Morning News Round-Up -- 8.26.09: Any-Excuse-to-Use-Funny-Photo Edition...

The Merc’s Sal Pizarro gives a rundown of San Jose’s latest accolades: 3rd best place for kids (think skate parks), 12th best public university in the west (tied with Humboldt, Fresno, and Texas State), and, drumroll please, top water pollution control plant from the US Environmental Protection Agency (for power generation). Yay us -- 12th best in the west!

Santa Clara Supervisor Ken Yeager hopes to find a way to keep Henry Coe State Park open while colleague/ Supervisor/(soon-to-be Mayor?) Don Gage says close that puppy. The list of closing parks is expected right after your Labor Day hike, so enjoy it.

Gilroy Mayor Al Pinheiro’s biggest hater, Mark Zappa, is waiting until the Mayor returns from Portugal before filing the recall paperwork and looking to a June 2010 recall election, to save the City money. That's pretty thoughtful... For the record, Gilroy’s future Mayor?/ Supervisor Don Gage made no appearance in the story...

The race to replace Hal Plotkin by appointment to the Foothill-DeAnza Community College Distict is in the final interview stage. Foothill-DeAnza Trustees want to talk with Joan Barram (Cupertino Union School District Trustee), Richard Bernhardt (Business and student lobbyist), Jeannie Conner (Senator Joe Simitian’s political director), and Anita Manwani-Bhagat (business leader at NASA/HP/Agilent).

Congressmember Anna Eshoo’s 2nd “telephone” town hall got her props from the more than 7,000 participants. Eshoo told participants she’s doing a face-to-face on healthcare next week and testily pointed out she’s done more face-to-face town halls than any of her colleagues.

Kathleen Blanchard, the Mother of one of Gunn High Schools suicide victims spoke out at the Palo Alto Unified School Board meeting. Without pointing fingers, she gently urged change in how adults work with students and called for “attitude adjustments and philosophical adjustments” in working with kids. The Merc’s Patty Fisher digs into other teen suicides in Silicon Valley and the news is not good…

NASA Ames is ready to build “Sustainability Base,” architect Kevin Burke loves the “combination of high tech and low tech.” Meaning the building will close itself at night and use the same “technology” as historic California Adobe homes to cool off or warm up. With a little luck, there won’t be a “toxic” siding battle on this green house.

Latest perv alerts heading your way…

• Dentist/(mock) breast health worker Benva Oshana Lazar has added another complaint to his patient list – bringing his total to 8 (so far) patients pissed to learn breast exams are not part of dental practice.
• Teacher/ perv Edward Riley Slate III was busted for a 6 month sexual relationship with a student at Santa Clara’s Wilcox High.

(shy) Erotica enthusiasts/ burglars hit Gilroy’s Simply Romance for a third time taking off with leather wrist bands, cash, and owner Hank Provost’s new pipe, among other goodies. The increased attention from thieves doesn’t deter Provost, “if anything, I’m more determined to stick around.” Perhaps we now know where the ball gag came from...

San Jose Insider/ Santa Clara County Board of Education Trustee Joseph DiSalvo (could he have a longer title?) has endorsed former Franklin-McKinley Superintendent Larry Aceves as his favorite for State Superintendent of Public Instruction.

San Jose Inside’s Fly celebrates a (temporary?) reprieve for the (Fly hangout) “dingy, punky, (puky?)” Caravan Bar over an (un)watered down White Russian. (apparently) The Merc’s Internal Affairs story pissed off bartenders who “scribbled down letters” (on napkins) demanding an apology. Fly's piece also proves that Metro writers are probably a lot more fun to hang out with than Merc writers...

Morning News Round-Up – 5.29.09: Vegas, Fries, Sewage... Happy Friday

Mayor Mike Wasserman is not a happy camper saying it “fries” him to learn the Governator may take almost $1 million as punishment for failure of the May 19 election.

The Great Recession is the pain that keeps on aching. San Jose’s city council was visited by janitors who got ditched by Cisco. Janitorial rep Guadalupe Antolin hopes the city council will throw its weight around at Cisco and get them back to work. Watch Dog is (pretty) sure Antolin didn't mean ...

Sunnyvale School Superintendent Ben Picard is joining the ranks of Silicon Valley school districts heading to the ballot box. Paraphrasing a little Vegas ditty, Picard says what’s raised here, stays here. First step, a poll…

Sunnyvale residents, nice job cutting back on water, as appreciation, and in the spirit of the booming economy – your rates are going up!

Silicon Valley is ready to launch the next big tourist attraction… the San Jose/Santa Clara Water Pollution Control Plant hopes the $1 billion overhaul will turn it into the next California Academy of Sciences.

It’s the feel-good cop story San Jose police have been waiting for. Police officers Luan Nguyen and Manny Vasquez were winging their way home from a much needed vacation in Vietnam when mile high circumstances required their expert police skills.

The Merc’s Barbara Marshman kept the conversation going at a Silicon Valley Leadership Group panel with local green experts. Read all the gory details.

The Merc’s Editorial Board joins Sierra Club’s Melissa Hippard to call on Silicon Valley homeowners to ditch the offer of a $130 refund. Let the Santa Clara Open Space Authority keep the ill-gotten gain, unless you’re among the pink slip proud or hate the great outdoors.

The Merc’s Joe Rodriguez sat with a very lucky man to learn how failed assassinations brought Mexico’s rising political star, David Figueroa, to San Jose. Now safe with his family, Now the Mexican Consul General, Figueroa sees the crease of a bullet each time he looks in the mirror.

It’s the Silicon Valley Dream… Judy Dugan and Julia Murphy began a hike as friends and ended it as entrepreneurs for Jumping Cracker Beans greeting cards. Within a year they were shipping underwear elastic, making lemonade and winning the Louie…

Mr. Roadshow, aka Gary Richards, asks the knuckleheads from Stanford not to use Highway 280 as a vehicle for protest…

A Morgan Hill police officer’s Glock was stolen from his home. There’s a $1,000 in it for you to help get the gun back. Call Morgan Hill police at 408.779.2101 or the anonymous tip line at 408-947-STOP (7867).

