Morning News Round-Up -- 4.26.10: Big (losing) guns help(?) Whitman...

Meg Whitman = Big Connections... and she showed it on Friday night when Mitt Romney and John McCain showed up at an event in Redwood City. Of course, both of those guys lost their last election, so perhaps she should invite more folks on a winning streak... just a thought.

San Carlos is thinking about jacking up sewer rates... again.

Dave Pine, who serves on the San Mateo Union High School District Board did double duty on the Charter Review Committee. He penned this piece in favor of District elections and it ran on the 21st. We are sorry we missed... thank you for the heads up, loyal Watch Dogger. We agree with you Dave: More democracy!

Congresswoman Jackie Speier has introduced a $1 billion Bay clean-up bill, which is the good news. The bad news? Well, it seems that a $1 billion very local project is often called pork inside the beltway... Don't worry Congresswoman, around the Bay we call that great work.

It seems Atherton will get down to some governing today for a budget session as opposed to politically charged hits against colleagues and settling years-long lawsuits...

Leave it up to Pacifica Riptide to do some reporting that others won't/can't/don't... this time it is about "Pacifica's unfunded pension liability..."

Here's a heartwarming story to start your week: 4 teenagers were stabbed at the Marriot Hotel in San Mateo on Sunday morning. It seems it might have been part of a post-prom-party kerfuffle... Watch Dog remembers when proms were innocent affairs that only involved awkward teenage gropping...

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 -- 4.1.10: A little long...

We missed yesterday... so today's version is a little long. (As Michael Scott would say...)

Jon Mays at the Daily Journal caught our vibe with all the consultant-hiring going on in the County. Redwood City hired a consultant to fight the jail and a bunch of other cities hired consultants to deal with High Speed Rail.

As if waiting for the perfect timing to prove Jon Mays' point... Menlo Park is hiring a lobbyist to argue against High-Speed Rail...

The Burlingame Voice doesn't like High-Speed Rail much either...

Sally Leiber has been wanting to re-enter the political fray for sometime... and she did today in a big way in San Mateo County. She had an Op-Ed bashing the salt pond development plans for Redwood City in the Merc.

65 employees could lose their jobs in the San Mateo-Foster City Elementary School District... thank you Sacramento (and the economy...)

The County budget isn't much better, but County parks may stay open... "barely"

Here's a reoccurring story... Everest vs. Sequoia, Sequoia vs. Everest... Sequoia Union High School District has made a "final offer" to Everest by offering them space at Woodside High School. However, it might take a few more weeks to have Everest and Sequoia work things out... after several years, what's a few more weeks, right?

Riptide informs us all that Pacifica Lumber has closed...

It is no secret that the Menlo Park FIre District and the City of Menlo Park haven't been getting along lately -- heck, firefighters have been working without a contract for two years. Unfortunately, the mediation process that they were going through failed... to be continued...

Small victories can make the COWs of Woodside so happy... consider this selection: "Clap your hooves and toot your horns, the Town has finally posted their new online permit and project research engine called eTRAKit! We are genuinely excited and delighted with this program. We whole heartedly COW-ngratulate staff on a job well done." Whatever floats your cow-filled boat...

Morning News Round-Up -- 3.26.10: Home/Loan Gate in Atherton...

Home/Loan Gate in Atherton continues... remember, Councilmember Charles Marsala asked for (and was denied) a $500,000 loan from a resident who had a pending lawsuit with the Town of Atherton -- and then Marsala voted against a citizens police oversight commission that the person suing Atheron wanted... The person suing Atherton claims that Marsala voted against the commission because the loan didn't come through. Coincidentally (?) there are also rumors swirling that Marsala doesn't live in Atherton -- heck, without a gigantic loan, who could? Later today, there will be a special meeting about the Marsala residency issue at 2 p.m. If you have absolutely nothing going on in your life on a Friday afternoon, perhaps you should stop by the meeting and then send Watch Dog an email about the outcome... Whatever the outcome of that meeting, Watch Dog predicts that there may be an open seat on the Atherton Council before too long...

We aren't going to take any credit for this Editorial in the Daily Journal, but certainly we here at Watch Dog have also been critical of Redwood City spending money on a mining-loving PR firm to fight the idea of a new County jail in their community...

Your favorite very local public station will stay open... KCSM will keep broadcasting for a little bit longer at least.

Usually when we think of outsourcing, we think China and India, but San Carlos may outsource some functions (police/fire) to San Mateo...

Pacifica Riptide is pushing some community activism in an effort to restart "greenwaste" drop off in Pacifica... Will the no-bid garbage company in Pacifica listen?

