Morning News Round-Up -- 2.17.10: Open Carry takes aim...

Watch Dog saw this coming... remember the East Palo Alto Police Detective that posted some funny comments on Facebook about Open Carry gun freaks? Well, the NRA-types are taking aim at the Detective, not literally, but figuratively... This is what we wrote on the 5th of February: This is a story the NRA is going to jump all over.

Everyone saw this coming... the Mavericks viewing area may be closed next time. Y'think?

The County Coroner may get a run for his money this June from someone who used to work in the office. Begging the obvious question, why is the Coroner elected in the first place? Of all the positions in the County, don't we want the Coroner to be highly trained and non-political? Just asking... In case you are wondering, we found this nugget from the California State Association of Counties: "All 58 counties in California have a Sheriff's Department and 41 of those counties also provide for the Sheriff to assume the duties of the Coroner."

And as the Coroner is being challenged, Jon Mays at the Daily Journal chimes in with a piece about how the mood of the public is one of unrest...

Like unrest in the race for Slocum's office... perhaps Ira Ruskin wants into the Assessor-Clerk-Recorder's office? That makes Supervisor Mark Church very, very uneasy... (Thank you Bruce.)

There is unrest in San Bruno certainly, that's because the string of home robberies in continuing... there is a meeting tonight to talk about it at the John Muir Elementary School. But lock your house before you go...

There hasn't been a story about Belmont schools, traffic, and crazy parents for a while. Luckily,a neighbor near Central Elementary School in Belmont gave the Daily Journal an ear-full...

Two stories of escape and survival: three kids escaped a house fire in Atherton and a man was struck by a train and survived...

Gilead Sciences got the approval for expansion yesterday by the Foster City City Council. We like writing the word City twice to describe the Foster City City Council, but the Daily Journal calls it the Foster City Council... just thought you'd be interested...

Pacifica Riptide is still pounding away on Pacifica's version of the Garbage Saga... this time, from a small business perspective.

Morning News Round-Up -- 12.16.09: Going Rogue at a Supervisor's Meeting?

The Afraid-of-the-NRA Board of Supervisors had already pulled the gun ordinances from their meeting yesterday, but that didn't stop local "gun advocates" from showing up and voicing their displeasure with the board. Reports that the advocates were all reading "Going Rogue" are unconfirmed...

Guns weren't the only thing pulled from the County's agenda yesterday, Supervisor Gordon also pulled an item from the agenda related to the County's highest-paid officials, including the Assessor/County Clerk Recorder ($158k), Controller ($151k), Coroner ($118k), District Attorney ($243k), Sheriff ($184k), and Tax Collector/Treasurer ($139k). (Watch Dog had to do some math because the Daily Journal only had bi-weekly salaries, which we think means twice-a-month...)

Probably because Supervisors like putting off difficult decisions... The Council Manager David Boesch thinks the County Supervisors need to speed up the process to fix their $100,000,000 problem. That's a lot of zeros to have to fix... Boesch categorized the budget situation this way in the Daily Journal, "...urgent by not yet dire..."

The lovely hamlet of San Carlos swore-in a new Mayor and some new Councilmembers yesterday. Watch Dog can't believe you weren't there... Mayor Randy Royce's top priorities: Preserving the Small Town Character of San Carlos, Being Available to the Public, and Keeping the CIty Budget Balanced...

Belmont also got a new Mayor -- Christine Wozniak. Her priorities are little more "big picture" than her counterpart's in San Carlos: High-Speed Rail (or stopping it), Green Initiatives, Water, the Economy, and Communication. Welcome to the hot seat Mayor Wozniak...

We all know that there is one bill everyone in the country is talking about pending before Congress right now... loud television ads. And our own Congresswoman Anna Eshoo is on top of that issue. This will surely bring jobs and healthcare to the District and address climate change, coastal erosion, and traffic...

Morning News Round-Up --12.15.09: An NRA stick up...

And we thought our County had a lot of fight in it... but apparently not. A measly little NRA lawsuit threat and the County Supervisors (apparently) back off their plans for some local gun control laws... We got your back Supervisors!

High-Speed Rail -- the train that Peninsula voters loved, and now hate. But the opponents got some news today that they will like. High-Speed Rail will cost more per ride than anticipated and ridership will be lower than anticipated... the folks in Menlo Park and Atherton are smiling today...

Here's a legitimate shocker: According to the Daily Journal: No resistance to Safeway plans. Too bad, because we love the Safeway drama in Burlingame.

But there won't be any munchies in Redwood City to help fuel Safeway's bottom line... that's because the Redwood City Council put a temporary ban on medical marijuana collectives...

Watch Dog has a long-standing love affair with Atherton's small-town politics. And here's an update: Atherton settled a harassment case brought by a former police officer for over $200K. For such a small town, that's a big settlement. Good thing they are looking to renew their parcel tax...

The Menlo-Atherton High School track coach that yelled (and pushed) three kids near his house was convicted for pushing a boy. This story makes you feel all warm and fuzzy, doesn't it?

Finally, Bruce at PP Examiner looks into the opening seat of the County Education Executive...