A few updates on some previously covered stories start off this sunny Thursday:
The Police Video: The Mercury News hired a forensic audio/visual person to enhance the video of the Police beating/Tasing of San Jose State's Phuong Ho. Because we don't like being accused of being a shill for Sean Webby, we encourage every single person to click through to the video, watch it, and then remember that there are (apparently) two sides to every story... This (and a review board looking at police force in San Jose) prompted another Editorial in the Mercury News calling a review of SJPD's use of force a good first step. (Enter your Palin-esque anti-media comments below... you know who you are.)
Wilcox High's "Broom Closet Modeling Agency" CEO: We know you remember the story of the janitor at Wilcox High School getting fired because he was running a modeling agency made up of Wilcox High School girls. Well, the School District apparently puts a lot of stock in Facebook fan pages because they rehired the guy to work on the grounds crew. Don't worry though, he won't be at Wilcox High -- unless of course the grass needs to be cut. The absolute best quote in this story is this, from Joe Miller the Broom Closet Modeling Agency: "I'm looking forward to my new job within the school district and practicing and producing the art of vintage through my Rockabilly Model agency outside the district..." Well, at least he learned his lesson...
South Bay 49ers: The 49er's stadium plan went to the Santa Clara Planning Commission yesterday and the meeting went late into the night... we know one thing for sure, the stadium plans are bike-friendly...
Total buzz kill... Mayor Reed wants to remind everyone that pot clubs are illegal in the City. Really? Mayor Reed would be so much more fun if he visited one of these clubs once and a while... How is Mayor Reed's position consistent with San Jose's "Green Vision"?
Downtown Palo Alto -- you know, the place with all the high-tech men in blue button-downs and khakis and all the students in flip-flops... well, it has been tough going for the area -- but a recovery may be on the horizon...
One of the several Silicon Valley, high-tech egos running for Statewide office next year was in DC chatting up the DC press corps. According to the Merc's story, Fiorina "...suggested that the science surrounding global warming is less than conclusive..." That is pretty much all you need to know about the pandering nature her campaign to come. Expect a supportive visit from Sarah Palin and James Inhofe soon...
Just to check in with how things were going, we took a gander over to our blogosphere neighbors at PoliticonValley... but the last posting was put up there on November 2nd... keep up the good work.
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query wilcox high. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query wilcox high. Sort by date Show all posts
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Morning News Round-Up -- 12.15.09: Big night for the San(ta Clara) Francisco 49ers...
The San(ta Clara) Francisco 49ers kicked some serious Cardinals' ass last night. Seven Cardinals' turnovers helped San(ta Clara) Francisco's cause as well... We're not here, to start no trouble, we're just here to do the Santa Clara shuffle... (Mission City Lantern doesn't miss a beat...)
Speaking of new stadiums... the Chronicle's man in Oakland, Chip Johnson, does his best to boost Oakland Mayor Ron Dellum's plans to keep the A's in Oakland -- and not with out some needling of San Jose. Like this: "...the chances that Wolff and San Jose city officials will prevail in their attempts to move the team are slim..." Really? I suppose Chip Johnson and Ron Dellums are closer to Major League Baseball owners than Lew Wolff (a Major League Baseball owner). Johnson's piece also states the obvious -- that is may be too little too late -- when he writes: "...It's a complete turnabout for Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums who in early 2007, shortly after taking office, dismissed any notions that the team would remain..." So perhaps Lew Wolff's non-embrace of Oakland is because it comes three years too late...
The Merc Editorial Board gives an atta-boy to Mayor Chuck Reed for punting San Jose's Redevelopment budget talks to February until things can be ironed out on several fronts: the State's money grab, perhaps the Teamsters' thingy, and some other stuff too.
Scott Herhold provides some perspective on the death of teenager Sarah Botill in Gilroy from a night of drinking. Herhold concludes that this is no ordinary story because, "...She was the daughter of a firefighter. She died after drinking at the home of an ex-councilman. And she had a few swallows of beer that night at the home of a cop..." More details about the case from the news side of the house at the Merc and the Dispatch as well...
The Merc's Mr. Roadshow describes some details about the proposed BART-to-Silicon Valley line and how some traffic delays can already be tied to BART's eventual construction...
Speaking of trains... more and less. Apparently High-Speed Rail tickets might be a little bit more expensive than originally planned (and sold to voters) and the ridership numbers may be a little less. Oops... Watch Dog would still pay a pretty steep price to not have to fly into LAX ever again. It might be a good place to get a haircut, but it is a bad place to fly in to. It is safe to assume that the higher fees and lower ridership are not what 200 folks in Mountain View were most concerned about when they attended a High-Speed Rail meeting...
This week the Merc called Steve Poizner's Gubernatorial campaign "anemic" and then late yesterday a story posted that went further into detail about what the rumor-mill in Sacramento is churning out. Poizner may not spend the $15 million he is putting in for some time and all the money that is being put into the race by Whitman and Poizner may mean that San Jose's Tom Campbell is backing out of the race, to which Campbell's press secretary says: "People can talk and conjecture all they want, but there's no change..." Of course, Campbell's press secretary did confirm that supporters are encouraging Campbell to run for Senate instead... because nothing could go wrong with a Campbell Senate bid... (36.6%)
More bad news for the Santa Clara Unified School District and Wilcox High School. Just as the Broom Closet Modeling Agency flap has died down, the Santa Clara Police are forwarding to the District Attorney their findings of their investigation into whether the Wilcox High Principal knew a teacher was known for having sex with students before he was arrested for (you guessed it) having sex with a student... now the District Attorney Dolores Carr needs to review the findings and decide if she wants to take on a high-profile rape case... where have we seen this before? We can only hope two things in this case: 1. that Jim McManis isn't the defense attorney for the Principal, and 2. that the DA's husband isn't working for the victim's (victims'?) families in some way...
To light or not to light... that is the question (at the Ann Sobrato high School football field in Morgan Hill). One complication -- the football field is actually in San Jose ... and within the City's greenbelt. San Jose Councilmember Ash Kalra, who represents the part of San Jose that would be impacted had this to say: "I'd certainly be open to discussing it. I don't want to close any doors to the interest the community may have to try to find a way to make it happen. But under the current zoning, it just won't work." Oh well... perhaps there is a high school in Dillon that will share their Friday Night Lights...
They are going to pave "paradise" (Palo Alto Bowl) and put up a "parking lot" (for a new hotel and townhomes)...
San Jose Councilmember Pete Constant joins Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio this week on San Jose Inside talking about the City budget. San Jose's new blogging duet...
Speaking of new stadiums... the Chronicle's man in Oakland, Chip Johnson, does his best to boost Oakland Mayor Ron Dellum's plans to keep the A's in Oakland -- and not with out some needling of San Jose. Like this: "...the chances that Wolff and San Jose city officials will prevail in their attempts to move the team are slim..." Really? I suppose Chip Johnson and Ron Dellums are closer to Major League Baseball owners than Lew Wolff (a Major League Baseball owner). Johnson's piece also states the obvious -- that is may be too little too late -- when he writes: "...It's a complete turnabout for Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums who in early 2007, shortly after taking office, dismissed any notions that the team would remain..." So perhaps Lew Wolff's non-embrace of Oakland is because it comes three years too late...
The Merc Editorial Board gives an atta-boy to Mayor Chuck Reed for punting San Jose's Redevelopment budget talks to February until things can be ironed out on several fronts: the State's money grab, perhaps the Teamsters' thingy, and some other stuff too.
Scott Herhold provides some perspective on the death of teenager Sarah Botill in Gilroy from a night of drinking. Herhold concludes that this is no ordinary story because, "...She was the daughter of a firefighter. She died after drinking at the home of an ex-councilman. And she had a few swallows of beer that night at the home of a cop..." More details about the case from the news side of the house at the Merc and the Dispatch as well...
The Merc's Mr. Roadshow describes some details about the proposed BART-to-Silicon Valley line and how some traffic delays can already be tied to BART's eventual construction...
Speaking of trains... more and less. Apparently High-Speed Rail tickets might be a little bit more expensive than originally planned (and sold to voters) and the ridership numbers may be a little less. Oops... Watch Dog would still pay a pretty steep price to not have to fly into LAX ever again. It might be a good place to get a haircut, but it is a bad place to fly in to. It is safe to assume that the higher fees and lower ridership are not what 200 folks in Mountain View were most concerned about when they attended a High-Speed Rail meeting...
