Friday, November 20, 2009

Morning News Round-Up -- 11.20.09: A Stimulating Trip to DC?

The Chronicle ran a story today about the only issue they know (or care) about in the South Bay -- the 49ers stadium. They cover the part of the story that Watch Dog hadn't heard about -- a piece of mail that went to voters in Santa Clara about the stadium deal. Let the campaign begin... if anyone has a copy of this piece of mail -- email it so Watch Dog can post.

Meanwhile, in the (future) land of the 49ers... Santa Clara’s Planning Commission started review of the 49ers stadium proposal this week. The report identifies a “worst case scenario” that includes traffic impacts and noise with a possible 40 large events per year. Let the NIMBY wars begin…

To the dismay of San Jose Police Chief Rob Davis, this story won't go away. San Jose officials will look at the San Jose Police Department's use of force... the newly cleaned up Ho beating/Tasing video is keeping this story very much alive. A lively debate is ensuing on San Jose Inside on this very topic. Spartan Daily Opinion author Kyle Szymanski asks everyone “not to rush to judgment in the case of Ho.” Everyone on the blogosphere has a strong opinion... unsurprisingly.

The Merc’s Editorial Board weighs in calling a review of cases that go start with arresting jaywalkers and end up in violence a good first step. Editors point out that the enhanced video of Phuong Ho’s arrest shows “the student is crying out for his glasses and not, say, cursing the officers.”

This is weird. The Mayor is in DC to lobby for more stimulus dollars... but while he is there, he bad-mouthed stimulus dollars in front of Vice President Biden's staff. He even came through with this weird quote:

"We love the money, we'll take the money; it's allowing us to do projects that are putting people to work and keeping people at work, and those are all good things. But in terms of stimulating the economy, I don't see it."
To clarify: The Mayor loves the money from the Federal government and it is creating jobs and it is keeping people working... but he thinks the impact has been minimal. Oh, and he wants more money...

Note to Mayor Reed: Perhaps creating jobs and keeping people working is the best way to keep the economy from tanking completely... because of this: the unemployment rate in Silicon Valley is 11.9 percent.

Firefighters fought a fire at a South San Jose gas station last night...

The perverted swim coach got a 14 year old girl pregnant... according to court documents. This story gets worse and worse.

Speaking of bad stories... a 13 year old girl was raped by two transient men Wednesday night in Christmas Hill Park in South County.

Mountain View City Councilmember Ronit Bryant was not impressed with “another blank wall” in downtown but still voted to ditch the Pacific Euro Hotel for a new downtown office building as long as it includes “a trellis or potted plants.”

Cupertino’s “pollutive” cement plant has foes presenting a 3 step plan to kick it to the curb. Los Altos resident Bill Almon says local politicians and regulators aren’t doing their jobs and presented the plan to the Bay Area Air Quality Management District board. Cupertino Councilmember Barry Chang agreed saying “the public health and safety is the key.”

San Jose city arborist Ralph Mize says there’s room for at least another 90,000 of natures air scrubbers (trees) on city streets. Residents cheer the good news but are not happy they will foot the bill for maintenance.

On a lighter note...

Christmas in the Park is taking shape in Downtown San Jose and so is the skating rink. Sharpen your skates...

and... Forget Disneyland, a recent poll found Mountain View to be the happiest place in the country. Actually, the 14th congressional district with Anna Eshoo at the helm but that includes Mountain View. Sunnyvale also lays claim to being the happiest place and issued a press release to prove it.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

First: Get your facts straight. The Santa Clara Planning Commission voted unanimously (7-0) late Wednesday night to recommend that the City Council certify the final EIR for the proposed 49ers stadium. I know the Merc only covered the build up and didn't actually report on the result, but it's spotty work on behalf of a so-called "Watch Dog" to follow their lead.

Second: All this talk about the blogosphere's reaction to alleged police brutality, and no mention of recent articles on Protect San Jose which clearly articulate the position of police and community members not affiliated with biased special interests?

Isn't it frightening to know that a college kid represents the voice of reason on this issue while the formerly-venerable institution known as the Mercury News resorts to stirring the pot of civil unrest just to sell more rags?