Morning News Round-Up -- 5.20.10: (Drug Free?) Post-Peloton Thursday...

Happy post-peloton Thursday to all of you... except Floyd Landis...

More coverage of the District 5 City Council race in San Jose... this time from Scott Herhold, who acknowledges that all the hoopla about the illegal mailings is backfiring on the idiots who did it, because Carrasco is getting all kinds of coverage on the news, on the radio, and everywhere else. Herhold also doesn't think that Shirakawa is the culprit, but does point out how silly/stupid the Grand Pooba's quotes were earlier in the week...

The Mercury News thinks that story is so important that for a period of time yesterday they posted it twice...

And the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce is putting out a reward for any information about who done it... $5,000 to anyone of the stamp-licking interns who want to turn in their co-conspirators...

Manuel Herrera, another candidate in District 5, chimed in via a Letter to the Editor...

While everyone is focused on fake campaign mailers... there was a murder in the Tropicana parking lot earlier in the week and two folks were found dead due to gun shot wounds in Alum Rock... hopefully the candidates can keep their collective eyes on the ball...

As discussed yesterday, the Planning Commission in San Jose approved an EIR for Major League Baseball in downtown San Jose. There are some interesting things to be concluded by reading between the lines of last night's Planning Commission meeting where the EIR was approved 4-1:

• Thing 1 - Planning Commissioner Chris Platten voted against the EIR,
• Thing 2 - Planning Commissioner Hope Cahan was absent from the proceedings, and
• Thing 3 - Planning Commissioner and City Council candidate Xavier Campos was absent from the proceedings.

According to spies, all three Things are related as all three Planning Commissioners are Labor-allies on the Planning Commission. Perhaps the folks at the Labor Temple are using their support (or opposition) to MLB as leverage in their contract negotiations? That may be, but missing votes (Cahan and especially Campos) is a pretty lame way to go... we wonder where these folks learned the technique of "taking a walk"...

Speaking of EIRs, Stanford's massive development project around the hospital released their draft EIR yesterday... expect lots and lots and lots of community concern, tweaking of the project, and finally the eventual development of the project... welcome to Palo Alto...

It is unlikely that anyone who sees the new plans at Stanford will be underwhelmed, but that was the reaction down the road a bit by the Mountain View City Council who caught a glimpse of the plans for a new San Antonio Center there... that's probably not the reaction the developer Merlone Geier was looking for... On the bright side, it can only get better, right?

The County Superintendent Chuck Weis gets in on the political action in today's Letters to the Editor in the Merc, chiming in on behalf of Larry Aceves for State Superintendent for Public Instruction...

Cupertino is taking a step to make Silicon Valley air a little, (perhaps a lot) cleaner by monitoring more closely the air quality around the Lehigh Cement plant... or is it Lehigh Cement plan, as it read online yesterday...

A pension reform initiative is heading to the ballot in Menlo Park. Could this be a Silicon Valley trend among cash-strapped cities? Chuck Reed has been talking about asking voters in San Jose to vote to do away with the often-expensive binding arbitration...

Silicon Valley has some serious interest in the upcoming Republican primaries for US Senate and Governor. New polls are out together. The first one actually confirms what Steve Poizner said a few weeks back -- that his race against Whitman is tightening... The second has Carly Fiorina leading (slightly) over Tom Campbell, but within the margin of error... (Joey Lucas will explain everything later...)

Finally, the Merc Editorial Board also hands Tom Campbell some bad news... they don't like his less-than-thoughtful stance on Elena Kagan's nomination to the Supreme Court. "We expected more of Campbell..."

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 -- 4.23.10: Leaving Mommy and Daddy Warbucks is a good thing...

The only San Jose news today is that the Sharks won... they lead the series 3-2.

Go electric or go to bankruptcy court... those seem to the options for Caltrain these days. That ain't fun. This would seem to have major implications up and down the region. Let is also be known that they are the first (but certainly not the last) local government agency to utter the "b" word...

Trouble in paradise... Paradise is Los Altos and the trouble is with the school district. Actually, the trouble is with getting a new teachers' contract signed by the school district. Some School Board members think the contract does nothing to address their budget problems now or long-term, some School Board members want to pass the thing and move on. The Board punted passing the contract earlier in the month and will take it up again on Monday. Is this a trend? Is this the educational equivalent of Police Officers and Firefighter contract/ benefit negotiations that cities are dealing with these days? We'll see...

It is very, very clear that (Almaden Valley's) Tom Campbell made the right move at the right time to get away from Daddy and Mommy Warbucks in the Governor's race. As Whitman and Poizner single-handedly boost up California's economy with their campaign spending, Tom Campbell is kicking ass in the U.S. Senate race he joined. A new poll done for Capitol Weekly has Campbell pulling away from Fiorina: Campbell 31, Fiorina 17, and Chuck DeVore (?) at 15 percent. (The betting line in Vegas is now Campbell by 6.5 points.)

Watch Dog is never really sure what James Rowen at Mission City Lantern means when he writes about us... but he wrote about our note on Jude Barry and Ed McGovern having clients on different side of San Jose's Measure K but working together on the 49ers' issue. It is clearly just business, but we just thought it was interesting and clearly that mainstream reporters aren't connecting dots, so we must.

Morgan Hill selected a (Barry Swenson) Builder to help redevelop its downtown... Congrats Mr. Swenson...

The same week as 420, Mountain View wants to crack down on a storefront pot club. Some people have no sense of humor dude... they are suing the club that opened up despite a City ban.

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.22.10: Opposed versus Opposing...

The San Jose Police Officers' Association has opposed the gambling measure on the San Jose ballot in June since it was put on the ballot a few months ago. Of course, they didn't oppose it enough to actually write an "argument against Measure K" for the ballot guide. Instead, they blogged about. So I guess we can say the POA are "opposed" but they aren't really "opposing."

But inside the story in today's Merc there are even more interesting details, if you read between the lines:

• Cindy Chavez still isn't talking to the Merc, but answered a question on Measure K through her spokesperson with a "no comment" -- thus violating Rule 1 of press relations.
• Even more interesting in the story is this: Ed McGovern pushing a yes on Measure K campaign on behalf of the card clubs and Jude Barry is a political consultant for the Police Officers' Association, which is opposed to the measure. This is interesting because Ed McGovern and Jude Barry are working together in Santa Clara on the 49ers' stadium campaign. Politics makes strange bedfellows... (No Councilmember Oliverio, we don't mean that kind of bedfellow...)

Here we go again... again. Senator Maldonado is gunning for Lieutenant Governor. Can't we all just get along?

