A proposal to send firefighters to medical calls in smaller SUV-type vehicles rather than fire engines could help trim emergency services costs, but firefighters say response times to fires could suffer. As part of a redesign of its fire service, San Carlos is considering a practice known as “cross-staffing,” in which two firefighters would respond to a medical emergency in a light rescue vehicle, leaving two others back at the station.
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Caltrain riders flooded a Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board meeting in San Carlos on Thursday morning to plead against station closures in their cities as the agency grapples with a $30 million budget deficit. The board is considering terminating service at up to seven Caltrain stations including South San Francisco, Belmont, San Bruno and the College Park station in San Jose.
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Belmont is about to be the owner of a new $1.2 million, 100-foot ladder truck, but a consultant’s study from neighboring San Carlos has raised questions about whether the city needs the firefighting vehicle.
The truck and about $500,000 in loan debt are going to Belmont as part of the break-up of the Belmont-San Carlos Fire Department, which is scheduled to dissolve in October amid a dispute between the cities about how to divide its costs.
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A debate over regionalizing fire service in southern San Mateo County is setting up a fiery clash between the powerful local firefighters union and the county’s contracted fire department.
A county Board of Supervisors subcommittee is expected to discuss this week two concept proposals for merging fire services in a five-city area that includes San Mateo, Foster City, Belmont, San Carlos and Redwood City that would become the county’s largest fire agency.
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A San Carlos man pleaded guilty Thursday to involuntary manslaughter for the one-punch death of another man in a fight outside San Francisco's AT&T Park during a San Francisco Giants game in 2008, a prosecutor said.
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A married San Carlos couple was slapped with jail time for drinking and driving with four young children in their minivan on the way home from a booze-fest at the beach last month.
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A married San Carlos couple is being accused of drinking and driving with four young children in their minivan — pulling over twice so they could guzzle down more beer — on the way home from a beach booze-fest last month.James Arthur Lee, 54, and Wendy Maureen Lee, 43, are in custody after a sheriff’s deputy said he found 14 empty beer cans, an empty bottle of rum and a driver who could barely stand up in the pulled-over minivan Jan. 22.
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The former headquarters of Tesla Motors could soon be filled with San Mateo County employees if supervisors approve a $40 million purchase of the large complex Tuesday.
Supervisors will consider dipping into the county’s reserves to buy two vacant buildings totaling 208,000 square feet at 1 and 2 Circle Star Way.
The approval for the large purchase is scheduled for the same day the officials will begin tackling a projected $82 million deficit in the 2011-12 fiscal year.
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Belmont is having a hard time digesting millions of dollars in proposed sewer improvements on its decades-old sewer lines. The City Council balked this week at issuing about $18.5 million in new 30-year bonds to rehabilitate pipes and make repairs, which would cause an estimated 8 percent rate increase. Several council members wanted more evidence of the immediate need for the work.
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A large new fire agency is being pitched for San Mateo County as departments across the Peninsula struggle with budget shortfalls.
The idea for regionalized fire services comes as San Carlos plans to disband its joint department with Belmont in October amid a dispute between the cities about how to share the costs. The new agency could include Redwood City, San Carlos, Belmont and Foster City.
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