Morning News Round-Up -- 5.25.10: 2-40-2 Head line Bold herej head line bold goes here and here's more headling bold jyg

The Bay Area News Group is very proud of itself today as it unveils a (growing) database of public employee salaries for much of the Bay Area. Expect lots of folks on the 18th Floor to be search the database today... and if you have time, you can see how much more many of these folks make than you.

Speaking of public employees...

Not a day can go by without some news coming out of the San Jose City Council District 5 race. Yesterday it was Aaron Resendez who was making public a conversation that he had with Councilmember Nora Campos' Chief of Staff Ryan Ford. (Nora Campos is candidate Xavier Campos' brother.) It wasn't a conversation as much as it was a dressing down of Resendez by Ford, according to Resendez. He has called on Councilmember Nora Campos for a public apology, which sounds like he deserves... even Kathleen says so. Ryan Ford should expect a congratulatory call from Cindy Chavez and Neil Struthers today, "Our little boy is all grown up..."
Also, our call for campaign mailers yielded some fruit, and since we are in District 5 already, here is a glimpse of how nasty the race has become... With all due respect to Pat Dando, do voters in District 5 know her name still? Do voters in District 10?

Scott Herhold can not resist apparently. He takes yet another shot, albeit from a different angle, at District Attorney Dolores Carr. This time, Herhold isn't talking about her fancy car or her lack of ethics, although these things find their way into the piece (ok, not the car stuff). He profiles a Deputy DA who wants her boss to lose... she joins 40 other Deputy DA's in wanting the same thing. 40 DA's and one columnist...

Speaking of issues of crime and justice, the Merc Editorial Board continues to review its sample ballot and come up with judicial nominations in todays paper. They choose JoAnne McCracken, Vanessa Zecher, and Julia Alloggiamento but absolutely positively do not want you to vote for Thomas Spielbauer. They went so far as to write: Don't vote for Thomas Spielbauer. Wow. Perhaps Speilbauer and District Attorney Dolores Carr could commisserate about being treated like shit from the same newspaper...

Willow Glen Middle School was at the center of the world yesterday. (Some would say that Lincoln and Minnesota are always the center of the world...) A student apprently wrote a "hit list" on a bathroom wall that sent everyone into high alert.

Matier and Ross at the Chronicle (and the entire Chronicle, come to think about it) loves writing negative stories about the 49ers wishes to move to Santa Clara... yesterday's story was about how much money the 49ers are spending on their campaign. Another way to look at it is they are spending all that money to get the hell out of San Francisco...

Violent crime is on a downswing, according to statistics in San Jose. Of course, if you read Protect San Jose, we are headed down the road of Oakland...

Mountain View is buying up land faster than a South Bay city trying to land a Major League Baseball team...

Assembly candidate Josh Becker gets a long write-up by Daily News Group reporter Will Oremus... and the story (obviously) includes a stop at University Cafe in Palo Alto... a.k.a. Becker's headquarters.

Admit it Palo Alto readers, you were at the City Council meeting last night when the Council was discussing the Stanford University hospitals' expansion plans... that must have been so much NIMBY fun... so much fun, in fact, that the Palo Alto City Council put more demands, euphemistically called "community benefits" on the growing list of things Stanford should do to make their project acceptable to Palo Alto... like a "revenue guarantee"...

It has been a while since we made fun of Palo Alto Weekly's Editor Jay Thorwaldson for his "blogging" -- but his recent chime-in on High-Speed Rail re-sparked our snarkiness. He has posted twice in 2010. Perhaps he is getting into this new-fangled technology thingy...

We put this towards the end because really, who cares: Newt Gingrich endorsed Meg Whitman. One has to believe that Whitman sold her 2012 Presidential endorsement down the river for this endorsement...

Finally, does pointing out the Merc's technical difficulties ever get old? Watch Dog doesn't think so... this was a headline for a breaking news story last night:

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.28.10: This stuff writes itself sometimes...

Where to even begin on a day like today. Contentious budget cuts at San Jose City Hall? No. Banning fatty toys at the County Building? No. Sacramento shenanigans that have impacts in Silicon Valley... perfect...

There might be an election in some parts of Silicon Valley in May, June (x2), August, and November... that's because the Governor would like to fast-pitch the special election to replace Senator/Lieutenant Governor Abel Maldonado... (we wonder who this helps... hmmm...) "Hello Pat, It's Arnold. What are you doing between now and August?..."

The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted 3 to 2 to ban toy giveaways at fast food joints within unincorporated areas of the County. The two that voted against the measure: Don Gage and George Shirakawa... seriously, this stuff writes itself...

Big day at San Jose City Hall yesterday... they were voting to cut the fat a little bit further, including their own paychecks. The tension at City Hall is apparently at an all-time high... or so they say. Unions are pissed at the City. The City would (ahem) like more cooperation from the unions... and never the twain shall meet, apparently. So the City Council needs to do something, and the only thing they can really do is cut -- and without willing unions, they have to cut non-willing unions..

That is on the cut side of things, but on the revenue side of things in San Jose, there are tons of folks looking at Measure K as one way to help stem the tide. Measure K would allow the City's two card rooms to expand in return for a higher rake for the City's coffers. (New slogan: What happens in San Jose, stays in San Jose...) The San Jose Police Officers' Association is opposed to the Measure (so are a few Council members)... but the San Jose Firefighters have thrown their support on the other side of things. Firefighters and Police Officers usually don't break ranks with each other on such things... perhaps this is a sign of things to come?

Earmarks are the bane of every good-government stalwart... of course, the disapproval is for other people's earmarks, not our own. Our folks requested $612 million in earmarks in next year's budget, which does not include the cool billion that Congresswoman Jackie Speier is proposing for Bay clean-up projects...

Minton's in Mountain View is about to get 203 units of housing. Of course, the new development isn't without detractors or NIMBYs... Mayor Ronit Bryant said it pretty well, in Watch Dog's estimation: "Will it bring more people into the neighborhood?... Yes, and I want more people downtown. We can't be proud of having a vibrant downtown and then say we don't want any more people in it..." You said it! Perhaps they could share the love with downtown San Jose?

You remember the story about the consultants that the City of Palo Alto hired to look into how to save money within their fire department... and how the consultants had never ever, not even once, recommended staffing reductions? Well, the consulting firm has been sacked...

Here is a heartwarming story from South County: A mother was arrested (and her kids were taken from her) because she left her kids alone at a motel. The four year old was wandering around the parking lot and the two year old was in a room alone. A special place in hell awaits...

We'll end with this, in case you don't read the East Bay Express... (pregnant pause) ... Some fans have been kicked out of A's games in Oakland for having anti-Lew Wolff banners. No wonder Lew Wolff wants to get out of there as soon as possible...

Reed: "Lew, you have my word: no banners in Cisco Field..."