This week the Merc called Steve Poizner's Gubernatorial campaign "anemic" and then late yesterday a story posted that went further into detail about what the rumor-mill in Sacramento is churning out. Poizner may not spend the $15 million he is putting in for some time and all the money that is being put into the race by Whitman and Poizner may mean that San Jose's Tom Campbell is backing out of the race, to which Campbell's press secretary says: "People can talk and conjecture all they want, but there's no change..." Of course, Campbell's press secretary did confirm that supporters are encouraging Campbell to run for Senate instead... because nothing could go wrong with a Campbell Senate bid... (36.6%)
More bad news for the Santa Clara Unified School District and Wilcox High School. Just as the Broom Closet Modeling Agency flap has died down, the Santa Clara Police are forwarding to the District Attorney their findings of their investigation into whether the Wilcox High Principal knew a teacher was known for having sex with students before he was arrested for (you guessed it) having sex with a student... now the District Attorney Dolores Carr needs to review the findings and decide if she wants to take on a high-profile rape case... where have we seen this before? We can only hope two things in this case: 1. that Jim McManis isn't the defense attorney for the Principal, and 2. that the DA's husband isn't working for the victim's (victims'?) families in some way...
To light or not to light... that is the question (at the Ann Sobrato high School football field in Morgan Hill). One complication -- the football field is actually in San Jose ... and within the City's greenbelt. San Jose Councilmember Ash Kalra, who represents the part of San Jose that would be impacted had this to say: "I'd certainly be open to discussing it. I don't want to close any doors to the interest the community may have to try to find a way to make it happen. But under the current zoning, it just won't work." Oh well... perhaps there is a high school in Dillon that will share their Friday Night Lights...
They are going to pave "paradise" (Palo Alto Bowl) and put up a "parking lot" (for a new hotel and townhomes)...
San Jose Councilmember Pete Constant joins Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio this week on San Jose Inside talking about the City budget. San Jose's new blogging duet...
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Morning News Round-Up -- 10.29.09: Need a space of my own (san jose downtown)
Santa Clara County District Attorney Dolores Carr is finding herself in hot water (again). This time, DA Carr persuaded one of her staff to reduce the charges for one of her big donor's clients. District Attorneys across California are publicly disagreeing with DA Carr’s suggestion that she was doing “what public servants do.” DA wannabe/ Deputy District Attorney Jeff Rosen suggested “there can’t be two systems of justice… Ms. Carr’s integrity and ethics … have harmed the reputation of the District Attorney’s office." District Attorney Carr, here is a number Watch Dog wants you to keep on speed-dial: 1-800-238-4427.
Here is another story of ethics in government, sort of. The Merc’s Editorial Board calls for the (temporary for now) ouster of Wilcox High Principal Tab Taber following the recent spate of bad news: a teacher (allegedly) having sex with a student/students and a janitor running a teen modeling agency out of the school's broom closet. In the Merc's view, “it's time to rebuild the culture at Wilcox High.” It sounds like they might be on to something...
And ethical issues are front-and-center in another school district this week: East Side Union High School District Trustees meet this week to decide the fate of Superintendent Bob Nunez, currently on paid leave while Trustees investigate (alleged) conflict of interest and (questionable) credit card use.
Oops, that pesky little problem holding up the Environmental Impact Report for San Jose’s plans for a Major League Baseball stadium turns out to be Hexagon Transportation Consultants’ mistake. Seems fewer baseball fans translated into more traffic for Hexagon. Acting Transportation Director Hans Larsen is busily doing the apology dance after blaming VTA for the screw-up.
“Rules are made for people who don’t have common sense,” according to San Jose resident/City Council Chief of Staff Edesa Bitbadal arguing in favor of stronger leash laws. City Councilmember Nancy Pyle said her office has been inundated with email and phone calls following the death of Beverly Head and “we are not in the business of coming up with a million rules.”
The ongoing saga of Summerhill Apartments code violations and blue-tarped roof continues in Mountain View as the City Council said no to owner Sal Teresi’s re-roofing request. City Attorney Michael Martello pointed to workers camping in the parking lot and (apparent) attempts to set up residency in an “uninhabitable building.”
That isn't funny business in Mountain View, but this is... really funny business... the Superintendent from the Mountain View-Whisman School District has a "romantic relationship" with a Principal -- which is a no-no.
Gang violence struck (again) in Gilroy. A 17 year old (alleged) Sureño was shot by (alleged) Norteño’s in his car with other (alleged) gang members. Police said (however) there’s no evidence this is retaliation for a gang murder earlier this month in Morgan Hill.
Morgan Hill’s Christian bookstore owner/perv Richard Dresser pleaded guilty to sexual battery and lewd conduct and will be registering as a sex offender following his 6 months in jail.
Meanwhile, Palo Alto High School students engaging in the annual “Egg War” used frozen eggs instead of the traditional raw to pelt each other. Students were stopped from using their normal field of battle after the Police beat them to their Stanford stomping grounds. (Please don't read into that sentence too much. The Palo Alto Police didn't actually beat them -- we mean that the Police got to Stanford first. It is Palo Alto, not San Jose...) Assistant Principal Todd Feinberg is hoping students rat each other out in exchange for a shorter suspension.
Googlers hosted U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu when he announced big federal dollars for green in Silicon Valley.
Mountain View neighbor Los Altos is worried plans to remodel the San Antonio Center might take shopping dollars out of Los Altos while adding children to the Los Altos School District. City officials will meet over a negotiation table to talk turkey. Los Altos Councilmember/(former) Mountain View Vice Mayor Ron Packard offered “it’s a wonderful development for Mountain View, I wish it were happening in Los Altos.” Please use this time to shed a tear for Los Altos...
If you’re hoping for your anti-swineish shot, get in line. Santa Clara County got short changed in the dosage department and is (im)patiently waiting. The Merc notes all the other (much smaller) counties in the Bay Area received (a lot) more shots to hand out. State Health Department spokesperson Mike Sicilia blamed the computers... good excuse.
We end today on a political note about 2010. There is a new face downtown San Jose political circuit... that is, of course, if you consider Morgan Hill part of downtown San Jose. Let us explain...
Anxious to get an office job after 4 years of medical retirement, Morgan Hill resident/ (former) security guard/ bartender/ bouncer Tim Hennessey has his heart set on San Jose Councilmember Sam Liccardo’s seat. Hennessey complains he doesn’t want to wait until he’s 50 or 60 to run, he wants to “act now.” Hennessey’s biggest supporter, night club owner Ray Shafazand, is eager to engage in a “dirty…big war” to oust Liccardo for his night club-backed candidate, according to San Jose Insider Jessica Fromm. Oh, Hennessey is also a Republican. We found this listing on Craigslist... Could it be Hennessey is close to landing his new downtown apartment?:
------------
Date: 2009-10-28, 1:00PM PDT
Reply to: hous-rdn3y-1441756047@craigslist.org
Hi, I need a place of my own. I don't want a room in someone's house . I like to have guests and not feel that I'm invading someone else's home. I like to come and go as I please without worrying about waking my roomates if it's late when I get back. I'm looking for anything from a studio to a one bedroom, but am having a hard time finding one in my price range. $700 is is over a third of my monthly income so it's the most I can afford. Please let me know if you can help me. Thanks
Here is another story of ethics in government, sort of. The Merc’s Editorial Board calls for the (temporary for now) ouster of Wilcox High Principal Tab Taber following the recent spate of bad news: a teacher (allegedly) having sex with a student/students and a janitor running a teen modeling agency out of the school's broom closet. In the Merc's view, “it's time to rebuild the culture at Wilcox High.” It sounds like they might be on to something...
And ethical issues are front-and-center in another school district this week: East Side Union High School District Trustees meet this week to decide the fate of Superintendent Bob Nunez, currently on paid leave while Trustees investigate (alleged) conflict of interest and (questionable) credit card use.
Oops, that pesky little problem holding up the Environmental Impact Report for San Jose’s plans for a Major League Baseball stadium turns out to be Hexagon Transportation Consultants’ mistake. Seems fewer baseball fans translated into more traffic for Hexagon. Acting Transportation Director Hans Larsen is busily doing the apology dance after blaming VTA for the screw-up.
“Rules are made for people who don’t have common sense,” according to San Jose resident/City Council Chief of Staff Edesa Bitbadal arguing in favor of stronger leash laws. City Councilmember Nancy Pyle said her office has been inundated with email and phone calls following the death of Beverly Head and “we are not in the business of coming up with a million rules.”
The ongoing saga of Summerhill Apartments code violations and blue-tarped roof continues in Mountain View as the City Council said no to owner Sal Teresi’s re-roofing request. City Attorney Michael Martello pointed to workers camping in the parking lot and (apparent) attempts to set up residency in an “uninhabitable building.”
That isn't funny business in Mountain View, but this is... really funny business... the Superintendent from the Mountain View-Whisman School District has a "romantic relationship" with a Principal -- which is a no-no.
Gang violence struck (again) in Gilroy. A 17 year old (alleged) Sureño was shot by (alleged) Norteño’s in his car with other (alleged) gang members. Police said (however) there’s no evidence this is retaliation for a gang murder earlier this month in Morgan Hill.
Morgan Hill’s Christian bookstore owner/perv Richard Dresser pleaded guilty to sexual battery and lewd conduct and will be registering as a sex offender following his 6 months in jail.
