Morning News Round-Up -- 5.13.10: A few minutes late today... I was biking to work

We apologize in advance to Supervisor Carole Groom, because for the next little while, we are going to revert back to what we started calling her when she first got appointed: unelected. Since she has served on the Board of Supervisors she has been unelected, and now she is gearing up for her big race for Supervisor so folks can ligitimately vote FOR Unelected Supervisor Carole Groom. Of course she is going to win by a huge margin, which reinforces what Watch Dog (and others) thought long ago -- that Supervisors should have called for a special election so that Groom doesn't have a seat for life... What brought all this up? The Daily Journal looks into the "race"...

Remember how much fun Governor Gray Davis had with the Vehicle License Fee? It cost him his job... and put the Terminator into the Governor's mansion (?). Anyway, San Mateo County may be getting its own VLF if they vote favorably in November. The money will go to congestion management... Perhaps Gray Davis is free to do the TV ads for the campaign...

That beautiful orange and black "The Times" sign just off 101 will be replaced with 74 housing units and a self-storage complex... paved paradise, put up housing and storage...

Live shows again at the Fox Theatre? Send thanks to Eric Lochtefeld, a San Mateo

entrepreneur...

San Bruno made the seemingly smart decision to forgo red-light cameras because it was going to cost them money, as opposed to bolster city coffers. Plus, now you can't catch us...

Shocking... Belmont needs to raise sewer rates...

Another shocker...

The Burlingame Voice is on part 16 of their anti-High-Speed Rail campaign, this time talking about Union Pacific's opposition.

In other blog news, PP Examiner's Bruce goes into the voting records of the Assembly 21 candidates... which proves that he is getting the same emails that Watch Dog is getting featuring hit-pieces from one campaign on another.

Morning News Round-Up -- 12.10.09: What do John McCain and Ross Mirkirimi have in common? No, not their love of Sarah Palin...

The Shape Park Golf Course controversy makes its way to the nations Capitol… Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Tom Coburn, R-Okla. say a $2.2 million stimulus grant for a new irrigation system planned for the Sharp Park Golf Course in Pacifica as an example of "waste and mismanagement" of the money. John McCain, Tom Coburn, and Ross Mirkirimi agree on something...

Permanent buzz kill in South San Francisco?

A mid-morning robbery… Two men in masks robbed a Bank of East Asia in South San Francisco in broad daylight Tuesday. Ballsy.

Some in Foster City, including business owner Norman Golden, are still having their mail shipped to addresses in a sliver of San Mateo that shares the 94404 ZIP code. Location, location, location...

Redwood Shores plans to name its new elementary school… Redwood Shores Elementary School. How creative.

Downtown Redwood City merchants worry that the closure of the historic Fox Theater will have a domino effect on business.

$5 bucks a day won’t keep traffic away…

Morning News Round-up --11.10.09: the meaning of open space

Another raid inside an East Palo Alto home…this time police found five pounds of cocaine and $135,000 worth of crystal methamphetamine. Business is good.

San Mateo County says more money and more patients will come if it relocates its Methadone clinic somewhere other than Menlo Park. Like San Mateo?

Belmont-Redwood Shores School District wants to ask voters to pass a construction bond measure as soon as next year. Good luck.

Get your ad on while you can in Belmont.

San Mateo gets an A+ for budgeting...

The historic house drama continues in Burlingame...

And in Portola Valley, politicos are discussing the true meaning of open space….stay tuned.

Incumbent director Leonard Woren regains his lead in the race for Granada Sanitary District. Again, stay tuned.

Russell Randell Real, 29, of Arkansas was sentenced Monday to nine years in state prison for killing a 57-year-old Daly City man in a hit-and-run crash.

A Long Beach woman was busted in Burlingame for not returning her rental car three months ago. Apparently, she had no good explanation as to why she was late in retuning the car.

Atherton police Lt. Mike Guerra is the town's new police chief, starting Nov. 29. Yahoo!

And finally, the future of the Fox Theater still remains, well, unknown.

Morning News Round-Up -- 11.9.09: 7-11 Bottle Replacement Edition

The Lehman Brothers bankruptcy trickles down to the Peninsula, sucking $216 million from San Mateo County through lost jobs and economic output. No end in sight, by the way -- or recourse...

Who would have thought Latin American cinema in the Bay Area is alive and well... on the Peninsula! Que Bueno!

A foul odor at Hoover Park swimming pool turned out to be a dead body. The pool has been closed and covered since July. Yikes! The decomposing body was found in a Redwood City swimming pool Thursday. The Coroner has identified the body as maintenance worker Gabriel Contreras from Palo Alto.

The historic Fox Theater in Redwood City was supposed to be auctioned off last week, but was put on hold... again. Hmmm... Redwood City Watch Dog Fox Theater. Admit it, it has a nice ring.

Granada Sanitary District candidate Lisa McCaffrey has pulled ahead of incumbent director Leonard Woren, according to a new vote tally posted by the San Mateo County Elections Office Thursday afternoon. It is like Florida in November of 2000...

And the horns are back to being quieter on Caltrain. One small step for Caltrain, one giant leap for NIMBY kind...

San Carlos wants its neighbor (Belmont) to pay more for fire service so it can pay less? Makes perfect sense, except of course you are Belmont. We would love to see a brawl between the San Carlos and Belmont City Councils. Watch Dog's money is in San Carlos, by the way -- Matt Grocott seems pretty tough...

Menlo Park Police arrested three men in connection with a bottle-throwing assault at the British Bankers Club night club Thursday night. Apparently, assault wasn’t enough for them, because they are also accused of robbing a nearby 7-11 store later that night. Well, they had to replace their bottles somehow...

