Salon Creates Happier Holiday for Land Mine Victims
Morgan Hill – Cherisse’s Hair Salon and Day Spa of Morgan Hill has joined with hairdressers nationwide in a campaign to provide prosthetics for land mine amputees in war-torn countries worldwide. The hairdressers’ campaign, called, “I’m Behind the Bottle” was initiated by John Paul DeJoria, the CEO of Paul Mitchell Systems, who works in conjunction with the international nonprofit, the Mineseeker Foundation.
After visiting countries such as Mozambique where hundreds of thousands of children and adults have lost their limbs while walking to a water hole or playing on a playground, DeJoria was moved to support the Mineseeker Foundation in their effort to track land mines through the use of blimps with GPS systems, strategically remove them, and return the land to the farmers for their crops.
Cherisse’s Hair Salon donates a percentage of all sales of Paul Mitchell products to aid in the international fundraising effort.
Google Unleashes Stock Options
San Francisco – Google Inc. will unleash employee stock options so they can be sold to a select group of investors, opening a new moneymaking channel for rank-and-file workers at the expense of lowering the online search leader’s earnings next year.
The Mountain View-based company announced the planned shift to “transferable” stock options late Tuesday, several months before the change takes effect.
The unique program is meant to make it easier for employees to assess the value of their stock options – a staple of most compensation packages in Silicon Valley.
SoCal Homes Hit Nine-Year Low
Los Angeles – Home sales in a six-county swath of Southern California fell in November to a nine-year low for the month, while prices declined in San Diego and Ventura counties, a real estate research firm said Wednesday.
In all, 20,388 new and resale houses and condos were sold in November in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties, according to San Diego-based DataQuick Information Systems.
The figure represents a 26.2 percent decline from the year-ago month and a 7.8 percent drop from October’s sales figures, the firm said.
The last time fewer homes were sold in the region during November was 1997, when sales totaled 18,305, DataQuick said.
Valley Legend Dies at 76
San Jose – Alan Shugart, the co-founder of hard drive maker Seagate Technology LLC, has died, the company said Wednesday. He was 76.
Shugart helped pioneer the multibillion dollar hard drive industry, in which Seagate now holds the leading market position.
Described by some as a maverick, Shugart was well known for his colorful personality that included his effort to get his dog to run for Congress. The unsuccessful ploy became the topic of one of his three books, “Ernest Goes to Washington (Well, Not Exactly).”
Shugart died Tuesday at Community Hospital in Monterey, said Seagate spokeswoman Julie Stills.