Wolff: "That's the guarantee I've been looking for. Thank you Chuck... When can we move in?"

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...

Values Advocacy Council: A deficit-ridden slush fund for Larry Pegram?

Here at Watch Dog, we aren't the smartest financial folks... heck, we run a blog that takes scores of hours a month to keep current and we don't make any money doing it.

Because we don't know much, we will share what we've learned (through a very smart Watch Dog) about Larry Pegram's right-wing non-profit, the so-called "Values Advocacy Council." Mr. Pegram just announced that he is running for City Council in District 9 in San Jose so we share it with you today because tomorrow is the filing deadline and there still time for Pegram to un-pull his papers...

(As an aside, we have been promised by three separate Watch Dogs that there is more dirt to uncover...)

Onto the Values Advocacy Council...

Did you that the only major expense for the Values Advocacy Council is paying Larry Pegram's salary? It's true, here are some numbers (click on the year to see the actual filing):

2006 - $68,455 (of a total of $99,331 raised -- or 69% went to Pegram)

2007 - $74,750 (of a total of $134,094 raised -- or 56% went to Pegram)

2008 - $78,000 (of a total of $215,018 raised -- or 36% went to Pegram)

Can you imagine another non-profit where upwards of 70 percent of all the money raised went directly to the Executive Director? Imagine if Pat Dando at the Chamber took in 70 percent of all the money raised... Or Cindy Chavez at the Labor Council took in 36 percent... Everyone would be outraged...

But at least Pat and Cindy have more than 2 other people voting on their salaries... You see, there seem to be only three "voting members of the governing body" of the organization, including Larry Pegram? Check out Part I, Line 3 on this document. "Number of voting members of the governing body... 3"

So it seems that Larry Pegram runs his own little slush fund: He raises the money, votes on where the money goes, and then collects the money he just voted on.

But perhaps the best part is that each of the past three available non-profit financials show that the Values Advocacy Council has finished the year in the red...

2006 - ($6,120)

2007 - ($7,902)

2008 - ($4,465)

At least Mr. Pegram has lots of experience dealing with deficits... that might come in handy at City Hall.

So what have we learned? Watch Dog doesn't really know... other than we still don't like Larry Pegram and that he runs a poorly-managed non-profit with little or no oversight and takes most of the money for himself...

Morning News Round-Up -- 1.25.10: Santa Clara First Monday...

We'll do Santa Clara first today...

The Chronicle, one of the Bay Area's newspapers not in bankruptcy proceedings (yet), loves to chime in on South Bay sports stuff. Above all, the paper is uber-protective of the 49ers. So it is no suprise that the Chroncle's spin on a letter sent from the National Football League to the City of San Francisco about the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard is a positive one. The NFL told San Francisco that four really major things need to be done in order for the NFL to even consider allowing the 49ers to be in Hunters Point (assuming the Santa Clara thing falls through): a bridge over Yosemite Slough (which environmentalist are going to sue over), a new interchange off of 101 (which likely has a massive pricetag), adequate parking near the stadium (which the Board of Supervisors will never allow), and public transit infrastructure improvements (there is no public transit anywhere near this part of Hunters Point). A less "hometown" paper could write that the letter from the NFL to San Francisco could be construed as a letter siding with the 49ers and their quest to be Santa Clara-bound...

The City of Santa Clara is about to be served with a federal lawsuit by union carpenters saying that the City violated the union's free speech when it made them take down their banner outside a Citation Homes office. The sign wasn't so nice, but that isn't the point -- the City is claiming that the union violated the sign ordinance. This could get even more interesting... stay tuned.

It is good that the Merc is dedicating dozens of column inches (and a reporter) to what the rides will be named next season at Great America. For your information, Nickelodeonrides are out, Peanuts rides are in... with that information in your brain, go have a productive day.

Here's another San Francisco-related story that will have people in Silicon Valley scratching their heads... SFO is going to offer free Wi-Fi. Et tu SJC?

Could the DA Dolores Carr please go one week without doing something that lands her in the news? Well, obviously not. This time, she is instructing the prosecutors in her office to boycott a sitting judge and to not bring cases before him. Ironic, since Dolores Carr was once a judge. This item has yet to appear on Jeff Rosen's "The Case Against Dolores Carr..."

The Merc's Internal Affairs puts their hands on a letter that Mayor Chuck Reed and Councilmember/ Assembly Candidate Nora Campos sent to the good folks trying to figure out what to do with the Mexican Heritage Plaza. Essentially, the letter says that the City wants to stop subsidizing the place -- or at least subsidize it less -- or at the very least have a game plan to get the Mexican Heritage Plaza towards self-sustainability. (IA can't resist reminding everyone that Reed and Campos "...rarely agree on anything...")

Watch Dog apparently missed this Dolores Carr story a few weeks back -- but lucky for us, Watch Dog readers on on the case. (Thanks for the email...) You remember that Dolores Carr's office is looking into potentially illegal financial practices and misappropriation of funds by MACSA in running a Gilroy-based Charter School... well, the DA's office is conveniently waiting until June to decide about whether or not to bring charges. It isn't just Watch Dog wondering if this is politically motivated procrastination on the part of Dolores Carr... the Gilroy Dispatch does too. Here is why it might be political: Carr would like to get a certain group's endorsement for her re-election campaign in June... this certain group has a favorite candidate running for City Council in June who used to be in charge of operations at MACSA... if she buries the charges until then, perhaps this favorite City Council candidate rides into office, Carr gets the endorsement, and everyone wins, except voters, of course.

Pat Dando at the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce penned an opinion piece for the Merc talking about reforming the City's pension boards... an idea that Watch Dog can't remember her ever talking about during her decade or so on the City Council when she could have actually done something about it...

Speaking of Pat Dando... sort of:

Last week's Supreme Court ruling about campaign finance got the Merc Editors writing. They would like to see a disclaimer on corporate ads similar to the Presidential disclaimers, saying something like: "I'm John Smith, CEO of Big Oil, and I approved this message." Can you imagine that on the local level? A piece of mail from the Chamber's Political Action Committee calling Cindy Chavez the devil-incarnate with a little photo of Pat Dando on the back saying, "I'm Pat Dando, President and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce, and I approved this message..." that would be interesting.

San Jose Inside continues in its quest to be the only local publication (print or online) to be covering the bankruptcy of the Merc's parent company. Late last week the rolled out Lou Alexander, the Advertising Manager for the Merc for 20 years to comment...

Remember the grand plans for North San Jose -- sort of another tax-generating downtown with high density housing close to jobs and transit options... well, things are moving at a different pace than anticipated, but Target is coming.

The economy has been tough for most, but good for Safeway. In addition to their new downtown San Jose addresss, they are eyeing the old (bankrupt) Mervyn's on W. Hamilton in Campbell.