Our new friends at the Burlingame Voice actually pick up and read the Daily Post... they have a story about possible embezzlement at a Burlingame school...

As a reminder, the Daily Post does not post news on their ugly website, instead we learn this:

"You won't find any news on this site. Giving away news online is a dumb way to do business. News is valuable. We put our news in print. The news creates demand for our paper, and increased readership makes our ads more effective than advertising in any other medium."

Plus, does anyone really think that people are getting their news online?: Online newspapers enjoy double-digit year-over-year growth, reaching one out of four internet users, according to Nielsen/Netratings... That's from 2005, get with it.

Morning News Round-Up -- 3.3.10: 2nd day in a row, 2nd day in a row...

Dear Mercury News/County Times web dudes... you have a problem with your shit. This is the second day in a row with the same problem. This is the second day in a row with the same problem.

Rockaway Quarry has been sold. We'll see what brilliant development idea comes out of this sale... Pacifica Riptide will most certaintly be following it.

Congrats to the Burlingame School District. Their parcel tax renewal passed this week.

We like your jobs (and your tax money), just not your campus growth plan... that's the message Gilead is getting from their Foster City neighbors.

Like everyone else, the Daily Journal's Jon Mays has an opinion about High Speed Rail, specifically in San Mateo. But his views are at least constructive and not NIMBYish...

If you smoke in Menlo Park, you know they have some tough anti-smoking laws. Well, the fines are about to get bigger...

Morning News Round-Up -- 1.20.10: lights at M-A... the sky is falling!

Oh man, this is going to be really great. The Sequoia Union High School District is going to consider putting lights on the football field at Menlo-Atherton High School. Heather Murtagh covers the story for the Daily Journal, but she didn't mention that this idea for lights at M-A may cause a full-scale riot in the Lindenwood neighborhood of Atherton where folks like their enclave exactly the way it was in 1945... seriously.

In other Atherton school news, the Principal at Las Lomitas Elementary School is leaving after 10 years. His statement about why he is leaving is pretty funny, but has a bit negativity to it... check it out. And the Las Lomitas Elementary School District teachers just penned a new agreement as one of the principals packs his bags...

Here is something new and different: the State of California is actually paying back some of the money they stole from local governments. The County got $10.5 million back last week. Do you have to say thank you when someone (or the State) returns something they stole?

The State taketh (and giveth back) but the tough times aren't going anywhere. Burlingame is still cutting services and possibly employees...

San Carlos could see a 'transit village' spring up around its train station. This is a great idea, but the funniest part of the story is how the Daily Journal's Michelle Durand categorizes the current station as an "...underwhelming gateway of San Carlos..." We thought her funny columns ran on Tuesdays and Thursdays...

Pacifica Riptide is monitoring the stormy weather and its impacts coastside, including the Esplanade Apartments.

Morning News Round-Up -- 1.13.10: Just the facts...

We knew it. The beard, the cool attitude... everything about Assemblymember Jerry Hill says Deadhead... so did his 'yes' vote on a recreational pot bill in an Assembly Committee yesterday. The head of the California Police Chiefs Association, who happens to be Susan Manheimer, was not pleased, saying (according to the Daily Journal), "It is unconscionable that the state would try to balance its budget by approving the use of mind-altering substance..." That quote makes her sound a little bit like Joe Friday...

In a story that bridges both Watch Dogs -- Tom Campbell is dropping out of the Governor's race (against Steve Poizner and Meg Whitman) and jumping into the Senate race (against Carly Fiorina)... how does he feel about recreational pot use?

Ah, schools in Burlingame. Nothing says relaxing public meeting like the Burligname Elementary School District Board meeting. Last night the Board was going to discuss the possibility of purchasing back the Hoover Elementary School site -- but parents weren't having any of it. Expect this long, tortured process to continue...

In case you've been living under a (synthetic) rock, synthetic grass fields are somewhat of an issue locally... think San Carlos. Now, Belmont is getting in on the action. Let's hope their plans don't take 10 years to implement...

Supervisor Rich Gordon assumed the role of President of the Board (again) yesterday (for the third time) and talked about weathering the financial crisis. It is a good thing he referenced Sacramento's cuts, because that's where he wants to be this time next year. If he gets elected, let's see how long it takes before he turns from a State government cut-ee to a State government cut-er...

Jon Mays mixes business (the Kinko's'/Aguiree International building demolition) with pleasure (where he met his wife)... in today's Daily Journal.