The Metro dishes on kids and porn. From “sexting” to surfing, kids seem to have a grip on new technology. An anonymous “Jane” reports mobile computing is the preferred source for education and maybe a little test cheating. Watch Dog can hear the howls from the BFF’s…

Los Gatans are asked to chime in on land use next week, if you dig figuring out what to do now that Los Gatos car dealerships are out, this is for you…

Morning News Round-Up -- 5.21.09

The Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters estimated 40% of the Valley’s voters would take part in the May 19 bloodbath, turns out they were optimistic. Roughly 25% of Santa Clara County voters showed up. Better than the State average where the ballot decisions were made by 23% of voters.

Speaking of (future) elections...

The moment Santa Clara’s City Council happily announced a (tentative) deal with the 49ers, owner Jed York was dishing. Also excited, Councilmember Dominic Caserta who said “I’m so excited, I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve.” The San Francisco Chronicle's coverage is (predictably) less enthusiastic... Expect an election in March 2010, if you live in Santa Clara.

San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed will meet with People Acting in Community Together (PACT) to wrangle over East San Jose’s high foreclosure rates, crime, City neglect, and mistrust of Police. PACT co-chair Margie Marquez said “...we want to get him to focus on the pain and concern in our community.”

Joe White, with the Mountain View-Los Altos High School District, said the impact of Tuesday's election was still unclear, but it would be ugly. Foothill-DeAnza’s Andy Dunn agreed saying community colleges and K-12 have some tough (impossible) decisions ahead.

Santa Clara County prosecutor Troy Benson said he “freaked out” when he learned a child sex-abuse victim’s medical exam had been videotaped. He promptly told the defense. Superior Court Judge Paul Bernal’s testimony pokes holes in Benson’s story and it seems the DA’s office can’t get their stories straight.

The folks in Mountain View are looking forward to (praying for) a shopping center face lift... The Thoits family will sell a corner slice of their San Antonio shopping center to San Diego developer Merlone Geier Partners. Mountain View Councilmember Ronit Bryant is happy and says the shopping center was not living up to its potential. Bryant looks forward to a mixed use project.

Speaking of shopping centers...

The Merc’s Scott Herhold reports Silicon Valley Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren is stepping in to help Sunnyvale’s downtown. Lofgren shot letters to the Presidents of Wells Fargo and Bank of America demanding to know why they turned off the money to developer Peter Pau, especially after federal bailouts.

The Los Altos Planning Commission expects a full house tonight while they talk about a proposal for 28 new senior homes. Even NIMBYs have parents.

Los Gatos contractor/(accused) firebug Channing Verdan now has former Deputy District Attorney Dennis Lempert by his side. After telling reporters he was a “poor man” Verdan is no longer talking to the press and hasn’t entered a plea.

East San Jose teacher Janine Henderson’s students were out of shape, fighting, and 92% failed the President’s Physical Fitness test last year. Los Gatos Rotary President Beth Smith and Rotary buddies stepped in with a one year fitness program. The Merc’s Joe Rodriguez dishes all the sweaty details.

Merc. sports maven Ann Killion dishes her own version of tapas with two local nibbles…

• 49ers – let the chaos begin.
• A’s – Brad Pitt to play Billy Beane

Sunnyvale’s NetApp is the big deal in Silicon Valley with plans to buy Santa Clara based Data Domain for $1.5 Billion. NetApp CEO Daniel Warmenhoven dismissed rumors of becoming a takeover target…

Metro reporter Alastair Bland took time to visit the San Jose-Santa Clara Water Pollution Control Plant (the stuff you flush). After 53 years of continuous operation the plant faces a $1 billion overhaul. The Plant's Mike Ortega shares tales of Plant humor, the ill-gotten gains of a bank robbery, and drunken seagulls among them.

They coulda used a little water pollution control… The Environmental Protection Agency spanked California Waste Solutions and American Metal and Iron for dumping pollutants into San Jose waterways.

SaveBAREC was unable to save itself. The grassroots group lost an appeal in Santa Clara Superior Court to stop development on a former pesticide test site and has called it quits. Summerhill Homes has to clean the site of toxins which SaveBAREC brought attention to according to Gordon Stemple, an attorney representing residents in another lawsuit.

San Jose Revealed lets loose with Thursday Quick Notes, among them…

• Glee over newsworthy Chamber of Commerce leaders (which they got from us yesterday...),
• Mayor Reed’s trip to East San Jose, and
• Girls Gone Wild bus visits downtown San Jose.

Metro/San Jose Inside Editor posts a lament that San Jose will never lose its “soulless corporate blandness” as long as it kicks out local eateries like La Taqueria and replaces them with Carl’s Junior. The Editor expresses hope that the (McEnery) San Jose Public Market will give priority to local businesses, “not soul-sucking chains.”

San Jose Insider Pete Campbell posts his last Inside blog with a nostalgic look backwards and a cranky view of today.

Morning News Round-Up -- 5.5.09: Cinco de Mayo Corrections and Elections

Unbelievably (ha!), Watch Dog was wrong yesterday. Mayor Reed is not (was not) asking for an apology from Councilmember Campos regarding the Independent Police Auditor issue, he was asking her for an apology on the McEnery lobbyist complaint issue... Thank you Anonymous...

But the Merc. Editorial Board seems to want to get to the bottom of the Independent Police Auditor issue. They are calling for the records of the closed session meeting to be released so everyone can find out who knew what when about the IPA's brother.

The Editorial Board also demands for San Jose to be represented on regional boards like the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. Sounds reasonable enough...

And while we are drinking IPA... San Jose Insider/De-Bug’s Raj Jayadev calls for a slowdown in finding San Jose’s new Independent Police Auditor. Jayadev will no doubt be at today’s Council meeting where the new IPA selection process should prove entertaining.

Swine flu still dominates the news:

• Dr. Douglas Owens uses the craziness to advocate for better funding for local health departments. Nothing like a well-timed crisis to avoid budget cuts...
  
• Two more children were added to the list of confirmed Swine flu sufferers. Santa Clara County now has an even dozen cases.
  
• And, for all your Swine Flu news, the Merc. has their own Special Reports section. Nothing like a well-timed crisis to avoid budget cuts...

Today is also an election day... sort of. Voters in the Cupertino Union and Moreland School Districts need to turn in their mail-in ballots today. Don’t drop it in the mail, take it directly to the Santa Clara County Registrars office. The Merc reports that as of yesterday roughly 30% of voters had returned the ballot deciding on parcel taxes for schools.

