Morning News Round-Up -- 4.19.10: All... weekend... long...

Here's something: Retirement benefits for County of San Mateo retirees (well, managers and attorneys) are being tweaked to help manage the budget deficit... the start of a trend?

It is Monday and Monday is Sue Lempert's day in the Daily Journal. She writes about the Supervisorial seats being elected Countywide and thinks that the status quo is ok... agreeing with former Supervisor Mike Nevin. They both argue that having to run Countywide means more experienced folks get elected... of course, that's all well and good if you think the folks with the most experience are doing a good job...

While we're on it: April Vargas got the County's Democratic Central Committee endorsement for Supervisor. That should be a nice boost for the Coastside Democrat...

There is a new Assistant City Manager in San Mateo... first assignment, playing diplomat between David Lim and Burlingame... just kidding. Good luck kid...

Speaking of David Lim, San Mateo, Burlingame, and the merger of the two police departments... this should give you an idea about how things are proceeding. Here's a quote from Councilmember Lim in Sunday's County Times about the merger: "...It was kind of embarrassing... People would ask me, 'You're our council member, how is this going to work?' And I would shrug my shoulders and say, 'What you read in the newspapers is about what I know.'" That's reassuring...

While we are in San Mateo, Jon Mays might want to head to a meeting tonight to discuss a possible downtown improvement district that would fund downtown San Mateo parking and beautification projects...

Downtown San Carlos has its own issues (?)... too many restaurants? Really? Isn't that what a downtown is supposed to be like?

Dude. 420 in Daly City... all... weekend... long...

Did you know that Dr. Phil is helping State Senator Leland Yee get a bill passed in Sacramento... No word if Oprah or Gail will chime in...

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 -- 3.2.10: A story so nice they ran it twice...

Yesterday we sent props to the Mercury News folks who allowed the County Times to have their own website. Well, it seems like they are still working out the kinks. Here is what their homepage looked like this morning. Maybe the story is so important they wanted to post it twice...:

Another rain storm, another chunk of land in danger of falling off a cliff in Pacifica. This time it is Pacific Skies Estates...

Are you surprised about the this headline about a meeting in Menlo Park?: High speed rail meeting fails to sway crowd. I can't believe Menlo Parkians couldn't be persuaded to love High Speed Rail...

On the opposite side of things...

Here is something new: an elected official in San Mateo County looking to work collaboratively with the High Speed Rail Authority to get some of the stimulus money they just received ($2.5 billion). We knew we liked San Mateo Councilmember David Lim when he launched his blog way back when...

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 -- 11.4.09: Champagne Hangover Edition...

So many campaigns, so much champagne, such a bad headache... the winners, and losers...

• New hotel taxes are coming to Burlingame, San Mateo, Millbrae, San Bruno, SSF, and Brisbane... but a sales tax hike in San Carlos failed, so did a business license tax in Redwood City.
• Atherton passed its parcel tax extension. Portola Valley passed a utility tax. Phew... we weren't sure Athertonians or Portola Valleyians would be able to afford it...
• Speaking of Redwood City... incumbent Jeff Ira got re-elected to the City Council along with Planning Commissioners Jeff Gee and John Seybert...
• David Lim, who has been running for the San Mateo City Council for a very, very long time won. For a complete list of the results, check it out here...
• Coastside, Naomi Patridge, Allan Alifano, and Rick Kowalczyk will take their seats on the HMB City Council. Good luck.
• The Sequoia Union High School District is getting two new Board members. Remember, this is the School District that has had an ongoing battle with the two Charter Schools. As a possible rebuke by voters to how the School District has acted, Chris Thomsen got the most votes... you see, Chris Thomsen, has a kid at one of the Charter Schools. Perhaps a new day is dawning at Sequoia?

Citizens of Woodside advocate for MOOTube... and some donations...

And the San Mateo County blogosphere has new member. What seems to be an anti-Pacifica Riptide blog, Fix Pacifica, is now on the scene... Welcome Fix...

Morning News Round-Up -- 10.2.09: Good thing we aren't Chicago...

Sorry about the delay folks... I was waiting to hear the official word from Copenhagen...

Redwood City Council candidates talk about the same ol’ same ol’: money, transportation, housing, and the quality of life. Hopefully this election will be over soon... these issues are kind of a drag. Where is the personal sniping?

San Bruno welcomes home its marines from Iraq! Thanks y'all.

