Morning News Round-Up – 12.24.08: Pre-Christmas Edition (complete with cover-ups, gambling, and fraud...)

District Attorney Dolores Carr could have opened the proceedings of the secret grand jury for the sake of sunshine/transparency/public trust, her predecessor George Kennedy did so for controversial cases. Instead, she opted to keep the doors of justice closed tight when dealing with the drunk driving controversy/cover-up two San Jose Police Officers are connected to. This has led to the Merc. Editorial folks heightened suspicion of a police cover-up. Watch Dog doesn't want to get overly political looking for a reason why Carr didn't/won't open up the proceedings looking at police officers (possibly) behaving badly...wait, yes we do. Perhaps it is a political 'thank you' gift to her strongest campaign supporters? ...or her spousal relationship with the San Jose PD?

The parents of Carlos Sousa, Jr. (one of the dudes that was mauled by a tiger) have filed a lawsuit against San Francisco and the zoological society that operates the San Francisco Zoo. The suit says, "Defendants ignored warnings by San Francisco Zoo employees that the Siberian tiger wall was insufficient." San Jose residents Sousa and friends Kulbir Dhaliwal and Amritpal "Paul" Dhaliwal have been accused of provoking the tiger that escaped from her cage and mauled Sousa last year at this time. In the past year, we've all learned that the Dhaliwal boys aren't the angels we thought they were...In fact, the tiger-baiting was the first step...since then, the Dhaliwal family have faced a series of run-ins with the law, including public drunkenness (in California’s drunk arrest capital, San Jose), resisting arrest, shoplifting, and reckless driving. Paul Dhaliwal is currently in prison for a parole violation...This is the story that keeps on giving...

Fry’s Electronics has 34 stores in 9 states. They are known to be obsessively focused on security -- "may I see your receipt"...This makes the tale of the gambling executive who defrauded the store (and vendors) out of $65 million through wire fraud and money laundering even more unresistable/ironic. Omar defrauded 5 vendors of $65 million...but with an estimated $162 million in gambling debts it’s only a matter of time before others step forward. (Plus, today we learned that the dude's vice was Baccarat...how very James Bond...)

Campbell police pushed the ever present day laborers away from Home Depot in an attempt to get them out of Campbell. No such luck, the 100 or so day laborers moved a short distance away to a Burger King whose customers are not complaining. Mayor Jane Kennedy says the solution is a center where the day laborers can find work and added, "the City can't afford it, and property owners can't do it, so until we have someone willing to, what else are we going to do?"

Gilroy is closing their museum effective February 1, 2009 as a part of the economic crisis according to Tom Haglund the City Administrator. It is kind of shame...Watch Dog enjoyed the place...

Los Gatos/Monte Sereno Police came to the aid of...fighting deer. Two deer somehow got their antlers tied together – a cruel person’s idea of humor perhaps – and slipped down the embankment above Blossom Hill Road. The Police had to use a saw, while perched on the roof of a car, to release the deer from each other. Never a dull moment...

Generosity is not new to Jennifer Krach...and Carole Leigh Hutton, President and CEO of United Way Silicon Valley is delighted with the $100,000 challenge grant Karch has made to benefit the Emergency Assistance Network. Krach believes in putting her money where her mouth is asking, “Oh my God, how can you not care about what's going on?” OMG! Too much IMing for uber-generous Krach...

San Jose Revealed provides a creative update to Dicken’s tale with the ghosts of Christmas Past (Tom McEnery), Recent (Ron Gonzales) and Future (Forest Williams – really?) appearing to a groggy Ebenezer Reed. Merry and Happy Revealed...

James Rowen at Mission City Lantern shares his personal philosophy (confront and defeat reality), a secret (he’s unbalanced and unfair), and the first political blogger (Ben Franklin).