Meanwhile, Palo Alto High School students engaging in the annual “Egg War” used frozen eggs instead of the traditional raw to pelt each other. Students were stopped from using their normal field of battle after the Police beat them to their Stanford stomping grounds. (Please don't read into that sentence too much. The Palo Alto Police didn't actually beat them -- we mean that the Police got to Stanford first. It is Palo Alto, not San Jose...) Assistant Principal Todd Feinberg is hoping students rat each other out in exchange for a shorter suspension.
Googlers hosted U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu when he announced big federal dollars for green in Silicon Valley.
Mountain View neighbor Los Altos is worried plans to remodel the San Antonio Center might take shopping dollars out of Los Altos while adding children to the Los Altos School District. City officials will meet over a negotiation table to talk turkey. Los Altos Councilmember/(former) Mountain View Vice Mayor Ron Packard offered “it’s a wonderful development for Mountain View, I wish it were happening in Los Altos.” Please use this time to shed a tear for Los Altos...
If you’re hoping for your anti-swineish shot, get in line. Santa Clara County got short changed in the dosage department and is (im)patiently waiting. The Merc notes all the other (much smaller) counties in the Bay Area received (a lot) more shots to hand out. State Health Department spokesperson Mike Sicilia blamed the computers... good excuse.
We end today on a political note about 2010. There is a new face downtown San Jose political circuit... that is, of course, if you consider Morgan Hill part of downtown San Jose. Let us explain...
Anxious to get an office job after 4 years of medical retirement, Morgan Hill resident/ (former) security guard/ bartender/ bouncer Tim Hennessey has his heart set on San Jose Councilmember Sam Liccardo’s seat. Hennessey complains he doesn’t want to wait until he’s 50 or 60 to run, he wants to “act now.” Hennessey’s biggest supporter, night club owner Ray Shafazand, is eager to engage in a “dirty…big war” to oust Liccardo for his night club-backed candidate, according to San Jose Insider Jessica Fromm. Oh, Hennessey is also a Republican. We found this listing on Craigslist... Could it be Hennessey is close to landing his new downtown apartment?:
------------
$700 Need a space of my own (san jose downtown)
Date: 2009-10-28, 1:00PM PDT
Reply to: hous-rdn3y-1441756047@craigslist.org
Hi, I need a place of my own. I don't want a room in someone's house . I like to have guests and not feel that I'm invading someone else's home. I like to come and go as I please without worrying about waking my roomates if it's late when I get back. I'm looking for anything from a studio to a one bedroom, but am having a hard time finding one in my price range. $700 is is over a third of my monthly income so it's the most I can afford. Please let me know if you can help me. Thanks
Friday, January 29, 2010
Morning News Round-Up -- 1.29.10: Coto vs Reed?
For a Friday, there is some pretty big news...
Good morning San Jose Police Chief Rob Davis (and the SJPOA)... Assemblymembers Joe Coto and Paul Fong have something to tell you... they are asking the Joint Legislative Audit Committee launch an investigation into the SJPD to see if officers are trained properly and look into citizen complaints about use of force properly. But the intrigue doesn't end there... Mayor Reed criticized Coto and Fong, saying: "I see Joe Coto and Paul Fong all the time, and I'm surprised they haven't asked me about this." Stay tuned... Remember when there was talk of Coto running against Mayor Reed this June? Hmmmm...
The Merc's sport columnist Mark Purdy gives us an update about what the heck is happening with MLB in San Jose. The bottomline? MLB (and Bud Selig) are dragging their feet and San Jose needs to get on with it...
The City of San Jose, sensing a public sentiment shift under their own feet, is considering a new tax or fee to pay for tree maintenance... Which will make folks in the City who are uber-protective of their salary, benefits, and pensions pretty happy. You see, if there is a tax (or fee) for trees, then that money doesn't have to come from the general fund -- which means everyone's salary, benefits, and pensions are safe... for now.
You probably remember Broom Closet Modelling at Wilcox High in Santa Clara... the janitor who was running at teen modelling agency. But before there was the broom closet, there was a teacher arrested at Wilcox High School on the first day of school for allegedly having sex with a student... and that may have been a pattern that perhaps the principal knew about. Well, we have some more information today, thanks to the Merc: the Principal at the school will not face criminal "failure to report" charges... Not that it means anything, but... the principal's attorney is Steve Manchester, who seemingly endorsed the District Attorney when she ran the first time...
While we are talking about the DA's office, there is an Op Ed in the Merc by former Superior Court Judge LaDoris Cordell who calls for a mutany in the DA's office. She urges prosecutors to ignore their boss's decree to boycott one judge... and she calls out Jeff Rosen on the issue too...
High-Speed Rail could be moving faster than planned (pun intended) with a new influx of Federal cash... $2.25 billion, with a "b"... NIMBYs with an "n" better get their act together...
The backyard hockey rink in Palo Alto at the home of Sun Microsystems Chairman Scott McNealy needs to go through Palo Alto's planning process if he wants to keep it... What is weirder: Having a backyard hockey rink or Palo Alto's planning process?
Thursday, February 11, 2010
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...
Monday, November 2, 2009
Morning News Round-Up -- 11.2.09: Change of Culture Edition...
Well, Sunday's paper had some more bad news for the embattled San Jose Police Department. Let's review: first it was drunk arrests, then it was attitude arrests, then it was a shooting of a mentally-ill man and the corresponding non-release of the 911 tapes, then it was the beating/ Tasing of the San Jose State student. All of this has kept the Merc's Sean Webby extremely busy. Sunday's expose on the San Jose Police Department was thorough -- and while we await Protest San Jose's response, you should read the story. In a nutshell, the San Jose Police Department uses force a lot in resisting-arrest cases, which comes as no surprise to some, but may surprise a few folks on the City Council...
The Sunday Merc also had some pretty shocking examples of use of force during fairly innocuous stuff... followed by today's paper with another story about a female San Jose State student who was roughed up during the evening of the 2006 Mardi Gras. (It isn't all bad news for San Jose PD however, a rookie Officer saved a toddler from choking on candy this weekend.)
And, of course, the corresponding Merc Editorial calling for a "culture change" for San Jose Police.
Ironically, it is the second call for a change in culture in the Merc Editorial pages this week. The first was for Wilcox High School after Teacher/Sex Gate and the Broom Closet Modeling Agency was uncovered...
And if that all wasn't enough news about the need for a change of culture, another one bites the dust in the East Side Union High School District. Superintendent Bob Nunez was finally sacked after 12 hours of hearings and lots and lots of expensive Starbucks coffees... (read that story, that is a pun...) Perhaps this is an an elaborate effort to get the seat warm again for Joe Coto when his stint in Sacramento is over...
You may have heard that these are tough economic times... well, VTA is feeling the tough economic times as hard, or harder, than anyone else. They have an operating deficit of $98 million over the next 2 years. That should be fun to deal with...
And if it is Monday, that means we read Internal Affairs this weekend. IA goes in depth about the Forbe's Magazine safe cities rankings... ironic, given what else was the in paper on Sunday (see top story above)... the Santa Clara Valley Water District passed The Dick Santos Project in Alviso, much to the delight of the opposition researchers in the Supervisor's race next year... and Deputy District Attorney is officially looking to remove the word Deputy from his name and is taking on embattled DA Dolores Carr.
Gilroy Unified has a new high school and by the accounts in the story in the Dispatch, it is one cool high school.
And could it be that the same golf course that gave headaches (both golf and political) to former San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales could host a PGA Tour event? The Morgan Hill Times asks and answers the questions...
The Sunday Merc also had some pretty shocking examples of use of force during fairly innocuous stuff... followed by today's paper with another story about a female San Jose State student who was roughed up during the evening of the 2006 Mardi Gras. (It isn't all bad news for San Jose PD however, a rookie Officer saved a toddler from choking on candy this weekend.)
And, of course, the corresponding Merc Editorial calling for a "culture change" for San Jose Police.
Ironically, it is the second call for a change in culture in the Merc Editorial pages this week. The first was for Wilcox High School after Teacher/Sex Gate and the Broom Closet Modeling Agency was uncovered...
And if that all wasn't enough news about the need for a change of culture, another one bites the dust in the East Side Union High School District. Superintendent Bob Nunez was finally sacked after 12 hours of hearings and lots and lots of expensive Starbucks coffees... (read that story, that is a pun...) Perhaps this is an an elaborate effort to get the seat warm again for Joe Coto when his stint in Sacramento is over...
You may have heard that these are tough economic times... well, VTA is feeling the tough economic times as hard, or harder, than anyone else. They have an operating deficit of $98 million over the next 2 years. That should be fun to deal with...
And if it is Monday, that means we read Internal Affairs this weekend. IA goes in depth about the Forbe's Magazine safe cities rankings... ironic, given what else was the in paper on Sunday (see top story above)... the Santa Clara Valley Water District passed The Dick Santos Project in Alviso, much to the delight of the opposition researchers in the Supervisor's race next year... and Deputy District Attorney is officially looking to remove the word Deputy from his name and is taking on embattled DA Dolores Carr.
Gilroy Unified has a new high school and by the accounts in the story in the Dispatch, it is one cool high school.