A use-of-force expert testified Thursday that slain East Palo Alto police Officer Richard May was following proper protocol when he chased defendant Alberto Alvarez and struck him with a baton. Perhaps the baton-wielding experts in San Jose should weigh in...

Morning News Round-Up -- 10.23.09: Sarah Palin for San Carlos 2012...

A gigantic "Palin for President 2012" sign could soon be erected in San Carlos... seriously. Lord help us all...

'Tis the season for campaigns... so:

The Sequoia Union High School District endorsements have been coming fast and furious. The one constant, Editorial Boards up and down the Peninsula are continuing their love affair with Chris Thomsen... We are sorry we missed this earlier, but Bruce at PP Examiner broke down this race and the San Mateo Union High School District race previously...

We've been following David Lim for sometime here on Watch Dog and his (second) bid for the San Mateo City Council... and the money is now flowing in to his campaign. We don't believe that is a coincidence, but perhaps it is...

Pedro Gonzales is also raking in some cash for his campaign for SSF City Council.

And in Half Moon Bay, Sofia Freer and Deborah Ruddock are leading the fundraising pack (or PAC, as the case may be...)

SamTrans is entering 2005 with a new idea: GPS on buses so people can know when they are coming... (That is no typo. GPS on buses is hardly a new idea...)

The Fox Theatre in Redwood City received a stay of execution yesterday for a month. (It isn't actually being executed, the sale has been delayed...)

If and when the Fox Theatre gets sold, when you go shows you'll be able to pick up In-N-Out on the way there (or the way home) because the Redwood City Planning Commission approved a plan for an In-N-Out on Veterans Boulevard... animal style please.

Morning News Round-Up -- 10.20.09: Under-the-Radar Politics...

An under-the-radar race is happening for two open seats on the Sequoia Union High School District Board. We wrote about it here previously when the Daily Journal endorsed Chris Thomsen and Alan Sarver. But things are heating up. Check out the message board on the Almanac website about a controversy involving the Superintendent, some District staff, and a confidential leak of information to some candidates but not others... there are 100 comments! The Almanac also profiles the candidates and does some curtain-raising on the race.

San Mateo City Council voted last night to get its money back from the State, which took $2.8 million to cover its own budget deficit. Wow. The State government screws local government? Say it ain't so... Assemblymember Ruskin, can you spare a dime?

The trial begins for alleged cop killer Alberto Alvarez, accused of shooting an East Palo Alto Police Officer...

You remember this story about the Redwood City DUI checkpoint and the actions of a City Councilmember who had it shut down... Councilmember Barbara Pierce didn’t do anything wrong (technically). Case closed.

A body was found at the bottom of a steep cliff near Pacifica. Yikes!

And poor, poor Fox Theater owners… they are trying desperately to hobble together a deal that would save the historic theater from being auctioned off in a few days. “It’s not over til it’s over,” according to owner Mike Monte.

South San Francisco celebrated the groundbreaking of the new ferry terminal that will help people get to and from their jobs… at least the very few of you who have jobs.

Mavericks surf contest starts early this year. Let's hope the weather cooperates...

Another Palo Alto teen commits suicide on Caltrain tracks. Scary.

If you got a flat tire driving along Highway 84 on Sunday, this is why...

Morning News Round-up --10.09.09: Don't run over your local police officer.

A big loss for Atherton and Menlo Park…a Sacramento judge decided to let the planning continue for a high-speed rail route between the Bay Area and the Central Valley through the Pacheco Pass. Let the appeals begin.

A San Francisco man tried to run over a Burlingame police officer as he wrote him a speeding ticket. Dumb.

Redwood City police quickly caught up with David L. Cruz, accused of shooting a 26-year-old man earlier this week. Needless to say, he's in jail.

Fox Theater owners explain how the recession, the collapse of credit markets (and Madoff) and bad timing pushed the historic theater to the verge of bankruptcy proceedings. Sad, sad.

Good news meat eaters…In-N-Out Burger is probably coming to San Carlos.

Police are starting to comb Pescadero for the body of Elias Sorokin, a Los Angeles businessman who is believed to have been murdered in Santa Cruz.

Potrero Nuevo Farm announces the opening of a Farmstand Community Supported Agriculture for the 2010 growing season…support your local farmers, please.

Morning News Round-Up -- 9.23.09: It takes a village...

BART and other Bay Area transit agencies are on guard after federal investigators probe an alleged terrorism plot to detonate bombs in the United States. Orange alert.

Adding 599 housing units near the San Mateo Hayward Park Caltrain station would be a plus for the economy and the environment... but a minus for the NIMBYs.

Just when you thought the economy was getting better… Redwood City’s historic Fox Theater is headed toward foreclosure. We will miss the old gal...

The three Redwood City men accused of stealing 50 pounds of marijuana from a drug dealer pleaded not guilty to several felony charges. The drug dealer (who turned them in?) also got busted for possession of marijuana. Dumb and dumber.

San Mateo County Supervisors are picking their battles, and butterflies ain’t one of them.

And another ubiquitous headline: “Public Pension costs on the rise.” This time, it is in Menlo Park.

You know it is election season when local candidates come up with a “variety of opinions” on how to deal with city issues… and then if elected never follow through with them.

Atherton is holding off another two months before it makes any final decision to raise fees, thanks to one vociferous resident. We guess it doesn't take a village... but perhaps just one village ______.

In case you were ever wondering what it feels like to get hit by Caltrain (other than with increased fares)… Nick Sayer lived to tell his story today in San Mateo. Maybe Caltrain does need louder horns.

A Burlingame man who beat his girlfriend's miniature pinscher to death was sentenced to (only?) six months in county jail Tuesday.