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Top Stories: Aug. 12, 2010The Case of the Giant Emerald; County's Creeks and Rivers Need Help; Salad Recallby Danny Wool on Aug 12, 2010Heritage Rose Garden: The Best The San Jose Municipal Heritage Rose Garden has a long and troubled past—the garden was placed on probation just five years ago by All-America Rose Selections, a nationwide association of rose growers. Yesterday, San Jose’s was named “America’s Best Rose Garden.” It’s quite an achievement, considering that parks and gardens have been pruned in the budget during these difficult economic times. City Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio said, “I’m just ecstatic that we’ve gone from a park that was on probation—and frankly, with weeds taller than I am—to the number one rose garden in the U.S.” Oliverio, whose district includes the garden, is one of the people most responsible for turning the site around. Just three years ago, he was prepared to outsource maintenance of the garden to a private contractor. The unions were inevitably upset, but so were local rose enthusiasts. Two of them, Terry Reilly and Beverly Rose Hopper, teamed up to found the Friends of the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden. These weren’t just passive friends. Sure, they collected money, but they also collected volunteers—150 hours a week in volunteers—to come work at the garden, weeding whacking, pruning, and primping. It truly became a “community garden,” cared for and tended to by the community, no less than by the city itself. This is reflected in the award citation, which praises the garden for its, “beauty” and “creativity,” but no less for its “overall contribution to the community.” One slight correction is probably necessary: the top rose garden in America today should be recognized for its “overall contribution to and from the community.” Read More at the Mercury News. Judge to Rule on Giant Emerald Two San Jose men appeared in court over ownership of an 840 lb. monster emerald found in the emerald forests of the Amazon. The enormous, 180,000 carat rock was first found in Brazil in 2001. At the time, a mining expert from San Jose named Ken Conetto allegedly made an agreement with the actual miners that proceeds from the sale of the rock would be split between them. They shook on it, and that was that. Some time later, Anthony Thomas of Morgan Hill, flew down to Brazil to examine the rock. He was duly impressed and paid $60,000 for it, but rather than take it home with him, he agreed to have it delivered. That’s when the drama began. The gem dealer later informed him that the rock had been stolen. Oops. The emerald has since been found, after taking a long and winding yellow brick road from Brazil to Las Vegas and back to San Jose. In keeping with Silicon Valley protocol, it even showed up briefly on eBay, with a Buy Now sticker of $75 million. That was a guesstimate at best. Thomas claims it is worth $60,000 since that is what he paid for it. Other appraisers, many of whom have not seen the gem, say it could be worth a hefty $925 million, which would make the eBay price seem like a bargain. The problem is that everyone is claiming ownership of the rock—everyone that is except the miners, who are put off by the greedy Americans fighting over their find. A judge in Los Angeles will rule on the rock’s real owner today. Read More at NBC Bay Area. Salad Recall Salad Express has recalled a number of its products for fear that they are infected with Listeria monocytogenes, which, according to Wikipedia, is “one of the most virulent food-borne pathogens with 20 to 30 percent of clinical infections resulting in death.” This is higher even Salmonella and Clostridium botulinum. In May, Salad Express pulled some of its products because of the threat of Salmonella. According to the FDA, only one package has been pulled as a result of the fear, but no illnesses have been reported to date. Read More at CBS 5. Time to Clean up the Creeks Santa Clara County may strive to be green, but every so often we get some bad news. On Wednesday it came from the State Water Resources Board, which reported that seven rivers and creeks in the county are polluted and should be cleaned up. The seven are the Guadalupe River and Coyote, Matadero, Permanente, San Tomas, Saratoga and Stevens creeks. Despite the pollution, no new regulations have been put in place. Read More at KLIV. by Danny Wool on Aug 12, 2010 |
 The Heritage Rose Garden has been named "America's Best" by a national association of growers. |
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