The San Mateo-Foster City School District will take a closer look in San Mateo for a possible campus site. More roadblocks to come? Perhaps San Mateo will be a more welcoming venue than Foster City has been. (Hint to David Lim: Make this a campaign issue...)

Burlingame, Millbrae, and San Mateo are considering merging their Police Departments to save money (a.k.a. sweet salaries and good benefits). No truth to the rumor that the new Department will be called the BurBraeMateo PD.

Can you hear me now? The Portola Valley School District Board won’t allow T-Mobile to install cellular phone equipment atop the roof of the District office. Must be Sprint carriers...

Whoooa. Take the ballgame out... Jefferson High School cut its baseball program because of money? Talk about taking one for the team.

Morning News Round-Up -- 9.24.09: High-Speed Rail Politics...

The would-be Hillsdale High School killer, Alex Youshock, pleaded not guilty yesterday. Expect another high-profile case in the San Mateo County Courthouse...

To leash or not to leash (your dog), that is the question in San Mateo... we await David Lim's position on this vital issue. Michelle Durand talks dogs too in the Daily Journal...

Speaking of campaign issues, is there a candidate up and down the Peninsula that ISN'T talking about High-Speed Rail. The issue probably would have been better to talk about before everyone in the County voted FOR High-Speed Rail last year...

Belmont is losing its City Manager. Jack Crist will take over the day-to-day operations of Watch Dog San Mateo... just kidding.

The Performing Arts Center at Menlo-Atherton High School will celebrate a grand opening on October 11th. Expect a wonderful building, and lots of NIMBY crying from its Atherton neighbors...

The race for the Sequoia Union High School District board is broken down by Bruce at the PP Examiner... crowded field. Who wants to take bets?

Morning News Round-Up -- 9.14.09: Ayres Round II

Williams Ayres will be retried for molestation... but he'll have a new defense attorney this time. Doron Weinberg was traded for Jonathan McDougall, a first round pick, and a player to be named later.

Speaking of high-profile court cases with sexual undertones... the Belmont Chamber Board President is facing molestation charges too. Unlike Ayres, however, Michael Kazarian seems to have friends coming to his defense...

Duh. The candidates for San Mateo Union High School District Board are talking about the budget... And so are San Mateo City Council candidates… While we are at it, David Lim was endorsed by the Sierra Club.

High-Speed Rail officials promised they would collaborate with Peninsula residents on the design of the controversial rail line. Promises, promisPost Optionses. It doesn't really matter, NIMBYs will never support High-Speed Rail. Plan on Rod Diridon...

As if the La Honda-Pescadero School District needed more controversy... parents are now saying the buildings are unsafe. This comes on the heals of alleged financial mismanagement, lawsuits, and the recent exit of the Superintendent.

Here is irony for you: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger worked hard to make California the bellwether of green policy, yet he is about to become the only Governor to close State parks to balance the budget. The State is expected to announce which parks will close this week. Stand by Coastsiders...

Morning News Round-Up -- 7.14.09: Bastille Day Edition...

Bon jour...

If you've been meaning to be at the courthouse for part of the molestation trial of Dr. William Ayres, you better hurry. Final arguments are upon us... Follow the proceedings (with a point of view) at William Ayres Watch(dog).

The San Bruno City Council is in the budget cutting hot-seat tonight as they (likely will) approve furlough days for their employees for the upcoming fiscal year.

To avoid (really) severe cuts, Millbrae property owners are voting on a renewal of their fire assessment. Ballots are due today -- so get on it!

Have we seen this headline before? (Courtesy of the Daily Journal): Four teens walk away from unfenced Camp Glenwood

Mountain lions. Bees. Really.

Remember when there was going to be a biodeisel plant in Pacifica? So do we... fond memories.

The Woodside drama involving Steve Jobs, the Woodside City Council, historic preservationists, and the Jackling House could be coming to an end. An agreement has been reached to allow for the dismantling of the "historic" house.

Politics + Palo Alto = Great Fun. Mayor Peter Drekmeier will NOT seek reelection, opening up the field for a free-for-all for Palo Alto's City Council in November. Stay tuned...

Speaking of mid-Peninsula politics, sort of... Meg Whitman "loaned" her campaign $15 million.

More importantly (?), David Lim received the endorsements of San Mateo City Councilmember Jan Epstein and Supervisor Mark Church.

Showing that they too can keep up with the 24-hour news cycle, the Almanac finally posts a story about the Civil Grand Jury's report on the Garbage Saga.

Morning News Round-Up -- 7.6.09: Campaign Season Starts Early...

