Morning News Round-Up -- 5.12.10: Where's Palin?

This is not the type of news that Morgan Hill likes, we'd guess. The Live Oak t-shirt flap has reached a new level of idiosy. Hundreds showed up to hear themselves talk and to get on the evening news yesterday... One question remains: when will Sarah Palin chime in?

The Santa Clara Valley Water District seemingly can't get out of its own way on their redistricting plan. They put Gilroy with Palo Alto which almost prompted the South to invade the North talking about states' rights... Anyway, the Water District reversed its decision and will scrap the map and start over... sounds like a plan that would have been a smart idea before the initial new map was released... better late than never?

Yesterday, the Mercury News Editorial Board announced their endorsement for San Jose City Council District 5: Magdalena Carrasco. Later in the day, the Metro came to the same conclusion. Some choice quotes:

"...Carrasco has a shot at this seat because she seems better able to connect with East Side voters. The fact that she is fluent in Spanish is a big plus with many of them (Campos does not speak Spanish)..."

"...Xavier Campos worked for 20 years at the Mexican American Community Services Agency (MACSA), ultimately becoming chief operations officer. MACSA is now under criminal investigation following findings that it was skimming from its employees’ pension funds..."

San Jose Inside gives us a glimpse into the County Board of Supervisors meeting, which we know you didn't attend... Shirakawa cried about the Arizona anti-immigrant law. Seriously, check out the story...

Dolores Carr gets a write up in the Merc today looking at her successes and talking about the other stuff too. The story comes with the obvious headline: Carr seeks re-election despite 'mistakes'... When you are the incumbent and the words 're-election' and 'mistakes' make the headline the week ballots go out, you aren't having a good week...

The mural at Mineta San Jose (International?) Airport Terminal C (that's the one you don't fly out of) will come down with it. The Merc's Joe Rodriguez gives some background about the mural and its struggle to survive.

Hey all you kids out there... the County Supervisors will pass a policy soon that keeps kids under 13 out of juvie lock-up.

Yesterday we let you know about a plan to get rid of the leaf blower hotline to help fix Palo Alto's budget shortfall. That was controversial enough... but Palo Alto also wants to charge kids to participate in the Palo Alto Children's Theatre. Now the Palo Alto City Council has crossed the line, apparently...

The Los Altos School District got a new Superintendent this week. An internal pick, Jeffrey Baier...

Morning News Round-Up -- 3.29.10: Jude versus Cindy?

If you are involved at all in politics in Silicon Valley, Friday was a busy day. Local political guru Jude Barry was put on the "do not patronize" list of the California Labor Federation because he co-founded a company that allows folks to gather signatures for ballot initiatives via iPhone. Internal Affairs had a run-down, so did San Jose Inside. If you want the full story, including a quote from Cindy Chavez who (probably) coordinated the entire thing -- read the IA version of things. The labor folks are "unhappy" because the signature-gathering software -- Verafirma -- is being used for an anti-labor signature-gathering effort. Of course, it is also being used by a group aiming to repeal Prop 8 and another group trying to legalize marijuana. So, Watch Dog has to wonder, who is next on the California Labor Federation's blacklist: perhaps the "paycheck protection" folks are using HP computers, Apple iPhones, and Cisco routers... We wonder when Marc Hurd, Steve Jobs, and John Chambers will get their black-list notice...

So what does this all mean? We'll see. We know what it means for Teresa Alvarado, a Barry client. She didn't get the South Bay Labor Council endorsement but Forrest Williams did. The Labor Council must have been impressed with Williams' depth of knowledge, command of issues, and charisma... The Gilroy Chamber of Commerce endorsed Mike Wasserman. No doubt that they were impressed by the "R" after his name...

If you would like to see some Jude Barry's work, check out the 49ers new tv ad. Ironically, you know who could have used a campaign television ad this good? Cindy Chavez...

James at Mission City Lantern also has something to say about Jude... we aren't sure what he means all the time, but in this case, we think he means that he likes Jude and he likes Cindy Chavez, but that Jude is right in this case and Cindy is wrong.

San Jose, the self-touted "green capital," is putting two football fields' worth of solar on the new airport parking garage, but it seems that the two football fields' worth of solar will be Canadian football fields... because local companies didn't really bid on the project...

If you love public visioning processes, you were probably at the one this weekend for the Diridon Station area of downtown. If that stuff doesn't put you to sleep, try Ambien...

