[ San Jose | Metroactive Central | Archives ]
Public Eye
Tiger Tale
EYE WATCHERS can have fewer nightmares now, knowing that justice has finally been served, in the case of a local kickboxing instructor cum-realtor-cum-poseur-mobster who called himself the Immortal Tiger, as covered in these pages last year. David Slavin, a.k.a. Nicoli Pacini a.k.a. Mohamed Elnemr, has confessed and pleaded guilty to four separate charges involving extortion of the rich and clueless and use of a false social security number to hide their cash. ... The detailed confession reveals in full Slavin's made-for-TV ploys for wrenching money out of unsuspecting people. For example, he held a samurai sword over a Los Gatos kickboxing instructor's fingers and threatened to cut them off if the man did not pay him. He also told Mary Lean, a particularly enthusiastic kickboxing student from Saratoga with whom he had an affair, that he wanted to go into business with her. According to the plea agreement signed by Slavin, "After I told Lean that two guys from the family would beat her up if she did not give me the money, she gave me $40,000 cash." Slavin also admits to extorting money from yet another person by threatening to reveal compromising pictures of him in a hot tub with another woman. ... Slavin was arrested at his San Jose home last year where police found two guns and $240,000 cash in a gym bag in the trunk of his car. During a cell block interview for a Metro cover story ("Tiger By the Tale," July 29, 1999), Slavin tearfully proclaimed, if not exactly his innocence, at least what a bummer the local lockup can be. ... Though he had a number of vocal supporters, one of whom put up $100,000 to bail out Slavin's wife, the tiger finally confessed. The Immortal Tiger faces a maximum of 65 years in federal prison; his wife, Elizabeth Slavin, faces a maximum of five years for handling some of Slavin's questionable cash. But the real crime, the driver's license picture of Slavin as his alternate persona Nicoli Pacini, for which Slavin donned a pair of large sunglasses and an afro wig, will go unpunished.
Alka-Salsa
It's been a rough couple of months for cable guy Eddie Garcia, the underdog San Jose City Council candidate in District 8 (Evergreen). A couple of months ago, the South Bay Labor AFL-CIO Council--which hedged its bets in the primary by endorsing multiple candidates in the District 8 race, including Garcia--gave its sole support to frontrunner Dave Cortese, who almost won the seat outright in the primary. This past week, the Chamber of Commerce also practiced a little frontrunner favoritism by backing Cortese in the upcoming November election. In the primary, the chamber endorsed both Garcia and the Son of Dom. Garcia, a government affairs specialist for AT&T Cable, insists he isn't worried about his dwindling endorsements, noting he has raised $21,000 so far in the early going. "If I walked in with $5,000," Garcia allows, "then there might be reason for concern." Cortese, meanwhile, says he's deposited about $31,000 into his campaign account. ... One advantage pundits thought Garcia would have over Cortese was with Latino voters. And he probably still will. However, he won't receive votes from the two other Latino also-rans from the primary, Patricia Martinez-Roach and Maria Fuentes, who have also snubbed Garcia in favor of Cortese. No big deal, asserts Barry Barnes, Garcia's paid soothsayer: Eddie's got San Jose City Councilwoman Cindy Chavez and Supervisor Blanca Alvarado on his literature. "I don't see the Latino vote following the leadership of Maria Fuentes and Patricia Martinez-Roach," Barnes predicts.
Doug Plug
Veteran KNTV newsman Doug Moore has a message for loyal San Jose viewers who have watched him in the anchor seat for the past two decades: Be happy for me! At first blush, Moore seemed like a victim of the recent shake-up at Channel 11, which just ditched its ABC affiliation to go indie (at least until it becomes the new NBC affiliate in 18 months). Station executives recently announced that Moore will be stepping down as the 6pm and 11pm co-anchor next month and replaced by newcomer Allen Denton, recruited from a top-rated Charlotte, N.C., station (former KGO hairess Terilyn Joe will start at KNTV in October). Meanwhile, Moore will take over the anchoring chores for the noon newscast as well as report on crime, not nearly as high profile a role as he enjoyed at the station all these years. ... But Moore assures his fans he hasn't been demoted. "In fact," he boasts, "I got a nice raise." The Dougster says he's talked to his bosses for a while about getting out of his duties as late-night co-anchor. The spry 58-year-old news veteran says he would like to spend his evenings at home indulging in a little extracurricular activity with his 31-year-old wife, Kim Nguyen. "I got married again last year and we're starting a new family," reveals Moore, who already has two grandchildren. "I want to be home at nights." Meanwhile, another longtime KNTV anchor, Mary Babbitt, is also taking on a less glamorous role at the station. Babbitt, who is due to give birth to her second child in October, has given up her nighttime anchoring chores and is currently fronting the noon newscast.
Technical Error
Even the most Luddite-leaning politicians in Silicon Valley nowadays claim to be the candidate recommended by four out of five leading high-tech execs. Sue Jackson, the Republican Monte Sereno mayor and health care professional running for the 24th Assembly District seat, is no exception. This week her campaign put out a press release boasting, "Jackson wows Silicon Valley Manufactures [sic] Group." The first obvious problem with this sentence: The misspelling of the word "manufacturer." The second problem: The name of the association Jackson and her Democratic opponent, Rebecca Cohn, spoke to is the "Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group,' not "Maunfacturers' Group." Surely, the high-tech candidate should know the correct name of the high-tech's most prominent lobbying organization. Asked about the goof, Jackson campaign manager Shane Sommers mumbled, "That must be a typo." As this quote from General Electric dude John Redding must also have been: "It is clear that Rebecca Cohn cannot complete [sic] with Mayor Sue Jackson's years of public and private sector experience." At least Jackson can accurately boast of having snagged venture capitalist Floyd Kvamme to be her "honorary high-tech chairman." Maybe Floyd can spring for an honorary proofreader for the campaign.
Public Eye welcomes tips. Leave messages 24 hours a day by calling 408/298-7818 and then pressing 2, followed by 412, to reach Eye's voice mailbox. Send email messages to [email protected].
[ San Jose | Metroactive Central | Archives ]
Copyright © 2000 Metro Publishing Inc. Metroactive is affiliated with the Boulevards Network.
For more information about the San Jose/Silicon Valley area, visit sanjose.com.
|
|