The Burlingame Voice

Hillsborough shooting: Reward goes up

The Hillsborough PD are still looking for the shooter that hit an officer in their parking lot on Feb. 22nd.  We're a month in.  The state has stepped in with an additional $50K of reward money to add to the H'borough $100K.  Oddly enough the Comicle didn't mention the first $100K but did run the drawing of the suspect.  Here it is

Hillsborough Shooting: Still at large

I knew something was up yesterday just after 4pm as a helicopter made its fourth circular pass over my house.  There had been some sirens as well and there were many more to follow as police cruisers raced up ECR for the next hour or more.  Around 7:30 I spotted a Mountain View cruiser parked in from of St. Catherine's lying in wait.  The SF Chronicle is reporting

Hillsborough police continued to search Sunday for an assailant they say ambushed and shot an officer in the police department’s rear parking lot Saturday afternoon before fleeing on foot.  The violent incident occurred at 3:49 p.m. Saturday, when an “unknown individual” began firing and struck the officer in the lot at 1600 Floribunda Ave., near Hillsborough Town Hall. The officer returned fire as the assailant took off. Police did not know whether the assailant had been hit.

Paramedics transported the wounded officer — who has not been identified — to San Francisco General Hospital as law enforcement began searching the area and “pursuing active leads'” to make an arrest, according to statements from the police department Saturday night.

That sounds far from random to me and is probably the basis for the "active leads" bit.  I was also reminded of the snafus around the tsunami warnings last December noted here.  Why?  Because the SMC Alert to shelter in place didn't arrive until 9:54pm!  What's up with that?  I checked X, but BPD hasn't posted anything to its account there since August of 2023.

Not wanting to drop into the rabbit holes that are Facebook and Nextdoor, I just kept listening to the chopper, and later a fixed wing plane, circle until well after dark.  I doubt you can see much looking for someone on foot in a neighborhood at 8pm from an airplane.  This makes two shooting in three months (see here), so we really have to get the public alert systems synchronized and operating in a timely fashion.  More to follow.

Update:  An eagle-eyed reader provided this flight view of the Cessna 206 that circled endlessly.  The helicopter is not shown.

Wildfires, Insurance rates, Fuel management & Defensible space

A nice heavy rainy day in B'game is the perfect time to reflect on Not Forgetting about our wildfire risk.  Almost three years ago we covered the Emerald Hills fire here.  Then came Pacific Palisades and Altadena which has pushed FAIR into the red and will cost all of us a pretty penny in insurance increases.  It's one thing to write State Farm or Farmer's a bigger check, it's quite another to lose your home.

The risks are multi-dimensional.  How good is our fuel management, particularly up the hill with our neighbors?  The state is updating the high-risk maps as part of Newsom's latest revelation that the 5 foot "Zone 0" area next to dwellings needs to be clear of fuel.  One has to wonder where he's been for the last five or ten years?  You can get a sense of the Hillsborough high-risk area here.  Swapping email with the CCFD Chief, I learned

In Hillsborough, the town conducts fuel management on town owned parcels and we have an extensive Wildland Urban Interface inspection program. Inspections are conducted annually and education and enforcement is applied according to the situation.

I know from friends that there have been non-renewals and big increases in insurance rates up there.  The insurers have reportedly also used drones to find private parcels that are at high-risk from lack of fuel maintenance and some of that information may even be informing their rates for the neighbors.  "It takes a village".

Our water supply is another aspect of preparation.  Swapping email with Public Works, I learned

We tap SFPUC system near Magnolia/Trousdale and use its static head to a point near BIS on Trousdale, and from there it is pumped to the Mills Reservoir.  From there, it gets gravity fed to Sky View Reservoir, which then serves the hillside area below.  On the south side of the City, we pump the water to the Hillside Reservoir located next to the Fire Station 35, which then serves the water to the zone that is above and outside of the SFPUC aqueduct zone.  We have four other SFPUC turnouts that we tap into to serve the remaining parts of the City primarily by gravity.  Hillsborough has a separate system outside of Burlingame, much of their water supply is pumped to their hills and then served to the residents unlike Burlingame.

