Morning News Round-Up -- 5.21.10: "NUMMI A's" no more...

Go Sharks! (Please win... pretty please?)

Well, we guess the Oakland A's won't be going to the former NUMMI plant after all... that's because Tesla and Toyota will move in to build electric cars. Of course, Tesla track record of sticking to its word is someone less-than-desirable, just ask San Jose, but we wish Fremont, Tesla, and Toyota well. (Here is a full run-down of the Tesla Chronicles...)

As a reminder, Watch Dog predicted the NUMMI/A's effort last August...

"...Fremont’s Nummi plant is packing the bags and heading to Texas leaving nearly 5,000 newly unemployed in its wake. Perhaps a Fremont ballpark can actually happen now?...

Maybe now Bud Selig can make a decision?...

The Mercury News Editorial Board continued to look at their ballots... and today they have made the 18th floor a very exciting place to be. They endorsed Don Rocha for San Jose City Council District 9 to replace Vice Mayor Judy Chirco. They say he has "...the potential to continue in the tradition of Chirco..." They also give some ink to Jim Cogan (too close to public safety unions) and Larry Pegram (too close to Jerry Falwell)...

The San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce put out a reward for clues leading to catching the culprits behind the hit pieces sent against Magdalena Carrasco... ironically, the place to call with your tip is Crime Stoppers -- whose President is the aforementioned Jim Cogan, running for City Council in a different District. Hypothetically, what if someone called with a tip that identified a Cogan supporter as the culprit? Just asking... (Mission City Lantern is on the fake-mailer case too...)

While we're in District 5, ProtectSanJose.com brought us a message from Xavier Campos...

A San Josean will head to the Senate... no, not Tom Campbell (yet)... but County Superior Court Judge Edward Davila has been tapped for the federal bench by the Obama administration...

This will be bad news piled on top of bad news... property assessments are down... way down... boooooooo...

Dear Gilroy Unified Voters... thank you for passing the school bond in 2008... we are over budget... so Christopher High School will have portables instead of a great new facility... will you trust again with your vote and your cash? Love, the Gilroy Unified School District.

Sunnyvale may lose its seat on VTA, and Sunnyvale Councilmember Chris Moylan is pissed about it: "...Based on population, the one city other than San Jose that should have a permanent seat on the board is Sunnyvale..." No word on dweeb.org yet on the issue...

Some folks in Silicon Valley will be voting on June 8th and June 22nd... the 22nd being the date that the Special Election to replace Senator-turned-Lt. Gov Abel Maldonado's seat will be voted on... and if no one gets 50 percent plus, a run-off will happen on August 17th. Expect an influx of Sam Blakeslee and John Laird visits in the coming weeks...

The Lame (Duck) Governor was at Google yesterday... no doubt in an effort to shift attention from Google's bad European news this week...

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.30.10: DeadbeatDellums.com...

Sharks won Game 1... and not because the Red Wings were grounded for missing curfew either...

From the sublime to the ridiculous...

Because we can't help ourselves, Watch Dog Silicon Valley is now the "point out Mayor Ron Dellums' shortcomings" blog... yesterday we wrote about his Palin-esque (or was it Yoda-esque) quote in the paper. Today it is a story from the Chronicle about Mayor Dellums going back on his pledge to take a 10 percent paycut. (He needs the money to pay the IRS who probably have their own internal blog about Dellums' shortcomings... DeadbeatDellums.com) But should MLB really listen to guy who can't pay his taxes and goes back on his $18,000 paycut pledge? Just asking. We'll add this to the "things that won't happen in San Jose when the A's move here" list: there will be no anti-Wolff banners, there will be no anti-A's City Attorney, and there will be no Mayor that gives back his paycut... San Jose looks better and better everyday... don't you think Bud?

Super Bowl in Santa Clara? It could happen, and James Rowen will absolutely be there... His blog-enemies will absolutely not be...

But a story in today's Merc brings up the prospects of "...Raider Nation -- and its rough-and-tumble reputation -- descending on Silicon Valley for football Sundays..." and how that might impact the vote in June. It ain't the wine and cheese-going 49er crowd, that's for sure...

High-Speed Rail could be in trouble, according to a new State audit because it... "...suffers from 'weak oversight,' 'lax' management and a shaky funding plan..." Funny, we thought that was the norm for things coming out of Sacramento... One thing for sure, this audit will be the talk of the country-club set in Menlo Park and Atherton this weekend...

We'll let Sean Webby continue his work on this story and we won't comment at all: Prosecutor: San Jose cop's work on sex assault cases sloppy, but no charges...

Our only comment on this story is that the formatting, probably for a split second yesterday, was a bit screwy... so we share because we can't resist...

While we are on the San Jose Police, the San Jose POA's Vice President didn't mince words when he expressed regret that the Police Chief didn't get the Dallas job, sort of... "Chief Davis has lost the confidence of his troops..." tick tock Chief Davis, tick tock. Of course, we've said that before...

• Medical Cannabis Dude A: Dude, let's file a lawsuit against the City of San Jose for trying to screw with us...
• Medical Cannabis Dude B: Dude... let's do it...

(Don't worry all you medical cannabis users out there. I support you. But it is funnier to write about this story if we throw the word "dude" in once and awhile...)

If you life isn't boring enough, there will be public workshops will start this weekend about how to develop 2,600 acres of land around San Jose's "water treatment"/ sewage plant. Either your life isn't boring enough OR you ran out of your Ambien prescription...

Become the Lt. Governor go on Colbert... that is Maldo's path to fame.

But the special elections that the Governor is pushing got dinged in the Merc Editorial pages today... because of cost ($3 million) and because of politics...

The Board of Supervisors' plan to ban fast food toys gets some love on SFist.com... at the same time that George Shirakawa goes out for steak for a good cause (Dining Out for Life) and presumably not handing out toys... BUT wait, the comments on San Jose Inside tell a different story: apparently Shirakawa wasn't going to be there after his press release was sent out...

The City of Cupertino is laying out some cash ($2.1 million) now (with Siemens) to reap energy efficiency savings later (through cuts in energy and water bills)... How'd they find $2.1 million? $438k in grants, $562k in capital improvement reserves, and the other $1.1 will come from a private lender or reserves...

The Minton's project in Mountain View got approved. 203 "luxury apartments" will be built on the site of the old lumber yard... Prometheus Real Estate Group 1, NIMBYs 0...

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.28.10: This stuff writes itself sometimes...

Where to even begin on a day like today. Contentious budget cuts at San Jose City Hall? No. Banning fatty toys at the County Building? No. Sacramento shenanigans that have impacts in Silicon Valley... perfect...

