A controversial development on a landfill known as Baylands is center stage in Brisbane’s City Council race. Two veteran councilmen and one newcomer are competing for two open seats in the November election. The second seat opened up when Councilman Steve Waldo decided to step down, reportedly for health reasons.Waldo has endorsed Ray Miller, a professor emeritus of political economy at San Francisco State University who left the council in 1995 after three terms.
Read More
After 32 years of partnership, the joint Belmont San Carlos Fire Department will shut its doors Friday, and on Saturday, both cities will open their own departments.
The four fire stations, employees and fire engines will be divvied up between the two departments, and all fire personnel — minus two administrators and one fire inspector — will be rehired by one of the departments.
The shift will save San Carlos $1 million dollars a year, but Belmont’s costs will jump by some $2 million in the first full year of operation.
Read More
Hundreds of students in San Mateo County and thousands across California have yet to get the whooping cough vaccine mandated by the state, forcing some to stay home from school. Dozens more have refused it on philosophical grounds.
A state law passed last year requires seventh- through 12th-graders to get the vaccine by the start of the school year. The deadline was later pushed back 30 days and some schools have received additional extensions.
Read More
Five candidates are vying for two open seats on the Belmont City Council in November, with two incumbents hoping to stave off newcomers.Eric Reed is a first-time candidate who describes himself as centrist and an independent thinker. The Peninsula native has served on the Planning Commission since 2008.
Read More
As cellphone towers shoot up around the Bay Area, so-called stealth antennas have grown in popularity.Antennas can be concealed behind phony brick walls and inside flag poles, faux boulders, street lamps, grain silos, gas station signs, fake trees and cacti, and even church steeples.While public resistance to cellphone towers is often related to potential health effects, a federal law making it virtually impossible for cities to reject the devices on health grounds has transformed the terms of debate.
Read More
Six hopefuls are vying for three seats on the Millbrae City Council amid a climate of Police Department struggles and economic uncertainty.Among those running in November is Marge Colapietro, the current vice mayor and only incumbent.Colapietro defended the council’s handling of the Police Department, which is floundering with limited staff and no full-time chief, saying a two-year study into a partnership with San Bruno tied the council’s hands.
Read More
As state funding for California schools decreases, a growing number of Silicon Valley leaders is pitching in.
Former eBay CEO and 2010 California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman announced Tuesday that her foundation will invest $2.5 million into the tech-centered Summit Charter School system. The Whitman- Harsh Family Foundation also will match contributions worth up to another $2.5 million.
Read More
Neighbors and current tenants of the former Christopher Columbus Elementary School in Daly City oppose a plan to turn the long-closed campus into an 80-unit residential development.The Jefferson Elementary School District is selling the 13-acre site to Lennar Homes of California for $18 million — money the district says it sorely needs.
Read More
November’s City Council election in Burlingame will pit two well-known incumbents against a newcomer, Ricardo Ortiz, with two seats at stake.Ortiz, 48, faces first-term Councilman Jerry Deal and second-term Councilwoman Terry Nagel, who’s also mayor. The Colombian-born Ortiz hopes to bring “common sense” back to the council, saying he decided to run after watching three months of debates over whether to save Tom, an old eucalyptus tree that was damaging the sidewalk.
Read More
Long before babies start speaking, they can communicate with their parents through sign language.At 19 months, Debra Allison’s infant, Abigal, is at an age when most babies say their first word, but she can already string together three to four signs. One of her favorites: “More cheese, please.”When she was 7 months old, Allison began taking Abigal to sign-language classes at Touch Blue Sky in San Mateo.After seven classes, Allison had learned 150 signs related to safety, animals, colors and clothing, among others.
Read More
After a decade of cutting back its police force, the Millbrae Police Department can no longer do its job properly.City officials say the 29-member department — down from 38 members 10 years ago — lacks the staff to provide timely services, thoroughly follow up on unsolved cases and properly oversee officers. And since officers sometimes work 16-hour shifts, they are more prone to mistakes and injury, and expose the department to liability.
The cash-strapped city is looking at two solutions to the problem.
Read More
Daly City business owners say construction on Mission Street is driving away customers and hurting their revenue. They blame the city for failing to arrange alternative parking and think they deserve compensation.“All the City Council can say is, ‘We’re really sorry.’ But they don’t understand this is our livelihood, our 401(k),” said Mission Flowers owner Carla Chu. “If we don’t survive, then what am I going to feed my family?”
Read More
San Bruno students can now create gardens on campus, free of charge. Marsetti, a San Bruno landscaping company, is offering free vegetable beds, plants and gardening advice to the city’s eight public schools.So far, the company has committed 16 beds worth about $325 each to three schools.“It’s a hefty donation, but one which we hope will be beneficial to the city of San Bruno, where we have worked for 30 years,” said Joey Oliva, Marsetti’s marketing director.
Read More
Facing a substantial budget deficit, Brisbane School District officials are considering a range of options that include raising taxes, closing a school or merging with another district.The 550-student K-8 district faces a $492,000 deficit for the 2011-12 school year — and district officials say that’s after slashing costs and drawing on reserves. School board member Ken Walker said his body may put a parcel tax hike on the spring ballot to raise short-term funds, but that’s unlikely to solve its long-term financial problems.
Read More
Two Peninsula cities are standing up to some of the world’s largest telecommunications companies in a fight to control the installation of cellphone antennas.On Tuesday, Burlingame’s City Council unanimously suspended antenna construction through Oct. 21. And tonight, the Daly City Council will reconsider its earlier rejection of six new antennas.
Read More
URL: http://www.sfexaminer.com/people/niko-kyriakou?page=2