There was a small-plane crash somewhere in the Santa Cruz Mountains on Saturday... but a search hadn't turned up survivors, or the plane, as of Sunday morning.

In the circular world of the local blogosphere, Mission City Lantern comments on our comments about a story on the blog over at the Santa Clara Weekly. And for your information James, we do read the Weekly blog, it just isn't always that good... no offense. The last time we wrote something from the Weekly's blog, the publisher was defending the Broom Closet Modelling Agency...

There was another suicide on the train tracks in Palo Alto over the weekend.

The Palo Alto High School Principal Jackie McEvoy will be retiring at the end of the school year. According to the news account in the Palo Alto Weekly, McEvoy is retiring for "personal reasons" which alway sounds fishy (or eggy) to Watch Dog... if you don't get the eggy reference, read the story.

There was an old-fashion liquor store robbery at gun point in north Gilroy on Saturday night... In an unrelated crime story in Gilroy, a dude jumped into a patrol car, started driving in reverse, and hit a police officer. Officers shot the man (after using pepper spray, batons, and a Taser...) Sounds like a busy weekend at the Gilroy PD...

Morning News Round-Up -- 1.13.10: Mayor of Almaden for Senate...

It is a big political news day locally...

The Mayor of Almaden Valley (not Jim Cunneen or Pat Dando) Tom Campbell is dropping out of the $uper rich race for Governor against Meg Whitman and $teve Poizner and turning his sites on the slightly less rich Carly Fiorina. Campbell will jump into the Republican primary for US Senate with Fiorina and the right winger from the Southern California (Chuck DeVore)... Continue to do Almaden proud Mr. Campbell.

The pro-Santa Clara 49ers stadium folks delivered 8,000 signatures for their ballot measure to Santa Clara City Hall yesterday. Begging the question: there are 8,000 people in Santa Clara? (Just kidding.) That is almost double what they need to qualify the measure. Expect an election in June. (And expect James Rowen to continue writing about it...)

Supervisor Ken Yeager is the new President of the Board of Supervisors, taking over for Liz Kniss at yesterday's meeting. Congrats President Yeager, and good luck with that budget...

And finally this political piece: the Palo Alto Unified School District will go for a parcel tax renewal and hike in May. They are looking to increase their current parcel tax ($493) by $96. Every other school district in the County is drooling at those numbers...

The much-discussed 'inclusionary housing' policy in San Jose passed yesterday, much to the chagrine of Councilmembers Pete Constant and Pierluigi Oliverio who were out-voted by a 9 to 2 margin. The policy doesn't go into affect until 2013 at the earliest...

Merc columnis Mike Cassidy continues his Mercury News boosterism by letting us all know that the Mercury News "focuses on offering unique local content" and that they do local better than anyone. Ok. Saying it doesn't make it so Mr. Cassidy. Perhaps covering a new President of the Board of Supervisors would be "unique local content" but it doesn't appear anywhere on the Merc's site...

A big Bay restoration project will break ground in Alviso today. This is a long time coming... like 80 years.

This should go over big... the Cupertino Union School District is increasing its teacher-to-student ratio in order to deal with budget shortfalls. Expect crowded meetings and upset parents...

The Third Street Promenade opened to traffic (cars and people) yesterday. Not the one in Santa Monica, but the one in Morgan Hill.

There will be no pot dispensaries in Gilroy. That's the vote of the City Council. It didn't pass by five votes, however, meaning that it won't go into affect immediately, but rather in February. (Note to those candidates running for the South County Supervisorial seat -- the vote at the Gilroy City Council was split. One of the candidates in your race is in favor of pot dispensaries...) San Jose Inside breaks the "sticky situation" down as well...

Protect San Jose, which has been complaining about the Mercury News for some time, is now fond of reposting things directly from their website. Yesterday they reposted some comments that have been published in response to Bobby Lopez's "Latinos have a drinking problem" piece. Because the comment section of the Mercury News is where enlightened dialogue thrives...

Spel Cheque... Continued...

Well, it seems spelling mistakes are contagious on the right side of the political spectrum.

(See Spel Cheque? from Sunday about Councilmember Constant's re-election -- or is it reelekshun? -- website.)

Another spy sent us this clip from the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce insert in this week's Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal.

To paraphrase Lynyrd Skynyrd, ."...the Chamber must love candidates for Lieutenant Govenor..."

Morning News Round-Up -- 1.5.10: "This is Pat Dando calling for Barbara Marshman..."

The Merc's Scott Herhold sends props to the SJPD beat officers for their work investigating the killing of a transient by fire a few weeks back. Herhold obviously boned up on his Netflix during the holidays by providing context for the police work by using "The Wire" references. Let's hope the similarities between the (corrupt) Baltimore PD and the SJPD end with this comparison... lest anyone face the same fate as McNulty...

The Merc's Editorial Board comes at the Estate ("Death") Tax from the left today -- the Ed Board should expect a standard response from Pat Dando by week's end...

Jennifer Bautista of Sunnyvale will face vehicular manslaughter, rather than murder, for running over her ex-girlfriend in Alviso.

Unrelated, but just as dangerous on the roads, DUI arrest were up in the County during the holiday "Avoid the 13" period...

And we now know Dolores Carr's platform for re-election. (No wiseass, it is not: Ethical Lapses, Four Years Running...) Her post on Protect San Jose includes: reaching out to law enforcement, fighting "sunshine" disclosures, something titled "Pham: Open Grand Juries," and threats to law enforcement. In case you are looking for "The Case Against Dolores Carr" -- Jeff Rosen happens to have such a breakdown on his website...

Our friends in north County swore-in a new Mayor (Pat Burt) and Vice Mayor (Sid Espinosa) in Palo Alto. Congrats all around... it still baffles Watch Dog that folks would want to sit through the endless meetings in Palo Alto, but more power to those that do.

Morning News Round-Up -- 12.3.09: The Broom Closet Modeling Defense...

We can't believe that the Broom Closet Modeling story is still percolating in Santa Clara... but the Santa Clara Weekly couldn't resist taking a shot at the Mercury News. The Editor/Publisher Miles Barber in the (appropriately titled) Milestoneds is pissed the Merc Editorial Board called for a change in culture for a high school where it is (apparently) ok for a teacher to have sex with a student and a janitor to solicit “only the prettiest” students for personal gain. In Milestoneds Barber suggests a winning football team proves Wilcox High is a great place. Good point?

On a much more grown-up Santa Clara note: Santa Clara officials look forward to June 49ers stadium vote.

State Senate wannabe?/ San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce President Pat Dando was popping the champagne early after the “soft-money” controversy went her way, a second time. San Jose City Attorney Rick Doyle calls campaign finance “an area of law that’s ever-evolving,” and will study the ruling before suggesting San Jose ditch rules preventing unlimited amounts of “soft money” put toward independent expenditures in local campaigns. Wouldn't it be great if there was a blog around that would give a snarky run-down on this ruling... Watch Dog misses San Jose Revealed...

