Salute to Mother Wright

Watch Dog East Bay joined hundreds of mourners saying farewell to Mother Wright early this month. Mayor Ron Dellums said "India had Mother Teresa. We had Mother Wright."

New Round-Up 12.16.08: Watch Dog seeks highly-trained, unemployed Nobel Laureate...

Berkeley (National Labs) gets its own seat on the Cabinet...sort of. (Stanford is taking credit for Steven Chu as well.) I guess this means that the post at Berkeley National Labs will be up as well...are there any unemployed Nobel Laureates out there?

San Francisco Magazine takes a look at Mayor Dellum's tenure. Some folks feel strongly that he hasn't done anything -- some of his more hard-core supporters feel like he is getting a bad rap...either way, is Oakland a better/safer place today to live/work/visit than it was when he took office? Watch Dog readers probably have a view...

Berkeley Police Department finds itself in a funny position. They got a grant to combat drunk driving...and since they got they grant, arrests for drunk driving have gone up. Does this mean that the grant worked or didn't work? Watch Dog can't tell...

How are we going to Watch Dog Sacramento without access to important stuff? Thanks to an East Bay group, MapLight.org, we may be getting closer.

In what may be considered one of the biggest screw ups the Oakland Police Department has ever been a part of...the Oakland Police Department delayed a raid on Your Black Muslim Bakery by 48 hours to accommodate two senior SWAT team commanders' vacations. And, you guessed it, Chauncey Bailey was killed during this delay, presumably/obviously, by folks involved in Your Black Muslim Bakery that would have been raided.

Contra Costa becomes the first County in the Bay Area to vote against joining the lawsuit against Prop. 8. Watch Dog wants to know who is giving political advice to the Board of Supervisors...55% of voters voted NO on Prop. 8 in Contra Costa County...

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...

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...

News Round-Up 12.11.08: An East Bay Cabinet Secretary but (perhaps) no baseball team...

First a Nobel Prize, then a seat on Obama's cabinet. Steven Chu will leave the Berkeley National Lab and head to 1000 Independence Avenue, D.C.

Fremont Site A, Fremont Site B, or San Jose? Are the Oakland A's that fickle or that brilliant...are they playing each area off one another in order to cut a deal and make a killing. (All the while fielding a team that is good, but not great.) The Merc. has the San Jose perspective, including some funny quotes from San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed that show that he isn't such a baseball fan...

• ...regarding A's owner Lew Wolff, Reed said, "I won't be calling...He's got my phone number."
• ...if the A's want to come, Reed said, "He'll (Wolff) have to bring his checkbook..."

That's some welcome mat Mayor Reed...unlike Mayor Reed, Fremont Mayor Bob Wasserman does want the A's. He is going to meet with Catellus, who like the A's even less than Chuck Reed. They are concerned about traffic and they own a key piece of land for the Site A location off of 880. The folks around the being-built BART station at Warm Springs are also concerned about traffic. This is all to be continued and Watch Dog will be there (whether 'there' is Fremont, Fremont, or San Jose...)

In the least surprising news of the week, Senator Perata has found himself in the middle of some controversy. Perata is a major fundraiser -- his position in Sacramento didn't hurt in this respect. But the latest controversy involves Perata shifting/laundering $1.5 million from one of his Political Action Committees to his legal defense fund...which he will no doubt need...

There are some goings on in local higher-ed circles...

• Chabot College has plans to open a Union City Campus.
• Cal State East Bay continues with its master plan, which Sherman Lewis of the Hayward Planning Association called, "...inadequate on transportation."
• Berkeley and Cal are paying hefty legal bills for the tree-sitting law suits.

There are two items to add the "Only in Berkeley" file in the same story today. Item 1: The City Council support prosecution of former White House Counsel John Yoo, a recommendation that came from Berkeley's Peace and Justice Commission. Which leads to Item 2: Berkeley has a Peace and Justice Commission.

Morning (late afternoon) News Round-Up – 12.04.08: Vallejo can't catch a break...or a movie...

And in the least surprising news of this week...the generous/egregious severance packages are getting a closer look at UC. That seems like a good idea, unless you want a full-fledged revolt on your hand.

A major Oakland development is coming to a halt. The City Walk development has stopped, half-finished -- which is the latest chapter in the storied/crappy history of the downtown development. In the most obvious quote of the day, the guy in charge of the project, Tony Bosowski, who is the Regional VP of the Olson Company, "It's not a good time to be in the business."

Neither the government nor businesses in Vallejo can catch a break. First the Vallejo City Government faces bankruptcy, and now the Empress Theatre (which was revamped to much fanfare) looks like it may be seeing its last days...All the energy that went into the facelift should have been put into getting people to actually catch a movie there.

The A's are rethinking their plans to move...but don't get too excited Oakland, they just want to move closer to BART in Fremont -- maybe. This is still good for Fremont and probably great for BART, but maybe bad news for Cisco Systems, the owners of the previous, proposed baseball site -- Cisco Systems.

The Oro Loma Sanitary District Board members just gave themselves a raise. This is generally something that Watch Dog gets all iritated over...but...it was onlly 4 percent, which will equal about 10 bucks a meeting -- meaning that they will get $260/meeting as opposed $250/meeting. Watch Dog will keep eyes on the District's rates...don't worry. By the way, click through to their website and see if you can resist running to the bathroom from the sound...

Morning (or late afternoon) News Round-Up – 12.03.08: No Beer Edition...

A murderer from the lamely-named Nut Case Gang was sentenced life in prison by an Alameda County Superior Court Judge. Perhaps he'll join a cooler gang in prison, like this one or this one.

Money troubles continue to mount at Cal. Perhaps international students and out of state students can help?

Neiman-Marcus stirs some nefarious activity in Walnut Creek – robocalls, mailers, and lawsuits, oh my! Let the NIMBY-ism continue...

Former State Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez’s son was arrested for allegedly murdering a young man from Concord. Nunez apparently still has a (well-known) spokesperson Steve Maviglio, who said about Fabian that, "He's home with his family and has no comment.” Really Steve, “no comment”? Did you miss Press Relations 101?

No more alcohol at parks in San Leandro? That’s what the City Council there is discussing…unless, obviously, it is for a City-sponsored event. What will Watch Dog do for the annual keg party?

The San Leandro Council will also look into a plan to dredge the San Leandro Marina. Perhaps the Council could have a beer-party in the park after the channel is complete…