Month: April 2016

  • Speier Weighs in on Nelson

    After a slight deviation into national politics with a very local flavor at the Hyatt on Old Bayshore, we now return to our regular Burlingame programming.  Our U.S. Congresswoman, Jackie Speier, has weighed in with a sort-of show of support for our departing BHS teacher, Mr. Nelson.  Her April 11th letter to Mr. Nelson is circulating on-line. It includes these comments from Jackie

    It was not in my authority to comment to the district about personnel matters and House members are actually instructed not to become involved in personnel matters involving other agencies.  I was sorry to learn that you were unable to remain (ed: at BHS).  Your ability to contribute to Burlingame over several decades was obviously highly valued.  In an era of widespread cynicism about the effectiveness of public education and public teachers, your example is an antidote to that cynicism.  Unfortunately, your example became known beyond the general school community because of circumstances that may lead to additional cynicism.  It is a shame.

    If someone would parse and translate that last part for me, I would appreciate it.  In the meantime, this long running saga noted here and here sounds like it is a done deal.  Mr. Nelson will trade in his Panther gear for the Dons.

  • Crowd Control Trumps All

    I should be able to get a first hand report on how the crowd control works tomorrow for Donald Trumps lunchtime speech at the Hyatt.  I know a couple people who were quick on the button and managed to get tickets.  Here is the Daily Journal's piece on the event

    And though thousands have expressed interest on social media to rally against Trump during his noon address Friday, April 29, McDougald said he is certain law enforcement is up for the task of maintaining order.

    “Crowd control is what it boils down to,” he said. “I have the highest confidence in the police and sheriff and the people that will be handling that.”

    Burlingame Mayor Ann Keighran said her paramount concern was for the safety of all those who attended the event.  “All I want is for this to be a safe environment for everyone and that everything goes smoothly,” she said.

    Burlingame police Lt. Jay Kiely said local law enforcement agencies are coordinating efforts to allow protesters to exercise their freedom of speech, without breaking any laws.  “Given the great cooperation law enforcement has on the Peninsula, it helps us ensure that the protests go off peaceably, and the convention is able to operate unencumbered,” he said.

    Members of the Burlingame Police Department as well as other neighboring cities, county Sheriff’s Office and Office of Emergency Services, California Highway Patrol and the Central County Fire Department are expected to be present at the event, said Kiely, but he is uncertain how many law enforcement officials will be needed.

    Should be a great day to have lunch on the Avenue and avoid the Bayfront all together!

    Update: 8pm the day of the speech.  As promised, here is a photo from inside the police line by a correspondent who attended.  The structure on the left looks to be the parking garage, so I wonder how so many people got onto the pedestrian walkways to the hotel with this sort of line in place?

    Trump police line
     

  • EssEff Street Crime

    Somehow the NY Times of all papers decided to focus on the SF crime situation.  The article gets into the politics of the issue which are substantial in EssEff as usual

    San Francisco, America’s boom town, is flooded with the cash of well-paid technology workers and record numbers of tourists. At the same time, the city has seen a sharp jump in property crime, up more than 60 percent since 2010, though the actual increase may be higher because many of the crimes go unreported.

    Recent data from the F.B.I. show that San Francisco has the highest per-capita property crime rate of the nation’s top 50 cities. About half the cases here are thefts from vehicles, smash-and-grabs that scatter glittering broken glass onto the sidewalks.

    This is one of many reasons people move to B'game from the City.

    Some of you may have noticed the prominent sign in the parking lot at Max's Opera House on Old Bayshore.  SF is not the only place you should not leave anything valuable in your car.

  • Caltrain: Take a Seat (On the Floor)

    Here's a great bit from the Mercury News' Mr. Roadshow's column.  I have experienced this a few times (not including big event trips like this one):

    Q People whining about not getting a seat on BART haven't ridden on Caltrain lately. At least BART gives straps and poles to hang onto and the train rides are pretty smooth. Caltrain is often standing-room-only for an hour or more and passengers have to grab whatever they can find, including other people. The older Caltrain cars are 100 times bumpier than BART. A lot of people sit on the filthy floor because they don't have the strength to stand up for that long.

    A Forget wearing a suit. This is scruffy blue jeans territory.

    Of course, spending billions of dollars in the Central Valley on High-cost Rail makes total sense, right?

  • New Mills Canyon

    There has been some good upgrades and maintenance recently in Mills Canyon.  The DJ is reporting the story here and notes

    Weeks of work refining the secluded and narrow trail culminated Tuesday, April 19, as workers with the California Conservation Corps cleared brush from the path which spans a little over a mile in the Burlingame hills east of Skyline Boulevard, near Arguello Drive.