And could it be that the same golf course that gave headaches (both golf and political) to former San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales could host a PGA Tour event? The Morgan Hill Times asks and answers the questions...
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Morning News Round-Up -- 9.9.09: This Boots was made for prison...
Boots Del Biaggio never got so much press as when his sentence of 8 years and $67 million was handed down. Del Biaggio has until January 8th to pack his bag for prison. The other shoe drops when a judge hands Del Biaggio SEC penalties.The fallout from former Mayor Tom McEnery’s visit to the Elections Commission continues today. Commissioners contemplate new rules on anonymous complaints, you know to “minimize frivolous complaints.” No word if this will be called the McEnery Amendment. Our biggest complaint is that the anonymous complaints are usually the most fun...
Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse: County Tax Assessor Larry Stone, will really earn his daily boo this week. Thousands of homeowners who received property tax relief earlier this year will get an unpleasant notice – your taxes are going up.
San Jose Congressmember Mike Honda put pen to paper to say he was “flummoxed” over misinformation giving rise to contentious town hall meetings on healthcare. Honda concludes healthcare saves money and lives.
Palo Alto union staffers mysteriously picked up a bug that kept 25 percent of them out of the office. Union representative Lynn Krug offered “…I can only guess that the individual employees may have become ill from the stress of the City of Palo Alto contract negotiation proposals…” A sick-out, very retro.
Darkrooms, “donuts,” and atriums were on the minds of Palo Alto Unified School District Trustees as they looked at plans for using up the $378 million from last years successful bond measure. Trustee Camille Townsend wants the high school plans to give a “unifying theme.”
“Beach Hi” (Miami Beach High School) sends props to alumni/ Palo Alto City Councilmember Larry Klein. Beachers are adding Klein to their Hall of Fame along with actor Andy Garcia and U.S. Secretary of State Robert Rubin. That's pretty good company.
Silicon Valley giant, Apple, has fans, investors, and everyone else on the edge of their seats waiting for today’s big announcement.
Speaking of Apple, CEO Steve Jobs’ legal beagle wants Superior Court Judge Marie Weiner to agree to knocking down Jobs’ home in Woodside. It isn’t often you hear an attorney tell a judge “…pigs will fly…”
It’s all about the schools…
Santa Clara Wilcox High School student Victoria Villagomez watched President Obama as he encouraged students to study, practice, and be careful on Facebook. Villagomez, sharing the single parent lifestyle with the President, said “everyone can relate to the problems he had.”
The Merc’s Editorial Board shared a few thoughts on the craziness leading up to President Obama’s speech to children. Suggesting while it would have been tough for English teachers to explain “the Decider’s chronically bad grammar,” any President talking to kids is “charming.”
A field of 5 lines up for 3 seats on the Cupertino Union School District election in November. Joining incumbents are Soma McCandless and Kern Peng.
Teacher Patty Polifrone is ditching Mountain View-Whisman Schools. Rumors say the beleaguered teacher is heading a little south after pissed off parents didn’t dig her teaching style.
San Jose Insider/Santa Clara County Board of Education Trustee Joseph DiSalvo helped a Sharks-loving teen with a pesky No Teal school rule only to find himself facing the news that local gang members also love the teal. DiSalvo wrapped with a cheer for the uniform, and no teal.
Sgt. Jim Unland heads back 6 years on Protect San Jose to the night San Jose Police shot Bich Cau Thi Tran while she was waving her “Asian vegetable peeler.” The post is complete with police photos of the peeler/ weapon and goes after local media for screwing up the story from the get-go.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Morning News Round-Up -- 12.3.09: The Broom Closet Modeling Defense...
We can't believe that the Broom Closet Modeling story is still percolating in Santa Clara... but the Santa Clara Weekly couldn't resist taking a shot at the Mercury News. The Editor/Publisher Miles Barber in the (appropriately titled) Milestoneds is pissed the Merc Editorial Board called for a change in culture for a high school where it is (apparently) ok for a teacher to have sex with a student and a janitor to solicit “only the prettiest” students for personal gain. In Milestoneds Barber suggests a winning football team proves Wilcox High is a great place. Good point?
On a much more grown-up Santa Clara note: Santa Clara officials look forward to June 49ers stadium vote.
State Senate wannabe?/ San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce President Pat Dando was popping the champagne early after the “soft-money” controversy went her way, a second time. San Jose City Attorney Rick Doyle calls campaign finance “an area of law that’s ever-evolving,” and will study the ruling before suggesting San Jose ditch rules preventing unlimited amounts of “soft money” put toward independent expenditures in local campaigns. Wouldn't it be great if there was a blog around that would give a snarky run-down on this ruling... Watch Dog misses San Jose Revealed...
San Jose’s City Council didn’t worry about nay-saying NIMBY neighbors when they said yes to two housing development proposals this week. Barry Swenson Builder looks forward to seeing a 15 story tower along (currently) sleepy West San Carlos while business owners in Evergreen are hopeful more neighbors will keep stores open.
Speaking of NIMBYs, we head further north to Mountain View... Coming in at 4 stories with a cost of $500,000 per unit, the Mountain View City Council approved use of $7 million for a below market rate development. Councilmember Laura Macias commented the “traditional” Mediterranean design looked the same as other developments (think “yawn”) but gave her support to the ROEM proposal.
Following the critical head injury San Jose High’s Matt Blea suffered on the gridiron, the Merc’s Editorial Board calls on football coaches to think about kids health over winning. Editors call on parents to lead the charge in this culture change.
Palo Alto Police hired security guards in an attempt to prevent more teen suicides along the CalTrain tracks. Police are hoping the public will keep the guards on duty with donations to Barbara Teixeira, c/o Rail Crossing Watch Fund, Palo Alto Police Department, 275 Forest Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94301.
Greenwaste of Palo Alto is seeing green on skinny streets. Palo Alto residents on narrow, private streets will cough up an extra $180 to have their waste removed.
Gilroy’s medical marijuana dispensary continues to face an uphill battle. The Police report kids and medical marijuana (and booze) are being found together – so far it has not been MediLeaf’s pot. Let's get this straight: teenagers, booze, and pot together in one place? Unbelievable! Opponents are starting a petition drive of their own while Gilroy resident Karin Clements is bothered the acrimony is dividing Gilroy.
Protect San Jose’s Sunshine fan, Ed Rast, used a public records request to dig into the drunk in public problems facing San Jose Police. While the Consortium for Police Leadership in Equity looked at numbers for big cities, Rast looked at San Jose neighbors to find Gilroy and Milpitas outshine San Jose in the Latino arrest department.
And the love affair continues between Watch Dog and Mission City Lantern...
On a much more grown-up Santa Clara note: Santa Clara officials look forward to June 49ers stadium vote.
State Senate wannabe?/ San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce President Pat Dando was popping the champagne early after the “soft-money” controversy went her way, a second time. San Jose City Attorney Rick Doyle calls campaign finance “an area of law that’s ever-evolving,” and will study the ruling before suggesting San Jose ditch rules preventing unlimited amounts of “soft money” put toward independent expenditures in local campaigns. Wouldn't it be great if there was a blog around that would give a snarky run-down on this ruling... Watch Dog misses San Jose Revealed...
San Jose’s City Council didn’t worry about nay-saying NIMBY neighbors when they said yes to two housing development proposals this week. Barry Swenson Builder looks forward to seeing a 15 story tower along (currently) sleepy West San Carlos while business owners in Evergreen are hopeful more neighbors will keep stores open.
Speaking of NIMBYs, we head further north to Mountain View... Coming in at 4 stories with a cost of $500,000 per unit, the Mountain View City Council approved use of $7 million for a below market rate development. Councilmember Laura Macias commented the “traditional” Mediterranean design looked the same as other developments (think “yawn”) but gave her support to the ROEM proposal.
Following the critical head injury San Jose High’s Matt Blea suffered on the gridiron, the Merc’s Editorial Board calls on football coaches to think about kids health over winning. Editors call on parents to lead the charge in this culture change.
Palo Alto Police hired security guards in an attempt to prevent more teen suicides along the CalTrain tracks. Police are hoping the public will keep the guards on duty with donations to Barbara Teixeira, c/o Rail Crossing Watch Fund, Palo Alto Police Department, 275 Forest Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94301.
Greenwaste of Palo Alto is seeing green on skinny streets. Palo Alto residents on narrow, private streets will cough up an extra $180 to have their waste removed.
Gilroy’s medical marijuana dispensary continues to face an uphill battle. The Police report kids and medical marijuana (and booze) are being found together – so far it has not been MediLeaf’s pot. Let's get this straight: teenagers, booze, and pot together in one place? Unbelievable! Opponents are starting a petition drive of their own while Gilroy resident Karin Clements is bothered the acrimony is dividing Gilroy.
Protect San Jose’s Sunshine fan, Ed Rast, used a public records request to dig into the drunk in public problems facing San Jose Police. While the Consortium for Police Leadership in Equity looked at numbers for big cities, Rast looked at San Jose neighbors to find Gilroy and Milpitas outshine San Jose in the Latino arrest department.
