Even as California State University and University of California tuitions continue increasing, Cañada College in Redwood City is launching a program this fall designed to make acquiring a degree cheap and easy for working adults.
Cañada’s new College for Working Adults costs about $400 a semester, takes three years to complete and is the first program of its kind in the county to offer credits that are fully transferable to public and private schools, said Jeri Eznekier, assistant director of the new program.
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San Mateo’s SolarCity, the nation’s largest solar panel installer, has become the focal point of the rapid mainstreaming of solar power.
SolarCity pioneered solar leasing programs, which not only make solar systems affordable to homeowners, but also attract the attention of big corporate funders looking for tax-friendly investments.
With the recent infusion of $280 million from Google, SolarCity now has a $1.28 billion capital pool that it uses to help customers obtain solar power systems for little or no money down.
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Daly City officials believe the 2010 census undercounted their population by more than 7,000, which could cost the city hundreds of thousands of dollars or more in state and federal funding.Although the census put Daly City’s population at 101,123, City Manager Patricia Martel said the actual number is closer to 108,383. Martel bases her claim on a 2010 estimate by the state Department of Finance. Because about $5 million of Daly City’s $163 million budget comes from federal sources based on population, Martel said the city plans to appeal to the Census Bureau.
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San Mateo police want developers and city officials to think about crime prevention when they design and approve buildings — an approach gaining momentum nationwide.
Last week, police Chief Susan Manheimer hosted the first of several workshops to teach property owners and city employees how simple tools such as landscaping, lighting and building upkeep can facilitate crime prevention through environmental design.
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Burlingame’s countless parking lots — eyesores that cover nearly half the downtown’s surface area — could soon become blank slates for creative developers.
City officials hope to convert some 20 downtown lots into apartments, restaurants, gyms, performance spaces, boutique hotels or anything else that fits into the city’s plan.
“If you do satellite photo of Burlingame, you’ll see something like 40 percent of the land in the downtown area is at-grade parking,” City Councilman Michael Brownrigg said.
The city hopes to collect a number of creative proposals before Aug.
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About 25 food carts will converge at the San Mateo County Event Center on July 1 for the Bay Area’s latest mobile munch-down. “I don’t think there’s been a bigger food truck event on the Peninsula,” said event co-creator Ryan Sebastian, who said he hopes at least 5,000 people show up.Visitors are encouraged to bring blankets and eat on the lawn or at a 100-foot outdoor banquet table.
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Unless San Mateo County finds somewhere to put the state prisoners who are about to flood into county jails, local authorities might have to become soft on crime with measures such as early release and reduced sentences for minor offenses, Sheriff Greg Munks said this week.
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A year and a half after a rogue wave injured a dozen people at Maverick’s surf contest in Half Moon Bay, the contest’s founder is seeking to retake control of the event.
Jeff Clark, owner of Maverick’s Surf Shop, announced at a San Mateo County Harbor Commission hearing last week that he intends to seek a permit for the contest most recently operated by Maverick’s Family LLC, a group which includes his ex-wife, Katherine Kelly Clark.
The commission will now consider competing proposals for the big-wave surf contest Aug. 1.
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High tech meets hoedown this weekend when the San Mateo County Fair returns to the San Mateo Event Center.
While early fairs were a way for farmers to showcase agricultural technology, San Mateo County’s fair is evolving beyond its rural roots.
“Because we’re such an urban and tech-oriented community, we add lots of science in with traditional elements,” said Dana Stoerh, event manager for the event center.
For example, the fair features miniature dueling robots operated by remote control, along with a stampede of pigs chasing an Oreo cookie.
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San Mateo County’s projected 2011-12 budget, released this week, restored $18 million in spending but still calls for $129 million in cuts and the elimination of 208 positions.
Even with those cuts, the budget still calls for the use of $48 million in reserves to balance the budget. Officials hope to stop dipping into reserves by the next fiscal year.
“We spend $82 million more than we’re bringing in,” budget manager Jim Saco said. “With these cuts we still have a $48 million deficit so the message is that even if you adopt these cuts, we still have more work to do.”
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In response to a massive projected increase in the number of seniors in the county, a new. 97-bed assisted-living home for the elderly is being planned across from the new Mills-Peninsula Medical Center in Burlingame.The Peninsula Health Care District, owner of the 1-acre plot at 1600 Trousdale Ave. where the home would be built, approved the plan last week and identified Aegis Living as the developer and operator of the proposed facility, district CEO Cheryl Fama said.The proposed facility is a response to a growing need for more elderly health services.
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Redwood City, which faces a $2.6 million deficit, has convinced five of six employee labor groups to accept cutbacks in benefits and pensions, but one group is holding out. Service Employees International Union has yet to agree to cuts that would reduce what the city spends on its employees by 7 percent.
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San Mateo County plans to make a stretch of Highway 1 between Half Moon Bay and Devil’s Slide safer for bikers and pedestrians and less congested for drivers — a project that could eventually end up lowering the speed limit.
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Most Peninsula cities, faced with budget deadlines this month, are balancing their budgets by cutting operation costs or services, tapping reserves, or hoping voters approve proposed tax increases and fee hikes.
Click on the photo at right to see more on this story.
San Carlos, however, has taken a different route by focusing on outsourcing some services and marketing others to other cities.
The move has paid off. In a single year, the small city of 28,000 has turned a $3.5 million deficit into a projected $400,000 surplus for the coming fiscal year.
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A low-profile mosque, tucked away in a family home on a suburban street in San Bruno, must make structural adjustments to accommodate its growing congregation, say city officials.Since it opened its doors in 2003, Al Madinah Academy at 714 4th Avenue has seen its congregation grow from seven to some 60 attendees for its midday prayer on Fridays, said the mosque’s president, Dean Moidin.“The community is growing day by day,” Moidin said.
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