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San Jose's Safety Ranking Questioned; Turkey Shortage; Too Fat to Fly; More San Jose A's News

by Danny Wool on Nov 25, 2009
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Singleton Takes on Google
Just two days ago, SanJose.com reported that Rupert Murdoch and Microsoft are planning to take on Google. They could be joined by the Denver-based MediaNews Group, which owns the San Jose Mercury News, and practially every other “local” newspaper except the San Francisco Chronicle.

That company's CEO, Dean Singleton, says that starting next year, many of his newspapers will start putting their content behind pay walls, starting with York, Pennsylvania, and Chico, California. They also plan on blocking Google from accessing their content. The decision could have a major impact on many Bay Area papers.

Google has yet to respond to the threat, though in the past it has stated that the value it provides to local newspapers outweighs the advertising benefits it receives.
Read More at the San Francisco Business Journal.

San Jose: Safer Than Most Big Cities
With all the recent coverage of the Halloween shooting that left a 12-year-old boy in critical condition, it's hard to believe that San Jose is one of the safest cities of 500,000 people or more, in the entire United States. But it is, at least according to a controversial new report by CQ Press, ranking behind Honolulu, New York (!), and El Paso in terms of the number of murders, burglaries, rapes, assaults, and other violent crimes.

Not everyone is happy with the report. When St. Louis, for example, ranked second both nationally and in the 100,000 to 500,000 population category, its mayor, Francis Slay, called the ranking "stupid." St. Louis appeared just above another Bay Area city, Oakland, in that same population category.

Slay may have a point. CQ bases its rankings on statistics from the FBI, but the FBI itself calls the data misleading. And even Mayor Chuck Reed isn't happy with the findings—he wants the city to take the number one spot.

Yet despite all that, one thing is certain: When it comes to safety, more people would rather be in San Jose (ranked 10.73) than in Camden, New Jersey (ranked 466.50).
Read More at NBC Bay Area.
Read More at CQ Press.


More Turkeys Needed in San Jose
What's Thanksgiving dinner without a turkey (unless you're having duck this year)? Some of San Jose's most needy residents may be about to find out. Local food banks are in short supply this year because of the recession, even while more and more people are turning to them for help. This season, even state workers are turning to food banks after facing salary cuts and working through their savings. According to the manager of one California food bank, "Two to three years ago, these people were donating food to us. … Now, they're here showing up on Fridays, in part, looking for food."

This year San Jose is especially hard hit. Second Harvest Food Bank, which supplies food to over 300 groups in the South Bay, is still almost 8,000 turkeys short of its 10,000 goal for the holiday—3,000 less than they had last year at this time. Moneywise, they are also hurting. They are still $2 million short of the funds they need this season.

Fortunately, help comes from unexpected places. The Sacred Heart Community Center was preparing to feed over 1,000 families with just 200 turkeys, when a vintage fire truck pulled up outside their doors. In it were over 100 turkeys, enough to reduce the strain at least somewhat. And while more food—not just turkeys—is needed, there is still some time for the people of San Jose to share with those less fortunate.

For those who want to give this holiday season, the Merc has a list of local charities that are accepting donations. Read More at ABC 7.
Read More at KCBS.


Local Man Too Fat to Fly
Okamoni Fa was just trying to get to his uncle's funeral, but when the 400-pound San Jose resident showed up at Southwest Airlines, he was denied a ticket—because he is too fat. The airline told him that because of his weight he would have to buy a second seat, but there was none available for him. Apparently, this is a frequent problem to add to the list of hysterical infants and people coughing on flights. The airline's policy is that overweight people must buy a second seat if the crew thinks that their weight would impede on the person sitting next to them. To their credit, they will refund the seat if the flight is not oversold.

Fa said that this has never happened to him before, but observers suggest that the down economy has a lot to do with it. There are fewer flights, and to save money, cash-strapped airlines are doing what they can to make sure that their flights are full when they take off. That is not normally a problem during holiday season though. The real problem is that there is no set standard or weight limit so that people can plan ahead—not that that would have helped Fa. It is difficult, after all, to plan for a funeral.
Read More at ABC 7.


Push to Bring the A's to San Jose
For more than forty years the Oakland A's have been playing in Alameda County Coliseum, a stadium they share with the Oakland Raiders. Now, however, with talk in the air of the Raiders moving to Santa Clara, that stadium could lose its other tenant too, if the A's move to San Jose. Their lease at the Coliseum expires in 2010, and city officials in San Jose want to build them a new home on a 23-acre plot near the HP Pavilion and Diridon Station.

The biggest problem so far is an exclusivity agreement that the county signed with the San Francisco Giants back in 1992. County Supervisor Dave Cortese has asked the MLB to cancel the agreement, and he has been joined by nine cities across the county, particularly San Jose.
Read More at the Business Journal.

Christmas in the Park to Celebrate 30th Anniversary
It's been 30 years since Don Lima put a few Christmas displays outside his mortuary to celebrate the holiday. The displays grew and grew, and eventually moved to the park, where they emerged as Christmas in the Park, the city's largest free event. Almost half a million people are expected to visit the displays this year to see old favorites like the Victorian Village and the Gingerbread House. And there are always new things to see as well, like the Christmas Countdown Clock, built locally by Method 42 Productions.

It's been a tough year for Christmas in the Park, which depends on local donations for its upkeep. Like other charities, donations were down, and there was even some talk of cancelling the celebration. Then a Christmas miracle occurred, when Jason Acevedo of Matteo Studios offered to design and donate a display. The event was on, and more local children will have a chance to share in Christmas memories that will last a lifetime.

Christmas in the Park officially begins at 5:30 pm Friday at Plaza de Cesar Chavez Park with the lighting of the Community Giving Tree.
Read More at the Mercury News.


Yahoo's New Campus Is Largest Development in Santa Clara's History
Yahoo may be having a hard time these days competing with Google and newcomer Bing, but it is not ready to put its plans on ice for a new 48-acre campus in Santa Clara. Called the largest single real estate development in the city's history, the 13 buildings could be occupied by as many as 12,000 employees. Yahoo, currently has 13,200 employees in Sunnyvale, and while it recently laid off 2,000 workers, the plan is being touted as a way for the company "to meet future growth needs."

Right now, the biggest complaint about the new campus is the amount of traffic it is likely to produce. Though the facility is located near the Old Ironsides Light Rail stop, there are plans to build an enormous underground parking lot for 9,000 cars. The problem could be exacerbated further because of the site's proximity to the city's proposed new football stadium.

A public hearing on the project is scheduled for February 3.
Read More at The Mercury News.



by Danny Wool on Nov 25, 2009
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