Election season... seriously, it is upon us. Usually the official season starts post-Labor Day, but 4th of July sounds good for the purposes of good blog material... The San Mateo Union High School Board of Trustees race could be a good one -- if Trustee Bob Griffin decides not to seek reelection. It would be for his fifth term...

Which brings up this question: Could there be worse time to be on a school board? Cut, cut, cut... then hold your breath that the State doesn't screw you any more than it already has...

While we are on campaign talk, David Lim, who is gunning for a seat on the San Mateo City Council, raised over $13k during the fundraising period that ended July 1st. We guess he must proud of that number (or it is intended to scare off folks) because he had a press release announcing it...

Sue Lempert writes in today's Daily Journal. Of note, she speculates that the recent findings of the Civil Grand Jury (District elections for Supervisor/Pay-Cut Gate) "...may stimulate action and change..." Perhaps she could help push the Civil Grand Jury to release the Grand Daddy of Civil Grand Jury reports (garbage) soon.

Craig Baker, the interim Superintendent for the San Carlos Elementary School District, gets a write up in the Daily Journal.

The "Susan Manheimer for San Francisco Police Chief" story also gets some ink in the Daily Journal, as the paper tries to unpack what happened because she wasn't even a finalist... the SF Chronicle's Matier & Ross come off as ill-informed gossip mongers. (But that is supposed to be Watch Dog's role...)

There is a new history book out about Atherton. Watch Dog has to wonder if the political in-fighting in recent history made it in. We doubt it...

A pipe-bomb was found during a traffic stop on 280. Seriously. But that's about all the information this story contains right now...

Morning News Round-Up -- 6.9.09: Colma - A great place to be alive (and gamble)

Lucky Chances is looking to add more tables so more folks can get their lucky chances... Colma: A great place to be alive (and gamble)...

"Watch Dog will see your Mervyn's and raise you one Kohl's..." in Redwood City.

Hotel tax + Millbrae = Probable

Drop in revenue + San Bruno = Cuts (Perhaps more table at Artichoke Joe's will help...)

Bruce at PP Examiner is going to be mad. The San Mateo County Times is getting in on his story about the Pacifica City Councilmembers who are up for the California Coastal Commission.

This must be reassuring to parents, two San Carlos schools, Central Middle and Arundel Elementary, need to be seismically retrofit. Enjoy the last few days of the school year. (And ignore this story.)

And this school story...again... The enrollment at San Mateo-Foster City Elementary School District is swelling. (Today's story is in the Daily Journal, but the San Mateo County Times had the same story yesterday...)

The stabbing in San Mateo on May 31st has led to the arrest of Donald Peau Fukofuka, a former Aragon High School football player. The 18-year-old apparently targeted the victim in his home.

City Unions in Palo Alto are fighting back, and packing the City Council Chambers. Last night was public Round 1, Watch Dog expects this to be a long fight...

That fight in Palo Alto shouldn't be confused with this one. Two teenagers wielding pipes fought police. Police eventually won.

Wrapping things up on a political tip... David Lim's quest for the San Mateo City Council took an (ironic but positive) twist recently. Lim was endorsed by Unelected Supervisor Carole Groom... why ironic? Read this story...

Morning News Round-Up -- 6.1.09: Guess who's back?

Last Friday, the day started with a bad Internet connection at Watch Dog world headquarters. Our intention was to hit Kinkos, update Watch Dog, and go about our merry way. Well, there are so many delicious breakfast places on the way to Kinkos, that we stopped. We got a call while at breakfast, and one thing led to another, and things just slipped away. If something happened that you think we missed but deserves attention, shoot us an email. If not, onward and upward...

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Finally... the trial of Dr. William Hamilton Ayres begins today on sexual molestation charges. This trial has been delayed and delayed and delayed. We know some of our Watch Dog readers are close followers of this trial, so updates will likely come in the form of direct news and direct insight. If we are lucky, perhaps the Foul Mouthed Judge will make an appearance...

Stop breaking into cars... (at least if you do that in San Carlos.) The White Oaks neighborhood in San Carlos started a neighborhood watch program. Another impact of local budget cuts, we presume.

No neighborhood watch is going to stop this type of crime, but biologists did... Two years ago, the private water company that provides water to the City of San Mateo, California Water Services, Inc., spilled chemicals into Polhemus Creek, killing 30 protected fish. They were just slapped with a nearly $200,000 fine.