While we are in Sacramento... Mr. Smith (well, Mr. Guardino actually) went to Sacramento, and got a piece written in the Merc about their trip... which we are sure will make the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce less than pleased because they went to Sacramento this week and got nothing written...

Speaking of Mr. Guardino, he comes to the defense of Cindy Chavez with a Letter to the Editor in today's Merc. He makes no mention, however, of why she has been in the paper lately: heavy-handed political tactics. But Cindy should send Carl flowers today...

Wouldn't it be great to buy alcohol and Advil in the same place? That way, you can get the cause and the cure for a hangover in one space... Well, the Campbell City Council doesn't think it is such a good idea and denied Walgreens' the proper permits...

The City of Palo Alto hired a consulting firm to see how it might be able to see how to trim costs from the fire department... of course, they forgot to find out if the consulting firm had every actually recommended reducing staffing levels of fire departments ever. The answer? No. Never. Not once. Well, that was money well spent by the City of Palo Alto...

A woman was violently attacked and robbed at the Gilroy outlets on Wednesday in the bathroom. Scary.

What a buzz kill... and during the week of 420: Mountain View Police busted a grow house with $100,000 of pot plants...

On the blogs...

San Jose Inside lets us all know about Sam Liccardo's birthday cake at his campaign kick-off, and that Zoe Lofgren was there. We also learn that candidate Tim Hennessey has "friends" on Facebook that are mad at him...

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.20.10: 420, need we say more?

420... 'nuff said. Now, onto November...

It has been a bad few weeks for the South Bay Labor Council head honcho Cindy Chavez. First she got Jude Barry blacklisted -- which led to bad press. Then she sent a threatening letter to several Democratic Assemblymembers because they are supporting her "opponent" in a City Council race -- which led to bad press. Then her strong, yet unsuccessful, push to get Republican Dolores Carr endorsed for DA was uncovered -- which led to bad press. Today, the Merc's Scott Herhold ties it all up in a bow... He concludes: "...For such a sunny personality, hers are cold tactics indeed..."

"Hi Phil, it's Cindy. Can you relaunch sanjoserevealed as soon as possible? Thanks..."

Check out Watch Dog's piece from yesterday about Cindy Chavez, Dolores Carr, and Xavier Campos: United Carr Workers and Xavier Campos.

Watch Dog didn't really know something like this was possible, but... National Hispanic University was sold to a for-profit college conglomerate. Think of it as Walmart coming in to buy your small school. Laureate Education is the purchaser and their company is valued at $3.5 billion. If you are going to sell out, go big or go home, we guess...

Lately when anyone has been talking about Santa Clara, it has been about the 49ers or Yahoo... that's because everyone has stopped talking about the BAREC housing development that was controversial and contentious. But it is finally FINALLY moving forward as the clean-up starts... (If you know nothing about this development, then don't even try to understand the history...)

Yesterday was a bad day to be train-dependent. First a bomb threat that screwed up the afternoon/ evening community, then a suspicious package at the Caltrain Station in Mountain View closed things down for a while last night...

Speaking of trains... but a much, much faster one, hopefully. The Mountain View Council is studying the High-Speed Rail alignment options for Mountain View, and they really don't know what they like best... or least.

One Silicon Valley-ite who is running for high office has released his tax returns... Tom Campbell. And we learn what we already knew... he isn't a rich as Meg Whitman, Carly Fiorina, or Steve Poizner... Most stunning of all, he donated only $600 to charity in 2009. ... that's it. Perhaps the library in Almaden didn't need his help last year.

Speaking of Silicon Valley types running for office... Chris Kelly is a former Facebook executive running for Attorney General. (In case you didn't know that, and if you didn't know that, then you are in the majority...) He is facing some tough questions about Facebook's privacy policies. Questions like, does Facebook have a privacy policy?

Palo Alto is celebrating 420... well, Earth Day actually. They have a bunch of new enviro-sheek things happening.

To the blogs...

Protect San Jose answers a real(?) "Ask a Beat Cop" question today about a car getting stolen in downtown San Jose... of course the answer is about high-capacity night clubs...

Mission City Lantern has some advice for Cindy Chavez...

Morning News Round-Up -- 3.22.10: Are you a Proprietary Member of Fremont Hills?

Two stories of local politicians ignoring folks in their own backyards in order to court voters in Orange County: Tom Campbell "assails" healthcare reform and Steve Poizner goes anti-immigration. We can't leave this part of the Campbell story alone: Campbell delivered his anti-healthcare speech at the Fremont Hills Country Club in Los Altos Hills, a club that has... "...a total of 425 Proprietary Memberships, granting all members full privileges at the Club. All club memberships are by invitation only..." Oh, and an equestrian center. We can assume that zero of the owners of the 425 Proprietary Members goes without healthcare or finds it too expensive... But perhaps a neat follow-up story to this one (hint to Barbara Boxer's team) would be to see how many of the workers at the Fremont Country Club have health insurance...

The San Jose Independent Police Auditor search appears to be heading into its final stages (finally). And the Merc uncovered one of the finalists: former Judge and former Palo Alto Councilmember LaDoris Cordell. This cannot make law enforcement officials very pleased... which probably does make a whole bunch of other people very, very pleased. We guess no brothers or sisters of current police offices applied...

The Merc just can't get enough of the Happy Hollow Zoo opening... another story appeared this weekend.

Remember those fireworks that you used to love in downtown San Jose during the Fourth of July? Well, you can kiss them goodbye. Fil Maresca says the City's fees for the Police were too expensive. That's sort of what the Chamber of Commerce is saying about the Police as well -- at least their pensions...

Speaking of the Chamber...

The Chamber's political action committee, COMPAC, won a lawsuit and now the City of San Jose owes them $400,000+. Pat Dando can't help but gloat in the Merc's Internal Affairs.

Also Internal Affairs is something that was essentially lifted from San Jose Inside: one of the "also rans" in District 9 is both a Cortese and a karaoke genius...

Rounding-Up Internal Affairs this weekend, we learned Sunday that Steve Poizner shared a flight to the Southern California debate with Meg Whitman's press team. But more important than that are two more things that we learned that were embedded in the piece: 1. Whitman is flying a private jet (everywhere) and 2. the source of all things anti-Poizner that has appeared in Internal Affairs is Mary Anne Ostrom is working for Whitman now but used to work for the Merc. Hmmm... Debunking the myth that all reporters (and former reporters) are Democrats...

Attention Mr./Dr. County Executive: The Mercury News Editorial Board has a big problem with you and how you want to run the Valley Medical Center. Please report directly to the Principal's office for further instructions...

The Merc Editors have started their campaign endorsements. They start with Proposition 16 and recommend no.

There is a new blog in town... zzz...