A bit more research is in order for the layperson to follow the plumbing described above.  It's also a fair question to wonder how up to date the various parts are right now.  I asked about how we go about flushing the hydrants?  It was a pretty common thing to see when I was a kid, but I can't recall seeing it in B'game.  I've must have missed it since Public Works states

Burlingame has proactively invested in a robust capital improvement program to modernize its aging water infrastructure over the past few decades. This includes replacing several miles of water mains and upgrading older fire hydrants with newer models and adding new fire hydrants if needed. These efforts have not only enhanced the City’s water capacity but have also significantly improved fire protection. The hydrant flushing program is active and we rotate the program throughout the City based on water quality parameters.  The public may see more at some times than others as needed based on our water quality requirements.

The bottom line is B'game is not one of the eight cities in San Mateo County at the highest risk as shown here.  We have a lot of infrastructure.  We have maintenance plans.  My discussions with a concerned H'borough resident lead me to continue to believe our biggest risk stems from big private parcels up there that may not be on top of fuel management.  With all of the eucs up there, the effort described in the Merc about the work at East Bay Parks is something to aspire to here.

East Bay Parks has nearly quadrupled its fuel reduction staff in the past five years to take on the Herculean task of bringing the forest back into order, including the addition of Fuels Reduction Coordinator Givonne Law.

“Eucalyptus is notorious for being a very difficult-to-handle tree. Not only is it very heavy, but there’s generally huge accumulations,” Law said. “A lot of machinery operators out there will see a project like this and will just walk away.”

Law’s task was to thin the forest from more than 750 eucalyptus stems per acre to 150 stems per acre. Her aim, she said, was not to eliminate eucalyptus — despite their oily, flammable properties — but to reconstitute the balance of the forest to allow less dangerous trees such as bay and oak to reestablish themselves.

That works out to about one stem per 300 square feet--a 17 x 17 foot area.  A drive through H'borough will easily show areas with more density than that.

KCSM 60th Anniversary: A movie and more music

Last night I was fortunate to attend the premier of a brand-new movie documentary about the 60-year evolution of KCSM into the worldwide jazz destination station it is today.  91.1 FM is a local jewel.  Thanks to streaming off of KSCM.org or just saying "Alexa, play KCSM" that jewel is now listened to around the world.  And it's not just the station playing a highly curated mix of jazz, blues and R&B; the annual concert Jazz on the Hill that returned in 2013 after Covid subsided is one of the best things about summer in the Bay Area as we noted here and here.

Fortunately, Palo Alto Online got an even earlier preview and reporter Peter Canavese was able to take extensive notes, so I don't have to try to summarize the movie.  You can read his lengthy review here.  That leaves me free to share some of the post movie Q&A session with a panel of 15 KCSM announcers (they prefer that to "DJ").  With Chris Cortez asking the questions and vocalist Tiffany Austin sitting in after her participation in the movie, we got a rare survey of how these announcers migrated to KCSM over time, especially after KJAZ folded and donated its huge library to KCSM.  A couple viewed San Mateo as a bit of a bumpkin location to work but came anyway, some came up through the student ranks from the college and others saw the passion of their predecessors and wanted to be a part of it.  The challenges local jazz musicians have getting heard was a theme -- music director Jesse "Chuy" Varela listens to all submissions, but neither he nor the station dictate what gets played.

It was noted that the announcer ranks were a bit long in the tooth as was the audience.  "Keeping Jazz Alive" takes care and feeding.  The internship program could be expanded and the worldwide reach, along with the movie buzz, will hopefully help fundraising and student participation.  I asked the station manager, Dr. Robert Franklin, about the plans for distributing the movie.  It will run at the SF Indiefest in February and the DVD will be a gift during the next pledge drive.  Hopefully Netflix will pick it up as well.  We're lucky to have KCSM as our home station and these globally recognized on-air voices as its curators.