There might be an election in some parts of Silicon Valley in May, June (x2), August, and November... that's because the Governor would like to fast-pitch the special election to replace Senator/Lieutenant Governor Abel Maldonado... (we wonder who this helps... hmmm...) "Hello Pat, It's Arnold. What are you doing between now and August?..."

The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted 3 to 2 to ban toy giveaways at fast food joints within unincorporated areas of the County. The two that voted against the measure: Don Gage and George Shirakawa... seriously, this stuff writes itself...

Big day at San Jose City Hall yesterday... they were voting to cut the fat a little bit further, including their own paychecks. The tension at City Hall is apparently at an all-time high... or so they say. Unions are pissed at the City. The City would (ahem) like more cooperation from the unions... and never the twain shall meet, apparently. So the City Council needs to do something, and the only thing they can really do is cut -- and without willing unions, they have to cut non-willing unions..

That is on the cut side of things, but on the revenue side of things in San Jose, there are tons of folks looking at Measure K as one way to help stem the tide. Measure K would allow the City's two card rooms to expand in return for a higher rake for the City's coffers. (New slogan: What happens in San Jose, stays in San Jose...) The San Jose Police Officers' Association is opposed to the Measure (so are a few Council members)... but the San Jose Firefighters have thrown their support on the other side of things. Firefighters and Police Officers usually don't break ranks with each other on such things... perhaps this is a sign of things to come?

Earmarks are the bane of every good-government stalwart... of course, the disapproval is for other people's earmarks, not our own. Our folks requested $612 million in earmarks in next year's budget, which does not include the cool billion that Congresswoman Jackie Speier is proposing for Bay clean-up projects...

Minton's in Mountain View is about to get 203 units of housing. Of course, the new development isn't without detractors or NIMBYs... Mayor Ronit Bryant said it pretty well, in Watch Dog's estimation: "Will it bring more people into the neighborhood?... Yes, and I want more people downtown. We can't be proud of having a vibrant downtown and then say we don't want any more people in it..." You said it! Perhaps they could share the love with downtown San Jose?

You remember the story about the consultants that the City of Palo Alto hired to look into how to save money within their fire department... and how the consultants had never ever, not even once, recommended staffing reductions? Well, the consulting firm has been sacked...

Here is a heartwarming story from South County: A mother was arrested (and her kids were taken from her) because she left her kids alone at a motel. The four year old was wandering around the parking lot and the two year old was in a room alone. A special place in hell awaits...

We'll end with this, in case you don't read the East Bay Express... (pregnant pause) ... Some fans have been kicked out of A's games in Oakland for having anti-Lew Wolff banners. No wonder Lew Wolff wants to get out of there as soon as possible...

Reed: "Lew, you have my word: no banners in Cisco Field..."

Wolff: "That's the guarantee I've been looking for. Thank you Chuck... When can we move in?"

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.6.10: 161 more to go...

While it may not seem like the top story of the day, it should be: Public Defenders are now representing defendants in misdemeanor cases in Santa Clara County. You know, the whole "...if you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you..." that the County sort of forgot about until now...

The good folks at Protect San Jose would like to remind everyone that there are three sides to every story as they chime in (briefly) on the court rulings in favor of the SJPD in the 2006 Mardi Gras trial. (Of course, Protect San Jose voices love the "three sides" mantra...)

Perhaps there are three sides to this story... or column. Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Walters wrote about skyrocketing public safety pensions and how they led to Vallejo (and other cities, perhaps) bankruptcies and the piece was re-run by the Merc. It is a good primer on how pensions grew, why, and what will happen next. But remember, there are three sides to every story... right?

Yes on Prop 14, according to the Merc. Editorial Board... Open primaries. Thank you Senator Maldonado...

Scott Herhold (two "h" sounds as you read this to yourself) looks at political family dynasties in Santa Clara County. Alvarado. Cortese. Shirakawa ("...a Rodney Dangerfield complex..."). Farr ("...a sturdy backbencher..."). Diridon. Campos.

High-Speed Rail is coming to town, we all know that. But the High-Speed Rail Authority is coming to town too, on Thursday in Santa Clara. San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed with be there... will you?

The Chronicle loves to hate the idea of the San Jose A's. In today's paper, they cover an anti-A's to San Jose protest that wasn't at last night's game. By the way, the A's lost 5-3. 161 more to go.

The County Office of Education is perhaps the least understood government agency in Santa Clara County... The question is constant asked, "What do they do in that fancy building?"... But one thing is for sure, the Board loves to throw Superintendents under the bus... and the bus is about to start rolling over current Superintendent Chuck Weis. Perhaps he could call Colleen Wilcox for a quick pow-wow about how these things generally end. Today's story is about how he is getting mixed reviews from the County Board of Education, and has this strange nugget:

"...Last month he handed the board a letter from his doctor warning that "his work schedule is impairing his ability to maintain long-term good heath." It advises that he have at least two or three weeks of vacation each year — he gets 25 paid days a year — and time for vigorous exercise at least three times per week..." Tick tock Chuck Weis...

County officials (and candidates) had to file economic interest statements. Some folks are rich (Forrest Williams) and some folks not so much (Teresa Alvarado). Some folks got gifts (Larry Stone) and some folks got none (Jeff Rosen). But perhaps the most interesting thing we learned from the Merc's coverage is this: George Shirakawa received tickets to the San Jose Giants from a tribal casino in Madera County... What could they possibly want from Supervisor Shirakawa. Hmmm...

The Meg Whitman Campaign Start-Up just received another round of venture capital funding from the Meg Whitman Fund... $20 million...

A plan to study the compost-to-energy plant on dedicated parkland in Palo Alto is moving forward. But a plan to study and a plan to build are two very, very different things. And the City Council there is divided 5 to 4...

From the blogs...

Mission City Lantern covers the anti-49er's litigation that was dropped... (Thank you for the comment James to give us a heads up...)

Over on San Jose Inside, Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio continues his quest for a 420 San Jose... and the debate in the Comments prove that everyone already is smoking pot.

Morning News Round-Up -- 2.12.10: We hardly knew you Rosemary...

Abel Maldonado was nominated by Governor Schwarzenegger to be the next Lieutenant Governor... unfortunately, he didn't get 41 votes in the State Assembly to make it so... he did get a majority -- 37 to 35. So the Governor is going to swear him on February 23rd which is about to set off a legal battle in Sacramento. This entire episode is going to make everyone look even stupider than they already do in Sacramento, which is not easy.

There was the first (in what will be a long list of) candidates' forum in District 5 in San Jose last night in the race to replace Councilmember Nora Campos. The candidates there were Xavier Campos, Manuel Hererra, Aaron Resendez, and Magdalena Carrasco. The filing deadline hasn't even passed for the race, so we'll see how things shake out. Were there any Watch Dogs there that have any inside scoop about how the forum went?

Just as candidates were talking about how to address issues in East San Jose a 15 year old was stabbed to death 2 miles away.

