Morning News Round-Up -- 5.24.10: May Two-Four

Redwood City will start the environmental review process for the Cargill Saltworks development... this will take years everyone, so we are sure there will be plenty of public meetings to show up and complain...

DMB (the Saltworks' would-be developers) probably wasn't happy when the Mercury News hit their electronic doorsteps on Sunday morning... the Editorial Board wrote: Redwood City salt ponds not the right place for massive development...

DMB won't find this much fun either: There will be a pro/con discussion in Atherton on the project this week on Thursday night hosted by the League of Women Voters. Have fun in the NIMBY capital of the Peninsula DMB...

East Palo Alto is looking for a new City Manager (and soon, we'd bet, a new Police Chief)... there are 8 finalists...

Here's a sign of the times: the San Carlos Arts Commission may be disbanded because the city budget is costing the Arts Commission staffers their jobs...

Along the same lines, workers in the County are about to get cut too...

Monday + Daily Journal = Sue Lempert + Tax Collector/Treasurer

This is very strange: Just as some cities are shying away from red-light cameras (SSF, San Carlos) one is just launching them (Belmont). So make sure you slam on your brakes when you are driving in front of me in Belmont.

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.27.10: Rainy Days and Tuesdays...

For the cities that are looking at implementing red light cameras (that's you Belmont) you should read this story from South San Francisco. They need to refund drivers $237k and refund the County Court $250k... have fun with that SSF...

While we're in South San Francisco, some property owners there are not pleased with proposed changes to zoning laws there East of 101... the City wants to change it from industrial to business commercial and technology... seems arcane, but not to the East of 101 Property Owners Association.

Senator Leland Yee's bill that banned young people from buying violent video games will be heard by the US Supreme Court... yippee!

Supervisor Mark Church has someone running against him for County Assessor... sort of. A write-in candidate, John K. Mooney, signed the forms to become an official write-in candidate for Assessor. Of all the positions in local government, wouldn't you want the Assessor to be on top of his game enough to actually file to run for office on time and get his name on the ballot? Just asking...

The East Palo Alto Police Chief may be moving to Seattle... it may be difficult to be the Police Chief of East Palo Alto from there...

The post-prom stabbing that sent the police tot he Marriot San Mateo and sent 4 kids to the hospital was apparently gang related.

A new park in Belmont? Say it ain't so... the first one since the 1970s...

If you love the cafe in the County building... you'd better find another place for lunch because it will close in July...

Thanks to Politicon Valley, we know that Yoriko Kishimoto got the Sierra Club endorsement... adding to a long list of organizations?

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 -- 3.10.10: Rest in Peace Mr. Haim...

Nothing gets folks worked up like eminent domain... and Caltrain is taking some property in San Bruno for a new station and rail bridges. Watch Dog isn't that worked up about it though...

Let me reconsider... nothing gets folks worked up like parking issues in Menlo Park, and now time restrictions and meters are up for discussion.

And if you are parking in Menlo Park, you better not be smoking...

Budget crunch stories...

• Redwood City Elementary may lose 127 employees...
• Belmont needs to cut $1.3 million from their budget...
• San Carlos City Councilmember Andy Klein paints the grim picture in the Daily Journal of what San Carlos might do to fix their budget.

Yikes. A man was found between two Union Pacific trains dead yesterday in SSF. (No, it was not Corey Haim.)

Morning News Round-Up -- 2.10.10: Say goodnight Mirabella...

The Mirabella Project in Foster City has hit an economic snag. The lending environment is "frosty" according to the developer -- and has led to the developer returning about $600K worth of deposits for folks who had already put down money down on the development. That is never a good sign...

Speaking of development... the Menlo Park City Council is officially opposing the Cargill Salt Ponds development in Redwood City... Representatives from the developer are making an interesting (?) point that the salt ponds aren't actually part of the Bay, but rather they are an industrial site. Got that?

Well, Pacifica Riptide filled all of us into the new garbage contract in Pacifica... it got approved last night. One more domino in the Recology monopoly that is San Mateo County... The story in the San Mateo County Times uses the phrase "no bid contract" and outlines the deal that gotRecology the contract. Does this sound fishy to anyone else?:

Recology offered the city an additional "assignment fee" of $100,000 in exchange for approval of the arrangement.

