Morning News Round-Up -- 4.24.09: (Figurative) Middle Finger Edition...

Drama!...Last night several community members of the Public Intoxication Task Force (a.k.a. Drunk Task Force) gave the (figurative) middle finger to the City of San Jose. They don't like how they've been treated in the Task Force or by the Consortium or by the City Manager who refuses to release the records they need...to be continued, and continued, and continued...

The Sharks lost, again...Perhaps its because their lucky charm, Councilmember Liccardo, has been staying away?

Watch Dog isn't the only one who like fancy Silicon Valley towns, it seems more and more families with young kids are moving there as well. Perhaps its the schools...or perhaps its the square footage...

That "Groundwater Extraction Fee" that you've been paying to the Santa Clara Valley Water District may be coming back to you in a refund. A Superior Court Judge ruled the fee illegal and now the Water District may have to refund tens of millions of dollars to customers. This won't be good for the Water District's budget, one can presume. It also may have some political implications -- but we haven't written about this race yet, but we will soon...

These guys heads are going to explode as the learn about the prevalence of Sexting...no filters are going to stop this...

The Los Gatos Observer gets back in the game giving a profile of one of the bright spots on the economic horizon...Los Gatos' own Netflix.

The Principal from Gilroy High School is heading north the new Principal at Fremont High School in Sunnyvale. From Mustang to Firebird...

While we are in South County schools, the Morgan Hill Unified School District Board approved layoffs and other budget cuts. Much to the chagrin of SEIU President Pam Torrisi, who described the District's actions this way: "You're kicking somebody in the teeth when they're already down..."

The next chapter in Stanford development is being written right now. Recently, Stanford gave up Mall expansion plans in order to focus on hospital expansion and other campus efforts. But the City of Palo Alto is not done complaining/micromanaging what happens at Stanford. Palo Alto wants Stanford to connect any new development with an "urban village," whatever that is...

Morning News Round-Up – 3.19.09:

In case you missed Watch Dog's rant yesterday about San Jose's new (new!) way to deal with the drunk arrest issue in San Jose, here you go...in short, the City of San Jose is trading its Task Force for a Consortium and the ACLU Chief is not pleased...

In the great debate between Palo Alto (and Atherton and Menlo Park) and the High-Speed Rail Authority, you have got to admire Rod Diridon. He loves walking into the lion's den to pitch High-Speed Rail. He was at it once again in Palo Alto at the Palo Alto Rotary Club meeting at Ming's. His speech came just as Palo Alto is asking the High-Speed Rail Authority to study underground tracks through the Peninsula...a dollar short and day late?

Who knew... today’s library as the birthplace of tomorrow’s rockstars…The San Jose Public Library finished off Teen Tech Week with a Battle of the Bands, emphasizing the public library as a place where creativity is encouraged, young adults are “Free2Dream,” and find resources to help them achieve their goals. The winners, Sleepwell, with Craig Groves, Jonathan Borgia, Robin Smith, Jon Pollard, and Dalton Campbell won time in a recording studio and an on air interview. It is not true the Larry Pegram and Councilmember Pete Constant are now looking to ban rock and roll from the library because of the "negative influence it has on kids."

Pissed off parents may have their way after all. The Mountain View-Whisman School District is trying to work out a deal with the City of Mountain View and the YMCA that will keep YMCA preschool classes available in Mountain View-Whisman buildings -- even as enrollment in the District increases. This is a tough issue in Mountain View -- the School District needs the space and the YMCA is serving low-income families who rely on the preschool.

El Camino Hospital in Los Gatos will open 2 months early thanks to a flurry of paperwork. El Camino is purchasing the medical equipment and computers already in existence at the old Community Hospital and preparing for a job fair on Tuesday. It looks like the Los Gatos Observer is back online, they’ve got Los Gatos Mayor Mike Wasserman and Town Manager Greg Larson in the news expressing happy surprise over the hospitals (projected) early opening.

Blue pinstripe engulfs geeky Java-head…Big Blue (IBM) is looking to buy up the techie SUN, long respected for having solutions for, as yet, unknown problems.

Even fancy-schmancy Palo Alto is not immune to gang problems…Police are searching for Daniel Gil-Fernandez, accused of shooting Francisco Alvarez. Gil-Fernandez, who claims to be part of the Nortenos, took off running through Arastradero Park. If you have details, call 650-329-2190 to dish.

It’s great to be a nature lover, as long as it’s convenient…Mission College President Harriet Robles wants to evict the burrowing owls in favor a parking lot and soccer. Bob Power, Executive Director of the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society hopes to find a new home for the owls and worries about their rapidly declining population. And really, who needs burrowing owls when we have cars...

