Archive for August, 2009

Morning News Round-Up — 8.31.09: Salame Trouble… again

Monday, August 31st, 2009

The battle between Foster City and the San Mateo-Foster City Elementary School District has been going on for sometime. There were op-eds back and forth. There were community meetings. There were even some insulting things said (in Watch Dog’s estimation) by the City about their lack of responsibility to provide schools. Well, an interesting and promising turn in this battle may be taking place. The Federal government has awarded $20 million to the School District to build a new elementary school. Watch Dog would like to place a bet that the Foster City City Council will be at the grand opening of said school in several years taking credit for a great working relationship… Besides the money, another chapter in this saga will be written tonight as the City Council meets to talk about possible school sites. We guess the excuse that the School District doesn’t have the money to build a school seems thin these days…

It has been a bad couple of weeks for the good folks at Columbus Salame. First a fire. Then an ammonia leak on Friday that landed 8 folks in the hospital and caused a full evacuation of their SSF facility.

We know that Williams Ayres will be tried again for his (alleged) molestation of young, male patients. What we don’t know is when that will start. And we won’t know when the retrail will start until September 11.

While we are on the topic, Watch Dog readers should know that the investigative journalist/author who brought the entire Ayres issue to life, Victoria Balfour, won a pretty significant award recently. Congrats Ms. Balfour.

If you have thoughts about San Bruno Mountain and its endangered butterflies, you have until today to make yourself heard.

Here is a non-shocker: Caltrain is going to hike parking fees and cut service today at their Board meeting…

The Service Employees International Union may strike in Palo Alto to protest the City of Palo Alto’s decision to ask for long-term union concessions. This should be an interesting time on the Palo Alto City Council as they have a ballot measure in November asking for a new business tax.
U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier faced off with an angry group of opponents who heckled her at a town hall meeting in San Carlos Saturday while she spelled out the necessity for health care reform. She reportedly kept her cool, despite the sweltering heat. And if you need a reason why we need healthcare reform, here’s one.

Burlingame Police are looking a man who slid open a ground floor bathroom window of an apartment complex, reached inside with his arm, and made a lewd comment a female who was inside the bathroom at the time. She ran out of the bathroom screaming.

Bay Area News Group — also known as BANG (seriously) — has decided to start doing some in-depth reporting. The news agency has dedicated reporters to track the salaries of public employees are update them continuously. According to the newly-launched database, there were no salary no records found for Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums. No need to include Daly City’s Ms. Hipona in the database, her salary is widely known, at least half of it is…

Burlingame has decided to lift the City ban on bounce houses so that families can have affordable birthday parties for kids during this recession. “Recession” clearly has a very different meaning in Burlingame. At least Burlingame is tackling the big issues of the day…

Mehdi Morshed, Executive Director of the High Speed Rail Authority assures us that the recent court ruling over the environmental report won’t slow down the bullet train project. Don’t tell the NIMBYs in Menlo Park/Atherton/Palo Alto. They’ll think of other lawsuits to file…

More crashes and fires Coastside. Oh, and a mountain lion…

Posted in ayres, balfour, burlingame, Caltrain, coastsider, columbus, eshoo. speier, hipona, hsr, san mateo-foster city | 2 Comments »

Morning News Round-Up — 8.31.09: Farewell to August Edition…

Monday, August 31st, 2009

High-Speed Rail talks to Union Pacific… The recent judicial smack down has dueling rail advocates chatting. Rod Diridon, Sr. hopes the final ruling from the judge is a request for “remedial action” and not a death knell. High-Speed Railers complain this is a stalling tactic by Union PacificaP as they up the ante.

Whoops! Before Silicon Valley’s former HP CEO Carly Fiorina can go after Senator Barbara Boxer she needs to spin (illegal) sales to Iran. The usual “I dunno” isn’t likely to work, Democratic Party Chair John Burton scoffed at the suggestion saying “…it’s always somebody else’s fault…” As to reports of Fiorina’s previous lack of interest in civic engagement, it probably wouldn’t hurt if Fiorina’s spokesperson didn’t have to say “…she regrets not voting…”

After 36 years in the Oak Grove School District, including 10 as Superintendent, Manny Barbara is off to the non-profit world. Unlike other superintendents’ departures, Barbara’s leaving pulled at the heartstrings of everyone he touched.

