Morning News Round-Up -- 10.2.09: Get your Malibu elsewhere...

The tables are turned for San Jose's U.S. District Judge James Ware. A little, tiny bank is suing him over boat payments he (alleged) didn't make -- which is an interesting story. But the more interesting story is about Judge Ware's more controversial history... we recommend you read this story to the end.

Barely a day goes by without a City of Palo Alto/ union story. Today's version is about 7 mid-level police managers that want to form their own bargaining unit. 7? Really?

One of the Silicon Valley's hotbeds of NIMBYism, Saratoga, is in the midst of what could be a prolonged, and loud, battle about the development of Saratoga Village Center. Have fun with that Saratoga Planning Commissioners and City Councilmembers.

Watch Dog San Mateo has reintroduced its Recession Repercussion theme... well, Watch Dog Silicon Valley can add this to the growing list: Sunnyvale Chevrolet is shutting down. It looks like you'll have to buy your Malibu elsewhere...

A Sunnyvale custodian at local schools pleaded no contest to child porn charges. He must be getting excellent legal advice?

Morgan Hill Unified is interviewing 6 folks for the open Superintendent gig. We would guess that the guy in the previous story is not one of the 6...

And while we are in South County... The City of Gilroy's budget is 'balanced', but City unions are displeased...

Still in South County... here's a headline the folks down there probably don't like seeing (courtesy of the Dispatch): Woman Shoots At Another Woman From Car in Gilroy... Those outlets really piss people off, apparently.

Contrast that, to this: Earlier in the week, Milpitas had its first homicide in two years... Gilroy is jealous.

In other "crime in safe cities" news, a guy was arrested on Wednesday in Mountain View for an (alleged) hate crime...
Have a good weekend loyal Watch Doggers, and remember: (Fight) Club Wet is closed... so you'll have to find somewhere else to brawl this weekend...

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.17.09: "I hate taxes...but love my government paychecks..."

In addition to former Councilmember/Right-Winger Larry Pegram, San Jose Councilmember Pete Constant keeps mighty strange (and disturbing) company. Constant showed up a Fox News-inspired rally against socialism, the disabled retiree who collects not one but two government checks railed against taxes. Sorry, Petey, no taxes means no double dipping for you. Here's Constant's quote from the Tea (bagging?) Party:

“We’re being taxed to death, and something has to be done to stop this blizzard of taxes. I understand that federal state and local governments are trying to survive but no one’s looking at the cumulative effect on us.”

Perhaps he should return the Council raise he begged for...that would probably cut down on the need for more taxes...

On a (sort of) related note, Inside's Pete Campbell takes a shot at the biggest target around...former Mayor Ron Gonzales...

San Jose Revealed wasn’t impressed by the Merc’s Editorial or Scott Herhold's support for San Jose Police Chief Rob Davis and philosophizes Mayor Reed will use the Bush strategy of praying for improvement. In the Quick Notes, Revealed also picks at the Independent Police Auditor and gambling scabs San Jose hopes will heal.

“The coolest thing on Earth,” is how San Jose Public Art Director Barbara Goldstein refers to the “Space Observer” coming to the Mineta International Airport. Sadly, Goldstein also promises the R2D2 cousin won’t be carrying anyone's bags...

Palo Alto is looking for a Police Chief who can address “complaints of racial profiling.” You remember last year's Palo Alto Police Chief drama (like San Jose’s Police Chief drama). If you’re up to the gig, and the intense public scrutiny, PA's City Manager Jim Keene wants to talk. Former North County Supervising District Attorney/former Palo Alto resident Jay Boyarsky said it’s a good thing to be upfront about problems facing the new Chief.

Republican gubernatorial wannabe/former eBay CEO/Atherton billionaire Meg Whitman complained about “gridlock in Sacramento.” Watch Dog doubts she means Republican State Senator Abel Maldonado, but is she pointing fingers at other Republicans?

Accused cop killer DeShawn Campbell is no match for Prosecutor Lane Liroff. Campbell got confused and admitted a mistake on the stand. Defense attorney Stuart Kirchik blames Campbell’s retardation for his testimonial mistakes.