In the world of blogs versus newspapers, San Jose Revealed takes a shot... Revealed had some fun with the “leak” from the Mayor’s office to the Merc. (let’s not forget the Metro). According to Revealed the “confidential” letter sent by the Mayor to Councilmember Nora Campos, the City Attorney, and the rest of the City Council made it to the Merc. at roughly the same time it was given to Campos. Revealed smacks the Merc., John Woolfolk, and Scott Herhold for neglecting their journalistic duties.

The Merc’s Mr. Roadshow supports the suggestion to name the 101-280-680 interchange for former San Jose City Councilmember Joe Colla. Colla may be best remembered for plopping an old Chevy on San Jose’s “Monument to Nowhere.” Mr. Roadshow received a letter from Colla’s daughter, Colette Blakely, offering support and Supervisor Dave Cortese, calling Colla the “pride of the Italian-American community” voices his support as well.

The San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce gave Garden City Construction’s Jim Salata the go ahead to restore the sign found during building clean up. The Merc’s Sal Pizarro reports no one anticipated the controversy over restoring the “Anglo California National Bank." The Chamber's Chief Anglo, Pat Dando, has been receiving complaints since last weeks unveiling. They didn't see this coming? Really?

It’s up to the County Supervisors now: Support the environment or the American Chemistry Council. The Recycling and Waste Reduction Commission voted for the environment and recommends the Supervisor’s follow their lead.

Gilroy’s rapist/math teacher Alberto Vicuna pleaded no contest to nine counts of sex crimes with a 14 year old girl from Oak Grove High School. The 32 year old Vicuna listed himself as a 15 year old on his online profile, but when he met the girl told her he was really 28 but had “forgotten” to update his Tagged.com profile. Deputy District Attorney Ray Mendoza said no other potential victims have come forward, yet.

Gilroy issued a challenge to its unions, compromise or layoffs. Mayor Al Pinheiro doesn’t want to touch the rainy day fund and is asking City employees to do with smaller paychecks. Union representative Jim Buessing says the City’s cushy reserves make it tough to even consider more layoffs. And by the way Mayor Pinheiro, it is both figuratively and literally a rainy day today...

Palo Alto, beware of the phony grandson. Grandparents in Palo Alto received calls from a man pretending to be a favorite grandson, in desperate need of money. The creep duped more than $11,000 out of this Palo Alto townsfolk. Police Agent Dan Ryan says, "Anyone who calls you and asks for money right away, it's probably not good..."

Scott Herhold got sentimental for the herpes ridden Koi at San Jose’s Japanese Friendship Garden. Someone out there, you know who you are, set diseased Koi free in the pond, infecting and killing most of the 265 fish. Park Ranger Penny Lee reports once the international disease hit the West Coast there was no stopping it. Not very friendly...

Facebook is ditching the virtual campus created in downtown Palo Alto for a real one at Stanford Research Park. To keep its geeks in check, and on campus, employees will get a Caltrain pass and a cafeteria with readily available meals and snacks. Say farewell to seeing your favorite Facebook geek at University Coffee all day long.

Google hired 200 Googlegoats to clear Googleweeds near the Googleplex in Google (Mountain) View. If you missed them this year, you can catch them in action next Googleyear.

staying with farm animals…

The economic crisis could be seen as chickens coming home to roost and it is exactly that for many local families. Sam’s Downtown Feed and Pet Supply partners with the 4-H to sell live chicks and has recently seen a huge increase in the number of families bringing home their own egg layers. The McCarty family of Willow Glen has 6 chicks and plans to sell eggs to the whole neighborhood. And, if local laws matter to you, you can have up to 6 chickens without a permit.

Cupertino’s City Council reviews their General Plan update today, in it ways to accommodate more than 1,000 new homes most of them affordable housing. Which won't be easy... Witness Mountain View...

Mountain View residents freaked out about an affordable housing proposal talked the City Council into studying the affects of 51 affordable units near downtown. With words like “ghetto,” two residents blamed their recent property decreases on the proposal. Councilmember Tom Means pointed out the global economic crisis might have had a bigger affect. Councilmember Laura Macias said she’s tired of reports that tell her what she already knows and says this will “...confirm what ROEM and I already believe…” this is a nice project that will increase property values. (Councilmember Macia, please take a look at ROEM's history with unhappy neighbors here...)

A new, and unreasonable, way to deal with High-Speed Rail emerged in Palo Alto yesterday... Palo Alto Vice Mayor Jack Morton called for the High-Speed Rail Authority to be disbanded and replaced with some other agency, like CalTrain... Really? Perhaps that would have been a stronger argument before the State (and a majority of folks on the Peninsula) voted FOR High-Speed Rail last November...

There’s no word yet from the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce on the controversial proposal to move the Friday Night Music Series out of West Second Street. Chamber Executive Director Chris Giusiana is anxiously awaiting the results of the eVote with the event kickoff next month.

Morning News Round-Up -- 5.4.09: Falcons with an inferiority complex?

Editors at the Merc must be incredibly bored... Apparently, it’s important to call out Stephen Colbert for not noticing San Jose’s City Hall peregrine falcon papa shares his moniker. You know a City has a massive inferiority complex when the paper of record begs for national airtime. Perhaps he sees the falcons' names for what they were -- a cheap way to get San Jose some exposure.

Perhaps the Merc Editors (or reporters) should have been following the internal politics at City Hall a little closer than the falcons... Fortunately for all of us, the Metro was on the case. The tit for tat on the 18th floor between Mayor Reed and Councilmember Campos got a bit (a lot) more heated on Friday. The Mayor asked Campos to apologize for making a stink about not knowing that the IPA candidate's brother was a sworn officer when she probably/actually did. Reed is calling Campos a liar. This qualifies as a ratcheting up of the war of words between the Mayor and Campos. But it also shows that the Mayor took the bait. Watch Dog believes that this is what Campos has wanted for a long, long time...

Swine flu mania kept attendance (and Drunk Arrests) low at San Jose’s annual Cinco de Mayo. American G.I. Forum member/Alum Rock School District Trustee Dolores Marquez still declared the day a success saying, “we’re so grateful the weather held up and the people showed up.”