San Jose Insider Pete Campbell suggests the A’s offer the Giants a portion of the dollars from prospective luxury seating in San Jose (non-baseball events) to make territorial disputes go away. On a related note, Campbell believes a good hug will end the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. Another related note, Mission City Lantern chimes in about property values and stadiums...property values go up...no surprise if you've ever seen the before and after pictures of AT&T Park's neighborhood...

And a few (perhaps related?) gun stories to go along with yesterday's arrest of a San Jose man for robbing guns from Big 5 in Morgan Hill...

• A shooter firing a BB gun hit a bunch of car windows yesterday in San Jose, and
• Thieves broke into San Jose's The Gun Exchange and stole over 100 weapons earlier this morning.

The Merc’s Gary ‘Mr. Roadshow’ Richards sends a shout out to his Prius driving/Speeder/Dancing Teletubbie buddy Steve Wozniak – and offers absolution to all Prius driving speeders if they ‘Vote for Woz!’ Even this kid who was driving his Prius over 100 mph?

Morning News Round-Up -- 3.11.09: "San Jose's Mayor, former Mayor, and three former Mayoral candidates walk into a bar..."

There was a lot of fast-breaking news yesterday. The two big stories involved the Current San Jose Mayor, a Former San Jose Mayor, and 3 Former San Jose Mayoral Candidates...(these folks are bolded for your reading pleasure...)

Former Mayoral Candidate Story 1:
The South Bay Labor Council broke the news that Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins would be moving to Oakland to head up Green For All a non-profit dedicated to building the green economy. Former Mayoral Candidate Cindy Chavez is taking over the helm of the South Bay Labor Council. This news has big political implications, but the roll-out of the news speaks a lot about who is covering and driving news in Silicon Valley these days:

Here’s a rundown of how the news broke.

• 9:39 a.m.: San Jose Revealed broke the news (hmmm...)
• 10:01 a.m.: Watch Dog caught the news from Revealed and published a brief piece
  
• 10:05 a.m.: KLIV broadcast the story, including props from Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce Leader/Former Mayor Candidate Pat Dando on the selection of former Councilmember Cindy Chavez as the new Labor leader...
• 11:19 a.m.: Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal posted props from Congressman Mike Honda.
• 12:58 p.m.: The Merc finally caught up in the afternoon. To their credit it was a detailed story with a quote from Ellis-Lamkins that watching families earn more made “it worthwhile at 2 in the morning.”
• 1:25 p.m.: San Jose Inside’s The Fly (apparently) reads Revealed and congratulates themselves for predicting the departure of Ellis-Lamkins.
  

Former Mayor/Former Mayoral Candidate Story 2:
Former San Jose Mayor Susan Hammer and Former Mayoral Candidate Michael Mulcahy are Co-Chairing the A's to San Jose Study Group. The San Jose Rules and Open Government Committee, Chaired by Current Mayor Chuck Reed will discuss baseball's prospects today. (That is different than Billy Beane discussing baseball prospects...) It’s unlikely that anyone on the Council will object, since Current Mayor Chuck Reed and Councilmember Sam Liccardo first raised the issue, their colleagues “have practically been tripping over each other to demonstrate support” according to the Merc. We also re-welcome Baseball San Jose to the local blogosphere -- we like your look...

Mountain View’s City Council doesn’t share their neighbors' (Palo Alto) disdain for high speed rail. Councilmember Mike Kasperzak has asked Mountain View be considered for a station though he’s doubtful the State will agree. Councilmember Laura Macias said no to the request saying Mountain View didn’t have room for a station.

Mountain View-Los Altos Adult Education is letting go 119 folks. The program serves 11,000 adults annually. I guess Watch Dog won’t be brushing up on those cooking skills after all…

The East Side Union High School Trustees will ditch 129 teachers, 116 staffers, charge $200/year/student for after-school sports, and ask students to raise $500,000 on their own. Superintendent Bob Nunez acknowledged the cuts will affect students and said “certain things just won’t get done anymore…” Like teaching?

Morgan Hill’s Ann Sobrato High School is raising the next generation of soil chemists, biologists, and agriculturists with the help of Cal Poly grads/teachers Myndi Muzik and Tanya Salo. Their enthusiasm and support have junior Tracey Salvador lusting for a career in floral design and sophomore Joey Cassibba heading to veterinary school. Muzik says her goal is teaching ag literacy which is critical when 2% of the population supports the other 98%.