This has been a bad week for the Bonds family. Mark McGuire's admission that he used steroids has pushed many sport writers and thinking people (sometimes those two things are mutually exclusive) to call for Barry Bonds to come clean. That's Part A of the Bad Bonds Week... Part B is that Nikolai Lamar Bonds (Barry's son) was in a San Mateo County courtroom pleading not guilty to five misdemeanor counts including battery (of his mother), false imprisonment (of his mother), vandalism (of his mother's home), threatening a police officer, and obstructing a police officer. Apple. Tree. Not far...

Riptide feels for the folks who have been evacuated from the soon-to-be-in-the-Pacific apartments on Esplanade cliff. Riptide also worries about the neighbors...

There was a robbery at gun point of the 76 gas station on Willow Road on Monday night in Menlo Park. (Hey robbers, just because the gas station is in Menlo Park doesn't mean there is more money there than at any other gas station...) Here's an interesting detail, the robbers left with cash (obviously) and cigarettes... it is almost like they know they are going to prison and are looking to stash away some prison currency before they get there...

Morning News Round-Up -- 12.18.09: Loud TV or Healthcare?

Not to say that keeping commercials quiet isn't important... but... Congresswoman Speier is working diligently on the healthcare bill and trying to get a provision stripped out of the bill that would allow insurance companies to circumvent California's strong consumer protection laws. Television commercials (Eshoo) or healthcare (Speier)... hmmm

The Daily Journal Editorial Board smacked the San Mateo Union High School District for cutting the health benefits of early retirees in today's paper...

The attorney for the would-be bomber of Hillsdale High would a mental evaluation of his client... y'think?

Just in time for Christmas: San Carlos may be cutting police officers and closing parks. Can they possibly remain the City of Good Living with fewer police and parks?

Coastsider provides a helpful map for all you big wave enthusiasts...

Not unrelated... In Pacifica an apartment building was evacuated because the building is close to falling off a bluff. Riptide has the full coverage...

We love this headline in the Merc/BANG papers: San Mateo, Santa Clara counties hosting sobriety checkpoints. The term "hosting" makes is seem like a party where they will be serving cheese, crackers, and perhaps some delicious pate.

Morning News Round-Up -- 11.30.09: Tryptophan Hang-Over Edition...

Good morning and welcome back loyal readers. Watch Dog is sure that our watching eyes missed some stories over the holiday. Heck, what better time to release crappy news than over Thanksgiving weekend? If we missed things, please let us know.

And this was something that Pacific Riptide thinks the City of Pacifica was trying to slip by Pacificans: A Community Forum on Solid Waste Disposal set for tonight. If you want folks to not know about and not attend a Community Forum, there is perhaps no better time to schedule such a Forum than the Monday after Thanksgiving. Unless, of course, you want to schedule it sometime between Christmas and New Years... Kudos Riptide for keeping a good look-out...

Here is something that is long overdue -- the County is revamping an ethics review panel. This surely has nothing to do with San Mateo County havin a Sheriff who was found at a brothel and is running unopposed for reelection...

Speaking of Sheriffs... if you were out driving around this holiday weekend you probably saw dozens and dozens of police stopping cars. The result, DUI arrests were up slightly versus last year.

It is Monday and Monday is Sue Lempert's day in the Daily Journal... she goes into giving, including a piece about her own childhood appearance in a newspaper. Here's to you Sue for figuring out a way to mention lollipops and Ayn Rand in the same column...

Some day you might be able to bike up and down San Mateo... safely. That's part of San Mateo's plan anyway.

Citizens of Woodside gave us their own version of a Round-Up -- but their Round-Up is of the Woodside Cowncil meeting... from October...

And finally, a sad note: A man from Walnut Creek died when his sailboat capsized off of Pillar Point this holiday weekend. Sad.

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 -- 10.28.09: The Bay Bridge is closed (seriously)...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And finally:

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

Morning News Round-Up -- 8.28.09: $5 to swim is a problem. $5 for chili is just yummy.

Parents worried a $5 monthly increase in the cost to use South San Francisco’s Orange Memorial Pool would be hard to manage. Pools ain't free...

Yet people are willing to pay to eat chili. Lots of it...

And here is the obligatory reminder to not eat chili and then go swimming in the pool. You MUST wait 30 minutes, at least.

Financial regulators in Washington, D.C. have decided to start doing their job. They have barred a Redwood City woman from the securities industry after she allegedly took more than $850,000 from customers of the brokerage firm where she worked. That would be great if everyone on Wall Street who bilked customers got the same treatment...

Mills-Peninsula Health Services will likely move its acute rehab unit where stroke, brain injury, and spinal cord injury patients go to make room for behavioral health services.

An elderly couple were found dead today inside a home the Woodside Hills neighborhood. It was an apparent murder-suicide by handgun. Yikes.

The County’s southern cities are making their mark in the solar industry.

