On the surface, the release this week of the Municipal Transportation Agency’s proposed budget for next fiscal year seems to offer good news.There are no divisive and unpopular fare increases included in the proposal. Twenty-seven new inspectors and 13 new station agents have been hired to crack down on fare evasion, which could result in close to $15 million in new revenue. The proposal includes $20 million for preventive maintenance and $10 million to create a "rainy day" reserve.
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Teachers from the Belmont-Redwood Shores School District will rally this afternoon to elicit support as they prepare for a May 8 mediation over a contract negotiation impasse, union officials said Wednesday."It’s an informational picket, so to speak," said George Metropulos, a third-grade teacher at Central Elementary School and a former member of the Belmont City Council.
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Arguably the most-loved spot in San Mateo’s Central Park will get its first major renovation in more than 40 years this year.The city is planning roughly $600,000 worth of renovations to the Japanese Garden, a charming, fenced-in oasis of tranquility that draws people for photo opportunities, quiet appreciation and at least 21 weddings last year alone. Designed by former Tokyo Imperial Palace garden director Nagao Sakurai in 1964, the garden hasn’t had major work since, San Mateo Parks and Recreation Department officials said.
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The South County Fire Authority’s Board of Commissioners approved the final agreement to save a renamed and reorganized South County Fire Authority on Wednesday night.The meeting at Belmont’s City Hall was quiet, but well-attended by firefighters waiting on a final resolution of the authority."It just seems that the political wheels move slowly. We try to be patient," Fire Capt. Joseph Kinson said.The new body, to be called the Belmont-San Carlos Fire Department, must still be approved by two city councils this month.
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San Francisco police commissioners on Wednesday approved a formal performance audit of the agency that handles citizen complaints against the Police Department.The City Controller’s Office will conduct the audit, which the commission first called for earlier this year. It will examine the Office of Citizen Complaints’ efficiency and effectiveness, as well as that of its director, Kevin Allen.
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Gas prices are at all-time highs, and "Punish the price gougers" is a popular refrain echoing through the halls of Congress and reverberating across the media.I agree. We should punish the price gougers. But before we take punitive action, we need to determine who is actually doing the gouging. Politicians like Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) are fingering big oil as the guilty party, and yes, there is evidence to suggest that they’ve made a healthy profit of late. But price gouging?
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The release last week of a 10-year, $15.7 billion public works plan to repair The City’s infrastructure was not the kind of event that grabs headlines or captivates the public. But the new City Hall report is important, because it reveals in its 100-plus pages a dirty little civic secret.It was long past time that The City issued a multiyear report that seeks to address, in a comprehensive way, our rapidly crumbling government buildings, public playgrounds, water and sewer systems and other decidedly unsexy but nonetheless crucial civic properties.
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The Salvation Army announced plans Tuesday to built a new eight-story community center, housing development and gym in the Tenderloin on the site of a residential hotel.The Golden State division of the Salvation Army has received a total of $54 million in grant money from the estate of Ray and Joan Kroc to build a new Tenderloin housing complex and community center. Salvation Army Maj. Joe Posillico announced the newly secured funds Tuesday outside the Salvation Army’s current Tenderloin housing facility — an empty former residential hotel at 240 Turk St.
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Washington High School pitcher Michele McMahon will tell you that the rain-shortened Academic Athletic Association softball season has impacted her assault on the record books.And it’s true.Ten less games against city opponents will do that to your stat sheet. But to McMahon, who notched her 500th career strikeout last week against Burton — a AAA record by a long stretch — there is a more salient effect on her final season that hasn’t unraveled in ideal form.
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A San Francisco police sergeant died Monday night after a training exercise on Treasure Island.Sgt. Darryl Tsujimoto, a 15-year department veteran and head of the canine unit, collapsed while conducting a standard "trailing" exercise, training San Francisco and Hayward police officers to handle their dogs as the dogs find and trail a scent. Tsujimoto was taken to San Francisco General Hospital at about 9 p.m., but medical staff were unable to revive him.
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Families in need of a home got a boost from county supervisors Tuesday when they unanimously approved funds for one of the county’s largest low-income housing developments.Supervisors on Tuesday approved $8.6 million of a total $10 million in county subsidies for the $47 million, 130-unit project on El Camino Real across from the Colma BART station, by developer Bridge Housing, officials said."What we’re doing is getting affordable housing in the community faster and that’s what we need right now," Board of Supervisors President Jerry Hill said.
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Hispanic students are leaving one of the county’s charter schools at alarming rates due to discriminatory policies, according to a critical report by the County Office ofEducation.
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A Peninsula school district is considering banning students from calling parents on their mobile phones in the event of an emergency as part of greater restrictions on use of the devices.The new policy, which goes before the San Mateo-Foster City School District Board of Trustees for a vote Thursday, states that during school emergencies all communication is to occur between school staff and parents. Students breaking the rule would be asked to put the cell phone away, and it could be confiscated if they refuse to comply, Assistant Superintendent Toni-Sue Passantino said.
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That’s the message from Monday’s less-than-rousing May Day boycott of the U.S. economy called by the radical fringe of the open-borders immigration movement. Americans are reasonable people, but threatening them with an economic boycott won’t persuade them to accept demands for ill-advised proposals such as amnesty for the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants now in this country. That 11 million, by the way, is growing by 10,000 every day, according to some estimates.
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A candidate for Superior Court judge accused by her opponents of violating campaigning regulations shot back yesterday, calling for her accusers to come forward with proof of their allegations.Deputy District Attorney Susan Etezadi, who is vying to replace Superior Court Judge John Schwartz in the November election, disputed allegations by opponent Lisa Maguire’s campaign that she used the county’s intra-office mail system to distribute campaign literature.
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