Morning News Round-Up -- 5.7.10: Giving up a touchdown to the Red Wings...

Well, the Sharks run of great games ended last night as they gave up a touch down to the Red Wings. They are still up 3-1 in the series..

Watch Dog predicted it... the Morgan Hill American flag t-shirt story has gone viral and national. Here's what we wrote yesterday:

This will be a controversial issue that will likely make Fox News, the Rush Limbaugh Show, and probably spark a Tea Party rally as well.

Speaking of Tea Party-lover (Pegram)...

San Jose's District 9 gets the write up today after Districts 1/3, 5, and 7 got some ink earlier in the week. Don Rocha - the handsome one, Jim Cogan - the Constant one, Larry Pegram - the right wing whacko one, Robert Cortese - the karaoki one, and Cueva, Greer, and Trout - the ones also running... Perhaps with all the City Council races going in, Terry Christensen gets his City Council Districts mixed up with this quote: "This is a lower-key and less-engaged district than some..." Of course, based on the amount of research Watch Dog does, which is very little, it seems more people vote in District 9 than in almost any other City Council District, but why let facts get in the way of a good quote Mr. Christensen...

Speaking of City Council races, the San Jose District 7 race gets a big write up in the Metro/San Jose Inside with Minh Duong as the central antagonist... Madison better watch out, Duong has a District map with push-pins in it...

Speaking of local races with a write up in the Metro, we also learn that Jeff Rosen and Dolores Carr can't even look at each other in the eye... and no, that isn't a short joke Mr. Rosen...

The Governor was in town yesterday for a Laurie Smith fundraiser... remember when it was a big deal with the Governor came to town?

We all know that the Governor's boyfriend Abel Maldonado is now the Lt. Governor... and that the Governor wants Maldo's seat filled with two special elections, one in June and one in August, but a new lawsuit may hold up those elections...

If Carly Fiorina hadn't already alienated every single in the Bay Area, she appears to be appealing to the most far-right of right... because Sarah Palin endorsed her. Well, from one unqualified candidate to another... It's like getting the old McCain band back together again... (There are many, many jokes to tell...)

Santa Clara's power plant on Robert Avenue is up and running again after being under Cal-OSHA's watchful eye for the past couple of months. Here is the exact right thing to say after you've been under investigation and closed down for several months by Cal-OSHA, "Our interactions with OSHA were positive and constructive." That's from Larry Owens from Silicon Valley Power. As if someone would say that their interactions with OSHA were negative and unconstructive...

While we're on utilities, the Merc's Editorial Board thought the Water District was righting its governance ship... but then the redistricting came out and now the Ed Board says that they "must reject gerrymandering"... the City of Gilroy agrees...

The City of Campbell has a plan to right its financial ship... and it includes cuts and "revenue enhancements" which are not nearly as robust as other kinds of enhancements...

Anti-High-Speed Rail folks have a new picture for the center of their dart board as a new CEO was named... Roelof van Ark... who will make $375,000, which seems low considering all the NIMBY meetings this guy is going to have to sit through up and down the Peninsula...

Mr. van Ark is coming on just in time for a new lawsuit from the duel NIMBY capitals of the Bay Area, Atherton and Menlo Park...

From fast trains to very, very slow trains... VTA is looking to make some lightrail trains express to drive ridership. Sounds like a pretty good idea to us, since we once beat a VTA train in a race and we were on foot.

Morning News Round-Up -- 5.6.10: Too...Many...Margaritas...

Oh, poor Mineta San Jose (International?) Airport. They are considering cutting positions, contracting out services, and generally driving Cindy Chavez absolutely bonkers... the proposed cuts/contracting could save a whole bunch of cash all in an effort to get airlines to start coming back, or at least to stop cutting flights...

And no amount of cutting or contracting out will bring Tapestry in Arts back this year apparently... it joins the fireworks display downtown as canceled events in San Jose...

Scott Herhold follows the County budget closer than some Supervisors do. Especially Supervisor George Shirakawa. (Remember, Herhold told the story about District Attorney Dolores Carr's car...) Shirakawa and his fiscally responsible staff, headed up by Eddie Garcia, are over budget and don't seem to know why, which is reassuring. The curious part is that Herhold's story doesn't mention the second in charge to Garcia: Xavier Campos. You'd think Campos would be able to deal with the budget in the office, y'know, because of the bang-up job he did as MACSA's Chief Operating Officer...

San Jose District 5 got the breakdown treatment this week, so did Districts 1 and 3 (from Joe Rodriguez), and now it is District 7's turn, where incumbent Madison Nguyen runs for that seat for the 17th time... John Woolfolk at the Merc has been very, very busy...