Not wanting to sail (quietly) into the sunset, former Assemblymember Gene Mullin takes some shots at the US Secretary of Education's plans for schools in today's Daily Journal. No matter what Mullin says we know one thing for certain, Secretary Duncan could dunk on Mullin.

The ACIL (not the ACLU, the Atherton Civil Interest League) had a public meeting last week to talk about High-Speed Rail. Talking about High-Speed Rail in Atherton is not really a debate... here is a funny line from the Almanac's NIMBY story:

If there were any high-speed rail supporters in the house, they kept that fact to themselves.

To round off the NIMBYism, Paul Losch (a Palo Alto Weekly blogger), calls High-Speed Rail a boondoggle. That seems constructive... Which brings up something interesting (or funny): When Paul Losch blogs, you can almost count on the phrase, "in my professional life" or something about his professional background. We get it Paul... you are a successful man.

The La Honda-Pescadero Unified School District is going through some challenging times. Some (apparently) misspent bond money and a Superintendent that's hitting the road. (We have an idea where he's going.) Oh yeah, a local lawyer also filed suit against the District -- which has just been revised -- that alleges financial abuse by the District Board and Superintendent. Stay tuned...

Supervisors nominated 3 Pacifica City Councilmembers for the California Coastal Commission. We wonder if these potential Commissioners-to-be will have a say in the Sharp Park issue...

The one-man press/endorsement machine, David Lim, scored another one... State Senator Leland Yee is backing Mr. Lim's bid for San Mateo City Council...

Morning News Round-Up -- 5.26.09: A Supreme Tuesday Edition...

As we come back from a long weekend, the news today will be dominated by Supreme legal stuff... California Supreme Court's decision on Proposition 8 and Obama's pick for the US Supreme Court.

But Watch Dog must ask that you don't forget the local stuff...

Good news. The San Carlos man/Olympian/Alzheimer's sufferer who wandered away from his home was found in Oakland. He is ok and his family is relieved, as you can probably imagine.

The Sequoia Union High School District battle with Everest Charter School took another turn. We know Everest is taking their battle with the School District to court, but they are also getting a vacant office space ready for school in the fall, while the School District is getting the proposed site for Everest, a vacant lot in East Palo Alto, ready. This is all getting pretty confusing (and costly), but expect the situation to get worse before it gets worse...

Take THAT State. San Carlos is (probably) going to declare themselves in "severe fiscal hardship" in an attempt to limit the amount of money that State can pilfer from its local coffers. No word yet as to what the "severe fiscal hardship" designation will do for San Carlos' bond rating... To alleviate some of that "severe financial hardship" it may cost a lot more money to do stuff in San Carlos... like park illegally, receive a permit, or get a copy of a police report...

Speaking of fiscal hardship, that's what San Carlos School District parents may feel if their kids need summer school. That's because the School District just axed its summer school plans to save money.

It looks like South San Francisco will have a contested City Council race this November. Three seats are open, two incumbents have announced their intention to run again, one is on the fence, and two challengers are lining up to run. Expect a busy Labor Day-to-Election Day sprint...

Belmont wants to make sure that land now designated a park will stay a park forever. The Belmont City Council doesn't seem to trust the wisdom of future City Councils and would like to permanently make parks parks.

Congresswoman Jackie Speier placed an OpEd in the Daily Journal in honor of Memorial Day.

(Not wanting to be left out, San Mateo City Council candidate David Lim blogged about Memorial Day.)

First, Belmont banned smoking in apartment complexes, now an apartment complex wants to ban smoking in their own apartment complex. This time in San Mateo. This renter-driven initiative may be part of a trend, or maybe their is just smoking-ban-envy on the Peninsula...

Speaking of people taking action on their own... 8,000 homes in San Mateo are voting on a whether or not they want to pay an annual assessment to pay for flood protection. Three weeks from now we'll know the result of the vote.

There is a public battle (re)brewing in Redwood City. The DMB plans for development are back on the drawing board, causing a Redwood City resident to ask, "Folks, can't we all just get a long?" in today's Daily Journal OpEd. Those words didn't really work for Rodney King, and Watch Dog bets they aren't going to work in Redwood City either...

Morning News Round-Up -- 5.11.09: The Wacky World of San Francisco Politics (with a San Mateo County/Pacifica twist...)

Sharp Park Update: Pacifica and the County of San Mateo are now (hopefully) in the mix as the City/County of San Francisco look at the Sharp Park issue. Imperial Supervisor Ross Mirkirimi wants to hand the land over to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, but San Mateo County/Pacifica want to be in the mix too. The folks pushing the San Mateo/Pacifica plan include Assemblymember Jerry Hill, Pacifica Mayor Julie Lancelle, and SF Supervisor Sean Elsbernd. This makes it official -- the Sharp Park issue is now part of the wacky world of San Francisco politics. If two Supervisors have opposing ideas, expect the unexpected...

