Related Articles: News, All

Top Stories: Sept. 18, 2009

It's Not Easy Being Greenest; Last Local Defense Giant Pulls Out; Condoleeza Rice Verbally Attacked

by Staff on Sep 18, 2009
 Email  Print Share

Zipping Around in Mountain View
They look like something straight out of the future depicted in science fiction movies, so what better place to use them than Mountain View, home to both Google and NASA Ames? The city is considering the addition of "electric pods" to take commuters from the train station to the Shoreline Business Park. The pods, known as PRTs (Personal Rapid Transit) would zip along an elevated track at speeds of up to 25 miles an hour, covering the distance from station to stop in about twenty minutes. Each pod would carry up to four people.

PRTs are already being considered by various airports around the world, including San Jose's Mineta Airport, but introducing them to daily commuters would be an innovation. And it seems like Mountain View is interested. Transportation planners with the city went over initial plans for the proposal Thursday night, apparently unfazed by the price tag: $128 million. The pods may not be science fiction after all.
Read More at KLIV.
Read More at KCBS.


Just Ask for Chuck
Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the greenest of them all? San Francisco claims it is, but so do Seattle, Portland, and even Detroit, home of the Big Three automakers. Now San Jose is entering the fray, and Mayor Chuck Reed will prove it to anyone who doubts him.

Pitching the city as the "world center of clean-tech innovation," he told VCs and business leaders considering a move to the city to give him a call and he'll give them the full pitch. "My phone number is 408-535-4800," he told them.

At the meeting he touted PG&E's smart grid initiative, his personal push for increased solar energy usage, and even plans to replace all the street lights with zero-emission lighting. Then there are the trees: he plans to plant 100,000 of them, to make the city as green as his tie.

Then there are the jobs. He is hoping to create 25,000 much needed new green jobs in the private sector. It's not a moment too late. With the local defense industry rapidly losing jobs (see below), the city must find some way to keep its workers.
Read More at NBC Bay Area.
Read More at the Mercury News.


Rockwell Collins Pulls Out of San Jose
Rockwell Collins announced that it will be shutting its San Jose division early next year. Some 600 employees have already received notice. The plant, which manufactures tactical displays for combat aircraft, is located in the former Kaiser Aerospace complex, has been a mainstay of San Jose's high tech defense industries for over half a century. Rockwell Collins purchased Kaiser in 2000.

The news was just the latest of a series of blows to San Jose's defense industry sector. Last month, Lockheed Martin announced that it would be laying off hundreds of people, while in nearby Santa Clara, British contractor BAE Systems said that it would be laying off 360 staff.
Read More at the SFGate.


More than a Dozen Homes Evacuated Because of Gas Leak
Construction crews working at Second and Taylor streets hit a 4-inch gas line yesterday afternoon, bringing the SJFD out in full force until the leak could be sealed. At least eleven fire trucks and engines appeared on the site, and their crews cordoned off the area. Team then went door to door, telling residents in the immediate area that they must evacuate. Residents living slightly farther away were told to remain indoors until PG&E could fix the leak.
Read More at the Mercury News.


Palo Alto Gets New Police Chief
Palo Alto City Council is set to confirm Chief Dennis Burns as the town's new police chief this Monday. The decision puts an end to a 10-month long search for a successor to Chief Lynne Johnson, who stepped down in December amid a furor over remarks she made implying that she supported racial profiling. Burns has served as the city's interim police chief at that time.

Burns graduated from San Jose State University in 1981 with a degree in justice. He joined the PAPD the following year, working his way through the ranks while serving in virtually every job and shift. During that time, he also managed to earn an MA in Public Administration and attend the FBI's National Academy. He was selected for the position from among 50 candidates.
Read More at ABC 7.


Protestors Brand Condoleeza Rice a War Criminal
Former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice received an icy reception from a small group of protestors after delivering a speech in San Jose on Thursday. After delivering a keynote address to local business executives at the Fairmont Hotel, a woman jumped up from her seat and condemned Rice for condoning torture. Another protestor followed, saying that Rice was responsible for civilian casualties in Iraq.

The protestors were eventually escorted from the hotel by the police to the sound of jeers by the audience. When the incident was over Rice commented: "I'm certainly glad that the people of Baghdad and the people of Kabul can now say what they think, as well."
Read More at The Mercury News.


Pool Service Guy Launches Balloon 100,000 Feet
Some people are totally devoted to their hobbies. Take Ron Meadows, for example. By day, the San Jose resident services local swimming pools, but when he gets home he lets his passions soar all the way to space. With no formal training, he built and launched a stratospheric balloon that soared 100,000 feet straight up to take pictures of the earth. Never satisfied with his achievements, Meadows announced that next year he will go even higher, and is aiming at 128,000.
Read More at CBS 5.


What's That Noise Coming from the Boss's Office?
Was there a strange, wailing noise coming from the boss's office? It could be Rabbi Aaron Cunin, a local rabbi on a mission: to help Jews mark the beginning of the New Year with the blowing of the shofar, or ram's horn. The local rabbi is affiliated with the Chabad Lubavitch group of hasidic Jews, which focuses on outreach to their fellow Jews all around the world. Chabad has centers throughout California, but also in more remote locals like Vietnam, Tunisia, and Nepal. Its Mumbai center was recently in the news when it was targeted by terrorists.

Things are much more relaxed here in Silicon Valley. Rabbi Cunin simply searches out local Jewish businessmen and enters their names into his Blackberry. Every so often he will pay them a visit to see if they are interested in participating in Jewish rituals, like putting on tefillin (little boxes containing prayers that Jewish men strap on their arms and heads during weekday morning prayers). This week he is focused on Rosh HaShanah, the Jewish New Year, which begins on Friday evening and lasts until Sunday night.

Cunin realizes that many of the people he visits will not end up in synagogue, but he is determined to bring the synagogue to them, and help them fulfill some of the rituals. On Rosh HaShanah this includes hearing the call of the shofar. He then distributes little honey cakes with the wish that they may have a "sweet year." So to all Jews (and others) reading this, Shana tova umetuka. May you have a happy and sweet new year.
Read More at Voz Is Neias.



by Staff on Sep 18, 2009
 Email  Print Share