Reporters' Notebook

Virgin is offering one-way cross-country tickets for $139 to which JetBlue plans to offer New York to California round-trip flights for $278, according to cheapflights.com. Southwest will be matching the $44 one-way fares between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

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Supervisor Rich Gordon broke new ground in cyberspace Monday by posting the first official podcast by a San Mateo County supervisor on his county Web page. The podcast will be available bi-monthly. The first edition includes comments about the Environmental Quality Committee, the "Fresh as it gets” partnership between the Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Farm Bureau and a budget process overview.

For those who still want a little face time with the supervisor, he kicks off new coastside office hours Aug. 9.

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A presentation on the ins and outs of the county Controller’s Office at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting came well-scored by Deputy Controller Bob Adler. As photos of financial statements flashed across the screen, Pink Floyd’s "Money” played. During a list of the office’s employees, Adler opted for The Who’s "Who are you.”

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In honor of its centennial, the city of Burlingame has released a list of local jargon that reveals the municipality has been called everything from "San Francisco’s Sunshine Suburb” to "Blingum” to "Boringame.” Its residents called those living in Hillsborough "Hill People,” while Hillsborough denizens referred to those living in Burlingame as "Villagers.”

The list of city-specific lingo, dubbed "Burlingameisms,” is posted in the Centennial section of Burlingame’s Web site at www.burlingame.org. It was compiled by a local attorney, Paul Constantino.

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U.S. Rep. Tom Lantos, D-San Mateo, this week spoke out strongly in favor of legislation by fellow U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Berkeley, to keep the United States from establishing permanent military bases in Iraq.

"The last thing Congress and the American people want in Iraq is to keep U.S. troops there permanently,” said Lantos, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. "We need a rational and reasonable exit strategy. Yet the administration has signaled that it intends instead to put down roots in Iraqi soil — soil that is already soaked with the blood of our soldiers and countless Iraqis. Enough is enough.”

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The city of Brisbane’s Fire Department and Office of Emergency Services will simulate an ordered evacuation of Kings Road residents as part of an exercise of the City’s "Wildland Pre-Fire Attack Plan.” The simulated major wildland fire affecting the upper community of Brisbane will take place between 9 a.m. and noon on Saturday.

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Ten-year-old Woodside resident Brent Brandenburg got a new experience at the Giants game Monday night — he was the youth announcer during one inning.

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