Palo Alto's Jack Morton may have stirred up High-Speed Rail's Rod Diridon... Diridon fired back to the Peninsula and urged everyone here to be patient, nothing has been decided about elevated tracks or tunneling or anything else. Diridon did not say, "Chill everyone..." But he probably should have...

Here are today's "governments-in-financial-crises" stories:

The San Mateo Libraries are cutting (way) back to save money. If you love libraries, you better head to a public meeting and have your voice heard... the next one is tonight at 7 p.m.

Speaking of San Mateo, some unions are weighing the options of pay-cuts or layoffs... San Mateo is also considering two tax hikes (sales and hotel) on the November 2009 ballot.

In Palo Alto, the Firefighters' union is giving up scheduled pay-raises... Vice Mayor Jack Morton thanked them for "...stepping up to the plate..."

The La Honda-Pescadero Unified School District made its cuts official: 3 elementary teachers will be let go and a high school Spanish teacher will go to 2/3 time. On the administrative side, a secretarial position was cut and an after-school program director will go to 3/4 time. Don't forget, this is a District facing the loss of its Superintendent and a pending legal battle about misspending bond money.

The State's horrible finances are crushing cities and other local agencies. Palo Alto may lose (another) $2.43 million to the State if the Governor's newest plan is enacted.

A bad accident in Half Moon Bay on Highway 1 killed a 16 year-old on Saturday morning...

Sue Lempert's Monday update in the Daily Journal covers a lot of ground. She talks flood protection taxes, Facebook, and (unelected) Supervisor Groom's new gig. Then she gets to the good stuff, Garbage and San Mateo Politics. On the Garbage front, she discusses the push to put elected officials on the garbage oversight agency, the South Bayside Waste Management Authority. In San Mateo Politics, she beats Watch Dog to the punch on the Assemblymember Jerry Hill endorsement of David Lim for San Mateo City Council...

A former County mental health clinic worker is suing the County for employment discrimination. The woman filing suit against the County was fired for (allegedly) running a real estate firm from her County post...

The COWs of Woodside are promoting the Spring "Event at Woodside"... May 22-24. BYOS (Bring Your Own Saddle...)

David Lim's Week of Endorsements...

David Lim continues his week of endorsements as he aims to get a seat on the San Mateo City Council.

Today, Lim announces that San Mateo City Councilmember Jack Matthews is getting on the Lim Train...

Morning News Round-Up -- 5.7.09: What an odd day...

Swine flu. Again. One case in San Mateo County. You can take your mask off Michelle...

The next step in the take-over of Sharp Park Golf Course happened at the Board of Supervisors in San Francisco this week. Supervisors are looking to "study" the issue and begin discussions with the Golden Gate National Recreation Area about restoring the course to its natural habitat. Get your rounds of golf in now fellas... (Thank you PP Examiner and Riptide...)

Congratulations Burlingame, you are getting $39 million in new storm drains. (Your "fee/tax" is also going up...) You passed that measure with 63 percent of the vote on Tuesday.

But don't get too excited Burlingame, or any other local agency for that matter, the State has plans for your local tax dollars, and (surprise!) it isn't to spend them locally. The Governor's "May Revise" of the budget has a $2 billion property tax grab from Sacramento. Get ready for deeper local cuts...

Even before the State's tax grab, San Carlos had a lot of stuff on the chopping block -- $2.7 million worth, to be (close to) exact.

Pacifica has some serious cuts coming too... Thanks to Riptide, we know about all $177,000 of them...

Watch Dog is feeling bad today for Jefferson School District's failed election on Tuesday. They are trying to figure out the next steps...

The Peninsula NIMBY Coalition has decided against that name, instead, Peninsula cities that are upset/anxious/panicked about High-Speed Rail have given themselves a name: Peninsula Cities Consortium... Perhaps they also want to disband the High-Speed Rail Authority?

Here's a crime story you might remember. A series of gas station robberies got progressively more serious last year and culminated in a robbery and rape in San Bruno late last year. Sione Motuapuaka now stands trial on 21 felonies (and one misdemeanor).

