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 News Round-Up -- 12.02.08: The election isn't over yet...

An East Bay issue in a different County...Measure B (BART to Silicon Valley) in Santa Clara County passed (barely) as reported by Watch Dog Silicon Valley. But the opponents of Measure B aren't done fighting yet. In court yesterday, Superior Court Judge Mary Jo Levinger scolded the opponents for filing a lawsuit in the wrong County and sent them scurrying for San Francisco in an attempt to force a recount – at the Santa Clara County’s expense. Transportation Solutions Defense Fund President David Schonbrunn complained they were being forced "… to go to two different courts." Perhaps Schonbrunn would complain less if he could take BART to San Francisco from Santa Clara County...

And if Ignacio De La Fuente took BART, he could have avoided this...

Oakland City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente doesn’t really have to follow the rules like everyone else. (The same frame of mind that landed his son in hot water…) He was fined $1,500 for receiving $2,331 in free parking at SFO in 2004 and 2005. He repaid the airport, but the fine is from the FPPC, the overseers of all things ethical for elected officials. The most obvious question is why is De La Fuente flying out of SFO when he has an airport in his backyard?

Money is tight in the Bay Area, perhaps they have more in other parts of the Country. To find out, UC hopes to expand non-state admission…especially after this story last week about international students feeling the economic pinch.

New regulations put forward by East Bay legislators are aimed at hitting pimps/johns who victimize children “where it hurts”…that’s not a Watch Dog play words, that’s what the story says…

Pot-advocates won a US Supreme Court (the high court) battle yesterday – high times for the Oakland-based medical marijuana group -- Americans for Safe Access. If police take your weed, they have to return it…In a node to the decision, Watch Dog noticed the reporters of this story used the phrase “high court” enough times that everyone, expect their Editors, got the joke…

It isn’t just pot-advocates…Fremont is going green-er too. (The other green...)

Activist want to shut down the Delta pumps…again. Environment versus Business…the repeat.

First written about here, it isn’t just police officers that are getting a sweetheart deal from UC in the retire, collect pension, start working again scam…

Yikes, it just keeps getting uglier out there. DHL is cutting 800 Bay Area jobs…East Bay to be among the hardest hit. About 265 of the layoffs are slated to hit Alameda County alone. That includes DHL locations in Oakland, Fremont and Dublin.