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October
‘I Just Can’t Believe It’
San Jose public television host Shareef Allman surprises friends and community members by being at the center of Silicon Valley’s largest recorded manhunt. After Allman was identified as the suspect in a Cupertino cement plant shooting that left three dead and seven injurred, with Allman himself gunned down by day’s end.
Just Kidding! Away Qwikster Goes
Less than a month after the announcement, Netflix CEO Hastings drops Qwikster plans after critical outcry. He later admits to scrapping the idea partly after being reminded that “Qwikster” was also the nickname bestowed upon him by his first girlfriend. Stock down to 77 on Oct. 5. Way to go, Reed.
Bravo Sets its Sights on Silicon Valley
The television network starts courting various bigwigs in the Valley for a proposed realty series, even going so far as to contact Digg creator Kevin Rose. The series hopes to exploit residents who cheat on their PCs with Macs; the television term for this is “drama.”
Hello, Goodbye San Jose
Mercury News says it won’t move ahead with a plan to rebrand itself as just “The Mercury News” without “San Jose,” saying instead to have been more “thinking aloud” than in any planning stages.
Biker Club Fractures at Funeral for Hells Angels President
Hells Angel Steve Tausan, who called himself Mr. 187-, after the penal code section for homicide, is killed by a gunshot at the funeral of fellow Hells Angel Jeffrey “Jethro” Pettigrew. Police were unable to hold witnesses at the site following the shooting, and 1,000 bikers, including murder suspect Steven Ruiz, ride away from the crime scene.
Weiner Toss
Moved by the film Drive, Petaluma’s Brandon Kelly decides to hurl a hot dog and bun at Tiger Woods when the golf champ came to the Fry’s Open in San Martin. Kelly tells the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, “As soon as the movie ended, I thought to myself, ‘I have to do something courageous and epic,'” And unable to come up with anything, Kelly threw the hot dog in frustration.
Hope All Goes Wal
Wal-Mart reverses years of progress toward providing its 1.4 million employees with health benefits by scaling back coverage for its part-time workers, and jacking up medical insurance premiums for many of its full-time workers. Limb transplants post–Black Friday are also not covered.
Take That, Vallejo
Michael Lewis releases book Boomerang, which becomes a national bestseller. The book includes a profile of San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed and entertaining anecdotes about Gov. Schwarzenegger after he leaves office. Moral of the story: At least San Jose is not Vallejo.
Hello, There
After several delays, the much-anticipated San Pedro Square Market finally arrives. More or less. Several business have yet to open their doors, and portions of the project are still under construction, but San Jose finally has a downtown focal point to match, well, the San Pedro Square Market.