Rosemary Kamei, we hardly knew you. You may recognize the name -- she is on the Water Board and was a candidate in the Supervisor's race to replace Don Gage. Unfortunately, she was one of the people that couldn't raise any money in the crowded field with Teresa Alvarado, Forrest Williams, Mike Wasserman, and Peter Arellano. Leaving the race she is endorsing Forrest Williams, which is ironic because leaving the race actually hurts Williams and helps Alvarado... it's funny how politics work...

We aren't sure we re-wrote about this story earlier in the week, but ex-Superintendent Bob Nunez showed up at a special East Side Union High School District Board meeting and blasted the current Board after his name had been more or less cleared in an audit conducted by the County Office of Education. The County's audit put the blame for screwed up stuff in the District squarely on the School Board...

Silicon Valley is at risk. Silicon Valley is at risk. So says the Joint Venture Silicon Valley index...

Los Gatos is so much like San Francisco... they banned panhandling in traffic medians... we guess making the car payments on the BMW makes people do desperate things...

County Superior Court Judge Lucy Koh's nomination in being heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee so her confirmation could be close... if the weather ever lets up in DC. Which would mean there could be an addition race for judge in the County this year -- in addition to the 3 that are lining up right now.

(Really) dirty dancing at Ann Sobrato High School?

Finally, from the blogosphere...

Kathleen Flynn over on Protect San Jose has some strong words to politicians and their supporters using victims' families for political purposes. Of course, this means that Kathleen probably forgot that she has invoked victims and their families in blog comments supporting JimCogan's run for Distrit 9 San Jose City Council. (Thank you City Hall Watch Dogger...)

"...was willing to give up his Saturday plans with his family to come support the family of a murder victim, as well as, gave a wonderful, caring speech during a rally at the peace march for Vahid Hosseini..."

Morning News Round-Up -- 2.4.10: BART... doh!

Hey, BART may actually be on the way to San Jose... the Feds declared that BART to San Jose is "eligible for federal funding" making the Mike Honda - Carl Guardino - Chuck Reed conference calls much more exciting...

We knew yesterday was special when there were no stories about Dolores Carr... but today there is. It seems she is getting her supporters together to start fighting back. In today's Merc Editorial pages there is an OpEd from Kathleen Krenek, who runs Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence. She is a fan of the SJPD and of the DA's office... according to her piece: "Although the district attorney and the police department may come under scrutiny from time to time, I want to express my pride in their commitment to safety and hard work — the kind of commitment that takes place every day when no one is looking."

From Mayor to Assembly to State Senate to Lieutenant Governor... Abel Maldonado has lived a politically charmed life. At this rate, he could President...

You know what all the money in the world allows you to do? Skip the Republican Gubernatorial next month in Santa Clara. Actually, only one of the people with all the money in the world (Meg Whitman) is skipping that debate... the other really rich person Steve Poizner will be there (master)debating himself...

Here is something: The Mountain View-Los Altos High School District has the highest paid teachers in the State with an average making $95k+.

All that time y'all spend on Facebook is bad for your employer, but really, really good for Facebook. That's why they need all the space they can get for the employees that keep your favorite time-wasting website up and running. Their new new digs at 1050 Page Mill Road in Palo Alto also has the benefit of not pissing everyone in town off because of Facebook's parking issues...

Only in Palo Alto: Developer Harold Honbach has filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Palo Alto claiming the City is running out the clock on his project to build 84 apartments and some R and D space until he dies... Seriously.

Ed Rast at Protect San Jose looks into the numbers of police complaints in San Jose. He poses some pretty interesting questions in his piece...

Spel Cheque... Continued...

Well, it seems spelling mistakes are contagious on the right side of the political spectrum.

(See Spel Cheque? from Sunday about Councilmember Constant's re-election -- or is it reelekshun? -- website.)

Another spy sent us this clip from the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce insert in this week's Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal.

To paraphrase Lynyrd Skynyrd, ."...the Chamber must love candidates for Lieutenant Govenor..."

Morning News Round-Up -- 11.24.09: Dando's Condo...

The Governator loves Jay Leno, his first time in Leno’s guest chair he announced his candidacy in the epic Recall Election of 2003. For Schwarzenegger’s second act, he brought the news that (a small sliver of) Silicon Valley will face a special election because State Senator Abel Maldonado to replace Lt. Governor John Garamendi. That is, if he can get past the confirmation hearings. State Senator/ Lt. Governor wannabe Dean Florez doubts Maldonado will be confirmed. An unconfirmed (ok... made-up) report has Pat Dando polishing up her resume and kicking the renters out of her Sacramento condo...

Another day, another School District under fire. San Jose Evergreen Community College Chancellor Rosa Perez decided to retire for health reasons shortly after ABC 7’s I-Team asked to talk about her outfitting her home office, hiring her partner, and lavish travel around the world. Trustee/ Board President Randy Okamura grimly defended decisions to travel to Vietnam and Thailand to recruit students to the financially challenged district. (As if the school isn't bursting at the seams...) Perhaps former East Side Union High School District Superintendent Bob Nunez could take her out for coffee and offer some advice with how to deal with situations like this...

While San Jose Evergreen's troubles headline for the first time... the Merc’s Editorial Board spanks Santa Clara Unified for reinforcing sexual stereotypes, ignoring sexual harassment of students, and welcoming “Broom Closet Modeling Agency’s” Joe Miller into a (cush) District job. The Editorial wonders if Miller’s escapades would have been ignored were it not for teacher/ pedophile Edward Slate's arrest for having sex with a student... A renewed call for a change in culture is put forth... Miller did not say, "Now I can recruit kids to work for me on all the campuses..."

We missed this in yesterday's Round-Up... Firefighter Union chief Randy Sekany penned an OpEd in the Merc agreeing (sort of) with Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio... He said if PO wants to negotiation all union contracts in public, make all government contract negotiations public too. That might make San Jose City Council meetings worth attending...

The parents of one of the boys hospitalized following a Halloween attack spoke out for the first time. Yesenia and Samuel Contreras said their son was a smart, talkative boy before being shot by gang members. Police and the teachers at the boy's school are fundraising to help cover escalating bills.

The Merc’s Editorial Board unleashes their inner-arborist saying room for 90,000 trees in San Jose is an opportunity. Apparently these arborists did a little home resale sleuthing to remind doubters that tree-lined streets increase those sinking home prices.

Morgan Hill’s new school Superintendent Dr. Wesley Smith watched kids practice fractions and met with parents... including parents pissed off at Smith's non-Latino heritage. Smith took it in stride and aims for bilingual meetings where he hopes to “give people a voice.”

