As St. Matthew’s Catholic School in San Mateo celebrates its 75th anniversary, we’d like to hear from anyone out there who attended a Catholic educational institution, especially on the Peninsula, at some point in the past. We’d like to gather some stories, some vignettes, some memories, good, bad or in between. Humor would be most welcome. In fact, it would be preferred. Feel free to chime in. Just keep your material within the bounds of acceptable discourse. Thanks in advance.

From the tone of most of the news reports, you might be led to believe that Bay Meadows, the historic horse racing facility in San Mateo, is dead, finished, kaput. The California Horse Racing Board’s 4-2 decision not to permit Bay Meadows to retain its dirt track for another two years seems to be a certain death sentence. But is it? Maybe not. The idea of Bay Meadows simply sitting there idle for several years (before it is shut down as scheduled) makes no economic sense at all. You have to believe that, even as the announcement of Bay Meadows’ imminent demise was being made, negotiations to get a re-hearing on the track surface issue were under way. There simply is too much money (and tax dollars) at stake. Behind the scenes, local politicians are almost certainly scrambling to find some sort of compromise.

This week’s announcement that U.S. officials have given tentative approval to Virgin America Airlines to commence operations at San Francisco International Airport is good news for the San Mateo County economy. It will mean an estimated 1,600 new jobs within two years of the airline’s launch. Virgin America’s corporate headquarters is in Burlingame. Combined with the return of both Southwest Airlines and JetBlue Airways to SFO, Virgin America’s presence figures to be a plus for the Peninsula’s travel industry, not to mention local taxing authorities which stand to reap a harvest of fresh funds too. Five-and-a-half years after the events of Sept. 11, 2001, things are looking up.

There has been some mild surprise expressed due to the presence of coffins for sale at certain Costco outlets in the area. The big-box discounter instituted the practice at a few of its stores in the East three years ago and the notion has spread, finally, to the Bay Area. A South San Francisco Costco is perfectly situated to take advantage of the option. It’s located within a few blocks of Colma’s cemeteries. So offering coffins makes sense there. Costco, for sure, is a one-stop shopping venue these days _ from cradle to grave, as it were. Can Costco headstones or special crypt reservations be far behind?

Let there be no doubt about the pervasive influence of the no-growth movement on the San Mateo County Coastside. Not long ago, plans were unveiled for the creation of a number of homes in Montara. The idea, among some fervent coastal protectionists, has been dubbed “a major subdivision.” Major? Precisely how many houses are we talking about here? Turns out the answer is seven. That’s right. Seven. Not 77 or 777, seven. From the tone of some of those weighing in on the matter you might get the impression that another Westlake is being proposed. Not so. However, branding a seven-structure proposal as “major” is just one more indication that population paranoia is not just alive and well on the coastal frontier, it’s practically a religion.

If you want stark evidence of the sometimes gross inequality in public education finance in California, you need not go very far. San Mateo County is ground zero for such proof. According to County Superintendent of Education Jean Holbrook, the differences in spending per student from district to district here on the Peninsula are stunning. She says elementary dollars per child range from $6,325 all the way up to $14,572. At the high school level, those figures run from $7,006 to $10,121. The question is: What can be done to equalize those numbers (or even come close), if anything? Taking from the rich (usually property-tax-based districts) to benefit the poor (typically revenue-limit districts) will be met with fierce opposition by the former. One of the sad ironies of this situation is that, often, the youngsters who need the most assistance have the fewest fiscal resources behind them. And vice versa. It’s not healthy no matter how you care to slice it.

A committee chaired by two members of the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors is seeking a way to provide health care for an estimated 40,000 uninsured adults, many of them poor, living on the Peninsula. The task, similar to a plan being considered at the state level, is far from simple. It is made more complicated due to the fact that the supervisors, by the strict letter of the law, don’t have the authority to mandate financial participation in an omnibus health care program for private businesses located in incorporated cities. The county has 20 such separate municipal entities, stretching from Brisbane to Portola Valley. County officials have little or no control over commercial outfits there. That being the case, as spelled out recently by county counsel, how will local officials be able to fund what appears to be a $21 million gap in revenues for the care of this uninsured population? Got any solutions?