Morgan Hill Unified Schools are celebrating. A $25 million federal grant means solar panels on two schools – no word (yet) about where the remaining $24.5 million (give or take) goes…

That thud heard in Gilroy and at the Mexican American Community Services Agency (MACSA) was the report from the County Office of Education asking District Attorney Dolores Carr to investigate “…apparent illegal fiscal practices and misappropriation of funds…” MACSA’s interim CEO, Maria Elena De La Garza says they are (now) in the midst of 100% change in leadership, closing their charter schools, and letting someone else do the books. We know some folks that are probably not excited about a prolonged investigation…

San Jose is hoping the new San Jose Parks Foundation (a la Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy) will pay for programs and playgrounds. Councilmember Nora Campos said it’s a great direction and it should keep “…kids off the streets and safe and feeling productive in society…”

Gruesome Economy + Panicked Homeowners = An “Overwhelmed” Tax Assessor Larry Stone

For a personal tale of panicked homeowners, turn to the Merc’s Scott Herhold who follows Mountain View’s Lisa Burns through the nightmarish Making Home Affordable and 2 cents that nearly cost her a home.

The Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG… what a name!) had some cheery weekend news for San Jose’s Mayor Chuck Reed… They’re coming… Roughly 400,000 new residents over the next quarter century. Reed promises San Jose’s sprawly past doesn’t portend its future.

Less than a month after surgery San Jose Councilmember Pete Constant will hit the stage for Scott and Shannon Guggenheim’s (re)opening of the Retro Dome. The Merc’s Sal Pizarro also reports Arts Council CEO Bruce Davis is giddy over Adobe grants, Evergreen’s Samantha Worrall “…Has Talent” and lawyers from Robinson & Wood (along with co-workers) traded briefs for paint buckets at Sacred Heart Nativity School. On a final note, it’s goodbye COMPAC hello ChamberPAC.

San Jose Police busted David Conklin for lacing baby food with powdered aspirin – then sticking it back on shelves at CVS and Walgreens. The Police want to hear from you if you think you may have found contaminated baby food call 911 or the San Jose Police at 408-277-8900.

Posted in constant, diridon, fiorina, hsr, larry stone, macsa, morgan hill unified, Nora Campos, oak grove | No Comments »

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

Friday, August 28th, 2009

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.

Posted in mavericks, mphs, riptide, ssf, woodside hills | No Comments »

Morning News Round-Up — 8.28.09: The Detroit of the Bay Area?

Friday, August 28th, 2009

It’s official, Toyota walks away from Fremont after 25 years. That is a heck of a year for Fremont, losing a professional baseball team AND a massive automobile manufacturing plant. We’d call them the Detroit of the Bay Area, but Detroit has a baseball team. Perhaps casinos would be a nice addition…

Things took a turn towards ugly at meetings for San Jose’s pension systems this week. Current and future retiree’s attacked the Canadian consultant’s proposal to create an independent board while non-governmental folks attacked worker pensions. “Rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic…” was the accusation of tech retiree Jerry Mungai. Oddly, the pissing match at the actual meetings sounded a lot nastier than the joint post from the Police Officers and Firefighter union heads this week on Protect San Jose where Bobby Lopez and Randy Sekany offered this: “We’re always open to listening and talking about ways to improve things.”

We hope the anti-High Speed Rail/ NIMBY celebrants are enjoying their party. One downside the court’s ruling this week questioning the EIR of High-Speed Rail, which the NIMBY’s love, is that Caltrain electrification could be delayed or defuned… buzz kill, man.

The Civil Grand Jury took a swipe at San Jose in June for cost increases at the Los Lagos Golf Course. San Jose responded this week saying an unexpected increase in construction costs was the problem.

Wanna catch up with the Merc’s Sal Pizarro? Sounds like he’ll be at the grand (re)opening of San Jose’s 101 year old Carnegie Library following the $9 million overhaul.

Speaking of openings… the Merc’s Scott Herhold munched on shrimp and sipped champagne while San Jose Councilmember Sam Liccardo channeled Will Rogers at the opening of San Jose’s newest downtown attraction: a grocery store in a downtown high-rise condo building.

Don’t be dumping your garbage in San Jose’s Hoffman Via Monte neighborhood. The neighbors voted to keep their no-warning-big-fine penalty in place for the idiots tossing beds on sidewalks.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack stopped by San Jose to see those federal stimulus dollars start trickling in this week for the Lower Silver Creek flood control project.

