Morning News Round-Up -- 4.1.09: A Palo Alto Four-Pack...no joke

Here is your daily dose of Lew Wolff-related news...

The Merc’s Mark Purdy provides support to the A’s move to San Jose...so does the Merc’s Editorial Board saying Selig’s panel is the best sign yet that the move is serious. Meanwhile, Lew Wolff is going to meet with Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums -- which, like everything Wolff does, will be widely covered (here and) everywhere.

Chalk up one silver lining for the down market: affordable housing could replace the old bordello on Ditto’s Lane in Los Gatos. The Los Gatos City Council hopes to replace it (and other locations) with affordable housing. Deputy Town Manager Bud Lortz said anyone in Los Gatos making less than $120,000 qualifies for the low income housing.

Here is a four-pack of Palo Alto news for all to enjoy:

1. The Palo Alto Unified School Board must have been feeling very optimistic, they’ve approved plans for $300 million in construction for Gunn and Palo Alto High Schools, math texts “from this millennium,” and new classes including computer animation.
2. Palo Alto’s City Council has joined neighbors Menlo Park and Atherton in a lawsuit to stop High Speed Rail before it breaks ground. Councilmember Larry Klein said they plan to send “very clear signal that we intend to be players and think we can make a contribution to making the process better…”
3. Attention Palo Alto residents and businesses: Your electricity rates are going up. Well, they are at least one step closer to that reality because the City Council's Finance Committee said so last night. I guess the legal fees are mounting and need payment..
4. If world domination weren't a big enough goal, Google-geek Larry Page wants to build a massive home in Old Palo Alto...don't worry though, it will be environmentally friendly. As environmentally friendly as a 6,000 square foot home can be, Watch Dog guesses. Probably not as environmentally friendly as a home half that size would be...Watch Dog San Mateo (and others) had this story last week...the Merc. is on it today...

The "Help Wanted" sign is out at the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce. (Soon-to-be-former) Executive Director Elizabeth Borbolla could be headed to jail. Borbolla was arrested for forgery and embezzlement – the accusation is that she tried to make off with checks for roughly $4,000. Chamber President Van Nelson said Borbolla had been doing “...a heck of a job promoting the Chamber.” "Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job..."

The Environmental Protection Agency will be testing the air at the Stevens Creek Elementary School in Cupertino. The school is one of 62 selected across the nation for testing – in this case because it’s so close to a cement plant. Sandra James, spokesperson for the Lehigh Southwest Cement Plant said bring it on, “we do not have a chromium problem at all.” We'll see...

Dr. Winnie Lee is Cupertino’s newest Planning Commissioner and plans to put her experience as a business owner to work on the Commission. When asked if her next stop was City Council Lee said she just wanted to get a handle on the Commission. Which reminds Watch Dog of an old joke about 100 Senators in D.C. who look in the mirror and see the next President...

The tragic deaths of 6 in Santa Clara are a mystery, the killer is said to have been a good, quiet, and gentle man who started getting angry over the past weeks. Family members and neighbors remain stunned at the deaths. This story is getting a lot of coverage in the newspaper of record for the Northern Suburb of San Jose...

Sheriff Laurie Smith’s team is trying to figure out who the man is buried under a pile of boulders in a rock quarry and how he died…