San Jose’s City Council didn’t worry about nay-saying NIMBY neighbors when they said yes to two housing development proposals this week. Barry Swenson Builder looks forward to seeing a 15 story tower along (currently) sleepy West San Carlos while business owners in Evergreen are hopeful more neighbors will keep stores open.

Speaking of NIMBYs, we head further north to Mountain View... Coming in at 4 stories with a cost of $500,000 per unit, the Mountain View City Council approved use of $7 million for a below market rate development. Councilmember Laura Macias commented the “traditional” Mediterranean design looked the same as other developments (think “yawn”) but gave her support to the ROEM proposal.

Following the critical head injury San Jose High’s Matt Blea suffered on the gridiron, the Merc’s Editorial Board calls on football coaches to think about kids health over winning. Editors call on parents to lead the charge in this culture change.

Palo Alto Police hired security guards in an attempt to prevent more teen suicides along the CalTrain tracks. Police are hoping the public will keep the guards on duty with donations to Barbara Teixeira, c/o Rail Crossing Watch Fund, Palo Alto Police Department, 275 Forest Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94301.

Greenwaste of Palo Alto is seeing green on skinny streets. Palo Alto residents on narrow, private streets will cough up an extra $180 to have their waste removed.

Gilroy’s medical marijuana dispensary continues to face an uphill battle. The Police report kids and medical marijuana (and booze) are being found together – so far it has not been MediLeaf’s pot. Let's get this straight: teenagers, booze, and pot together in one place? Unbelievable! Opponents are starting a petition drive of their own while Gilroy resident Karin Clements is bothered the acrimony is dividing Gilroy.

Protect San Jose’s Sunshine fan, Ed Rast, used a public records request to dig into the drunk in public problems facing San Jose Police. While the Consortium for Police Leadership in Equity looked at numbers for big cities, Rast looked at San Jose neighbors to find Gilroy and Milpitas outshine San Jose in the Latino arrest department.

And the love affair continues between Watch Dog and Mission City Lantern...

Morning News Round-Up -- 11.24.09: Dando's Condo...

The Governator loves Jay Leno, his first time in Leno’s guest chair he announced his candidacy in the epic Recall Election of 2003. For Schwarzenegger’s second act, he brought the news that (a small sliver of) Silicon Valley will face a special election because State Senator Abel Maldonado to replace Lt. Governor John Garamendi. That is, if he can get past the confirmation hearings. State Senator/ Lt. Governor wannabe Dean Florez doubts Maldonado will be confirmed. An unconfirmed (ok... made-up) report has Pat Dando polishing up her resume and kicking the renters out of her Sacramento condo...

Another day, another School District under fire. San Jose Evergreen Community College Chancellor Rosa Perez decided to retire for health reasons shortly after ABC 7’s I-Team asked to talk about her outfitting her home office, hiring her partner, and lavish travel around the world. Trustee/ Board President Randy Okamura grimly defended decisions to travel to Vietnam and Thailand to recruit students to the financially challenged district. (As if the school isn't bursting at the seams...) Perhaps former East Side Union High School District Superintendent Bob Nunez could take her out for coffee and offer some advice with how to deal with situations like this...

While San Jose Evergreen's troubles headline for the first time... the Merc’s Editorial Board spanks Santa Clara Unified for reinforcing sexual stereotypes, ignoring sexual harassment of students, and welcoming “Broom Closet Modeling Agency’s” Joe Miller into a (cush) District job. The Editorial wonders if Miller’s escapades would have been ignored were it not for teacher/ pedophile Edward Slate's arrest for having sex with a student... A renewed call for a change in culture is put forth... Miller did not say, "Now I can recruit kids to work for me on all the campuses..."

We missed this in yesterday's Round-Up... Firefighter Union chief Randy Sekany penned an OpEd in the Merc agreeing (sort of) with Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio... He said if PO wants to negotiation all union contracts in public, make all government contract negotiations public too. That might make San Jose City Council meetings worth attending...

The parents of one of the boys hospitalized following a Halloween attack spoke out for the first time. Yesenia and Samuel Contreras said their son was a smart, talkative boy before being shot by gang members. Police and the teachers at the boy's school are fundraising to help cover escalating bills.

The Merc’s Editorial Board unleashes their inner-arborist saying room for 90,000 trees in San Jose is an opportunity. Apparently these arborists did a little home resale sleuthing to remind doubters that tree-lined streets increase those sinking home prices.

Morgan Hill’s new school Superintendent Dr. Wesley Smith watched kids practice fractions and met with parents... including parents pissed off at Smith's non-Latino heritage. Smith took it in stride and aims for bilingual meetings where he hopes to “give people a voice.”

Gilroy parents are also pissed... After learning El Roble Elementary School custodians clean up knives, condoms, and drugs from the playground. Would the parents prefer the custodians leave them there? Or better yet, would parents prefer the custodians recruit their kids to model?

Mountain View’s Castro Street saw the arrest of teenagers kiting checks and hanging out with gun-toting felons. Police say 3 teens from Concord and Hayward borrowed daddy’s car for a joy ride to Mountain View with a bulletproof vest and handgun locked in the trunk. Kids, it is Mountain View, you probably could have left the bulletproof vest at home...

An “extremely intoxicated” Mountain View man was beaten and robbed of $40 according to Mountain View police spokesperson Liz Wylie who added that while it doesn’t appear to be gang related.

In the animal cruelty department, Gilroy rescue-pooch Sammy was mauled and killed by the neighbors pit bull and bulldog. Michael Vick has no comment...

And this just pissed Watch Dog off to no end... you remember last week Carly Fiorina had coffee with the Washington press corps and she questioned, while pandering, the science behind global warming. Apparently Fiorina is now the queen of science as she bashes the health reform bill being discussed in Washington...

Morning News Round-Up – 10.9.09: There are in fact two things...

Celebrating a Hippocratic Friday…

With a dramatic "off with his head," (not really) the crowd gathered to continue discussions for tree replacement on the drama imbued California Avenue in Palo Alto. Seems the new (again revised) plans for trees emphasizes diversity over uniformity and a tree-free zone until January. Resident Roswitha Remling is happy “I think diversity is a good thing.”

High-Speed Rail Authority boardmember Rod Diridon is breathing a sigh of relief. Judge Michael Kenny has offered a tentative ruling that work can move forward for the speedy connector running from San Francisco to Los Angeles. NIMBY peninsula neighbors attorney Stuart Flashman retains optimism but believes “the judge has made up his mind.”

