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 -- 5.12.10: Move Your Horse!

The courting of San Carlos police services is in full effect. Redwood City and the Sheriff's Officepresented their credentials to the San Carlos City Council. "We have a really, really fast car..." Redwood City police didn't say... "Oh yeah, well our uniforms have more starch..." The Sheriff's Office didn't say...

Also doing their best to court a local community is the High-Speed Rail Authority... and it isn't going that well if you read this story about a High-Speed Rail presentation in Atherton... Why bother?

From the big trains to the little ones...

Caltrain is in a deep financial hole, and Michael Scanlon was talking about it yesterday to the San Carlos Chamber of Commerce...

If it is the second week in May in California it can only mean one thing... teacher pink slips... there will be a bunch locally. But not in Menlo Park City Schools...

Skyline Stables may be going away to make way for a water storage tank. Thank the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission for this one and get your horse to Portola Valley quick...

Morning News Round-Up -- 5.11.10: Union Pacific and Menlo Park, a match made in heaven...

Everyone is trying to get in on the breakup of San Carlos and Belmont's fire department... folks are courting San Carlos to allow them to serve San Carlos... which begs the question: why would any other city think they'll get along with San Carlos when Belmont didn't?

Add a rail company to the list of folks opposing High-Speed Rail... Union Pacific. Union Pacific could set up their anti-High Speed Rail office right in downtown Menlo Park...

Remember the Menlo Park City Schools parcel tax that passed last week? Well, it isn't enough to fix their budget problem... more taxes?

No red-light cameras in San Bruno after all because they won't generate any/enough revenue...

Don't worry though, San Bruno will make up for the money that they won't get from red-light cameras by raising rates on trash...

Morning News Round-Up -- 5.7.10: Matt Grocott?

The Supervisorial candidates get a long, long, long write up in the Daily Journal in their own words. Which is not nearly as interesting as the Daily Journal's endorsement of... drum roll please... Matt Grocott. (No joke.)

There is a brewing issue on the release (or non-release) the search warrant used to search the tech-writer who had the lifted iPod... the press wants to see the search warrant and prosecutors don't want them (or us) to...

Anti-High-Speed Rail folks have a new picture for the center of their dart board as a new CEO was named... Roelof van Ark... who will make $375,000, which seems low considering all the NIMBY meetings this guy is going to have to sit through up and down the Peninsula...

Mr. van Ark is coming on just in time for a new lawsuit from the duel NIMBY capitals of the Bay Area, Atherton and Menlo Park...

We wonder if Mr. van Ark can help Caltrain's bottom line... as the bottom line gets more and more screwed up...

It is well-known that East Palo Alto Police Chief Ron Davis wants out of town... he is in the running for the Seattle gig, but he seems to be out of the running for New Orleans.

High schoolers will need to find another place to buy booze other than the Sharon Heights Safeway... they won't be able to buy at the Rock of Gibraltor or the Chevron on Alameda de las Pulgas either... these were the places recently busted. Thank goodness Watch Dog just turned 21.

We know that the Redwood City School District is having a tough time and issued pink slips... well, so are their cousins at City Hall... Redwood City may cut 40 positions.

The Garbage Saga may be closed to over on this side of the hill, but it is just getting started in Pacifica. They have a new garbage hauler/recycling company, and new rates to boot. But Lionel Emde, a Pacifica resident, filed a lawsuit that said the new rates didn't get the full airing and notice of the public... Let's call this, Garbage Saga II...

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.30.10: Shhhhhh...

High-Speed Rail could be in trouble, according to a new State audit because it... "...suffers from 'weak oversight,' 'lax' management and a shaky funding plan..." Funny, we thought that was the norm for things coming out of Sacramento... One thing for sure, this audit will be the talk of the country-club set in Menlo Park and Atherton this weekend...

Students at Aragon, San Mateo, and Hillsdale High are having a silent-in today to protest Arizona's ridiculous new immigration law... We stand quietly with you students... shhhh...

Lee Duboc must be happy, sort of. The Menlo Park City Council is going to "impose terms" on part of its unionized work force. That is a unions worst nightmare, obviously. San Jose imposed terms earlier in the week and Menlo Park followed suit. Trend. Growing...

In other union news, sort of. The teachers in Redwood City School District are contesting their pink-slips... the union thinks the District issued more layoff notices than it needed too. Well duh... doesn't every District do that?