Mavericks Surf Ventures Thursday released the names of the exalted 24 surfers invited to the 2009-2010 Mavericks Surf Contest. Big wave.

Pacifica residents want term limits…

Sea lions are dying in record numbers from Chile to Oregon, that includes Pacifica where there has been a large number of stranded sea lion pups wash up on its beaches. Sad.

Morning News Round-Up -- 8.17.09: (Fugitive) Karma Edition...

Federal authorities officially named former SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory employee, Silvya Oommachen as a fugitive. She is accused of having destroyed $500,000 worth of research at the federal facility in Menlo Park to reverse "bad karma.” She disappeared after being released on July 28 on $50,000 unsecured bond. Watch Dog wonders if her good karma will help her on the run...

San Mateo is cracking down on dog owners who are allowing their canines to run free with out a leash. Both citizens and park rangers have been tattling on these dog owners, complaining about potential safety concerns, aka pit bulls without a leash. (No comment from Michael Vick...)

Davina Drabkin easily won the election to the Burlingame Elementary School District Board of Trustees. She had no challenger, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t up for the challenge to grapple with education spending woes.

No strike today. It seems that BART union workers and its management finally reached a “tentative” deal Sunday night. Or perhaps union officials read this...

Seventeen middle school and high school teachers from the Bay Area recently traveled to China for two weeks hoping to impart some wisdom on their students about Chinese culture and history. The trip was co-sponsored by the San Mateo County Office of Education.

It took 10 minutes for the Palo Alto council to gave the long-awaited Lytton Plaza in downtown the final approval. What's 10 minutes more on top of many, many years?

Hopefully, your car wasn’t parked in the Emerald Lake Hills area of San Mateo County Saturday. It seems that occupants in a truck were allegedly seen throwing rocks at the windows of parked cars, damaging 19 of them. Fun for the whole familiy...

Pacifica residents are being asked to write to their Senators advocating for new legislation on food safety. Pacifica folks have never met a cause they didn't love...

San Bruno celebrated the return of roughly 100 Marines from Echo Company Saturday. They are among the first group benefiting from President Obama's withdrawal of troops in Iraq.

Cars, bikes, and pedestrians are having a bit of trouble co-habitating in Woodside. The COWS have a run-down...

San Mateo resident Joseph Ortega is in critical but stable condition a police detective shot him Thursday in a drug raid.

San Mateo County is banking on the State to let more money flow into building a new prison facility locally. Money is one issue, but locating the facility is quite another... just ask the Sheriff.

Morning News Round-Up -- 7.22.09: the Everest/Sequoia chess match continues...

The Everest Charter School versus Sequoia Union High School District chess match took an interesting turn this week. There has been the battle about where Everest would open. Sequoia wants to put Everest on a plot in East Palo Alto. Everest doesn't want to be on the EPA site. So, Everest began the work to move into an office building in Redwood City. The School District countered by raising environmental issues about the site Everest wanted. Well, the pendulum has swung, perhaps permanently, into Everest's direction. They have change the Redwood City site where they want to open school on August 24th, and it seems that may be their new home -- no matter what Sequoia does. Checkmate?

A State budget deal is done, as you have probably read and heard. But the budget includes a huge money grab from local governments. Well, local governments are mad and they aren't going to take it anymore. (Or at least they don't want to take it anymore...) Schools are also concerned with what the budget means for them because of "deferrals" and "mid-year cuts"... Local beaches are set to be cut also...

Pacifica Riptide has an idea about how to avoid the State stealing money from local government, to fund schools, and to avoid closing State beaches... Repeal Prop 13. (Their idea, not Watch Dog's.)

Daily Journal Editor Jon Mays gets in on the State budget action too and calls the budget deal "evidence of ailing state..."

If this wasn't an obvious headline: Jail site options drawing concern. Watch Dog is shocked. SHOCKED! Actually, not so much. We predicted some pretty harsh reactions to the County Sheriff's jail-siting public meetings.

For all you High-Speed Rail NIMBYs who are upset that there has been a slow down in public meetings over the summer to hog the microphone, here is your chance. Congresswoman Eshoo and State Senator Joe Simitian will be hosting a town hall meeting on Saturday in Menlo Park.

And if the NIMBY's in Menlo Park can't wait until Saturday, there will be a public meeting tomorrow night about the "Menlo Gateway" project, a.k.a. the Bohannon project.

SSF is the latest city to consider hiking its hotel tax. Belmont already considered, and dropped, that idea, but Burlingame's hotel tax is now officially on the ballot in November.

Here is something we can probably all agree on: fewer sewage overflows that lead pollute the Bay. This is a result of a lawsuit recently settled by the Burlingame Hills Sewer Maintenance District.