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Tom “I don’t know about science” Donohue complained it was the tree-huggers that strong armed Apple and PG&E into quitting in an attempt to discredit the chambers (anti) clean air stance. Silicon Valley’s iconic Apple shrugged saying it was the Chambers opposition to limiting greenhouse gasses. According to San Jose Inside, the Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce may be the next to ditch the dinosaur like behavior…

Wrapped in silver under an inky morning sky, hundreds gathered at NASA Ames to watch as LCROSS smashed into the moon at more than 5,000 miles per hour. No dramatic shooting plumes. Gregory Schmidt of the Lunar Science Institute, is excited anyway as the lack of a plume might mean even more exciting news ahead.

The tragic death of cyclist Kristy Gough will mean a $1.2 million check from Santa Clara County to Gough’s Mom, Karen Clarkson, and an (as yet) unknown amount yet to be sent to Father Rip Gough. Clarkson said the process of sending personal treasures off for review by strangers was “almost like dying a second time.”

The family of Morgan Hill’s gang shooting victim Juan Arellano said he was a “loving kid” with a “good heart” and in the “wrong place.” The family disputes Arellano’s (supposed) gang involvement and says other aspects of the original story were wrong.

Santa Clara Unified School District is digging into details of teacher/perv Edward Slate’s relationship with a 17 year old student, and the possibility that they overlooked early warnings.

The Merc’s Sal Pizarro focuses on fun art this weekend including the Luna Park Chalk Art Festival with Aztec dance and chalk-art celebrities, classic movies in the classy Stanford Theatre on Palo Altos (un)tree-free University Avenue along with the kick off of Palo Alto’s annual Pumpkin Patch.

Seems fruit crazed cat burglars’ sneak in under the cover of darkness to strip persimmons from Mountain View neighbors. Resident Bruce Karney is pissed and once saw a fruit thief haul off stolen treats in a Mercedes heading for the “underground persimmon market.” Neighbor Eugene Cordero suggested calling Village Harvest to denude the trees ahead of thieves and donate the booty to food agencies.

Protect San Jose’s Beat Cop clarifies the difference between an emergency (911) and complaints about music or parking (311). Beat Cop also hands out the cell phone 911 equivalent for San Jose residents (408)277-8911.

San Jose Inside follows up on the mystery behind the Bay Area’s 2nd place Daily Beast ranking, right ahead of the (apparently) even dimmer Boston area– home to MIT and the lesser known (?) Harvard.

Morning News Round-Up – 8.4.09: Wanna great deal on a plasma...

It’s the time of year to turn on your porch lights and head outdoors, it’s National Night Out. All around the Valley neighbors will meet each other, it helps when you see someone sneaking around late at night.

Santa Clara County Tax Assessor Larry Stone has “reluctantly concluded” California needs a constitutional convention.

First, Chamber head-honcho Pat Dando writes an OpEd calling for a San Jose City Council decision about the bids for a library be reconsidered... the obvious retort was in today’s paper: Robert Baldini, President of the Building and Construction Trades Council fires back. The Merc weighs in (again) on this issue as they discuss the City of San Jose's massive budget problem... Even San Jose Inside’s Fly is buzzing around this smelly mess...

Pointing to a desire for transparency, Morgan Hill School District Trustees invited local unions to join them during interviews of Superintendent replacements. Search firm Cosca Group is a little pissed saying they earned their creds on confidentiality.

Gilroy’s City Council moves a little closer to allowing the County’s first medical marijuana clinic. Councilmember Bob Dillon called marijuana an unethical med and worries the feds will be here to bust up the party.


From our Sister blog, Watch Dog San Mateo we learn more about Palo Alto finances (and problems)…

• “Huge” is the word the Palo Alto Weekly uses to describe the cost of Palo Alto public employees' health benefits. Perhaps it is a good time for some on the Palo Alto City Council to step aside and let new folks deal with the problem they helped create...
• Then again, maybe burgeoning health care costs aren't hurting the City of Palo Alto that bad. They are spending $70K because they don't trust the California High Speed Rail Authority. Really.

The Merc’s Scott Herhold reports on more fallout from San Jose’s unceremonious dismissal of Independent Police Auditor Barbara Attard. Local digs for Attard included a city loan, and is now part of the great underwater real estate disaster. Here’s an idea for San Jose, keep the condo, rent it to the new IPA until you fire them. Last years numbers from the IPA receive full council review this month.

A big ol’ “infomercial for Psycho Donuts” was how Brian Miller, Executive Director for the local National Alliance on Mental Illness, described last weeks “debate” between head (donut) psycho Kipp Berdiansky and Oscar Wright, CEO United Advocates for Children and Families.

Former soccer coach/accused perv Thomas Anderson’s Pastor Erik Swanson showed up in court to proclaim Andersons innocence. If you have an alternative view, Santa Clara Police detective Sgt. Daniel Moreno wants to hear from you 408-615-4813.

The economic meltdown (possibly) coupled with email enthusiasm is contributing to pain at the United States Postal Service. Slated for closure, post offices in San Jose’s Oakridge Mall and Colonnade.

Sal Pizarro says you have no excuse for adding your 2 cents to San Jose’s “Envision San Jose 2040,” heck you can even do it in your bathrobe and slippers. Pizarro also dished Team San Jose CEO Dan Fenton now heads the Destination Marketing Association International board – does this make San Jose a destination dream?

Also thinking about San Jose’s future. Neighbors are getting together with planners to think about the connection between San Jose’s Diridon Station, (possible) major league baseball, high-speed rail, BART and residents. Party pooper/Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio said ideas are great but the State’s money theft makes dreams unlikely.

Speaking of State thievery… Campbell is looking at a loss of more than $3 million according to city manager Dan Rich who called the theft an “illegal, irrational sham.”

Darryl Williams and Vernon Green visited San Jose to sell “gag” gifts. The joke was on the purchaser when the gift turned out to be a fake plasma TV or broken computer. Don’t be shy, if you had these new age door-to-door salesmen show up call detective Kristin Anderson at 408-808-4500.

San Jose Insider Joseph DiSalvo continues his support for charter schools.

Morning News Round-Up -- 7.27.09: DA Conflicts and Blogwars Edition...

Poor District Attorney Dolores Carr. Even the Mercury News Editorial Board is slamming her poor judgement in having both sides of the marital bed working the case of Vahid Hosseini's murder... She as the DA, and her husband as a security consultant to the victim's family. DA Carr did respond on person via a Letter to the Editor... Watch Dog thinks it will take a bit more than a Letter to the Editor to get away from this controversy. (We also have to wonder whether this significant slip up has some folks thinking of unseating the incumbent...)

Blogwars that were launched on Friday created lots of blog-buzz over the weekend. The most recent chapter in this fun-fest started when San Jose Inside posted "Team Chavez, Revealed" 'outing' San Jose Revealed's author. San Jose Revealed responded (twice) over the weekend. Mission City Lantern continues its commentary on the subject... Phil Bump (fingered by Inside) denies the accusation on his own site. Commenters are busy typing away on all sites. (The Mercury News also found its way online to write a piece about the blogwar...)

