The Burlingame Voice

BHS Lock Down

Here's the story of today's lockdown as reported in the Daily Journal

Burlingame High School was briefly locked down Friday and a student detained after he sent an email to administrators claiming he had a gun and a bomb, according to police.

The school, located at 1 Mangini Way in Burlingame, was locked down shortly after 2 p.m. and police responded to the campus, according to Barbara Tufo, an administrative assistant with the San Mateo Union High School District.

Administrators identified the student and determined he was on campus while police evacuated the school. Police detained the student and searched his backpack and lockers but found no weapon or explosive device. Police also swept the campus with a bomb-sniffing dog. The student was cooperative and police are investigating whether the threat was real, a hoax or a case of mistaken identity, according to police.

The lockdown was lifted shortly after 2:30 p.m. and parents were permitted to pick up their students at the school, Tufo said.

An automated call went out to parents notifying them of the incident, Tufo said.

It was a quick response with the full team including the dogs.

Sea Lion Visit

I had a chance to watch a bunch of sea lions in San Diego this weekend and they are fun.  But the news reports of the visitor we had right here in B'game don't indicate our own "Broadway Bound" had much fun lately.  According to the Chronic

An intrepid sea lion that flopped across eight lanes of traffic on Highway 101 in Burlingame Saturday was suffering from a gunshot wound, officials at the Marine Mammal Center said Monday.

and

The gunshot wound is not necessarily the reason Broadway Bound decided to cross the road, Oswald said. She might have been suffering brain seizures from eating fish sickened by toxic algae, a condition common among sea lions, he said. Veterinarians are awaiting her test results.

Anyway you look at it B'way Bound is cute.  Here's a photo from a local source at BPD

 

Multiple Violations found on Broadway. Evictions occur. House closed.

The talk of the town up North is the closure and subsequent boarding up of what some coined "a meth house" at 1600 Broadway.  I don't have a lot of details, and like many of you, I don't WANT a lot of details.  I'm just glad it's closed.  Apparently having the BPD, the fire marshall and code enforcement tell everyone to leave because of code/fire violations was not enough, so the City had to have it boarded up to keep former residents from returning.  I do know the neighbors are pleased some action has happened, but it may take awhile to sort out.  Let me reiterate the need for us to just not "move the problem around" as I posted a couple of days ago.  Here's the front porch of a seemingly normal B'game bungalow that apparently had more than six "units" on the property.

 

Residential Burglaries Up

In reviewing the police blotter, it appears that the burglary rate is still up.  Apartments on El Camino, houses on the Avenue on the east side....on and on.  A major clean-up effort on west-side B'wy recently is giving residents some relief, but we have to be careful the problem isn't just moving around.

Watch Out!

The City put out this notice via the non-emergency email system:

The City of Burlingame has experienced an increase of residential burglaries within the past two months. In over half of these burglaries, the suspect(s) gained entry through an unlocked door or window.

It goes on to suggest

Some people will leave their garage doors or front doors open while you are outside in the back. Open doors and windows are invitations to burglars. Work with your trusted neighbors to keep each other safe.  

Here are some items to consider for burglary prevention:  

• Keep doors and windows locked when you are not home.  

• Be aware of what parts of your home are locked when you are home (is your garage door open while you are mowing your back yard?)  

• Set your alarm when you leave, even on short trips during the day. Most residential burglaries happen during the day.  

• Use timers on lights and radios. Make the burglars think you are home.  

• Don’t ignore people knocking on your door. Many burglars knock first to determine if someone is home. If you don’t want to talk with them, don’t, but let them know you are there.  

• Keep shrubs trimmed back from windows and doors. Burglars like privacy.  

• Stop your mail and newspaper delivery or have someone you trust pick it up.  

• Ask your neighbor to use your driveway to park while you are gone.  

• Secure sliding doors with a pin to lock the doors together when they are closed. This prevents the door from being lifted out of the track. Most of the burglars we catch are caught because a neighbor was paying attention and called 911 to report unusual activity.

By the way, it's not just a B'game thing either!  I spoke to a friend in Belmont who said they had EIGHT burglaries in ONE week on his street!

New Chief in Town

The City is announcing the appointment of interim Chief Ed Woods to the position permanently.  Here is part of the announcement

City Manager Jim Nantell said that “the City of Burlingame has been very fortunate in having someone of Ed’s caliber and dedication serving as our Interim Police Chief during the past 17 months.  We were confident in recruiting Ed to the Burlingame Police Department back in 2007 that he would be a very competitive future candidate for the Police Chief position.  Ed's willingness to work in the interim role to allow us to consider the possibility of a merger that might have resulted in a lack of a promotional opportunity for him is indicative of the kind of professional Ed is.

Ed started his career in Belmont in 1986 and came to the B'game PD in 2007.  Welcome, Chief.

BPD Log Website

For the curious among you, here is the announcement and link from the Police on their day-to-day activities.

The Burlingame Police Department has recently launched a daily patrol activity log on the City’s website that is available to the public. The purpose of the daily log is to provide information about calls and other significant incidents occurring in the City of Burlingame. The daily log  can be found on the City of Burlingame’s web site under the police department tab.

I like it better than reading the newspapers' summaries, but I would suggest it be listed in reverse chronological order so the newest stuff is on top rather than at the bottom.  Free web design advice from the Voice!

Friends with Benefits - Part 10 Sheriffs and Gina Papan

The San Mateo Mercury Times has a piece on the sheriff's deputies newest deal

The salaries of San Mateo County sheriff's deputies are at least 7 percent higher than those of deputies in eight other Bay Area counties, and they'll receive a 3 percent bump in 2015 thanks to the Board of Supervisors.

San Mateo County supervisors approved an agreement with the 352-member Deputy Sheriff's Association without discussion at their April 12 meeting. The agreement was listed on a "consent agenda," which contains items deemed so routine that supervisors approve them in one motion.

The five-year contract states that the public safety officers will always receive 1 percent more than the highest of the nine Bay Area counties. The prior contract also gave them a minimum annual increase of 3 percent.

The Times/News also has a piece on the supervisor race that ends on Tuesday titled "Hopefuls pump in cash".  It's not on the website yet so I can't link to it, but it does have this little tidbit

Papan has raised $172,516 in her campaign, including $20,874 left from her 2008 state Assembly run and a $25,000 loan to herself.  According to an independent expenditure report filed Thursday, she also received a $37,000 doneation from the San Mateo County Deputy Sheriff's Association Political Action Committee.

The final reports on who raised what from whom will be very interesting.  It is funny how some candidates focus on their opponents who are spending their own money!

BHS Threat

Burlingame High parents got a system-generated phone call tonight about an on-line threat from a 17 year old senior student that was taken very seriously.  And so it should be taken (seriously) especially in view of the trial that is just starting for the Hillsdale HS threat that was very very real.

According to the phone message, former principal Matt Biggar was on the scene with another SMUSHD administrator and the student was suspended even though no weapons were found and it was believed to be a hoax.  More to follow.

 
 

City Council Goals - FY 2011 Part 2

Here is a biggie at number 3 that most B'gamers are unaware of--or at least unaware of the potential consequences

3. Explore consolidation of Police Dispatch and other police services with San Mateo. (Police and City Manager)

We've touched on it here, but it merits more public discussion.