Morning News Round-Up -- 3.19.10: A very healthcare weekend?

The East Side Union High School District is facing signficant cuts. Parents and teachers and community leaders showed up to protest. That's not unusual. That's what's been happening in many/all school districts -- but not all school districts get a negative audit from the County Office of Education that criticizes how they spend money... and not all school districts fire their superintendent... and not all school districts appoint members to their board twice, even though voters said no to the twice-appointed member...

Gilroy Unified is also in pink-slip mode...

While East Side Union and Gilroy Unified would have a more difficult time doing the same thing, Cupertino Union parents are fundraising to save 100 teachers' jobs...

Meg Whitman spoke to a group from the Great Silicon Valley Hispanic Chamber of Commerce yesterday at Santana Row. (Which is the strangest part of that sentence? Meg Whitman speaking to the Hispanic Chamber or the fact that it was at Santana Row?)

Mountain View has something called the "Shoreline Community" fund, which seems to act kind of like a Redevelopment Agency for the Shoreline area in Mountain View. The problem with that is school districts sometimes get screwed in Redevelopment Areas -- and in the Shoreline Community area that seems to be the case. Essentially, the Mountain View-Whisman Elementary School District would like to get a bigger piece of Google's property tax. Unsurprisingly, not everyone on the Mountain View City Council likes the idea of sharing that tax money...

The League of California Cities is trying to get a measure on the November ballot to stop (again) the State from stealing local money to balance the State budget. But (unbelievably) two folks on the Saratoga City Council don't support it... Kathleen King and Jill Hunter. It seems King and Hunter don't want the County to get screwed even if Saratoga does ok under the measure. We wonder why Kathleen King is so concerned about the County... hmmmm...

With the old Mervyn's out of their Campbell store on Hamilton Avenue, Safeway is looking to build a cool new store.

Speaking of stores... What's the one thing folks in Milpitas need more than anything? How about an even bigger Walmart?

Morning News Round-Up -- 2.5.10: No hospitals, no eminent domain, no affordable housing...

You may remember Greg Zlotnick, he was on the Santa Clara Valley Water District Board but was then gifted/given a high-paying job with the District in 2007 by then CEO-Stan Williams without the Board's approval. Well, Zlotnick has been fired... job-eliminated, actually, by the new CEO.

The County's Public Safety and Justice Committee voted not to arm Juvenile Probation Officers this week. Bringing up the obvious question, the County has a Safety and Justice Committee? Even the Merc had to throw in a little jab at the Committee: "...At a high-intensity gathering of the normally sparsely attended public safety and justice committee..."

Most people clamour to have a hospital in their town -- think about downtown San Jose... but Campbell is saying no to a certain type of "boutique hospital" that would only serve rich people. The vote was 4 to 1 against changing zoning rules that would have allowed the hospital to move forward.

A long time ago, there was a big deal about the Saratoga Cemetary Board and their plans for some eminent domain findings. That really raised the profile of the group just above "anonymous" to "almost anonymous" in the public's eye. But they are back in the news again arguing about what the minutes of their meetings say, who drafts them, and if they are biased in any way. There are some nasty accusations made relative to this story, which makes it all the more interesting. Enjoy.

Cupertino voted against a plan to build 18-20 new affordable housing units in their City. The plan was actually brought forward by the Rotary Club of Cupertino. We guess the Rotary Club of Cupertino doesn't have the same pull as the Rotary Club of Cupertino...

The Sunnyvale City Council figured out its priorities for the coming year... and marijuana is on the list. Thank goodness, we could use some. It is Friday after all... wait dude, they are actually going to crack down on it. Damn...

Morning News Round-Up -- 1.21.10: Nazis, Tornadoes, and Parcel Taxes, OH MY!

It is no secret that Reverend Jethroe Moore II, the head of the Silicon Valley branch of the NAACP, has been vocal about his displeasure with the San Jose Police Officers' Association overall. It came to the forefront recently when Moore pulled the NAACP's support for the Freedom Train ride on Martin Luther King Day because the POA were sponsors. Well, it turns out Moore's colorful quotes about the POA may have been a little too colorful during a KCBS interview. He likened the POA's support of the Freedom Train to Nazis supporting Jewish causes. San Jose Inside nails the story. Watch Dog predicts that the NAACP Board may be trying to get Rick Callendar back soon... but for the sake of colorful future quotes, we hope Moore stays put.

It was (another) $20 million week for Meg Whitman... Can you just imagine the campaign

strategists sitting around plotting how to approach Ms. Whitman about plopping more money into the campaign? It must be sort of like siblings strategizing how to ask their parents for more money:

Campaign Staff/Kid 1: "Um Meg... can we get another $20 million?"

Whitman/Parent: "What did you do with the last $20 million I gave you?"

Campaign Staff/Kid 2: "Kid 1 spent it all on sports talk radio..."

Whitman/Parent: "Ok, here's $20 million more, but don't spend it all in one place.

Expect Poizner's staff/kids to be asking for a bigger allowance some as well... Meanwhile, in

Almaden Valley, Tom Campbell woke up today very pleased with his decision.

Those days of Councilmembers in San Jose furiously texting away in advance of their vote on important issues may be behind us. The Council is due to consider (and probably approve) some legislation that makes those texts more public -- and therefore less frequent. Rumors that both the South Bay Labor Council and the Chamber of Commerce leaders will be learning (and teaching the Council) sign language are apparently not true.

Santa Clara County's Superior Court Judge Lucy Koh is being nominated

for a Federal Judgeship in California's Northern District Court by President Obama. Senator Barbara Boxer recommended Ko. If confirmed, Ko will be the first Korean-American Federal Court judge in the country. Of course, the Senate just got a little less blue-state friendly...

Sunnyvale Town Center, the major project that is stalled "indefinitely" is still the center-piece of Sunnyvale's 5 year development plans... perhaps 5 years the economic double whammy (downtown Sunnyvale overall and the Recession) might be over... might...

While we are in Sunnyvale... (recently) former Mayor Tony Spitaleri spoke at a public protest of the sale of the preschool at the Congregational Community Church and it may have jeopardized the sale of the building, which kind of sucks. And that's why the Church is raising ethical questions about Spitaleri's actions. Intrigue in Sunnyvale...

And one more nugget from Sunnyvale... the City will be considering (again, again) publicly funding City Council campaigns. Just what the general fund of Sunnyvale needs, another line item...

We know the weather has been wacky the past few days -- hail,

thunder, lightening, wind -- but did you know that Dorothy Gale almost visited South County at around 2:30 p.m. yesterday?

While we are in South County... Politicon Valley gets in on the "make fun of misspellings" game as they watch Peter Arellano's "campaing" website go live...

