I held off writing anything about the Oakland Raiders' hiring of Dennis Allen until the team confirmed it this morning.

When reports earlier this week were met with silence at team headquarters in Alameda, I figured something was up.

Maybe a change of heart by Allen. Maybe the Raiders were reneging or lowballing the offer. As a Raider fan for the last 40 years, you get trained to think the worst ... or that something bizarro in nature was evolving.

Luckily, and in a nod to normalcy in the post-Al Davis, post-overhead projector era, the team confirmed a four-year deal had been reached, and a presser would be held on Monday.

My thoughts?

I don't have a feeling either way about Allen or the hire because anyone who says it's good or bad is really missing the point.

The Modesto council has a full agenda this evening. Among the items are a revised plan for council districts, urban growth boundaries, employee pensions and whether the city should be the successor agency for redevelopment.

The council heeded Mayor Jim Ridenour's recommendation to postpone a decision on a redistricting map that divided the La Loma area between Districts 2 and 4. That map and one including the Shackelford annexation could be considered in March, after the Local Agency Formation Commission holds a Feb. 22 hearing on the Shackelford addition. 

Good morning from Tenth Street Place, where county supervisors will begin meeting in a minute or so. Nothing huge on this agenda; the Indalex lien story I wrote yesterday for today's paper is on the consent agenda, meaning they won't talk about it unless someone requests discussion.

-- Garth Stapley

If you've followed the Raiders for any extended period of time, you've probably heard the line: There are 31 teams in the NFL ... and then there are the Raiders.

Always sounded pretty cool to me. Wore it as a badge of honor in the 70s and 80s when the Raiders were winning Super Bowls and AFC West Division titles. They did things their way ... with success.

But over the last decade, that phrase has meant something entirely different. As in, there are 31 teams in the NFL who do things the right way, and one that doesn't.

Press releases blasting reporters. Coaching hirings and firings seemingly every year. Overhead projectors. Meandering press confernces. There's more, but I'll get to the point.

Tuesday afternoon in Alameda at team headquarters, the Al Davis era officially ended.

Was very surprised that Raiders new GM Reggie McKenzie fired Hue Jackson.

No doubt, it makes sense. A new boss wants to bring in his own guys, and going forward with the demonstrative Jackson, may have caused problems down the road.

Still, as national reports over the weekend about this possibility quieted, I figured it would be the Reggie and Hue show at today's 2 p.m. presser.

Here are a few thoughts on the situation ...

This morning's meeting started with Supervisor Bill O'Brien taking the chairman's seat, succeeding Dick Monteith, and Vito Chiesa designated as vice chairman.

Stay tuned for news on garbage rates, which are likely to climb, as well as the county's strategy for dismantling its redevelopment agency.

-- Garth Stapley

"Mythbusters" host Jamie Hyneman said he didn't think it was funny at all when his crew accidentally fired a cannonball into a house and minivan in Dublin last month. 

In a Q&A with the sold-out audience at tonight's show at the Gallo Center for the Arts, he said it was a close call. "It's never going to happen again," he said. "We'd just as soon not talk about it."

The cannonball blasted through a bedroom where a man, woman and child were sleeping, and then exited the house into the minivan. Fortunately no one was hurt.