And the love affair continues between Watch Dog and Mission City Lantern...
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
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…
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...
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.
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...
Friday, April 10, 2009
Morning News Round-Up -- 4.10.09: Fiber Optic Vandal Edition...
In case you missed this week's San Jose Police Department news, check out our post from mid-day yesterday: "A Consortium and Task Force walk into a bar..."
You may have realized the phone craziness yesterday. Tens of thousands of folks had their phone lines screwed up all day. AT&T blamed the problem on vandals who cut fiber optic lines. The episode caused emergency response and public safety officials to declare a state of emergency because 911 lines were messed up.
The Merc’s Editorial Board has declared the arrival of detente for the City of San Jose and the County of Santa Clara. Crediting Mayor Reed and Supervisor Don Gage for starting the effort 2 years ago and former Councilmembers/Supervisors Dave Cortese and Ken Yeager, the breakthrough comes in the form of a plan for sharing Redevelopment monies.
San Jose’s financial woes seem to mount daily. Compared to San Diego, San Jose’s employee disability claims are triple that of San Diego. Mayor Chuck Reed says he’s disappointed the problem isn’t under control and perhaps San Jose should “subcontract all this out to Santa Clara County.” Disabled/Councilmember Pete Constant disagrees with proposed changes to make it harder to go out on disability saying in his experience the City waits too long to send employees out on disability. (If you are interested in Councilmember Constant's history of disability with the City, here is a little bit, it came up earlier this year...) On the plus side, at least this isn't another story about the Police Chief.
It’s not funny, really, but it does sound a lot more like Animal House than Stanford…Palo Alto’s downtown was the scene of a wet-noodle assault...
Mountain View Councilmembers saw a dizzying array of budget cutting ideas this week but weren’t sure they understood the trade-offs involved. Several Councilmembers admitted they didn’t understand the budget. Councilmembers Laura Macias and Ronit Bryant were frustrated by the process, Bryant said budget decisions in the past have been a very passive process but the current crisis requires Councilmembers to step it up. Y'think?
Los Altos managed to get their Standard & Poor’s credit rating headed up, unlike many of their Silicon Valley neighbors. City Finance Director Russell Morreale credits their “pay-as-you-go” attitude.
One year of dropouts from San Jose high schools lose hundreds of millions in potential earnings, are likely to be the source of over 500 violent crimes, and cost the State bundles. People Acting in Concert Together (PACT) is pissed off about that and managed to get a pledge out of two of East Side Union High School Trustees to reduce the dropout rate. Study director Russell Rumberger pointed to San Jose Unified as exemplary in fighting the dropout problem.
The Merc’s Editorial Board hopes voters in the Moreland School District read the news that dropouts can be prevented during the early years – and vote yes on Moreland’s Measure A parcel tax measure.
Students at Santa Clara’s Wilcox and New Valley High Schools staged a mock funeral at the end of two days of the grim reminders of drunk driving. Santa Clara Police Chief Steve Lodge hopes the training will help students think before driving after getting sloshed. Or, maybe he hopes they’ll hold off on getting sloshed until out of high school…
They’re not NIMBYs they’re YUMBYs say High-Speed Rail opponents on the Peninsula who banded together as a consortium and skipped right past the local meetings to meet with Assemblymember Ira Ruskin. Ruskin is glad they did and pulled the High-Speed Rail Authority officials into the office for a chat. They are still NIMBYs...
Los Gatos’ residents lost their emergency room at 1:00 this morning as Community Hospital closed its doors. New owners, El Camino Hospital, hope to re-open in July. Until then Good Samaritan hopes to serve your emergency needs.
Saratoga’s Chamber of Commerce, still reeling from revelations that Executive Director Elizabeth Borbolla made off with Chamber funds, is working furiously to keep the doors open. Van Nelson, Chamber President, voiced disappointment in his protege saying “she was rising to the challenge. She was teaching herself the skills she needed to do the job. And we could afford her.” And she was stealing your money...
You may have realized the phone craziness yesterday. Tens of thousands of folks had their phone lines screwed up all day. AT&T blamed the problem on vandals who cut fiber optic lines. The episode caused emergency response and public safety officials to declare a state of emergency because 911 lines were messed up.
The Merc’s Editorial Board has declared the arrival of detente for the City of San Jose and the County of Santa Clara. Crediting Mayor Reed and Supervisor Don Gage for starting the effort 2 years ago and former Councilmembers/Supervisors Dave Cortese and Ken Yeager, the breakthrough comes in the form of a plan for sharing Redevelopment monies.
San Jose’s financial woes seem to mount daily. Compared to San Diego, San Jose’s employee disability claims are triple that of San Diego. Mayor Chuck Reed says he’s disappointed the problem isn’t under control and perhaps San Jose should “subcontract all this out to Santa Clara County.” Disabled/Councilmember Pete Constant disagrees with proposed changes to make it harder to go out on disability saying in his experience the City waits too long to send employees out on disability. (If you are interested in Councilmember Constant's history of disability with the City, here is a little bit, it came up earlier this year...) On the plus side, at least this isn't another story about the Police Chief.
It’s not funny, really, but it does sound a lot more like Animal House than Stanford…Palo Alto’s downtown was the scene of a wet-noodle assault...
Mountain View Councilmembers saw a dizzying array of budget cutting ideas this week but weren’t sure they understood the trade-offs involved. Several Councilmembers admitted they didn’t understand the budget. Councilmembers Laura Macias and Ronit Bryant were frustrated by the process, Bryant said budget decisions in the past have been a very passive process but the current crisis requires Councilmembers to step it up. Y'think?
Los Altos managed to get their Standard & Poor’s credit rating headed up, unlike many of their Silicon Valley neighbors. City Finance Director Russell Morreale credits their “pay-as-you-go” attitude.
One year of dropouts from San Jose high schools lose hundreds of millions in potential earnings, are likely to be the source of over 500 violent crimes, and cost the State bundles. People Acting in Concert Together (PACT) is pissed off about that and managed to get a pledge out of two of East Side Union High School Trustees to reduce the dropout rate. Study director Russell Rumberger pointed to San Jose Unified as exemplary in fighting the dropout problem.
The Merc’s Editorial Board hopes voters in the Moreland School District read the news that dropouts can be prevented during the early years – and vote yes on Moreland’s Measure A parcel tax measure.
Students at Santa Clara’s Wilcox and New Valley High Schools staged a mock funeral at the end of two days of the grim reminders of drunk driving. Santa Clara Police Chief Steve Lodge hopes the training will help students think before driving after getting sloshed. Or, maybe he hopes they’ll hold off on getting sloshed until out of high school…
They’re not NIMBYs they’re YUMBYs say High-Speed Rail opponents on the Peninsula who banded together as a consortium and skipped right past the local meetings to meet with Assemblymember Ira Ruskin. Ruskin is glad they did and pulled the High-Speed Rail Authority officials into the office for a chat. They are still NIMBYs...
Los Gatos’ residents lost their emergency room at 1:00 this morning as Community Hospital closed its doors. New owners, El Camino Hospital, hope to re-open in July. Until then Good Samaritan hopes to serve your emergency needs.
Saratoga’s Chamber of Commerce, still reeling from revelations that Executive Director Elizabeth Borbolla made off with Chamber funds, is working furiously to keep the doors open. Van Nelson, Chamber President, voiced disappointment in his protege saying “she was rising to the challenge. She was teaching herself the skills she needed to do the job. And we could afford her.” And she was stealing your money...
Friday, October 30, 2009
Morning News Round-Up -- 10.30.09: Respecting Girls Edition...
According to (former) prosecutor/ ABC 7 legal analyst Dean Johnson, the Santa Clara County District Attorney Dolores Carr crossed an ethical line by (seemingly) cutting a plea deal for a campaign contributor's client. Deputy District Attorney/ DA wannabe Jeff Rosen offered his opinion the DA cast doubt the equity of treatment from the Carr. Rosen is no doubt delighted his boss is tripping over her own pointy-toed shoes.
The Merc’s Patty Fisher takes on the tragic gang rape in Richmond, attempting to use it as a teaching moment. Fisher points back to the DeAnza gang rape and asks why, in both cases, it was young women who bravely stepped forward to stop their male friends from torturing young women and call the cops. Fisher suggests a societal problem – we do not respect girls. (Note to Dolores Carr, please read Patty Fisher today...)
Speaking of respecting girls... (or perhaps 'respecting' them a little too much for a school employee)...
Wilcox High students pissed over the turmoil janitor Joe Miller finds himself in launched the Silicon Valley solution – a Facebook page filled with comments from adoring fans. Following a five month investigation into Miller's use of students for his modeling agency and complaints about “provocative” photos, it seems the School Board is ready to unload the questionable broom-closet modeling agency. (To all of you who are about comment on this blog about this case -- bring it on. Just because someone is a great guy and is "Mr. Wilcox" does not make what he did right. Stick to your guns School Board.)
