Our company is looking for love in all the right places, like major lending institutions and Facebook. Unfortunately as I write this, The Argus doesn’t have enough Facebook fans to field a baseball team or conduct a minion.

But you can make us cooler than we ever could have imagined — more popular even than Charlie Sheen — just by clicking “like.”

This was sent out today throughout Ohlone College:

With the prospect of an “all cuts” state budget looming, community colleges must brace for a possible 2/3 billion dollar or higher cut in enrollment revenue to the system for next year.

In response we must cut the coming summer school offering to about half the size of last summer. We must also a make an initial 5% cut in our upcoming fall semester and then monitor enrollment carefully as more is learned about the state budget.  Cuts in our spring 2012 offerings may need to be 10% or higher if the “all cuts” state budget is enacted.

Deans will be contacting faculty affected by these summer and fall cuts.

Even if state tax extensions were to have passed, community colleges would still have had to reduce offerings significantly.  If the “all cuts” budget becomes reality, the impact on colleges and students will be extremely severe; an impact some are calling “mission-changing.”

In the coming weeks, Dr. Browning will be keeping the campus informed on the actions in Sacramento and their impact on Ohlone.   Please watch for her updates.

Jim Wright
Vice President of Academic Affairs – Deputy Superintendent

From the cops:

The Centerville Library was burglarized for the second time in a week. Burglars entered through a window and left with DVDs and computer equipment.

Someone smashed the car into a parked big rig truck at Deep Creek Road and Othello.

From the wire:
Looks like that skatepark won’t be too noisy and will still be built near the waterpark despite a few resident objections.

Dumbarton Bridge delays

The Japan earthquake/tsunami has hurt Lam Research

Fremont Company files for Chapter 7

For a short time last year I covered Newark in addition to Fremont.  Like most people, I did my best to ignore the place, but I was drawn to a rag tag group of residents who were fighting a tax measure and seemed to equate the disappearance of their campaign signs with the Jonestown Massacre.

I wrote about them forming Sustainable Newark in hopes of challenging the Yowza Consensus that runs the city. But it’s hard to fight City Hall when one of your “leaders” has more complexes than the Beijing Olympic Village.

Mercifully I stopped covering Newark, but I stayed on the Sustainable Newark Yahoo Chat Group, which had provided me countless chuckles over the past several months, but none better than what you’ll read below. Because, really, no citizen group should ever dissolve itself without first considering whether to reconstitute as a sex club.

Here’s the email heard ’round Cedar Boulevard:

The meeting was called to order.

The minutes of the last meeting were approved.

The Lewis’ email arrived on a smart phone and was read to the group as a communication.

A discussion ensued, and it was unanimously agreed that since a private membership or secret society appeared to be addressing the issues Sustainable Newark had been established to address, that Sustainable Newark was superfluous.

A motion was tendered to dissolve the group, and seconded.

An attempt was made to amend the motion by suggesting the group reconstitute as sex club. The amendment was not seconded.

The motion was called, and passed unanimously.

Sustainable Newark is officially dissolved.

The Lewises deserved better. So did a loud guy from NYC, who just wanted some damn crossing guards and made me feel like I was home. But what’s done is done, so here’s another recent classic from the same person explaining the dissolution:

UPDATE: Sustainable Newark is dead, but it’s being replaced by the Newark Improvement Group. Should be fun. Read the rest of this entry »

From the cops:

Traffic units are initially sent to what they believe is a crash at Chiltern Drive and Lemos Ln. Once they arrive, they discover that a father and his juvenile son had been arguing while driving, and that dad had kicked the son out of the car. The argument got more heated and the son ended up sitting on the hood of the car while it was moving. Dad slammed on the brakes and his son fell off the vehicle and onto the roadway. He ended up going to the hospital, and the father went to jail for child endangerment.

Officers visited the Seneca Center on Chapel Way after a 16-year-old threatened to bring an automatic rifle to the school. However, the teenager never showed.

An 18-year old was climbing through the bathroom window at a home on the 39300 block of Blacow Road when a resident confronted him. The burglar ran off and fled in a waiting Lexus.

Similar story on the 4300 block of Alema Terrace where a homeowner interupted a burglar inside their home.

From the wire:
I told someone close to me about how a Fremont woman has some of the last remaining panel’s from Christo’s “Running Fence” installation. Her response: “That’s really boring.” Reality checks are not my friend. Check out the exhibit this month at Olive Hyde and the story here.

From the cops:
Cops responded to the Motel 6 on the north side of town where a group of men had been scuffling. Officers patted down one man, who admitted to having a gun in his car. The gun was loaded and the man was arrested.

A driver sped on Kato Road and lost control going over the railroad tracks. He collided with a light pole and suffered major lower leg injuries. A passenger only suffered minor injuries.

From the wire:
Fremont man beat speeding ticket in Napa, and so can you.

Your favorite lawmakers are back at it tonight, and they look great on my laptop screen here in Centerville. Unfortunately, my day started early, and it’s time for me to head back to Oakland.

Not much to report so far:
The Osgood Road rehabilitation project has been delayed by the rain.

The city didn’t get a grant for a project outside the School for the Blind

The council got an update on capital projects. City Manager Fred Diaz alluded to the fact that if there’s no more redevelopment, the city will get about $5 million more for its general fund, which it could spend on capital projects or pensions or something else.

Lloyd’s Doughnut Kitchen, a Fremont institution, is apparently under new ownership. The new crew is open Mondays, but that hasn’t appeased kvetchers about them from folks on the Niles Chat Group and Yelp — two crowds that are notoriously hard to please.

Also, the Fremont Foodie has the scoop on some fusion food at the Irvington Farmer’s Market: Massala Tacos.

Brian Chang’s Future Fremont blog in February raised questions about the planned 16-screen cinema scheduled to open in Spring 2012 at Pacific Commons.

It seemed like CineMark was no longer on board to operate the theater.

But a Cattelus exec told me today that the company has an operator for the movie theater — he didn’t say which operator — and that he’d have lots more info in a few days.

From the cops:

An officer stopped two juvies at Irvington Park. When a pat-down revealed a bag of marijuana, the patted perp ran for the hills, and managed to get away. But the officer is familiar with perp and plans to follow up.

A resident at a home on the 42700 block of Lemonwood called cops to say that someone tried to rob him at gunpoint at his front door. Cops think they know why. The resident was growing marijuana in his backyard.

A man arrived home on the 38900 block of Logan Drive to find a big burly man inside. When the big intruder made it seem like he was reaching for a gun, the resident let  leave out the front door. A second burglar left through a bedroom window. Officers arrived with in minutes, but didn’t catch the crooks.

A relationship gone bad, turned into a breakup gone wrong as two women, once lovers, got into a violent confrontation outside Labor Ready on the 3800 block of Peralta Boulevard. One lady stabbed the other with a stake knife. Police later arrested the stabber. The wounds were not life threatening.

A 57-year-old was walking to his car at the ARCO station on Fremont at Thornton with $40 in hand when a perp demanded his money. The victim got socked in the face, but refused to hand over the cash, and the perp fled empty-handed.