Gilroy parents are also pissed... After learning El Roble Elementary School custodians clean up knives, condoms, and drugs from the playground. Would the parents prefer the custodians leave them there? Or better yet, would parents prefer the custodians recruit their kids to model?

Mountain View’s Castro Street saw the arrest of teenagers kiting checks and hanging out with gun-toting felons. Police say 3 teens from Concord and Hayward borrowed daddy’s car for a joy ride to Mountain View with a bulletproof vest and handgun locked in the trunk. Kids, it is Mountain View, you probably could have left the bulletproof vest at home...

An “extremely intoxicated” Mountain View man was beaten and robbed of $40 according to Mountain View police spokesperson Liz Wylie who added that while it doesn’t appear to be gang related.

In the animal cruelty department, Gilroy rescue-pooch Sammy was mauled and killed by the neighbors pit bull and bulldog. Michael Vick has no comment...

And this just pissed Watch Dog off to no end... you remember last week Carly Fiorina had coffee with the Washington press corps and she questioned, while pandering, the science behind global warming. Apparently Fiorina is now the queen of science as she bashes the health reform bill being discussed in Washington...

Morning News Round-Up -- 11.6.09: State Senator Dando?

State Senator Abel Maldonado appears headed to fill the Lt. Governor's seat recently vacated by (now) Congressman John Garamendi. Most Republican insiders are reported to be anxious to boot Maldo from their caucus midst and happy to see him heading to the Guvernator's side. A special election for Maldo’s seat could be just what the Dem’s are hoping for in the South Bay. But Watch Dog spies tell us that Chamber head-honcho, Republican, former San Jose Vice Mayor, and former Gov-staffer Pat Dando's hat is firmly in the ring for that seat...

Just as Watch Dog was making plans to go clubbing in downtown San Jose tonight this news: Vault Ultra Lounge (whatever an "ultra lounge" is) was shut down by the State Alcoholic Beverage Control. Something about minors hanging in the bar and ignoring the State’s labor regulations. Vault’s owners weren’t dishing to the press -- shocker... What will Vault's lobbyists do when they can't blame the Police and the City for screwing up their client's business... perhaps Tim Hennessey will come to the rescue?

Three kids and an 18 year old, confessed to Police they shot and stabbed trick-or-treating children on Halloween. District Attorney Dolores Carr and Mayor Chuck Reed look forward to trying the teenagers as adults. San Jose Councilmember Nora Campos is pissed as gang violence continues to rise in her Council District. The irony of this story:

• We know about the confessions because the Police released their Police reports... which is exactly what was being asked of them a few weeks ago and they fought. Just to be clear on the new policy: Good news for Police = Reports get released. Bad news for Police = Reports don't get released...

The Merc’s Editorial Board sends props to San Jose Police for their rapid arrests in the Halloween gang violence then reminds us that busting minorities is an area where San Jose Police excel -- and it is hurting their ability to do their job in the long run.

Not to be left out of the reform-the-police debate, the President of San Jose Downtown Association calls on San Jose leaders to set a Civilian Review Board off to oversee accusations of police misconduct.

City staff and taxpayers need to share the burden of San Jose’s 9 consecutive years of red ink -- that's the plan the City Council passed (without Councilmember PO). Slightly less painful than Mayor Reed’s initial proposal, a blended proposal calls for a 5% reduction in employee costs, efficiencies, and taxes... how fun...

Also getting in on the San Jose budget fun... San Jose Inside read reports of Council decisions on sharing the pain and asks “after nine years of budget deficits, are city operations still inefficient to the tune of $32 million?” SJI also wants to know how it is police and firefighter salary and benfits “shot up 78 percent” while the rest of the world saw 18% increases.

The Santa Clara County Sheriff who ran over cyclists has now cost the County $4.6 million with another lawsuit in the works.

Mountain View seeks to out-do San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed’s passion for green. Setting an aggressive goal of greenhouse gas reduction puts Mountain View among the first of cities across the nation.

Just in time for your Saturday lawn mowing pleasure: Residents of Santa Clara Valley didn’t reach their water savings goal. The pretty green lawn-keepers missed the 15% reduction mark, and used more water than their Peninsula and East Bay cousins. Don’t worry your pretty little roses over it, there’s no teeth in the Water Districts regulations.

The Merc’s Sean Webby better hope he never gets pulled over by San Jose’s finest. Protect San Jose’s James Gonzales suggests the sale of newspapers is behind the Merc’s investigation into allegations of excessive force... (If the Merc didn't need to sell papers, I guess we can assume that the paper wouldn't cover videos of baton-wielding Police Officers busting college students or the lack of transparency from the Police Department...) The Protect blog seems to be taking a page from Sarah Palin's playbook: blame the media.

Morning News Round-Up -- 9.18.09: There's a new Chief in town...

For those long-time Watch Dog readers, you remember the turmoil the last Palo Alto Police Chief brought on to herself. Well, Palo Alto is appointing the taking the "Interim" off of Interim Police Chief Dennis Burns. Here's hoping that Burns doesn't follow in Lynne Johnson's PR footsteps...

A "suspicious" fire hit Citti's flower shop in Santa Clara. Sad. Watch Dog always loved Citti's and we hope they get that building back soon.

That gas you were smelling in Japantown in San Jose yesterday was caused by a construction crew that hit a gas line.

Unsurprisingly, the Los Gatos-Saratoga Union School District Board disagrees with what the Civil Grand Jury says about the District's pay packages and legal fees. One day, there will be a government agency that actually agrees with a Civil Grand Jury report -- that would be newsworthy.

Just down the street in Saratoga, an audit showed that as many as 1,740 businesses may not be paying the City's business license fee. Raising the obvious question: there are 1,740 businesses in Saratoga?

Library wars are brewing in Palo Alto. Mostly because Palo Alto just loves books so much. In fact, the Library Commission heard from pissed off readers who demanded a redesign to accommodate more books. Palo Alto’s City Council also had some (detailed) suggestions about the new library. One mad Library Commission Chair Susie Thom resigned saying “in 2 hours the council was able to discount 4 years of work.”

Morgan Hill tow truck operators are angry about a City proposal for a City-owned impound lot. They fought in court claiming it violated State law (the judge disagreed). According to tow lawyer Bruce Tichinin the City’s impound lot would “put my tax-paying clients out of business.” Tow operator/ Gilroy City Councilmember Dion Bracco adds jurisdictions in SoCal don’t make as much money as Morgan Hill hopes will roll on in.

Morgan Hill's State Senator, Abel Maldonado, was a no-show when it came to voting on a bill that could have helped Morgan Hill. The bill failed and Morgan Hill is out $2 million. Maldo said he hopes to get a do-over if the bill shows up in special session and promised Mayor Steve Tate “I’ll keep an eye on this bill.”

