Month: February 2011

  • Saving the Old Train

    Few people understand why we have $40+ billion, with a "B", for High-cost Rail, but we can't come up with $30M to keep the train we have.  Nonetheless the jockeying has begun as the Mercury Times is reporting

    In Burlingame, city leaders have started a "Help Save Burlingame Train Stations" campaign and are asking their residents to flood Caltrain's e-mail in boxes demanding the agency keep the city's service, and to show up in force at public hearings that begin Monday. Again, their message is that the loss of service will clog streets.

    I'm not sure what will work with the powers-that-be at Caltrain, but this is worth a shot.  Let's hope the numbers tell at least part of the story since the Times reports that

    Of those, Burlingame, Santa Clara, Lawrence in Sunnyvale and San Antonio in Mountain View all see 550 to 650 riders each day. Then there are Belmont, San Bruno and South San Francisco, where fewer than 400 people board daily. Finally, Hayward Park in San Mateo, Bayshore at the Brisbane-San Francisco city limits and College Park in North San Jose all have fewer than 250 daily riders.

    Here's the link to the City website with the call to action, meeting dates, email address, etc.

    Caltrain2 

  • One Tough Sport

    Kudos going out to the wrestling coaches at Burlingame High.  Wrestling isn't one of the high-profile sports at BHS, but the dedicated staff convinced the Peninsula Athletic League (PAL) that they could host the championship tournament this year.  A successful Christmas tournament last year was proof.

    Today's 13 hour affair with ten teams was a great success.  PAL powers South City and Half Moon Bay vied for the overall trophy, but the real winners were the kids who have stepped up to a sport that builds character and mental toughness like few others.

    Wrestling PAL 

  • Trees from the Past

    Nothing brings out a crowd in B'game like the topic of trees!  Thursday night at the Burlingame Historical Society's quarterly meeting, we learned that it has Always Been So–back to the very founding of B'game!  Guest speaker Danica Hodge delivered a hour of tree-hugger delight to a packed Lane Room at the Main Library.

    Tree Lady1 
    Danica is the creative force behind www.burlingametrees.org — a joint effort with the Historical Society and numerous other resources to document our leafy friends.  Her opening perspective, from the website is

    I imagine the scene more than 100  years ago when this was the “royal road” for travelers coming by horse and stagecoach on the approach to San Francisco. Then, they were seeking the fortune of the golden West, hoping for an opportunity that comes to the lucky few. Today, as I soak up the rich history of the area, I know that I have achieved good fortune of a different kind—the opportunity that comes from living in a city as special as Burlingame.

    One of the challenges in giving such a speech in B'game is there are a lot of passionate, informed people.  Here is a photo of the Society's prez updating the crowd about Caltrans' plans to slowly replace El Camino eucalytus with diseaae-resistant elms–just as John McLaren intended the main drag to be adorned.

    Tree crowd 
    The quarterly meeting keep getting better and better, so you should join, receive the newsletter and attend.

  • Any Bargain Gas in B’game?

    Just as I was thinking about gas prices again, today's Daily Post has a blurb on the front page titled Gas Prices Soaring:

    U.S. gasoline prices have jumped to the highest levels ever for the middle of February.  The national average hit $3.127 per gallon yesterday, about 50 cents above a year ago.

    I buy gas all over the place–Bob's because I like the service and the idea of an independent station owner, the 76 on B'way because it's central, and the Shell out on Old Bayshore because of the car wash.  I notice all sorts of cabs and limos buying gas out there for, I assume, the same reason.  Where do y'all go and why?

    Gas prices 

  • B’gains in B’game

    I've been enjoying the rash of bargains that are coming our way lately courtesy of two social networking sites and the City.  If you are enrolled with Groupon, you have seen deals come through lately for Straits (50% off) and the nice lingerie store on the Avenew (Charmelle28).  Opentable has been fighting back so as to not be left out and La Boheme had a 50% off deal with them recently as well.

    Now we have free music from the City library.  Through a trial deal where the library buys digital music in bulk from a Virginia-based company called Freegal, cardholders can download three songs a week–as long as everyone together stays under 300 songs per week.  That's sort of the reverse of Groupon where the deal tips if more people buy it.  I tried Freegal from the library site and it worked better with Firefox than IE.  This is a $3000 trial that they paid a buck a song for according to a piece in the Daily Post, so download away for the next ten weeks!

    Library3 

  • Our Beating Heart?

    I have been pondering an article from the December 18th edition of The Economist for awhile now.  The piece tracks the decline of pubs in England with the usual, insightful Economist commentary as to the effect.  "Since 2005 more than 6,000 pubs have closed" in England.  The indoor smoking ban, high prices due to tied houses having to buy from the brewery that owns the pub, and high taxes all contribute to the decline.  On Super Bowl Sunday, I would add the rise of HD TV and DVRs make the best view of the game the one from our couches.  The effect?

    …the vanishing of a pub means, by common consent, the loss of the beating heart of a community, in town or countryside.   In the pub he met his fellow men and, with them, formed a society of musers and drinkers.  He mingled with people he might not otherwise meet, and had words with them, was obliged to take stock of their opinions.

    The Voice has noted the passing of a few great pubs in B'game.  We were there when Moon McShane's and La Pinata closed.  The original print edition ran "man on the barstool" quotes on the losses.  Towle's bar was vibrant while it lasted.  Hola! is upholding the Bit of England tradition as well as can be expected.  It's a big responsibility since that is liquor license #1 in the County issued after Prohibition.

    Perhaps things aren't all bad since Il Piccolo, Starbuck's and Peet's fulfill a bit of the same function, but coffee's different.  People are less social as they wait for the caffeine to kick in.  Some would point to the American Bull as a still-beating heart, but I would have to say Behan's is our best approximation in town.  The next time you have an hour to spare, stop in and have some conversation and perhaps a different opinion.

    Behans2 

  • Moving the Gang Problem around?

    The SF Examiner is asking a good, important question in today's issue about gangs moving south to avoid stepped up enforcement in the City:

    In the wake of the violence, South San Francisco police Chief Mike Massoni said his officers have encountered an increased number of gang members who reside in San Francisco, and he said he has heard similar reports from other Peninsula agencies.

    The on-line article doesn't include the chart in the paper edition.  The chart lists the gangs as Oakdale Mob, Chopper City, Eddy Rock, Knock Out Posse, and the Nortenos,

  • Northern Veggie Delight

    When I was salivating over the impending opening of a produce store in the Avenue area, a blogger asked about the one on B'way.  Here is that store at Paloma and B'way.  Eat your veggies!

    Bway produce store 

  • First $upervisor Filing$ Are In

    The Mercury Times is reporting on the FPPC filings of campaign funds for the May 3rd special election.  Our two locals are leading the pack and the trail to their banks

    At least two candidates want to be a San Mateo County supervisor so much they're willing to loan their campaigns big chunks of their own money, with one kicking in $100,000 and the other $75,000.

    Beyond the personal monies from the two locals, it appears from doing the math that Dave Pine has raised a bit more than $58,000 from other people and Terry Nagel  has raised $28,648 from others.  As we noted earlier, now is a good time to start discussing the financial issues that the County faces.

    One of the keys to that discussion will be where the candidates stand on pension reform which may be why the Times is noting Big Labor donations like these:

    Papan, who is also a state deputy attorney general, raised $44,671 from 116 donors. She had the highest amount of labor-related donations, about $8,000 from unions or their political action committees, all related to plumbers and steamfitters' unions and pipe trades.

    Holober….collected $17,653 from 42 donors, including $2,000 from labor.

    13 weeks to go!

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