Speaking of the District 3 run-down, it seems Councilmember Sam Liccardo disagrees with some (or all) of what Joe Rodriguez wrote according to Liccardo's letter to the editor...

George Beattie, the not-nearly-as-much-fun successor to Bobby Lopez at the San Jose Police Officers' Association, writes for Protect San Jose about the back and forth and back and forth between the POA and the City of San Jose, with copies of the letters that are flying between North 4th and Santa Clara Street...

Guess what Steve Poizner's internal polls say? That he's catching up. Guess what Sarah Palin's polls said about her? That she was qualified... it doesn't make it so Steve, it doesn't make it so...

In other political news (about people way behind in the polls), Yoriko Kishimoto gets a write up in the Almanac/Palo Alto Weekly. She is running for State Assembly for Ira Ruskin's seat against Josh Becker and Rich Gordon.

Stanford Hospital and nurses still aren't getting along nicely. The hospitals just rejected a proposal from the nurses... who previously had rejected the "last, best, and final" offer from the hospital.

Just to give you fair warning, four students were sent home from school at Live Oak High School yesterday for wearing American flag t-shirts on Cinco de Mayo, it was viewed as incendiary. (Perhaps it was the t-shirts and the tight-cropped hair cuts...) This will be a controversial issue that will likely make Fox News, the Rush Limbaugh Show, and probably spark a Tea Party rally as well.

This is a story from Watch Dog San Mateo.. the Almanac actually... but it will send shock-waves up and down Silicon Valley. Menlo Park is imposing a two-tier pension system for its municipal employees. The beginning of a trend, or the shot heard round the union world?

More from San Mateo County... To Tweet (or Facebook) or not to Tweet during a City Council meeting... something that more than one Watch Dog has commented on in the past related to at least one San Jose City Council member whose name starts with P and ends in ETE. A Tweet from a Councilmember in San Carlos has stirred up the usually sleepy town...

Finally, Tom Campbell's campaign has released an online campaign video (and taken their gloves off) that you absolutely have to see. Seriously. It makes the weird sheep thing Carly Fiorina's campaign put out a while ago seem mild. Take a gander... love the head-bob...

Morning News Round-Up -- 12.14.09: Reed Reforms Raise Ruckus...

San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed is either trying to “plug loopholes” or really piss off the South Bay Labor Council with proposed changes to San Jose’s ethics rules. Caught in the headlights (it would appear) are Councilmember Nora Campos’ husband (a registered lobbyist) and employees of the non-profit Working Partnerships. Reed shrugged saying “I’m not targeting political adversaries"... they just happen to be in the way… Where have we seen ethics rules used to target political adversaries? Hmmm...

But Mayor Reed isn't letting that controversy get in the way of work: Reed and Councilmembers Sam Liccardo and Madison Nguyen teamed up to help homeowners getting behind on the mortgage.

Between the $19 million gubernatorial wannabe Meg Whitman dumped into her campaign and the season of gifting, billionaire/GOP gubernatorial wannabe Steve Poizner may have been feeling a little left out. Before the end of the year Poizner aims to add $15 million of his own money to his "anemic" campaign. The battle of the billionaires is showing a different side of fiscal responsibility.

Sometimes, Watch Dog receives tips from far-flung places... like this: Tech blogger Danny Sullivan wonders how he landed on San Jose Councilmember Pete Constant's email list and sends the message “Stop Emailing Me…”. Sullivan goes on to giggle at Constant's email typos and his inability to clean up the "unsubscribe" list. But don't worry, Pete Constant posted his own comment on daggle.com to apologize...

Speaking of the Governor's race... (Apparently) Some of gubernatorial wannabe Steve Poizner’s cash is being used to pay bloggers dissing his opponent, Meg Whitman. Recently outed/ "anonymous" Sgt. York is looking for a new gig after being ditched for taking Poizner pennies. Perhaps Pete Constant should hand out some cash to bloggers and they won't bash his emails...

Controversy continues in the office of District Attorney Dolores Carr. Seems political friends/ staffers received promotions. Carr’s right-hand/ endorser Marc Bueller scoffed saying no one supporting Carr’s opponent, Jeff Rosen, had been demoted... that's one way of looking at it.

Los Altos’ Cira Nickerson is spending her money to provide bicycles to children in foster care.

The Merc’s Patty Fisher shares the love about start-ups with a heart. goodjoe puts artists and non-profits together for a little fundraising love and Silicon Valley Novel keeps the author a secret while raising a few bucks to give away.

The last hurrah of 2009 for government watch dogs -- thanks to the Merc.