On an (un)related topic -- it was all about the Chamber of Commerce this weekend in the local paper: Pat Dando, the Chamber CEO, called for a re-vote on a library project in San Jose. We also learned that another Pat (Sausedo) will be going "in-house" at the Chamber of Commerce as VP.

Former San Jose Planning Commissioner Randi Kinman is elated that the "blight"-inducing baseball safety net is coming down from San Jose City College's field. A tiny problem like violations to the Environmental Impact Report had Trustees voting unanimously to dump the project -- even after sinking $2 million into the project. Another quarter million is required to undo the safety net...

Campbell Union and Mountain View-Whisman are now entering the rarified air of "basic aid" schools districts. Even though they rely on their own property taxes to funds schools, the State loves their money just as much as it loves every other school districts' money...

The Merc's Patty Fisher toured an empty Santa Clara County Children's Shelter. 14 years after opening, the center changes its mission from destination to way station as children find temporary homes with friends and family.

The Merc's Scott Herhold takes a look at the Billy DeFrank Center's new interim CEO Paul Wysocki.

Morning News Round-Up -- 5.5.09: Cinco de Mayo Corrections and Elections

Unbelievably (ha!), Watch Dog was wrong yesterday. Mayor Reed is not (was not) asking for an apology from Councilmember Campos regarding the Independent Police Auditor issue, he was asking her for an apology on the McEnery lobbyist complaint issue... Thank you Anonymous...

But the Merc. Editorial Board seems to want to get to the bottom of the Independent Police Auditor issue. They are calling for the records of the closed session meeting to be released so everyone can find out who knew what when about the IPA's brother.

The Editorial Board also demands for San Jose to be represented on regional boards like the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. Sounds reasonable enough...

And while we are drinking IPA... San Jose Insider/De-Bug’s Raj Jayadev calls for a slowdown in finding San Jose’s new Independent Police Auditor. Jayadev will no doubt be at today’s Council meeting where the new IPA selection process should prove entertaining.

Swine flu still dominates the news:

• Dr. Douglas Owens uses the craziness to advocate for better funding for local health departments. Nothing like a well-timed crisis to avoid budget cuts...
  
• Two more children were added to the list of confirmed Swine flu sufferers. Santa Clara County now has an even dozen cases.
  
• And, for all your Swine Flu news, the Merc. has their own Special Reports section. Nothing like a well-timed crisis to avoid budget cuts...

Today is also an election day... sort of. Voters in the Cupertino Union and Moreland School Districts need to turn in their mail-in ballots today. Don’t drop it in the mail, take it directly to the Santa Clara County Registrars office. The Merc reports that as of yesterday roughly 30% of voters had returned the ballot deciding on parcel taxes for schools.

In the world of blogs versus newspapers, San Jose Revealed takes a shot... Revealed had some fun with the “leak” from the Mayor’s office to the Merc. (let’s not forget the Metro). According to Revealed the “confidential” letter sent by the Mayor to Councilmember Nora Campos, the City Attorney, and the rest of the City Council made it to the Merc. at roughly the same time it was given to Campos. Revealed smacks the Merc., John Woolfolk, and Scott Herhold for neglecting their journalistic duties.

The Merc’s Mr. Roadshow supports the suggestion to name the 101-280-680 interchange for former San Jose City Councilmember Joe Colla. Colla may be best remembered for plopping an old Chevy on San Jose’s “Monument to Nowhere.” Mr. Roadshow received a letter from Colla’s daughter, Colette Blakely, offering support and Supervisor Dave Cortese, calling Colla the “pride of the Italian-American community” voices his support as well.

The San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce gave Garden City Construction’s Jim Salata the go ahead to restore the sign found during building clean up. The Merc’s Sal Pizarro reports no one anticipated the controversy over restoring the “Anglo California National Bank." The Chamber's Chief Anglo, Pat Dando, has been receiving complaints since last weeks unveiling. They didn't see this coming? Really?

It’s up to the County Supervisors now: Support the environment or the American Chemistry Council. The Recycling and Waste Reduction Commission voted for the environment and recommends the Supervisor’s follow their lead.

Gilroy’s rapist/math teacher Alberto Vicuna pleaded no contest to nine counts of sex crimes with a 14 year old girl from Oak Grove High School. The 32 year old Vicuna listed himself as a 15 year old on his online profile, but when he met the girl told her he was really 28 but had “forgotten” to update his Tagged.com profile. Deputy District Attorney Ray Mendoza said no other potential victims have come forward, yet.

Gilroy issued a challenge to its unions, compromise or layoffs. Mayor Al Pinheiro doesn’t want to touch the rainy day fund and is asking City employees to do with smaller paychecks. Union representative Jim Buessing says the City’s cushy reserves make it tough to even consider more layoffs. And by the way Mayor Pinheiro, it is both figuratively and literally a rainy day today...

Palo Alto, beware of the phony grandson. Grandparents in Palo Alto received calls from a man pretending to be a favorite grandson, in desperate need of money. The creep duped more than $11,000 out of this Palo Alto townsfolk. Police Agent Dan Ryan says, "Anyone who calls you and asks for money right away, it's probably not good..."

Scott Herhold got sentimental for the herpes ridden Koi at San Jose’s Japanese Friendship Garden. Someone out there, you know who you are, set diseased Koi free in the pond, infecting and killing most of the 265 fish. Park Ranger Penny Lee reports once the international disease hit the West Coast there was no stopping it. Not very friendly...

Facebook is ditching the virtual campus created in downtown Palo Alto for a real one at Stanford Research Park. To keep its geeks in check, and on campus, employees will get a Caltrain pass and a cafeteria with readily available meals and snacks. Say farewell to seeing your favorite Facebook geek at University Coffee all day long.

Google hired 200 Googlegoats to clear Googleweeds near the Googleplex in Google (Mountain) View. If you missed them this year, you can catch them in action next Googleyear.

staying with farm animals…

The economic crisis could be seen as chickens coming home to roost and it is exactly that for many local families. Sam’s Downtown Feed and Pet Supply partners with the 4-H to sell live chicks and has recently seen a huge increase in the number of families bringing home their own egg layers. The McCarty family of Willow Glen has 6 chicks and plans to sell eggs to the whole neighborhood. And, if local laws matter to you, you can have up to 6 chickens without a permit.

Cupertino’s City Council reviews their General Plan update today, in it ways to accommodate more than 1,000 new homes most of them affordable housing. Which won't be easy... Witness Mountain View...

