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Top Stories: Nov. 11, 2009

Adobe Cuts Jobs; China Goes Solar in SV; Governor Signs Water Bill in San Jose

by Danny Wool on Nov 11, 2009
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Look Both Ways Before You Cross
San Jose may be one of the country's top ten walking cities, but that doesn't mean it's safe or getting safer for pedestrians. In fact, city engineers will tell you that slow-moving traffic only adds pollution while fast moving traffic along the city's streets, make for a greener San Jose. Perhaps that's why a new report by the Surface Transportation Policy Partnership named San Jose as California's tenth most dangerous metropolitan area for pedestrians.

This isn't a problem that can be resolved with leash laws, though that may seem to be an easy target. The figure is based on the 47 pedestrian deaths that occurred in San Jose in 2007 and 2008. Of course, the number is better than San Francisco, which had 136 fatalities at the same time, or of San Diego, which had 113.

On the other hand, there are steps that San Jose can take to reduce accidents. In 2002, the city enacted the Couplet Conversion Plan to convert high-speed one-way streets downtown into slower two-way streets. In the past seven years, very few streets have been converted back to two-way thoroughfares, while sidewalk space is constantly being reduced to make it easier for cars to turn.
Read More at KLIV and San Jose Pedestrians.


Adobe Restructuring Costs Jobs, Money
San Jose-based Adobe Systems, the maker of Photoshop and Illustrator, announced a second wave of job cuts yesterday, reducing its staff by 680 employees. In December 2008, the company announced that it would let 600 employees go. The impact will be felt throughout the company, and not be limited to San Jose. The job cuts are part of a massive restructuring effort, which will reflect on the company's taxes. Adobe also announced that it will be filing $65-71 million in pretax restructuring charges.

Much of this restructuring results from the recent acquisition of Omniture, a Utah-based form specializing in online marketing and web analytics. Adobe paid $1.8 billion for the company.

Despite, or possibly because of the job cuts, investors are expressing confidence in Adobe, which is expected to release a new product in 2010. Stock prices have risen 72 percent since late 2008, and shares rose $0.05 cents just yesterday in afterhours trading.
Read More at the Wall Street Journal.
Read More at KCBS.


China Takes Comes to Silicon Valley for Solar Panel Expertise
In its effort to become the world leader in solar power, China is acquiring Silicon Valley know-how to reach that goal. Hong Kong-based China Solar Power (CSP) announced that it has just acquired ThinSilicon, a Menlo Park-based company that developed a process to boost the efficiency of thin-film PV modules. Panel efficiency using the ThinSilicon process is 9 percent. No details were forthcoming about the cost of the acquisition. The California company was founded three years ago by three Stanford graduate students, with funding from Sequoia Capital, Firelake Capital Management, and Spring Ventures.

The acquisition will be a big boost to CSP, which is hoping to become a major player in the Chinese government's solar energy initiative. China has announced that it expects to add at least 450 megawatts of solar capacity in 2010. Of this, the CSP expects to produce 32 megawatts at its plant in Yantai, while a second plant under construction in Jiangyin will produce another 60 megawatts by late 2010. The company also plans to launch two additional plants in the coming year.
Read More at Green Energy Reporter.
Read More at Green Tech Media.


Governor Visits to Sign Water Bill
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was in San Jose yesterday to sign one of the four bills intended to conserve and improve the supply of water to Californians. The state still needs to pass an $11 billion bond measure to pay for the water conservation project, but the Governor's greatest source of opposition may come from the public, including environmentalists.

Part of the plan calls for municipalities to reduce water consumption by 20 percent over the next ten years. For most people, this will impact home gardens and landscaping. Water agency officials are calling on the public to introduce more drought resistant plants into their lawns and to install more efficient irrigation systems.

This is unfair, argues Jim Cordes, a Sunnyvale resident who is currently designing a water recovery system for his home. But apart from being an avid home gardener, Cordes is also the capture rain runoff and recycle so-called gray water from the washer. Cordes is also chairs the political committee of the Sierra Club. He claims that the onus of responsibility is being placed on homeowners and municipalities, while no conservation goals have been set for the use of water in agriculture. "They use 75 percent of the water; it is really unfair," he says.

Meanwhile, the Santa Clara Valley Water District is drowning under accusations that it double-dipped into tax payers' money. According to reports, in 2005-2006 it charged residents $30 million dollars to import drinking water, but only ended up spending $15 million. The case went to trial on Monday, and if the ruling goes against the water district, it could be expected to pay back thousands of taxpayers.
Read More at ABC 7.


Reed Meets with Local Residents to Discuss Growing Violence
"The issue of the shoes was not a driving force behind this incident," said SJPD Captain Ernie Alcantar to a group of concerned parents last night. He was referring to the rumor that the 12-year-old boy shot in the head while trick-or-treating was attacked because he was wearing Nike Cortez sneakers, the style favored by the Surenos gang. He and Mayor Chuck Reed met with hundreds of concerned people at the Lee Mathson Middle School to discuss ways that they might respond to growing gang violence in East San Jose.

Rather than simply listen to people air their gripes, the participants were split up into breakup groups to devise strategies to counter violence. City officials explained that they will review all of the ideas that are raised and translate them into an action plan, which will be presented to local neighborhood associations by mid-December.

As the meeting was underway, the SJPD began investigating the stabbing death of a young teen in South San Jose. The boy was found by family members on the 5600 block of Comanche Drive. He is the 25th homicide victim in th city to date.
Read More at ABC 7.


County to Buy San Jose Medical Center
Santa Clara County will buy the former San Jose Medical Center site downtown to house its new medical clinic. The 13-acre property will be sold by its current owners, Hospital Corp. of America, for 28.3 million. Explaining why it needed to buy such a large space, county officials explained their plan to hold on to the property until economic conditions improve, and then to sell most of the land to a developer. The extra land, which covers 11 acres, is being sold for $15 million, a price described by County Executive Jeff Smith as "a steal." Rather than dipping into its reserve funds to purchase the land, the county plans to borrow against the property.
Read More at the Business Journal.



by Danny Wool on Nov 11, 2009
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