South Bay schools are sending out hundreds of pink slips as they contend with growing deficits and budget cuts. The decision comes before Gov. Jerry Brown has managed to pass his own budget, and the local budget discussions come with a caveat. If the State fails to pass a proposed tax extension or some other way to increase revenue, the consequences for local schools could be even worse.
Lifestyle News - page 88
HP Chief Leo Apotheker made his public debut on Monday, talking about dividends and cloud computing. Apotheker, who took over from a beleaguered Mark Hurd, was expected to present a clear road map for where he wants to take the tech giant. Some analysts now say that his speech was big on buzzwords but short on content.
Jose Garcia, 17, was shot on Saturday night in South San Jose. Police say that the shooting was gang-related. The perpetrators, also teens fled the scene in a ar, but were arrested a quarter of an hour after the incident occurred. Garcia is expected to survive the shooting.
The Board of Trustees of the CSU system may name the next President of San Jose State University as early as March 22. The number of candidates has been narrowed down to three, all from within the CSU network of schools, and all with strong financial backgrounds. This is becoming increasingly necessary as the school prepares to contend with severe budget cuts in the coming year.
The Friends of the San Jose Mounted Unit has launched a campaign to raise money to save the beleaguered unit from inevitable budget cuts. The Pony Up for the San Jose Mounted Unit Raffle is selling 25,000 tickets at $100 a piece. They hope to raise enough money to fund the Mounted Unit through 2012.
Mayor Chuck Reed has suggested auctioning off licenses for medical marijuana dispensaries on eBay. According to Reed, putting the licenses up on eBay would help the city determine the real market value, while bringing some money into the city’s coffers. What Reed failed to note was eBay’s policy toward the sale of drug paraphernalia.
City Councilmember Nancy Pyle had a chance to get parents’ perspectives on a proposed city ordinance that would hold them accountable for the consequences of underage drinking parties they enabled. While the ordinance has yet to be written, supporters envision fining parents for the cost of emergency services incurred in DUIs involving teens who drank under their auspices.
City officials want to reduce the number of medical marijuana dispensaries active in the city. According to current estimations, there are 110 dispensaries doing business in the city, but the vast majority of these are not licensed. Mayor Chuck Reed and several members of City Council want to bring that number down to just ten.
A coalition of foundations and environmental groups are hoping to rein in development throughout the South Bay and protect the region’s natural beauty. The group, known as the Living Landscape Initiative, is not opposed to the high tech boom that fuels the growth of Silicon Valley. What they want is to maintain the balance, between housing and farmland, start-ups and forests.
Jeff Welch, president of the firefighters union Local 230, hit the ‘reset button’ in labor negotiations with the city in an attempt to avert fiscal catastrophe.
