Morning News Round-Up -- 5.11.10: Life without a leaf-blower hotline...

Ballots are out... candidates are running around like crazy... and the Merc is about to weigh in on all the races... A while back they endorsed Teresa Alvarado for Supervisor... and Jeff Rosen for District Attorney... and now they are getting into the San Jose City Council races. District 5 is first up and they give a big nod to Magdalena Carrasco to replace Nora Campos. Some choice quotes that District 5 voters will be seeing a lot of in the coming weeks...

"What she lacks in political connections, she makes up in intelligence, thoughtfulness and a deep understanding of the values and needs of the community. We recommend her in the June 8 primary."

"Despite having served on the Planning Commission, he shows little insight into city operations."

And perhaps the most damning...

"He [Xavier Campos] was chief operating officer of the Mexican-American Community Services Agency, which is under criminal investigation for skimming off workers' retirement contributions. He says he was aware of MACSA's cash-flow problems but not the diversion of funds."

Ouch...

New, high-tech luggage scanners at Mineta San Jose (International) Airport get a write up in today's Merc. They are apparently cutting-edge, very cool, and something that "should be done everywhere"... Now, if only airlines and people started flying out of the joint, they could actually start using the luggage scanners...

Apparently several judge seats are up in the County... Tracey Kaplan at the Merc had the (tedious) task of getting into the nitty gritty of each race.

The San Jose/Evergreen Community College District is closer to getting a new chancellor... there are three finalists -- one local (the President of Evergreen Valley College) and two not so local... Watch Dog will bet on one of the two not so local folks...

The not-so-newly-formed Santa Clara County Elections Commission will meet finally... after 2 years. This seems to be over the objections of the Registrar of Voters. He seems to hate oversight more than a large, local police department does...

Add a rail company to the list of folks opposing High-Speed Rail... Union Pacific.

This should piss people off... the Leaf Blower Complaint Hotline in Palo Alto will be shut down due to budget cuts. If you have a complaint about your neighbor's leaf blowing, please call 800-Get A Life...

A new tax may be coming to Mountain View this fall... this time, more taxes on your 650 phone line that you are so proud of...

Morning News Round-Up -- 8.3.09: $20 million here, $20 million there...

San Jose employee unions can't be happy about a new audit the City Council will be hearing about this week. The audit says that the City could save $20 million/ year just be bringing employee health benefits in line with the private sector AND in line with other government agencies. Expect a backlash from labor-backed City Councilmembers. (Too bad there isn't a local blog reacting to the audit...) Local public employee unions should be glad they don't operate in San Mateo County. Up there, there is a County-wide task force looking at public employee benefits and pensions... The Merc. Editorial Board also thinks health benefits and pensions should be a priority.

The Merc's Scott Herhold must read Watch Dog. His piece in Sunday's paper was titled: DA Dolores Carr deserves a re-election opponent. Amen Brother. We even listed some potential (re-election) suspects (through links) last week.

Changes as the Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International (?) Airport are being seen as a good thing by passengers. Unfortunately, as the airport gets better, the flights get fewer...

The East Side Union High School District has a new Acting Superintendent. Raising the obvious question, wasn't the last one just an "acting" Superintendent. (That's a pun people...)

Did you know that the next Secretary of State (?) is getting re-married? That's right. You just probably don't know who the next Secretary of State was going to be. But it's State Senator Elaine Alquist... and she is about to be off the market again.

Gilroy Mayor Al Pinheiro is under fire... and it isn't (all) about the Recall. This time he is getting dinged for cuts to public safety. Actually, this is all about the Recall -- and the saga is growing. Mayor Gage?

The Merc's Internal Affairs can't get enough of the blogwars in San Jose, probably because San Jose Inside is getting new (?) information out every Friday afternoon. This time, they SHOW ME THE MONEY... sort of.

Speaking of Phil Bump...

According to Mission City Lantern, the former Campaign Manager for Cindy Chavez for Mayor (Justin Schall) and former Political Director for the South Bay Labor Council (Phil Bump) are working on the campaign for Eric Goia for New York City Public Advocate. The Dream Team reunites... Somewhere on the 18th floor, Mr. Jansen is smiling.