"Dude, let's go to the San Jose City Council on Tuesday to let them know about how much we love pot... err, cannabis, clubs." You have got to love a City that is going to the ballot to increase the number of poker tables, but may vote to shut down pot clubs.

From pot to prostitution: 5 folks were arrested in Gilroy for prostitution. But the best is the flowery language that the police officers used in their press release tooting their own horns about the arrests:

"They are in conflict with our philosophy of maintaining a city in which our residents and law-abiding visitors can enjoy a safe place to live, work and play... The disposition of our Department is that we will take whatever steps are necessary to dissuade those who choose to engage in illegal activities within our city from doing so."

Wow! The police have both a philosophy and a disposition on prostitution. Disposition is a 64 point word in Scrabble and prostitution is a 73 point word...(without double letters or double word scores)... kudos Gilroy PD.

Finally, perhaps the most far-reaching thing in today's Round-Up, besides the Barry/Chavez feud:

Mozart isn't just the name of a composer, it is also the name of a father/son development team. Both father and son are suing Palo Alto separately because they are claiming the 10 percent affordable set-aside for housing projects is an unfair tax. All housing eyes will be watching these lawsuits...

Morning News Round-Up -- 3.12.10: Pegram vs. Constant?

The Republicans are coming, the Republicans are coming... to Santa Clara. We wonder if the only two Republicans we write about on the local level -- San Jose Councilmember Pete Constant and his good "friend" Council candidate Larry Pegram -- will pass each other on the Convention floor and fight about San Jose City Council District 9. We kind of hope so. Two former San Jose Police Officers wrestling to the floor of the Republican Convention as Pat Dando and Jim Cunneen look on... that would be something. Not for nothing, we think Pete Constant could crush (literally and figuratively) Larry Pegram in a fight...

Speaking of Larry Pegram... In case you missed Watch Dog's details of Pegram's "non-profit" yesterday afternoon, take a gander (Values Advocacy Council: A deficit-ridden slush fund for Larry Pegram?). We guess one of the Values of the Council is taking up to 70 percent of the money raised for yourself... Oh, and it seems that Mr. Pegram is so focused on running for City Council, that he hasn't had time to stop running for Congress... his website is still up from when he thought running for office in Tracy was what he wanted to do with his life. Ironically, one of the issues he was running on was "..increased liberty and freedom..." we guess that doesn't extend to what you can read on a computer in a library...

The City of San Jose is writing off some bad debts that are owed...

Kramer: It's just a write off for them.

Jerry: How is it a write off?

Kramer: They just write it off.

Jerry: Write it off what?

Kramer: Jerry all these big companies they write off everything.

Jerry: You don't even know what a write off is.

Kramer: Do you?

Jerry: No. I don't.

Kramer: But they do and they are the ones writing it off.

Speaking of writing off bad debt... sort of. The San Jose Airport is hoping that their debt doesn't turn bad. But Patty Fisher of the Merc grills the aiport's spokesman David Vossbrink (who commented here...) to promote the week-long celebration being planned for June.

At least the millions spent at the airport (billions, actually) got a beautiful new building built. The County spent $20 million to get an audit done by Deloitte Consulting and the new County Exec called it "a waste of money"... but throwing good money after bad seems to be the next move for the County Exec with regards to the Valley Medical Center. This time, the price tag is only $100,000 to get the same results as the Deloitte waste of money... but after spending $20 million, what's an extra $100K?

As the County figures out new ways to spend money on things, they are also looking at the November ballot to raise some money too... and it only needs a majority vote to pass, so expect this one to be a homerun. The County may put a measure on the ballot to increase your vehicle license fee by $10 to go to road improvements. Watch Dog seems to remember that the vehicle license fee was once a touchy subject for a certain California politician...

Just in case you missed it last night, the Sharks scored a touchdown in the third period. They missed the extra point, but they still beat Nashville 8-5. (Nashville obviously had a field goal and a safety...)

Morning News Round-Up -- 3.11.10: Carr's Car Cost Constituents...

Just a quick note that the airport's spokesman David Vossbrink (like everyone else) reads Watch Dog. He posted this comment yesterday:

...By the way, we have some good news at the airport this week -- Alaska Airlines starts direct service to Maui tomorrow morning (Thursday) and to Kona on Friday morning -- and it starts its second daily flight to Austin (the nerd bird) on Sunday. This more than makes up for Frontier...

Thank you for reading... if only someone would pony up for a grand grand opening.

