It has been a long, long weekend, so if you haven't had your coffee yet, go get it and come back to Watch Dog caffeinated...
This isn't good... the owner of the Mercury News are filing for bankruptcy. Is it possible that the paper could lose more reporters and more pages? The Mercury News Weekly perhaps? Watch Dog cannot fill the void, unfortunately, we just go Wii...
But remember, Merc. Columnist Cassidy says that they will succeed because they provide unique local content... or at least they used to...
In other stellar economic news, office vacancies may be through the roof (again) this year...
Here's one way to increase air traffic at SJC: have SFO-bound planes make emergency landings at SJC because of high wind gusts... "SJC, when the weather is too shitty for SFO..." That would be a hella cool ad campaign...
The Merc got into the weedily-witty headlines about local marijuana dispensaries this weekend with this: San Jose says pot clubs popping up like weeds; city starts cracking down. Is it fair to say that when the headlines aren't serious, neither is the actual issue? Of course, we often write Watch Dog stoned, so who are we to question anyone...
The County is finally helping folks who are facing misdemeanor charges by providing some with a public defender... which everyone should be shocked didn't happen before a Sean Webby news story last week. But remember, this is the same County that wants to do away with pre-trial services in order to get more business to bail bonds shops, so nothing should surprise you... Kudos to Supervisors Yeager and Cortese for realizing that having folks face charges without being represented by a lawyer is a horrible idea and is part of Criminal Justice 101.
Speaking of Criminal Justice 101, the good folks at Protect San Jose encourage you to be honest with police and tell them exactly what they want to hear when they pull you over. Of course, that flies directly in the face of "right to remain silent" and could find you in the County Courthouse without a lawyer (see above)... in case you believe (like Watch Dog) that incriminating yourself doesn't sound like such a hot idea when you get pulled over, here is some different advice about what to do when you get pulled over from a source other than police officers: "...Silence is not an admission of guilt and cannot be used against you in court..." So far, the advice on Protect San Jose is to respond to Police Officers like you were in kindergarten and provide them all the answers they ask for. Thank you Protect San Jose... The Fifth Amendment is still intact, right?
In an un(?)related note, the Chronicle gets in on the Freedom Train controversy between San Jose's NAACP, who pulled out of this year's Train, and the San Jose Police Officers' Association, who is one of the sponsors. In the Chronicle piece, we find another hard-hitting quote from Pastor Moore of the NAACP: "While Rev. Dr. King stood for nonviolence and against police brutality, we find ourselves honoring police, who talk to our community members in derogatory tones, who beat innocent citizens in our community, who unlawfully arrest people, and in extreme cases kill members who dare to speak up and stand up for their rights."
Update: It turns out the ride was well-traveled, even with the controversy and even without the NAACP... but a Freedom Ride without the NAACP is an issue that is not going away.
The Merc's Scott Herhold writes about Tom Campbell's running (again) for the Senate after dropping his bid for Governor. And ends with a prediction, of sorts, about whether Campbell, if unsuccessful this time in his third run for the Senate might look ahead to 2012: "Could Campbell try for a fourth time? If it happened, I wouldn't be surprised." Oh, and referring to previous races and other Republicans, Herhold assures us that: "...He [Campbell] wouldn't have been caught dead in a strip club..." Thank you.
Pete Constant is trying to up-end the plastic bag ban in San Jose by hitting up his misspelling cohorts (the Chamber of Commerce) for support -- or sopurt. He says the cost is too high. As usual, Constant was the lone vote against the plastic bag ban. Which brings up the question: What did Councilmember Constant think it meant when he voted for the Mayor's Green Vision which has this included in it:
The good folks at Internal Affairs had a busy week writing for Sunday. First, they give us a "reversal of fortunes" of the highest order with Phil Angelides heading a serious, and newsworthy, Inquiry panel and Governor Schwarzenegger becoming the lamest of ducks. Next, they provide all of us more than we probably need to know about the dress code in the DA'soffice, and how it got relaxed an effort to help Dolores Carr politically. And finally, Larry "Boo" Stone calls the San Francisco Giant's efforts to fuck up the A's move to San Jose "...classic San Francisco politics..." We agree with Stone, but not for nothing: classic San Francisco politics launched the career of the Speaker of the House...
On a serious note: the post office is moving in downtown Los Altos.
If at first you don't succeed... the Fremont Union High School District to approve a parcel tax (again!) in May. They just packed up the stuff from their campaign office in November, but are going to give it another go. Desperate times, etc.
Aren't you glad you had your coffee? Stay safe out there folks...
1 comment:
We have read the news article in which Rev. Moore stated that he and others who oppose our SJPOA sponsorship of the Freedom Train are in the process of collecting funds in an effort to get our organization to return their donation to us for the Freedom Train. The Martin Luther King Jr. Association of Santa Clara Valley (MLK Association) finds it unfortunate that the Rev. Jethroe Moore continues to mislead the media and the public into thinking our organization is willing to negotiate with him, or any other organization that opposes the SJPOA sponsorship of the Freedom Train, because we are not going to return their donation to us. We are not now nor will we be in any neogitation with Rev. Moore or any other organization regarding the return of the generous donation made to us by the SJPOA.
We regret that Rev. Moore did not join us today in celebrating Dr. King’s life, legend, and legacy by riding the Freedom Train with us, and does not wish to establish the same working relationship we have with long time supporters like the SJPOA. We continue to believe that the NAACP should work to resolve its conflicts with the SJPOA privately without involving our organization. It is not helpful to our joint interest in promulgating the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to air publicly our different methodologies over the matter.
Our Association has moved on to planning our Movers of the Mountain event which will honor scholarship winners, our many valued sponsors, and members of the community that have dedicated their lives to furthering the mission and vision of Dr. King. We are also busy planning our “At Risk Youth Culture Night.” We will be collaborating with other groups in the community to display the incredible talents they possess through art, music, and poetry, as well as, co-sponsoring the next Victims of Violent Crime Candle Lit Vigil, scheduled for sometime in May of 2010.
Our organization will no longer be commenting on this matter as we find it to be counter productive and harmful to the memory and life’s mission of the much beloved Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and only serves to divide us even further.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Association of Santa Clara Valley
"Honoring the Life, Legend & Legacy"
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