Mountain View residents freaked out about an affordable housing proposal talked the City Council into studying the affects of 51 affordable units near downtown. With words like “ghetto,” two residents blamed their recent property decreases on the proposal. Councilmember Tom Means pointed out the global economic crisis might have had a bigger affect. Councilmember Laura Macias said she’s tired of reports that tell her what she already knows and says this will “...confirm what ROEM and I already believe…” this is a nice project that will increase property values. (Councilmember Macia, please take a look at ROEM's history with unhappy neighbors here...)

A new, and unreasonable, way to deal with High-Speed Rail emerged in Palo Alto yesterday... Palo Alto Vice Mayor Jack Morton called for the High-Speed Rail Authority to be disbanded and replaced with some other agency, like CalTrain... Really? Perhaps that would have been a stronger argument before the State (and a majority of folks on the Peninsula) voted FOR High-Speed Rail last November...

There’s no word yet from the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce on the controversial proposal to move the Friday Night Music Series out of West Second Street. Chamber Executive Director Chris Giusiana is anxiously awaiting the results of the eVote with the event kickoff next month.

Morning News Round-Up -- 5.4.09: Falcons with an inferiority complex?

Editors at the Merc must be incredibly bored... Apparently, it’s important to call out Stephen Colbert for not noticing San Jose’s City Hall peregrine falcon papa shares his moniker. You know a City has a massive inferiority complex when the paper of record begs for national airtime. Perhaps he sees the falcons' names for what they were -- a cheap way to get San Jose some exposure.

Perhaps the Merc Editors (or reporters) should have been following the internal politics at City Hall a little closer than the falcons... Fortunately for all of us, the Metro was on the case. The tit for tat on the 18th floor between Mayor Reed and Councilmember Campos got a bit (a lot) more heated on Friday. The Mayor asked Campos to apologize for making a stink about not knowing that the IPA candidate's brother was a sworn officer when she probably/actually did. Reed is calling Campos a liar. This qualifies as a ratcheting up of the war of words between the Mayor and Campos. But it also shows that the Mayor took the bait. Watch Dog believes that this is what Campos has wanted for a long, long time...

Swine flu mania kept attendance (and Drunk Arrests) low at San Jose’s annual Cinco de Mayo. American G.I. Forum member/Alum Rock School District Trustee Dolores Marquez still declared the day a success saying, “we’re so grateful the weather held up and the people showed up.”

While we are Spine flu -- San Jose State’s Spartan Daily declares the first casualty of the swine flu to be common sense. Sometimes the student newspaper hits the nail on the head...

And where healthcare and the tanking economy meet, we have some problems. Valley Medical Center’s CEO, Kim Roberts, worries her emergency room is “the safety net of the safety net.” Their safety net is reaching its breaking point, even before swine flu mania VMC saw a 10% increase in uninsured patients.

Silicon Valley nonprofits, don’t bother seeking help from San Jose Councilmembers Pierluigi Oliverio or Pete Constant. Constant and Oliverio have suggested most of the City’s nonprofit support be suspended. Constant wants the tobacco money to pay for City services saying that while it’s nice to give money to nonprofits he wants to take care of “family first.” Agencies like Meals on Wheels, the Blind Center, and Big Brother Big Sister don’t qualify as family.

BART fans will be cheering in Milpitas Friday. The Valley Transit Authority will be joined by Silicon Valley Leadership Group’s CEO Carl Guardino and San Jose Councilmember Sam Liccardo to break ground on phase one of BART to San Jose. (Ironically, Councilmember Constant also said no to BART...)

San Jose Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio’s Chief of Staff Denelle Fedor, has joined the boss in contributing local news. Fedor questions the wisdom, and financial benefits, of ending San Jose’s mounted police patrol. Fedor has a horse in the race, she founded Friends of the San Jose Mounted Unit and complains City Manager Debra Figone never asked her to help cover the cost of keeping the horses on the street.

San Jose Revealed dishes on San Jose’s upcoming government doings… Revealed hints at a preference for plastic bags? Say it ain’t so. Wells Fargo gets to keep San Jose’s business, no more tossing toxic dental waste down the drain, San Jose Earthquakes want a stadium, and you will be able to buy food at the airport.

And, finally "Government Watch" is back at the Merc -- but isn't that interesting this week:

• San Jose’s City Council thinks about a new process for hiring the Independent Police Auditor. Maybe this time not having a family member on the force will make the top ten. Also on tap, the agreement with the consortium replacing/augmenting the community Drunk Task Force.
• The Santa Clara County Office of Education talks about charter school intents (intent? Like educating students?) and how do deal with a potential surge in charter schools.
  

The Merc’s Scott Herhold tells a recessionary tale of woe, entrepreneur/author/gourmet Pete Klein ditched the work day drudgery to become the “No-Face Bandit” until he got caught early this year. Herhold seems sympathetic, maybe he’s considering his own career change as the Merc continues to shrink.

The Merc’s Internal Affairs took note of San Jose’s Community and Economic Development committee meeting and complaints from the nonprofit community and San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce Chief Pat Dando that a late memo from Councilmember Ash Kalra seemed quite familiar to a few in the audience.

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.20.09: Porn on 420...a perfect day?

Where to begin today's Round-Up? That is the question. Let's go with porn...

If you missed it, a pissed-off library patron shot Watch Dog a copy of a flier that "Values" Advocacy Council folks were handing out San Jose libraries this weekend. Please notice that none of these folks bothered to enter the library and take a look through the Chicago Manual of Style...or an 8th Grade English text book.

While we are on it, the Merc’s Editorial Board chimes in on Internet filters and advocates common sense and spending money where it helps over fear-mongering. “The long-expected showdown over censorship at San Jose's public libraries has fizzled into a squabble over money. And that is a very good thing.” Watch Dog will have more on this subject as today (and tomorrow) roll on.

Now, onto the San Jose and another controversy about police and police oversight...not as sexy as pornography, but...

The new Independent Police Auditor may have a tiny conflict of interest. Ok, probably a bit larger than tiny. It seems seems Chris Constantin’s brother is a San Jose homicide detective. Mayor Chuck Reed and the City Council were aware but no one bothered to mention it during the press roll-out. (Check out the Mayor's press release here. See if you can find mention of Chris Constantin's brother...) Downtown Association President Scott Knies called for Constantin’s resignation. San Jose Revealed offered up the news as well…

District Attorney Dolores Carr has yet another prosecutorial mishap on her hands. This time David Tomkin’s identified his status as prosecutor in a letter to the Santa Cruz Planning Commission. The husband and wife duo of Cheryl and Thad Poland called it inappropriate and so does the State Bar code.

In an obvious sign that there are a lot of folks who are willing to work for free and do tedious work...San Jose Revealed has a new Friday feature – “Next Week’s Agenda.” This week Revealed is excited to see:

• Retiree Healthcare
• Porn-For-All
• No Free Parks
• Drunk Latino Task Force Squabbles
• Who Hangs in Downtown San Jose

Retired San Jose firefighter James Carter collected a cool quarter million for unused sick days. Apparently not getting his talking points from Jack Salois, even Mr. Carter thinks it was over the top. When told the amount he’d collected a surprised “Holy Cow” popped out of his mouth.

