‘
Putting the Strip in Strip Mall’ the
Gilroy Dispatch and
Morgan Hill Times kick off competition for the best headline of the year. Saratoga resident Ante Bilic, who Sunnyvale residents remember for running an alleged prostitution ring out of a local club, is hoping to open a topless bar in Gilroy. Bilic
didn't say, "Husbands need something to do while their wives shop..."
Santa Clara County has
filed new legal challenges to Prop. 8. Santa Clara County Counsel, Ann Ravel, said "
One of the courts' central roles is to enforce the equality principle of our Constitution, and to ensure that vulnerable minorities are treated fairly by political majorities." Prop. 8 supporters insist that the will of the majority should supercede.
There was some good news this holiday season: Drunk driving arrests were down 7% in Santa Clara County. The bad news: deaths due to drunk drivers were up. Unsurprisingly,
San Jose had 23% of the DUI arrests while the CHP came in a distant second with 17% of DUI’s. Watch Dog has been following closely San Jose’s penchant for finding those hidden drunks and hauling them off to jail,
here,
here,
here and
here.
Is Silicon Valley ground zero for Republicans to launch their next candidate for Governor?
Meg Whitman inches her way towards making
formal declaration by resigning from corporate boards, insiders say a formal announcement is coming in 4 to 6 weeks. The other elephants include State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner (Los Gatos) and former Congressman/former State Senator/former Haas Dean/former Budget Guru
Tom Campbell (San Jose). (And don't forget the race for Governor must go through Atherton first...
check out Watch Dog San Mateo -- 1 town, 1 company, 2 candidates, 2 parties)
Morgan Hill City Manager Ed Tewes is
nonplussed by a report that the
Anderson Dam could send a 35’ wall of water into Morgan Hill and said his community has known for years it was living in the shadow of a 240’ dam. Santa Clara Valley Water District spokeswoman Susan Siravo said, "We want to be open and transparent with the public. And we want to proceed with a comprehensive study to ensure the safety of the dam for generations to come."
Watch Dog has been
faithfully covering the goings on in Sunnyvale where former Mayor Otto Lee was tapped to join the troops in Iraq. Tonight’s the big night for former Sunnyvale
Councilmember Dean Chu as he gets appointed Chief Seat Warmer (CSW) for Iraq-bound Otto Lee. Lee will be phoning it in tonight from a San Diego Naval base in his last official act before heading to boot camp.
Through Chris Vongsarath, the
Campbell Reporter (another local paper whose online edition seems designed to ensure a complete lack of readership - thank you
Silicon Valley Community Newspapers/Mercury News), does a nice summary of the year in Campbell. From the sad demise of former Mayor Rusty Hammer to the shuffling of day workers from one spot to another to the conversion of standard public schools into charter schools.
Doctors are speculating Steve Jobs has problems with ‘
malabsorption.’ The guess is he should start gaining weight this year, ending rumors he’s a contestant on
Paris Hilton’s My New BFF and ensuring
Apple stock does not continue its slide.