Palo Alto business owners won’t easily accept the proposed business tax. Dozens of business owners showed up for a Finance Committee meeting to protest. Pat Sausedo, executive director of a local Realtors association, complained this was the wrong time to consider a tax. The Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce also took a stance against the proposal and called for a Task Force. Councilmembers Pat Burt and Larry Klein suggested a possible compromise was in the offing.

The Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits’ Patricia Gardner reports that only 7% of their 100 members are financially strong. More than half will be issuing pink slips and those who support the homeless and mentally ill are flooded with new clients.

San Jose Inside’s man-about-education, Santa Clara County Board of Education Member, Joseph DiSalvo, voices outrage that federal income guidelines aren’t indexed to the community. Welcome to the real world Joe...

The news from South County has reached San Jose. The new courthouse will be open in less than a month. Judge Edward Lee won’t miss their current digs which are filled with vermin of the 4 legged kind. Morgan Hill leaders are hoping the new digs are pedestrian friendly and everyone at the courthouse will schlep over to downtown to spend their hard earned dollars.

Khaled Hosseini’s family fled Afghanistan and landed in East San Jose when he was 15 and spoke no English. A year at Independence High paved the way for Hosseini to become a doctor and a celebrated author. Although Hosseini’s first novel, ‘The Kite Runner’ has been made into a movie and praised by renowned author Isabel Allende, Hosseini says it’s surreal to see his story come to life in a play in the town where his family lived on welfare.

Watch Dog note to Los Gatos Observer’s Dan Pulcrano – when you decide to publish news again let us know…

Morning News Round-Up – 3.4.09: It’s a Nguyen-Win!

(Sorry about the obvious title. Too easy...) Now, onto Nguyen News Round-Up:

San Jose Councilmember Madison Nguyen survived the recall and won by more than 1,200 votes. Congrats Madison, sorry Andre Charles...

The Merc.'s Scott Herhold reminds Nguyen, and her supporters, that she is partially to blame for having stepped into the mess that landed her in a recall election. Herhold calls out Supervisor George Shirakawa, Jr. (Grand Poobah) as a loser in this battle for remaining “neutral”...

San Jose Inside blogged live from Nguyen’s Police Officers' Association celebration, numerous mentions of raucous noise but no details about who was there and what was being said away from the microphone…

San Jose Revealed received (and posted) Tweets from the streets of San Jose – most seem to be from no on recall volunteers. Revealed called the race at 8:19 pm, sending a dig at the yes on recall team for creating so much turmoil.

Mission City Lantern sends a warning to recall fans…Nguyen could be on the war-path…

And other news...

Sales tax revenues are down, no surprise there. A VTA Workshop last week painted a bleak picture for the BART to San Jose timeline and shocked VTA Boardmembers, according to President Liz Kniss.

Gilroy’s City Council has taken a stand against housing, or so it would seem from the funding denial at this week's Council meeting. Councilmembers Dion Bracco, Craig Gartman, and Bob Dillion denied purchase of 50% stake in South County’s Cannery Project – effectively leaving empty downtown properties. Councilmembers Cat Tucker and Peter Arellano, along with Mayor Al Pinheiro supported the project but without Councilmember Perry Woodward the proposal died a painful death.

In sporting news...His Hairness met with the 49ers yesterday to see if he could woo...

Composting has created a Task Force situation in Palo Alto. The normally non-controversial need to do the right thing split the City Council and drove them to fill a Task Force with vocal advocates on both sides. Former Councilmember/park advocate Emily Renzel stands staunchly against composting in the new Byxbee Park while Palo Alto’s Community Environmental Action Partnership member Bryan Long supports a smaller park if it means saving the planet.

Los Altan Dana Nachtman will have her documentary “Witch Hunt” on display at San Jose’s Cinequest this week. Nachtman, a journalist and mom, followed the saga of working-class men and women accused (and wrongfully convicted) of child molestation in the early 80’s. (Sounds like a film our local DA's office should take a look at...)

And on the local blog/website front...

Watch Dog wrote previously about the Los Gatos Observer not being updated since new ownership (Virtual Valley/Metro) took over. In a weird twist to that story, this note now appears by ousted Observer Editor Alastair Dallas. Does he still have the password?

