1. Changing routes
Pilots asked to alter departure following deadly crash
The details: In move that ultimately is more for reducing noise than for safety, pilots are being asked by the Palo Alto Airport Association to change departure routes so they fly over San Francisco Bay instead of East Palo Alto. The move comes a week after three men died when a private aircraft suddenly veered off-course and crashed into a neighborhood. Redirecting departing traffic over water will reduce noise over the residential areas and, if problems do come up, will reduce the risk to residents.
2. Sudan truce
Latest cease-fire is best chance for peace in seven years
The details: The new truce between Sudan’s government and the country’s Darfur-region rebels provides a promising chance for peace in troubled region. Upcoming elections and dramatically improved ties with neighboring Chad raise hopes that the truce will finally end seven years of devastating war. A prisoner exchange has already begun. Some 300,000 people died and 2.7 million were displaced since ethnic African tribesman in the vast, arid Darfur region took up arms against the Arab-dominated central government.
3. Perjury sentencing
DNA proves woman sent innocent man to prison for four years
The details: A young mother who falsely cried rape, sending an innocent man to prison for nearly four years, will experience firsthand what he suffered. She’ll spend one to three years behind bars for perjury. Biurny Peguero Gonzalez lied to doctors, cops, prosecutors and the jury that she was “110 percent” sure William McCaffrey raped her at knifepoint on a Bronx street in 2005. She did it because her girlfriends were mad that she ditched them while hanging out.
4. Hiring credit
Senate passes tax breaks for companies hiring unemployed workers
The details: The first major bill to pass the U.S. Senate since the Christmas Eve passage of a deeply controversial health care bill won a bipartisan 70-28 vote and will be sent to the House. The bill would exempt businesses hiring the unemployed from the 6.2 percent Social Security payroll tax through December and give an additional $1,000 credit if new workers stay on the job a full year. Social Security trust funds would be reimbursed for lost revenue.
5. Adding up
Math, science skills can be honed via YouTube
The details: What started out as a way to help a cousin with math homework has turned into a nonprofit organization with a worldwide following. Salman Khan noticed American students were lagging in math and science education, compared to those in Asia and Europe. He decided to take his knowledge and transform it into lessons he posted on YouTube. Khan does not make an on-camera appearance, and the videos were filmed in a converted closet in his Bay Area home.
6. Ladies only
Women to get own lavatory on Japanese airline
The details: Japan’s All Nippon Airlines is responding to the overwhelming call from female travelers to have their own designated bathroom. Ninety percent of women polled in 2007 said they liked the idea of a ladies-only lavatory. The flights may be regional, but the reason is universal: The women want an exclusive restroom because men leave the toilet seats up.
7. Stop cussin’
State lawmakers want Californians to watch their mouths
The details: The state Senate will vote next week on a resolution passed by the Assembly establishing the first week of March as “Cuss Free Week.” The resolution includes no enforcement mechanism. It is meant to promote greater harmony and connectedness, according to its co-author, Assemblyman Anthony Portantino, D-La Cañada. He said California is the first state Legislature to consider a profanity-free week.
8. Muni waives fee
TransLink fee eliminated for some transit riders
The details: For a limited time, Muni will waive its $5 processing fee for disabled, senior and youth passengers purchasing the TransLink card, the regional one-stop payment system that one day will be available on all Bay Area transit systems. Discounted Fast Pass users can show up in person to designated sales sites, provided they bring a form of identification — such as a birth certificate, driver’s license, passport or a city ID card.
9. ‘Toyota defense’
Jailed man may be vindicated
The details: A jury didn’t believe Koua Fong Lee after his 1996 Toyota Camry rammed into the back of a car in a crash that killed three people, and he is serving eight years in prison. Lee insisted he had done everything he could to stop the car. Revelations of acceleration and safety problems with Toyotas have prosecutors, Lee and relatives of the crash victims pressing to have his case reopened.
10. Networking warning
Web site asks users to think about online revelations
The details: Everyone enjoys posting where they are or bragging about being on vacation, but a status update on Facebook or Foursquare could equate to a “Please Rob Me” sign if you make it clear to enough people that you’re not at home. Enter PleaseRobMe.com, which aims to warn social networkers that their information will not necessarily be used for good. Photos posted online of your house can show what valuables you have, and those ubiquitous Foursquare posts could alert robbers when you left your home and when you’re likely to be back. Paranoid? Maybe. But the site owners want users to at least give some thought to what they could lose.
Bright light: David Benke
What: The Colorado middle school teacher brought down an assailant who had already shot two students.
Why: Without Benke’s interference, more students could have been injured or killed at Deer Creek Middle School. Benke said he remembered that when he went through emergency drills with his students, he told them he would want to do something. When Bruco Strongeagle Eastwood started shooting, Benke’s first thought was that he had to act because “I promised.”
