Reporters' Notebook

***

Notre Dame de Namur University will honor outstanding Bay Area citizens Mary Lou and Joe Putnam for their exemplary community service and for reflecting the vision of the university at their Sixth Annual President’s Gala at 6 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 17.

***

Burlingame was named a Tree City USA for the 28th year in a row.

The Tree City USA honor comes from the National Arbor Day Foundation, a nonprofit education organization dedicated to tree planting and environmental stewardship. To qualify, communities must have a city tree ordinance, a legal tree governing body, a comprehensive urban forestry program and observe Arbor Day.

The award will be presented at 10 a.m. on Monday, March 5 at Cuernavaca Park, 3075 Alcazar Drive.

***

It’s been 25 years since the Basque Cultural Center opened its doors in South San Francisco and the community is celebrating the long history through the weekend. Festivities kicked off on Tuesday with a historical video presentation. Special dinners will be held tonight through Saturday at $25 per person, reservations needed. There will be folkloric dancers and music on Friday night. Saturday will feature a full day of activities including four hours of pilota games. It’s $10 to watch, free to anyone under 18. The evening will end with a dance at 9 p.m.

Sunday begins with a traditional mass at 9:30 a.m. Lunch will feature one of the restaurant’s specialities: barbecue rack of lamb. At 4 p.m. there will be more pilota to enjoy.

All events will be at the center, 599 Railroad Ave., in South San Francisco. For more information call 583-8091 or visit www.basqueculturalcenter.com.

***

U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Menlo Park, sent a letter Feb. 13 to the field office director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement because of county concerns over recent sweeps in Redwood City. Eshoo asked that ICE officers not use the word "police” during arrests because it is problematic for local police and "their efforts are undermined by the confusion and fear among immigrants between local law enforcement and federal officials.”

***

At 7:30 a.m. Valentine’s Day, staff members in County Clerk Warren Slocum’s office worried there would not be enough pages in a book for attendees to sign at the marriage equality rally scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Not to be deterred, Julia Fernandez, Carol Markes and Theresa Raabe called Barnes and Noble Bookstore and convinced workers to open early so they could secure more pages, Slocum said.

***

An East Palo Alto woman asked the Board of Supervisors to consider a policy change that has rubbed her the wrong way — the two-minute limit for public speakers. Five minutes is best, she said, but many jurisdictions find three "the perfect number.”The matter is so important she will launch an initiative after raising enough money. Board President Rose Jacobs Gibson, following established procedure, ended the woman’s comments after two minutes.

The reporters’ notebook is a weekly collection of facts culled from the notebooks of the Daily Journal staff. It appears in the Thursday edition.