The Daily Journal Editorial Board is endorsing Joe Galligan for his bid to replace Lee Buffington as County Treasurer...

Joshua Melvin at the San Mateo County Times might win the Best First Sentence in a News Story Award this year: "...A San Mateo woman who tied up her teenage daughter with duct tape and poured dish soap in the girl's mouth after a fight over a cell phone bill was sentenced Thursday to probation and six months in jail, a prosecutor said..." It is a creepy story obviously, but we are sure that Mr. Melvin will clip that one for his cubicle... reporters have very sick senses of humor...

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.29.10: French Quarter, Pike Place Market, or Ikea?

Earlier in the week we learned that the East Palo Alto Police Chief might be packing his bags for Seattle. Today we learn that he might actually need warmer clothes because he might be headed for New Orleans. New Orleans or Seattle... Hurricanes (the drink) or Coffee...

The French Quarter or Pike Place Market... or any of these things and Ikea... Seriously, how bad does this guy want out?

Is he (competent) or isn't he? That's the question that still needs to be answered in the retrial of William Ayres... and it will be decided in June because the second doctor that needed to evaluate William Ayres couldn't do it in time to reach the deadline yesterday... Our friends at William Ayres Watch are on it...

If Caltrain is going to survive these tough economic times, which would be good for the Peninsula, it may only happen thanks to the folks at the California High-Speed Rail Authority... We love this idea for the pure love of irony...

Speaking of tough times, the breakup of the Belmont-San Carlos Fire Department will cause a spike in overtime, according to the Fire Chief. That will be great for everyone's budget...

San Bruno is losing some staff too, but not to New Orleans or Seattle... but to budget cuts in order to balance the f-ed up budget...

Oh Atherton, you can never really get it right, can you? Salaries/ benefits are going up, even as everything is going to hell in a hand-basket. But what else would you expect?

The Burlingame Elementary School District might buy back a school site they previously sold to meet rising enrollment demand (and assuage an angry parent community who does not want huge classrooms...) That seems like a good way to spend money -- sell land then buy it back...

The most awkwardly worded, yet informative, headline of the day goes to the Daily News: Menlo Park pre-school supervisor to retire following arrest for allegedly annoying teen girl... What else do you need to know?

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.22.10: District elections?

Mike Nevin (and a bunch of other folks) are defending the status quo when it comes to the County voting for Supervisors at-large... Bruce Balshone at PP Examiner, not so much...

The COWs of Woodside have a view on this too... And the actual Charter Review Committee voted to let voters decide about district elections for Supervisors... get ready for some fireworks...

Speaking of Supervisors (to be?)... April Vargas picks up another endorsement from the Sierra Club...

The Coroner's race heats up... Watch Dog feels weird that we live in a County where the coroner is elected...

San Carlos versus High-Speed Rail... maybe.

It is not a maybe for the San Mateo Union High School District. They do not want an above-ground train near Burlingame High School. Of course, they would probably like an underground 101 as well... but that ship has sailed.

The City of Half Moon Bay will have few staff members soon... that's because the City Council approved layoffs, furloughs, and cuts, oh my...

Atherton joins lots and lots and lots of people (including Menlo Park) in opposing the Cargill Saltworks development... But it hasn't yet been posted on the Town of Atherton blog... yet...

Watch Dog loves the title of this post by Coastsider: Avoid disturbing seabirds during breeding season... Does that mean avoid the nasty birds during your season of love-making? Or, does that mean that you should avoid disturbing the seabirds during their own breeding season...

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.21.10: San Mateo-Burlingame Police? Not. So. Fast...

Well, the San Mateo-Burlingame Police Department hit a road block yesterday. San Mateo approved moving forward, over the objections of David Lim. But Burlingame is balking at the idea... The Burlingame Voice was on the scene as the Burlingame Council looked at the police issue...

Congresswoman Eshoo testified in front of the House Financial Services Committee this week to blast Lehman Brothers for ripping off local governments, like the County of San Mateo. She also is pushing the Restitution for Local Government Act of 2010, sort of bail out for the 40 local government folks who lost $1.7 billion. Why should banks get bailed out for screwing up, but the local governments they screwed not get some help, the thinking goes...

Our other Congresswoman is busy too... Jackie Speier is trying to get $100 million in federal money for Bay restoration...

Menlo Park has serious concerns about High-Speed Rail... are you surprised? Anyway, they are sending a letter to the High-Speed Rail Authority, which the High-Speed Rail Authority will file under N, for NIMBY...

