May 8, 2009
Morning News Round-Up – 5.8.09:
San Jose’s Drunk Task Force, with only 3 remaining community members, ended with a whimper Thursday night. Police Chief Rob Davis said his officers, accused of arresting hugely disproportionate numbers of Latinos for being drunk or having attitude, “are not engaged in this to punish somebody.” Free of unruly community members, the Task Force agreed to a drunk tank, breathalyzers and better training for the police. San Jose Insider Erin Sherbert reports Task Force quitters are plotting next steps…
San Jose Insider Eric Johnson reports San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed has called on all city employees to put off raises and save 150 jobs. The former San Jose councilmember says he inherited the financial disaster, that he rejected raises after becoming mayor and doesn’t take his car allowance.
Tony Spitaleri, president of the firefighters union, offered Palo Alto’s city council a one year moratorium on raises. City Manager Jim Keene is hopeful Palo Alto’s police will come forward with a similar offer. The two unions could save the city $1.5 million.
Former Palo Alto police chief Lynne Johnson screwed up, sparking a racial controversy when she asked residents to be on the watch for a black man in a do-rag. Jeffrey Smith of Palo Alto was busted, and in jail, for a Menlo Park mugging when Palo Alto authorities decided to pile on.
The Valley Transportation Authority designed and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission approved a change that allows more money for BART. Cheering BART fans hit Milpitas today, because – (re)using those famous words – it’s going to happen, you like it or not. Untrue are rumors San Jose councilmember Pete Constant will throw himself in front of the groundbreaking shovels.
Caltrain, trying to put off a possible $10 million deficit, is proposing an end to weekend (party) trains, charging those pesky bike riders and raising fees – again. Caltrain Board Chair/Supervisor Don Gage said “when there’s no money, there’s no service.”
Proud of his helmet hair, bike commuter/San Jose councilmember Sam Liccardo declared the comparisons to “The 40-year old Virgin” a badge of honor. Fellow helmet head/Webcor Builders president, Andy Ball, admitted to occasionally forgetting where he’d left his bike on Caltrain.
San Jose had its 10th murder of the year Thursday afternoon. Details have not been released for the man who was killed in a drive by shooting in East San Jose.
Filmmaker Heather Courtney brings the story of families left behind in Mexico to Mountain View this weekend. The Judicial Watch bigots from D.C. and their NIMBY Mountain View friends will likely show up to protest. Maria Marroquin, executive director for the Day Worker Center, said the center becomes local family.
Molly Cooper, a Morgan Hill sixth grader, beat 1,500 young authors with a winning essay on gang avoidance.
Riding the green wave, parents in the Mountain View Whisman School District are calling for sustainability to be built into all new construction. Some parents wanted to turn their kids into farmers by growing cafeteria food. Beans ‘n weanies on trees?
Los Gatos kids did their time for the Venue Teen Center phone-a-thon and raised a few bucks using those dialing fingers. The Alan Pinel real estate agency played host while real estate agents had the kids call their spouses for practice.
The Merc’s Scott Herhold jumps in to the Monte Sereno city council salary excitement. Herhold, while (sort of) saying he supports the modest stipend, he thinks Monte Sereno’s city council screwed up the execution.
No parent should bury their child. Friends and family of Heather Russell have asked Mountain View police to dig deeper into the suspicious suicide, to understand why the bubbly young woman went missing for three days before her death and how her abusive relationship may have played a part in her death. Friends will host a fundraiser for a battered women’s shelter in her honor.
Mountain View’s city council also heard from the Governator. An expected $2 million may disappear from the city’s coffers in the state grab. No wonder there’s a cat fight brewing.
Morgan Hill wants false alarm scofflaws to pay for those unnecessary police visits. Police Commander David Swing said responding to false alarms “creates inefficiency,” a secondary goal is to gather more details on everyone with a burglar alarm.
Pissed off water drinkers protested the Santa Clara Valley Water District proposed fee increases. District project manager Darin Taylor blamed expensive imported water for increases.