In education news, the Foothill-DeAnza Community College District may ask voters for a parcel tax at some point soon. We often mention parcel taxes that School Districts are putting forward, but this would be the first Community College District is in the State to go for one. Which will certainly piss off the School Districts located in the Community College District. Why? Because voters generally won't support too many property taxes on the same ballot. Our guess is that there are a dozen or more School Districts in the same geography as Foothill-DeAnza, and some (or all) are thinking about going for a parcel tax or renewing one already in place...

Morning News Round-Up -- 1.19.10: A bankrupt Merc?

It has been a long, long weekend, so if you haven't had your coffee yet, go get it and come back to Watch Dog caffeinated...

This isn't good... the owner of the Mercury News are filing for bankruptcy. Is it possible that the paper could lose more reporters and more pages? The Mercury News Weekly perhaps? Watch Dog cannot fill the void, unfortunately, we just go Wii...

But remember, Merc. Columnist Cassidy says that they will succeed because they provide unique local content... or at least they used to...

In other stellar economic news, office vacancies may be through the roof (again) this year...

Here's one way to increase air traffic at SJC: have SFO-bound planes make emergency landings at SJC because of high wind gusts... "SJC, when the weather is too shitty for SFO..." That would be a hella cool ad campaign...

The Merc got into the weedily-witty headlines about local marijuana dispensaries this weekend with this: San Jose says pot clubs popping up like weeds; city starts cracking down. Is it fair to say that when the headlines aren't serious, neither is the actual issue? Of course, we often write Watch Dog stoned, so who are we to question anyone...

The County is finally helping folks who are facing misdemeanor charges by providing some with a public defender... which everyone should be shocked didn't happen before a Sean Webby news story last week. But remember, this is the same County that wants to do away with pre-trial services in order to get more business to bail bonds shops, so nothing should surprise you... Kudos to Supervisors Yeager and Cortese for realizing that having folks face charges without being represented by a lawyer is a horrible idea and is part of Criminal Justice 101.

Speaking of Criminal Justice 101, the good folks at Protect San Jose encourage you to be honest with police and tell them exactly what they want to hear when they pull you over. Of course, that flies directly in the face of "right to remain silent" and could find you in the County Courthouse without a lawyer (see above)... in case you believe (like Watch Dog) that incriminating yourself doesn't sound like such a hot idea when you get pulled over, here is some different advice about what to do when you get pulled over from a source other than police officers: "...Silence is not an admission of guilt and cannot be used against you in court..." So far, the advice on Protect San Jose is to respond to Police Officers like you were in kindergarten and provide them all the answers they ask for. Thank you Protect San Jose... The Fifth Amendment is still intact, right?

In an un(?)related note, the Chronicle gets in on the Freedom Train controversy between San Jose's NAACP, who pulled out of this year's Train, and the San Jose Police Officers' Association, who is one of the sponsors. In the Chronicle piece, we find another hard-hitting quote from Pastor Moore of the NAACP: "While Rev. Dr. King stood for nonviolence and against police brutality, we find ourselves honoring police, who talk to our community members in derogatory tones, who beat innocent citizens in our community, who unlawfully arrest people, and in extreme cases kill members who dare to speak up and stand up for their rights."

Update: It turns out the ride was well-traveled, even with the controversy and even without the NAACP... but a Freedom Ride without the NAACP is an issue that is not going away.

The Merc's Scott Herhold writes about Tom Campbell's running (again) for the Senate after dropping his bid for Governor. And ends with a prediction, of sorts, about whether Campbell, if unsuccessful this time in his third run for the Senate might look ahead to 2012: "Could Campbell try for a fourth time? If it happened, I wouldn't be surprised." Oh, and referring to previous races and other Republicans, Herhold assures us that: "...He [Campbell] wouldn't have been caught dead in a strip club..." Thank you.

Pete Constant is trying to up-end the plastic bag ban in San Jose by hitting up his misspelling cohorts (the Chamber of Commerce) for support -- or sopurt. He says the cost is too high. As usual, Constant was the lone vote against the plastic bag ban. Which brings up the question: What did Councilmember Constant think it meant when he voted for the Mayor's Green Vision which has this included in it:

5. Divert 100 percent of the waste from our landfill and convert waste to energy.

The good folks at Internal Affairs had a busy week writing for Sunday. First, they give us a "reversal of fortunes" of the highest order with Phil Angelides heading a serious, and newsworthy, Inquiry panel and Governor Schwarzenegger becoming the lamest of ducks. Next, they provide all of us more than we probably need to know about the dress code in the DA'soffice, and how it got relaxed an effort to help Dolores Carr politically. And finally, Larry "Boo" Stone calls the San Francisco Giant's efforts to fuck up the A's move to San Jose "...classic San Francisco politics..." We agree with Stone, but not for nothing: classic San Francisco politics launched the career of the Speaker of the House...

On a serious note: the post office is moving in downtown Los Altos.

If at first you don't succeed... the Fremont Union High School District to approve a parcel tax (again!) in May. They just packed up the stuff from their campaign office in November, but are going to give it another go. Desperate times, etc.

Aren't you glad you had your coffee? Stay safe out there folks...

Morning News Round-Up -- 1.14.10: Nothing Snarky to Write Here...

The Oakland A's desire to move to San Jose continue to light up the sports/blog/news world. Here are a few samples... from the Tri-Valley Herald, and editorial about the NUMMI site as a possibility, pointing out this: "...Ironically, it was the NUMMI plant and Toyota that helped torpedo Fremont's last pitch to the A's for a new ballpark..." And a story from USA Today, includes this gem of a quote from A's owner Lew Wolff: "It is like we are bing held hostage... We tried to make it work in Oakland. We exhausted everything we could in our area. It can't work. For us to compete, we've got to have revenue, and for us to get revenue we have to move to San Jose. It's that simple."

Andrew King, the swim coach/molester, will face his victims in court...

Here's another heartwarming story... a San Jose woman's car was repossessed because she was late with her payments. Ok, that happens all the time. But her 2-year old son was in the car. Oops.

The Mercury News Editorial board comments (positively) on the Tom Campbell political switcheroo (from Guv's race to Senate race)... The Editorial board also chimes in (positively) on Google's pulling out of China. A very positive day on Ridder Park Drive...

Nothing is easy to build/upgrade/restore in Los Gatos, but (finally) plans to rebuild/restore the Los Gatos Public Library passed the Town Council on Monday. Kudos all around.

El Camino Real and Stanford Avenue, perhaps one of the worst intersections in Silicon Valley, is going to get redesigned... thank goodness. Maybe this is the one thing that everyone in Palo Alto can agree on... it got a 5-0 vote on the Planning and Transportation Commission.