Budget cuts, budget cuts, budget cuts...

• The County
• and the Millbrae Elementary School District
• and KCSM...
• and San Mateo... still
• and the Redwood City School District...

Here's a little bit of good budget news for you and I, but more bad news for South San Francisco. If you were nabbed by the red-light camera at the intersection of El Camino and Westborough and Hickey -- you are going to get your money back because the SSF screwed up royally, to the tune of a cool million.

You may not remember, but there was a story way back when about a Safeway clerk who was arrested for dealing meth in the parking lot of the MP Safeway... apparently that carries an 8 month prison sentence with it if you plead "no contest." Maybe that's why the Safeway deal took so long in Burlingame, because Burlingamers were worried about meth being dealt in the parking lot...

Morning News Round-Up -- 1.29.10: AG Speier...

Today's Daily Journal "reports" that Congresswoman Jackie Speier is considering a run for Attorney General... which was reported earlier in the week by the Chronicle and stolen by Watch Dog immediately thereafter. Thank you for reading Watch Dog... The Journal also talks to folks who might seek to replace her...

Here are three things you almost never, ever see:

1. The Daily Journal Editorial Board is NOT supporting a parcel tax in the San Mateo-Foster City Elementary School District... (If it helps, Watch Dog will endorse the measure...)

2. South San Francisco approved a two-tier system for public employees. Could it spread like wildfire?

3. Wild boar... so delicious, so big, so ugly, so scary. There was one in Half Moon Bay that was shot and killed (and eaten?)...

High-Speed Rail is getting a jump-start with $2.25 billion (with a "b") more money from the Feds... NIMBYs (with an "n") better jump-start their efforts too...

Menlo Park is facing a little citizens' revolt led by Lee Duboc... the pension reform issue could go before voters if all works out. And we thought all the political intrigue (and in-fighting) happened in Atherton...

Speaking of Atherton, the Town officially apologize for keeping a $230,000 sexual harassment settlement under wraps... they did it by fax, to the newspaper, and didn't include anyone's contact information for follow-up calls. Very Atherton...

Morning News Round-Up -- 1.27.10: A local mad-dash, scramble, free-for-all?

We never came back for a post yesterday, apologies to everyone...

Oh my... Matier & Ross in the Chronicle have this tidbit: Congresswoman Jackie Speier is thinking about a run for Attorney General of California this year. Imagine the local ramifications of that? It would be a mad-dash, scramble, free-for-all. Hill? Yee? Ruskin? Watch Dog? Gavin Newsom?

This isn't getting top billing in any of the papers or on Watch Dog, but it is perhaps the most important story of the day, at least for the long-term. South San Francisco is considering a two-tier retirement system for public employees. Is this the shot heard round the (local government) world?

The County may have found the most popular thing to tax you on... the hospital. And if they are going to tax you, they better identify some cuts first -- which they did and they described them as "bold"... good timing.

The Belmont/San Carlos war of words (and dollars) about who is to pay what for the Fire Protection District continued with some action. Belmont rejected San Carlos' plan. San Carlos thinks Belmont should pay more, Belmont doesn't agree. The fun squabble continues... In response to San Carlos' unhappiness, Belmont Councilwoman Coralin Feierbach said these fighting words: “If San Carlos wants to go somewhere else, they can.... We subsidized them for 20 years.” She did not say: "And I will meet them on any street corner and kick their scrawny little San Carlos asses too..."

The Daily Journal's Jon Mays rocks. He outs the DMB Saltworks developers for political tactics trying to embarass the Menlo Park City Council's decision to oppose the DMB development. Mays ends with this: "...By engaging in subterfuge and ripping reputations, the argument for the development loses its focus..."

Speaking of the salt flats. The Redwood City Council will accept a report that says that the development of 12,000 homes and their impact won't have any "insurmountable issues" related to traffic or water or other stuff.

Cliffside engineering? Federal funds to rebuild? Disaster area? If it is raining, we are talking about Pacifica...

