You be the judge.

Spotted two red-light cameras going up at Hesperian Boulevard and West A Street…

To facilitate the plan to build a loop of one-way streets around Hayward’s downtown, the building that formerly housed Zorn’s restaurant was demolished Monday at the corner of A Street and Mission Boulevard. See video here!

Zorn’s has been closed and vacant for years, and some of us never had the opportunity to eat at the diner with the unusual name. Any memories of Zorn’s anyone?

The HayWord inquired with city officials today as to what might be next on the demo list, but they didn’t  know.

Watch for those chain-link fences: when one goes up around a building, the dozer isn’t far behind.

Calling all Twitter Tweeps. Follow me at www.twitter.com/Noceda_Reports for story links, news updates, announcements and random observations around town…

There’s a baby two-headed snake down at the Reptile Room, 1223 A St. It’s on display for the curious public at least until this Saturday, when the owner expects a potential buyer from SoCal to come and take a gander. He says more than a hundred people have come by to check it out, and it’s worth it — there hasn’t been such a thing around these parts since a double-headed specimen at the California Academy of Sciences died some years back after a long run of freaking out field-trip kids.

Voters agreed with city officials that keeping current fire fighter and police officer staffing is worth a 5.5 percent utility tax. We’re checking in to see how the failure of the state props is going to affect city coffers, and getting reaction regarding Measure A’s passage. Officials had been painting a gloomy picture if it didn’t go through, and everyone down at City Hall is pretty happy right about now.

THURSDAY MORNING UPDATE: Motion failed 2-to-3 in an overflow meeting that involved a lot of heat, not just from audience members but between board members as well. Here’s our early version of the story, we will have a longer piece in tomorrow’s paper. A motion to approve a modified six-period schedule passed, although the HEA is challenging the validity of that schedule because it wasn’t bargained.

The Hayward Unified School District meeting on Wednesday is sure to produce some feelings of deja vu, as the board is slated to again address the high school block schedule. While the board voted in February to nix the schedule to save money, board member Luis Reynoso changed his mind and is bringing it back.

What do you think about Reynoso’s decision to revisit the issue? Is it a chance for a needed reprieve for a well-liked system, or is it time to accept the change as a budget-cutting casualty and move on?

UPDATE: They changed the route at the last minute this morning. Not sure why, but the train came through town on the less-used rails closer to the shoreline off Industrial Boulevard, then hooked up through Newark to Niles before continuing its route. An unfortunate bypass of the more populated parts of Hayward. I asked avid train chaser and Lamorinda Sun editor Sam Richards about it and he said not to take it personally — railroads change their routes all the time like that and often run late.

An old Union Pacific steam-powered locomotive is on tour in the area, and will be making a run from Oakland to Stockton on Wednesday morning.

According to the UP tracking site, our leg will bring it through San Leandro, Ashland, Cherryland, Hayward and Union City! It is scheduled to leave Oakland at 9 a.m. and arrive in Stockton around 11:30 a.m., so those with an inkling to see some vintage steam action should plan accordingly.

The planned course follows the rails next to the BART tracks, down San Leandro Street, Western Boulevard and Whitman Street.

We’re trying to figure out the best spot along the route to watch this magnificent machine chug through. Any suggestions?

The Mt. Eden High School Wind Ensemble has returned from its trip to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Director Kevin Cato said it was the band’s “best performance” at the hall, and the first time it was recorded. Listen to it here. And if you want to see more photos from the trip, click here.

The recording includes two pieces written specifically for the Carnegie appearance: “Casus Belli” (a song about the struggles of war, composed by woodwind instructor and Mt. Eden orchestra director Ronnie Cato) and Kevin Cato’s “Train,” which he says is self-explanatory.

The Mt. Eden music program will receive state accolades on May 8, with a resolution presented by Assemblywoman Mary Hayashi and state Sen. Ellen Corbett, honoring the program and the success that has been realized on band and individual levels.

Margarita Lacabe, whose husband is San Leandro school board President Mike Katz-Lacabe, wants sacred music to be removed from elementary school music studies or school programs. We’ve been getting lots of letters and calls. Sound off here.