Thursday, April 1, 2010

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.1.10: XXL Round-Up...

We picked the wrong day to slack off yesterday... there were several fun, reoccurring stories that updated yesterday. Where to start?...

A Mercury News poll finds that 62 percent of San Jose voters would approve a baseball stadium for the A's. That's good news for Lew Wolff... But when will MLB make their decision? That's what the Merc Editorial Board would like to know... Word on the street is that the news is forthcoming...

A federal court ruled that San Jose Police Officers did not use excessive force during Mardi Gras 2006 against three San Jose State students... A ray of light in a dark, dark PR year for the San Jose Police Officers...

Club Wet is reopened, but without the fun. No alcohol for 60 days because the State ABC thinks they are running "...a disorderly premise..." Y'think? The City of San Jose figured that out a long time ago. So did the people who were stabbed on the dance floor... Too bad Club Wet's lobbyists don't contribute to the campaigns of ABC members...

$35 million could be generated by a hotel tax in Santa Clara for the 49ers new stadium... hotel owners will have to vote on it first, but this is a slam dunk. (Sorry to mix a basketball metaphor into a football story...)

While we are in Santa Clara... the Merc gives a little ink to the 49ers opponents in today's paper (is it ironic that the story ran on April 1st?)... this has James at Mission City Lantern all worked up and ready to barf...

And while Santa Clara is going to finance part of their stadium with a hotel tax, San Jose is considering funding part of its budget debt with taxes on pot clubs... maybe. They will reconsider the issue in June and perhaps place a pot tax on the November ballot. (Surprising absolutely no one at City Hall, there were only 10 Councilmembers at the meeting when the vote on the pot club was taken... guess which Councilmember wasn't there...)

Folks still love the Jude Barry blacklisted story... seventeen (ok, 5) Watch Doggers forwarded this blog post from Fox & Hound. Most were of the "Cindy Chavez is behind this" camp, while a few were of the "Jude Barry is a snake" camp. The blog post is very much in the "organized labor are thugs" camp and asks the question: "Perhaps Jerry Brown could be added to the “Do Not Patronize” list. It makes more sense to ban him than it does to ban Jude Barry." (Because Jerry Brown wants to limit government, cut workers, etc., etc., etc.) Only 3 Watch Doggers forwarded this posting on CalBuzz.com...

Steve Poizner is having a lot of trouble these days. His run for Governor is stalled... and his book (book?) is pissing people off. Remember, Poizner taught at Mount Pleasant High School after he made a cool billion... now his book bashes Mount Pleasant, much to the chagrin of the folks in the East Side Union High School District.

The Merc Editorial Board says you should vote yes on Proposition 15 -- as it would run a pilot project with public campaign financing for the Secretary of State's race in 2014 and 2018... that is, if the state has any money in 2014...

Scott Herhold at the Merc talks about saving an icon at Moffett... and he isn't talking about Hangar 1, he is talking about the throwing field that you can see from 101...

So you know, Watch Dog has not stopped reading Protect San Jose. It is just a little obvious these days. The City needs to make cuts... Police Officers and Fire Fighters are the largest budget items... they want to avoid cuts... news at 11... If they used their blog to propose something new, that would be one thing, but to harp on "if you cut police officers, bandits will roam the streets" is a little stale... sorry.

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