While we are Spine flu -- San Jose State’s Spartan Daily declares the first casualty of the swine flu to be common sense. Sometimes the student newspaper hits the nail on the head...

And where healthcare and the tanking economy meet, we have some problems. Valley Medical Center’s CEO, Kim Roberts, worries her emergency room is “the safety net of the safety net.” Their safety net is reaching its breaking point, even before swine flu mania VMC saw a 10% increase in uninsured patients.

Silicon Valley nonprofits, don’t bother seeking help from San Jose Councilmembers Pierluigi Oliverio or Pete Constant. Constant and Oliverio have suggested most of the City’s nonprofit support be suspended. Constant wants the tobacco money to pay for City services saying that while it’s nice to give money to nonprofits he wants to take care of “family first.” Agencies like Meals on Wheels, the Blind Center, and Big Brother Big Sister don’t qualify as family.

BART fans will be cheering in Milpitas Friday. The Valley Transit Authority will be joined by Silicon Valley Leadership Group’s CEO Carl Guardino and San Jose Councilmember Sam Liccardo to break ground on phase one of BART to San Jose. (Ironically, Councilmember Constant also said no to BART...)

San Jose Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio’s Chief of Staff Denelle Fedor, has joined the boss in contributing local news. Fedor questions the wisdom, and financial benefits, of ending San Jose’s mounted police patrol. Fedor has a horse in the race, she founded Friends of the San Jose Mounted Unit and complains City Manager Debra Figone never asked her to help cover the cost of keeping the horses on the street.

San Jose Revealed dishes on San Jose’s upcoming government doings… Revealed hints at a preference for plastic bags? Say it ain’t so. Wells Fargo gets to keep San Jose’s business, no more tossing toxic dental waste down the drain, San Jose Earthquakes want a stadium, and you will be able to buy food at the airport.

And, finally "Government Watch" is back at the Merc -- but isn't that interesting this week:

• San Jose’s City Council thinks about a new process for hiring the Independent Police Auditor. Maybe this time not having a family member on the force will make the top ten. Also on tap, the agreement with the consortium replacing/augmenting the community Drunk Task Force.
• The Santa Clara County Office of Education talks about charter school intents (intent? Like educating students?) and how do deal with a potential surge in charter schools.
  

The Merc’s Scott Herhold tells a recessionary tale of woe, entrepreneur/author/gourmet Pete Klein ditched the work day drudgery to become the “No-Face Bandit” until he got caught early this year. Herhold seems sympathetic, maybe he’s considering his own career change as the Merc continues to shrink.

The Merc’s Internal Affairs took note of San Jose’s Community and Economic Development committee meeting and complaints from the nonprofit community and San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce Chief Pat Dando that a late memo from Councilmember Ash Kalra seemed quite familiar to a few in the audience.

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.22.09: The Day After

Internet (Porn) Filters failed to fly in San Jose last night. Watch Dog ran a run-down piece earlier today. Councilmember Sam Liccardo called filters the equivalent of “fighting a global naval strategy by deploying all our ships to Lake Tahoe.” Metro/San Jose Insider reports that the religious right may have won the battle on gay marriage (for now) but they lost the war on porn…

San Jose’s Councilmember Nora Campos wants to strip the Mayor of looking for the next Independent Police Auditor. After the giant screw-up from the Mayor’s office the last time she may get support.

Silicon Valley’s public aid offices are swamped with families trying to keep their lives together during these difficult economic times. The news couldn’t come at a worse time, the Supervisors will start slashing services next month to try and keep up with their growing deficit.

Welcome to Earth Day 2009, now 4 decades old it is no longer restricted to granola crunchers. P.K. Karnik took recycling to a whole new level when he remodeled his Los Gatos home. Using craigslist, Karnik unloaded everything that would normally have hit a landfill. In Saratoga, Hari Sripadanna is giddy to have a LEED Gold place to call home.

Silicon Valley calling ET. In fact, Steve Vogt is calling from Mt. Hamilton with a fancy new telescope designed to look for life among the billions and billions of lights in the sky.

The economy is driving everyone back to school, or so it seems. Thousands of De Anza students were left out in the cold, unable to get into class. College League President Scott Lay called community colleges “Ellis Island” for students on their way to a four year education.

Los Gatos main drag has seen a lot of boutique shops shutter their windows and leave town. Looks like Watch Dog has some new places to sniff around as hip, “moderate” retailers take their place. Soles owner Heidi Rehbock optimistically said "I picked the worst month of the worst year to open, so there's nowhere to go but up."

Los Gatos contractor Channing Verden was busted for being a firebug. Verden screwed up, had no permit to burn brush and was lazy with the stuff he was burning – the end result was 35 homes were lost.

If you ever wanted to hang with the Merc’s Scott Herhold, this is your chance…Filled with lynchings, hangings, and statues that piss people off, Herhold kicks off his walking tour Saturday at the Arena. But, RSVP first. Contact Scott Herhold at sherhold@mercurynews.com or 408- 275-0917. Sounds exciting...

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.16.09: Police Chief Watch (Dog)...the countdown begins

San Jose Police Chief Rob Davis is all over the news these days, and not in a good way. Here’s a rundown on local commentary…

From this story in the Merc. titled "Rumors swirling around San Jose police chief Davis, but job appears secure":

• San Jose councilmember Nora Campos thinks the Chief “...is being looked at a little closer...”
• From Police Officers Association President Bobby Lopez, the Chief’s position is precarious...
• Rev. Jeff Moore II, head of the local NAACP, wants to know if “...a zebra can change his stripes...”
• Perhaps the most telling is this: "City Manager Debra Figone, who has the power to fire Davis, has made no public indication either way." No public comment either way, that's one way to not stand behind your Police Chief...

From Scott Herhold's column titled "San Jose Police Chief Rob Davis's heartburn":

• A Silicon Valley De-Bug round table saw the Chief interrupt a storyteller to tell him “...Spanish is the language of the angels...” That doesn't seem to be gaining the Chief any friends in San Jose's Latino community...
  
• Herhold picks up where the Metro left off last week and describes the troubles facing Chief Davis, and they aren't good.

From the Metro:

• Erin Sherbert digs deeper into the mounting problems facing the Chief.
• Interestingly, Councilmember Madison Nguyen refuses to talk on the record. Rather, she punts until Chief Davis rolls out some "short-term reforms." Those reforms better be good...
  