Oops. California didn’t post Gilroy High’s score on the eagerly anticipated Academic Performance Index. Superintendent Deborah Flores suspected it was “something to do with participation.” In fact, not enough students put those old #2’s to paper for Gilroy to qualify.

Mission City Lantern gives some props to Watch Dog and renames a local lobbying outfit...

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.27.09

In case you missed it Friday, San Jose’s Mayor Chuck Reed ‘fessed up to f’ing up the Independent Police Auditor selection. Reed isn’t going down alone, he’s taking Councilmembers Nora Campos and Pete Constant with him saying they reviewed all the applications as well as agreeing with him on the final four and final two. Constant and colleague Pierluigi Oliverio back the Mayor saying the Chris Constantin brother-on-the-force-conflict-of-interest wasn’t a big deal. Another closed meeting this week will let the fighting colleagues battle it out in private…

Surprise, it’s not easy finding $2 million for sports when schools are failing… East Side Union High School District Trustees aren’t raising the money they need and (apparently) aren’t telling District athletes the sports programs are in trouble. Board President Patricia Martinez-Roach is staying optimistic in the face of failed fundraising attempts through prayer. Associate Superintendent Alan Garafalo said raising the needed money is like “…changing water into wine.”

The Merc’s Internal Affairs is playing follow the bouncing legislators, again. If John Garamendi wins Ellen Tauscher's Congressional seat the Governator would appoint Garamendi's replacement. Senator Abel Maldonado is getting misty eyed at the thought of ditching the cranky Democrats to become the next Lt. Governor. IA also investigates the drama of the $720,000 pizza maker purchase by San Jose Unified School District. The pizza maker was a hot topic for ABC 7’s Dan Noyes, but IA’s own investigation is not as exciting...

Michael Kaiser, with the National Cyber Security Alliance, chastises local school districts for not preparing students for online safety. Kaiser says sending kids online without preparation is like leaving a playground full of rambunctious youngsters unsupervised and hoping for the best.

Santa Clara Police Chief Stephen Lodge says he doesn’t have enough police on call should the 49ers find their way South. Lisa Lang, spokesperson for the 49ers, promises taxpayers won’t be on the hook for the new officers. Mission City Lantern calls it a touchdown.

Santa Clara County health officials are bracing for a Swine Flu breakout. The first (possible) case is in the Sacramento area and with plenty of Silicon Valley travelers returning home from Mexico it’s only a matter of time before the world wide panic arrives. Before you feel feverish, keep those hands washed and cover your mouth when you sneeze.

Going solar in Silicon Valley can be pricey, depending on where you live. Monte Sereno and Los Altos Hills want solar so badly there are no city fees. Solar panels in Cupertino can set the well meaning homeowner back a hefty chunk of change. Kurt Newick, the Sierra Club’s local watch dog, snooped to find the most solar friendly cities.

Last call at the Los Gatos Brewing Company took on a whole new meaning when the fireplace didn’t keep the fire contained. No one was hurt, more importantly, the beer survived.

Former Mayor/lobbyist/Sharks ticket holder Tom McEnery called it an exoneration of the “tissue of lies and half truths” filed against him while Anonymous’ legal beagle James McManis said the independent evaluators report was confirmation of McEnery’s guilt. San Jose’s Elections Commission reviews the report, and 20 recommended violations, this week. San Jose Revealed slaps Anonymous for silly mistakes and slams the investigation team for violations of the “smell test.”

San Jose had its eighth murder Sunday when a young man was found stabbed to death outside a 24 Hour Fitness.

The Toon Goons were busted by San Jose’s finest for leaving their toon tags all over downtown. Downtown Association director Scott Knies said the teenager taggers were hitting the downtown hard, pissing off anyone who had skin in downtown buildings. Knies promised the Downtown Association promised to be “more relentless than the taggers.”

Morning News Round-Up – 3.5.09: Santa Clara County Raiders?

Santa Clara County Supervisor George Shirakawa, Jr. continues his “quixotic quest" to toss the County’s plans for housing at the fairgrounds in order to bring pro football to San Jose. The Supervisor, referred to by the Merc. as “burly” (and by Watch Dog as Grand Poobah), met with Raiders Chief Executive Amy Trask and Finance Director Mark Badain. Rumors that Shirakawa has abandoned his Supervisorial post to negotiate a coaching job for Eddie Garcia are unfounded.

The failed recall effort against San Jose Councilmember Madison Nguyen is over...save the spin. The Merc. digs in with local wonk/SJSU political science Professor Larry Gerston and spinmeister/failed campaign manager Andre Charles. The Editorial Board offers up an opinion that it is time to move on and hopes Nguyen does indeed reach out to her opponents. San Jose Revealed also assesses the results and declares there was never any doubt about the outcome.

So much for the Smoke Police. Over 175 Santa Clara County residents complained about winter fires on Spare the Air days. Fewer than 35 firebugs received warnings. No one was slapped with a fine. Bay Area Air Quality Management District rep Kristine Roeselius said fines weren’t the focus, the goal is air quality improvement. The number of people wanting Spare the Air days email alerts doubled between September and November to 100,000.

Los Altos School District Trustees have proposed cutting their budget $2.3 million in response to the draconian budget from the State Legislature. They’ll be waving goodbye to 18 teachers and 28 support staffers.

Los Altans will be happy to know a second suspect has been arrested for the brazen November robbery of Harold’s Jewelry. The two suspects were both already in jail at the Elmwood Correctional Complex. Police warn there are other suspects still at large and hopes for a dramatic Hollywood style car chase remain.

Mountain View NIMBY’s have coughed up $346 to appeal placement of the Day Worker Center nearby. Opponents to the center include Brad Kellar who wrote "Please protect our neighborhood property values!" Appellant Vince Racifi worries the center will distract police from the growing gang problem.

There is (apparently) a big-time power outage in Palo Alto this morning. Crews are "scrambling" to get folks back online...this is the type of problem that the Utilities Department should be handling, rather than this type of problem with Federal law enforcement agents...(thank you Watch Dog San Mateo...)

Looks like the American Chemistry Association/plastic bag lover Manny Diaz has successfully convinced the Santa Clara County Recycling and Waste Reduction Commission to ignore plastic bags. The Commission had proposed charging consumers for “single-use” bags. According to Commission member/Mountain View Councilmember Ronit Bryant they’re hoping education will drag consumers away from plastics. Really?

California Lottery officials took over as undercover cops to ferret out local retailers separating lottery winners from their tickets. Owners (or employees) from Jerry’s Market on Main in Milpitas along with Mercado y Carneceria Moreno, 4th Street Bowl, and Guru’s on N. 13th have lost their lottery contracts and could head to prison. Alex Traverso with the California Lottery wants to send a message to would be scammers “…we’re coming after you...”

