Have you heard? After years of being subjected to its arguably clever commercials, Hayward residents will soon get to sample the Hot Fudge Shakes, Coney Dog & Tots, and Xtra-long Bacon Cheddar Cheese Steaks that come along with a Sonic Burger Drive-In.

The sign is up at the Fairway Park shopping center, and a wooden frame is rising at the former Arby’s site, 31187 Mission Blvd. While the official Bay Area Sonic Web site states a December opening, we contacted Rashid Cinos, the man behind the new Sonic.

“It’s a bit too early to touch bases,” Cinos said. “Give me two weeks. By then we should have some immediate milestones, a better idea of when we will be opening.”

Will do, Mr. Cinos. Last we heard, there was some design modification that had to be completed to make the site appropriate for the Sonic business model, which is carhop-style fast-food, with no indoor sit-down restaurant.

Jon Fong shot us an e-mail seeking more information about what he says is “quite some news” for a lot of people, at least his peers, who have been tantalized by the commercials but denied easy Sonic access.

Read Jon’s thoughts and more after the jump.

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It’s an interesting experiment, apparently the first of its kind in the nation. Users of Hayward libraries will soon have the option of paying a nominal monthly fee in exchange for never having to return the materials. That is, they’d have to return the materials when they want to check out something else, just like the Netflix movie rental system.

Other libraries have tried the other part of the Netflix model, mailing materials to library users. Orange County, Fla., has a particularly successful system that library users love. Here’s some discussion on that service. But they don’t charge the fee and they don’t drop the due date, and that’s what makes Hayward’s system unique.

DVD late fees run a dollar a day, books and other materials cost a quarter per item. For those who use the library as a movie resource, it wouldn’t take too many forgetful mornings to rack up the $3 a month it costs to join the optional new plan.

What about those items that go missing for an extended period? Sean Reinhart, the acting library director, said they will buy additional copies when people begin to queue up for hot items. They will use the same system they do now: Whenever three or more people are on the waiting list, an additional copy will be acquired.

Reinhart said they expect to have the new model up and running by Christmas.

I corresponded with Reinhart about potential problems, i.e. research materials going missing for extended periods, out-of-print books. Some of the information is in the story, but for those who want to know more, click on the “Read the rest of this entry.” And here’s a library blogger’s thoughts about adopting the entire Netflix model.

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The National Weather Service issued an urban and small stream flood advisory for the Hayward area, meaning that nuisance flooding could occur. Not nearly as extreme as a flash flood watch. Regardless, we went down to take a look at San Lorenzo Creek in a number of spots and found it flowing rather rapidly.

Here it is near Foothill Boulevard and City Center Drive.

Here it is at the Grove Street Bridge.

Here it is behind the Meek Mansion.

Want to know how your surrounding area would fare in a 100-year-flood? Here’s a FEMA site where you can punch in your address and get an overview.

And here’s a Daily Review from the mid-1950s, before the San Lorenzo Creek was calmed by dams and culverts.

Let us know if you are aware of any particularly flood prone areas in the greater Hayward area that we should be keeping an eye on.

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.

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?

Calpine announced Thursday that an amended power-purchase agreement with PG&E was approved by the California Public Utilities Commission for the proposed Russell City Energy Center, a 600-megawatt power plant that would be placed near the Hayward shoreline.

That doesn’t mean the plant itself is approved. It has some of the required permits, but the main hurdle remaining is approval from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, acting as a delegate of the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

The air district previously gave it the go ahead, meaning it didn’t find evidence that the plant would add significant amounts of pollution to the air, but that permit was revoked after a lawsuit on the grounds that BAAQMD did not follow federal guidelines for publicly noticing the permitting process.

The air district is currently reviewing and responding to public comments submitted regarding the permit. No time frame has been given in which a decision will be made.

We will have a larger story on this posted online Friday, running in Saturday’s paper.

The PGA Nationwide tour is in Hayward right now, way up in the hills for the Stonebrae Classic. Here’s a promotional spot for the city that has been running on the Golf Channel.

It’s pretty slick, has an etheral-yet-upbeat background tune and the narrator’s got a great voiceover voice. Take a look and tell us: Do you think it accurately captures the essence of Hayward?

Jack O’Connell, state superintendent of schools, brought up the Hayward Unified School District in his annual State of Education address yesterday. He used the district as an example of how bad things are, financially speaking. Specifically, O’Connell pointed out that the district is considering eliminating the class-size reduction program and cutting 170 positions.

A dubious honor to be singled out, but at least we know he’s paying attention to HUSD. But lest we think we’re special:

“I hear these kind of stories all over the state,” he said. “As painful as these mid-year cuts are, we can expect worse over the next two years.”

The Hayward school board will vote on cuts at its next meeting, Feb. 11.

The Hayward Unified School District will hear recommendations for budget reductions at its meeting at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in Council Chambers at City Hall, 777 B St., in Hayward. They will vote on the budget at the Feb. 11 meeting.

Meanwhile, a group of teachers released the following music video:

Here’s the explanation, from Andrew Kong Knight, Hayward High art instructor:

Elimination of the high school block system will give students the choice of only six classes per year instead of eight classes. Limiting the classes will eliminate many of the elective classes students enjoy, such as music and art. Many students attend Hayward high schools because of the strong art and music programs. Elimination of elementary instrumental music program will deny students the opportunity to experience music, which has been proven to help students learn in other subjects. The early development programs are essential to strong music programs in middle and high school.

“I produced the video to spread awareness about the Hayward Unified School District’s continued failure to make budget cuts on an administrative level. Every time they’re in a budget squeeze, they never consider cutting the questionable high-salary district positions. Instead, they hurt students and teachers by eliminating music and art classes.”

… but for a bit of a polar opposite, a somnambulist died of exposure in another Hayward, where wind chills are expected to bring the temp down to 50 below zero. According to the story, “Flesh can freeze in 10 minutes when the wind chill is 40 below or colder, the weather service noted.”

Around these parts, it’s expected to remain more than 100 degrees warmer than that, for the time being.