The latest San Jose Independent Police Auditor Chris Constantin landed in San Jose Inside with a bare bones review. Thanks to Watch Dog tipsters we know Constantin is hitting the bricks and meeting with anyone who slows down long enough to talk to him. The dude doesn’t start work until next month and is showing up at community and stakeholder meetings.

The tanking economy hasn’t hit San Jose’s casinos. The gambling business is good and casinos want to hire. Garden City Casino is filing (another) lawsuit complaining San Jose isn’t helping with hiring. City Attorney Rick Doyle calls it “needless lawyering.” Coming from a lawyer, that is really saying something...

The Merc.’s Action Line guy, Dennis Rockstroh, reports San Jose City’s budget cutting has hit landscaping. The Cty’s Greg Schultz says high maintenance shrubs and ground cover are the targets of this landscaping scale-back.

Bigots imported from Washington, D.C. to fight a Day Worker center in Mountain View are making claims of “soft racism” accusing Americans’ desire for cheap labor of creating the problem. Mountain View Mayor Margaret Abe-Koga said the immigration issue that brought Judicial Watch to Mountain View is a federal issue she’s not sure what they expect from the Council.

The Merc’s Editorial Board supports school district parcel tax measures A & B, with their “well thought out” spending plans and protection of the elderly and disabled. Moreland and Cupertino School Districts have a challenging race ahead, but they have to be happy to have the Merc’s support.

Super Soakers and nametags are the latest tools for gang members looking to leave their intimidating mark on San Jose. Tagging is on the rise and San Jose’s increasing deficit isn’t helping. Mayor Chuck Reed says “we’re losing ground” and the City needs to “be more stubborn than the taggers.” If you’re interested in being one of the stubborn, call 408-277-3208 or e-mail: antigraffiti@sanjoseca.gov.

Sal Pizzaro, the Merc’s Man About Town, dishes gubernatorial wanna be/former eBay CEO Meg Whitman will be at tonight’s San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce Women in Leadership dinner. Pizzaro adds Whitman should provide insight on the State’s financial woes.

Palo Alto’s Midtown parents will see big changes (hint: Big parental beefs are brewing) as school boundaries are redrawn and the old/new Garland School is re-opened.

A former Reporter/Editor of several (Peninsula and Palo Alto) local papers was arrested (again) on drug charges. Brian Bothun was picked up on April 5th in Palo Alto. This just proves that Reporters/Editors love writing about Reporters/Editors. Hell hath no fury like former newspaper rivals...

San Jose Revealed made Watch Dog’s head spin using complicated baseball statistics to figure out how San Jose’s Councilmembers stack up in terms of gathering team support. The big losers, Councilmembers Pierluigi Oliverio and Pete Constant. As Revealed points out, it reflects badly on the Councilmember if they can’t garner support from their colleagues…

Peter Lawrence might be the happiest guy in Silicon Valley, he retired at 44 from a great job at HP, authored a book, and contemplates quiet mornings with a view of redwoods. While Lawrence doesn’t consider himself frugal the rest of us might, he has no furniture (or bed), two pairs of pants, and watches TV on his laptop. In these tough times it could pay to emulate at least some of Lawrence’s lifestyle, just don’t take Watch Dog's bed away.

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.2.09: San Francisco Sports Teams (49ers/Giants) in our news...

Opening day is nearly upon us and baseball news seems to pop up daily in anticipation. The Giants, in a move they hope strengthens their South Bay claim, hopes to purchase 25% of the San Jose Giants. Giants president Larry Baer said the purchase will “reinforce” their claim while MLB officials said it has no affect. Oh, and the MLB still needs to approve it. And Councilmember Liccardo called the timing, "notable"...to say the least...

Speaking of Liccardo...

Sam Liccardo screwed up by accepting tickets to the Sharks. When the foul up was brought to his attention, Liccardo said “it was my mistake, and I need to correct that.” As part of the fallout, Liccardo won’t be voting on Sharks items for a year...San Jose Revealed chimed in on this story today. In an understatement to end all understatements, Revealed notes that Sam Liccardo is no Terry Gregory...

Also in sporting news…Santa Clara and the 49ers are close to a deal. Niner’s President Jed York and Mayor Patricia Mahan were unwilling to dish details but did confirm they are close to signing on the dotted line. The deal in the works is said to be more favorable to Santa Clara than the starting point...

Congressmember Anna Eshoo was happy to announce Federal stimulus dollars will be heading to her district. From the USGS Science Center ($6.9 million) to the Stanford National Accelerator Laboratory ($68 million to SLAC), the Peninsula is awash in funding.

The West Valley Green Leaf Committee is likely to hear from former Assemblymember/Lobbyist Manny Diaz as they try to get rid of polystyrene. Saratoga Mayor Chuck Page who says that while Styrofoam is recyclable, nobody wants it so it ends up in landfills, he’s asking the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce (sans leader) for help.

The Boss kicked off his world tour in San Jose last night. The Merc’s Shay Quillen says for any other performer the show would have been fine but for the Boss “it was decidedly subpar.” Really? Watch Dog believes there are 25,000 people who feel differently...

Sal Pizzaro is helping San Jose’s Redevelopment Agency get the word out about a survey they’re taking: What would get you to leave your shrinking dollars in San Jose’s downtown? (Springsteen?)

High Speed Rail’s introduction to California is heading for a long, drawn out battle. The November ballot measure received strong support in Silicon Valley with 53% in Santa Clara County. Now that the party is over, residents are waking up in a stupor. San Jose’s Director of Transportation Jim Helmer will be asking High Speed Rail authorities to consider tunneling through the neighborhoods south of the Diridon Station. Willow Glennies have loud and powerful voices. The Merc provides a brief Fact or Fantasy on High Speed Rail details.

S&S Tile started making glorious tiles in San Jose just before the Great Depression, today they’re called Stonelight Tile and the current Great Recession is seriously hurting their business. With clients like the Hotel Sainte Claire, Barbra Streisand, Kim Novak, and the House of Saud -- this is one of those unique businesses that would be tough to lose.

Proving there is no limit to stupidity…Five men were arrested while living large in Los Gatos. The five dudes were using stolen credit cards and shooting up in a local hotel when the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police stopped the party.