Ah, the San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury. We missed you. Yesterday, the Civil Grand Jury recommended that the County consolidate nearly every job in the County into one position: Chief Financial Officer. The job would be controller, treasurer, tax collector, and we assume registrar as well. Because it would be a lot easier to pinpoint blame when the County loses buckets and buckets of money if there was one Chief Financial Officer...

A murder in Woodside? What will the COWs say?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.15.10: The Post Office closes when?

Watch Dog thought a week could go by without a new scandal popping up in Atherton. The Marsala Home/Loan (non)Gate went away. The John John John Johns lawsuit was settled. These were supposed to be quiet times with the new blogorific Town.. but...

The Police Chief has asked the District Attorney's office to look into whether a someone in the Police Department altered the domestic violence police reoprt relative to Jon Buckheit. You remember Buckheit, he is the one that Marsala asked for money from, but more importantly to this story, he is the one that was taken from his home on suspiscion of domestic violence only to be later found factually innocent. Never a dull moment in Atherton... We do have to give props to the Town of Atherton blog - - they are on top of their game and do actually mention this story.

It is now Belmont's move in the Belmont - San Carlos inter-County civil war over fire services... and they aren't saying much... yet. They are also dealing with their own budget mess ($1.3 million)...

In a nod to NIMBYs, some folks on the Peninsula are considering whether or not to join the (Tea Party?) effort to repeal the High-Speed Rail bond... have fun with that..

That's all for today...

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.12.10: John John John Johns goes to Disneyland... on your dime

The John Johns wrongful termination settlement appears final in Atherton. The long, Town nightmare is finally over... interestingly, Johns gets his job back for one day as part of the deal and collects a bunch of cash ($225k)... and we learn that he is going to Disneyland. Impressively,the Town of Atherton blog actually has an update on this topic.

Here we go... it was only a matter of time before legislators on the Peninsula started listening to all the NIMBYs... and Joe Simitian is the first to crack. In the Chronicle's Matier & Ross today, Simitian raises questions and doubt about the financial projections to High-Speed Rail... but reading between the lines, Watch Dog thinks this is really about neighborhood opposition up and down the Peninsula... who's next? Jerry Hill? Paul Fong?

Sue Lempert has a good look at High-Speed Rail issues swirling about in her Monday column in today's Daily Journal...

And to San Carlos...

San Carlos is set to get in on the pot club action... sort of. Nobody has been knocking down the City's gates to open a pot club, but if they do, there will be strict rules about where, when, and how they operate. Watch Dog is sure there will also be a big financial benefit to San Carlos should the potheads move in...

If San Carlos does go down Hope Road, it might be the Redwood City Police Department that keep a close eye on the clubs... that's because Redwood City might put in a bid to be San Carlos' outsourced police department... of course, they'll have to out-bid the Sheriff, who has also put a bid into San Carlos.

That takes care of San Carlos' Police Department, but it is their shared fire service that has people very angry. San Carlos has thought for a long time that Belmont doesn't pay its fair share... and, like all break-ups this isn't going to end well. Belmont Councilmember Coralin Feierbach had this to day in the Daily Journal: "If they go through with this, I for one will never reconsider them again..." To be continued...

This is weird: South San Francisco has had a mini-scandal with their red-light cameras... San Carlos is doing away with their red-light cameras... But Belmont is moving forward to install them. Doing the same thing but expecting a different result...

Daly City is looking to raise fees to address budget challenges... who isn't?

Pacifica is facing some challenging budget times too... and they have a meeting tonight to look at raising fees and taxes. Luckily for all of us, Pacifica Riptide looks at the details, including the "800 pound gorilla in the room" - pensions.

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.9.10: Isn't it ironic?

It will cost four or five times as much to have High-Speed Rail go underground... that's the official word. Which means you HSR-NIMBYs should start bombarding the High-Speed Rail Authority now... Burlingame Voice folks were at the High-Speed Rail meeting yesterday and have a report...

Locally, we know that red light cameras are causing everyone grief. One city (SSF) needs to return money to the the couple of hundred folks who got tickets by mistake... now, San Carlos is likely to get rid of the cameras because they aren't catching enough people running red lights. In other words, the cameras work as a deterrent, which in this case makes them unaffordable. As Alanis said, "Isn't it ironic?... Don't you think?" Yeah, Watch Dog really does think...

