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Recent San Jose actuarial reports show $3.5 billion of city debt for underfunded pension and retiree health benefits -- a shortfall that works out to about $11,000 for every household in the city. Yet, as Mayor Chuck Reed proposes substantive pension reform, workers and a local television reporter are hyperventilating about irrelevant numbers that distract from the ballooning problem. If not for major layoffs and salary cuts last year, the shortfall would be much worse. It would also be much larger if the city used more realistic investment earnings assumptions rather than relying on overly optimistic forecasts. Nevertheless, the calculations...

The funeral was being held for Hells Angel Jeffrey "Jethro" Pettigrew, who was president of the Hells Angels' San Jose chapter. A member of the rival Vagos motorcycle club is accused of killing Pettigrew Sept. 23 in a Sparks, Nev., casino, sending gamblers diving for cover. The mayor canceled a regional motorcycle rally as a result.

Despite a heavy police presence at a Hells Angels funeral in San Jose on Saturday, a top bike-club enforcer nicknamed "Mr. 187" after the state penal code number for murder was gunned down Saturday in front of stunned mourners.

San Jose has seen a sharp spike in graffiti, up 38 percent from a year ago to the highest number of documented tags since 1999. The surge comes at a time when budget cuts have forced the city to outsource its cleanup work. City officials say annual surveys done each January since 1999 noted 44,405 graffiti tags citywide this year, up from 29,285 in January 2010. That was the highest figure since the city first started tracking graffiti tags in 1999 and counted 71,541. The City Council will consider the issue Tuesday. "The volume of graffiti is higher," said Mike...

Looks like San Jose police are finally cracking down on the sexy Vietnamese coffee shops in the area that are offering more than just sugar with their Joe. While on patrol Sunday evening, SJPD officers observed several female waitresses showing off a little too much skin, in one of the shops on the 1600 block of Tully Road. Three female workers of the Quyen Cafe, ages 22, 22, and 23, were identified and cited for display of public nudity, a municipal code violation. They were only cited, not arrested, but will still have to appear in court. "The police department...

A man has been arrested in the 2009 slaying of a 96-year-old farmer who was beaten to death at his Saratoga home, authorities said Tuesday. Juan Luis Cortinas, 33, is being held without bail in the December 2009 attack that killed Charlie Maridon, said Santa Clara County sheriff's Sgt. Troy Smith. Cortinas was already in custody after being sentenced to five years in state prison for an unrelated burglary in Palo Alto. Cortinas is to appear in Santa Clara County Superior Court today on charges of murder and the special circumstances of murder in the course of a robbery and...

Two years ago, Kristina Harris Perkins, a 19-year-old woman enrolled in the San Jose Job Corps Center with big plans for the future, lay dead on a light-rail station platform. She had been stabbed in the heart. Now, after a marathon 26-day preliminary hearing spread out over three months, Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Rise Pichon has ruled there is enough evidence to try five young adults -- all from the same San Jose family -- on charges of murder and attempted murder stemming from a deadly brawl captured by security cameras at the Alum Rock station. Two other...

As anger in the immigrant community grows against San Jose Police Chief Chris Moore's alliance with the federal immigration agency, a broad band of advocacy groups gathered Friday to demand a meeting with two ICE agents who recently began working with the police department to fight gang violence. Activists said they want to be further reassured that the agents will not be involved in deporting law abiding residents. "Now, more than ever there needs to be a culture of trust between immigrant populations and the police department and this program will invariably damage that trust,'' said Jazmin Segura, of Services,...

San Jose, Calif. (AP) -- Mexican President Felipe Calderon is in the San Francisco Bay area where he spoke at a San Jose job training center about immigration issues and other topics. Speaking at the Center for Employment and Training on Saturday, Calderon told a crowd of more than 600 people that walls or what he called "abusive laws" will not stop people from migrating to the U.S. He told the gathering that Mexico needs more labor opportunities.