Small town politics can be wacky... like in Morgan Hill. Years ago, a local attorney/Commissioner Bruce Tichinin hired a spy to keep tabs on the City Manager... the City Council condemned him and asked him to step down. Tichinin filed a lawsuit... yada, yada, yada... the California Supreme Court denied a legal petition by the City of Morgan Hill. Just be happy you aren't involved in Morgan Hill politics... sorry Larry Carr...

Gilroy is still obsessed with pot. We learn from today's Dispatch that there are at least 4 "quiet" dispensaries there... Watch Dog is fan of the loud dispensaries, rather than the quiet ones...

Most cities would love a downtown grocery store... heck, San Jose tried 30 years to get one and now has two. But the Mountain View City Council said no to two proposals for downtown grocery stores this week...

Morning News Round-Up -- 1.12.10: Campbell vs Fiorina? Maybe...

Ah, political intrigue is afoot in Silicon Valley. The $trong $howing of Meg Whitman and $teve Poizner in the race to be the Republican nominee to take on Jerry Brown has left the most qualified candidate, Tom Campbell, way behind in the money race. Which is too bad for Mr. Campbell... which may really be too bad for Carly Fiorina. You see, Ms. Fiorina is running to be the Republican Senate nominee to take on Senator Barbara Boxer. There is widespread speculation that taking on Fiorina might be a lot easier for Campbell than taking on the endless bank accounts of Whitman and Poizner... so... we... wait... for... Campbell... to... decide... and Fiorina is getting nervous. So nervous that she put in $2.5 million of her own money into her own campaign.

On a somewhat related note, the Merc Editorial Board calls for the Gubernatorial candidates to release their tax returns for the past 10 years -- which they will then post on their website...

Assessor Larry Stone (booo) launched a new web tool to estimate what new homeowners might pay in taxes (yay)... the name of the new tool is the "Supplemental Tax Estimator." Larry, could you think of a less exciting name?

Arrest warrants have been issued for the parents (aiding and abetting) of the woman suspected of killing her former girlfriend in Alviso.

There is a battle brewing in downtown Palo Alto about renaming (or not) Lytton Plaza after the Thoits family. Like all things in Palo Alto, expect late-night meetings pitting neighbor against neighbor...

You remember the uproar in Gilroy about a medical marijuana dispensary... it seems that about six more folks would like to open dispensaries in Gilroy. It seems the demand is growing in South County. Perhaps a pot farm would be the best re-use of the Sargeant Ranch.

Thank you San Jose Inside for getting in on Councilmember Pete Constant's spelling errors on his re-election website. We also chimed in with web-shots over the weekend. The more the merrier, we like to say...

Morning News Round-Up -- 11.9.09: Chiefs of PD's Past and Present...

(Former) San Jose Police Chief/Stanford Hoover Institute Research Fellow Joseph McNamara takes issue with the Merc's coverage of San Jose's Police Department -- and uses the Merc's Opinion page to call on Sean Webby to cover the happy side of San Jose Police business. McNamara suggests the Merc's headline writers are shaping public opinion with spicy headlines. Police coming to the defense of police? Say it ain't so.

(By the way, Watch Dog does not know, and has never spoken to, Sean Webby...)

Speaking of Police Chiefs... Chief Rob Davis (apparently) dusted off his resume early this year to apply for head honcho position in Los Angeles. Davis' didn't land the gig, perhaps due to the salacious headlines in the Merc that are upsetting McNamara, or perhaps the annoying Drunk in Public scandal, or perhaps Chief Davis isn't well loved by the rank and file? The Merc's Internal Affairs tried to get the (secretive) Chief to dish details of his (possible) LA LA land visit... but no luck.

As opposed to Rob Davis who was trying to head to greener pastures, there was a Superintendent locally who was put out to pasture... East Side Union High School Trustees dished details on the ouster of Superintendent Bob Nunez. With monthly expenses running as much as $4,000 a month, auditors found sloppy bookkeeping but nothing illegal in his expensive (alleged) meals with Supervisor/(former) Trustee George Shirakawa and Trustee Eddie Garcia. The audit also found weak oversight... really?

First plastic bags now Styrofoam... Environmentalists must be celebrating in San Jose as the 10th largest city in the nation considers banning those pesky white (non-degradable) coffee cups from public events. Lauren Kates of Aunt Lali's Mobile Cafe said the free ride she's gotten on disposables was nice but she's not stressing over the changes. The same can't be said for the Alliance of Foam Packaging Recyclers who could be looking for a mouthpiece...

The Merc's Editorial Board calls on Campbell's Planning Commission to just say no to a planned "specialty" (rich persons') hospital. Accusing the specialty doctor digs of "cherry-picking" profitable surgeries...

Two train deaths occurred Friday afternoon and both were homeless. Cheryl Mendoza and John Vincent were killed in separate accidents on the Caltrain right of way. Mendoza's death is being investigated as a possible suicide and her friends mourned the San Jose woman who had been homeless for as long as they could remember.

Smart and predatory, the success of the California gull in the Bay's wetlands could threaten wetland restoration efforts. Cheryl Strong, a wildlife biologist with the Fish and Wildlife Service worries planned wildlife habitats could turn into an "expensive hotel for gulls."

And this will get firefighters' attention... in Gilroy a City Councilmember is proposing fewer firefighters per truck. Can this be the start of a trend?

Mission City Lantern sends props to Stanford football for besting the Beavers while lamenting the whipping San Jose Spartans took at the hands of Nevada wolf pack.

Morning News Round-Up -- 10.8.09: A Governor from San Jose?

District Attorney Dolores Carr received (mostly) good news when Judge Andrea Brown said defense attorneys in the child molestation videotape scandal couldn’t prove conspiracy. Defense attorney Al Lopez is keeping his fingers crossed the Judge will overturn his client’s conviction. Perhaps next week there will be a day without Dolores Carr in the news... there is still that pesky ethics issue and the "make the Grand Jury public" issue from yesterday...

Turns out gubernatorial wannabe Meg Whitman was registered to vote earlier than the Sacramento Bee (and others reported). After hours snooping through old paper records and microfiche Registrar of Voters offices in Ohio, San Mateo, and Santa Clara County dug up dusty registration records. More interesting now is, during the tough economic climate when County officials are slashing budgets, who pays for the tedious snooping to help the gubernatorial candidate? The Merc’s Scott Herhold weighs in on the drama musing – is this really the most important question in the Governors race? Probably not, but it is fun...