New pretty pictures have been put together to give folks an idea of what a revamped downtown Menlo Park would look like. We actually like the way downtown Menlo Park looks now, but the pastel images are great looking too...

There have been some high-profile union vs. city fights recently (Palo Alto vs Firefighters, Menlo Park Workers vs. Ballot Initiative, etc.) But in Half Moon Bay, a big bargaining unit agreed to furlough days for a year...

Pacifica Riptide continues its critique of Pacifica's new garbage company. Initially, the critique was about how Recology got the garbage contract without a bidding process being conducted... now it is about Recology's "confusing and incomplete" information they are mailing to customers about recycling...

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 -- 3.24.10: 10 and 2, 10 and 2

Remember, no Devil's Slide today from 10 to 2. Which, ironically, is where your hands should be on the steering wheel when you drive over Devil's Slide...

For those NIMBYs that want High-Speed Rail to (inexplicably) end in San Jose to avoid big impacts to the Peninsula got some troubling news yesterday... even if that were the case, the impact to Caltrain would be as impactful as the impact of High-Speed Rail. That's because the transfer to a new train to make it the final 50 miles up the Peninsula would hurt Caltrain and would require new tracks, new construction, and new trains... Face it Peninsula, your train-screwed.

Boring Budget B.S.:

• The County's budget looks "grim"...
• Belmont's budget is grim...

Oh, and there is a new blog on the blogosphere locally that we might start Rounding-Up... the Burlingame Voice. Welcome, the more the merrier...

Morning News Round-Up -- 3.18.10: When is an election not an election?

Watch Dog loves politics, but when Countywide offices finally become open, and people still run unopposed, that's disheartening, and frankly a little anti-democratic. So, here are some announcements: The new District Attorney will be Steve Wagstaffe. The new Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder will be Mark Church. The new County Superintendent will be Anne Campbell. Zzzzz...

Speaking of zzzzz, another public outreach meeting in San Mateo about High-Speed Rail... this time, property owners expressed concern about construction.

When two cities merge their police departments (or consider it), like Burlingame and San Mateo are about to do, there is usually some sort of shake up. That's why San Mateo Deputy Police Chief Mike Callagy will be moving his office to Burlingame to be the "interim" police chief there...

Speaking of new jobs... James Lianides has been named the new Superintendent of the Sequoia Union High School District (to do battle with Summit and Everest...) In a sign that newspapers are all losing their mojo, the Almanac just reprinted the press release from the School District...

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

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

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

To High-Speed Rail...

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

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

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

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

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

Morning News Round-Up -- 3.12.10: Et tu (candidate) Grocott?

San Carlos Councilmember Bob Grassilli joined Andy Klein, Omar Ahmad, and Randy Royce in turning down some or all of his health benefits and stipend... et tu (candidate) Matt Grocott?

While we are in San Carlos... we learn that the State may be providing fire service to San Carlos in part to save money and in part so that San Carlos and Belmont can stop bickering. Isn't it a long way to travel from Sacramento to San Carlos to put out a fire?

And as two cities look to break up from their public safety marraige, two others are looking to tie the knot: Millbrae and San Bruno may join forces... with their forces. Perhaps Millbrae and San Bruno should talk to San Carlos and Belmont before going all the way...

The Menlo Park City Schools may lay off 12 folks... so if you love Menlo Park City Schools, you should vote yes for their parcel tax on May 4th. If you don't love Menlo Park City Schools, you should probably stay home on May 4th...

From layoffs to library closures... Belmont-Redwood Shores School District is looking to close its libraries to save cash -- who needs books anyway?

Over the objections of NIMBY neighbors, the plans to expand Serra High are moving along nicely. Attention Neighbors: Serra's pool will not screw up your life... now, go back to the High-Speed Rail meetings...

Morning News Round-Up -- 3.5.10: Beware the slow newsday...

What everyone (especially NIMBYs on the Peninsula) has been waiting for... an updated report from the High-Speed Rail Authority. The update? Nothing has really changed with the alignment. Sorry Menlo Park, Atherton, Palo Alto, et al

The Belmont Chamber of Commerce is in the news again today... because their former President is taking stand on molestation charges. You can't buy that kind of PR for a Chamber of Commerce...

Sequoia Hospital will soon be SEQUOIA HOSPITAL!

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 -- 3.1.10: http://mercurynews.com/san-mateo-county

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And onto Recession news...

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

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

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