Reporters' Notebook

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Project READ, Redwood City’s tutoring program, won a J. Russell Kent Award from the San Mateo County School Boards Association, a Certificate of Recognition from the California state Senate and a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition from the U.S. House of Representatives.

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A hairless tea cup Chihuahua from Millbrae wasn’t ugly enough it seems.

Buster lost out on the title of World’s Ugliest Dog at the annual competition at the Sonoma-Marin Fair last Friday to Gus — a three-legged, one-eyed, hairless dog from Florida. The competition will be aired on Animal Planet in October.

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After nearly 75 years of business on Burlingame Avenue, Burlingame Stationers will be closing its doors. Owners Bob Bishop and Gail Bishop Welter announced plans to close shop this week citing flat sales and increasing rent. An inventory closeout sale is planned through September.

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The San Carlos Pony Baseball League, which plays games in Burton Park, hit a homerun when it came to getting a new scoreboard. IBEW Local 617 donated a Translux-Fairply scoreboard worth $6,000 and a union rep threw out the first pitch at the city championship game Saturday. Parent John Quan, a structural engineer, donated calculations; parent Curtis Archibald of C.F. Archibald Paving, Inc. bore the foundation piers, built the steel frame and set the frame and scoreboard; parent Larry Michelini installed the conduit and wiring; Rob Davies of Robert Davies Painting donated labor; the city gave the paint; Peninsula Building Materials donated all the foundation pier rebar; and, Rich Sacher, of Graniterock, donated all the foundation concrete.

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During county budget hearings, San Mateo Medical Center CEO Dr. Sang-Ick Chang detailed a program to reward novel ideas that result in savings. The winner, who figured out how to save $84,000 in housekeeping costs, won lunch with the CEO — a reward Chang joked was a way to "keep the submissions low.”

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When private defender program head John Digiacinto unveiled his budget, he joked a parting gift for County Manager John Maltbie was divesting him of the conviction lawyers are incapable of being succinct. Not to be outdone, after the relatively brief presentation, Maltbie shot back that Diaginco wasn’t being paid by an hourly rate.

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See something missing in downtown San Mateo? The kiosk at 4th Avenue and San Mateo Drive is gone. The downtown San Mateo Association recently had the dilapidated kiosk removed. It was originally constructed decades ago to hide an Pacific Gas and Electric company electrical box. The outdated electrical box was no longer necessary, so PG&E rerouted some wires and removed the unnecessary equipment.

The DSMA also updated the outdoor furniture at the busy intersection.

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