$7 million worth of heroin was seized in East Palo Alto on Tuesday. That's good news...

Morning News Round-Up -- 7.8.09: "Long distance runner, what you standing there for?"

The King of Pop was laid to rest... and Dr. William Ayres trial on child molestation charges continues. Coincidence? Dr. Ayres didn't take the stand yesterday, but it looks like he will today. Follow the play-by-play at William Ayres Watch.

An expensive piece of public art in San Mateo's Seal Point Park isn't working properly -- and the artists who should/could be able to fix it aren't answering the phone. Really.

A woman was sexually battered late Friday night/early Saturday morning in San Carlos. The Police are looking for the suspect. See if a Police sketch helps jog your memory...

Here is the least shocking/most predictable headline of the day, courtesy of the Daily Journal: Officials decry education funding cut proposal.

Jon Mays, the Daily Journal's Editor, uses his column space today for a collection of Deep Thoughts... Thank you?

KCSM, the College of San Mateo's own public television/radio staion, is dropping its affiliation with PBS. This seems like an indication about what is going on with their budget...

A Millbrae man is going to jail for 2 years for "sexting" to a minor. (Yes, we wrote "sexting.")

You might remember this story: two folks at the Roti in Burlingame stole credit card numbers and, using a third accomplice, used them at a Safeway to buy stuff. The third member of the brain trust, Iris Singh, was sentenced to two years.

There will be a (planned) Fire on the Mountain today.

The Palo Alto Utilities Commission will be expanded from five members to seven members. Perhaps they can ramp up their oversight as well?

There is some good news coming out of Atherton today. Incredibly, it actually concerns a City Councilmember and there is no controversy in this story. Jim Dobbie is cancer-free. Welcome back...

Here is a heads-up from Riptide. The Sharp Park Pier is closing for nightly repairs. We wonder, however, who is hanging out on the Pier from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. anyway...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Morning News Round-Up -- 5.7.09: 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 -- 5.4.09: 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 Round-Up -- 5.1.09: Golf, Water Bottles, and Shi Tzu Edition...

We will start in San Francisco, where there was a Shark Park Golf Course public hearing in front of the San Francisco Government Audit and Oversight Committee (at the strong urging of Imperial San Francisco Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi). The Committee voted 3-0 to transfer the Sharp Park Golf Course to the National Park Service in an effort to protect two endangered species. The plans seem to fall into three categories:

1. The whole golf course would be restored to habitat,
2. The golf course would stay as is with some modifications to accommodate the environmental concerns, and
3. Some combination of 1. and 2.

Pacifica Riptide has all the Sharp Park Golf Course coverage and comments and video...

Swine flu, day three (?)... this time with a San Mateo County angle...

The day is finally coming when County officials can get their day before the House Financial Services Committee (and its fiery/brilliant Chair Barney Frank)... The once-postponed hearing about Lehman Brothers is now back on -- today at 10 a.m. You can watch it too...

Sometimes environmentalism and budget cuts come together to make a pretty nice marriage. Consider bottled water in the County of San Mateo. The County spends $146,000 annually on bottled water... or at least they used to. Saving the earth while saving dough.

Another day another San Mateo County-based animal cruelty story. This time in San Bruno where a woman had 19 shi tzu dogs... and a foul-smelling residence (obviously). She'll face misdemeanor animal neglect charges... This story is horrible enough, but who would want 19 shi tzus?

The Daily Journal Editorial pages recall the challenges of the San Mateo County Probation Department... and welcome the "clean slate" new leadership of Stuart Forrest...

Earlier in the week we wrote about a development in Palo Alto that got shot down by the City's Planning and Transportation Committee... well, the developers had this to say: "This project has been in the works for five years, and this is the kind of dysfunctional process that drives business and tax revenue out of Palo Alto..." How do you really feel?

Here is another sign that things are really bad economically, the Stanford Shopping Center is cutting mid-week, evening hours. Even folks in Palo Alto don't want to shop...

Menlo Park has serious budget problems (who doesn't?) -- so they are looking to get concessions from the Police Officers that serve their community. Good luck!

Bruce at PP Examiner gives us all a run-down on the political goings on in San Mateo County:

• Pay-Gate: The County Democratic Party stands opposed to what the Daly City City Council did... that took a while...
• The Race to Replace Rich Gordon when he joins the Race to Replace Ira Ruskin is heating up -- David Mineta is getting in the race (he of famous father fame)... and...
  
• Foster City didn't take Watch Dog's advice and instead passed their own extension of term limits for City Councilmembers -- well, at least to put it on the November ballot...