• The Fremont Union High School District hears what went wrong with their November parcel tax along with budget woes.
• The Monte Sereno City Council inducts new/rotating Mayor Don Perry.
• The Mountain View-Los Altos High School District listens to the public and talks salaries.
• Parcel taxes are on the minds of the Palo Alto Unified School District Trustees as they consider an April ballot measure.
• San Jose’s Envision 2040 Task Force looks at transportation.
• Ethics and basketball are on tap for San Jose’s City Council.
• San Jose’s Department of Planning, Building and Code Enforcement has baseball on the mind and hopes you’ll be there for a “scoping” meeting.
• The 49ers are on tap in the Santa Clara City Hall as City Council considers a June ballot measure and costs for a special election – in light of news of a community driven ballot effort.
• The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors hears from the public on the purchase of the former San Jose Hospital.
• Trustees for the Santa Clara County Office of Education consider a memorandum of understanding to snag federal Race to the Top money.

Catching up with mild-mannered Protect San Jose…

• Blogger/mediator Kathleen Flynn calls on the pot to stop calling the kettle black and work together. Flynn questions reasons behind not listing “hate crimes… against our officers” not receiving the same respect as hate crimes against “LGBT people, religious groups and minorities.” Flynn points to a New York Post article blaming rap music, President Obama, Al Sharpton and others for officer deaths.
• Former San Jose Police Chief/Protect San Jose blogger Joseph McNamara argues San Jose’s City Council is endangering the public and police with “politically correct votes” while pointing to former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee for the deaths of 4 Tacoma, Washington police officers. It seems McNamara is receiving his talking points from Glenn Beck...
  

Morning News Round-Up – 12.09.09: the No Problem zone...

Santa Clara’s City Council received bad news while they approved the 49ers environmental impact report, the happy folks at Great America will sue. Adding to the confusion were different community groups offering a voter initiative to avoid environmental reviews. 49ers spokesperson Lisa Lang said the team “is not prepared” to talk about going directly to the voters.

With 200 pissed off college employees watching, Trustees for the San Jose/Evergreen Community College District ditched (immediate) plans to lay off 106 people. An investigation into District finances uncovered (suspected) financial abuse by Chancellor Rosa Perez. (now) Retiring Chancellor Perez will temporarily be replaced by Vice Chancellor Jeanine Hawk.

Calling conventioneers response an “overreaction” San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed joined colleagues in sending Team San Jose back to the drawing board to fix the problem of pissed off (San Francisco) Teamsters and conventioneers. Councilmember Sam Liccardo expressed dismay over the problem saying “didn’t anybody say to you… ‘Hey, this could be a problem’?”

There’s a new Chancellor coming to town. Foothill-DeAnza Community College District has selected Arizona’s Rio Salado college president Linda Thor to fill the hole created when Martha Kanter heard the siren call of the Obama Administration.

Palo Alto Unified School District Trustees had a busy night. A mail-in ballot is (likely) on tap to increase parcel taxes to an annual $598. Trustee Barb Mitchell said bluntly not receiving voter approval would mean the loss of 95 teachers. Teachers or taxes...

The Merc’s Editorial Board wants to see the sun shine on arbitration hearings between the city of San Jose and unions. Mayor Chuck Reed adds hearings in the dark might be illegal and a violation of the Brown Act.

When you head out to grab a bite today, local elected officials will gather for a memorial service recognizing the 67 men and women who died living on the streets this year. The annual EHC LifeBuilders memorial service is open to the public.

San Jose Insider/Santa Clara County Board of Education Trustee Joseph DiSalvo wants all jailed kids to learn to FLY. Fresh Lifelines for Youth offers kids alternatives and saves taxpayers 10 times the money it costs to run the program, according to DiSalvo who had his eggs served with FLY graduate testimonials.

Mission City Lantern posted their top ten ways to prevent Santa Clara Councilmember Jamie McLeod from becoming the next Mayor. Including are such gems as asking McLeod’s friend/Campbell Mayor Evan Low to declare her “uncool” and preventing seniors from voting.

PoliticonValley notes San Jose’s Mayor Chuck Reed joined Councilmembers Sam Liccardo and Madison Nguyen to create an “unconventional” approach to keeping homeowners from being tossed on the streets.

Morning News Round-Up -- 11.11.09: Veterans Day Edition...

This will come as a (welcome) surprise to many... Medical care is coming back to downtown San Jose. Five years after Health Corporation of America (suddenly) closed the San Jose Medical Center, HCA appears ready to sell the roughly 14 acres for a medical center, retail, and housing to the County. Councilmember Sam Liccardo offered HCA had “… some responsibility to a City where they closed a hospital and limited care for the poor...” at HCA’s other local hospital.

