Morning News Round-Up -- 1.11.10: NAACP vs SJPOA (still)

In case you don't read Watch Dog on the weekend, and we can't imagine there is anyone out there that doesn't... you missed, or should we say mist, some spelling mistakes from the right side of the political spectrum. First we chronicled, or kronikled, Pete Constant's re-election site and then an advertisement from the Chamber of Commerce, or Commerse.


Watch Dog had to be the first to mention this: the NUMMI site in Fremont is being repackaged as the perfect site for the A's according to a story in Saturday's Merc. On August 17, 2009, Watch Dog wrote this:

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

The head of the local NAACP may not board the Freedom Train on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day because the San Jose Police Officers' Association is a sponsor this year. In his words in the Merc, "After years and months of abusing the community, the San Jose Police Department has the nerve to show up under the banner of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr..." Well, yes.


But don't worry, it is clear that the SJPOA hears the concerns of the community and is taking steps to repair its reputation... right? Well, not so much... Bobby Lopez, on his way out the door as head of the SJPOA, wrote a piece for the Merc titled: In San Jose Latino arrests, the problem is Latino drinking -- not police practices. Lopez's thinking goes like this: If Latinos would just stop drinking so much, the Police wouldn't have to arrest them so often... Protect San Jose has a reprint of Lopez's OpEd, in case you don't want to give the Merc your "business"...


Taking on the big (sign) issues, San Jose's City Council is going to review changes to the sign ordinance... too big? not big enough? too graphic? too electric? Tuesday is the big day to find out.


"Nobody wants to have any more City bailouts..." That's the sentiment of Chris Esparza who is on the committee (responsible for) making the Mexican Heritage Plaza financially sustainable. He favors a school for the arts while the other major idea is a cultural and entertainment center. The Committee will discuss the ideas publicly Tuesday night...


Scott Herhold provides a picture of how the Sargeant Ranch development (now on hold because owners filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy) involved Congressman Mike Honda, former Congressman Vic Fazio, and the Amah Mutsun tribe as part of the Ranch owner's bid to circumvent the planning regulations of the County.


The Merc delves a little deeper into the crisis facing Bay Area transit agencies, including the VTA -- but more importantly, brings us a new feature whereby they provide video of reporter Mike Rosenberg talking about the challenges of transit agencies... "New" technology being integrated into the Merc's website? Say it ain't so... That VTA story was on Sunday. Today, the Merc has a piece about how VTA has ambitious plans for the coming years, even though the agency is cash-strapped. Sort of like a newspaper implementing new technology, even though it is cash-strapped...


Speaking of cash-strapped... Team San Jose's Dan Fenton is on his way to Dallas to rescue San Jose's convention business. Team San Jose's labor contracts have pissed off just about everyone in the convention business, and the Convention Center in downtown San Jose is at risk of losing megabucks. The Business Journal (and San Jose Inside) chronicles Fenton's efforts to fix the screw up...


It is car show week in San Jose for all of you folks in the market for high-end automobiles... all three of you.


The race to replace Councilmember Nora Campos on the San Jose City Council got a little more crowded this week, and a little more complicated for sibling Campos (Xavier) who would like to walk right into his sister's seat. Neighborhood leader Aaron Resendez is signing up to run. And in a weird use of City employee time and energy, Councilmember Campos' Chief of Staff takes on the duty of criticizing a political opponent of Xavier Campos...


Moving north... Apple plans to open a "flagship" store in downtown Palo Alto... and yes, there is already an Apple store in downtown Palo Alto -- but this one is going to be a "flagship" store -- so when it opens we'll all have to go see the difference.

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.

Morning News Round-Up -- 6.9.09: Video Gate, Day 7

Video Gate is not over yet. Councilmembers Sam Liccardo and Ash Kalra sent a letter to Police Officers Association chief Bobby Lopez yesterday about the video and the Merc Editorial Board chimed in as well. The Editorial Board didn't pull many punches. If you don't want to read the actual Editorial, here are a few choice words they used to describe the video (and the POA): "juvenile" "thin-skinned" ""inflammatory" "intimidating"... The POA certainly got its money's worth from the PR firm that put the video out. Oh yeah, Boby Lopez promises to take down the video from YouTube and from ProtectSanJose.com... but it isn't gone yet (as of 8:15 a.m.).

All this talk about Raj Jayadev got us thinking, what does this guy write about on Silicon Valley De-Bug? Here's his latest: The Death of Vietnamese Man Calls Out to a Vietnamese Woman, and the City Policies that May Have Failed Them Both. Consider Jayadev's criticism of the San Jose Police with this organization's logo... or this organization's tag-line, "Promoting technology to protect the innocent from Police brutality." In other big cities, Watch Dog thinks Jayadev would be considered a pretty mellow critic.

On the flip side of things, Kathleen commented on Watch Dog yesterday, and yes, we have the courage to post comments... Here is the information about her Vigil tonight at City Hall.

Moving right along... The San Jose City Council is thinking about taking a pay cut. But Councilmember Chu is still standing in the way... We guess Watch Dog's notes and Herhold's column haven't made their way to Councilmember Chu's desk yet...

Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio's budget survey is done. It is so scientific it hurts. The responses are here... but all you really need to do is figure out what Oliverio would cut or keep -- because (amazingly) they match up with the results. In Watch Dog's survey, we found that 90 percent of the people love Watch Dog "a lot." And 4 out of 5 dentists surveyed recommended sugarless gum for their patients who chew gum.

The 49ers apparently aren't going to sign the convicted dog-fighting-ring-leader Michael Vick to their squad. In an related note, the political people trying to get a ballot measure passed in Santa Clara next March exhaled loudly.

On the fourth day of Christmas... four Red Ruffed lemurs... and some falcons at City Hall...

The County is not going to take the State's cuts lying down... well, mostly they are going to take the State's cuts lying down. But they might try to do something about the (proposed) closing of Henry Coe State Park.

The Merc's Scott Herhold reviews the De Anza rape case (again) following a 20/20 story this week. Take a look and decide for yourself what you think about the column, but one line stands out: "...this case will always haunt Carr politically..." (Not M.L. or Larry but Dolores.)

It's been a good week for Silicon Valley businesses: yesterday Cisco joined other blue chip companies on the Dow Jones index and later in the day Apple previewed a new iPhone (and announced that the old one will only be $99)... Watch Dog is saving iPennies for the old iPhone.

If you live in Mountain View, your rates on most utilities are going up. Water, sewer, garbage, recycling, etc., etc., etc. Oh, and just to be nice, they are giving you a few weeks to prepare -- the hikes go into affect July 1. Water and sewer is going up 5% and garbage/recycling is going up 7%. Thank you Mountain View...

City Unions in Palo Alto are fighting back, and packing the City Council Chambers. Last night was public Round 1, Watch Dog expects this to be a long fight...

That fight in Palo Alto shouldn't be confused with this one. Two teenagers wielding pipes fought police. Police eventually won.

Mission City Lantern throws props Watch Dog's way, sort of...

We would include updates from San Jose Revealed, but they must be sleeping in late or taking a long weekend or both...