The Skyline College shooting suspect was convicted yesterday of possessing a gun in public as part of a plea deal. 3 years probation and he can't go to campus again... perhaps the dude is getting his application ready for CSM?

Morning News Round-Up -- 1.7.10: A Styrofoam-Free Pacifica...

A new chapter in the Garbage Saga may soon unfold... the South Bayside Waste Management Authority, along with San Carlos and San Mateo, are exploring mandatory recycling ordinances in the County for commercial businesses. Begging the question: businesses aren't required to recycle but residents are?

The Governor promised some stuff (like not cutting education) during his State of the State while acknowledging the obvious (the State has major problems...) Thank you Governor Out-the-Door... We'll see what the impacts are to the County -- and schools -- and roads -- and everything else.

Michelle Durand's Off the Beat is pretty serious in today's Daily Journal. She chronicles a San Carlos family's effort to keep their home and includes a mention of a growing trend, online begging. (It is real. Check out begslist...)

Deep in the Reporters' Notebook in the Daily Journal we cull this nugget: David Lim and Robert Ross, the two new Councilmembers in San Mateo, voted against a recommendation made by San Mateo Public Works Director Larry Patterson about sewer contracts... too bad Lim and Ross weren't their during the garbage sage. No doubt Mr. Patterson is longing for the pre-Lim/Ross days...

Here's a strange story: On New Year's night, SSF police chased Cecilio Zaparolli from his car into his house because the police knew the guy had some outstanding warrants for his arrest (drug and knife possession). Zaparolli hid in his attic from the police, so the police called down to San Bruno's "Artie" the police dog to get Zaparolli from the attic. One problem, Zaparolli apparently isn't afraid of dogs and choked Artie and then surrendered... Zaparolli and Artie are both fine, although there is a pretty good chance that Zaparolli will spend as much time a cage in the coming weeks and months as Artie.

Can someone in Atherton Town government please wake up? Recently they settled a sexual harassment lawsuit with a former police officer for $230,000 but never informed the public about the settlement. Turning up the political heat on the issue is the Atherton Civic Interest League (whatever that is) President Peter Carpenter saying: "Frankly, I think the town was morally derelict in the way that they have handled this..." Mr. Carpenter, please tell us what you really think.

No Mavericks this week... perhaps next week? The tension builds.

In case you are looking for Styrofoam food containers, you'll need to look somewhere other than Pacifica these days. Their ban went into affect on January 1...

Barry Bonds' son, who allegedly assaulted his mother, will face five misdemeanor charges. He sounds like a swell kid: he threw a door knob at his mother, he spit in her face, and he destroyed $400 worth of property. Perhaps he wasn't able to get his own cushy chair by his locker and got enraged...

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 -- 12.3.09: San Mateo County on everyone's front page... great!

San Mateo County (and Redwood City) is front-and-center in the Bay Area (and national) news today, and not in a good way. The robbers who stole from recently killed traffic accident victims live in our County. "Thieves best by government test?" Michelle Durand gets in the action as well in her Off the Beat column in the Daily Journal...

In other embarrassing local crime news: the Skyline College shooter had his pleading delayed because he is in the process of hiring a private attorney. Sounds like a good idea. Perhaps he and the the folks in the first story could split the legal bill.

San Mateo Union High School District will cut some of their early retiree health benefits. That ought to go over well... So will this... $1.5 million of cuts in the San Carlos Elementary School District.

And as school districts cut costs, Supervisors Rich Gordon and Rose Jacobs Gibson will be giving their raises ($5,500) to charity (which will help the County's general fund because the charity is the San Mateo Medical Center). While this could be a wash for County's general fund, it could be a boon for Gordon's and Jacobs Gibson's year end tax accounting...

The West Bay Sanitary District (and San Carlos and Millbrae) may be getting ready to pay some legal bills soon which could hurt their bottom line too. San Francisco Baykeeper is suing San Carlos, Millbrae, and the Sanitary District for spilling crap into the Bay.

SSF wants to continue the ban on medical marijuana clubs... buzz kill dude.