The Mountain View Los Altos High School District is hoping to go green – and have the voters say yes. If your phone rings it could be the pollsters deciding whether to move forward with greening the classes.
A Cupertino family is struggling with the loss of their 5 year old son after one of his teachers from the Elite Chinese School accidentally drove over him.
San Jose’s Pamela Root and 2 year old Adam were surprised to find the fun loving skies of Southwest Airlines wouldn’t include them. Seems Adam was doing his terrible 2’s best when flight attendants decided they’d had enough – the plane returned to the gate in Texas and left the Root’s stranded on the tarmac. The flight attendant told Root “we just can’t tolerate that for 2 hours.” Ironic, since that's what most folks say about flying Southwest, "we just can't tolerate that for 2 hours..."
The Merc’s Patty Fisher takes on the tragic gang rape in Richmond, attempting to use it as a teaching moment. Fisher points back to the DeAnza gang rape and asks why, in both cases, it was young women who bravely stepped forward to stop their male friends from torturing young women and call the cops. Fisher suggests a societal problem – we do not respect girls. (Note to Dolores Carr, please read Patty Fisher today...)
Speaking of respecting girls... (or perhaps 'respecting' them a little too much for a school employee)...
Wilcox High students pissed over the turmoil janitor Joe Miller finds himself in launched the Silicon Valley solution – a Facebook page filled with comments from adoring fans. Following a five month investigation into Miller's use of students for his modeling agency and complaints about “provocative” photos, it seems the School Board is ready to unload the questionable broom-closet modeling agency. (To all of you who are about comment on this blog about this case -- bring it on. Just because someone is a great guy and is "Mr. Wilcox" does not make what he did right. Stick to your guns School Board.)
The Mountain View Los Altos High School District is hoping to go green – and have the voters say yes. If your phone rings it could be the pollsters deciding whether to move forward with greening the classes.
A Cupertino family is struggling with the loss of their 5 year old son after one of his teachers from the Elite Chinese School accidentally drove over him.
San Jose’s Pamela Root and 2 year old Adam were surprised to find the fun loving skies of Southwest Airlines wouldn’t include them. Seems Adam was doing his terrible 2’s best when flight attendants decided they’d had enough – the plane returned to the gate in Texas and left the Root’s stranded on the tarmac. The flight attendant told Root “we just can’t tolerate that for 2 hours.” Ironic, since that's what most folks say about flying Southwest, "we just can't tolerate that for 2 hours..."
Friday, March 26, 2010
Morning News Round-Up -- 3.26.10: Can you name the 1992 San Jose City Council?
A couple of days ago in the Palo Alto Daily News, there was a story about a Palo Alto City janitor who cashing out sick leave ($100k+) and retiring with a pension and benefits for life... well, the Merc must have seen that story and asked around San Jose City Hall if the same thing happens there. Guess what? It does. The total amount of sick leave cash outs in 2009 was $11.3 million, up from previous years. It is mostly to police officers and firefighters, who have unlimited (?) sick leave and vacation payouts when they are donPublish Poste with their stint with the City. The leader of the pack was a retiring deputy police chief who cashed in $305,447 of unpaid sick leave and vacation. Today's story also has a little history: "...But the presidents of the police and firefighters unions noted that city officials in 1992 gave them the unlimited sick-leave cash out benefit..." Ok all you old timers... We'll start the 1992 City Council list with Mayor Susan Hammer, David Pandori, Shirley Lewis, Pat Sausedo... can anyone out there name the rest?
(Not to be out-reported, the Palo Alto Weekly dives deep into how much 'cash outs' have cost Palo Alto... $5.3 million last year. We have no clue who was on the Palo Alto Council when those cash out decisions were made...)
The finalists for the now-high profile Independent Police Auditor's job in San Jose have been announced, even though the Merc caught wind of LaDoris Cordell's name prevoiusly. The other three:
- Jeff Schwartz, the head of Letra, a consulting firm that trains and researches law enforcement stuff,
- Marcos Soler, a director with the Research and Strategic Initiatives for the Civilian Complaint Review Board in NYC, and
- Victoria Urbi, a police review commission officer with Berkeley's civilian Police Review Commission.
Well, let's hope whomever gets the gig that they are not neutered like the last several IPAs have been... Because there's nothing a Watch Dog likes less than being neutered...
There is some closure to the sex with a student story in Santa Clara Unified. The Wilcox High School "special" education teacher Ed Slate will spend 2 years and 8 months for "...oral copulation with a minor, sexual penetration, and sodomy with a person younger than 18..."
While we are talking about schools, sort of... the County Office of Education is under the gun from "Alternative School" teachers and staff. The teachers are worried that by taking their concerns to the Board of Trustees, rather than the Superintendent Chuck Weis, that they may face retaliation...
No more classes, no more books, no more teachers dirty looks... at least for summer school. Morgan Hill closed summer school for the coming summer...
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Morning News Round-Up – 12.24.09: More news from the broom closet...
Mistrust and low morale mark the relationship between the city of Palo Alto and its largest union. Accusations from the largest union include use of funds to fix the city’s $4.8 million budget screw-up. Not a big deal, except union leader Lynn King wonders where those funds were during negotiations. City Administrative Services Director Lalo Perez says it’s all untrue.
Thanks to a Watch Dog spy we go back to the troubles at Wilcox High. Seems principal Tab Taber is accused of his own Lolita who referred to her 3 ½ years with Taber as “very good.” Any more skeletons bouncing out of this (broom) closet?
Thanks to a Watch Dog spy we go back to the troubles at Wilcox High. Seems principal Tab Taber is accused of his own Lolita who referred to her 3 ½ years with Taber as “very good.” Any more skeletons bouncing out of this (broom) closet?
Understatement of the year, “this hasn’t been a good year for us,” said Tasha Bartholomew following the latest train vs. pedestrian death. This year 17 people have died along the Caltrain tracks.
Palo Alto assistant City Attorney Don Larkin says the affordable housing regulations are not “invalid and we have no plans to end or significantly revamp” the rules following a second developer lawsuit.
San Jose High football’s Matt Blea was sprung from the hospital following visits from Stanford’s Toby Gerhart and three Raiderettes. Blea’s doctor, Lisa Lombard, joked Blea’s “eyes popped out of his head” adding “that’s not usually one of the techniques we use.”
San Jose Inside/Metro report Sarah Palin might be coming to town for a sit down with the Chamber of Commerce. San Jose Insider Pete Campbell seems confused why Caribou Barbie’s (possible) visit stirs emotions.
Before Watch Dog heads out for the long holiday weekend, advice from the locals.
- Stay out of the drunk tank.
- Get your Yule Log on screen. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District is sending sniffers to your neighborhood in search of illegal wood fires.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Morning (or late afternoon) News Round-Up – 12.03.08
The close knit community of Los Gatos was devastated to learn high school senior Michael Halpin collapsed in front Los Gatos High and was pronounced dead at Good Samaritan Hospital. Friend and teammate Nick Hirschman said, "Michael was one of the guys — he always gave 100 percent in practice, and off the field he was the nicest guy, everyone got along with him." Share your condolences here.
While BART has been the transportation darling in search of funding, a new rail is stepping up. High speed rail advocates, who recently received voter approval for a $9.95 billion down payment from California voters, are hoping the Obama administration will chip in as part of the New New Deal.
With over 250 days a year of sunshine it seems unlikely the Mineta San Jose International Airport would ever be closed...but for the second day this week the heavy fog has flights canceled. That's bad for travelers, but good if you missed hearing from Airport spokesman David Vossbrink of Gonzales Administration fame, noting that flight were “all holding and circling.” Yes, Larry Ellison, this includes you.
Political payback bites Los Gatos Planning Commissioner Michael Kane who lost his seat on the Planning Commission. At the same meeting departing Councilmember Steve Glickman (who voted against Kane) admitted he’d fibbed to a voter in 2000, telling the “cantankerous old coot” his name was Sandy Decker – his opponent in the race. In a bit of irony, a comment is posted that Glickman was “the only honest one on the council.”
Speaking of Los Gatos and Commissions...Colleen Wilcox, former County Superintendent, was named to the Los Gatos Arts Commission.
A Watch Dog tipster reports all was not peaceful on the dais in San Jose yesterday with Councilmember Pete Constant snapping at colleague Sam Liccardo over “labor peace.” Liccardo pointed out to Constant he might have raised the topic a year ago when Council first discussed the issue. At that time Constant complained the process was too long, right before he supported Liccardo’s ideas. (Around 2 hours in are Constant comments.)
The Merc's Patty Fisher dedicates her column to a project started by Los Altos High School student Mingbo Gong – haiku as a vehicle for understanding. It’s not enough that Gong has launched a successful project, he does it as part of Bay Area Asian Unity, a non-profit he founded to help earthquake victims in China. Watch Dog favors Fisher’s haiku:
About his narrow loss for school board, (former) Gilroy Unified School District Trustee Jaime Rosso says, "It looks like I didn't make it. I fell six votes short but that's OK." With the topsey turvey nature of recent elections Watch Dog wonders, what were the campaign strategists thinking?
