By Karen Weise
As the economic downturn moved through Silicon Valley, Fremont’s East Indian community struggled with the possibility of returning to India.
Job cuts started hitting Silicon Valley in September, with layoffs from large mainstays like Yahoo and startups like YouSendit emailing services, according to TechCrunch’s Layoff Tracker.

By Casey Miner  At a chain clothing store on Telegraph Avenue, catching shoplifters isn’t just about ethics — it’s about making money.
On a recent weekday afternoon, one employee, who said he has worked at the store for about a year and a half, proudly displayed a row of stickers affixed to the back of his nametag – one for every thief caught. Once he catches ten, he said, the store gives him a $50 gift card.
“It’s annoying,” he said of the shoplifters. “But kids will be kids.”
Employees at …

By Mateen Kaul
Rep Pete Stark, D-Fremont, has called for investment in public infrastructure to create jobs and ease the current economic crisis, even if it means running up the deficit.

Story by Linsay Rousseau Burnett
Fremont, considered the “Gateway to Silicon Valley,” may be an expensive suburb, but it is also home to a hidden homeless population.
The cost of rental properties in Fremont is higher than San Francisco; the city also has a larger number of homeless children than the national average. And the recent economic downturn has caught these homeless in a painful squeeze.

Story and Photos by Tyler Sipe
Copper metal has become the new gold standard in the underground economy.
Fremont and other East Bay cities have seen a dramatic increase in copper theft, especially since the commodity has risen above $3 a pound.
Fremont Police Detective Bill Veteran said the theft of copper and other metals has reached epidemic proportions, and said he believes most of the offenders in the Tri-City area are drug addicts.

By Adelaide Chen
The nightlife in Oakland’s Eastlake area has never thrived, but it existed quietly. Among the local businesses today, many of the Vietnamese and Chinese restaurants close early, before 8pm.
If it wasn’t enough that the a string of robberies scared away customers in the evenings a few months back, business for the 20 or so restaurant owners have been hit by another factor–the downturn in the economy.

By Casey Miner  The street vendors of upper Telegraph Avenue are fixtures of Berkeley life; their colorful stands lend the few blocks near campus some of its legendary character. But as anxious consumers cut discretionary spending, those stands see fewer and fewer patrons.
“They can’t afford to buy,” said Bill Tumath, 62, who sells “cosmic spirals” – metal or copper hanging spirals that spin around brightly colored spheres – from a table near Bancroft Way. “They have the money, but they have other priorities.”

By Karen Weise
While supporters hailed the government’s Federal bailout plan as an effort to benefit both Main Street and Wall Street, Fremont’s community banks, credit unions, and small business owners are not convinced.

Radio and print stories by Linsay Rousseau Burnett
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In the heart of Fremont’s historic Niles District, the Essanay Café is a go-to place for fine dining and good wine. But on the first Tuesday of each month, the café swaps out its china with paper plates, for what owner Bruce Cates has themed, the “Recession Dinner.”

By Will Jason
More than a year after announcing plans for redevelopment, the owner of a long-vacant lot in Berkeley’s Southside neighborhood has still not filed official plans with the city. And with the city officials and the owner’s partners growing impatient, the chance to revive what many see as a neglected corner – Telegraph Ave. and Haste St. – could soon fade away.
“A new building would be good for the neighborhood,” said Mario Tejada, 78, who said he has owned
Mario’s La Fiesta restaurant, across the street from the site, since …