CLICK TO LISTEN

Gas prices dropped by one third in the past month, from $3.52 to $2.37.  But with the economy in convulsions, does anyone even notice?

By Mateen Kaul
The United States needs greater economic and diplomatic efforts, rather than just a better military strategy, to improve the situation in Afghanistan, according to Afghans settled in Fremont.

Story by Linsay Rousseau Burnett
Hollywood often stereotypes librarians as mousy women in horn-rimmed glasses who hide behind books. But the work of a librarian is not limited to searching databases and silencing noisy patrons. As mandated by the Young Adult Services Association (part of the American Library Association), an element of advocacy underlies the work that librarians do. For one Alameda County Librarian, she took the mandate of advocacy to heart to ensure that her patrons, the inmates of the Alameda Juvenile Detention Hall, were not disenfranchised during the 2008 …

By Karen Weise
CLICK TO LISTEN:

Splashed across headlines and news channels, this was to be the year of the youth vote.
CBS clip: “On Tuesday, the election could very well come down to young voters.”
Low and behold, young voters did turn out in droves. Researchers at Tufts University estimated that 52 percent of eligible youth voted this year, rivaling previous record highs from 1992 and 1972.

By Mateen Kaul
American Muslims in Fremont backed Senator Barack Obama’s push for the Presidency, but not his advice to vote no on Prop 8.

Reported by Tyler Sipe and Karen Weise using Federal Election Commission filings database between Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, 2008.
Graphic by Weise
Biographies by Sipe
Fremont residents donated about $739,809 to various political campaigns during 2008, according to newsmeat.com.  Fremont zip code 94539 contributed the most to political campaigns, amounting to $337,610, according to the Web site.  Below is a list of short biographies of Fremont’s top 10 political campaign contributors, in addition to where their money flowed.

High School Junior Andrea Shyu did not even know who the mayor of Fremont was before signing up to volunteer for his re-election campaign. Now, the 16-year-old spends up to eight hours a week canvassing door-to-door and putting up lawn signs.
Shyu is one of 130 students Mayor Bob Wasserman’s campaign recruited from high school classrooms and at school activities fairs. The campaign offered students like Shyu community service credit, an “intern” title for their resumes and college recommendation letters. While this all seemed like simply offering students campaign experience and …

By Mateen Kaul
People dressed in traditional Indian clothes celebrated Diwali with food, music and prayers at Fremont’s Hindu Temple on Saturday night, October 25.

Photos and Story by Linsay Rousseau Burnett
April 1st, 2008. The 911 call came at 2:30am from a woman reporting that she had been raped and robbed inside her apartment. Fremont patrol officers quickly located the suspect in an adjacent apartment where he had barricaded himself inside. It was time to call in the SWAT team. The team quickly surrounded and locked down the building. But after nine hours of failed negotiations, SWAT officers fired tear gas into the apartment. The suspect immediately surrendered was taken into custody without injury.

Photos and Story by Tyler Sipe
The local thrift store industry typically says Christmas comes in October, when sales are buoyed by Halloween.
But area thrift stores have seen a mixed bag of tricks and treats as a result of the nation’s economic woes.
Two Fremont stores, locally owned Jack’s Army Navy Surplus and the national organization Society of St. Vincent De Paul, both said sales have declined compared to 2007.