Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Morning News Round-Up – 1.6.09: An all eBay election?

Putting the Strip in Strip Mall’ the Gilroy Dispatch and Morgan Hill Times kick off competition for the best headline of the year. Saratoga resident Ante Bilic, who Sunnyvale residents remember for running an alleged prostitution ring out of a local club, is hoping to open a topless bar in Gilroy. Bilic didn't say, "Husbands need something to do while their wives shop..."

Santa Clara County has filed new legal challenges to Prop. 8. Santa Clara County Counsel, Ann Ravel, said "One of the courts' central roles is to enforce the equality principle of our Constitution, and to ensure that vulnerable minorities are treated fairly by political majorities." Prop. 8 supporters insist that the will of the majority should supercede.

There was some good news this holiday season: Drunk driving arrests were down 7% in Santa Clara County. The bad news: deaths due to drunk drivers were up. Unsurprisingly, San Jose had 23% of the DUI arrests while the CHP came in a distant second with 17% of DUI’s. Watch Dog has been following closely San Jose’s penchant for finding those hidden drunks and hauling them off to jail, here, here, here and here.

Is Silicon Valley ground zero for Republicans to launch their next candidate for Governor? Meg Whitman inches her way towards making formal declaration by resigning from corporate boards, insiders say a formal announcement is coming in 4 to 6 weeks. The other elephants include State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner (Los Gatos) and former Congressman/former State Senator/former Haas Dean/former Budget Guru Tom Campbell (San Jose). (And don't forget the race for Governor must go through Atherton first...check out Watch Dog San Mateo -- 1 town, 1 company, 2 candidates, 2 parties)

Morgan Hill City Manager Ed Tewes is nonplussed by a report that the Anderson Dam could send a 35’ wall of water into Morgan Hill and said his community has known for years it was living in the shadow of a 240’ dam. Santa Clara Valley Water District spokeswoman Susan Siravo said, "We want to be open and transparent with the public. And we want to proceed with a comprehensive study to ensure the safety of the dam for generations to come."

Watch Dog has been faithfully covering the goings on in Sunnyvale where former Mayor Otto Lee was tapped to join the troops in Iraq. Tonight’s the big night for former Sunnyvale Councilmember Dean Chu as he gets appointed Chief Seat Warmer (CSW) for Iraq-bound Otto Lee. Lee will be phoning it in tonight from a San Diego Naval base in his last official act before heading to boot camp.

Through Chris Vongsarath, the Campbell Reporter (another local paper whose online edition seems designed to ensure a complete lack of readership - thank you Silicon Valley Community Newspapers/Mercury News), does a nice summary of the year in Campbell. From the sad demise of former Mayor Rusty Hammer to the shuffling of day workers from one spot to another to the conversion of standard public schools into charter schools.

Doctors are speculating Steve Jobs has problems with ‘malabsorption.’ The guess is he should start gaining weight this year, ending rumors he’s a contestant on Paris Hilton’s My New BFF and ensuring Apple stock does not continue its slide.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Dog - Ante Bilic's Kit Kat Club as hooker hangout - not so much "alleged"

"Police said in an interview after the arrests that women and bouncers would solicit customers for viewing and participating in live sex acts with the dancers in this private, enclosed room.

Police added that sex acts were being performed on stage and that dancers and bouncers solicited club patrons to participate in "lap dancing," a common term for when patrons pay dancers to straddle their laps and simulate sexual intercourse by making pelvic contact, which results in ejaculation.

The District Attorney's office said that, in legal terms, this constitutes prostitution."