Baseball neighborhood NIMBY’s get their Easter cocktails at Patty’s Inn with Baseball San Jose fans according to bartender Ken Tonelli. Neighbor Bobby Menbari is worried about drunk baseball fans ambling through the neighborhood. Neighborhood President Helen Chapman says the new ballpark should be built “…really, really well.” As opposed to what, Ms. Chapman?

Roll out the bike – it’s a Spare the Air Day – no free transit though on this record breaking hot day.

San Jose Insider/Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio confesses that, although a San Jose native, safety concerns kept him out of East San Jose. The Campos combo of Councilmember Nora Campos and Planning Commissioner Xavier Campos took Oliverio touring to dispel his childhood bias. It must have worked, Oliverio becomes a pitchman for Council wannabe Xavier Campos.

The Metro/Inside Fly got a giggle when Council candidate Pam Foley received a plug (and dinner) from San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce CEO Pat Dando. The irony is, Foley’s opponent in the race, Ball Gag’s Chief of Staff Jim Cogan, once worked for Dando. Cogan was a no show at the Chamber event. The following night Foley was the guest of Silicon Valley Assemblyman Jim Beall at the annual Santa Clara County Democratic Party dinner. Watch Dog spies tell us Cogan did make the Democratic Dinner which featured Gubernatorial wannabes John Garamendi and Gavin Newsom.

Speaking of Pat Dando..."Run, Patsy, Run!" Is the word from the Merc’s Internal Affairs about Chamber CEO Pat Dando’s toying with a shot at County Supervisor next year. Dando says she’s interested in balancing the views on the Board, not that she’s politically ambitious. Good thing the political reporters at the Merc. read the Metro a few weeks ago or they would have missed this one...

The Merc’s Joe Rodriguez shares the life of San Jose’s Yosimar Reyes and asks “Poor, brown and gay: Poetry makes his day, but does it pay?” MACLA leader Tamara Alvarado said slam poets tend to fade quickly but “Yosi” is a natural writer. With friends like Carlos Santana and Harry Belafonte, the poet is headed for good rhythms.

Internal Affairs also reports a squabble is brewing between GOP gubernatorial wannabe/neighbors Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner. Poizner is calling Whitman’s handling of eBay finances “disastrous. Easy for Poizner to say, he sold his company at the peak of the original tech boom and didn't have to manage it through any busts...

Finally, Internal Affairs calls out San Jose’s Mayor Chuck Reed for “stupidest statement of the year.” His Mayoralness apparently thinks Silicon Valley families earning $250,000 can’t buy a house and created the up and coming “upper working class.” Really, Chuck?

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.2.09: San Francisco Sports Teams (49ers/Giants) in our news...

Opening day is nearly upon us and baseball news seems to pop up daily in anticipation. The Giants, in a move they hope strengthens their South Bay claim, hopes to purchase 25% of the San Jose Giants. Giants president Larry Baer said the purchase will “reinforce” their claim while MLB officials said it has no affect. Oh, and the MLB still needs to approve it. And Councilmember Liccardo called the timing, "notable"...to say the least...

Speaking of Liccardo...

Sam Liccardo screwed up by accepting tickets to the Sharks. When the foul up was brought to his attention, Liccardo said “it was my mistake, and I need to correct that.” As part of the fallout, Liccardo won’t be voting on Sharks items for a year...San Jose Revealed chimed in on this story today. In an understatement to end all understatements, Revealed notes that Sam Liccardo is no Terry Gregory...

Also in sporting news…Santa Clara and the 49ers are close to a deal. Niner’s President Jed York and Mayor Patricia Mahan were unwilling to dish details but did confirm they are close to signing on the dotted line. The deal in the works is said to be more favorable to Santa Clara than the starting point...

Congressmember Anna Eshoo was happy to announce Federal stimulus dollars will be heading to her district. From the USGS Science Center ($6.9 million) to the Stanford National Accelerator Laboratory ($68 million to SLAC), the Peninsula is awash in funding.

The West Valley Green Leaf Committee is likely to hear from former Assemblymember/Lobbyist Manny Diaz as they try to get rid of polystyrene. Saratoga Mayor Chuck Page who says that while Styrofoam is recyclable, nobody wants it so it ends up in landfills, he’s asking the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce (sans leader) for help.

The Boss kicked off his world tour in San Jose last night. The Merc’s Shay Quillen says for any other performer the show would have been fine but for the Boss “it was decidedly subpar.” Really? Watch Dog believes there are 25,000 people who feel differently...

Sal Pizzaro is helping San Jose’s Redevelopment Agency get the word out about a survey they’re taking: What would get you to leave your shrinking dollars in San Jose’s downtown? (Springsteen?)

High Speed Rail’s introduction to California is heading for a long, drawn out battle. The November ballot measure received strong support in Silicon Valley with 53% in Santa Clara County. Now that the party is over, residents are waking up in a stupor. San Jose’s Director of Transportation Jim Helmer will be asking High Speed Rail authorities to consider tunneling through the neighborhoods south of the Diridon Station. Willow Glennies have loud and powerful voices. The Merc provides a brief Fact or Fantasy on High Speed Rail details.

S&S Tile started making glorious tiles in San Jose just before the Great Depression, today they’re called Stonelight Tile and the current Great Recession is seriously hurting their business. With clients like the Hotel Sainte Claire, Barbra Streisand, Kim Novak, and the House of Saud -- this is one of those unique businesses that would be tough to lose.

Proving there is no limit to stupidity…Five men were arrested while living large in Los Gatos. The five dudes were using stolen credit cards and shooting up in a local hotel when the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police stopped the party.

While we are in Los Gatos...bomb experts from the Sheriff’s Department blew up picric acid at the home of a recently deceased fly-fishing fan. Seems the stuff is used in feather dying. Fortunately, the fly-fisherman left detailed notes on the explosive substance so the relatives cleaning his home wouldn't blow up the trash.

San Jose Insider/Metro’s Fly roll’s out a few names hoping to take over where supervisor Don Gage leaves off next year. The newest name is perennial pol Pat Dando who seems ready to ditch the Chamber to return to government, this time as Supervisor.

In the Metro, Fly notes that the successes of BART’s Measure B left them on the hook for a $30k bonus to political consultant Barry Barnes.

San Jose Revealed blogged twice Wednesday, first to continue spanking Dan Pulcrano (is it really that interesting?) and then disclosing Revealed’s (fake) identity as Andy Diaz.

San Jose’s 5th homicide happened in East San Jose. The man’s name has not been released and San Jose Police don’t yet have suspects. If you have details from the shooting on Cotton Tail Road call Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers at 408-947-STOP.