Panetta Nominated to Head CIA

Posted by The Editor on January 05, 2009

Leon E. Panetta, the former Monterey Bay area congressman and White House chief of staff, is President-elect Barack Obama’s pick for head of the Central Intelligence Agency, according to national news reports quoting Democratic insiders. Panetta has degrees in political science and law from Santa Clara University. “He couldn’t have picked a better guy,” says San Jose attorney Bill Gates, a longtime friend. 

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Welcome to 2009, San Jose

Posted by Pierluigi Oliverio on January 05, 2009

2008 was certainly a roller-coaster ride. From the rise and fall of oil to the housing market collapse and finally the recession. 2009 will be a challenging year for each and every one one of us.

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Rants & Raves

Posted by The Editor on January 03, 2009

It’s a brand new year, and 2009 means big changes. Posters this weekend are sounding off about the disappearance of a website known for its anonymous personal attacks on its political adversaries.

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Brush With Greatness

Posted by Gary Singh on January 01, 2009

Shepard Fairey “marketing” at the corner of Southwest Expressway & Fruitdale, San Jose, Aug. 2000.

Most cities revel in their own pop culture landmarks or specific locales tied to things that celebrities did there. For example, much hoopla survives about the road outside Salinas where James Dean crashed and died, the garage that spawned Hewlett-Packard, or that stretch of highway in Malibu where Mel Gibson got his infamous DUI.  San Jose has a few similar sites, for example, the house on Jackson Street where Nirvana stayed in 1990.

I will suggest another local landmark which might possibly achieve similar notoriety: the city utilities box at the corner of Fruitdale and Southwest Expressway, where Shepard Fairey, on Aug. 2, 2000, plastered a promotional poster for his art show at Anno Domini the next night. 

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New Year’s Greetings

Posted by Tom McEnery on January 01, 2009

Another year. They all seem to blend together at a certain point. Part of the problem of getting older, I guess, is the sameness. But it’s also an opportunity. You can see the similarities with a bit of perspective, and enjoy the way things seems so calm and, even, I venture, understandable. When you look at San Jose, you can’t help but getting a warm and positive feeling. Even in the face of the greatest economic downturn in our lifetimes, people remain positive and even hopeful for the new year.

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Herrera Axes Right-Hand Man

Posted by The Fly on December 31, 2008

Incoming Councilmember Rose Herrera is already stirring up drama on the 18th floor after she abruptly fired her senior policy analyst Mark Tiernan—two days before the holiday break. It seemed even more odd to some City Hall staffers, considering Tiernan was the lead man on Herrera’s transition team—and was her top pick for chief of staff. So what happened? 

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