    The final day of trimming put a finishing touch on the work which began last month that included building new stairs, regrading the trail for storm drainage, adding more steps, reducing erosion threats, widening the trail, implementing new retaining walls and more.

    This part was interesting to me also since kids are sometimes in there at night partying

    The dirt trail is open daily for free to members of the public to enjoy, along with their leashed dogs. No camping is allowed on the property, which closes at nightfall.

    Outside of the recent beautification efforts, Holtz said volunteers are often responsible for clearing non-native species which may grow along the trail, as well as cleaning out the rare occurrence of litter being left behind.

    I thought I would take a look at the Crime Map (that you can find here) for the last two weeks and see how it's been going.  It's been quiet in the canyon so we will see how it goes as the school year comes to an end.

     

     

  • Bayfront Clean-up

    Just in time for Earth Day on Friday comes this news that after a year of wrangling with the state, something might eventually be done about a major eyesore/threat on the Bayfront.  The DJ has the article noting

    But the State Lands Commission recently committed to removing the shack, according to Burlingame City Attorney Kathleen Kane, and officials are hopeful the issue will soon be resolved.

    “The city is very happy they will be signing a contract to remove the building,” said Kane. “In the meantime though, we would hope that members of the public would steer clear of that area.”

    Kane said officials have worked with the state for roughly one year to tear down the structure, which sits exposed to the public in a parking lot abutting 8.8 acres of unkempt property along Airport Boulevard.

    The structure on property owned by the State Lands Commission, near 450 Airport Blvd., has become an increasingly popular location for people to dump their trash and engage in other sorts of unhealthy activity, said resident Daniel Kates.

    Let's start the meter running today and see how long it takes.  If it were a small house bought by a spec builder, it would be gone by Wednesday…….

    May 9th Update:  Still there.  This is what it looked like yesterday

    Bayfront shack

     

  • Beautiful Music on RSD 2016

    Today was the 9th annual Record Store Day held around the world and it was a blast in San Mateo.  As Wikipedia notes

    Record Store Day is an annual event, founded in 2007, held on the third Saturday of April each year to celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store. The day brings together fans, artists, and thousands of independent record stores across the world. A number of records are pressed specifically for Record Store Day, and are only distributed to shops participating in the event.

    I didn't get down to Vinyl Solutions until after the Warriors put away the Rockets around 4 pm, so I missed many of the special pressings.  Tommy Tune, the owner, was quite pleased to report that there were about 100 people queued up this morning at opening time.  I found a couple of very cool LPs and there were still a couple of copies of Metallica's special pressing from their 2003 concert at Le Bataclan in Paris.  The guys from L.A. made a bit of a statement about global terrorism with that selection for RSD.  Here is the late afternoon look down on 25th St. in San Mateo.

    Record Store Day_2016
     

  • B’game Bug Invasion

    Walking back from dinner on the Ave. last night I was thrilled to run into this Bug invasion in the parking lot next to Yogurtland.  The Redwood City Beetle Club decided to venture north for a visit.  There were about a dozen VW Bugs in all colors with some fabulous accessories.  Check these out.

    Bug2

    And a close-up of the white one on the right

    Bug3

    I hope some of them come back for the Lion's Club Cars in the Park which is July 30th in Washington Park this year.

  • H2O – Firm Grip on the Obvious

    The former Mercury News, nee San Mateo County Times, appears to have a firm grip on the obvious regarding our long-term water shortage as we noted here and here.  The front page, above the fold article shown below from this article notes

    But Felicia Marcus, chairwoman of the State Water Resources Control Board, which will make the decision, said earlier this month that although reservoirs have filled in many parts of Northern California this winter, Southern California has received only about half as much rainfall as its historic average.

    As a result, the state must brace for the fact that this winter might have been one normal rainfall season in a longer drought, rather than the beginning of the end of the drought that began in 2011.

    "I think we need to adjust to recognize the reality that we are in," she said, "while still being mindful that we don't know what next year is going to bring."

    This is apparently still considered "news" at the Merc.  One really has to wonder when they and the Water Board will wake up and become "mindful"?  When will they come out for dramatic planning changes across the state?  How about more reservoirs?  If we had half as much attention on this as we do on sea-level rise, we would be in better shape.

    La Nina Gulp

  • Still Clean-up Time

    It's been a year since this Clean-up Time post and I was hoping things would improve, but that is still just a hope.  With Philz apparently doing a good business and Starbucks on the Ave. as popular as ever (i.e. same problem two blocks away), one wonders what it would take to get more frequent pick-ups and more off-street space.  The commenter on the old post was correct, that alley way is tight for walking when the bins are in there.  And yet, this photo from a regular Voice reader shows what ain't working either.  Summer is coming and it won't smell any better.

    Recycling Bins_Pete

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