The city’s problems with Team San Jose are coming to a head. Last Wednesday, City Finance Director Scott Johnson sent a notice of default to CEO Dan Fenton, denying it access to municipal funds. TSJ had overspent its budget by $750,000. San Jose City Councilmember Sam Liccardo calls the notice “a wake-up call for the council” and is calling for an expanded audit.
Lifestyle News - page 128
San Jose State’s new football coach, Mike MacIntyre, expects his team to be victorious. But he might have to wait a couple weeks before getting that first win. The Spartans open the season by traveling to Tuscaloosa to play Alabama’s Crimson Tide, the No. 1 team in the nation. The so-called “body bag” game is followed by a game against Wisconsin, the No. 12 ranked team in the nation.
SJPD Chief Rob Davis will be retiring at the end of September, and the city is shifting into high gear to find a replacement for him. It will be no easy task. The department is faced with tough budget cuts, which may not affect performance yet, but certainly affect the morale of its officers, who have seen salaries, benefits, and even positions slashed year after year.
Facing a $19 billion budget deficit, the state has sent notices to 40,000 California businesses who have failed to file their tax returns for 2008. It is an effort to begin to close the tax gap between taxes owed and taxes paid. This comes to $6.5 billion dollars, or about one-third of the current deficit.
Travellers passing through Mineta Airport’s Terminal A will hardly notice anything different. Employees of Continental, United, JetBlue, and US Airways feel differently. For the past five months, since the terminal was renovated, they have complained that the office area often smells like a sewer.
San Jose wants to annex Cambrian 36, an unincorporated bit of land just 103 acres in size, jutting into San Jose along the border with Campbell. The courts want the city to annex it too, and have ordered City Hall to annex various unincorporated areas around the county.
The half-billion people registered on Facebook are free to give up a little more privacy. The social networking site has launched a new service dubbed “Places.” With just a click on a button, you can let your Facebook friends know where you are around the clock via mobile phone.
Intel has announced that it will be purchasing McAfee, the antivirus software and computer security company headquartered in Santa Clara. The purchase is still pending shareholder approval, regulatory clearances and other customary conditions.
Minh Duong, the pro-business, Chamber of Commerce–endorsed City Council candidate, has made his business experience the central theme of his campaign to oust District 7 Councilmember Madison Nguyen. He believes his knowledge of budgets and finance can help the economically-strapped city better manage its money. Duong’s own business acumen, however, may not rise to the level his talking points suggest.
When the devastating fire broke out just before dawn at Trace Elementary school, a local official was immediately notified … by email. To put it simply, the fire broke out, and an email was sent to the official, who was still lying in bed, fast asleep. Presumably, the official would only have found out after he woke up, had his first cup of coffee, showered, and turned on his computer, or whatever his daily schedule might be.