While we are in Los Gatos...bomb experts from the Sheriff’s Department blew up picric acid at the home of a recently deceased fly-fishing fan. Seems the stuff is used in feather dying. Fortunately, the fly-fisherman left detailed notes on the explosive substance so the relatives cleaning his home wouldn't blow up the trash.

San Jose Insider/Metro’s Fly roll’s out a few names hoping to take over where supervisor Don Gage leaves off next year. The newest name is perennial pol Pat Dando who seems ready to ditch the Chamber to return to government, this time as Supervisor.

In the Metro, Fly notes that the successes of BART’s Measure B left them on the hook for a $30k bonus to political consultant Barry Barnes.

San Jose Revealed blogged twice Wednesday, first to continue spanking Dan Pulcrano (is it really that interesting?) and then disclosing Revealed’s (fake) identity as Andy Diaz.

San Jose’s 5th homicide happened in East San Jose. The man’s name has not been released and San Jose Police don’t yet have suspects. If you have details from the shooting on Cotton Tail Road call Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers at 408-947-STOP.

Morning News Round-Up -- 3.24.09: Drunk Corsortium/Task Force Edition...

San Jose Inside/Metro’s Fly questions the invitation to the Consortium for Police Leadership in Equity, saying Police Chief Rob Davis likely had them in mind before the Drunk Task Force was a gleam in the Mayor and Councilmember Nora Campos’ eyes. Seems the Chief made plans with the Consortium sometime before mentioning it to the Task Force. He is said to have been eager to participate with the Consortium as of November last year and has San Jose Police Department as a participating organization on the CPLE website. So, back to Watch Dog’s original post: was there ever a plan by Mayor Reed or Councilmember Campos for the Task Force to be anything other than a place for community members to vent? Or was Councilmember Sam Liccardo prescient when he said: “…the place where good ideas go to die...” If Liccardo was right, then Reed and Campos must have known the bait and switch, Task Force and Consortium, was the plan all along...

San Jose Insider/Silicon Valley De-Bug(er) Raj Jayadev blogs his irritation with San Jose’s (apparent) drunk in public, racial (Latino) profiling problem.

Santa Clara District Attorney Dolores Carr finally has something to celebrate, a huge drug bust in a joint effort with Alameda and Monterey Counties. Over a million dollars in cash, weapons, and spy toys were captured along with 200 pounds of cocaine worth $5 million – leaving local coke-heads out of luck. Of course, the story also says the deliveries from Mexico take place every few weeks so how long the pipeline stays dry is up in the air.

San Jose and the County of Santa Clara are back at it with a tussle over money. Supervisor Don Gage seems hopeful saying under the previous regime (whose name he doesn’t share) they’d all be marching into court. This time the bickering is low key and private, like a tense couple at a party slugging down Martinis.

Would you rat out your neighbor for wasting water washing the Winnebago? The Santa Clara Valley Water District hopes you do. Facing an ongoing drought the District is contemplating cutbacks at today’s meeting. By the way, District Board members also consider allowing voters to decide term limits.

The Merc’s Editorial Board cheers for Supervisor Dave Cortese’s push towards solar and urges the Supervisors to look for rooftops and paved areas – rather than open space – for panel placement. Like, maybe their parking lot on North First?

The Merc’s Ann Killion, focused on sports, questions the wisdom of the A’s Lew Wolff bad mouthing Oakland and the stadium. Wolff initially called the Oakland stadium aging and backtracked a few days later saying he hadn’t intended to insult Oakland. Perhaps not, but Wolff wants a spiffy new place for his team to play and San Jose wants to give it to him.

Passage of Prop 1A and support from the Feds has high speed rail moving forward at a full gallop, which terrifies NIMBY’s between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Gilroy Mayor Al Pinheiro and Councilmember Perry Woodward agree the train is a boon to the Gilroy economy saying, “great European cities grew up around train stations.” Even Gilroy’s Chamber of Commerce gets in on the pro-train chant calling it an economic boon. The challenge for the High Speed Rail Authority is both how to prevent building a modern day Berlin Wall and letting NIMBY’s know their communities won’t be divided. And no offense Gilroy, but you'll never be a great European city...

Morgan Hill is into recycling – at least when it comes to ballot measures. The former Measure H has been repackaged as Measure A for May’s special election. Councilmembers hope to gain support for 500 homes they want downtown. Former Mayor Dennis Kennedy is leading the charge to May and vows not to get complacent – this time.

San Jose Revealed goes into mind-boggling (and mind-numbing) detail with charts and graphs analyzing the turnout in this month’s recall effort against San Jose Councilmember Madision Nguyen. (They lost me at Hello...) Bottom line in all the pointy-headed details: turnout was good not great and more people are voting absentee with each election. Mission City Lantern’s James Rowen also read Revealed’s analysis, Rowen calls it the “most accurate set of predictions of voting trends…”

Revealed uses their joy of analysis to look at local 2010 races. They agree with Watch Dog that San Jose’s Pete Constant and Sam Liccardo will have boring races, Madison Nguyen will face challengers and remain successful, oddly doesn’t bother to mention Nora Campos’ brother-in-waiting to fill his sister’s shoes. A fuller Watch Dog recap of Revealed's recap will appear here later today.

San Jose Insider/San Jose Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio complains he’s not part of closed door meetings with labor and calls for a city wide vote on making all negotiations public. Careful what you wish for Councilmember. Public negotiations are a sure way to kill any and all projects...and is what the Labor community was pushing with Community Benefits Initiative years ago...

The clerical screw-up that left the Gilroy Unified School District short $6 million has Supervisorial freshman Dave Cortese lending a hand. Cortese agrees with Supervisor Don Gage that something needs to be done immediately. With all the talking going on, Watch Dog hopes they figure it out soon. It is significantly less interesting to watch the screw-up drag on endlessly than it is to find (and share) solutions to them.

Mountain View residents and eight mediators met to talk about building affordable housing on a parking lot. One resident complained the area would be ghetto-ized with the ROEM development alongside the PacificEuro hotel. Jonathan Emami, a ROEM Vice President, promised a project that was “richly detailed” and would look like a market rate project. Pissed off residents have to wait until July for the design meeting. (If the name ROEM looks familiar, it is because they are the company looking to fast-track an expensive loan from the City of San Jose Housing Department...)

