Teachers flood San Jose job fair despite looming school cuts

The first thing one might have wanted to ask the folks milling about Saturday's Santa Clara County Teacher Recruitment Fair was: "Are you nuts?"

After all, local school districts are handing out pink slips like hall passes. Because of a crushing state deficit, South Bay districts are preparing to ax the equivalent of 700 full-time positions -- a number that's almost sure to swell if Gov. Jerry Brown's plan to ask voters to extend temporary taxes fails.
School officials at the event acknowledged the seeming contradiction of hiring amid so much red ink, yet state law requires them to fill certain positions, such as slots for special-education teachers.
The dire budget outlook didn't stop Genia Orlova and hundreds of other hopefuls from trolling the job fair's kiosks.
Orlova, 37, was a physician before she and her husband came here from Siberia in 2000. Armed with a master's degree in special education from San Francisco State, she worked for several years with preschoolers before leaving the work force to raise her daughter.
With little Uliana set to start first grade this fall, Mom is ready to work again full time.
But as Orlova surveyed the first of several sprawling conference rooms where people waited in lines 10 deep, she said: "I think I don't have many chances."
Her first stop was the desk manned by the county Office of Education, which hosted the event at its San Jose headquarters. Though the county has

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several special-ed jobs posted, they all require a credential to work with moderate-to-severe disabilities. Orlova doesn't have that certification.Nancy Guerrero, a county special-ed specialist, said lots of people are in Orlova's boat. But she was taking résumés "just in case," knowing that retirements or downsizing at individual schools will create openings for the county office to fill.

San Jose Mercury News

Q You asked for memorable movies filmed along roadways in our great Bay Area.

Clarence Converse

San Jose

A Indeed I did, both scenes we love and goofs we remember.

Q One of the classics was "Bullitt" in 1968. During the chase scene between Steve McQueen and the bad guys up and down the streets of San Francisco, you will, in certain shots supposedly on different streets, see the same green VW bug being passed by both cars. Look closely at the cars parked along the streets, and you'll see some of the same cars also parked on different streets. It is still a classic and inspired Ford to make a 2008 Bullitt Mustang using the original exhaust sounds from the movie so it would sound the same as the '68 model.

Clarence Converse

A "Bullitt" takes top honors for many.

Q Herb Caen decades ago in the '70s pointed out all of the "Bullitt" miscues. Who would know better than Herb (RIP)?

Richard Olson

San Mateo

A A legend, and so missed. Now to another McQueen flick.

Q My No. 1 goof: "Towering Inferno" with McQueen and a million other stars. Remember when Fred Astaire approaches the huge Bank of America building by way of escalator? He looks up at the huge, black, intimidating structure, enters, looks

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up again and it's the Hyatt Regency lobby on Market Street. You see the cascading plants coming down from the atrium-like setting. The scene had folks in the San Francisco audience pointing at the screen laughing.

Richard Olson

Setback reported at Japanese reactor

Officials: Pressure rises again in Japan reactor

 

AP – In this image taken from footage

released by the Japan Defense Ministry,

a fire engine from the Japan … 

 

FUKUSHIMA, Japan – Japan prepared another risky venting of radioactive gas to relieve a new spike in pressure in one of its troubled nuclear reactors Sunday, a setback in efforts to bring the crippled, leaking plant under control just after some signs of improvement.
The planned release into the air of what officials said would be a densely radioactive cloud comes as traces of radiation are turning up well beyond the leaking Fukushima Dai-ichi plant after its cooling systems were knocked by the massive March 11 quake and tsunami on Japan's northeast coast.

U.S., allies strike targets in Libya

First wave of allied assault: 112 cruise missiles

AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus

Libyan rebels celebrate on a captured Government tank in the outskirts of Benghazi, eastern Libya, Saturday, March 19, 2011. More photos »

WASHINGTON – U.S. and British ships and submarines launched the first phase of a missile assault on Libyan air defenses Saturday and a senior American defense official said it was believed substantial damage was inflicted.
In the strikes, 112 Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired at more than 20 coastal targets to clear the way for air patrols to ground Libya's air force.
While U.S. defense officials cautioned that it was too early to fully gauge the impact of the onslaught, the official said that given the precision targeting of the Navy's cruise missiles, they felt that Libya's air defenses suffered a good deal of damage.
Explosions continued to rock the coastal cities, including Tripoli. Navy Vice Adm. Wiliam E. Gortney, director of the Pentagon's Joint Staff, would not discuss future operations But defense officials said military action was likely to continue.
The official spoke on grounds of anonymity because the ongoing mission.
In announcing the mission during a visit to Brazil, President Barack Obama said he was reluctant to resort to force but was convinced it was necessary to save the lives of civilians. He reiterated that he would not send American ground troops to Libya.
"We cannot stand idly by when a tyrant tells his people there will be no mercy," he said in Brasilia.
While U.S. defense officials said it was too early to gauge the impact of the onslaught, one senior official said that given the precision targeting of the Navy's cruise missiles, they believe Libya's air defenses suffered a good deal of damage.
It was clear the U.S. intended to limit its role in the Libya intervention, focusing first on disabling or otherwise silencing Libyan air defenses, and then leaving it to European and perhaps Arab countries to enforce a no-fly zone over the North African nation.

Click image to see photos of protests in Libya

AFP/Patrick Baz

Gortney told reporters the cruise missile assault was the "leading edge" of a coalition campaign dubbed Operation Odyssey Dawn. Its aim: prevent Moammar Gadhafi's forces from inflicting more violence on civilians -- particularly in and around the rebel stronghold of Benghazi -- and degrading the Libyan military's ability to contest a no-fly zone.

20-minute standoff on an NBA court

Knife-wielding intruder creates a scare at Staples Center

By Kelly Dwyer

An armed intruder stormed onto the Staples Center court just over an hour before Saturday's matinee matchup between the Los Angeles Clippers and Cleveland Cavaliers. Though authorities don't know what the man's intentions or motivations were, he was brandishing a knife, and was eventually brought down after a hail of rubber bullet fire from security guards and police officers after a 20-minute standoff and led into custody. No fans, authorities, or members of either organization were hurt or seriously threatened.