Saint Louise Regional Hospital hosts Denim Day
Gilroy – Oct. 20 will be Denim Day at Saint Louise. All associates will be permitted to wear denim, which they not usually permitted to do, for a five dollar donation to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. On the 20, all associates, who need it, are encouraged to get their mammogram. There also will be educational sessions on the patio and everyone is encouraged to wear pink ribbons. The event correlates with National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Coldwell Banker Raises $365,000 to benefit Habitat
for Humanity
Los Gatos – The philanthropic arm of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, has raised more than $365 through its eighth annual Habitat for Humanity fundraising campaign.
The money was raised through an eight-week community-wide raffle dubbed ‘100 Years of Homes & Hope,’ a theme commemorating Coldwell Banker Real Estate Corporation’s centennial anniversary this year.
“Our Habitat for Humanity fundraising campaign has been a huge success,” said Joe Brown, president and chief operating officer.”Never in our wildest dreams could we have anticipated that we’d reach such phenomenal heights and witness such an amazing outpouring of generosity and support from our Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage team and from the community.”
The “100 Years of Homes & Hope” raffle was held throughout Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage’s 68 Northern California offices. The funds were raised, in large part, through the purchase of $2 raffle tickets by the company’s sales associates, managers, staff and clients.
The $365,000 donation brings The Foundation’s grand total of funds raised for Habitat for Humanity to more than $1.5 million in eight years.
Laptop battery recall widens, as Fujitsu joins PC makers involved
San Jose – The massive global recall of batteries made by Sony Corp. widened Wednesday as Japanese electronics maker Fujitsu Ltd. said it is recalling 287,000 laptop batteries that are at risk of overheating or catching fire.
The move brings the number of lithium-ion batteries being replaced worldwide to more than 7 million, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Fujitsu said the recall would affect 224,000 laptops sold outside Japan across 10 models, including the popular Lifebook series. The remaining 63,000 were sold in Japan. Company officials refused to describe the recall’s cost.
Fujitsu’s decision follows similar moves by other major notebook computer makers, with the first and largest coming from Dell Inc. at 4.2 million, followed by Apple Computer Inc. at 1.8 million. Lenovo Group Ltd. and Toshiba Corp. joined the recall last week.
Hewlett-Packard Co., the world’s second-largest PC provider next to Dell, stated Monday it will not be issuing a recall. The company said it reviewed its products with Sony batteries and found that the designs were not prone to the overheating issues other companies seem to face.
The risk stems in part from the manufacturing process. The batteries can short-circuit because tiny shards of metal are left in their cells during production, Sony said.
Suit claims day laborer center violates federal laws
Laguna Beach – The city violated federal immigration and labor laws by supporting a day labor center that provides illegal immigrants with job training services and helps them find work, a watchdog group claimed in a lawsuit.
Judicial Watch, which advocates judicial accountability, said it filed the lawsuit Tuesday in Orange County Superior Court on behalf of two Laguna Beach residents who have been challenging the site’s existence.
The lawsuit alleges that the center helps find jobs for workers but doesn’t require that they provide identification or verify whether they’re eligible to work in the United States.
Citing public records, Judicial Watch said the city gave $22,000 this year to a nonprofit organization that runs the site. The group said the city uses taxpayer funds to provide portable toilets and remove trash and pay a leasing fee to the state, which owns the land where the labor center stands.
City Manger Ken Frank, who hadn’t seen the suit, said the center fills a need.
“I’m happy to have another solution. But we don’t want them hanging around in our residential areas and causing problems,” he said.
Apple CEO apologizes for stock-option practices
San Jose – Apple Computer Inc. CEO Steve Jobs apologized Wednesday for the company’s past stock-option practices after a three-month investigation raised “serious concerns” in connection with the accounting, recording and reporting of grants.
The iPod and Macintosh computer maker also announced the resignation of former Chief Financial Officer Fred Anderson from the company’s board of directors.
“I apologize to Apple’s shareholders and employees for these problems, which happened on my watch,” said Jobs, in a prepared statement. “We will now work to resolve the remaining issues as quickly as possible and to put the proper remedial measures in place to ensure that this never happens again.”