San Jose’s Bill Carlson is bringing good eats to the streets of San Jose – and hoping he’s found the next big thing in downtown eating: beer-bathed sausages. You can find Carlson, and your next brat, at Market & Santa Clara.

Silicon Valley’s Dancing ‘Teletubbie’ Geek Steve Wozniak fills in concerned Mr. Roadshow readers on his various injuries and his dancing exploits. Remember, Vote for Woz and your Prius speeding sins shall be forgiven.

The arts may be struggling with the economic downturn but that hasn’t stopped the Arts Council from naming Nils Peterson as Santa Clara County’s Poet Laureate. Peterson calls himself a ‘coffee shop poet,’ Watch Dog hopes that means we can see him wandering between Trieste and Peet's for a local reading.

Your Los Altos Town Crier mobile update will fill you in on PG&E’s planned power outages Wednesday.

On a (somewhat) related note...

There was a power outage in Palo Alto over the weekend, but that isn't the most interesting part of the story. Check out this media tid-bit about Palo Alto's Utility Department during the outage:

No city utilities officials were available Sunday afternoon or evening to provide information about what was happening.

Oops...

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 -- 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 -- 2.13.09: JasonJasonJason Edition...

San Jose’s Councilmembers Sam Liccardo, Rose Herrera, and Ash Kalra have banded together to propose a way of covering Police costs downtown while not causing bars and clubs to leave downtown. (Although, that might make the Police Chief a little happier if the clubs left downtown...) San Jose Downtown Association’s Deputy Director (and powerbroker) Blage Zelalich, said “We advocate a model that will keep downtown safe, but encourage a thriving and eclectic nightlife." The Police Chief didn't respond by saying, "We plan on arresting everyone downtown no matter what..."

The bad news keeps on coming for the Palo Alto Utilities Department. Earlier this week Federal officials from the Department of Transportation raided their headquarters and took out 7 boxes of stuff looking for forged documents? fraudulent hiring practices? who knows...Whatever it was in those boxes, the Feds are certainly looking for items above and beyond an internal investigation that happened last year.

San Jose Revealed asked readers to identify San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce CEO Pat Dando’s policy wins and today updates us on the results – according to Revealed it’s not a happy track record. Which mirrors what the Metro wrote weeks ago... Revealed and the Metro, friends at last...

Largely because of the taxes it brings in, every city would seemingly like to have a (bland) upscale Santana Row-like development in their community. But Mountain View won’t be getting their own Santana Row if developer Fred Thoits has anything to say about it. According to Thoits (talking about Mountain View's wishes), "If [Santana Row] is their vision we just can board up the stores and look at vacant property with no revenue and no sales tax." He sounds angry.

The Los Altos School District Board voted against placing a parcel tax on a upcoming ballot. Survey consultant (pollster) Connell Lindh warned the District would need to raise funds and that the spring and winter breaks would cause two weeks of lost campaign time. The proposed $168/parcel was deemed too risky to ask of District voters. The move means the District will be cutting programs and services and will likely be laying off employees. I guess the recession is even hitting Los Altos...

Local businesses stand to benefit from D.C.’s stimulus package with a push towards green technology and internet infrastructure. Cisco’s Director of Technology, Jeff Campbell, said "It was all about physical infrastructure in the past...” Julie Blunden with San Jose’s SunPower added the infusion of funding will help expand manufacturing and accelerate growth.

From the Fed's stimulus deal to the State's budget deal:

Silicon Valley Leadership Group (cycling) CEO Carl Guardino is delighted with the tax breaks offered to the high tech industry in the State deal and said, "This potentially is a huge win..." (If $.12/gallon tax increase is a huge win, we'd hate to see a huge loss...) But the word "potentially" in Guardino's quote may prove important. The deal isn't done yet and Jon Coupal, the anti-tax guru from the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association said, "I'll believe it when I see it...I would be stunned to see Republican votes sufficient to pass this thing."

Hope you weren’t in need of an emergency room Thursday. Valley Medical Center, one of Santa Clara County’s three trauma centers and the busiest in the Valley, was closed most of Thursday after an unidentified young man arrived bringing with him a noxious odor. Regional and O’Connor (and patients) apparently bore the brunt of the closure. VMC is open today.

Deputy DA Ben Fields gets to keep his job while he tries to clear his name from the charges that he made stuff up while prosecuting cases. Good thing he gets to keep his day job, since the County’s legal top dog, Ann Ravel has “…declined to support [Field's defense attorney Allen Ruby’s] request for additional funds...” Ruby, having already received $50,000, asked for an additional $250,000 in (non-existent) County funds to appeal the charges.

Santa Clara Police Officers approached a man reportedly planning on shooting a cyclist. When he ignored Officers and pointed his gun at them -- the Officers shot him. Names have been withheld for both the Officers and the other guy who is in the hospital in critical condition. SCPD wants you to call the Santa Clara Police Department Investigations Division with information, 408-615-4800.

The Morgan Hill Unified School District is in a state of “near fiscal disaster.” This year, they will avoid mid-year lay-offs. Next year lay-offs are a given. Deputy Superintendent Bonnie Tognazzini is looking to her higher power for help and says, "We are just praying that the State gives us flexibility…We are trying to survive." There is a 100% chance that prayer will not be answered...

Gilroy is losing a 6 decade business and 26 jobs when Gilroy Pontiac Buick GMC closes its doors. Neighboring auto dealers all said “we’re fine” when asked if they were also getting ready to shutter the doors. What about the $13+ billion GMC received in bailout money? “…didn't trickle down to us. It stayed up there somewhere, but I don't know where it went. They forgot about the little people..." according to Joe Lopez, former Pontiac General Manager.

(Late) Morning News Round-Up – 1.29.09: The $6,000 Question...

Metro/San Jose Inside’s Fly takes San Jose Councilmember Nancy Pyle to task for spending $6,000 to replace old Council office furniture while staffers pack their boxes on the way to the unemployment line. San Jose Revealed spanks Metro/Inside's Dan Pulcrano for even wasting space on this earth-shattering news. Watch Dog would like to bet that if Mayor Chuck spent $6,000 on office furniture while cutting City jobs Revealed would feel differently...so would voters, if Pyle wasn't termed out...