The "Reporters Notebook" in the Daily Journal has a bunch of stuff you probably read already on Watch Dog (or elsewhere): San Mateo County Democrats called on the Daly City City Council to reverse Pay-Cut Gate and David Lim was endorsed by John Lee in San Mateo. (There is other stuff there too, but...)

Animal cruelty and San Mateo County. We've talked about the disturbing trend before. But the 19 Shih Tzu Lady pleaded not guilty on Wednesday of animal neglect...

Drama and intrigue seemed to take the day at the Menlo Park City Council meeting on Tuesday. A woman was forcibly carrier out after she disrupted the meeting... Perhaps she was inspired by this video? No charges will be brought against the woman...

The Half Moon Bay Bailout a.k.a. the Beachwood Bill, passed the Assembly Local Government Committee yesterday... Watch Dog is sure that Assemblymember Jerry Hill is to thank...

Morning News Round-Up -- 5.6.09: Supervisor Gordon goes to Washington...

County leaders took their "we got royally screwed by Lehman Brothers" message to Capitol Hill yesterday. Supervisor Rich Gordon testified in front of the House Financial Services Committee, so did the Chancellor of the San Mateo County Community College District (and other County reps from California and elsewhere). Their message: we got screwed by Lehman worse than almost anyone else, and deserve some bailout/TARP money. The Dynamic Duo (Congresswomen Speier and Eshoo) -- will continue to push the case with their House colleagues...

In other bailout news...

This story was in the Half Moon Bay Review last week (and subsequently on Watch Dog), but it is now (finally) making it to the San Mateo County Times... Half Moon Bay's own bailout from the State shifted a bit last week...

While County folks were in DC, checks from the Federal government are headed to local school districts. In San Mateo, that means $1.6 million to help educate low-income students and $9 million for Special Education. Good news, we are sure, for schools.

Other (mostly) good school news yesterday...

3 school districts in the County had parcel tax elections yesterday. Each needed a 2/3 vote -- the only one to fail was Jefferson Elementary in Daly City. Woodside and San Carlos passed. 2 out of 3 ain't bad, unless you are Jefferson.

Woodside Elementary School District
Yes - 74.76%
No - 25.24%

San Carlos School District
Yes - 71.2%
No - 28.8%

Jefferson Elementary School District (Daly City)
Yes - 57.89%
No - 42.11%

Dude Alert... The County passed new medical pot regulations, just as Governor Schwarzenegger tokes up his own plans for legalization...

Riptide had a piece earlier in the week about the Coastside Farmers' Market opening today... but other Farmers' Markets are opening this week as well. Kaiser - SSF, 25th Avenue - San Mateo, Kaiser - Redwood City, College of San Mateo, Hot Harvest Nights - San Carlos, SSF BART, Belmont Train Station.

Jon Mays is on his game today in the Daily Journal. His Editorial gives a good overview of the dire financial situation local government agencies are facing -- and he also gives the political background.

San Mateo City Council candidate David Lim pulled in a big endorsement yesterday. San Mateo City Councilmember John Lee is getting behind Lim's bid for Council in November. Watch Dog knows this because David Lim has a website where he posts this "web log" thingy... perhaps other candidates for office want to get into the game as opposed to keeping their websites stagnant for months?

Finally, in really big news... The Almanac's phone numbers are changing, so if you frequently call the Almanac to harass Andrea Gemmet (you know who you are), you'll have to use a new number...

Morning News Round-Up -- 5.4.09: Intergovernmental Disputes and Gray Mondays...

LOCAL HEALTH EMERGENCY... a.k.a. today's Swine Flu update...

While we are on healthcare... The Coastside Family Medical Center made it official, they filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on Friday. This is just as three doctors who used to work at the Coastside Family Medical Center plan to open up shop in private practice...

And a check in on some intergovernmental disputes that Watch Dog likes so much...