The con men weren’t as smooth (nor as hot) as Paul Newman and Robert Redford, but they did manage to run a con on a Palo Alto resident. Palo Alto, if you’re hanging out on University Ave. when you get a great deal on a diamond…

They don’t have anyone to sue (yet) but that didn’t stop Verizon from filing a lawsuit against the sabotage driven cable clipper. If you turn in John (or Jane) Doe, there’s a quarter mill waiting for you…

Los Gatos non-profits have been asked to lower their expectations, and their demands for money, as the economic crisis hits the local economy. Police Chief Scott Seaman got the go-ahead to charge businesses to register their burglar alarms, the Chief hopes to offset the cost of responding to false alarms.

Speaking of Los Gatos burglars…

Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police arrested two San Joseans on suspicion of stealing from Los Gatos homes under construction. Police Sgt. Randy Rimple says the empty-house burglaries are on the rise. Either it’s really a good market for tools or construction workers are stealing from each other.

The Saratoga Planning Commission had a rare sight, opposing parties that are now happy. Brent Fairbanks and Christy Rohrig originally planned for a Craftsman McMansion to the dismay of neighbors. By the time they all landed in front of the Planning Commission the McMansion met with neighbors delight. Commissioner Mary-Lynne Bernald didn’t say “it was a miracle,” but close. Two new Commissioners, David Reis and Douglas Robertson, took their seats just in time to see the miracle.

Morgan Hill School District administrators worry that while they’ve struggled to keep cuts away from the classroom, the latest round might get to students.

Morning News Round-Up -- 3.18.09: The Appointed One Writes...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is pushing the once unthinkable: Consolidation of the Bay Area's daily newspapers. On a related note: Watch Dog is thriving, even though we are anonymous Mr. Herhold...

The Merc's Editorial Board stands up for Councilmember Pete Constant in his pissing match with the San Jose Police Officers Association. The union is not happy with their former police colleague because (they believe) he turned their back on them on the City Council. (They are so mad, in fact, that they are seeking candidates to run against him next year.) But reading the Editorial, Watch Dog couldn't help but notice that the Editorial Board had to distance themselves from Constant twice, while standing up for him once. Take a look at these two lines:

• "...We don't always agree with him..."
• "...Constant's calls on some issues are definitely worth debating..."

The Editorial Board also chimes in a spat between the South Bay and the Association of Bay Area Governments...

Supervisorial Chief of Staff/The Appointed One/(unelected) School Board member Eddie Garcia also graces the back of today's front section and stands up for sports in the East Side Union High School District in the pages of the Merc...(and yes, wise ass, everything is spelled correctly.)

It has been a devastating year for the young folks at Los Gatos High School. Three students have died in one school year.

Cupertino's 'green coordinator' gets profiled in the Courier...so does Sunnyvale's new Library Director in the Sun...(both papers are 'powered by the Mercury News'...Watch Dog would be petrified if we were 'powered by the Mercury News' these days...)

First Saratoga raised garbage rates to pay for road repairs...now Campbell gets in on the action. Watch Dog predicts San Jose (and other cities) will get in on the action...

This should make you feel safer...a San Jose man was arrested for stealing guns from a Big 5 Sporting Goods store in Morgan Hill. Does this mean he'll never pass a background check...probably not.

San Jose Revealed has a Quick Note and a history lesson about Tom McEnery, Bill Clinton, and a sluethy phone call from Arkansas...

Mission City Lantern doesn't like baseball...or does he?

Morning News Round-Up – 3.10.09: Mr. Carr Goes to DC. Et tu Mission City Lantern?

In case you missed the news (that means you Merc. reporters) -- check out the Tesla update from yesterday.

Developers John Vidovich and Gary Gillmor have a big carrot: 1,700 acres of open space. In exchange, the City of Gilroy would annex 285 acres to be used for housing, parks, and a bigger golf course. The obscure Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) are the folks that can make this deal happen. An alternate on that Commission, Supervisor/lobbyist George Shirakawa, Jr. received $4,500 from Vidovich last year during his campaign, preventing him from voting on the proposal. But, LAFCO Commissioner/Supervisor Don Gage hasn’t received any money from the developers since 2005 – making former State Republican party official Vidovich happy. Gilroy Mayor Al Pinheiro says it’s too early to speculate, a previous proposal failed due to Gilroy’s financial straits two years ago. Watch Dog can only assume Gilroy's financial picture looks worse today than two years ago...

