Week in review

Caltrain officials hope to increase bike capacity on its trains by April under a revised plan to address bicyclists’ concerns about being "bumped” during commute hours.

It appears the squeaky wheel got the grease. For the last several months, bicyclists from San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties pressured the transit agency in a mass letter-writing campaign to increase room for bicycles. Bicyclists are upset with the practice of being asked to wait for the next arriving train because the one they were trying to board was already at its bike capacity. Caltrain has been stuck between meeting the needs of loyal customers and balancing both their budget and aging equipment, officials said.

The new plan will increase bike capacity on the newer streamlined Bombardier-style cars from 16 to 24 and capacity on older gallery-style cars from 32 to 40. Currently, the number of bikes allowed on a car can vary from 16 to 32. Caltrain will immediately order and install more bike stands, a process expected to take eight to 12 weeks, according to Caltrain.

The newer Bombardier-style cars now fit 16. The older gallery cars fit 32.

City wooing industrial

area property owners

Belmont is making another attempt to woo property owners in the nearby Harbor Industrial Area into annexation with an offer to pay up to $5,000 in related expenses, according to a letter sent by the city last week.

The letter concludes what’s been a two-year effort on behalf of the city to improve the rocky relationship with the HIA, an area of unincorporated San Mateo County that sits on the border of Belmont and San Carlos near Highway 101. In the past, Belmont has lost favor with the property owners there for what was perceived as hostile annexation attempts. The recent letter, dated Jan. 23, offers approximately 50 property owners in the unincorporated HIA up to $5,000 to cover fees and expenses associated with a voluntary annexation. The offer expires Dec. 31, 2010.

The effort may win over property owners, but it will take time, said HIA member Howard Jones.

"I think we’re going to need a number of years for people to set aside hard feelings,” Jones said.

Several years ago, 60 percent of the HIA annexed itself to San Carlos and took with it property and sales taxes. The entire area wished to annex to San Carlos at the time, but after political negotiations, only about 60 percent annexed, leaving the rest of the area to either annex to Belmont or remain unincorporated and governed by the county. Belmont has made attempts to annex the property in the past, a move that would help its budget and future planning of the prime Peninsula real estate.

Elderly woman held

captive and robbed

A woman in her 90s was held captive in her San Mateo home as four people robbed her of jewelry Monday afternoon, according to police. Three are in custody and one is still on the loose.

The woman called 911 at approximately 4:40 p.m. Monday to report the robbery in the 1100 block of Peninsula Avenue. The woman was sleeping in her bedroom when two men, a woman and an underage boy pried a door open to her house. The four began ransacking the house when the woman woke up, said San Mateo police Lt. Mike Brunicardi.

"They held her and told her to be quiet and at one point covered her face and told her to be quiet,” Brunicardi said.

Police believe the woman was specifically targeted because one of the burglars knew her through a business. Brunicardi would not elaborate on the relationship for fear it could jeopardize the pending court case.

Mountain lion seen in flatlands

Authorities are warning San Mateo residents of a mountain lion sighting in a residential neighborhood that was captured on video early Monday morning, a police lieutenant said.

The grainy image of mountain lion was caught on a video camera in the 700 block of North Claremont Street near State Street around 4:45 a.m., San Mateo police Lt. Mike Brunicardi said. The block is just west of San Mateo High School.

The person who recorded the footage notified police of the sighting at 8:16 p.m. later that day, Brunicardi said.

An officer viewed the tape and is "confident” the creature in the video is a mountain lion. The lion is seen in the middle of the street in dim street lights, Brunicardi said.

A rapid notification telephone alert message was sent to area neighborhoods. The Peninsula Humane Society and the Department of Fish and Game were also alerted. The last sighting of a mountain lion in San Mateo occurred at the intersection of 31st Avenue and Fairoaks Court, in November 2008. Before that, a mountain lion was seen on Poplar Avenue in the north-west region of San Mateo, in the first week of October, 2008, Brunicardi said.