San Jose’s 25th murder happened the same day that a community meeting happened in East San Jose to discuss the Halloween attack on two children. The victim of yesterday’s murder was a teenage boy. Councilmember Nora Campos joined the Mayor’s Gang Prevention Task Force and Mayor Chuck Reed to talk to 300 pissed off community members in an attempt to stem gang violence.

It was a busy day at the San Jose City Council meeting: Absent from the proceedings were Councilmembers Pete Constant (obviously), Kansen Chu, and Madison Nguyen. San Jose’s City Council officially ditched Styrofoam at special events and hundreds packed the meeting to ask San Jose not kill their affordable housing program.

Gilroy City Manager Tom Haglund has plans to rein on Medileaf’s pot parade by issuing a “cease and desist” order. Haglund disputes owner Batzi Kuburovich’s claim that non-profits don’t need business permits. Get your "prescription" in Gilroy fast, this time tomorrow it’s likely you'll only be able to buy pot on the street, not in the club...

Mountain View-Whisman School District Superintendent Maurice Ghysels is looking to leave his gig following revelations of his relationship with Landels Elementary principal Carmen Mizell.

Here is a weird coincidence: The Superintendent of the Mountain View-Whisman's next door neighbor, the Los Altos School District, is leaving at the end of the school year...

Congressmember Anna Eshoo was in town pitching healthcare and to make sure Hangar One isn’t “de-skinned and left” like a freak of nature. Eshoo emphasized “we have to have a plan.”

Also hoping to talk to Mountain View residents, Supervisor/President Liz Kniss talks swine flu Thursday.

If you were hoping to send your post-high school student to a CSU far from home, think again. With less money from the State, all CSU’s are tightening belts and offering fewer seats to freshmen. CSU San Jose President Jon Whitmore plans to cut thousands of incoming seats saying “we’re downsizing.”

San Jose Police Officer Association President/Protect San Jose’s Bobby Lopez continues the chant that if it weren’t for the pesky media, San Jose’s Police force would not be in so much hot water – or, at least, no one would know about the hot water. Funny, if Lopez spent half as much time addressing the problem as he does accusing the Merc of “trying to sell one more paper” there might not be any problem.

San Jose Insider/Santa Clara County Board of Education Trustee Joseph DiSalvo received a “tsunami of racist comments” following last week’s discussion and suggests this provides a “teachable moment” for the less enlightened. DiSalvo remains optimistic that the achievement gap can be erased, pointing out “there will always be critics to any bold initiative.”

Morning News Round-Up – 10.27.09: It's bad news Tuesday....

According to attorney Terry Bowman, representing the San Jose police officer caught on video striking San Jose State math student Phuong Ho with a police baton, “Mr. Ho is responsible…” San Jose Councilmembers Madison Nguyen, Sam Liccardo and Ash Kalra stated they were “saddened the Vietnamese American community has recently experienced two incidents with the San Jose Police Department regarding possible use of excessive force.” The Merc’s Scott Herhold steps into the fray with his own analysis of Phuong Ho’s videotaped interview offering this “It’s hard to think he’s making this up… it is extraordinarily hard to make charges against cops stick before a jury.”

Following the death of Beverly Head when she got tangled up by a dog leash, San Jose takes on bikes and pooches. Somewhere, someone is hoping bikes and pooches become a leading story...

Santa Clara’s City Council tackles one hurdle standing in the way of bringing the 49ers to town. Up tonight, letting the team pick the builder of their (planned) Santa Clara Stadium…

The Merc’s Editorial Board wants Sunnyvale voters to know they’re not getting all the facts. The Merc takes a swipe at endorsed candidates Mayor Tony Spitaleri and Councilmember Chris Moylan for telling pieces of a story…

Love is in the air for the Mountain View Whisman School District. Superintendent Maurice Ghysels sheepishly admitted he’s been getting cozy with elementary school principal Carmen Mizell.

San Jose’s Redevelopment Agency released their bad news budget. After $75 million was taken by the State and facing decreased property tax revenues the Agency did some fancy (internal) footwork slashing budgets. Set your sights lower for the convention center expansion…

If you’re looking for your swine flu shot make sure you’re tops on the list. Public Health Officer Marty Fenstersheib had to shuffle after learning fewer (anti) swine-ish shots would be arriving. Kids and pregnant moms top the list… Keeping in mind, not all flues are swine-ish…

Speaking of budgets… San Jose Insider/San Jose Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio takes a stab at explaining the financial benefits of outsourcing city jobs and how San Jose’s budget works…

Also a San Jose Insider, Santa Clara County Board of Education Trustee Joseph DiSalvo is eternally optimistic that San Jose’s 19 school districts can be organized into 4, DiSalvo wants to hear from you. Do you think 19 school boards, 19 superintendents, 19 sets of district staff, 19, well, you get the picture… willing to give up turf for the good of the children?