It’s Barry Swenson Friday… First up, pissed off Cupertinites found the ad-hoc parking lot for as many as 50 construction vehicles offensive… A few calls to Cupertino City officials later, Swenson was in hot water. Next, the Watch Dog formula of the day:

  • Prime Development Land + High Housing Prices = Goodbye Palo Alto Bowl

Was Mountain View pissed they weren’t called kid friendly and San Jose was? Maybe. This week the City bulldozed a 20 year old make-shift BMX park called “Creek Trails” by local dirt bikers. City Attorney Michael Martello (the biggest downer of them all) ‘fessed up it was his idea saying it was “…one of the times where you hate to be an adult…” but it was a lawsuit that caused San Jose’s $8 million got the bull-dozers rolling.

Palo Alto Mayor Peter Drekmeier will host a forum organized by the faith community and Penny Barrett to help grown-ups figure out how to help fix the teen suicide problem. The Merc’s Editorial Board adds their voice supporting the County’s call for more work.

Mountain View Councilmembers agree with the Santa Clara Valley Water District and McKelvey Park is headed for a flood protection/ baseball field of dreams. Councilmember Laura Macias stayed out of the conversation as colleagues called it a win-win.

Posted in city of palo alto, civil grand jury, drekmeier, fremont, herhold, liccardo, mt. view, nummi, pensions, protect, safeway, swenson, vilsack, water district | No Comments »

Morning News Round-Up — 8.27.09: Score one for the NIMBYs…

Thursday, August 27th, 2009

Alexander Robert Youshock had been plotting Monday’s attack on Hillsdale High School. He ordered the explosive material, he built bombs while telling his mother he was constructing model rockets, and then videotaped himself making the weapons.

And here come the copy cats…

San Mateo School District officials told us what we already know… derailing the former Hillsdale High School student’s plot to kill students and teachers ended ideally – with nobody hurt and the wannabe killer in jail. To make the school grounds even safer, officials are considering other security devices, like cameras or text messaging alerts.

High-Speed Rail foes have something, other than their never-ending NIMBYism, to hang their hats on today. A Judge questioned the Environmental Impact Report for the proposed route over Pacheco Pass (and into San Jose). This has NIMBYs pretty psyched. Not so fast, say High-Speed Rail advocates, because the Judge also called the other possible routes, over Altamont Pass and across the Bay, too expensive. Nonetheless, this means delay, and cost, and probably huge parties up and down the Caltrain corridor this weekend. Remember, if you drink at these parties NIMBYs, take the train home…

And while Hillsdale High talks security, Brewer Island Elementary School in Foster City showed off its new digs.

Same story, different agency – budget cuts. This time Sequoia Union High School District.

The southbound lanes of U.S. Highway 101 near Brisbane are open again after a chemical spill Wednesday night. It appears that five one-liter bottles labeled “thionyl chloride,” were the culprit.

A San Mateo County Superior Court judge has lowered the bail for the former Belmont Chamber of Commerce President charged with molesting a young girl in San Mateo. It went from $1.5 million to $1 million. (Remember this story?)

Now government is stealing from scavengers… those who are caught taking recyclables from curbside bins will soon face a $100 fine under a new law approved by the Redwood City Council.

Police had to turn away insistent gate-crashers from Congresswoman Anna Eshoo’s panel event on high-speed rail Wednesday, which drew hundreds of people. Naturally, people couldn’t resist brining up healthcare reform.

Menlo Park City leaders think less government is good. A majority of City Council members are trying to find a way for the city to extricate itself from running a child care program for preschool-age children.

Residents in East Palo Alto are pissed that a twice-convicted rapist is moving to town. Stay tuned for protests.

Posted in belmont chamber, EPA, eshoo, hillsdale high school, hsr, mp, redwood city, sequoia union | No Comments »

Morning News Round-Up — 8.27.09: A Cause for NIMBY Celebration

Thursday, August 27th, 2009

High-Speed Rail foes have something, other than their never-ending NIMBYism, to hang their hats on today. A Judge questioned the Environmental Impact Report for the proposed route over Pacheco Pass (and into San Jose). This has NIMBYs pretty psyched. Not so fast, say High-Speed Rail advocates, because the Judge also called the other possible routes, over Altamont Pass and across the Bay, too expensive. Nonetheless, this means delay, and cost, and probably huge parties up and down the Caltrain corridor this weekend. Remember, if you drink at these parties NIMBYs, take the train home…

Speaking of High-Speed Rail, perhaps it is the only issue that could be less fun for local a member of Congress to hear about than healthcare at a Town Hall these days… And Congresswoman Eshoo heard all about it this week.