Speaking of the Governor's race... there is a new poll out. Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman score big -- no surprises there. But the big surprise is that Tom Campbell seems tied at the top with Whitman on the Republican side with Steve Poizner falling bad. Perhaps the next Governor will be from San Jose?

Santa Clara County has been ordered to pay $500,000 to a watchdog group for “stiffing the public on records requests.” Acting County Counsel Miguel Marquez expressed doubt that the half-million dollar settlement would hurt during these tough times “I don’t think $500,000 in and of itself is going to impact programs.” Really?

Mountain View’s City Council tinkers “around the edges” on finding places for new housing according to consultant Simon Alejandrino. Tops on the list, ditch those old “soft story” apartment buildings to find another 2,000 homes. Councilmember Ronit Bryant hopes for more mixed use while colleague Laura Macias is looking for affordability.

The Merc’s Editorial Board weighs in on local elections:

According to the Ed Board -- Sunnyvale residents should say yes to Mayor Tony Spitaleri, Councilmember Chris Moylan, and newcomer Jim Griffith.

and...

The Merc recommends a yes vote on parcel taxes for Fremont Union High School’s Measure G and Santa Clara Unified’s Measure C.

Looking at next year’s elections – Los Gatos Union School District ponders a bond measure to raise (around) $24 million for a new Lexington School along with other school projects.

The Mountain View–Whisman School District is heading for big changes. Trustee Ellen Wheeler says sticking to home schools might not be best for students “we know that low-income Hispanic and low-income African-American students” do better when they go to a “different school.”

Morgan Hill Police haven’t found the shooter for last week's gang related killing of Juan Arellano and Morgan Hill is rocking from the violence. Police are holding a community meeting to talk turkey on gang violence.

Not wanting to be left out of the gang action... Gilroy Police are dealing with (suspected) gang violence that landed a hearing and speech impaired man in the hospital.

Pissed off Gilroy developers asked the City Council to talk dancing. They are complaining that a police officer is a real party pooper and won’t let club customers dance the night away. Developer Gary Walton called dancing one of the “oldest forms of human expression.” The straw breaking this camel’s back was the (non) dance at Gilroy’s Gaslight Theatre where police busted vandals and broke up fights. Sounds like Club Wet...

San Jose Insider Jessica Fromm chats with candidates in next years County Supervisor race to succeed Don Gage pointing to Rosemary Kamei and Teresa Alvarado as the candidates to watch. Perhaps these candidates should start talking gang intervention in Gilroy and Morgan Hill...

Protect San Jose’s numbers geek, Ed Rast, launches a multi-part series hoping to get you to give San Jose’s City Hall an earful about budget priorities.

Morning News Round-Up -- 7.20.09: School Districts Gone Wild...

The Luther Burbank School District Board of Trustees was undoubtedly (not) excited to see Board President called out in last weeks Civil Grand Jury Report. They must have spent the weekend cringing over new stories they aren’t paying teachers and they were so afraid of telling parents what they thought about the Report they delayed the discussion – after 4 hours of unrelated talk. The Luther Burbank Superintendent did not say, "Thank goodness East Side Union High School District is also in the news..."

Also vying for (negative) attention, the East Side Union High School Trustees getting some special love from a County Office of Education audit accusing District officials of financial shenanigans. Not the first time the District has been in hot water: in 2004 then-Superintendent Esperanza Zendejas took Trustee credit cards away. Can (unelected) Trustee Eddie Garcia save the day? Or did he come by his bad habits honestly through years of training from former East Side Trustee/ former Councilmember/ current Supervisor George Shirakawa, Jr.? (Click through the previous link for a memorable cartoon...)

The Merc.’s Scott Herhold sat with retired San Jose firefighter/ Author/ track star Jerry Williams to put a local face on the Sonia Sotomayor hearings. Herhold also reminds us that having a great kid isn’t always enough to avoid tragedy.

Sal Pizarro got an earful about parking from more San Joseans angry at the $3 charge for evening parking. Pizarro also reports the Pat Tillman Foundation received a $5,000 boost from patrons of the Britannia Arms and asks you to support Martha’s Kitchen when you head out to see Chicago and Earth, Wind & Fire this week.

San Jose Insiders shared their parking peeves on Insides Rants & Raves while Baretta picks at San Jose Revealed with a little sleuthing work of their own.

Mission City Lantern shares details on three of their San Jose Revealed favorites...

San Jose Insider/Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio talks at length about the joys of iPods before getting to the point – no, he won’t be taking home lifetime benefits after 8 years on the San Jose City Council. Santa Clara County Supervisors make more and keep benefits after 12 years.

The flu that won’t go away is taking Twitter by storm, or so Joy Alexiou with Santa Clara County Public Health hopes. This is one viral they hope makes the top 10 Tweets.

And even though San Jose Revealed joined the San Jose City Council on hiatus, the Merc wants us to know there are still other cities in Silicon Valley and some are actually doing work…

• Palo Alto’s City Council interviews candidates hoping to join their Planning Commission.
• Santa Clara’s Planning Commission talks demolition and condo conversion.
• The Campbell Union High School District reconsiders open enrollment and how to snag some of those federal stimulus dollars.
• San Jose Unified School District looks at bringing back some of the 96 teachers they laid off.

Morning News Round-Up – 6.19.09: No Video-Gate News, sorry...

Leaders in the San Jose firefighter’s union are blistering in the glare of a Civil Grand Jury report entitled “City of San Jose Hosed by IAFF Local 230 Executives.” The report calls firefighters courageous and dedicated but their union leaders created a “toxic relationship." Union President Randy Sekany says no one from the Grand Jury ever talked to him. There is no truth to the rumor that Police Officers Association President Bobby Lopez was jumping for joy that the heat was off of him for a day...

The Merc’s Editorial Board cheers Joint Venture Silicon Valley’s efforts to turn El Camino Real into Main Street Silicon Valley.

San Jose’s Mayor and City Council are breathing a sigh of relief. Two more unions will pass on raises to save the city $6 million and keep 46 people working. City Manager Debra Figone praised the unions and union leader Yolanda Cruz called the move a community investment.

San Jose saw the third in a string of Silicon Valley pedestrian fatalities. A young man riding a scooter was killed by the lightrail after went under the crossing arm. In another (un)related train incident, a 19 year old was busted for DUI after he tried pushing his car across Caltrain tracks. You can guess the rest. No one was hurt but the kid’s been busted for DUI.

San Jose Unified School District Board President Leslie Reynolds likened their decision to “…holding your nose and taking the least stinking thing on the list,” as Trustees last night increased class sizes. Thank you Sacramento...

Speaking of which...