With the San Jose Sharks down 3-1 in their series against the Vancouver Canucks, the Sharks had to win Game 5. It was one of the hardest fought battles during regulation and it saw the teams draw even just as regulation came to an end. After going an entire overtime without any offensive break troughs, both teams went into the second overtime utterly exhausted. When you see these pro athletes dogging it the way they were, you knew it was going to take an ugly goal to win this Game 5. The goal that won the game was just that...

With pension costs devouring San Jose's budget and many employee unions balking at reducing their perks, San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed on Friday unofficially declared what is believed to be the city's first fiscal state of emergency and said he will take his case to the voters in November. ....A big hang-up is whether the city can change retirement benefits for current employees, something officials in San Jose and other governments say is essential to stabilize costs. Unions argue that constitutional protections for public employees mean their pensions can't be reduced because they are "vested rights." Reed and other officials...

It was shaping up to be another rowdy Cinco de Mayo in San Jose late Thursday, as police and emergency crews were busy breaking up crowds, picking up the glass from shattered windows and treating people who had been beaten up and even stabbed. As of 11 p.m., one person had walked into Regional Medical Center after being stabbed in the festivities and several other people had suffered more minor injuries, Assistant Police Chief Diane Urban said. "Many fights, we've had multiple fights along Santa Clara Street," she said "And it's busy." The crowds had also knocked out windows of...

After months of nervous anticipation, 106 San Jose police officers are getting notices this week that they may be laid off as the reality of the city's dire financial picture cast a gloom over police headquarters and City Hall. Another 20 cops learned they may soon be demoted. And overall, the city could lose about 9 percent of its police force in what could be the first layoffs of cops in the city's history. City officials have been threatening layoffs for months, and City Manager Deb Figone last week broadcast a total of more than 600 city employees. But that...

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At least one person was hurt in a brazen daytime shooting at a fast-food restaurant in San Jose Wednesday afternoon that prompted a lockdown of a nearby school. The shooting was reported a few minutes after noon at the McDonald’s at 898 S. Bascom Ave., across from Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. Police spokesman Officer Jose Garcia said it appears that the shooter walked up to the victim and shot him once at close range, then ran north on South Bascom Avenue. The victim was taken to a hospital for treatment. Garcia did not have an update on his condition....

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The latest information about the salaries and benefits of each San Jose city employee was posted online Friday in an effort to maintain transparency in the city's government. The compensation information, which can be accessed at www.sanjoseca.gov/salary, is from 2010, the latest year available, according to city officials. Former police Chief Robert Davis had the highest total compensation - more than $534,000 in salary and benefits - for the year, according to the report. City Manager Debra Figone - who made more than $276,000 in 2010 - said the release of the information is an example...

San Jose-based SoloPower announced Thursday that it is expanding -- to Oregon. The company, which makes thin-film solar cells and modules, has chosen Wilsonville, south of Portland, as the site for its new manufacturing plant. The start-up got a $20 million loan through Oregon's State Energy Loan Program, which also was announced Thursday. "The intention was always to have corporate here in Silicon Valley, and research and development here," said Peter Kesser, SoloPower's senior vice president for sales and marketing, in an interview. "But when we looked at scaling up, we looked at a number of areas, both here in...

San Jose-based SunPower, Silicon Valley's dominant solar panel manufacturer, on Monday announced three power purchase agreements with Southern California Edison to deliver 711 megawatts of solar power. The deal, one of the largest for photovoltaic solar power in the United States, would produce enough power for about 460,000 California homes. "This is an unprecedented time for solar photovoltaic," Marc Ulrich, the utility's vice president of renewable and alternative power, said in a statement. "We're seeing growth in technological advances and manufacturing efficiencies that result in competitive prices for green, emission-free energy for our customers." ... California's three largest utilities have...

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The San Jose Police Department is expected to stop 30-day impounding of vehicles when an unlicensed driver is stopped for a minor traffic violation. . . . Immigrant advocates have complained the 30-day vehicle holds unfairly target illegal immigrants.

Sarah Palin today gave a speech in California and managed to get a few good slams of the liberal elites in DC – and California! (More)