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 -- 1.25.10: Enhancement Edition...

It is still raining... the Chronicle has a piece about how spectators are lining up to watch the Esplanade apartments fall into the Pacific in Pacifica... weird.

Ahh, good old "revenue enhancements" will be discussed this week at the Board of Supervisors. That is the well-known euphemism for tax hikes and the County will consider a bunch of options in advance of the June election. Of course, that puts Supervisor Rich Gordon on the spot -- if he approves putting a tax hike on the ballot, he'll be saying yes to higher taxes at the same time that he is running for higher office, which doesn't always work out that well for candidates...

Here is something we like to see... an anti-NIMBY/ pro-High Speed Rail group growing called Californians for High-Speed Rail. Watch Dog is a member -- well, in spirit if not financially.

The State of the City (of San Bruno) and the State of the (Hill Assembly) District were delivered on Friday. Times are tough... but when the going gets tough, everyone should blame Sacramento.

The State of San Carlos Crime is up (about 25 percent), which will be reported to the City Council this week by the Police Chief. Of course, the timing is good for the police department to report that crime is up as the City Council looks to cut budgets. Here's a prediction, the San Carlos Police Department won't get cut in the face of "rising crime"...

The State of Crime in Hillsborough is up too... Several cars were vandalized. We love the advice from the Police in Hillsborough: "Police are advising residents to park their vehicles in a garage or out of plain view whenever possible, and to remove all valuables from parked vehicles." That makes sense, especially because of this: "Police are also reminding residents that parking on any street in Hillsborough between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. is illegal without a permit." Yeah, so if your car is parked on the street it is either likely to be vandalized or towed...

The State of Pot in Redwood City is on hold... and will likely remain that way for a while... Sorry dude.

That State of Solar is thriving at San Mateo Union High School District... at a price tag of $31.5 million...

Brian Bothun, a former editor of the Palo Alto Daily News and former reporter for the Daily Post pleaded guilty to misdemeanor possession of pornography on Friday. Mighty. Fallen.

NIMBYs in San Mateo are holding up Serra High School's plans to put in a new pool based on noise concerns from coming from swimming activities. What type of noise? Student athletes having fun? How many of those Serra neighbors moved into their homes when Serra already had an outdoor pool?

Thank you Citizens of Woodside for providing a run down of the COWncil meeting a few weeks back. Good stuff.