Half Moon Bay got a new Mayor and some new faces on the City Council. Councilwoman Marina Fraser will soon get new business cards that say Mayor...

Morning News Round-Up -- 11.16.09: Bad, Sad, Scary Edition...

A series of really bad, sad, scary stories appeared late last week and over the weekend...

• A man was charged with stabbing his roommate in South San Francisco...
• A different guy in SSF is getting two months in jail for beating his girlfriend with a broom...
• There was a fatal hit-and-run in Menlo Park involving a 6 year old girl on Thursday...
• The Redwood City pool where a Palo Alto man was found dead has been cleaned, thank goodness...
• There was a 30-bullet shoot-out in East Palo Alto on Thursday night injuring two folks...

And this: A robbery of a 25 year old Redwood City man on the boarder of Palo Alto and Menlo Park that turned into a sexual assault...

The ability (or lack thereof) to ride horses on Half Moon Bay beaches is going to be reconsidered by the HMB City Council. Expect fireworks...

You may have noticed that the Mi Pueblo grocery store opened in East Palo Alto on Saturday... and not one full day into operation, Mi Pueblo got a threatening phone call that was described as "...not a bomb threat..." by officials. However, the caller did say that something bad was going to happen at 9 p.m. Welcome to the neighborhood Mi Pueblo. There is something hysterical in this story, however: apparently a nearby bank is upset at the bright colors that Mi Pueblo is painted... has the bank seen the enormous blue and yellow structure across the parking lot?

The big rail-side development in San Mateo has planners wanting to take a closer look... more details = more time.

It is Monday, which is Sue Lempert's time in the Daily Journal... she breaks down the winners and losers from the election.

Cuts are coming to the City of San Mateo workforce -- but layoffs have been avoided... for now

When you were in high school, how many times did you wish your science teacher would take a long trip to the South Pole? If you are like Watch Dog -- you spent most of your time making such a wish... well, a Carlmont High teacher is heading to the South Pole to advance science, not to grant his students' wishes... the Chronicle gives us the run down.

Morning News Round-Up -- 11.2.09: Bridge (Still) Closed Edition...

Yes, we took Friday off. We didn't see you working that hard either...

It is a political week for those of you really paying attention and aren't totally consumed with guessing when the Bay Bridge will reopen or close again...

• San Bruno Park School District has a race...
• Portola Valley has a renewal of a utility tax and Atherton is renewing its parcel tax...
• A hotel tax (or an increased one) is on the ballot in San Mateo, SSF, Millbrae, Burlingame, Brisbane, and San Bruno...
• And then there is a race for the Menlo Park Fire Protection District Board. There are three folks the Menlo Park Firefighters Legislative Action Group is supporting, but don't bother looking about how much money that group is spending to get these three elected. They seemingly believe they are above the law and not reporting their campaign finance spending. Good thing the Almanac is a good watchdog when it comes to these things.
  

County workers have agreed to a contract. They agreed on Friday. If the unions and County have any tricks of the trade, perhaps you could let your colleagues in Palo Alto in on the secret. They are locked in a pitched battle...

Speaking of contentious... the Foster City City Council is going to approve the Chess-Hatch Master Plan tonight... Here is what you need to know: 10 stories of office above 4 stories of parking and probably lots and lots of taxes to the General Fund.

Those kids at Sacred Heart Prep really know how to party apparently. Two students were expelled for "marijuana-related activities"... what the hell does that mean? Were they smoking it? Were they selling it? Or were they just having a related activity to it? The interesting part of the story is that the Atherton Police know nothing about it -- and Sacred Heart officials are pretty much keeping quiet about what went down. Just a question for the Atherton Police: Don't you have jurisdiction if there is a drug issue on campus? Just asking...

The watch-and-wait season of Mavericks has begun. So get your board and your sex wax ready...

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 -- 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 -- 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 -- 7.31.09: "I had pony"... in Menlo Park

Belmont City Manager Jack Crist is encouraging the City Council to hop the lawsuit bandwagon against the State led by the California Redevelopment Association. Belmont laments that the State is raiding its Redevelopment Agency, resulting in a $2.8 million loss. He told the Daily Journal that there is strong evidence that the “heist” is illegal. Regardless, it’s crippling Belmont’s rockin' downtown.