Speaking of Speaking…

The Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was in town yesterday greeted by San Jose’s Rotary Club (and Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren…) The Merc focused their coverage (and headline) of the story on the protesters outside the Rotary meeting while San Jose Inside focused on what the Speaker said…

And speaking of trains…

Diridon Station was closed for a period of time yesterday afternoon after a written bomb threat was found.

Prosecutors from the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office are in the news today, and (amazingly) the story doesn’t involved the words “lack of ethics” or “Dolores Carr“… (They are supporting a bill that the Governor is expected to sign to crack down on fraudulent mortgage brokers.)

It seems access to public information isn’t an issue only in San Jose (think text messages)… Saratoga is dealing with it too. Saratoga officials are complaining that they have received 20 requests so far this year. (San Jose’s City Clerk Lee Price is ROFL at that HUGE number.)

Here are the scrolling headlines of the Gilroy Dispatch today.

  • Police arrest man after high speed drunken chase.
  • Murder suspect pleads guilty to unrelated drug charge.
  • Wanted man adds stolen gun, stolen motorcycle charges to list.

Need we say more?

The Morgan Hill Times has a slightly different crime story: Skaters attack ice cream truck…

Your South County papers, all crime, all the time.

And finally, the Merc’s Scott Herhold provides a local angle (Jude Barry) to the death of Senator Kennedy. The Editorial page also pays respects.

Posted in DOLORES CARR, gilroy dispatch, hsr, jude barry, lofgren, morgan hill times, pelosi, saratoga, texts | No Comments »

Morning News Round-Up — 8.26.09: Any-Excuse-to-Use-Funny-Photo Edition…

Wednesday, August 26th, 2009

The Merc’s Sal Pizarro gives a rundown of San Jose’s latest accolades: 3rd best place for kids (think skate parks), 12th best public university in the west (tied with Humboldt, Fresno, and Texas State), and, drumroll please, top water pollution control plant from the US Environmental Protection Agency (for power generation). Yay us — 12th best in the west!

Santa Clara Supervisor Ken Yeager hopes to find a way to keep Henry Coe State Park open while colleague/ Supervisor/(soon-to-be Mayor?) Don Gage says close that puppy. The list of closing parks is expected right after your Labor Day hike, so enjoy it.

Gilroy Mayor Al Pinheiro’s biggest hater, Mark Zappa, is waiting until the Mayor returns from Portugal before filing the recall paperwork and looking to a June 2010 recall election, to save the City money. That’s pretty thoughtful… For the record, Gilroy’s future Mayor?/ Supervisor Don Gage made no appearance in the story…

The race to replace Hal Plotkin by appointment to the Foothill-DeAnza Community College Distict is in the final interview stage. Foothill-DeAnza Trustees want to talk with Joan Barram (Cupertino Union School District Trustee), Richard Bernhardt (Business and student lobbyist), Jeannie Conner (Senator Joe Simitian’s political director), and Anita Manwani-Bhagat (business leader at NASA/HP/Agilent).

Congressmember Anna Eshoo’s 2nd “telephone” town hall got her props from the more than 7,000 participants. Eshoo told participants she’s doing a face-to-face on healthcare next week and testily pointed out she’s done more face-to-face town halls than any of her colleagues.

Kathleen Blanchard, the Mother of one of Gunn High Schools suicide victims spoke out at the Palo Alto Unified School Board meeting. Without pointing fingers, she gently urged change in how adults work with students and called for “attitude adjustments and philosophical adjustments” in working with kids. The Merc’s Patty Fisher digs into other teen suicides in Silicon Valley and the news is not good…

NASA Ames is ready to build “Sustainability Base,” architect Kevin Burke loves the “combination of high tech and low tech.” Meaning the building will close itself at night and use the same “technology” as historic California Adobe homes to cool off or warm up. With a little luck, there won’t be a “toxic” siding battle on this green house.

Latest perv alerts heading your way…

(shy) Erotica enthusiasts/ burglars hit Gilroy’s Simply Romance for a third time taking off with leather wrist bands, cash, and owner Hank Provost’s new pipe, among other goodies. The increased attention from thieves doesn’t deter Provost, “if anything, I’m more determined to stick around.” Perhaps we now know where the ball gag came from…

San Jose Insider/ Santa Clara County Board of Education Trustee Joseph DiSalvo (could he have a longer title?) has endorsed former Franklin-McKinley Superintendent Larry Aceves as his favorite for State Superintendent of Public Instruction.

