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News From Silicon Valley's Neighborhoods Bail of Confusion Bad Boy's Bail Bonds started hustling customers on the street in front of the jail, and now the competition has joined them, creating what some say is a circus atmosphere around City Hall. Big Deal Los Gatos--Think of it as a little Headwaters. The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District finally sealed a contract with Arlie Land and Cattle Company for more than 1,000 acres of land near Lexington Reservoir. But signing the deal is just the first step. Under the terms, Midpen pays Arlie $10.5 million for part of the land and gets until the end of the month to come up with $14.5 million for the rest--where Arlie wants to sell 50 home sites and maybe build a golf course--and until April 15 to find $5.2 million to buy out the timber rights before the new parkland gets logged. Sound risky? It is: Arlie can back out if it doesn't get to keep the lots. Channel Serfs Saratoga--In the channel-choosing game, public access TV gets last pick. But when independent San Jose station KICU decided it wanted to take the Channel 6 slot from Saratoga's KSAR, the community station's defenders mobilized. They contend that KSAR has a contract with TCI Cablevision guaranteeing it a home on Channel 6 indefinitely. KICU's lust for 6 may result in displacement of community stations in Los Gatos, Milpitas and Mountain View. Dinner Theater Absurd Cupertino--Was it slapstick or was it crime? Diners were mystified at first when two guys in ski masks burst into Hamasushi Restaurant last Saturday and started waving around guns and demanding access to the safe. One of them grabbed the head chef, who promptly pointed to the head waitress as the keeper of the purse. The thieves turned their attentions to her and eventually absconded with $900 from the cash register, but not before the chef seized a fire extinguisher from the kitchen and sprayed them both in the face. The suspects fled the scene in a red Suburban and, presumably, a cloud of white dust. [ Metro | Metroactive Central | Archives ]