Former Hewlett Packard CEO Michael Hurd, forced to leave the company following a since discredited sexual harassment complaint, can take the helm at Oracle, after an agreement has been reached between the two companies and Hurd. According to the agreement, Hurd must give up $14 million in restricted stock that was part of his severance package. He gets to keep $12.2 million in severance pay, and is currently selling another $30 million in stock that came with his severance package.
Articles by Danny Wool
Facebook denies claims made on Saturday that its latest project is a cheap phone, to compete with the iPhone and Droid. According to reports, Facebook has two people working on the project. Facebook responded by saying that “Building phones is just not what we do.”
On Sunday San Jose eliminated its 21-officer Violent Crime Enforcement Team, an elite unit devoted to combating gang activity in the city. City and police officials quickly picked sides in the ensuing fracas, with the San Jose Police Officers Association taking out a full page ad in the Merc on Sunday to condemn the decision.
The Jade Buddha of Universal Peace is more than just an icon. Said to “bring inconceivable peace and happiness and help prevent the destruction that is happening so much in the world,” it is emerging as a bone of contention in the hotly divided Vietnamese community, reflecting the hotly contested election in the city’s District 7.
If you see a SWAT team in full gear surrounding a building in San Jose this week, it’s probably no cause for alarm. For the sixteenth year, the city is playing host to some two dozen SWAT teams from along the West Coast for a series of competitions and matches to find out who is the “Best in the West.” They’ll be running the obstacle course, sniping, and even assaulting a building with live ammo to simulate a rescue mission.
With no news yet from Sacramento about when the state plans to pass its budget, Santa Clara County Executive Jeff Smith is already preparing a contingency plan. Supervisor Ken Yeager warns that if the state continues to withhold funding until the budget is resolved, the county will be left dry by December, or perhaps even as early as November.
The San Jose Redevelopment Agency already spent $600,000 to revamp San Jose Municipal Stadium where the minor league San Jose Giants play. Now the cash-strapped organization wants to spend another $300,000 to replace an electrical transformer there. “Not so fast,” says Councilmember Sam Liccardo.
At its meeting today, City Council will decide how the proposed high speed rail line will enter the city and make its way to Diridon station—on an elevated track, 60 feet above the city, or through a tunnel deep below it. An elevated track would be noisier and a potential eyesore. A tunnel would be more expensive and take longer to build.
Several local PR firms have taken up the case of PG&E, and are advising them on how to relate to the public, especially in the wake of the BP PR disaster in the Gulf. All of them are advising PG&E to be as transparent as possible as they communicate the facts with the public, and to show sincere sympathy for the victims.
Local celebrity Joey Chestnut has done it again.After losing to a petite Virginia woman in a Labor Day wing-eating contest, the man with the iron stomach won the burrito eating contest at the New Mexico State Fair, gulping down 47 4-ounce burritos.