The Merc’s Patty Fisher lends support to Assemblymember Jim Beall’s push for increased alcohol taxes. Party pooper Beall points to voter support, 17 years without a tax increase, and children with developmental defects due to fetal alcohol syndrome as justification. On the other side, “anti-tax Republicans and the powerful alcohol lobby.”

San Jose Inside/Silicon Valley Newsroom hung out for a discussion with Mayor Chuck Reed who kicked things off with “this is a no-bad-news zone.” Reed, no doubt eager to shake off the budget gloom, talked about sidewalk cafes and baseball.

San Jose and Campbell will be negotiating (or battling) over 68 to 130 acres of land in San Jose’s Cambrian neighborhood, surrounded by Campbell… Campbell Mayor Jane Kennedy called annexation to Campbell the most sensible course of action. In the mix, talks with the Local Agency Formation Commission and San Jose.

Campbell also has a battle heating up over an all-night gas station. Station representative Jonathan Ramos with Stantec Architecture said the owner pulled his application for late night use because “… there is no legal requirement” for the business to comply with City ordinances. (That sounds vaguely familiar...)

It’s buyer beware according to the Mountain View City Councilmember John Inks who supported taxi deregulation saying “competition – that’s the key to customer satisfaction." Straight from the Libertarian talking points, no doubt.

Gilroy’s City Council (and City Attorney) had a second look at City ordinances and decided maybe they couldn’t let Garlic City Casino run a blackjack game after all. Counciclmember Dion Bracco asked to have the proposal reconsidered saying he didn’t think either the Council or Police understood what they were doing.

Former Olympic wrestler Marco Sanchez steps up as Gilroy High’s new principal. Superintendent Deborah Flores called it a “new era” at Gilroy. Sanchez arrives just as Gilroy hands schools a bill for $1.8 million, School District Trustee Denise Apuzzo called the city’s bill “ridiculous.”

Mountain View Whisman School District Trustees are talking 10 year plans, bond measures, and “guiding principles” as they struggle with current budget problems.

San Jose Revealed’s pneumonia wears on leaving us breathless in anticipation of this week's “thinly veiled hostility and revelations of hypocrisy:” San Jose City Manager Debra Figone as an unquotable toughie, ongoing attacks from Police Officers Association President Bobby Lopez and yesterday’s grand jury report. (Feel better soon…)

Morning News Round-Up – 6.5.09: Children in jail, again...

Severely mentally ill, a child was booked into Juvenile Hall days after his 11th birthday, nearly a year ago. Not the first time a young child was tossed in the Santa Clara pokey, this child’s case is now being heard by Judge Paul Bernal. The child’s court appointed attorney David Avila said there’s no easy answer for questions of youth competency but didn't say he'd get the child better accomodations.

A short, scathing editorial in the Merc calls on Mayor Chuck Reed to stick to his “principles... his inclination toward sunshine in government” and allow the release of the Daniel Pham 911 tapes.

Sheriff Laurie Smith demoted Deputy James Council who killed two cyclists after falling asleep at the wheel. Karen Clarkson, Mother of Olympic hopeful Kristy Gough, was happy Council would no longer be behind the wheel. Council lost his 10 year old sister in a car accident and is said to be deeply remorseful, in spite of two previous drunk driving counts and a conviction for racing in Los Angeles.

Fence-gate is over. Monte Sereno has been ordered to pay $1 in compensatory damages – and could be liable for Joe Padgett’s legal fees, (now) estimated at over $2 million. Yikes.

San Jose Councilmembers/pension fund trustees Sam Liccardo and Rose Herrera called on fellow trustees to ditch “due diligence” trips except under “extraordinary” circumstances. City Finance Director Scott Johnson agreed. The rest of the trustees decided to keep travel alive and a split board will talk again at their next meeting when trustee/police officer Conrad Taylor shows up for the vote.

Campbell’s Brad Imamura was pissed about Psycho Donuts and got in touch with his elected officials to complain. The end result was a donut free mental health workshop. Councilmember Dan Furtado said his hands were tied and he’s unable to force a name change on the Psychos enjoying their 15 minutes.

Olivia Soza-Mendiola, Mexican American Community Services Agency CEO, wrote “it is with a heavy heart… MACSA is electing to relinquish the El Portal Charter Petition.” Superintendent Deborah Flores and the trustees said they welcome future collaboration and input from MACSA – they didn’t say, as long as MACSA didn’t do the banking. No word yet about MACSA’s San Jose embezzlement problems or the District Attorney’s decisions…

Facing a $6 million deficit, Mountain View’s city council cut park/street maintenance, code enforcement, public works staff and library services to the tune of $4 million. Councilmember Laura Macias proposed a $3 charge to non-residents using Shoreline park while Councilmember Mike Kasperzak fretted no one would drive there if the charge were in place.

High Speed Rail Authority boardmember Rod Diridon, Sr. says a reversal by the board could make HSR eligible for federal stimulus dollars. Diridon said the Bay Area would be “giving away billions of dollars,” without the switch.

Just as there’s a tiny bit of economic sunshine, commuters get hit with continuing news about fare hikes and service cuts. VTA Chair Dolly Sandoval is hoping for good economic news quick or “we will be in for more pain.”

NASA and the Navy won’t say they can’t agree, just that discussions over how and who pays for re-skinning the toxic Hangar One are a “struggle” and have “slowed.” Seems no one wants the $15 million plus restoration responsibility.

Google hosted Mountain View’s meeting on the future of the city, NASA and Microsoft were there to pitch ideas for Mountain View’s future. Google construction manager said “there is no land to build on… the only way to go is up.” Oh, and Mayor Reed, Mountain View’s planning director thinks they’re the “Capital of Silicon Valley.”

Assemblymember Anna Caballero is angling for promotion to State Senate. Ready to take her seat are Gilroy Unified School District trustee Francisco Dominguez, political consultant/(Caballero) campaign manager Rick Rivas, Watsonville Councilman Luis Alejo, San Benito County Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz, and Hollister Mayor Eugenia Sanchez from going after Caballero’s seat next year.

The Merc’s Sal Pizarro shares the news that San Jose’s own great speller, Ramya Auroprem, hits the stage in the Rep’s Spelling Bee. Pizarro can be found tonight at San Jose’s SubZero festival where the public voted to see San Jose’s Mayor, city council and police chief hit the dunk tank. No word if Pizarro will needing a post-dunk towel.

Sports Fan/Merc columnist Mark Purdy points an accusing finger at the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors for bickering over the fate of the County Fairgrounds. Purdy asks if an intimate music hall attached to a new off-track betting venue might save the crumbling fairgrounds.

