News Round-Up 12.17.08: No more Que, but a little more Kind

There is an effort underway to stop a new death row housing at San Quentin. Asssemblymember (there oughta be a law) Jared Huffman joined State Senator (Super Republican) Jeff Denham in calling for halt to this plan. (This may be the one issue that folks in Marin agree with Jeff Denham on...)

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom got a rock-star reception by an overflow crowd in Santa Rosa yesterday, which is no surprise, given his great hair.

Sausalito 420! This kind Watch Dog says let Marin County cancer patients chill out. Two more compassionate clubs may be on the way to Marin County.

Marin County public payroll database should be nearly as much fun to view as the Marin home foreclosure database that folks have been inundating with searches.

Watch Dog stands corrected...

Last week, Watch Dogs around the Bay Area ran a piece about State Senator Simitian's "There Oughta Be a Law" contest and how Legislators in the North Bay, East Bay, and throughout California have ripped the good Senator off.

Well, Watch Dog stands corrected...

Debra Gravert, Chief of Staff to Assemblymember Jared Huffman, who was accused by Watch Dog of stealing the idea from Simitian, responded to Watch Dog to set us straight. Here is her response -- unedited and reprinted with permission....

FYI – Actually, former-Assemblymember Richard Floyd started the “There Oughta Be a Law….or Not” Contest back in the early 90’s when I worked for him and I have brought the idea with me to every boss I’ve worked for since.

Thank you Debra for reading Watch Dog and setting us straight. Watch Dog still has concerns about the spelling of "oughta" however...

(Rare) Saturday Morning News Round-Up -- 12.13.08: Please don't use the map below...not a pail...

Does the name Steve Heminger ring a bell? If it does, you are either a transportation geek, or on the Obama transition team. That's because Steve Heminger, who is currently heads up the Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation Commission, is being considered for Secretary of Transportation. Which is good news, Watch Dog would think. But the Secretary of Transportation always faces scrutiny on projects that get the nod in their hometowns...

A new ferry, a new agency. The debut its new boat from the Water Emergency Transportation Authority serving Tiburon was unveiled yesterday. It looks new and shiny and nice.

A woman urinated in the Abercrombie & Fitch in Corte Madera on Tuesday. She was mad that they didn't have a bathroom for her to use and decided to just do it in a pail...and leave behind with new clothes stuffed in it...yuck. For further reference rogue urinater...here is a map showing you the way to the nearest bathroom at The Village.

There is quite a conversation happening on the Pacific Sun Town Square forum. It is a debate about Prop 8 and gay marriage, but it is happening in an only in Marin way...

This Week Around Watch Dogs...

An eventful week on Bay Area Watch Dogs -- San Mateo, Silicon Valley, East Bay, North Bay.

• Watch Dog unearthed the fact that Legislators around the Bay rip off San Mateo/Santa Clara County State Senator Joe Simitian...and we believe there oughta be a law against ripping him off that bad...
• A school district in Marin debates naming a school after President-elect Barack Obama -- as opposed to using the current name Dr. Martin Luther King Academy. (Un)Surprisingly, there are some folks that aren't that psyched about the possible name change.
• The Tesla Chronicles continue as Tesla gets nothing (so far) from the Big Three bailout. Apparently Tesla's 100 cars that have rolled off the lot don't qualify as "big." Watch Dog Silicon Valley predicts Tesla will not make it to their San Jose plant set to open in 2010...make that 2011...or never...
  
• Not to seem self important, but Watch Dog San Mateo called out Palo Alto Weekly Editor Jay Thorwaldson for his blog...or lack thereof. You see, Mr. Thorwaldson has a blog, but has only posted 8 times in 2 years. That's why Watch Dog San Mateo asked if this was a real blog or an afterthought for the Editor. Watch Dog predicted that after the public shaming, Thorwaldson would post within in a week...well, it took less than 24 hours for Thorwaldson to post. Watch Dog success...
• The garbage saga continued in San Mateo County, and this time it may be serious. The Civil Grand Jury is taking a look at one of Watch Dog's favorite topics in San Mateo...trash..
• Watch Dog Silicon Valley uncovered the (blogo)sphere of influence between a local blog, San Jose Revealed, and San Jose City Councilmember Nora Campos. The blog recommended a strategy at the beginning of the day that Campos implemented at the end of the day. Watch Dog was there to point it out...

Thanks for visiting your local Watch Dog -- and come back again next week...

Barack Obama versus Martin Luther King, Jr.

And if Campaign 2008 wasn't divisive enough...

This issue pits Obama versus King in the Sausalito Marin City School District.

A new school is being built to be the new home of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Academy. Some folks in the community want to rename it the Obama School. These "some folks" do not include the good folks current at the King school.

No doubt this will be an issue that is closely watched in Southern Marin -- but probably not in Washington, D.C. or Atlanta...

News Round-Up 12.09.08: Free chickens!

Our friends at Watch Dog San Mateo don't have a monopoly on all things garbage...rates in Novato are going up 8 percent.

One of the reasons why rates are going up is because the stuff that is recycled (known as commodities in the industry) are in the tank...and Marin recyclers are feeling it.

No update from Watch Dog would be complete with a few doses of NIMBYism. This time in San Rafael where a home is 12.5 feet taller than it is supposed to be. This story is even more complicated because it is owned by the wife of the late Design Review Board member Brent Dickens and is uphill from a County Planner...

Free chicken...really. 140 hens are up for adoption, for $5 each, by the Marin Humane Society. They were brought to the Humane Society by an anonymous egg producer who donated them rather than slaughter them. In case you are interested, the hens still lay eggs, just not quite enough for the farmer.

Check out this site that shows how folks in West Marin voted in November -- including on Prop 8, farm animal well-being, the train, etc. In a huge (non)shocker, Obama got almost 80 percent of the vote...

Easier to change things from the inside? Former S. Sonoma County Medical Group chief Robert Ostroff was a long-time critic of the Petaluma Health Care District...but on November 4th, he was elected to the PHCD.

News Round-Up 12.05.08

PG&E is under fire in Marin as another City Council approves a new joint powers authority for electricity. This time San Rafael joins Tiburon, Fairfax, Belvedere, San Anselmo, Ross, Mill Valley, Sausalito, and the County.

A big development equals big controversy at the 65-acre Fireman's Fund site in Novato. At issue, seemingly, is that there are empty buildings everywhere, is now the time to expand?

If you are in Marin and have a few minutes, why not scour the Internet for friends/family/neighbors/enemies on the Marin County home foreclosure database. I guess fun takes on different forms in a recession.

Not everyone is suffering in the downturn (heck, it is Marin and Sonoma after all)...some folks are doing great. Like Tam Bank -- with record revenue and earnings this month.

Let them (San Quentin inmates) drink salt water!

If you like meth and cocaine (and let's face it, who doesn't)...your supply up north may have just got busted.

"This isn't Russia...they can't tell me to cut down my trees." We'll see about the trees Mr. Hendricks, we'll see.

But perhaps this proves Mr. Hendrick's point. The Sonoma County's Civil Grand Jury took a swipe at the Sonoma City Council for their handling of the November 4th non-election for City Council. The City Council canceled an election for City Council. That does seems like Russia.

Green buildings are coming to Napa, but not if you are building a house.