Scenes of destruction from LA

At this moment I'm sitting in West Maui, in the Kahana-Napili area, looking out at Molokai and Lanai while watching some video of the Pacific Palisades devastation.  A one-minute driving clip on X is eerily reminiscent of a clip from a local friend who was authorized to drive through Lahaina after the August 8, 2023 fire that killed 101 people.  A year and a half later one still cannot go into the center of Lahaina--Front Street.  Another friend got close this week and saw that some rubble is just now being bulldozed and hauled away.  In January of 2025.  Hazmat.  Insurance.  Cell service.  Coastal restrictions.  Equipment.  Cost.  All will be in play in LA, too.

Oakland 1991 comes to mind.  Paradise, CA.  Chico.  Several more in remote parts of the Sierra.  It's on-going and fully predictable.  Joe Rogan relayed an LA firefighter predicting the exact magnitude of the Palisades fire his podcast last July!  I'm really hoping this old Voice post doesn't end up being another predictable concern come true.

And of course there is the air pollution of each blaze.  The Merc notes:

Massive plumes from multiple fires in Los Angeles County are choking the region’s skies and sending air quality to dangerous levels. Thursday morning Los Angeles had an AQI of 182, considered “unhealthy,” and currently among the worst in the world. The smoke was so dense that it was captured in satellite photos.

Current forecasts through Saturday show most of the smoke from the wildfires wafting out into the ocean and making a weak return back to the coast as far north as Monterey.

Tell me again how ripping out a high-efficiency furnace/water heater and a gas stovetop that gets a half hour of use most weeks is really important, but actually planning and executing wildfire prevention just never seems to rise to the top of Big Politicians priority list?

Sleepless in B'game: The numbers are only part of the story

As we again reenter the ridiculousness of Standard Time tonight, the Merc has an article on sleep deprivation by county and towns in the Bay Area.  The headline has an Oakland ZIP code as the most sleep deprived, and the chart shows San Mateo County is the least sleep deprived county (i.e. averaging less than seven hours per night).  Solano County is the most sleep deprived at 38.1% and San Mateo County the least at 28.7%.

Pulling the covers back a bit, the San Mateo County figure is lulled by Portola Valley at 23.2%.  The other rural towns are also quieter and sleep more.  Dear old B'game is a little better than the county average at 26%, but that may include our shared ZIP code sister, H'borough.  I am skeptical about the metric because the duration of sleep is only part of the story.  When weather conditions are just right--meaning just wrong for sleep--the jet backblast from SFO take-offs may not fully wake you up, but you're not in REM either.  It might also be making us...a bit heavier than need be.

The "Fall back" is not as bad as the "Spring forward", but be careful out there as either change is associated with distracted driving, etc.  We all voted to stay on Daylight Savings time, but the Sacramento gang and Gavin haven't moved on making the change.  Add this to the "Sacramento Stupidity" category.

RIP Bearcat Kris Kristofferson (1936-2024)

Our neighbor to the south is three and a half times as populous as we are here in B'game.  That gives them a bit of a leg up in having famous former residents.  Springsteen's parents lived in SM and Merv Griffin went to SMHS.  I won't even get into the Serra grads who went big in pro sports.  There are many, even without the artificial help from BALCO of B'game.  Furthermore, I don't rate "Country" in my Top Ten musical genres, but Kris Kristofferson was one guy who could tug at my heartstrings.  He wrote "Me and Bobby McGee" which Janis Joplin recorded just a few days before she died.  His acting in A Star is Born surpasses that of his female lead.  So, here's to a guy who trod our streets as a kid:

Kristofferson was born on June 22, 1936, in Brownsville, Texas, to Mary Ann (née Ashbrook) and Lars Henry Kristofferson — a first-generation Swedish immigrant and U.S. Army Air Corps officer and Air Force general. His love for country music began at a young age, and, according to a 2013 interview with NPR, Kristofferson penned his first song, "I Hate Your Ugly Face," at only 11 years old. A military brat, he moved often throughout his childhood until his family landed in San Mateo, Calif., when he was a teenager.  He graduated from San Mateo High School in 1954.