Morning News Round-Up -- 2.23.09: Never a dull day in the DA's office...or at San Jose City Hall

Life at the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office gets better and better. Last year, Prosecutor Marc Buller accused a Valley Medical Center nurse of lying about the existence of medical exam videotapes. This year, District Attorney Dolores Carr said she would release the tapes which could put sexual predators back on the street (from trials as long as 17 years ago). The hubbub isn’t over yet. Carr accuses VMC’s Dr. David Kerns of causing the problem for not "… consulting the District Attorney's Office," while defense attorney Lawrence Gibbs says the DA’s office still has a legal problem because they knew the tapes existed. In legal terms, it looks as if the circumstantial evidence is mounting...this time, against the Prosecutors...

Questions are swirling, legal action is in the works, and Councilmembers are snapping at each other...but it looks like the San Pedro Urban Market (a.k.a. The McEnery Plan) will move forward this week. Former Mayor/registered lobbyist Tom McEnery hopes to open a public market in 2010 with $6 million in grants and loans from San Jose. Councilmember Nora Campos has launched a new (potential Brown Act violation) salvo saying she received a voicemail message from her colleague Sam Liccardo who hoped she would set aside partisan politics during the plan's initial consideration...Interesting how Campos didn't bring this up when her opposition to the plan failed to kill it. Perhaps she hopes it will now?

Armageddon is how the California Transit Association describes the outcome from the (long-delayed) budget resolution in Sacramento. VTA alone is facing cuts of $50 million. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission does not see any BART to San Jose dollars coming from their pockets, so local hopes are pinned on Federal stimulus dollars.

San Jose’s (one-school) Luther Burbank School District received a mild slap when a long-awaited second audit was released a year after it was ordered. Fernando Elizondo, the District's Interim Superintendent said, "We need to eliminate the sloppiness and tighten down the ship." You'd think keeping track of money and running a tight ship would be easier when a District only has one school...but perhaps not...

Fremont residents squawked loudly about the "Fremont" A's. So loudly, in fact, that the plan seems close to dead. The neighborhood grumpiness (and NUMMI's grumpiness) is causing Oakland A’s owner Lew Wolff to rethink his plans to move to Fremont. San Jose A's?

Joint Venture: Silicon Valley announced the formation of the Silicon Valley Climate Prosperity Council on Friday with San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed at the helm. The Merc’s Editorial Board celebrates Silicon Valley’s new color saying, “A green agenda crossing city lines and promoted by private and public sector leaders can put Silicon Valley in a better position to recover.”

The Merc.'s Mr. Roadshow/Gary Richards let readers cut loose on angry man Grant Paulson who grumpily attacks Senator Joe Simitian’s cell phone law via a well-viewed billboard on 101. Our sister blog, Watch Dog San Mateo has more on the East Palo Alto billboard.

Speaking of Watch Dog San Mateo...

Ah, lifestyles of the rich and famous…the Merc’s Patty Fisher fills us in…Sun Microsystems Scott McNeely sheepishly admitted he hadn’t bothered getting permission before building his private, blimp-like ice rink in the hillsides above Palo Alto. It looks like Ms. Fisher reads Watch Dog San Mateo, because they wrote a (really funny) piece about the ice rink last week...

The Merc.'s Internal Affairs caught Mount Pleasant School District Superintendent George Perez hopping mad. Perez cut loose about the recently approved budget saying, "It's a crime and a sin what they are doing to public education.”

Hunger striker/freedom fighter Ly Tong has turned up in Orange County splattering red paint on a photo exhibit. He really sounds like a swell guy.

On tap for local elected officials this week:

• San Jose’s City Council will consider ordering nightclub owners to help pay for the Police and try to make downtown more inviting.
• Sunnyvale’s City Council will revise the ethics code for elected and appointed officials, taking away a Board Chair’s ability to punish said officials and making sure Councilmembers know they have to listen to public speakers. Really?
• Mountain View’s City Council will hear a midyear budget report on Tuesday. That should be fun...
• Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors Subcommittee on Children, Seniors, and Families will talk about the changing child welfare system Thursday. The passage of the State budget should be helpful to that cause...except it isn't...
  
• Fremont Union High School District Trustees will hear a budget update and consider setting a cap on enrollment on Tuesday.
  
• San Jose Unified School District will attempt to figure out who to fire to make next years budget.

San Jose Inside's Editor voices support for beleaguered San Jose Councilmember Madison Nguyen and calls for a no vote on the recall. Inside points out Nguyen’s mistake was one of judgment...like she misjudged that this Little Saigon thing would be a big deal, she misjudged that her opponents would rally at City Hall for months, she misjudged that her opponents would get enough signatures to recall her...let's hope she doesn't misjudge the campaign her opponents are running...

Watch Dog note to Los Gatos Observer: How about some news? Or at (the very least) some more frequent Tweets...