Sal Pizzaro, the Merc’s man about town, fills us in on San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed’s dinner plans in Washington, D.C. where he met with SJSU President Jon Whitmore and former San Jose Mayor/Congressman/U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norm Mineta. Pizzaro muses over the selection of a bi-coastal chain restaurant for the dining luminaries.

The Merc’s Mr. Roadshow, Gary Richards, has received loads of queries asking whether BART does know the way to San Jose. Math and farm animals collide in questions about counting unhatched chickens and the weak tax projections.

The suicide death of SJSU/Sigma Chi’s Gregory Marcel Johnson, Jr. has grief stricken parents calling for a deeper investigation. The Metro’s Jessica Fromm covers all sides of the story. Mission City Lantern sends props to Metro for their coverage.

Metro/San Jose Inside’s Fly digs a little deeper into Saratoga/San Jose/Santa Maria Senator Abel Maldonado’s (conceited) demands in exchange for his support to pass the budget. Apparently the “outrageous” proposal to spend $1 million on office furniture by Controller John Chiang was just a tad less outrageous than Maldo wants us to believe. Maldonado dramatically tosses darts at former Assemblymember Fred Keely and waves his arms.

Morning News Round-Up -- 3.2.09: A Nickname is Born...

The final days leading up to the biggest day San Jose Councilmember Madison Nguyen’s career are filled with precinct walking and calloused dialing fingers. Tomorrow at 8 p.m., one way or another, papers will be recycled, old coffee cups thrown away, and sleep will come in more than a few hours at a time. San Jose has seen 5 recall elections before now, only one was successful. "We were hopeful that she would understand the Vietnamese community better," volunteer My Phuong Le said in between (Yes) calling voters Sunday, "because that's her background." We will be blogging live on Tuesday night as the results come in...whatever the results, Andre Charles is putting his new resume together...

As Nguyen's date with the recall nears, it looks like Silicon Valley/Santa Maria State Senator Abel Maldonado will avoid a recall. Former Congressman/Former Assemblymember Ernie Konnyu is choosing not to harass Abel Maldonado via recall. (Konnyu is fond of other kinds of harassment, though.) But as Konnyu eases up, GOP leaders aren't going to. The State Republican Party has decided that they are going to withhold campaign dollars from Maldonado and the other five Republicans who voted for the budget package. Maldonado said his party “…is down in the dumpsters, and it's wrong to do this." Truer words have rarely been said...

The Merc’s Internal Affairs continues to muse over San Jose Councilmember Nora Campos’ ambitious goals for higher office. (They are still writing that story?) Campos aims to expand her meet and greets outside Assemblymember Joe Coto’s Assembly District to include the entire City – covering her bases for his seat and Mayor Reed’s.

In other Internal Affairs news, Supervisor Liz Kniss opted for the title President over Chair saying she could have chosen Grand Poobah. Supervisor George Shirakawa did not say, "She really couldn't have chosen Grand Poobah, because I'm the Grand Poobah...I even have the hat..." And with this story, a new nickname is born for the County's newest Supervisor...

As scrutiny increased on the San Jose Police Department, the questionable arrest rates curiously plunged in December and January. ACLU's local Director Skyler Porras said it was, "an alarming confirmation of the sheer number of wrongful arrests" that were occurring. Police Chief Rob Davis had a different spin saying he was pleased the "changes we have made" were having a "positive impact." That is quite a different tune than Chief Davis was singing last year...

Speaking of fun drunken times…Internal Affairs ferreted out four downtown clubs that offer the biggest challenges to San Jose Police Chief Rob Davis: WET, Miami Beach Club, Vivid, and Motif...if anyone reading this blog has ever gone to one of these places, hit me up so we can roll together...

And the Drunk Task Force is still talking drunks in San Jose…City Manager Debra Figone ordered Police Chief Rob Davis to release 200 police reports to the Drunk Task Force for review. "We consider access to the information to actually identify the problem as a fundamental piece of our charge," said ACLU’s (always quotable) Sklyer Porras. "There is no point in sitting at the table to combat symptoms without getting at the disease."

Someone on the Merc’s Editorial Board was feeling particularly sassy this weekend when they wrote, “The great crossing guard panic of San Jose.” The Merc. Ed Board is critical of Councilmembers Pierluigi Oliverio and Pete Constant for frightening parents and education leaders when they claimed the crossing guard budget was being cut. Just as entertaining was the Rules Committee meeting where they feigned ignorance over the furor they helped create.

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission voted to give Santa Clara County $90 million of the $490 million in Federal money. The funding is a relief because the State has cut funding said VTA spokesperson Jennie Hwang Loft adding, "Losing a few million dollars is one thing. When you start getting into double digits, that's a whole other scenario."

Los Altos Planners are mulling over the results of polling data in order to narrow the scope of a bond measure for their new Civic Center. In November, voters head to the polls to decide how much they are willing to tax themselves for a City Hall. Assistant City Manager James Walgren is confident sufficient funds are available for one facility and plans to survey voters again in the summer. Any chance Los Altos wants to relocate their City Hall to 801 N. First Street in San Jose? We hear there is an empty building there...

Watch Dog congratulation Mountain View for joining Palo Alto, Sunnyvale, and San Jose on the Bicycle Friendly Community list of California’s bike friendly cities.

Mountain View Police arrested community leader/soccer coach Pedro Carbajal for sexually assaulting female relatives under the age of 14. Police spokesperson Liz Wylie said they are “not looking for victims” among the Amigo League teams he coached.

And while we are on the topic...

Gilroy High math teacher (Morgan Hill resident) Alberto Gomez Vicuna, Jr. heads to court in San Jose this week. According to Deputy DA Ray Mendoza Vicuna, Jr. is a very, very bad man and faces up to 10 years in prison for having sex with a 14 year old San Jose girl he met on the social networking site Tagged.com. Vicuna had over 100 female friends on the site. Mendoza is concerned there may be more victims. Pissed off parent Jeannie White said, "If they have a pedophile on school grounds, I want to know if they're not doing a good enough background check."

Gang members in Gilroy High started an oatmeal fight which escalated to a battle that included 30 police officers in riot gear and shotgun wielding CHP officers and the arrest of 7 students. While the students were entertained, Principal James Maxwell was not because he was hosting reviewers from the California School Recognition Program for a possible award. (Was it an award for the most gang members at lunch?) Maxwell sighed, "Every couple of years you get a riot like this, and a lot of kids think this is a big joke, but it's not..."

Breaking news this morning in San Jose: A body was found on the 680/McKee off-ramp early this morning. Officer Jermaine Thomas said, "This was an apparent hit-and-run, and the pedestrian was dragged after the collision.'' Yikes...