The Merc’s Editorial Board asks East Side Union High School District parents to get pissed about the loss of teachers and librarians, not simply sports. East Side Union has a high dropout rate, which is unlikely to be corrected without teachers or library access. The Merc also wants Trustees to prioritize what to restore if the Obama stimulus dollars for education comes through and encourages Trustees to look at education first. Supervisor/former football star/former Trustee George Shirakawa, Jr. hasn’t weighed in (publicly) on the Sports vs. Education drama. (unelected) Trustee Eddie Garcia is no doubt struggling with the options.

Looks like the Bay Area Mayoral collaboration helped…Silicon Valley could receive as much as $7.7 billion in earmarks for projects ranging from flood control to juvenile justice. San Jose Congressman Mike Honda has been busily working to bring $87 million to the area saying the requests will spur job growth and economic development. Of course, one person's earmarks are another person's pork. In this case, some of San Jose's earmarks/pork have caught the attention of Senator John McCain...

Every 5 years cities are required to update their housing plans. It’s never easy as NIMBY’s decry adding housing. This year, Saratoga’s Planning Commission and City Council will consider more than a dozen recommended changes designed to allow mixed-use and increased housing for extremely low-income families. Planning Commissioner Joyce Hlava said existing ordinances make some of the proposals very difficult. No doubt that some of the neighbors make new housing proposals difficult too...

Palo Alto (rotating) Mayor/environmentalist Peter Drekmeier raised a few eyebrows with his State of the City speech yesterday when he said everything from a carbon tax to a sewage-to-energy composting should be looked at.

The Merc’s Scott Herhold seems pissed the Santa Clara Water District Trustees have managed (again) to drop consideration of term limits. Herhold sends props to Board Members Patrick Kwok, Richard Santos, and Rosemary Kamei for supporting Assemblymember Joe Coto’s recent reforms. Herhold identifies the Boards longest serving member, Sig Sanchez, 88, as Methusaleh.

Morgan Hill Councilmember Larry Carr, in D.C. on business for San Jose State University, carved out a little time to lobby for the funding needed to finish a flood control project started in the 1950s. Morgan Hill’s Recreation Director, Steve Rymer, joined Carr to meet with Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein and the Army Corps of Engineers. (Watch Dog expects a Mission City Lantern critique of Carr's trip to DC sometime soon...)

Former Christian prep school softball coach Abigail Holloway was arrested in Colorado following revelations that she’d had a 3 year affair with a student. The former King’s Academy student went to a college counselor as she struggled with the aftermath.

Apple’s Steve Wozniack is hoping to prove “nerds can dance.” His first night out on Dancing with the Stars was a disaster however, with Judge Bruno Tonioli saying the Woz looked like “a Teletubby going mad in a gay pride parade...” Woz took it in stride saying it was almost a compliment.

Morning News Round-Up -- 2.26.09: Spring (Training) has Sprung...

In case you missed it yesterday, Watch Dog noted that the recent bad weather had the effect of sprouting some new grassroots efforts: Baseball San Jose (to promote baseball) and Books Not Filters (to fight the so-called Values Advocacy Council and Ball Gag)...

It isn't just a grassroots baseball effort however. Former Mayoral candidate Michael Mulcahy, Councilmembers Liccardo, Oliverio, and Kalra, and others seem to be in a planning mode as well...Are downtown pieces (finally!) all coming together? These folks think so...(FYI: The A's tied (?) the Brewers yesterday 3-3.)

One of the overlooked, but beloved, pieces of a complete downtown San Jose, is the Sainte Claire News Stand. They are reopened next to Cafe Trieste and are having a grand opening party tomorrow night...the owners are perhaps the nicest people in Silicon Valley.

If you murder someone in the UK and want to get out of dodge and never be found again, apparently San Jose is not the place you want to go to...Jaswinder Singh Rana found that out yesterday.

