When it comes to hilarious comedy teams, Greg Munks and Carlos Bolanos are gaining on Martin and Lewis, Hope and Crosby and Laurel and Hardy. Munks and Bolanos, San Mateo County’s bumbling sheriff and undersheriff (love that term by the way) respectively, were caught in a raid on a purported brothel in Las Vegas last weekend. They were not brought into custody and there were no criminal charges filed. But what the heck were those wild and wacky dudes doing riding around in a limo as they sought out what was described as a “massage parlor?” Hello? A massage parlor _ in Las Vegas? What did these naive worthies expect? Scented lotions, therapy tables and nothing more? How dumb are these guys anyway? This lame tag team appears to have all the street smarts, not to mention common sense, of a couple of clueless Mayberry hayseeds out on the town. They now have about as much credibility as Elizabeth Taylor at a Marriage Encounter seminar. Let’s hope we don’t hear much from them about their 24-7 dedication to crime-fighting on the Peninsula any time soon.

The Times is moving. The newspaper, founded in 1889, is shifting its headquarters back into San Mateo’s downtown area where it began. A lease for office space at 477 Ninth Ave. has been signed and it is expected that editorial, advertising and circulation functions will commence at that address fairly soon. The current headquarters, at 1080 S. Amphlett Blvd. adjacent to Highway 101, is for sale. It has been in operation since the mid-1960s. However, since the newspaper is no longer printed at that site, there is no reason to retain it. And, like Bay Meadows, the land is simply too valuable to keep as an under-utilized asset.

Another San Mateo County landmark is going to bite the dust within the next five years or so. Speaking this past week in Burlingame, John Martin, director of San Francisco International Airport, said the 196-foot-tall SFO air traffic control tower has to be torn down, most probably within that time frame, because it is seismically unstable and could be unusable in the event of a major earthquake. A new tower would be built either in the same location _ where the vacant Central Terminal resides _ or somewhere else on the SFO property east of Highway 101. That terminal is scheduled to be either renovated or razed and rebuilt within five years, Martin explained.

The 2007 San Mateo County Sports Hall of Fame inductees have been announced by The Times. They are: Mimi Arnold, Dave Binn, Rich Bordi, Gloria Smith Corey, Cindy Galarza, Walt Gilliam, Marty Hull, Ben Parks, Steve Shafer and Mark Speckman. These ten will be feted at a banquet, sponsored by First National Bank of Northern California, June 21 at the San Mateo Elks Lodge. They will join 182 individuals who have been inducted since 1989. The Hall of Fame is located at the County History Museum in Redwood City. For dinner ticket information, please call (650) 348-4332. Proceeds will benefit the museum.

The campaign, in its embryonic form, has begun. As the San Mateo Union High School District continues to struggle financially, there has been a no-so-subtle effort (fueled, in part, by employee union members) to tout the idea of a parcel tax to alleviate the fiscal strain. That will never fly with skeptical taxpayers. The district, awash in fresh funds, has more money than at any time in its history. It’s just that its trustees and administrators have failed to be good shepherds of that groaning pile of cash. Adding a parcel tax on top of two huge bond measures and generous property tax increases over the last decade would be just one more opportunity for the authorities to mishandle the trust of the long-suffering citizenry. So forget about a parcel tax. The public, fed up with the district’s self-inflicted miseries, won’t buy it. Not even close.

During the last meeting of a San Mateo County committee looking into the issue of finding ways to provide affordable health care for uninsured adults, one member of that body provided a rather startling prediction. Robert Merwin, representing Mills-Peninsula Health Services, said it is estimated that the region will lose 120 primary care physicians within the next five years. Their patients would represent about one-third of the county’s total population. So one big concern is that, if those general practitioners are not replaced, both the insured and the uninsured would face a distinct lack of family doctors on the Peninsula no matter what solutions for the latter are found. Not a pleasant thought at all.

As the bad news keeps on coming in the San Mateo Union High School District, the need for strong, qualified, credible leadership becomes more paramount with each passing day. Superintendent Sam Johnson is out by the end of June. A majority of the trustees, the same folks who hired Johnson in the first place, finds itself with a less than scintillating track record. The big question on the immediate horizon is: Who will be the interim superintendent while the board members seek a permanent replacement for their lame duck top administrator? Their problem is that the district’s administrative bench isn’t just thin, it’s practically non-existent. Most, if not all, of the experienced people are long-gone. Who knows, the embattled board may have to find a way to yank someone out of retirement for several months. It’s a truly bad situation any way you care to slice it.

Although it does not come as a surprise to those who have been paying attention on the Peninsula, the 2006-07 school year will go down in history. Why? This is the first time that Hispanic students outnumber white children in San Mateo County’s public schools, kindergarten through grade 12. According to data provided by the County Office of Education and the state of California Education Department, Hispanic youngsters make up 34 percent of the county’s total enrollment; white kids are 33 percent. The trend has been ongoing for well over 30 years here. The reasons: Steady Hispanic immigration and a relatively high birth rate in that population and a corresponding emigration of whites from the area and a lower birth rate in that ethnic category.

It’s been a rough ride. Sam Johnson’s short tenure as superintendent of the San Mateo Union High School District will come to an end in late June. He has said he will retire at that time. There are a lot of people who believe his departure can’t come soon enough. The district is in disarray, both financially and certainly morale-wise. Now the question becomes: Who should replace him? For decades, the district has been led by an in-house individual. Maybe it’s time for the district’s trustees to look outside for Johnson’s replacement. In a separate but related matter, two of Johnson’s steadfast supporters on the district’s board of trustees, Marcia Cohn-Lyle and Diane Vranes, have stated they fully intend to seek re-election in November.