Governor says schools will get funding, passenger train is powered by animal fat, historic restaurant offers throwback prices, new writings displayed, and a tycoon donates his fortune.
1. Arnold to the rescue
Schwarzenegger promises millions in UC funding
The details: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed state budget for 2010-2011 restores $370 million for the UC system. “In the private meetings we have just had with our education leaders I have made it very clear I will not sign a budget unless [higher education] funds are there,” he said. The discussion included three recommendations to aid the system: raising the percentage of in-state high school students eligible for enrollment, increasing transfers into the system and emphasizing the improvement of graduation rates.
2. ‘Zip-bikes’ in Denver
Large-scale bike sharing begins
The details: Denver B-cycle, the nation’s first large-scale citywide bicycle sharing program, has launched, offering an alternative to using cars for short commutes and errands. Denver B-cycle mimics similar programs for automobiles and bike programs popular in some European and Asian cities. Members can sign up for 24-hour, seven-day, 30-day or annual memberships ranging from $5 to $65 online. Users can pick up a bike from one station and drop it off at another. By June, there should be 500 B-cycles at 45 to 50 stations.
3. Cattle car
Amtrak debuts fat-powered passenger train
The details: In a bid to reduce emissions, Amtrak has developed the first train powered by tallow — rendered beef fat. The fuel reduces hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions by 10 percent and reduces sulfates by 20 percent compared to standard diesel. The Heartland Flyer line from Fort Worth, Texas, and Oklahoma City will be the test run to see if the rolling cow palace will work long-term.
4. Undersea ladies
Navy to allow women to serve on submarines
The details: The first U.S. women allowed to serve aboard submarines will be reporting for duty by 2012 after starting 15 months of training this summer. The cramped quarters and scant privacy aboard submarines, combined with long tours of up to
90 days at sea, kept submarines off-limits to female sailors for 16 years after the Navy began allowing women to serve on all its surface ships in 1994. This ends one of the military’s few remaining gender barriers.
5. Time warp
SF restaurant boasts 5 cent celebratory menu
The details: Known as America’s oldest Italian restaurant, San Francisco’s Fior d’Italia celebrated its 125th anniversary on Friday and brought back its menu — and prices — from 1886. Meals at the restaurant ranged between 5 cents and 30 cents and included veal sauté for 5 cents, tortellini with meat sauce for 10 cents and a roast sirloin for 30 cents, among other options. However not all pricing was a complete blast from the past. Drinks, wine and extras were all at regular 2010 prices.
6. Clean living
The City lowers emissions, meets Kyoto standards
The details: San Francisco has significantly reduced its carbon footprint during the past two years, meeting the standards set by the Kyoto Protocol. Mayor Gavin Newsom this week announced that The City is
7 percent below the 1990 emissions levels. In 1997, more than 160 nations met in Kyoto, Japan, to negotiate binding limitations on greenhouse gases for the developed nations. The result of this meeting was the Kyoto Protocol, where nations agreed to limit their greenhouse gas emissions. The United States agreed to reduce emissions by 7 percent below 1990 levels between 2008 and 2012.
7. Space cleaning
New technology to clean up space junk in orbit
The details: Satellites might soon be able to use solar sails to keep outer space a little cleaner. The sails are expected to launch next year and test whether they can be used as a kind of atmospheric break for space shuttles. If that testing is successful, more advanced solar sails could be created to scoop up pieces of space junk floating around Earth. There are approximately 20,000 pieces of space trash in orbit.
8. Silver and black
Raiders make big change at QB
The details: The Raiders have made some interesting moves during recent NFL drafts. This year was no exception, except the reviews were positive — and it had nothing to do with a draft pick. By trading for veteran quarterback Jason Campbell from the Washington Redskins, the Raiders set themselves up to cut ties with 2007 No. 1 overall pick JaMarcus Russell, who had been a disaster on and off the field in his three years with the team. Campbell just needed a confidence boost after a roller-coaster ride with the Redskins.
9. Catching scofflaws
Tax evasion may cost businesses
The details: If San Francisco business-tax scofflaws are caught significantly under-reporting the taxes they owe, they could soon start paying a hefty penalty. Hundreds of thousands of dollars could start pouring into city coffers annually if the substantially underreporting penalty, introduced by Mayor Gavin Newsom, goes into effect.
10. Behind the diary
Anne Frank’s writings put on display in entirety
The details: Fifty years after a museum opened in Anne Frank’s honor, her famous diary is being put on view for the public. For two years during World War II, Frank hid from Nazis in the Netherlands house that is now a museum. Previously, a diary that covered only six months of her hiding was available to the public. The display is made up of the three parts of the diary, a book of short stories she wrote called “Tales from the Secret Annex,” and a notebook of her favorite quotations.
Bright light of the week
Yu Pengnian
What: Chinese tycoon Yu Pengnian, 88, has donated his entire $1.2 billion fortune to charity since 2003. So far, his foundation has funded more than 150,000 cataract surgeries — and established numerous Project Hope schools — for people in China’s poorest regions. Yu started out in poverty and has suffered from cataracts, which are relatively common in China.
Cut out of will: None of Yu’s several children will inherit any of his fortune, a move he says the children agree with. His reasoning is, “If my children are more capable than me, it’s not necessary to leave a lot of money to them. If they are incompetent, a lot of money will only be harmful to them.”