The Daily Journal reports that a four-alarm fire that consumed South San Francisco salami plant last week left 34 of the factory’s 95 employees unemployed. More importantly, the blaze destroyed 200,000 pounds of deli meats. It’s not likely a disgruntled employee or a vegetarian started the fire. Fire Marshal Luis Da Silva says arson has been ruled out.

The Exotic Erotic Ball that skipped town last year is returning to the Cow Palace in October with its costumes, exotic dancers, and adult movie stars. The Ball's organizers (no pun intended) are expecting a healthy turnout of more than 30,000 people over the two days.

San Carlos resident Vivian Heinzel gets to choose between a $2.4 million house near San Francisco's Golden Gate Park or take a cool $1.8 million in cash as her grand prize in the "San Francisco Dream House Raffle," a four-month fundraising event sponsored by the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Watchdog thinks she should take the cash and replace the burned salami in SSF -- or perhaps buy us all tickets to the Exotic Erotic Ball.

Three baggage handlers at San Francisco International Airport were convicted of stealing from luggage, the Chronicle reports. The baggage handlers were busted during an undercover sting that was launched in the wake of the theft of a retired police sergeant's gun.

East Palo Alto officials and residents were caught off guard when SamTrans officials announced Wednesday night that four out of six bus lines that link East Palo Alto and Palo Alto may be eliminated or cut back. Resident Sara Hassani, who has been following transit issues in South County, made astute observation: "There would be no way for people in East Palo Alto to get to the Palo Alto Caltrain. There are also no grocery stores in East Palo Alto.”

Palo Alto husband and wife have been charged in federal court in San Jose with ripping off a computer networking company when they submitted more than $80,000 worth of false claims for rebates, the paloaltoline reported.

This is for the horse lovers out there: More than 500 equestrians, including 2008 Olympic gold medalist Will Simpson, plan to compete in the 39th Menlo Charity Horse Show, set for Aug. 4 through 9 at the Menlo Circus Club in Atherton, according to the Almanac.



In case you couldn’t get enough… BART and its labor unions are dragging out their transit drama. The two entities bargained through the wee hours of the morning today in hopes of reaching agreements that would save the transit agency millions and dodge a commute-crippling strike, the Chronicle says.

Cities everywhere are screwed when it comes paying their part of retirement benefits... Now its Palo Alto’s turn. According to the Mercury News, the projected cost of medical benefits for retired Palo Alto City employees has increased 28 percent in two years. Meanwhile, the City’s trust fund for paying those benefits has lost millions. The reason? It’s not just rising cost. More people are retiring from the City than expected.

Morning News Round-Up -- 7.30.09: Public Transit (News) Day

It is public transit news day around the County...

It’s taken four months and four State mediators to oversee negotiations between BART and its union. Carlos Rivera, the spokesman for the transit agency’s largest union, remained uncommitted when discussing the likelihood of a deal this week. He told the Daily Journal that the union is seeing the endgame. He then backpedaled a bit, saying “We’ve been here before..." and "...it’s hard to predict what will happen.”

Chalk this up to "unintended consequences"... People are happy about the twitter.com/ Caltrain feed launched in May 2008. The County Times reports that more than 2,000 Caltrain followers are now tweeting about delayed trains, slow service, etc., etc., etc.

Looks like you will need to buy a car if you live on the coast. Coastsider Barry Parr reports that SamTrans is proposing to cut the only coastside bus route. There will be a public meeting on August 6th for all you folks would like to have their voices heard...

Speaking of unresolved labor disputes, bad budget times, and difficult local government decisions... firefighters with the Menlo Park Fire Protection District are getting burned on the salary front.

Meanwhile, in SSF (where there is better bus service and a BART stop) Police have put the smack down on drunk drivers, arresting 15 drivers under the influence in the last year through a year-long grant from the State.

(Remember this?) Unemployment has certainly taken its toll. Authorities say it’s part of what drove Rosendo Cazares Abarca, the former President of the Fair Oaks Elementary School Parents Association, to pilfer money from school fundraisers, including a picture day with Santa Claus.