San Jose Inside’s Fly celebrates a (temporary?) reprieve for the (Fly hangout) “dingy, punky, (puky?)” Caravan Bar over an (un)watered down White Russian. (apparently) The Merc’s Internal Affairs story pissed off bartenders who “scribbled down letters” (on napkins) demanding an apology. Fly’s piece also proves that Metro writers are probably a lot more fun to hang out with than Merc writers…

Posted in aceves, ball gag, Caltrain, fly, foothill-deanza, gage, gilroy, merc, metro, nasa, pausd, pinheiro, pizzaro, yeager | No Comments »

Morning News Round-Up — 8.26.09: The Dominant Story of the Day

Wednesday, August 26th, 2009

More details are emerging from Alex Youshock’s violent plan at Hillsdale High School in San Mateo…

So do the heroic actions of the staff of the high school to prevent the worst. The Daily Journal’s Jon Mays gives the heroes props.

Also, the Chronicle is now realizing there is a story worth covering south of the airport… unfortunately, it is this story and not anything else.

But more amazing than the Chronicle covering the story is the Mercury News’ coverage. They are now realizing there is a story worth covering north of Palo Alto… but they aren’t really covering it. You see, the Merc is pulling (some/all) of its coverage from the Associated Press. That should tell you something about that newspaper…

And as the details emerge from the Youshock’s plan, the District Attorney enters the scene: they may charge Mr. Youshock as an adult.

In other crime news:

Jury selection in the 2006 murder of EPA Police Officer RIchard May begins today. Instructions to the jury include: No Tweeting… seriously.

That’s most of the news this morning. Sorry it is all somber.

Posted in chronicle, EPA, hillsdale high school, merc | No Comments »

Morning News Round-Up — 8.25.09: A gloomy local news day…

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

Hillsdale High School remains closed today after Police arrested a 17-year-old former Hillsdale student on suspicion of detonating two bombs inside the school before being tackled by a teacher and arrested. San Mateo resident Alex Youshock was armed with 10 pipe bombs on a vest, a chain saw, and a 2-foot-sword. News reports suggested he might have been angry with teachers. According to San Mateo Union High School District officials the school’s disaster plan operated “smoothly.” The plan, of course, didn’t include a teacher tackling Youshock, putting themselves in danger, but that’s what happened anyway and it worked out fine.

The woman who had a massive eucalyptus branch fall on her while driving Friday afternoon died from her injuries Saturday. Lisa Fellini died after a massive eucalyptus branch fall onto her gold 1997 Lexus and impaled her as she took a connector ramp from northbound Highway 101 to eastbound State Route 92.

Rocked by the Friday night suicide of a 13-year-old girl, Palo Alto Police plan “a large presence” at schools and at train crossings this week to reach out to the community’s young people, Sgt. Dan Ryan, a police-department spokesman, announced Monday morning. Caltrain officials addressed the recent spate of suicides with some advice for the community: address mental health issues and tone down the media coverage of the recent Caltrain deaths.

A “motorist shooting at pedestrians” in East Palo Alto shot one resident in the right thigh late Sunday night when the resident said he was walking in the 1300 block of East Bayshore Road, police reported. In an unrelated incident, a bicyclist was injured after he was hit by a Toyota Tacoma pickup truck while crossing El Camino Real in Palo Alto’s College Terrace neighborhood Monday afternoon.

Union workers plan to hold a rally today to call for an independent audit of the San Mateo County Superior Court’s finances after court officials said they may lay off 60 employees to plug a recently discovered $3.89 million deficit in last year’s budget. Members of the Service Employees International Union Local 521, which represents 250 court workers, are expected to turn out for a noontime rally in front of the courthouse in protest of the possible layoffs.
Court officials initially placed blame for the shortfall on state budget cutbacks, then said Friday that “internal accounting, tracking and analysis deficiencies” had made them unaware of the $3.89 million deficit in the fiscal year that ended June 30.

In his first year in state government, Assemblyman Jerry Hill, a San Mateo Democrat, knows how to get on the Governor’s good side: Make government more efficient and green. He recently had two bills passed and signed into law that well, do just that. Perhaps Hill can give some advice to the San Mateo County courthouse folks…

San Bruno Police know how to share the pain… they will take a 1.15 percent salary reduction, equivalent to a three-day furlough, as part of a one-year contract that goes before the City Council tonight for a vote.

