that kind of finding gets the Independent Police Auditor booted from their job...)

In a piece that will generate hundreds of angry Letters to the Editor of the Daily Journal, Michelle Durand's "Off the Beat" praises the Menlo-Atherton High School senior prank of last week. Ironically, Watch Dog spent the weekend telling friends about the same incident, which was pretty much awesome. We guess, however, that some Daily Journal readers will write something like, "How dare Michelle Durand endorse such bad behavior?" Don't worry Michelle, Watch Dog has your back. Plus, the M-A students' phone prank is better than them doing this with their phones...

The M-A students weren't doing this either, luckily...

A San Jose man was arrested after a six-week sting operation for selling Meth out of the Safeway parking lot on El Camino in Menlo Park. I guess Safeway does have it all...

You think there is a Garbage Saga on this side of the hill, Coastside Scavengers in Pacifica are late (really late) in paying Pacifica their franchise fees... meaning the budget pain in Pacifica is not amped up a bit more to to the tune of nearly $750,000. Ouch. (Remember, they are also considering changing their garbage people like on this side of the hill. Sounds reasonable, given the tardiness of the franchise payments...)

And just because this will seemingly draw more people through our fair County, even if they only stop for gas or in traffic, the Santa Clara City Council will meet tonight to discuss a new 49ers stadium. In a war of words that is happening over San Mateo County's airspace, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom says that Santa Clara should spend its money on something other than a new stadium, like schools... which is weird, because he is trying (unsuccessfully) to build them a stadium in San Francisco with public money and Santa Clara has way better schools than San Frnacisco. Perhaps we could set up a San Mateo County-located rumble to settle this thing?

The trial of accused child molester Dr. William Ayres began yesterday... for minute-by-minute, motion-by-motion updates (and pictures), you can follow William Ayres Watch... we'll have updates periodically as well.

Morning News Round-Up -- 5.22.09: Early long weekend get-away (especially for SBWMA staff?)

The Belmont Chamber of Commerce is in full crisis communications mode. Their Board President/Beau Monde Flooring owner Michael Kazarian was arrested on multiple counts of child molestation. Chamber Board VP Lenore Griffin came forward with a by-the-PR-textbook statement, "...The alleged victim and Mr. Kazarian should both be allowed to rely upon the justice system..." Watch Dog is projecting that Mr. Kazarian will step down from this post "temporarily to focus on his legal issues and his business." (Hint to the Belmont Chamber: remove Mr. Kazarian's personal email address from your website. He might start getting some pretty nasty emails...)

The dreaded/beloved Academic Performance Index scores came out yesterday grading our schools. No surprise to anyone that some San Mateo County schools score incredibly high... and some not so much. The San Mateo County Times generously calls this "mixed results"...

Speaking of the County Times, there are new plans for their old building. Intracorp (which sounds like a made up name for a big corporation in a movie) has plans for a partly residential, partly office building development that will go to the San Mateo Planning Commission on Tuesday. (58 townhomes, 9 duplexes, a single family home, and a partridge in a pear tree.)

Robert Jeangerard, a 75 year old San Carlos resident and former Olympic Gold Medalist in basketball (1956), walked away from his home earlier in the week and is missing. If you have seen the 6'4" man, let the San Carlos Police know. (650) 802-4277.

The Daily Journal (finally) gets on the Half Moon Bay NOT filing for bankruptcy story... others had the story earlier in the week.

Lucky for everyone else, Michelle Durand read the Civil Grand Jury report on San Mateo Medical Center's drug administration system. The first page put Watch Dog to bed... so thank you Michelle for the run down.

We are still waiting for the grand daddy of Civil Grand Jury reports about the Garbage Saga. If it comes out today (which Watch Dog projects) expect the SBWMA brass to have left on an early long weekend... On the other hand, expect Assemblymember Jerry Hill to be available for comment...

The San Mateo County Harbor District is looking to sell 6 acres of the "Burnham Strip" in El Granada across Highway 1 from Surfers Beach. The sale is going to be to the Granada Sanitary District for "wet storage"... which may be something really gross...

The failure of Measure D in Pacifica leaves some pretty bad budget cuts to make. On May 28th you can attend a budget session to have your voice heard...

Ron Kroichick, the golf columnist at the Chronicle, chimes in on Sharp Park. (Hat tip: Riptide) He advocates for a "middle ground." Way to stick your neck out Kroichick. I guess even writing about something controversial is big for a golf columnist...

The COWs of Woodside write up the idea to have green building standards in Woodside...

Morning News Round-Up -- 5.15.09: Drive to Work Day...

We are a little late today... apologies. We are blaming it on the CalTrain incident yesterday.

It was too good to be true... the San Carlos decision to lay down artificial turf (after 10 years of discussion) will head to court. Sounds like another decade of fighting, and huge legal bills, are on the horizon...

The State is screwed. That shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. But they are looking everywhere to raise money... and our local representatives in Sacramento, including Senator Leland Yee and Assemblymember Jerry Hill, are worried. The Cow Palace might be sold as part of State sale of land... Local governments are about to get pillaged too... Nobody is happy and this won't be good, especially with the Propositions (probably) going down in flames...