The Almanac reports that Menlo Park Councilman Andy Cohen was the lone and stoic dissenter on a vote to approve a new gym in Menlo Park’s Civic Center.

According to the County Times, Foster City Mayor John Kiramis persuaded Herb Perez, the owner of Gold Medal Martial Arts in Foster City, to run for City Council. Pretty good chance Herb Perez could kick anyone elses' ass who is running... as for his political skill, we'll all have to wait for November to see.

Wider streets in Palo Alto… always a battle worth fighting, especially if it means there will be room to park two cars instead of the one. Like anything in Palo Alto, neighbors fall on all sides of this issue.

Morning News Round-Up -- 7.24.09: What would you do with hundreds of Chuck E. Cheese tokens?

There is now an unfortunate update to a fire that occurred yesterday morning. The Columbus Salame plant burned down.

The NIMBYs that were getting their hand-scribbled notes together for the Eshoo/ Simitian High-Speed Rail community meeting on Saturday will have to file those notes away for a while. Eshoo pulled out of Saturday's meeting and will reschedule. She has to be in DC for votes -- something about a healthcare bill... (But if you must complain about something to someone, Assemblymember Jerry Hill will be hosting "sidewalk office hours" at the Coastside Farmers Market on Saturday...)

Speaking of Eshoo and healthcare... A special OpEd in the Mercury News criticizes Congresswoman Eshoo for wanting to protect the biotech industry a bit too much in the pending healthcare bill. (The OpEd is written by biotech/ pharmaceutical industry watchdogs...)

If it is Friday, it is (apparently) San Mateo County crime day:

• A robbery at Chuck E. Cheese was an inside job and the insiders are going to prison... could you be any dumber? Robbing Chuck E. Cheese? What are you going to do with all those tokens?
• A pervert who was at a job fair at Sequoia High School and took pictures of a kid in a bathroom is out of jail for a bit, pending appeal...
• A different pervert who (allegedly) tried to expose himself to a woman in San Carlos is the subject of a police investigation in San Carlos...
• A fire at a San Bruno youth center for abused kids was burned Wednesday and it is now being called arson...

And here are your "State budget is screwing local government" stories for the day:

• Dropping revenues mean that SSF voters will (officially) decide on a hotel tax hike this November...
• Bro... the proposed skate park that is supposed to be part of Foster City's teen center was put on hold last night.
• Coastside public agencies are feeling the pinch too...

A local project that is not on hold, thanks to funding from the County and the Feds, is a project to house the homeless in Redwood City. The City just purchased a 23-unit apartment complex for $2.4 million.

Finally... This is always fun: It is Festa Italiana in San Mateo this weekend. Yum. (An Editorial in the Daily Journal provides many more ideas for your weekend fun after a hella depressing first couple of paragraphs...)

Morning News Round-Up -- 7.23.09: Hooters + San Bruno = Lots of Guys at Tanforan

A third (third?) juror was release from the Ayres' jury yesterday. The first was released for speaking about the trial, the second was released for misconduct, and the third was released because she was ill. Good thing they had plenty of alternates... William Ayres' Watch has an interesting post about legal fees...

A big fire is burning in SSF this morning... updates when available.

Big News Alert: San Bruno may be getting a Hooters at Tanforan no doubt prompting this conversation: "Honey, I'll meet you at Target in about a half hour... make it an hour."

Shared sacrifice from many Burlingame employees kept a fire station open in that City. Which is great. With the State's new money-grab, is shared sacrifice enough?

Speaking of the State's money-grab a.k.a. the budget...

• Off the Beat with Michelle Durand takes on the State budget cleverly...
• Palo Alto is the latest City to express their pissed-offed-ness at the State...
• State Parks in San Mateo County (beaches) may have been saved somewhat in the State budget deal... but details are "still murky"...

An 18 year old was shot dead in the middle of the day yesterday in East Palo Alto. No suspect was arrested.

The most recent animal abuse trial (German shepherd) entered the sentencing phase yesterday. The culprit will serve 4 days in jail. That is un-Vick-like.