The smell of diesel fuel wafted along South Almaden Boulevard on Saturday, as firefighters and others struggled to stop the liquid from flowing from a rooftop tank. It was a race against the clock. At 8am on Sunday morning, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon was scheduled to take to the street—that street. Clean-up crews spent twelve hours trying to stop the flow and clean up the mess.
Articles by Danny Wool
Speaking at a luncheon in San Jose, Roelof van Ark, CEO of the High Speed Rail Authority, said that the bullet train linking LA and San Francisco (with the obligatory stop in San Jose) will be built. The $42 billion projectfaces opposition from many local leaders, who are wary of the impact it will have on their municipalitiesVan Ark admitted that the Authority has communicated poorly with them, and vowed to improve on that in the coming months.
Grape-growers in Santa Clara County are facing a new pest this season—Lobesia botrana, the European grapevine moth. They are believed to infect a 94-square mile area in Santa Clara County, and agricultural officials are taking drastic measures to ensure that they do not spread. Pest control agents are removing all the grapes from backyard vineyards in the affected areas.
Two armed men walked into the Dispensary, a medical marijuana dispensary in San Jose, tied up the employees, and made off with an undisclosed amount of marijuana and cash. The incident occurred shortly before noon on Wednesday. There were no patrons on site at the time, and the two employees did not see where the robbers fled, or if they fled by car or on foot.
Google planned on turning one of its Mountain View properties into a recreational area, complete with a soccer field, basketball court, disc golf area, and horseshoes and bocce ball pitches. The problem is that the area is home to the burrowing owl. After some consideration, the city has decided that a $20,000 donation to preserve the rare bird could mitigate the problem.
What can we do to make the world a better place? That was a question asked by Google, who took their motto of “Do no evil,” and expanded it to “Do good instead.” They asked for ideas to improve government, education, transportation, the environment, and offered to provide seed money to “the most innovative approaches to solving some very pressing problems.”
The story of a fifteen-year-old San Jose boy who was falsely arrested by his girlfriend’s cop stepfather is receiving national attention. The boy’s parents, who have lodged a complaint against the officer, appeared on ABC’s Good Morning America on Monday to tell their side of the story. Paul and Nicole Villarruel maintained their claim that the girl’s stepfather abused his authority.
Companies across Silicon Valley have been taking advantage of an Energy Department grant program that refunds up to 30 percent of the cost of transitioning to greater energy efficiency. The funding has helped companies acquire pricey solar panels, wind turbines, and Bloom boxes to generate energy. The grant is set to expire this year.
President Benigno Aquino III of the Philippines stopped by Silicon Valley on his way home from the United Nations Summit in New York. While here, he addressed a gathering of Filipino Americans with the Philippine Development Forum at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose. The event was sponsored by the Ayala Foundation. Aquino also met with local business leaders and toured HP headquarters in Palo Alto.
Anthony Thomas of Morgan Hill appeared in a Los Angeles court on Friday to stake his claim to the 840-pound, 180,000 carat emerald found in Brazil. Thomas claims that he paid $60,000 for the gem, now valued at $327 million. When he took the stand on Friday, Thomas faced a barrage of questions from lawyers representing all the other people who claim that the emerald is theirs.