Friends of the Gilroy police are holding a bake sale, well, sort of. You can eat out at one of your favorite restaurants and a portion of the proceeds goes to the Gilroy Volunteers in Policing to raise funds for public safety.
Sounds like a throw down to District Attorney Dolores Carr. The headline says it all “West Coast Linen should be accountable for its dirty laundry.” The Gilroy Dispatch is calling on the District Attorney’s office to investigate allegations of non-payment, illegal hiring practices, blackmail – you name it and Sausalito-based Lohrey Enterprises Inc. has been accused of the transgression.
On San Jose Inside former San Jose Mayor Tom McEnery urges San Jose to roll up its sleeves, put noses to the grind stone, pull out all the Silicon Valley ingenuity, and trudge forward through the economic maelstrom.
As proof that a good idea can come from questionable sources San Jose Revealed agrees with aspects of the proposed San Jose Public Market while offering skepticism at the idea of offering Tom McEnery $5 million to make it happen. Revealed likens the Market to the disastrous San Jose Pavilion.
Meanwhile in the Mission City Lantern posts a rapid fire series of attacks on Santa Clara Council gadfly Steve Hazel.
While BART has been the transportation darling in search of funding, a new rail is stepping up. High speed rail advocates, who recently received voter approval for a $9.95 billion down payment from California voters, are hoping the Obama administration will chip in as part of the New New Deal.
With over 250 days a year of sunshine it seems unlikely the Mineta San Jose International Airport would ever be closed...but for the second day this week the heavy fog has flights canceled. That's bad for travelers, but good if you missed hearing from Airport spokesman David Vossbrink of Gonzales Administration fame, noting that flight were “all holding and circling.” Yes, Larry Ellison, this includes you.
Political payback bites Los Gatos Planning Commissioner Michael Kane who lost his seat on the Planning Commission. At the same meeting departing Councilmember Steve Glickman (who voted against Kane) admitted he’d fibbed to a voter in 2000, telling the “cantankerous old coot” his name was Sandy Decker – his opponent in the race. In a bit of irony, a comment is posted that Glickman was “the only honest one on the council.”
Speaking of Los Gatos and Commissions...Colleen Wilcox, former County Superintendent, was named to the Los Gatos Arts Commission.
A Watch Dog tipster reports all was not peaceful on the dais in San Jose yesterday with Councilmember Pete Constant snapping at colleague Sam Liccardo over “labor peace.” Liccardo pointed out to Constant he might have raised the topic a year ago when Council first discussed the issue. At that time Constant complained the process was too long, right before he supported Liccardo’s ideas. (Around 2 hours in are Constant comments.)
The Merc's Patty Fisher dedicates her column to a project started by Los Altos High School student Mingbo Gong – haiku as a vehicle for understanding. It’s not enough that Gong has launched a successful project, he does it as part of Bay Area Asian Unity, a non-profit he founded to help earthquake victims in China. Watch Dog favors Fisher’s haiku:
Blank computer screenThe Merc also says farewell to the American Musical Theatre without venturing a guess as to who might be the next to fall.
Anxious editor hovers
Column deadline nears
About his narrow loss for school board, (former) Gilroy Unified School District Trustee Jaime Rosso says, "It looks like I didn't make it. I fell six votes short but that's OK." With the topsey turvey nature of recent elections Watch Dog wonders, what were the campaign strategists thinking?
Friends of the Gilroy police are holding a bake sale, well, sort of. You can eat out at one of your favorite restaurants and a portion of the proceeds goes to the Gilroy Volunteers in Policing to raise funds for public safety.
Sounds like a throw down to District Attorney Dolores Carr. The headline says it all “West Coast Linen should be accountable for its dirty laundry.” The Gilroy Dispatch is calling on the District Attorney’s office to investigate allegations of non-payment, illegal hiring practices, blackmail – you name it and Sausalito-based Lohrey Enterprises Inc. has been accused of the transgression.
On San Jose Inside former San Jose Mayor Tom McEnery urges San Jose to roll up its sleeves, put noses to the grind stone, pull out all the Silicon Valley ingenuity, and trudge forward through the economic maelstrom.
As proof that a good idea can come from questionable sources San Jose Revealed agrees with aspects of the proposed San Jose Public Market while offering skepticism at the idea of offering Tom McEnery $5 million to make it happen. Revealed likens the Market to the disastrous San Jose Pavilion.
Meanwhile in the Mission City Lantern posts a rapid fire series of attacks on Santa Clara Council gadfly Steve Hazel.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Morning News Round-Up -- 10.22.09: Beam me up...
San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed opted out of adding sunshine to a gloomy Tuesday (Remember this? Sunshine go away today...) this week but now says he wants to reconsider releasing 911 tapes from the shooting of Daniel Pham. Perhaps a little late to the table, Reed and San Jose Police Chief Rob Davis are accused of misrepresenting the Sunshine Reform Task Force requests. The Merc’s Editorial Board sends props to Councilmembers Ash Kalra, Nora Campos, Kansen Chu, Sam Liccardo and Madison Nguyen for “standing up for public access.”
Parents at Wilcox High say they warned school officials about teacher/perv Edward Slate’s “flirtatious” emails to their 17 year old daughter. Superintendent Steve Stavis said the District is working closely with Police during the investigation.
The Merc’s Scott Herhold reminds us that the written/ spoken word is a mighty powerful tool, or weapon, as his neighbors talk about the use of ethnicity in describing cyclists (who may be) casing the neighborhood.
Payless Hardware on King Road in San Jose is licking its wounds after realizing it wasn’t the economy causing that slow leak from the till. Accounts Receivable clerk Desiree Herrera and husband Ruben skimmed more than $1.3 million in 7 years. The State tax guys are also pissed, the Herrera’s didn’t pay $182,000 in taxes on their ill-gotten gain. Office Manager Karey Thatcher is given props for the numeric sleuthing that uncovered the crime.
Silicon Valley the home to spies? Say it ain’t so. According to defense attorneys for Lan Lee and Yuefei Ge the Feds got it all wrong, Lee and Ge are super smart geeks who invented the better mouse trap. The FBI and prosecutors say not so fast, Lee and Ge were thieves getting ready to sell secrets to China.
Former Assemblymember Sally Lieber speaks out on campaign finance...
Palo Alto has tossed in the towel, declaring an impasse in negotiations with their largest union after 5 months of contentious talks. Union representative Nick Steinmeier and City Manager James Keene point at the other side for not accepting “reasonable” counter offers.
Trekkies beam in to San Jose this week for “Star Trek: The Exhibition” at geekiest museum of all, the San Jose Tech. The Merc’s Sal Pizarro joined Museum board members Judy Swanson, Steven Moore, and Mike and Joan Hackworth in greeting Mr. Sulu on the bridge. Pizarro reminds us the holidays are around the corner with a variety of gift purchasing opportunities in store.
San Jose Inside’s Fly ran into fake protesters marching in downtown San Jose. The pretend protesters work for Barry Swenson and are trying to increase sales during the housing crash. According to spokesperson Christy Marbry, it works.
Protect San Jose’s irascible Kathleen Flynn said Tuesday’s San Jose City Council meeting left her with “conflicted feelings.” On the one hand she was delighted with the Mayor’s stance against recommendations from the Sunshine Reform Task Force on the other hand she was pissed that Sunshine member/Mercury News Managing Editor Bert Robinson wanted reforms enacted… Bringing up the most puzzling question of all these days: Where is Sunshine Task Force Chair/Protect San Jose blogger Ed Rast?...
Parents at Wilcox High say they warned school officials about teacher/perv Edward Slate’s “flirtatious” emails to their 17 year old daughter. Superintendent Steve Stavis said the District is working closely with Police during the investigation.
The Merc’s Scott Herhold reminds us that the written/ spoken word is a mighty powerful tool, or weapon, as his neighbors talk about the use of ethnicity in describing cyclists (who may be) casing the neighborhood.
Payless Hardware on King Road in San Jose is licking its wounds after realizing it wasn’t the economy causing that slow leak from the till. Accounts Receivable clerk Desiree Herrera and husband Ruben skimmed more than $1.3 million in 7 years. The State tax guys are also pissed, the Herrera’s didn’t pay $182,000 in taxes on their ill-gotten gain. Office Manager Karey Thatcher is given props for the numeric sleuthing that uncovered the crime.
Silicon Valley the home to spies? Say it ain’t so. According to defense attorneys for Lan Lee and Yuefei Ge the Feds got it all wrong, Lee and Ge are super smart geeks who invented the better mouse trap. The FBI and prosecutors say not so fast, Lee and Ge were thieves getting ready to sell secrets to China.
Former Assemblymember Sally Lieber speaks out on campaign finance...
Palo Alto has tossed in the towel, declaring an impasse in negotiations with their largest union after 5 months of contentious talks. Union representative Nick Steinmeier and City Manager James Keene point at the other side for not accepting “reasonable” counter offers.