Cupertino’s former/part-time Director of Community Development Steve Piasecki is double dipping (receiving retirement pay and a part time salary). City Manager Dave Knapp says Piasecki's lack of benefits and no holiday pay make sure the double dipper still earns less than before. Cupertino gets to keep the institutional knowledge but the City gets to pay less. What a deal...

De-Bug/San Jose Inside’s Raj Jayadev channeled Councilmember Sam Liccardo in his opening line, “Are taskforces where community hopes goes to die?” While Jayadev muffed the grammar a bit, he and Liccardo seem to share the sentiment. Jayadev concludes with, “The group [the drunk task force] certainly has the ability to usher in needed reform about problematic police behavior—it need only the will to do so.” (See Watch Dog's take here...)

San Martin is the scene of the latest pedestrian-meets-vehicle incident. William Flodberg, 75, was flown to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center after being hit by a truck driven by Raul Reyes. CHP Officer Erica Elias said neither drugs nor alcohol was a factor.

It’s called "suicide by cop" and tragic for everyone involved. Pete Joseph Valdez III told police he wanted to die when he pointed the gun at police officers, fortunately, no one was killed or shot. The 29 year old son of former 16 year Gilroy Councilmember Pete Valdez Jr. was arrested 14 months ago, arraigned last month, and now his trail setting date has been delayed for another month. Speedy trial?

There’s a guy in D.C. who believes in science. That's a nice change. So it’s good to hear the Save YSI Campaign is on track. The nature science program has youth curators and class aides who teach classes, conduct experiments, and rope in their classmates for the science fun in Vasona Park and along the Guadalupe watershed. "We do experiments and teach them about science and nature," Westmont High’s Sasha Sproch said. "We talk a lot about animals' different adaptations for survival, such as camouflage." Perhaps W. needs a lesson?...

Oops, seems some South Bay schools have sold (possibly) salmonella infested peanut butter to students...oops...See if your kid dragged home poison packed peanut products.

Morning News Round-Up – 1.22.09: Bigots, Beignets, and BART...

The County’s lawyers are in trouble – again. (District Attorney Dolores Carr must keep a bottle of the good stuff ready for when the Merc. calls.) This time, Peter Waite has the dubious honor of being the first prosecutor to get spanked by the State Bar in 20 years. He pissed them off when he hid testimony in a murder trial. Oops. Waite said, "I've always agreed it was a screw-up and a mistake, and that the case would be done differently than nine years ago.'' DA Carr kept mum. The DA’s office is also awaiting results in Deputy DA Ben Fields prosecution. More recently, Carr’s office fessed up they withheld interviews of sexual assault victims and kept the doors of justice closed while investigating a police cover-up. Not so Law and Order-y, is it...

The Merc.’s Editorial board gives props to the Alum Rock Union Elementary School Board of Trustees. The Board has granted a 5 year extension to KIPP Heartwood Academy, a charter school with results. In the past, with golden parachute Superintendent Norma Martinez, charter schools were under attack. In a signal that children are more important than politics, Interim Superintendent Jose Manzo supported KIPP. Watch Dog note to Merc. Editors: her last name is not Rodriguez, unless you’ve heard about a recent name change that we missed.

In case Mountain View bigots haven’t heard – this is a "post racial" world. Mayor Margaret Abe-Koga, Mountain View’s first Asian-American female Mayor received a disturbing email, students lives were threatened, and a school sign was vandalized. Chamber CEO/Mesa de la Communidad Oscar Garcia has teamed up with failed City Council candidate/Human Rights Commissioner Alicia Crank to create “Not in Our Town,” to combat an increase in local hate crimes.

It isn’t bad enough that Steve Jobs is (maybe) fighting for his life, now the SEC is investigating when and how much Jobs and other high-ranking Apple folks knew about Jobs' health. Apparently the SEC is now on the ball -- as opposed to this...

Los Altans are celebrating now, they get to keep their precious, non-degradable/free plastic bags for groceries. The Los Altos City Council rejected joining a regional effort to charge impoverished Los Altos residents 25 cents per bag. Perhaps the local fashionistas were worried about losing the raw materials for creative/recycled ball gowns.

The Merc.’s Scott Herhold dedicates his space to the grieving family of Quy Tran, killed at a dangerous intersection by a hit-and-run driver over the weekend. Tran’s son Hung has generously (incredibly) said her killer is a good person and, “I think all his life, he'll live in suffering." This is not the first accident at Senter Road and Independence Drive, Herhold reports several seniors have been hit here where there is no crosswalk or traffic signal. No doubt San Jose’s Department of Transportation removed the crosswalk to make life safer for someone – clearly not pedestrians. Not the first time DOT has goofed, remember little Breanna Eck, DOT also thought a lack of crosswalks in her neighborhood was a good idea.

San Jose Revealed received a "tipster’s fax" with questions about McEnery's Peralta Action Plan. The "fax" asked if the 3% loan and the $400,000 developer fees being paid by McEnery is normal and/or appropriate. There’s also a rumor that Revealed was blocked from some/all City Hall computers. Perhaps Councilmember Pete Constant and Larry Pegram are to blame...

Metro/San Jose Inside’s news sleuth Erin Sherbert weighs in on San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed’s chances of getting Obama dollars (for BART and green-tech) because of his complete lack of support during the Prez’s race. (At least his lack of support for the guy who won...) In a break from Reed, Mayoral senior staff Jeff Janssen doesn’t share the Mayor’s optimism. If Obama dollars land in San Jose it’s more likely due to hard work by DiFi, Boxer, Lofgren and Honda – who all voted for and worked for Obama. Sherbert's story also gives a timeline of when the Mayor will be in D.C. -- the first trip is slated for late February/early March. Really? Because Watch Dog heard something about an economic recovery plan that will be done by Presidents' Day Congressional recess. Plus, these guys were in D.C. schmoozing this week while our Mayor was not...

Gilroy may not be getting Garlic Ta-ta’s but they do have beignets coming thanks to restaurateur/blues fan Dan Craig. Local developer Gary Walton will be opening a tapas and wine bar nearby. Craig said he wants a place for “mature” guests, “You know, a respectable place where you can see live music." He didn’t say “there’s no room for ta-ta’s near my beignets.” Watch Dog note to Chris Bone, you need to visit the Big Easy – it’s not “benet.”