It’s going to be a race now as to who is more pissed off: the Spansion employees who got rudely ditched last week (while the bosses got raises) or the ones who learned Sunday that their employer was filing for bankruptcy. Former Chief Exec Bertrand Cambou pledged Friday to return his $403,000 severance check because “my heart is broken” seeing his old team let go without severance. Current Chief Exec John Kispert said Chapter 11 made sense because it provides the company “the most effective means to preserve our market position and to maintain customer confidence."

Morning News Round-Up -- 2.20.09: The budget, something (else) for Kevin Skelly to talk about...

For local school Districts the State budget approval was a mixed blessing. A sigh of relief it was over, followed by cursing when the severity of budget cuts looming in front of them was understood. Karen Fuqua with San Jose Unified said they will begin notifying nearly 400 teachers and all administrators that they might not have a job next year. Even though the budget is getting cut in education, on the bright side of things, Palo Alto Unified's Superintendent has something else to talk about other than this bone-headed stuff he said...the Merc. Editorial Board sees a silver-lining, which is a bit ironic since their silver lining (open primaries) was put there by a guy they took to task yesterday...

San Jose Revealed had some fun with San Jose Inside/Metro’s Fly story about the Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins/Cindy Chavez sightings. In a series of blurbs Revealed fills us in that the Chamber is hiring a policy wonk and paints Councilmember Nora Campos as a Knight in shining armor.

Mission City Lantern wasn’t so pleased with San Jose/Santa Maria Senator Abel Maldonado calling Abel a dimwitted extortionist. Tell us how you really feel, James.

Embattled San Jose Councilmember Madison Nguyen has raised over $250,000 to fight the recall battle while her opponents have raised less than half that. The recall proponents report having roughly $10,000 more in the bank than Nguyen’s camp with less than 2 weeks left before election day. Nguyen’s supporters are in full force, even Mayor Chuck Reed was pounding the pavement over the weekend.

Morgan Hill’s Police Department must have been following Watch Dog’s coverage of skyrocketing drunk arrests in San Jose. Not wanting to be left out they released a report that their drunk arrests doubled in the past 2 years. Chief Bruce Cumming says having more police resources have helped increase tossing the tipsy in the hoosegow. "Our officers are more assertive about (public drunkenness) than perhaps they were three or four years ago," said Cumming. San Jose Police Chief did not say, "See, everyone hates drunk people..."

Gilroy taxpayers alerted the School District that they weren’t being taxed. (What?) Yep, taxes that have appeared on annual bills for 35 years went missing, causing the District to scramble to figure out how to pay a $5.3 million bond payment due later this year. "We don't know what happened. We're still working through that. All we know is that the tax didn't make it to the taxpayers, but the why and the how - we're not there yet," Deputy Superintendent of Business Services Enrique Palacios said. In the meantime, watch dog Tom Newton is pissed the district met behind closed doors when the problem became known.

The Morgan Hill Times is pleased to announce a move to a bilingual web presence. Si desea leer el periódico en español, haga clic aquí. Watch Dog is (not) next, unfortunately...

The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office has asked for another delay in the trial of Armando Suazo Ochoa, who last year decided to run over two men with whom he’d been fighting. The DA’s office is still waiting for the Coroner’s report, nearly 4 months since the second victim died. (Wise guy, Ben Field did not say, "Who needs a Coroner's report to go to trial?...")

Homeowners, if you get a letter from Los Angeles Company Property Tax Reassessment – don’t fall for it. So says Santa Clara County Assessor Larry Stone who calls the letters “outrageous.”

It is perhaps one of the saddest stories of the year. Vanessa Geronimo started fearing school when she was only in kindergarten, she was often crying from the brutal teasing of classmates. In third grade she was skipping 20% of her classes, by the time she got to 7th grade she went to school 2 or 3 days a year. The Alum Rock School District tried everything, to no avail. Vanessa’s parents Jayvee Geronimo and Carol Reynoso will serve jail time for contributing to her delinquency. Deputy District Attorney Lois Baer said, "It's tragic. But she's essentially a fifth-grade dropout, and the parents haven't followed through at all.''

San Jose Inside has a new guest columnist, Steve Borkenhagen, of the very yummy Eulipia, posts a plea of support for the proposed public market (a.k.a. McEnery-ville). Borkenhagen is apparently a fan of McEnery’s as well as the Pike Place Market (Seattle) and Chelsea Market (New York).

Morning News Round-Up -- 2.19.09: "Your Cell Phone Law Sucks" Edition...

San Jose/Santa Maria State Senator Abel Maldonado got his wish while others called it "blackmail, extortion, and skulduggery." This morning, the State Senate approved the budget along with Maldonado’s proposed Constitutional Amendments for an open primary system and banning legislative pay increases during deficit years. Legislative leaders refused to cut their pay altogether when the budget is late. Maldonado said, “I'd like to have seen somebody else vote for this budget. And it would have been easy for me to cast a 'no' vote." San Jose State Senator Elaine Alquist said, "I'm a realist and I understood we needed a two-thirds vote. I did what I had to do."

Speaking of Sacramento...

"Senator Joe Simitian: Your cell phone law sucks." That's not Watch Dog saying that, that is a billboard on 101 in East Palo Alto, thanks a wasteful-spending angry man named Grant Paulson...

San Jose Revealed said something we never thought we’d hear: they agree with San Jose Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio. Mayor Chuck Reed has given City Manager Debra Figone free rein in developing the strategy for this daunting task. Revealed doesn’t agree with this approach and Oliverio is struggling with it as well. Revealed and Oliverio agreeing...can hell freezing over be far behind?

San Jose Inside’s Pete Campbell was also keeping an eye on San Jose’s budget workshop. Campbell’s take was a little different: he proposes outsourcing economic development to the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce and giving the Office of Cultural Affairs funding to private donors, corporations, and “other groups.” Campbell also proposes handing the Housing Department over to the County. That's pretty radical stuff...incredibly unlikely, but radical...

Also on San Jose Inside: Metro's Fly asks some questions about Labor leader Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins' sabbatical and what that means for former Vice Mayor Cindy Chavez. From 'working on the transition' for several months to being on 'sabbatical'...Really? Watch Dog predicts more news on this front...

Be careful what you wish for...young, “scrappy” lawyers with Legal Advocates for Children and Youth will take representation of Santa Clara County’s foster youth away from the District Attorney’s office in the coming months. The new lawyers earn a fraction of prosecutors $188,000 salary and plan to spend oodles of time working with each child. They want a case load of 175 children per lawyer, well below the State standard of 188 and a fraction of the sometimes over 400 per lawyer seen at the DA’s office. Get ready to work your ass off Legal Advocates...

Speaking of the DA's office...

The Merc.’s Scott Herhold takes a day off, instead letting readers that are annoyed at him for his support of troubled District Attorney Ben Fields (and other things) fill his column. Herhold pokes fun at readers comments along the way...careful Scott, those readers are fewer and farther between than they used to be...