• The dispute between the City of Foster City and the San Mateo-Foster City Elementary School District will take center stage on Thursday at the School District's Board meeting. You'll recall that the District's enrollment is due to grow a lot in the coming years and they need to new classrooms, so they are working with the City to identify City-owned land for new schools. Now, the City is a lot less interested in helping because the District would like the land at little or no cost. It seems the City Council in Foster City doesn't understand that when they approve new housing developments, the schools feel a brunt of the impact with new students... and those students need to go to school somewhere... If you want to follow this brouhaha, the City has its own webpage dedicated to the issue... Ironically, as the City of Foster City is pinching pennies when it comes to helping schools, they are spending money like drunken sailors on other capital projects -- up to $3 million worth will soon be fast-tracked...
• The Everest Charter School versus Sequoia Union High School District squabble is about to take another litigious turn. To refresh your memories: Sequoia said no to the Everest Charter School, which the Charter School appealed all the way to the State Board of Education, who finally said ok. The District then provided space in East Palo Alto for the Charter School, which the Charter School said wasn't good enough. Now there is about to be a legal battle as the Charter School prepares to sue because they don't want to be in East Palo Alto.
• Riptide has more details about the Sharp Park Golf Course hearing last week in San Francisco. The only thing that everyone can seem to agree on is that feelings were, and are, hurt as a result of the meeting... which is probably just how Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi wants it. See, in San Francisco, when wild public meetings happen, the focus is on the wild public meeting, not the policy that is about to be jammed down Pacifica's throat.
• And the intergovernmental dispute of all intergovernmental disputes (at least locally) -- Peninsula cities versus the High-Speed Rail Authority. The Chronicle is picking up where local papers (and bloggers) have been pointing out for some time: Peninsula cities want the train to be in a tunnel...

San Mateo County and the Silicon Valley Community Foundation are stepping up to help local nonprofits weather the economic storm...

While the County giveth to help local nonprofits, the passage of Propsition 1E will actually take $2.52 million from County coffers and hand it over the State... Not much of a selling point to local voters, Watch Dog would guess.

With ideas like 1E, some (all?) of the State propositions on the May 19th ballot are losing in the polls... perhaps it's because nobody trusts/likes/respects Sacramento?

The Devonshire Canyon annexation/development will take a big step on Tuesday when the Board of Supervisors will approve the "tax exchange" -- essentially handing the land over to the City of San Carlos... There has been no official word from the woodrats about their position on this new development...

If you like working on your call in your driveway and garage and you live in San Bruno, you could be SOL... The San Bruno City Council would like to put an end to excessive automobile work in your driveway...

Speaking of cars, it seems if you live in San Carlos, the chances are pretty good that you, or your neighbor, or someone on your street has had their car (or cars) broken into this year...

The Half Moon Bay bailout bill got altered a bit up in Sacramento. (This is Senator Leland Yee and Assemblymember Jerry Hill's effort to help Half Moon Bay stay out of bankruptcy court as it pays off its settlement to Chop Keenan.)

A man died while (apparently) trying to cross 101 in Redwood City on foot early Sunday morning...

And in 2010 election news:

• Sue Lempert breaks down the 2010 Governor's race in her weekly Daily Journal column. Of note, she seems to have a real beef with Attorney General (former Mayor, former Presidential candidate, former Governor) Jerry Brown. Also, by way of blogger correction, Republican Tom Campbell is actually from San Jose, according to our the Silicon Valley Dog...
• And while we are on big 2010 elections -- the Palo Alto City Council will see a shake-up in 2010. Two folks are termed out (Jack Morton and Yoriko Kishimoto - who is running for Assembly) and three more are coming to the end of their terms. Former Councilmember Larry Klein is expected to reenter the fray, but current Councilmembers Petere Drekmeier and John Barton have yet to declare their intentions...

The COWs of Woodside are clapping their hooves over MOOTube... seriously.

And in other local blogs... David Lim chimes in again on his run for San Mateo City Council, breaking down his trip to the Consumer Protection Conference hosted by the the California District Attorney's Association (who do not endorse his campaign...)

Finally: Watch Dog screwed up (again!) last week... the Lehman Brothers hearing in front of the House Financial Services Committee is tomorrow...

Morning News Roun-Up -- 4.27.09: Atherton's BFF Edition...

Just when you thought all the controversy in Atherton was dying down...it roars again. Watch Dog (and the Civil Grand Jury) wrote about the Menlo-Atherton High School facilities' report that the Civil Grand Jury recently came out with. Well, it seems Atherton Councilmember Kathy McKeithen (and her BFF on the Atherton Council Jim Dobbie) are "disgusted" with the report. However, McKeithen didn't say, "These damn kids make so much noise...don't they know this is Atherton?!" (Ms. McKeithen and Mr. Dobbie, here is what BFF means...)

Congresswoman Speier is busy...really, that's what this story is about. Well, it talks about her first year in office. If you read Watch Dog at all, you know that we know Speier is busy, and effective.

More plans for the (much anticipated/much delayed/much written-about) Burlingame Safeway have been released. Take a peak, pictures and all...

The San Bruno Mountain Watch Conservancy is born. They are trying to raise enough money to buy private property and maintain some sense of nature on the mountain...

Lots of school news to Round-Up today...