In an (un?)related note, another day, another Superintendent hitting the road. This time, San Carlos Elementary School District got word from Steven Mitrovich that he's heading out.

Speaking of the Lee/Hill gang, their Half Moon Bay Bailout Bill may be in jeopardy... as this bill goes, so goes HMB's finances...

Foster City's Hillbarn Theatre is on the ropes... they need $150K. Can you help?

Redwood City Elementary School District actually has a measure on the ballot next Tuesday... the Daily Journal wants you to vote Yes on E...

If you frequent downtown San Bruno (or can even find downtown San Bruno on a map), you should attend a public hearing on the topic this Saturday...

Pointing out other people's screw ups... (and our own)

We admit when we screw up... so we think it is only fair to point out other people's screw ups.

This morning, San Mateo County's premier newspaper, the San Mateo Daily Journal, had a story with the headline, "Belmont expands smoking ban to some houses."

This is a great story, except the story the headline was attached to was actually about DMB's plans to build 12,000 new units of housing in Redwood City.

This is obviously a technical screw up, and we don't think it is a big deal, but it is interesting.

We anxiously await Belmont's newest plan to curb the nation's smoking habit one small, wealthy San Mateo County town at a time...

Morning News Round-Up -- 5.8.09: Amici's + MP = Love

The San Mateo-Foster City School District versus the City of Foster City feud is certainly kicking into high gear. The School District says (and almost everyone agrees, except for Mayor John Kiramis) that they will need more classrooms soon. They want to build a new school and they would like the City of Foster City to provide some land to do it. That makes good sense to Watch Dog. The City apparently thinks differently. The City doesn't really believe that the School District is worthy of land and wanted a whole bunch of costly analysis done and reports and paperwork. Instead, the School District last night decided to provide the City with the information it had, and is hoping the City doesn't behave like the kindergartners that the District serves...

Big rate hikes, big service cuts, and a big stick in the eye to bicycle commuters... that seems to be the plan for CalTrain this fall. Does this mean Jack Morton doesn't want them to control High-Speed Rail now?

But it isn't just CalTrain looking at budget gaps to fill, so is the San Mateo Public Library...

In the wake of Burlingame's big sewer fee/tax increase, Redwood City is considering the same...

The Daily Journal's Editorial Board says (hold your nose and) vote yes on Propositions 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1F. (Poor Propositions 1D and 1E... no love)

Three kids escaped Wednesday from the Log Cabin Ranch (a juvenile detention facility) in La Honda. Because we may have screwed up stories about the Log Cabin Ranch before, it is important to note that the this Ranch is actually run by the San Francisco Juvenile Probation Department. Thank you careful readers...

Amici's East Coast Pizza + Menlo Park = Delicious...

Watch Dog History...

We missed something in yesterday's Round-Up. Actually, it was a Watch Dog first. In a letter to the Editor in yesterday's Daily Journal, a letter titled, "Quality schools protect property values" written by Phyllis Moore of Foster City, quoted Watch Dog San Mateo.

The letter was about the ongoing pissing match between the City of Foster City and the San Mateo-Foster City School District. You'll recall that the Foster City City Council suggested that the School District increase class size from 20 to 30. Here is the quote about us.

"...The City Council has suggested that the school district seriously consider increasing class sizes from 20 to 30 students in kindergarten, first, second and third grades. As Watch Dog San Mateo has stated, that’s “the political and policy equivalent of a city letting go 50 percent of its police officers and firefighters...”

Here is what we said in our original posting...

Thank you for reading Ms. Moore. (And thank you for publishing Daily Journal...)

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.10.09: La Honda Escapee Edition (again...)

An Editorial in today's Daily Journal gives props to the Congresswoman Speier for her openness with her Federal earmark requests. Luckily for the Daily Journal (and Jon Mays) Watch Dog brought up the "Bridge to Nowhere" Wednesday for their reference...

The Palo Alto Medical Foundation's plan for a hospital in San Carlos is officially on hold. The $300 million hospital, which would be an affiliate of Sutter Health, no longer has a definitive timeline.

In other healthcare-related news, Half Moon Bay's shuttered Coastside Family Medical Clinic is holding off on filing for bankruptcy...for now.

While Half Moon Bay doesn't currently have a health clinic, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security wants Half Moon Bay to revamp its Emergency Operations Center -- and is dedicating $750,000 to the effort. Send your thank you notes to Congresswoman Eshoo...

If you work in Santa Clara County (or read Watch Dog Silicon Valley) you may have realized the phone craziness yesterday. Tens of thousands of folks had their phone lines screwed up all day. AT&T blamed the problem on vandals who cut fiber optic lines. The episode caused emergency response and public safety officials to declare a state of emergency because 911 lines were messed up.

What is clearly becoming a trend, a 16 year old that was in the County's juvenile detention facility in La Honda escaped, but was captured shortly after. By Watch Dog's count, this is the third such escape (and capture) since we began publishing...

If you take BART, start cobbling together 10% more change for your fares...

We thought this week's only car-related news was the Putnam Subaru versus Carlsen Subaru battle. But a Daly City body shop, PAR Auto Body Shop, has cracked this week's (local, auto) news cycle with a story about their environmental efforts...