While we are on the topic... San Jose Revealed seems to be down today. But Phil Bump did have time to see 500 Days of Summer this weekend and wrote a review. Whether Phil Bump is Revealed or not, he is a good writer. In short, 500 Days of Summer sucked, according to Phil Bump.

Morning News Round-Up -- 7.24.09: DA Carr meet Lt. Carr

Yet again there’s a big "Oops" being heard over at the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office. This time the widow of slain shopkeeper Vahid Hosseini got worried when she found out last month her $14,000 security consultant was none other than District Attorney Dolores Carr’s hubby… Too bad it took the widow to raise the alarm in the potential death penalty case. DA Carr is stepping aside from the case... Amazing that this potential conflict didn't come up in the DA's race in 2006. (Just kidding.)

San Jose Congressmember Mike Honda is elated over a $4 million Congressional committee recommendation to clean up Mt. Umunhum’s abandoned military base. If approved, work could begin as soon as fall.

A special OpEd in the Mercury News criticizes Congresswoman Eshoo for wanting to protect the biotech industry a bit too much in the pending healthcare bill. (The OpEd is written by biotech/ pharmaceutical industry watchdogs...)

San Jose Police Chief Rob Davis has a few words for Judge Diane Northway as she ponders the fate of convicted police killer DeShawn Campbell. His “highly unusual” request to speak is supported by Prosecutor Lane Liroff.

The Merc’s Editorial Board meandered through the Norman Mineta International Airport’s new digs, they’re thrilled.

Keeping up with the State money raid: Morgan Hill is looking at losing nearly $10 million over the next 2 years. Assemblymember Bill Monning stopped by City Hall to “commiserate.” Perhaps his commiserating could be better done by making local government's case in Sacramento?

It’s a wet kinda day (not that Wet…) leading to this equation:

• Winter Rains + Horse Poop = A very unhappy Calero Ranch Stables
• More of those Federal Stimulus bucks are heading West. This time the Santa Clara Valley Water District has landed $4.3 million to make recycled water more available. Supervisorial wannabe/ Water District Director Rosemary Kamei pointed to ongoing droughts and the importance of recycled water as key elements in landing money.
• Dredging up a 5 decade old solution, the San Francisquito Creek Joint Powers Authority is looking at a bigger channel and a shorter levee to stop the annual flood. The Palo Alto City Council announced their support of the $8 million proposal, mostly funded by the Santa Clara Valley Water District.
  

(EPA Superfund * 2 Decades + Toxic Fumes) * People = More Clean up for Mountain View Triangle (and a pretty complicated Watch Dog equation)

That annoying little matter of cost could dash Gilroy recall champion Mark Zappa’s plan to end Mayor Al Pinheiro’s reign. Zappa said “I would never do [the recall] if it cost [$400,000], never.” Zappa still wants to talk to anti-recall campaign manager/ Mayoral wannabe/ Supervisor Don Gage “…to see what he stands for now.”

“…what the hell business is that of yours?” asks Gilroy Councilmember/former Memorial Day parade organizer Craig Gartman who bought “espresso beans” for parade employees. Colleague/ Councilmember Dion Bracco’s wife, Christy, with the new committee is pissed about the (alleged) lack of financial paperwork while District Attorney Dolores Carr receives mysterious “espresso bean” mail. (Perhaps the DA can be part of this case without a conflict?)

Hoping to fill Supervisor Don Gage’s feisty shoes are (at least) four wannabe’s and the Morgan Hill Times introduces them. Of the four, Gilroy Councilmember/Dr. Peter Arellano sent his spokesmodel to answer questions.

If you love paella from Parsley Sage Rosemary and Thyme (who doesn’t), you can catch them along with other local chefs starting today at the annual homage to the stinking rose. At least, so says the Merc’s Sal Pizarro who nose his way around a good dish.