• Two Sequoia Union High School District principals have said good bye recently, so two new were just named: Bonnie Hansen at Sequoia High School and Raul Zamora at Carlmont High School. Hansen is already well-known in the District because she has been at Sequioa for 14 years. Zamora, is coming back to the District after a stint in Orinda. Welcome to Watch Dog friends.
• In other (musical chairs) school news, Palo Alto Unified's Assistant Superintendent Scott Laurence will leave the District to become the Superintendent of the San Mateo High School District.
• Hey all you out-of-work Auditors (and CPAs too) -- you should check out the Palo Alto Unified's website, they are looking for folks to give a check-up on their performance related to the spending of nearly $400 million in bond money. Your future starts here...
• The La Honda-Pescadero Unified School District is in trouble. They (seemingly) botched the spending of a bunch of bond money, their Superintendent is leaving, the District is being sued by the local watchdog/lawyer, and the San Mateo County Office of Education has some ideas about they need to do to get their act together. The spot light has been shone upon the La Honda-Pescader Unified...we'll see how they respond.

A Half Moon Bay group of folks concerned with the sudden closure of the Coastside Family Medical Center have launched the "Phoenix Project" to see about re-launching a medical facility on the Coast. Perhaps its time for another Coastside Town Hall Supervisor Gordon?

Riptide delves into some truth: Pacifica is in fiscal trouble if Measure D (the sales tax hike) doesn't pass...but they are in trouble if Measure D does pass too. Sort of like California with Measures A-F...

And it isn't just finances that are on folks' minds in Pacifica, so is the General Plan update.

Redwood City is taking advantage of a down real estate market (while at the same time drawing down some capital funds from a variety of sources). They will purchase a 9.5 acre site for $4.45 million for a water tank (?), a park, a place to park its trucks, public access to the Bay, and a commercial use.

The dusky-footed woodrat will take center stage tonight at the San Carlos City Council...along with NIMBYs and a developer...about the Devonshire Canyon (5-home) development being considered.

Sue Lempert's Daily Journal column today reminds us that there was once a crappy President who wanted to let us put our Social Security money in the stock market...seriously.

San Mateo City Council candidate David Lim checks in through his campaign blog about overcrowding in some San Mateo apartment complexes. It isn't that we are only following David, it is just that other folks don't seem to be that "with it" with their web presence. Supervisor Rich Gordon, who is running for a much higher office than San Mateo City Council, hasn't really updated his site since he announced he was running...

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.22.09: Foster City Self-Interest Edition...

Self-interest, pure and simple. The Foster City City Council wants to extend term limits and up its monthly stipend -- and they want voters to decide on this in November. Watch Dog has said it before, why doesn't the Foster City City Council just move forward with this but implement the new term-limits and raises until after they are all off the City Council? Eliminate the self-interest b.s.

A City Coucil race is shaping up in the hamlet of Millbrae. Mayor Robert Gottschalk is termed out...but Gina Papan is running for reelection and former Councilmember Nadia Holober and Planning Commissioner Lorrie Kalos-Gunn will also be on the ballot. It seems like the three are running two open seats. Can anyone in Millbrae confirm that?

While we are talking City Council races...San Mateo City Council candidate David Lim wants us to know that he got the endorsement from Alice Lai-Bitker, President of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors.

San Carlos needs to cut a million bucks from its budget. Say it ain't so: a San Mateo County city with budget challenges?

The Daily Journal Editor Jon Mays talks Shakespeare (in the Park)...

Drive Less in Menlo Park...a lot of folks are taking part in this new challenge. Cool.

ABC in SC is a PITA. (Alcoholic Beverage Control in San Carlos is a Pain in the Ass...)

Sequoia Union High School District has some company in rejecting a Charter School. While Sequia rejected, and is now being forced to accept, Everest Charter School, the South San Francisco Unified School District is about to reject Free World U, a web-based charter school. Watch Dog mistakenly believed that Free World U was run by World B. Free...

Palo Alto is getting sued for its proposed plastic bag ban...I guess all those out of work lawyers need something to do...

Half Moon Bay needs some help from the State to pay its settlement to developer Chop Keenan. But the authors of the HMB Bail-Out Bills postponed a hearing in both the State Senate and State Assembly. Don't worry though, Assemblymember Jerry Hill is on it...

Riptide gives a run-down of who is supporting Measure D (Pacifica's sales tax hike) and who is not...

Citizens of Woodside talk census. For your information, last go 'round Woodside's population was 5,352...