And if it is a new day, that means there is another Dolores Carr story. And today's daily story shows, once again, that she has no political instinct. This time, as promised, the Merc's Sco9tt Herhold looks into her fancy car (or car fancy). (We don't think he literally looked into her car, but perhaps he did...) A story like this makes writing a campaign hit piece almost too easy: Carr's car cost constituents... To add insult to injury, challenger Jeff Rosen drives an old, beat up, 15 year old piece of shit with 150,000 miles on it. Don't worry Jeff, there's a sweet Acura TL just waiting for you.

From the frivolous to the serious about the District Attorney's office... a ton of new information was uncovered about the medical examinations of sexual assault victims at VMC -- 3,000 videotaped medical exams, to be exact. Expect lots of new appeals to be filed and (hopefully) some wrongfully convicted folks to go free. The head of the DA's sex crimes unit had this to say: "...I really don't want this to happen again..." You and just about everyone else...

Pete Constant must be torn... His Chief of Staff is running to replace Judy Chirco on the City Council, but Pete Constant's "friend" (ahem...) is running against Cogan (and Don Rocha). Larry Pegram, the censorship-loving, gay-hating, fake-tan-wearing, Bible-thumping wacko has thrown his self-righteous, hypocritical, Sarah Palin-loving, Tea Party-esque hat into the ring. Mr. Pegram, please come out against the City's recent gambling measure on the ballot or risk losing any credibility you ever had...

It is interesting that the San Jose Police Officers' Association blog, Protect San Jose, goes 24 hours without commenting on the fact that the Police Chief seems to be packing is bags for the Big D. "The most profound statements are often said in silence..."

It was hard to miss the big fire in Santa Clara yesterday with the smoke billowing overhead. It was a 4-alarmer at a recycling plant.

Sheeeee's baaaack... the fake finger in chili lady. She's in San Jose, but not at Wendy's. Funny, if she did show up to Wendy's the employees there would actually like to give her the finger...

The Morgan Hill Unified School Board is finally going Hollywood... their meetings will now be broadcast. Just in time for folks to watch pink slips being handed out...

Morning News Round-Up -- 3.10.10: Welcome to LAS, I mean SJC

Well, the City of San Jose is officially selling itself to the devil. Literally. They voted to put a measure on the June ballot to expand gambling in San Jose in order to help bolster their bottom line. It reminds Watch Dog of schools that allowed Coke and Pepsi into their cafeterias because there was money in it for the schools. Sort of, "we'll deal with the evil because we need the money"... It doesn't make it a good idea just because there is money attached to it. Five (FIVE!) Councilmembers opposed it: Councilmembers Ash Kalra, Nora Campos, Madison Nguyen, Kansen Chu, and Sam Liccardo. Nothing about it on the Values Advocacy Council website yet...

One person who may not have to deal with the results of more gambling (which we can only imagine he is very much against) is San Jose Police Chief Rob Davis. That's because Davis seems to be in the running for the top job in Dallas. The cheers from the ACLU and DeBug's offices were audible from the street when this news came out yesterday afternoon...

And then there is the daily story about the airport... this time the Merc Editorial Board took their turn. They say no to lifting the curfew totally, but maybe some tinkering with it might make sense... but it really is about jobs and wages, both of which may need to be discussed to keep SJC on track with paying its debt obligations and its doors open... Perhaps the City should consider putting a card room in Terminal 1...

And the daily 49ers story... the Santa Clara City Council voted on mitigations to the stadium plan last night. But you weren't there, you were home watching Crystal Bowersox...

There is an interesting write-in campaign is going on with the Santa Clara Valley Water District. Because a judge ruled they had been collecting a groundwater fee illegally, they may have to stop collecting it if more than half of the customers will well-water write a letter saying they want to stop paying.. A weird exercise in democracy, to say the least...

What is it about Palo Alto Utilities? They can't seem to keep the lights on. In the past month they have had some problems... as outlined here. And they should probably get a new spokesperson. Dean Batchelor had this to say about yesterday's incident: "No one was injured, thank god." Thank god? You're the guy in charge and you need to have faith to make sure no one gets hurt? Later in the story he had this to say about the three outages this morning: "This is not a good month for us right now..." Y'think?

Not only that, but a big company is leaving Palo Alto because the electricity is unreliable... oops. Not a good month indeed...

Morning News Round-Up -- 3.9.10: More bad news for SJC...