Protect San Jose’s numeric guru/Sunshine Task Force chair Ed Rast digs into the mind-numbing world of “item 3.5” and suggests the City Manager is reading Protect San Jose. Still no word about Sunshine…

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?...

Morning News Round-Up – 6.29.09: Council raises meet economic reality...

San Jose’s “huge sucking sound” comes from resident dollars landing outside San Jose according to Councilmember Sam Liccardo. To fix it San Jose had a dream of North San Jose becoming a second downtown – those dreams are now turning into visions of a McCarthy Ranch redux.

Gilroy Councilmember Craig Gartman has asked colleagues to ditch their $64,000 medical benefits in exchange for a council/mayoral raise. The part-time Councilmembers will consider their 106% raise while they ask police and fire unions to take a 15% paycut. Colleague Dion Bracco doubts the lost medical benefits will be gone for more than a year calling the move whimsical, self-serving tricky politics.

Also on the frontlines of salary wars...

San Jose Downtown Association President Scott Knies and Councilmember Nora Campos engaged in a salary throwdown. Campos wants to know if Knies really really got a 19% city pay raise. Knies salary is listed on city payrolls at $134,399 and in a report from the non-profit at $68,916. $134k + $69k = $203,000, could it be…

Our Sister Blog, Watch Dog San Mateo shares this cross over story… East Palo Alto’s Housing Director Wilbert Lee called the ongoing vandalism at the Courtyard at Bay Road unforeseen. Wheelchair bound Arnold Hart complains he can’t get in, carpets used as toilets and a crowbar modified elevator are a few of the problems giving San Jose’s Community Housing a headache.

Interim Santa Clara County Executive Gary Graves is sucking it up. although disappointed by the appointment of Dr. Jeffrey Smith. Graves says “sitting in the executive chair is a whole different ballgame.” Smith said negotiations on take home pay are in the works, the last exec took home $292,000.

Gilroy’s tale of fence wars made the big time… Mercury News curmudgeon Scott Herhold heard from home invasion survivor when Chris Cote launched email to Herhold with his side of fence wars. Like Herhold, Watch Dog is sympathetic with Cote but thinks there has to be a better way than razor wire.

(Former) County Counsel/US Deputy Assistant District Attorney General Ann Ravel attended her own “wake” according to the Merc’s Sal Pizarro. Pizarro had a busy week including Falcons, interesting hands, and Teddy Bear Clinics. Los Lupenos is looking for alumni, email Barbara Perez Diaz lupenos40th@ix.netcom.com.

The Merc’s Internal Affairs entertains with various mini-soaps…

• Where was “No-Show Ngyuen” during San Jose City Council budget discussions? IA thinks the absences were a sign of avoiding contentious labor votes. IA sends props to council colleague Judy Chirco for donning a hat and joining discussions in spite of chemotherapy. San Jose Insider’s joined in via Rants and Raves…
  
• Supervisorial candidate Teresa Alvarado shot a “snarky” email to IA with a huffy retort to the implication that she and opponent Rosemary Kamei the same constituency.
  
• The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office anxiously awaits a report from (retired) Superior Court Judge/(former) Prosecutor William F. Martin about a “trove of some 3,300 tapes” of sexual assault medical exams. The DA’s hope they got their stories straight for the judge…
  

Los Gatos Planning Commissioners delayed a decision on creekside storage asking Extra Space to come back in August with a bigger parking lot and a shorter building. Extra Space’s Scott Wyckoff offered there would be “no significant” environmental impact and the 3 story storage facility would be “gorgeous.” No doubt a big parking lot will help with the aesthetics.

The Merc’s Mr. Roadshow (aka, Gary Richards) got the dish from the California Highway Patrol that 200,000 hands free scofflaws have been busted.

Sad news from Santa Teresa County Park, a woman was found dead on the trail by another hiker. No word if County budget woes (and a lack of park oversight) had anything to do with her death.

Today marks 2 weeks since San Jose Revealed ditched blogging for pneumonia. Could it be Revealed has ditched blogging or just ditched the moniker? Give up on all that good will, nah… Mission City Lantern suggests Revealed has headed for fashion world or maybe a Sanford like liaison.