Any '54 Bearcats out there who can tell us what Kris was like in high school?

Peninsula Ave. interchange "scrapped" for good?

I can hear the cheers from the Lyon-Hoag neighborhood from here on my perch on the west side.  The "upgrade" to Peninsula Ave. at 101 has been bandied about for almost 20 years.  The neighborhood concerns voiced in public go back more than 10 years as shown in this post from 2015.  Now the weight of the project--cost, eminent domain, and community opposition have apparently caused it to collapse.  I'm guessing this council decision pre-dates the weekend pedestrian fatality on Peninsula.  While I feel happy for Lyon-Hoag, caution and observation remain the best course.  These things can be like zombies.  And the pressure from over-development on the Bayfront is ever growing.  The Daily Journal notes

A long-standing effort to move the Highway 101 southbound off-ramps from East Poplar Avenue north to Peninsula Avenue has been officially scrapped, though plans to address congestion and mitigate collisions in the area are still being finalized.

For years, the city (Ed: San Mateo) has looked into relocating the (Poplar Ave.) ramps to Peninsula Avenue because, east of Idaho Street, it has two lanes in each direction, no parking or driveways and has shoulders and bike lanes, all advantages over East Poplar Avenue. The total project cost estimate ranges from $169 million to $227 million, and while some funding could be secured from regional or state agencies, the majority would have to come from the city.

Moving forward would also require the city to acquire dozens of private properties along North Amphlett Boulevard via eminent domain, another financial burden for the city. Councilmember Rich Hedges said, at this point, many of the affected residents just want to know which direction the city is going so they can plan accordingly.

A lot of B'gamers are having sighs of relief.  As one local noted "No, it's not April 1st".  Let's keep it that way.

Housing Maneuvers - Part 1 Pausing the land grab

We noted that the real action County-wide and State-wide in the Fall election is in the propositions and initiatives since the candidate voting is pretty much a given.  B'game will have a real race or two, but outside our little town there is a lot of fait accompli.  But one controversial move that will not be on the ballot is the County land grab for "affordable housing".  The DJ is noting that the Supes, in their wisdom, have decided to "pause" their land grab.

Despite a poll suggesting majority voter support, San Mateo County will not be placing a measure on November ballots allowing the development of low-income housing units without voter approval, in pursuant of Article 34 of the state Constitution.  The measure, initially presented at a special meeting of the board July 22, would have provided authorization for the county and other public agencies to construct or acquire affordable rental housing for low-income residents — up to 1% of total existing housing units — without voter consideration. 

Although Chief Executive Officer Mike Callagy maintained Article 34 “has no place in this county,” he did not ask the Board of Supervisors to consider approving such a measure placement this election cycle.

One has to wonder what other bits and pieces of the state Constitution have no place in San Mateo County?  Perhaps we could get a list?  The usual blather about "racism in homeownership" and "constituent confusion" and wanting to be "collaborative" with local cities and not "usurp their authority" ensued. The reality is the November ballot is already stuffed with pork.  So much so that voters are likely to Just Say No to the whole lot.  Half Moon Bay and Millbrae led the public charge against this land grab.  Here's hoping B'game electeds did so quietly but firmly.

2024 H'borough Concours d'Elegance

Sunday was a brilliant, fog-free, wind-free day up the hill at Crystal Springs Golf Course as the Concours d'Elegance took over the 18th fairway for the 68th rendition of the car show.  That makes it "the longest continually running Concours in the world" and a showplace for some amazing cars and Jeeps.  This year's theme car was the Mazda Miata and one locally owned example won best in its class.  The 2024 winners have not been posted to the website yet but check here later.  Burlingame-owned Frank's Texas BBQ provided the eats and drew a long line of patrons as they usually do whenever they do an event.

I also enjoyed watching kids playing in the sand trap--they found it way more fun than I do.