Los Gatos Town Manager Greg Larson said thanks, but no thanks to the petitions calling for Los Gatos Council term limits and library spending. Term limit/ anti-library champion former, Councilmember Steve Glickman, was unavailable while Mayor Mike Wasserman said simply they “… didn’t comply with the law.” Watch Dog loves small town politics...

Mountain View City Council hates kids? Youth Motivated for Action and Involvement seems poised to say so after their calls for options for kids are rejected…

A Post-It note fan vandalized the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory damaging thousands of synchrotron radiation lightsource samples. The synchrotron may be best remembered for looking deep into the “evolutionary keystone” Thermopolis Archaeopteryx. (We don't really know what we just wrote, but we figured it was an important story...)

The Blogosphere shrinks…

• San Jose Inside regurgitates Gilroy news on the blossoming Mayoral throwdown.
• San Jose Revealed remains dark and silent.
• Mission City Lantern suggests a knife wielding Guvernator is looking for a throwdown with San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed over (Lantern-initiated) San Jose secession plans. Lantern also adds to the "Revealed is..." list. Vote today...
• Protect San Jose has Facebook Chief Privacy Officer/ Attorney General wannabe Chris Kelly writing a campaign piece.

Morning News Round-Up -- 1.23.09: The NUMMI A's?

There is an update today on the Councilmember Madison Nguyen recall election. The story focused primarily on Nguyen and her efforts to stay in office -- raising lots of money, walking precincts, making phone calls, putting up signs, etc., etc., etc. One thing worries Watch Dog: she has underestimated the pro-Recall folks a number of times during this long nightmare. She underestimated how strongly people felt about Little Saigon initially. She didn't think the Little Saigon folks would get enough signatures on the ballot for a recall. In a recent Metro article, she admitted as much, saying, "I never thought it would get to this point..." In today's story, she may be making the same mistake saying, "I don't see anyone walking precincts for the other side...I don't see signs." Please, please, please Madison -- don't think that no signs and no precinct walkers on the other side mean you are going to skate through this. The Recall Madison folks have raised over $100,000. That is a huge sum of money and they are waiting to spend it...

Meanwhile, San Jose Revealed takes a shot at the folks who are building Vietnam Town and provide some context to those developers and Madison's recall...

The airport is building a cool new facility...but that's just about the only good news coming out the place. Airlines are cutting back...and apparently the airport wants to join in the fun by cutting staff. That means that when the new place opens up, there may be no planes and dirty bathrooms...

A serial bank robber struck in Saratoga on Inauguration Day. The robber is suspected of robbing 8 other banks in the Bay Area...he is described as a white guy, 5'9" to 6', 200 pounds, with gray hair -- which narrows down the search to just about every dude in Saratoga...

Oh no. Fremont's NUMMI manufacturing plant will stop giving tours in February. The actual manufacturing at NUMMI has already slowed down...but could the halting of public tours signal the beginning of the end for NUMMI? And if that is the case, are the A's licking their chops at that enormous piece of land?

State Senator Joe Simitian thinks the State budget crisis might be close to an end...according to his interview with the Palo Alto Weekly...don't bet on it...have you ever known the folks in Sacramento to do something on a timeline that is predictable?

We know that the Community Hospital of Los Gatos is closing in April as Tenet hastily leaves town. What we didn't know, until now, is when the new folks, El Camino Hospital of Mountain View, were going to re-open. It looks like it may be a while, perhaps until Fall, to get things up and running again.

Pete Campbell at San Jose Inside has a closer look at the Convention Center expansion idea. His best line about the expansion plans: "...the City of San Jose places itself in the tenuous position of placing a big, three-layered bet that the economy will recover, trade and convention shows will continue at healthy pace, and the bookings lost during 2009-2012 will return to San Jose..."

The Morgan Hill City Council will meet this weekend to discuss 2009 goals and review 2008 accomplishments. They will also meet in a joint session with the Gilroy City Council. If you think this sounds like garlic-infused fun, they head out Saturday morning to the El Toro Room at the Community and Cultural Center on Monterey Road. Please be sure to bring your own ideas and your own ephedrine, because Watch Dog will not share...