It has been a month of stories about SJC. We learned that they don't really fly to the East Coast except once a day. We learned that Frontier Airlines is pulling out. We learned they are asking (begging?) companies to pick up the tab for their grand opening. And then yesterday's Study Session at the San Jose City Council. Bill Sherry, the Airport Director, told the City Council that SJC might fail unless some things change... like living wage, or privatizing custodial services, or lifting the curfew. Why? Well, there is $32 million of debt service due soon and the airport can't pay it. Um, this isn't getting any better, just more and more pathetic.

On San Jose Inside, San Jose Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio let's us know that absolutely does NOT want to lift SJC's curfew... neither do any of his neighbors.

From one very expensive project that is failing, to another that will (hopefully) succeed. The mitigations fo the environmental impacts of the 49ers stadium will be dealt with and voted on today. If you love nitty gritty of land-use, head to the Santa Clara City Council meeting tonight. If you're normal, American Idol is on tonight...

A list came out of the lowest performing (failing) schools came out yesterday. It is a list that nobody wanted to be on... but here is who is on the list:

• Hoover Middle and Burnett Middle (San Jose Unified)
• Cesar Chavez Elementary, Ocala Middle, Joseph George Middle (Alum Rock) Escuela Popular Charter (East Side Union High School District)
• August Boeger Middle School (Mount Pleasant Elementary School District)

Libraries are under the knife (potentially) in San Jose. An OpEd in today's Merc makes the case why they shouldn't be cut... like the obvious, it is where many people look for jobs and many people don't have jobs right now.

The Merc's Scott Herhold looks at what government officials drive and on whose dime... Here's what we learn about government-funded rides: Supervisor Don Gage drives a very expensive, environment-be-damned GMC Yukon because he's a "big guy"... DA Dolores Carr goes for a foreign, luxury car -- an Acura TL... Sheriff Laurie Smith, a hybrid Camry. But the best part of the column is this tease by Scott Herhold: "...District Attorney Dolores Carr, who drives a $36,900 Acura TL (2007) with a power moon roof, a navigation system and heated front seats. That purchase required approval by the county executive's office — which I'll explain in an upcoming column..." Yay! More Carr columns coming...

Big props to Morgan Hill Police for arresting two of their "Most Wanted"...

Hangar One clean up and revamp will fall on NASA, not the Navy. That's not great news...

Morning News Round-Up -- 3.8.10: Full body scanner...

Is Steve Poizner now the most pathetic politician in California? He is trying to sell himself as another person with his initials: Sarah Palin. Can you imagine a conversation between the two?

Poizner: Governor Palin? It's Steve Poizner from California

Palin: Ah shucks Steve, we have the same darn initials, don't we.

Poizner: Yes ma'am, I guess we do, but I'm calling to see if you'd consider endorsing my candidacy?

Palin: Are you calling because we have the same initials?

Poizner: No ma'am, I am the true conservative in the race and I thought you'd like that.

Palin: SP endorses SP... that would be a cool headline. Do you like guns?

Poizner: I didn't use to, but I kind of do now.

Palin: Are you pro-life?

Poizner: I wasn't, but I can be if it helps.

Palin: Have you read my book?

Poizner: I did.

Palin: Did that ebay chick?

Poizner: I don't think so...

Even though they can't seem to pay for their grand opening, once SJC does open its new doors, there will be full body scanners greeting you.

Speaking of Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio...

Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio will get his day in the sunshine this week when his idea to get affordable housing developers to pay park fees, which they haven't had to do before in San Jose. They haven't done so because it was seen as a burden to pitch in for parks (or build parks) for affordable housing developers in the past, but money is money and parks are parks and Oliverio has been pit-bullish on this...

Perhaps affordable housing developers can also pay to keep The Rep afloat... because nothing else has seemed to work. This could be it for the theatre...

Is downtown Palo Alto the center of the (incredibly whacky) "open carry" movement? Before you write something edgy in response to this story online or on Facebook, remember what happened to the East Palo Alto Police Officer who did... We wonder if the open carry folks are smart enough to realize that Palo Alto is different than East Palo Alto...

Don't worry too much, because Palo Alto is also where Dr. Phil will be shooting... not guns, but a television show. But City officials are asking Dr. Phil not to focus too much on Palo Alto's string of teen suicides.

Voters in Los Gatos will be going to the ballot to vote on a $3.9 million school bond. $3.9 million? Isn't that the same as the average home price in Los Gatos?

