Ever wanted to speak to Newark Police Chief Jim Leal about something going on in your neighborhood, but had no idea how to contact him? Well, here’s your chance to talk to him face to face. Leal and Commander Bob Douglas are the two officers scheduled to participate in this month’s “Coffee with the Cops” event in Newark. The event is slated for 6 to 8 p.m. WEDNESDAY, OCT. 14, at Starbucks on Stevenson Boulevard at Balentine Drive. In case you show up and forget what to ask Chief Leal, just remember that he is a big San Jose Sharks fan, so that’ll break the ice, hopefully long enough for you to remember your question.

Nadja Adolf called this morning and said that her home was vandalized while she and her husband were out earlier today. Nadja, one of three candidates for city council, said when she arrived home she noticed that someone had chucked eggs onto her porch while she was gone.

“This is so juvenile, it’s unbelievable,” she said.

Nadja called police when she realized what had happened, and they have documented the incident. A police commander said they will increase patrols near her home.

When asked why she thought someone might have thrown the eggs, Nadja pointed to the fact that she was running for council, is an environmentalist, does not like gangs and opposes Measure L, the city’s proposed utility tax.

Nadja is running against incumbents Ana Apodaca and Alan Nagy, all of whom appear on the Nov. 3 ballot.

Yes, you read that right, Governor.

East Bay resident Wynn Grcich spoke at the Newark City Council meeting Thursday  and opened her 20-minute speech — which focused largely on water issues throughout the region – by urging the state’s longest sitting mayor (Dave Smith)  to run for Governor. She lauded Smith’s leadership — particularly his effort in helping Newark maintain a fairly balanced budget over the years – and offered to run his campaign. She opined that if San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom could run — ever after leading his city into more than $300 million in debt — that Smith should try his hand.

Mayor Smith chuckled and remarked “only if I can take all of these people (the council and city staff) with me.”

Although investigators have not released the name of the teen believed to have been shot to death by her ex-boyfriend before turning the gun on himself Friday, multiple outside sources have identified the girl as Amanda Caravantes and the suspect as Erik Petersen, both 17.

Both teens attended Newark Memorial High at some point, and Petersen still is enrolled there, according to sources.

Community members have called a candlelight vigil at 7 tonight near Newark Junior High (at Lafayette Ave./Newark Blvd.).

The text in blue is a statement from the Newark school district:

The Newark Unified School District and the Newark Memorial High School community are saddened by the tragic loss and injury of two young people on Friday night in Fremont. 

In order to provide support to students and staff who may know these families, the District will have counselors and psychologists on call this week.  Parents and students are encouraged to contact school staff if they need, or know of anyone who needs support regarding this incident.

Please join us in keeping these young people and their families in your thoughts.

In case you missed the memo or forgot, there is a Newark City Council meeting tonight (7:30 p.m., Newark City Hall, 37101 Newark Blvd.) to further discuss the proposed Utility Users Tax, which is on the November ballot. Looks like the city is softening it’s stance on the length of the proposed tax. Initially they wanted to implement it for 20 years if it passed, now they are looking at just six years. This proposed change, which the council will have to approve, is being made due in part to opposition from community members, Assistant City Manager Dennis Jones said earlier this week.

If you can’t make it to the meeting, you can follow the happenings via my twitter feed at www.twitter.com/benaguirrejr  I’ll do my best to provide updates throughout the meeting. There will be a story the following day.

UPDATE (4:30 p.m.): Assistant City Manager Dennis Jones confirms that the main change is the length of the proposed tax from 20 years to 6 years, and the language will be included on the ballot. There will be an opportunity for public comment on the issue, Jones said.

Got word late this afternoon that Newark has called a special city council meeting for WEDNESDAY (Aug.5), 7:30 p.m. at City Hall  so that the board can discuss revisions to the utility users tax proposed by city staff. No word yet what changes are being suggested, but No Newark Tax – a group of citizens opposing the ballot measure — seems to think it’s to reduce the length of the proposed tax from 20 years to just six years. More to come when the city releases the agenda, which should be within the hour …

Here is my original story (LINK).

Big thanks to a caller who pointed out that the Newark Unified School District has posted a job listing for an Interim principal position at Newark Memorial High School. The district had been seeking a principal since June when then-principal Connie Spinnato left her post after just one year. The district held a special board meeting last week — to presumably present a candidate for the position — but nothing of significance took place. The next day, the aforementioned job listing was posted.

Both Superintendent Kevin Harrigan and Human Resources Director Tim Erwin are on vacation this week, so we’ll have to wait until Monday at the earliest to find out why the district is now searching for an interim principal. Officials have said in the past that starting a job search in June for such an important position is not ideal. In other words, they would have preferred to solicit applications earlier in the school year because most people have their plans for the next year pretty well mapped out by June.

Looks like voters will have more to decide this November than just its city’s leaders. The Newark City Council approved a resolution Thursday to place a Utility Tax on the ballot, a 3.9 percent tax that is projected to raise $2.6 million annually. The tax, which would be applied to electricity, gas, cable, etc., would be implemented for 20 years, but the council can remove it at any time, City Manager John Becker said. I’ll have more on this later in a full-length story, including some points opponents of the tax brought up during the meeting.

When Shiraz Jivani decided to show Hollywood films at the NAZ 8, he was operating on the assumption that the Cinedome 7 Newark was not long for this world.

Why would he think that? Click here.

It’s a plan for a new development on Mowry in Newark. If you go to pages five and six, you see that the Cinedome is proposed to become a gym.

I called Cinemark, which owns the theater, but they didn’t call back.

We’ll have a story  in tomorrow’s paper about how local school districts are reacting to the Swine flu, but here is a bit of info for those who live in Newark. Superintendent Kevin Harrigan sent notes to district employee and parents this week addressing the issue. 

In a nut shell, the note to employees states that school activities will continue as normal unless a confirmed case comes from the area. If that happens, then the district will work with county health officials to determine if school closures are needed. (View note to staff HERE) (.doc)

The note to parents also addresses the issue, but urges parents to to keep their children at home if they exhibit flu-like symptoms. (View note to parents HERE) (.pdf)  (Spanish/Espanol version is HERE) (.pdf)

Newark Unified is also going to use it’s Web site to distribute information.