Watch Dog plans to ditch the real world Saturday and hit the 3rd Annual Silicon Valley Soap Box Derby in Mountain View. As many as 40 Silicon Valley kids will compete for a chance to head to Akron, Ohio for nationals. Mountain View Mayor Margaret Abe-Koga and Palo Alto Councilmember Yiaway Yeh will be racing against Mayor’s Cup reigning champion/VTA Chair Dolly Sandoval.

Morgan Hill celebrates the grand opening of the West Little Llagas Creek bike/pedestrian path. Mayor Steve Tate said “it’s a natural coupling of passive recreation” with a needed public facility.

San Jose police have released the image of a man seen just before the city’s 10th murder of the year. Juan Mendoza was shot in early May, if you know the hoody wearing suspect, contact Detective Sergeants Tony Mata or Pete Ramirez of the San Jose Police Department, Homicide Unit, at (408) 277-5283.

San Jose Inside provides more details on San Jose’s consideration of Instant Runoff Voting. An open discussion moderated by San Jose State Professor Terry Christensen follows the Elections Commission discussion next week.

San Jose Revealed makes analogies between the slow demise of Mercury News and the Titanic as well as “the death rattle of the Third Reich,” while congratulating themselves for “scooping” Internal Affairs on the (yawn) news that Councilmember Nora Campos seeks to fill Assemblymember Joe Coto’s shoes.

San Jose Revealed’s review of San Jose’s city council agenda gives us

• The continued ceremonial item race.
• San Jose rents an old police building.
• Pay cuts on tap.
• Giving Tom McEnenry “conniptions”

Morning News Round-Up -- 5.12.09

The San Jose Police Department still remembers the controversy when officers shot a Vietnamese woman with a vegetable peeler (albeit a gigantic and sharp vegetable peeler) in 2003. The weekend shooting of Daniel Pham, described as mentally ill by family members, will ensure the San Jose Police Department another controversy to deal with. Under investigation by San Jose Police Department's homicide and internal affairs units, the District Attorneys office is keeping a close eye.

(Our friends at Watch Dog San Mateo would like us also to consider this police versus mentally ill man incident yesterday that did not end in death...)

Not to make jokes...but...

Campbell’s Psycho Donut Shop was the scene of a donut protest with “stigma free” and psycho donuts at war. Head psycho Jordan Zweigoron told protestors that his donuts had no deeper meeting, sometimes a donut is just a donut. Rumors Psycho Donuts is hosting Campbell’s upcoming Mental Health workshop are untrue.

The Merc’s Editorial Board is calling on San Jose City employees to give up raises to save jobs. Mayor Chuck Reed says the City Manager, City Attorney, City Clerk, and City Auditor are taking pay cuts. Let’s see, $282,000 minus 3.75%...

San Jose Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio is hitting the budget circuit and using his bully pulpit at San Jose Inside to inform/inflame the masses. Watch Dog can see it now, angry citizens storming City Hall demanding the return of the Mounted Unit and disbanding the Mariachi Festival with Oliverio hot in pursuit.

El Rancho San Benito, the City that never was. Developers had hoped to turn 5,700 acres of cattle ranch into a city of 20,000 at the Southern edge of Santa Clara County. The economy and housing crisis caused Arizona based DMB Associates to pull the plug. Sierra Club’s Melissa Hippard said she was pleased, that it was a “leapfrog development” with the worst kind of sprawl. Sprawl in Southern Santa Clara County, say it ain't so... (Gilroy...)

A Palo Alto Jane Doe was 17 when she was attacked, beaten, dragged face down on the sidewalk and raped last year. Doe survived the attack and is now trying to survive the trial of Todd Burpee without looking her attacker in the face. Deputy District Attorney James Leonard plans to convict on physical evidence.

A grumpy Rod Diridon admitted he’s blamed a handful of folks from the toney towns on the Peninsula for trying to block his $40 billion High Speed Rail baby. Diridon urged NIMBY’s to listen for facts not made up stories about the HSR/Berlin Wall. There is one Palo Alto NIMBY who is actually calling for the HSR Authority to give up the management of this project to CalTrain...

While we are on CalTrain, budget cuts may force weekend service to be eliminated and will certainly cause fares to go up...

Palo Alto Congresswoman Anna Eshoo didn’t include her hometown among her requests for federal stimulus broadband dollars but is encouraging the them to apply for money intended for “unserved or underserved communities.” Eshoo also encouraged PA Councilmembers to take a step back on their vision of the Great Wall of Rail.

From Palo Alto to Sunnyvale, those federal stimulus dollars are calling. Sunnyvale developer Peter Pau, Sand Hill Property, even has eyes on the pot of gold. He has his hand out saying “this is the kind of stimulus you can put your hands on.” Pau needs $450 million in loans, with banks and local partners unwilling to cough it up he’s hoping the feds step in. Mark Watch Dog's words, if federal stimulus dollars go to funding a mall in Silicon Valley, it won't be pretty...

Gilroy City Staff will see Pink Slip Friday unless the unions make some big concessions. The City Council didn’t like the previous union plan of furloughs and work without pay but union representative Tina Acree will be returning with the same proposal. Mayor Al Pinheiro says it’s not a “dictatorship” but it does look like each side is stuck in their corner.

Morgan Hill teachers will meet at the Cellars to hear the terms of a proposed contract with the Morgan Hill Unified School District. Negotiations started last September, included picketing teachers, so it’s nice to hear they’ll raise a glass of the local juice as the acrimony fades.

State Senator Joe Simitian will be hosting the first web Town Hall. Simitian, whose district runs from San Carlos to Capitola, hopes the technology will allow more folks to participate. Send him email questions in advance or poke him during the Town Hall.

Dennis Rockstroh, the Action Line guy for the Merc, is hot on the trail of the garbage man/tree killer. San Jose Urban Forest Manager Ralph Mize and City Arborist Dorothy Abeyta will give the tree abuser what for. Also in Action Line, thieves are posing as PG&E reps, legitimate PG&E employees will have identification.

Another one bites the dust… The Los Gatos Weekender was unable to find enough advertisers for the Merc to keep it going. The West Valley Resident also got the axe from Silicon Valley Community Newspapers. The demise of the Weekender got more coverage from Metro/San Jose Inside’s Fly who serves up a rumor that the Sunnyvale Sun and Cupertino Courier will eat it this week.

Twenty years ago Marvin Maple, the story goes, kidnapped his grandchildren from his daughter. Landing in San Jose, the family lived quietly until an unsolved crime TV show pointed at them. Maple appears in a Tennessee court today.

Yep, those were the furious fingers of San Jose Revealed we heard yesterday. Revealed let loose with analogies to Lord of the Rings and Star Wars with Chuck Reed playing Darth Vader to Nora Campos’ Luke Skywalker.