Would you be surprised to know that Senator Joe Simitian scored a $3,183.20 trip to Boca Raton Florida from a special interest? We were. (Would you actually pay to spend time with Simitian?) The special interest group is the Soap and Detergent Association, which may seem squeeky clean, but I'm sure the good folks at the water treatment plants feel a little differently.

And Simitian's friends at the Soap and Detergent Association won't be able to text the Senator if a new bill passes the Legislature. Sort of a San Jose-like ordinance for Sacramento. To the bill, the Merc Ed Board says: OMG TY...

Internal Affairs is really getting into the San Jose District 9 race... did you know that Jim Cogan and Don Rocha played on the same basketball team? It gets better: Jim thinks Don was a ball hog. At least the issues are getting a fully hearing in this race. Perhaps a one-on-one game would be in order? "You and me. One-on-one. The winner gets Judy's office..."

The good folks at the Morgan Hill Times take a look at the story after the story about the Hollister-born Pentagon shooter.

Morning News Round-Up -- 2.26.10: SJC Bake Sale?

The news just keeps getting worse (and more embarassing) for the San Jose (International) Airport. First, a coast-to-coast snow storm impacted absolutely every airport in the country, execept SJC... Then, Frontier Airlines decides it is going to leave town... And then, a report about High-Speed Rail released yesterday says that the train will hurt airports in the Bay Area, especially SJC... Now, the airport is begging local businesses to pick up the tag of their grand opening. And they are using superhero Captain Sully to do it. Look for the SJC Bake Sale announcement soon... While funding the grand opening is one issue, larger issues remain, like the fact that the airport can't really afford its debt service... stay tuned.

Councilmember Nora Campos proposed expanding and increasing the number of 'no gang zones' in San Jose. It sounds like a great idea -- especially in an election year... It probably would have sounded just as good any of the other 8 years she has served on the City Council...

Team San Jose, Teamsters, the San Jose Convention Center... another story. It turns out the local Teamsters might get the work at the Convention Center after all -- and this time, it may not cost the Convention Center all of its business...

A team from a local newspaper finally (finally!) got to sit down with Atherton's Meg Whitman. The Merc grilled her and she seemed to respond pretty well. Of course, if you dodged the media for a year, you might be able to prepare yourself well too... Watch Dog's conversation with Whitman is slated for next week.

Another turn in the story of Sarah Botill, the 15 year old Gilroy girl who died after a night of drinking. The 18 year old (Kayla Dunigan) who brought the booze will face misdemeanor charges for providing the alcohol.

Perhaps Mountain View restaurants will be getting business from all the good folks with munchies after all. The Mountain View City Council banned pot clubs for a year, but they are draft regulations to (maybe) allow them after that.

Finally, our friend at Mission City Lantern takes aim at Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty for taking aim at the 49ers...

Morning News Round-Up -- 2.22.10: What if you built an airport, and no airlines showed up?

You remember the controversy whereby the folks that run the Convention Center in San Jose -- Team San Jose -- signed an exclusive contract with Teamsters that made convention promoters head for the hills? Well, Team San Jose rescinded the deal with the Teamsters and perhaps some folks will think about coming back to the Convention Center. Perhaps...

Of course, if conventioners do come back, they won't be coming here on Frontier Airlines... that's because Frontier Airlines is leaving SJC. Last week we wrote about how sad it was that a storm blanketed most of the country, crippling air traffic everywhere... except SJC. Perhaps a new road and new parking coming online at SJC will convince other airlines not to jump ship...

Just when you thought you would never see the word "Little" and "Saigon" right next to each other in the Mercury News, a story came out late on Friday that noted that the group that sued the City of San Jose about Little Saigon and open government violations lost in court... good thing, because Madison Nguyen is up for re-election...

Another "little" story from this weekend: San Jose is getting closer to having a Little Italy... of course, Little Italy hasn't yet started a recall effort, so it isn't nearly as interesting. But in San Jose, anything new and cool might run into some bureaucracy at City Hall, and the banners for Little Italy are no different, we learned in Internal Affairs on Sunday...

San Jose Inside is the only publication covering the continuing story over in the East Side Union High School District. Inside was there when fired Superintendent scolded the Board after the County Office of Education audit cleared his name... and Inside was there last Thursday night when County Superintendent said this, “The district now has two studies and one extraordinary audit, over a nearly 10 year period, and all three have reveled a weakness in your internal control structure. I just want to pause on that. Same problem, for over a decade.” Thank youInside for covering this issue... and let us now forget that the President of the Board at East Side Union High School District has never, ever been elected to the Board, but appointed twice. Maybe voters have a pretty good intuition on these things...