Santa Clara County’s Rapid Enforcement Allied Computer Team made a field trip to San Francisco to raid ‘the Castle’ and arrest 4 people for dealing meth. Meth users in the “more affluent residential areas” of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties can look for their dealer in jail. David Hendrickson, an investigator with the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office who headed the task force said the investigation started with informants in San Mateo County.

In front of a packed house, the Los Altos City Council selected plans for their new Civic Plaza. Dominant in the drawings are trees – lots and lots of trees.

It was standing room only at the Los Altos School District meeting when the discussion was cutting $3.4 million from programs. Randy Kenyon, Assistant Superintendent for Business Services, said “…programs mean people...” Board member Mark Goines said he wants to review cuts totaling $5 million, to prepare for years of deficits the District faces down the line. The Board meets March 2nd to make its final decisions.

Parts of Stevens Creek will be moved, others restored as it flows through Cupertino. (The actual Creek not the street.) Ralph Qualls (of San Jose fame), Cupertino's Director of Public Works is planning for a 4th of July re-opening. Cupertino spent more than 20 years cobbling together the land along the corridor.

Like the rest of America, Sunnyvale is slashing expenses. With a $12 million shortfall this year and a $9 million deficit the loser in this economic crisis is likely to be the Morse Park near Tasman. Developer fees cover construction but the more than $100,000 in projected annual maintenance is more than Sunnyvale can bear. Morse Park Neighborhood Association Chair Adam Berkan said that by not building the park "they've actually hurt a neighborhood." City Manager Gary Luebbers said, "Things are tough right now, and I don't see the park in the mix this year."

Perhaps this will help...

Sunnyvale joined San Jose’s Mayor Chuck Reed in asking for federal dollars. Asking for $64.5 million to support 15 projects, City spokesman John Pilger said, "there's a significant trickle-down within private industry if we have a major construction job like the rehabilitation of a bridge." Adam Berkan is looking for some of the trickling to flow towards Morse Park.

Maybe she was trying to be efficient, or maybe she just really, really wanted her Starbucks fix. Whatever the reason, an unnamed woman drove her gold Jaguar through the window of Gilroy’s Starbucks. Sgt. Jim Gillio said no alcohol (perhaps caffeine?) was involved and, "It was pretty shocking but these types of things happen now and again."

A week ago, the Gilroy Pontiac Buick GMC left 26 people without jobs as they shuttered their doors. This week, it’s Gilroy Ford Lincoln Mercury leaving town, with 31 people getting cut. City Administrator Tom Haglund met with owner Don Malinoff and General Manager Joe Lopez Tuesday to see if the city could dig up extra cash for the dealership, but Lopez said Wednesday that it was not likely any arrangement would be reached. As tough as it is to have folks lose their jobs...this must be a huge sales tax hit to Gilroy. That's why the Gilroy Economic Development Director didn't say, "Pretty please come to the outlets..."

Morning News Round-Up -- 2.18.09: Blog + Romance = Blogmance...

Before we get to the Round-Up, we want to assure readers that our blogmance (blog+romance=blogmance) with San Jose Revealed will not die, no matter where we cross-post. We know you are concerned Revealed, but our blogmance is long-term...unlike Brody and Spencer...as a hat-tip to you San Jose Revealed, you are Rounded-Up first today:

San Jose Revealed yesterday tweaked the Merc.’s Scott Herhold for missing the point of Assistant DA Ben Field’s punishment. (Revealed and Watch Dog are bloggers-in-arms as far as Herhold is concerned...). In addition to the Herhold bashing, yesterday Revealed also:

• Celebrated the Merc.’s support of Councilmember Campos’ drunk records request,
• Lamented nearly missing the news that the Chamber of Commerce could get fined for 2006 campaign challenges, and
• Pointed out that San Jose made the headlines of the New York Times (in not-such-a-good way)...

The blogmance continues...

Now to less important news...

Senator Abel Maldonado may regret how long he’s been toying with his Democratic colleagues (and the Governor and voters). Around midnight last night, Republicans ousted their leader, Senator Dave Cogdill. Sort of a late-night coup d'etat. A visibly upset Maldonado said, “I just can't believe in the middle of the night we would oust our leader." Senators (and Assemblymembers and the Governor and everyone else in the State) face a continued lock-down until some compromise is found. (Our very own) Senator Elaine Alquist is ready saying, "I've got my jammies, they're up in my office right now, and I have my toothbrush and toothpaste." (Perhaps she could go down the hall and grab a blanket from Assemblymember Coto.) Meanwhile, the Governor is set to layoff thousands.

In Morgan Hill’s elementary schools, kids are now given healthy choices for meals. This change has some unexpected benefits, there’s less trash after lunchtime and kids are more excited about lunch. The parents of Shae Urbina (and the aforementioned broccoli-grower/Senator Abel Maldonado) must be proud, their daughter said, “I heart broccoli…it gives me lots of vitamins and helps me stay healthy.” All parents can thank the District’s Director of Student Nutrition Scott McMillan for making the kid friendly changes.

Every recession has seen it and now it’s openly discussed: more men than women are laid off. Terry Bacon, whose husband was laid off from HP after 11 years, said “women are still underpaid.” The Bay Area Mr. Moms might not be helping with the paycheck but it seems their families are happy. Greg Hobbs was laid off during the dot com bust and says becoming a full-time Mr. Mom was good for their family, "With both of us working and three kids at home, we realized there was a void in our family by not having a parent at home, helping get them involved in extracurricular activities." (Perhaps this is the next career for the aforementioned former Senate Republican Leader Dave Cogdill...)

The Mountain View–Los Altos High School District is considering a “Green” bond to pay for $14 million in solar panels and possibly energy efficient pools. The District is looking at 2010 to put the measure on the ballot – no doubt hoping the economy has stopped pummeling taxpayers by then.

The Merc.’s Ann Killion is in full cycling-mode with the Amgen Tour of California, drenched though she may be. Control freak/super competitor/cycling phenom Lance Armstrong suffered another crash Tuesday, this time with teammate (and Californian) Levi Leipheimer. Killion had the chance to ask Armstrong how he stays motivated on wet, rainy days. Armstrong responded with a smile saying, "I always assume that around the corner, it's going to be sunny and warm." San Jose Inside has some nice photos from the San Jose leg with the wet racers.

San Jose Inside blogger/Santa Clara County Office of Education Trustee Joseph DiSalvo recommends Palo Alto Superintendent Kevin Skelly could learn a few things from pilot/hero Captain Sullenberger. It would seem DiSalvo doesn’t share Skelly’s belief that some Palo Alto kids are handicapped from the start. For more info abo ut Skelly's bone-headed comments, take a look at Palo Alto Weekly's comment section...