Trekkies beam in to San Jose this week for “Star Trek: The Exhibition” at geekiest museum of all, the San Jose Tech. The Merc’s Sal Pizarro joined Museum board members Judy Swanson, Steven Moore, and Mike and Joan Hackworth in greeting Mr. Sulu on the bridge. Pizarro reminds us the holidays are around the corner with a variety of gift purchasing opportunities in store.
San Jose Inside’s Fly ran into fake protesters marching in downtown San Jose. The pretend protesters work for Barry Swenson and are trying to increase sales during the housing crash. According to spokesperson Christy Marbry, it works.
Protect San Jose’s irascible Kathleen Flynn said Tuesday’s San Jose City Council meeting left her with “conflicted feelings.” On the one hand she was delighted with the Mayor’s stance against recommendations from the Sunshine Reform Task Force on the other hand she was pissed that Sunshine member/Mercury News Managing Editor Bert Robinson wanted reforms enacted… Bringing up the most puzzling question of all these days: Where is Sunshine Task Force Chair/Protect San Jose blogger Ed Rast?...
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Morning News Round-Up -- 10..28.09: Homeroom Modeling Agency...
San Jose’s City Hall was the scene of another protest by Vietnamese-Americans, civil liberties, and civil rights groups calling for an open grand jury and release of 911 tapes following the beating and arrest of SJSU math student Phuong Ho. Joining the growing chorus was City Councilmember Sam Liccardo and Vietnamese-American elected officials from across the state. The Merc’s Editorial Board says Police Chief Rob Davis is wrong if he thinks people in minority communities would report problems with the Police and that the incident with Phuong Ho highlights the need for Sunshine. Obviously, the Editorial Board doesn't realize that Chief Davis is never wrong... well, maybe not never. Remember when he got the drunk arrest statistics wrong?
Ooops, someone at the City of San Jose's Planning Department is blushing after a screw-up was found in the Environmental Impact Report regarding traffic related to the proposed new MLB stadium in San Jose. It turns out traffic won’t be as bad as predicted... or maybe it will be worse?
And we move to Santa Clara for two other big stories of the day...
Santa Clara’s City Council said of course the 49ers could pick their builder without using a competitive bid process. Councilmember Kevin Moore said it’s about “doing something for Santa Clara.” A relieved 49ers spokesperson Lisa Lang called the vote a “significant step” in moving the coin toss to Santa Clara.
Wilcox High is back in the news… In August, we learned that a teacher was arrested for (allegedly) sleeping with female students. Last week, we learned that the same teacher may have been sending creepy emails to female students for years with the (alleged) knowledge of the school's Principal. Today we learn that a janitor in the same school, Joe Miller, is being bounced for taking “sexually suggestive photos” of students for his modeling agency -- Rockabilly Models. Maybe a better name would have been "Homeroom Modeling"... If you are interested in seeing the fine, artistic, and creepy work of Mr. Miller, check out this video... then ask yourself, should a guy working in a school be hiring teenage models?:
(Related Note: If you are a Santa Clara Councilmember and you are a "friend" of Rockabilly Models on Facebook, perhaps you should log-in this morning and remove yourself...)
Continuing to scrounge for pennies lost in the sofa cushions, San Jose is going after pet owners who didn’t license Fluffy or Spot. The Merc notes that San Jose Councilmember Pete Constant missed the critter talk, along with City Manager Debra Figone’s grim proposal to cut employee costs and spending $2 million to purchase a (soon to be former) drug rehabilitation center.
Los Altos Hills’ Jim and Becky Morgan have set their sites on saving 100,000 acres near Lake Tahoe. Former County Supervisor/ State Senator Becky Morgan says the goal is to “get ahead of the building wave.”
New poppa Sal Pizarro uses his Merc space to share the words of wisdom given to him from Silicon Valley Dads. Pizarro and wife Amy are taking a few weeks off to get to know Mia Elizabeth Pizarro… Congratulations, Sal and Amy! We guess Silicon Valley will shut down during Sal's leave...
Ooops, someone at the City of San Jose's Planning Department is blushing after a screw-up was found in the Environmental Impact Report regarding traffic related to the proposed new MLB stadium in San Jose. It turns out traffic won’t be as bad as predicted... or maybe it will be worse?
And we move to Santa Clara for two other big stories of the day...
Santa Clara’s City Council said of course the 49ers could pick their builder without using a competitive bid process. Councilmember Kevin Moore said it’s about “doing something for Santa Clara.” A relieved 49ers spokesperson Lisa Lang called the vote a “significant step” in moving the coin toss to Santa Clara.
Wilcox High is back in the news… In August, we learned that a teacher was arrested for (allegedly) sleeping with female students. Last week, we learned that the same teacher may have been sending creepy emails to female students for years with the (alleged) knowledge of the school's Principal. Today we learn that a janitor in the same school, Joe Miller, is being bounced for taking “sexually suggestive photos” of students for his modeling agency -- Rockabilly Models. Maybe a better name would have been "Homeroom Modeling"... If you are interested in seeing the fine, artistic, and creepy work of Mr. Miller, check out this video... then ask yourself, should a guy working in a school be hiring teenage models?:
(Related Note: If you are a Santa Clara Councilmember and you are a "friend" of Rockabilly Models on Facebook, perhaps you should log-in this morning and remove yourself...)
Continuing to scrounge for pennies lost in the sofa cushions, San Jose is going after pet owners who didn’t license Fluffy or Spot. The Merc notes that San Jose Councilmember Pete Constant missed the critter talk, along with City Manager Debra Figone’s grim proposal to cut employee costs and spending $2 million to purchase a (soon to be former) drug rehabilitation center.
Los Altos Hills’ Jim and Becky Morgan have set their sites on saving 100,000 acres near Lake Tahoe. Former County Supervisor/ State Senator Becky Morgan says the goal is to “get ahead of the building wave.”
New poppa Sal Pizarro uses his Merc space to share the words of wisdom given to him from Silicon Valley Dads. Pizarro and wife Amy are taking a few weeks off to get to know Mia Elizabeth Pizarro… Congratulations, Sal and Amy! We guess Silicon Valley will shut down during Sal's leave...
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Morning News Round-Up -- 4.6.10: 161 more to go...
While it may not seem like the top story of the day, it should be: Public Defenders are now representing defendants in misdemeanor cases in Santa Clara County. You know, the whole "...if you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you..." that the County sort of forgot about until now...
The good folks at Protect San Jose would like to remind everyone that there are three sides to every story as they chime in (briefly) on the court rulings in favor of the SJPD in the 2006 Mardi Gras trial. (Of course, Protect San Jose voices love the "three sides" mantra...)
Perhaps there are three sides to this story... or column. Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Walters wrote about skyrocketing public safety pensions and how they led to Vallejo (and other cities, perhaps) bankruptcies and the piece was re-run by the Merc. It is a good primer on how pensions grew, why, and what will happen next. But remember, there are three sides to every story... right?
Yes on Prop 14, according to the Merc. Editorial Board... Open primaries. Thank you Senator Maldonado...
Scott Herhold (two "h" sounds as you read this to yourself) looks at political family dynasties in Santa Clara County. Alvarado. Cortese. Shirakawa ("...a Rodney Dangerfield complex..."). Farr ("...a sturdy backbencher..."). Diridon. Campos.
High-Speed Rail is coming to town, we all know that. But the High-Speed Rail Authority is coming to town too, on Thursday in Santa Clara. San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed with be there... will you?
The Chronicle loves to hate the idea of the San Jose A's. In today's paper, they cover an anti-A's to San Jose protest that wasn't at last night's game. By the way, the A's lost 5-3. 161 more to go.
The County Office of Education is perhaps the least understood government agency in Santa Clara County... The question is constant asked, "What do they do in that fancy building?"... But one thing is for sure, the Board loves to throw Superintendents under the bus... and the bus is about to start rolling over current Superintendent Chuck Weis. Perhaps he could call Colleen Wilcox for a quick pow-wow about how these things generally end. Today's story is about how he is getting mixed reviews from the County Board of Education, and has this strange nugget:
County officials (and candidates) had to file economic interest statements. Some folks are rich (Forrest Williams) and some folks not so much (Teresa Alvarado). Some folks got gifts (Larry Stone) and some folks got none (Jeff Rosen). But perhaps the most interesting thing we learned from the Merc's coverage is this: George Shirakawa received tickets to the San Jose Giants from a tribal casino in Madera County... What could they possibly want from Supervisor Shirakawa. Hmmm...
The Meg Whitman Campaign Start-Up just received another round of venture capital funding from the Meg Whitman Fund... $20 million...
A plan to study the compost-to-energy plant on dedicated parkland in Palo Alto is moving forward. But a plan to study and a plan to build are two very, very different things. And the City Council there is divided 5 to 4...
From the blogs...
Mission City Lantern covers the anti-49er's litigation that was dropped... (Thank you for the comment James to give us a heads up...)
Over on San Jose Inside, Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio continues his quest for a 420 San Jose... and the debate in the Comments prove that everyone already is smoking pot.
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