While covering a story that no one else is covering is great, San Jose Inside is still apparently in love with really dry content (Oliverio, DiSilva...) because they reprinted Mayor Reed's State of the City speech. As we noted last week, a quick span of the speech will not turn up the famous words, "The State of the City is..." But we remember when that sentence garnered great attention and a blog post on San Jose Inside...

Another thing not mentioned in the speech...

Expect some disappointed San Jose kids and parents this summer because San Jose Family Camp will not open this year. They need to repair a roof and figure out what to do about getting clean water to the Yosemite resort. The State of San Jose Family Camp is sad...

Also sad...

The San Jose City Council will discuss the San Jose Redevelopment Agency budget this week. Trimmed-down would be an understatement. Major projects are still on the books, but scaled back a bit... or a lot.

San Jose is getting a Children's Zone modeled after a Harlem Children's Zone around the troubled Santee Elementary School, "from cradle to college to community-building..." Amen.

Everyone is writing about San Jose parks these days...

• Scott Herhold let's us all know that there is really no such thing as a 'closed park'...
• At the same time that Herhold was writing his park piece, Councilmember Sam Liccardo was writing his own park piece, that appeared on San Jose Inside's website on Sunday... (San Jose Inside seems to be publishing all week now... Watch out Merc...)
• And Tracy Seipel at the Merc covered a story in today's paper about San Jose parks, off-leash dogs, and angry neighbors... always a fun combination.

Internal Affairs fills us in on the news that running for office in San Jose is still inexpensive, unless of course you want voters to know what you stand for... and if you want your 200 word ballot statement to appear in the ballot guide voters get in the mail, then that will cost you nearly $10,000 if you are running for Mayor, or $2,000 if you are running for City Council... Bill Chew, the White Skating Knight of San Jose, is not pleased.

Morning News Round-Up -- 2.11.10: Reed, Constant, Kalra, Chirco, and Pyle agree on something...

Earlier this week, Protect San Jose posted a letter Mayor Reed wrote to Assemblymembers Paul Fong and Joe Coto essentially telling them to back off their request for a State audit of the San Jose Police Department... yesterday, Mayor Reed (and the POA?) convinced some of his colleagues to make the trek to Sacramento to do the same thing. Pete Constant, Ash Kalra, Judy Chirco, and Nancy Pyle all met with Fong and Coto and asked them to hold off on their State audit. (Watch Dog is impressed that Constant, Kalra, Chirco, and Pyle all agree on anything... We would bet they didn't carpool up there.) All of this prompted the local ACLU chief Skyler Porras to respond with this witty alliteration, calling Mayor Reed's actions: "...petulant political posturing..."

We don't know the saddest part of this story and delays, or lack thereof, at SJC... so we'll just lay out the sad parts.

• Sad Point 1: There is a massive storm blanketing much of the Midwest and a separate, week-long storm from the Mid-Atlantic northward... and those storms have virtually no impact on San Jose Airport travel.
• Sad Point 2: There is only one, daily, non-stop flight to the East Coast.
• Sad Point 3: This quote from the airport guy, "Most of our flights from San Jose are in the western United States."

For those of you out there who can stay awake long enough to sit through all the States of the (Fill in the Blank) that happen this time of year probably already heard everything that Supervisor Ken Yeager said in his speech a while back... the Merc Editorial pages were nice enough to run an excerpt today...

Santa Clara Unified hasn't been in the paper lately -- mostly because the Broom Closet Modeling Agency flap has died down... and the news about the Principal who once dated a recent graduate at a previous job has died down... but the story about the teacher who had sex with a student is back on the front burner. That's because the former Wilcox High School teacher pleaded guilty yesterday and has already begun to serve his sentence of 2 years and 8 months...

High Speed Rail NIMBYs might have to take a chill pill after Jeff Barker of the High Speed Rail Authority announced that there was a typo in a report they issued about ridership numbers. NIMBYs were hanging on to that typo as proof that the High Speed Rail Authority was full of shit...

Mission City Lantern explains his thoughts a little bit better today about why he thinks Watch Dog was wrong on who wrote the new ballot language for the 49er's measure... thank you James. We heart you too... all the way from Hawaii...