A 65-year-old San Bruno woman who was arrested several years ago in a large-scale federal drug investigation dubbed Operation Urban Harvest has been sentenced for stashing more than $10,000 in an offshore bank account. On Friday, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston ordered the woman to turn over roughly $24,000 and a 2000 Mercedes SUV. Not the wheels!

The California Highway Patrol on today will conduct the second zero-tolerance enforcement this month of the State’s hands-free cell phone law. A similar campaign on Aug. 11 resulted in 300 Bay Area drivers being cited by the CHP, and more than 350 other drivers being cited by other Bay Area law enforcement agencies, according to the CHP.

Young adults from HOPE Services continue to clean up the beaches and pier on Tuesdays. The time is changing to 9.30-11.00 a.m. and you are invited to join them. The beaches are big and the job larger than they alone can cover.

Posted in Caltrain, chp, court, EPA, hillsdale high school, jerry hill, palo alto, san bruno | No Comments »

Morning News Round-Up — 8.25.09: #5 (plastic) #6 (water)

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

“Number 5: Divert 100 percent of the waste from our landfill and convert waste to energy.” Does that sound familiar to you? It is from the San Jose Green Vision, which was passed unanimously by the City Council. Now, San Jose is moving forward on Number 5 as it inches closer to eliminating its share of the 19,000,000,000 plastic bags floating through your yard, down the creek, or across the street. Councilmember Sam Liccardo takes a bold stance in the face of a (possible) lawsuit from the American Chemistry Council, “We can’t be afraid of what the plastics industry and its lawyers might do.” Predictably, Councilmember Constant takes the other view. This story is getting some wide coverage, including our friends to the north and the Associated Press.

To Number 6…

San Jose resident Gene Kohara is confused, and a little pissed. Kohara questions those funky water misters at City Hall while he’s being asked to cut water usage… in the 3rd year of a drought. San Jose’s public art misters help to cool visitors to the (giant concrete) plaza. Others wonder if trees might do the trick. Number 6 in the Green Vision does say, “Number 6: Recycle or beneficially reuse 100 percent of our wastewater (100 million gallons per day)“…

We missed this from the weekend because you’d need to be a detective to find it on the Merc.’s website… from Internal Affairs: Council candidate Jim Cogan says he wasn’t offended, really, when opponent Pam Foley offered her district needed an “ethical” representative. Perhaps he should have been…

The Merc’s Editorial Board wants to see you at City Hall this week as pension reform is under discussion. (If you have second, check out the first comment on the Merc’s website following this Editorial…)

Gilroy Councilmembers are pissed off. Someone is dishing the secret details from behind closed doors. Threats of Grand Jury investigations could be heard from Mayor Al Pinheiro and Councilmember Craig Gartman after tales were told about proposed employee raises. We understand why Pinheiro and Gartman are mad… but are the also politically tone-deaf? Employee raises?

Gilroy Unified Schools transportation supervisor ditched his gig over the weekend. Emil Frates was accused of contract violations and Superintendent Deborah Flores said they’d been trying to “fix” the mess but they continued “to be in turmoil.” Perhaps Mr. Frates learned that City employees in Gilroy were getting raises and scooted across town…

Psychiatrist David Arredondo is calling for “…less blame and more understanding of what’s really going on in the culture of these high schools…” as he looks into why teens are killing themselves.

The Merc’s Mr. Roadshow dishes Top Secret details from the California Highway Patrol High Command, smuggled out by daring men on horseback. Not really, but Watch Dog bets today’s dish from the Highway Patrol gets a few readers pissed off about the warning: Put Your Cellphone Down.

Dude, the skate park’s “…not a magnet for bad behavior…” really. The Morgan Hill skate park has had its share of naughtiness, but parents and police hope that’s a thing of the past as bad behavior (seems) to be going away. (Don’t tell Los Gatos about this…)

San Jose Councilmember/Insider Pierluigi Oliverio notes he’s meeting with City Planners to help a constituent who didn’t “take responsibility” for figuring out what he could do with land he wanted to buy before he bought it. We thought the folks in Willow Glen were the smartest folks in town…

Speaking of Jim Cogan, or at least we were near the beginning of today’s Round-Up… Cogan chimes in on today’s Protect San Jose site and tries to be funny, but sneaks in a litte (ok, a lot) of self-promotion.

Posted in cogan, constant, foley, gilroy, gilroy unified, green vision, liccardo, Morgan Hill, MR. ROADSHOW, Oliverio, PENSION, plastic | No Comments »

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