Morning News Round-Up – 6.17.09:

Yes, that was President Obama in San Jose’s Plaza de Cesar Chavez…. Sort of…

San Jose’s big news, there is a budget… At least until the State starts their annual grab-fest. The Merc suggests labor agreements will close the (current) $73 million gap. Former council colleague/South Bay Labor Council Executive Officer Cindy Chavez suggested the Mayor should have come to unions earlier. Chavez’ first time back in chambers included a poke at the Mayor..

San Jose’s Mayor is green, with envy… Gilroy’s Fire union overwhelmingly approved a city council offer that closes one fire station for an unknown number of days, the Police Officers Association put a deal on the table to cut $1.1 million from the budget and other unions are following suit.

Assemblymember Paul Fong is getting support from the Merc’s Patty Fisher in his quest to get reparations for mistreatment of the many Chinese who helped build this country. Fisher does suggest that an actual apology would be more useful than a monument.

San Jose Councilmember Pete Constant has found a new calling, grill-meister. Sal Pizarro reports Constant spent two days preparing ribs before sleeping in his car to baste overnight. The payoff? County Supervisor Ken Yeager, Assistant Fire Chief Teresa Deloach-Reed and Mission College’s Scott Brunson declared Constants ribs tops at the Winchester Business Association cook-off. Next stop no doubt a spot at Way Out West BBQ Championships…

Santa Clara County Supervisors are recommending a 24% cut to the “social safety net” affecting the county’s poorest and most vulnerable.

In her own, inimitable, way, Santa Clara County District Attorney Dolores Carr makes it clear what she thinks about sunshine. Saying nothing “legally or factually extraordinary” was found during the initial investigation of Daniel Pham’s death, Carr is keeping the Grand Jury closed.

Meanwhile, in East San Jose a man was shot in the leg during a shootout in an apartment building.

Although foreclosure rates had been declining May saw more Silicon Valley homeowners losing their homes at the years highest rate.

(Former) San Jose Aquatics coach Andy King has perv charges being thrown at him from San Jose, the East Bay and now, thanks to a Merc investigation, Oak Harbor, Washington. USA Swimming has some explaining to do…

In a cost cutting measure the Mountain View police are recommending deregulating taxi companies. Councilmember Mike Kasperzak made a comparison to flying in unregulated airplanes. Councilmember Tom Means, apparently not understanding the analogy, shot back “Are we going to ask the police department now to regulate the number of coffee shops in town?” Regulate the Watch Dog’s lattes? Say it ain’t so.

The Merc’s Editorial Board sends the Milpitas Unified School board to detention. You remember this story from last week, foster child Shontale Taylor is one of the few foster children to graduate high school. Except, she stopped a fight. The school board (of course) stopped her from walking the stage with her peers.

The families of accused gang murderers are pissed off the DA is using the “provocative act murder theory” to try gang members that didn’t pull the trigger. Monica Fernandez, mother of the murdered boy, said “those boys are like my son’s brothers… this was no planned attack.”