A Gilroy High School teacher was arrested for sexual assault of a 14 year old who was not his student. The teacher met the girl on Tagged.com -- a social networking site. (The brain trust of Constant/Pegram must be working overtime to try to figure out how to make political hay out of this...insert your own brain/Constant/Pegram joke here _________)

Here is something new to Watch Dog -- the Saratoga City Council is adding a fee to the garbage rates in order to pay for road repairs...interesting concept. Perhaps they should also put up tolls for the thousands of massive SUVs that cruise Saratoga's tiny streets...

Just as San Jose is changing the way Police interact with downtown nightclub/bar goers -- Campbell (the party capital of Silicon Valley?) is changing their rules about downtown (drinking) festivals too...

The National Cheerleading Competition is a big deal to some folks -- including a group of students from Morgan Hill's Sobrato High School. But these (devastated) students won't be able to go because their coach turned in the paperwork 2 weeks late. Watch Dog is certain there is a an After School Special-type lesson in this story somewhere about being on time...

Surprise, surprise. A city-wide fiber optic network built by the City of Palo Alto is not likely to happen -- it seems -- after a decade of hoping and wishing and studying. It turns out it is expensive to build and maintain such things...really? (Joint Venture Silicon Valley Network figured out the same thing about a County-wide wireless network and apparently gave up on that effort...)

Or, perhaps it isn't the money, but the fact that Palo Alto-based utility-type things sometimes seem to be (perhaps) corrupt. The Palo Alto Utilities Department is being investigated by the US Department of Transportation for conspiracy to alter records...

And from the part of the media landscape that isn't imploding (blogs)...

Revealed gives the blow-by-blow of Tuesday night's Council meeting -- which, as always, is a pretty compelling read. Revealed has often pointed out racially insensitive remarks that sometimes appear in the "Comments" section of San Jose Inside -- but I guess when Revealed makes fun of Italian-Americans, that's ok. Not to sound too much like Dale Warner, but...

Erin Sherbert at the Metro/Inside digs a little (well, a lot) deeper into San Jose's Vietnamese community describing the competing business interests of the Yes on Recall and No on Recall folks. Surprise, surprise...one Vietnamese business owner has a strip mall called Little Saigon and another has one called Vietnam Town...

Finally, we never got around to talking about Mission City Lantern's love affair with Watch Dog. Thank you, James. We appreciate your kind words and we feel the love -- but Herb Caen we are not.

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...

Morning News Round-Up – 1.15.09: Layoffs in San Jose and a leave in Cupertino...

San Jose’s Mayor Chuck Reed dropped the dreaded "L" word – layoffs -- in a speech otherwise designed to thank everyone who works (for the moment) at City Hall. Emotions are running high with layoffs commenced minutes after Reed’s return to City Hall, starting with 28 folks in the Planning Department. Reed’s speech included mention of the 25 new police officers hired, in response to the criticism he’d taken from Councilmember Nora Campos over safety, not to mention the heat from Police Officers...The new Officers must be wondering what they are heading towards with layoff notices coming on the heels of a billion dollar loss in their pension fund.

If you weren’t at the Community Breakfast/State of the City, you can read it or watch it. The Merc’s Scott Herhold says the Mayor (like Sarah Palin did in her debate) “…has successfully lowered expectations,” and optimistically says the Mayor inspired a feeling of hope – attempting to channel the popular message of the President-elect, whom Watch Dog wonders if the Mayor actually voted for. San Jose Revealed and The Fly both have round-ups of the speech. (Apparently they were able to stay awake...) In an hour, Watch Dog will post the real news that came out of the speech...

Drunk in San Jose, the story that keeps giving…Wednesday a federal class-action lawsuit was filed against San Jose Police Chief Rob Davis and the City alleging thousands were wrongly busted for drunkenness. Judge Ronald Whyte, a Bush appointed federal judge, first has to figure out if there are grounds for a class-action suit. This is the second lawsuit to hit San Jose, last August another lawsuit was filed alleging arrests for attitude. City Attorney Rick Doyle said of the class-action lawsuit, "We take these things seriously, and we'll look at it.'' Don't forget to read Watch Dog's previous coverage, including our rant about how long (6 months?!) the City's silly Task Force is taking...

