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August |
September | October | November | December
See No Waste
San Jose City Councilmember Sam Liccardo discovers a buried report that concluded that the city’s Redevelopment Agency spent more than $30 million on business incubators over a 15-year period, which only brought in $4.2 million.
Solar Outage
Fremont-based Solyndra files Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, lays off 1,100 employees and shuts down all operations and manufacturing. No severance or earned vacation paid out to fired employees. On the bright side, Republicans are now able to
blame green energy for the budget deficit, rather than the war in Afghanistan.
Obama Was Warned
Released White House emails reveal that Steve Westly expressed concern to Obama senior adviser Valerie Jarrett about Obama visiting shaky solar manufacturer, Solyndra. “Many of us believe the company’s cost structure will make it difficult for them to survive long term. . . . If it’s too late to change/postpone the meeting, the president should be careful about unrealistic/optimistic forecasts that could haunt him in the next 18 months if Solyndra hits the wall, files for bankruptcy, etc.”
Facebook Preferable to Sex for Some
Twenty percent of more than 2,000 women surveyed by Cosmopolitan magazine said they would rather give up sex for a week than go without Facebook for a week, favoring, it seems, a less intensive version of “poking.”
Bag Happens
As a result of budget cuts, the San Jose City Council decides to get rid of bags at dog parks for picking up shit, leaving citizens to raise their own money to fund bags and avoid an all around shitty situation.
City Hall Evacuated
On Aug. 29, San Jose City Hall is cleared out after the city’s chief information officer, Vijay Sammeta, receives a “pretty generic” email threat. The threat is directed at the building and not a specific person—so it is probably a disgruntled architecture critic.