Morning News Round-Up -- 4.21.10: 420 hangover...

The Sharks' series is tied at 2 games a piece...

In case you missed it, you should probably check out yesterday's post about what the San Jose City Council could have looked like... the way we (almost) were...

The Merc Editorial Board sets the stage for the next budget battle in San Jose. Calling the voluntary pay cut from the Mayor (and Constant and Liccardo and Oliverio and Kalra and Chirco) good stuff, they say more is needed from the unionized workforce... oh, and 1,300 employees in the City of San Jose got pink slips yesterday, including police officers and firefighters. Watch Dog guesses this is serious now... and it is going to get very ugly. Of course, the Police union and the Firefighters union are saying that the City is going to go to hell in a hand-basket. But more interestingly, Cindy Chavez did comment in the story in the Merc, but she did it by issuing a statement... we guess she must be sick of talking to folks at the local paper of record, given the goings on of the past few weeks. Note to Cindy Chavez: You are welcome to speak here anytime you like -- shoot us an email...

Speaking of firefighters... the Merc Editorial Board also chimes in on a bill making its way through Sacramento that would require municipalities to get state approval before filing for bankruptcy... ironic, since the state would probably have a big role in causing the bankruptcy in the first place... the bill is being pushed by the state firefighters union, which is also ironic for obvious reasons...

More on firefighters (in Palo Alto) below...

And the City of San Jose taketh (away jobs) and giveth (away land). Selleth, actually. The final deal for the two downtown parking lots to be sold to the Sobrato Organization went through yesterday, with a $20 million pricetag. Next up for the $20 million... baseball.

The San Jose Police Officer that was on trial for fondling a young girl while on duty was found not guilty yesterday.

A new fire chief will take over in Mountain View... and he is coming from Utah to do it. Welcome Scott Vermeer. We love your paintings...

The battle between Sunnyvale City Councilmember/ Palo Alto firefighters union boss and the Palo Alto City Council continues... the Council officially is asking voters to not sign the Spitaleri petition for a ballot measure... and he is pissed.

Earlier in the week, we learned of a group of band members from Los Gatos who were trapped in Munich. Which Watch Dog didn't think was such a bad place to be trapped... but there is a group of high school singers from Mountain View that are trapped in Paris. Perhaps the Mountain Viewers and the Los Gatans could get together on the German/ French boarder and put on a show?