Morgan Hill City Councilmembers were diligently at their jobs slashing the budget until late Wednesday night. By the time they left they’d shaved $1.9 million off the budget and approved layoffs for 2 assistants and a custodian. City Manager Ed Tewes will have a go at shrinking other departments with the Council in future meetings. Councilmembers Greg Sellers and Marilyn Librers are in favor of dipping into reserves pointing out these are extraordinary times while Mayor Steve Tate said it’s critical to keep the 25% reserve in place. Mayor Tate...this is the rainy day you've been saving for. It is umbrella time...

Monte Sereno’s (rotating) Mayor Curtis Wright hopes his second go at Mayor will help him accomplish his goals. (That's what George Bush hoped too with his second term, but the way...) This includes stopping the State from requiring cities in California to allow secondary units. Wright said while Monte Sereno shares goals with neighbors Saratoga and Los Gatos, the main difference is Monte Sereno has "a very regional perspective," and in working with the State, Monte Sereno is “like Switzerland in Europe; we are trying to facilitate things." The real question is, does Monte Sereno also have a reputation as a place to stash money?

Soon to be former Cupertino City Attorney Chuck Kilian waxes nostalgic as he prepares to leave after 35 years helping keep Cupertino out of legal woes. When Kilian first came to Cupertino he says, "The citizenry was mostly two kinds of people: property owners who tended to be Italian, Yugoslavian, or German and those who were moving in to the brand new subdivisions that were being built." Careful Mr. Kilian, it sounds like you might be walking the fine racial line that got Chief Johnson in hot water in Palo Alto...

Cupertino School District Superintendent Phil Quon is hoping residents haven’t noticed the imploding economy and will say yes to a 4 or 5 year parcel tax of $125. Quon is hoping the failed 2004 proposal taught campaign supporters a lesson. Quon said, “People need to wake up. I don't know what it will take to get people to pony up the money to fund public education." Here's a hint Sir, don't tell them they need to wake up...

Chromium 6 sounds more like a hip SF band than cancer causing waste. Made famous by Erin Brockovich (and even more famous by Julia Roberts), the carcinogen has been found in Sunnyvale’s groundwater supply. Although Lockheed Martin's waste water was found to contain Chromium 6, along with numerous other toxins, it’s not clear that they are the source. Lockheed is downhill of the contamination, making it likely there’s another culprit.

Parking was on the minds of the Saratoga City Council when they decided to continue with relaxed parking requirements on new development projects. Councilmember Jill Hunter said she normally would not support relaxed requirements but, “…this Country is facing some very, very hard times, and I am worried about our little Village because of that." Councilmember Kathleen King never has a problem finding parking and was ready to keep current procedures for even longer saying, “Maybe I know where all the parking spots are in Saratoga, but I have never spent more than three minutes looking for a parking space in Saratoga." Maybe you do...

Mountain View Fire Fighters leaped into action when a natural gas leak forced evacuation at a shopping center. Apparently a landscaper managed to puncture a line causing an end to renovation of the shopping center for the day, which we can assume was less costly than a massive explosion...

The Merc's Sal Pizzaro left San Jose to enjoy Campbell’s rockin’ nightlife, running into fellow San Josean Dan Doherty who said he sees lot’s of San Josean’s enjoying themselves having abandoned their own downtown. Sal, Scott Knies called...he'd like to speak with you...

Steve Jobs emailed employees yesterday to let them know that he was taking a medical leave of absence until June. Watch Dog can only assume that Apple employees were more sympathetic to the news than the stock market was to the announcement...

Not heading to D.C. for Tuesday's fun? Not to worry. If you’re looking to rub elbows with local luminaries, head to a live viewing at San Jose City Hall, the Silicon Valley of Non-Profits, or the American Leadership Forum. Evening events include a black-tie affair at Santana Row’s Sino and Left Bank Restaurants, the Avalon Nightclub, and Democratic Party celebration. Steve Preminger, head of the local Democratic Party said, "So many people worked so hard, many for the first time, to achieve this presidential victory." He didn't continue, "So let's go get drunk and arrested in downtown San Jose..."