Alfredo Rodriguez blends Beethoven and Bach with Herbie Hancock and Thelonious Monk. Quincy Jones’ new Cuban jazz protege performs at the Montalvo Arts Center on Sunday Nov. 14.

The SJPD has arrested five men for allegedly kidnapping a local businessman and demanding $1 million in ransom from his family. The victim, described as a local food business owner, was released from a home in the 1100 block of Fargate Circle and taken to the hospital, where he was treated for injuries resulting from the incident.

In “Love Life,” German director Maria Schrader recounts the affair of Ya’ara (Neta Garty, the Natalie Portman type) and an older, silver-haired gentleman named Arie (Rade Serbedzija).

There are a number of new home developments in San Jose, thanks largely to land being redeveloped from industrial and commercial uses: Hampton Park, located off Oakland Road and Montague Expressway; the Villas at Lundy, also in north in north San Jose;  Modern Ice Townhomes, at the corner of Berryessa and Oakland roads; and Autumnvale, located off Trade Zone Boulevard.

Chief Development Officer Paul Krutko announced his resignation, effective today, in an email to his department.Krutko has been with the city for eight years, and has several important accomplishments under his belt. He oversaw the purchase of 75 acres to expand Mineta Airport, and he negotiated with eBay to ensure that they stay in the city and expand their presence in San Jose. Kim Walesh will serve as Interim Chief Development Officer.

Mayor Chuck Reed and San Jose City Council have streamlined the rules to boost the development of affordable housing projects. New projects are anticipated to put 8,000 people to work, win at least $1 billion in private investment in the city, and raise as much as $10 million in revenues for San Jose.

If Chef Matthew LeGentry were stranded on a desert island and could choose to bring only four foods with him, he wouldn’t mess around. His choices would be prime New York steak, sashimi grade ahi, premium extra-virgin olive oil and, oh yeah, some nice carrots to munch on.

Proposition 23 was defeated last night, and California will continue on its path to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. Some Silicon Valley companies are already taking giant steps forward, but none of them has gone quite as far as Intel. According to the EPA’s Green Power Partnership, the company already gets 50 percent of its electricity from a wide variety of renewable sources

People who went out to vote yesterday could kill two birds with one stone. Two polling stations in Santa Clara County also offered flu vaccines to voters and non-voters alike. The program was initiated by and run in conjunction with Stanford University’s School of Medicine.