Week in Review: 18-Year-Old Eyes Fremont Mayor Seat; Logan Leaves MVAL; Newark Swim Center to Close for Six Months

Here’s a round up of the top three stories in Fremont, Newark and Union City.

FREMONT

While most college sophomores are busy getting settled into their dorms, buying textbooks, and dreading another semester, Aziz Akbari has bigger things on his mind. The 18-year-old mayoral candidate is trying to sell the city of Fremont his vision. “I feel like Fremont is moving really slow. We need a change of pace and a new face for the city of Fremont,” said Akbari, a sophomore majoring in mechanical engineering at the University of Southern California. If elected, Akbari would become Fremont’s youngest mayor in history. Despite his age, the mayoral hopeful says he has the fresh perspective that his opponents lack. .

Two of Solyndra’s private investors could bank millions in future tax breaks, according to media reports. The Wall Street Journal reports that investment firms Argonaut Ventures and Madrone Partners, which backed the failed solar plant, are set to create an unrelated, reorganized company under a proposed Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan. Under the restructuring plan, the two firms would benefit from Solyndra’s operating losses by avoiding “hundreds of millions” in tax liabilities, according to bankruptcy court documents. If Argonaut and Madrone’s post-bankruptcy company becomes profitable, it would deduct Solyndra’s losses against their profits, cutting their tax bills, according to the Wall Street Journal. The U.S. Department of Energy, which gave Solyndra a $528 loan, will lose most of what it put into the company.

Two suspects wearing dark hoodies entered the Arco Gas Station-AM/PM at 5012 Stevenson Blvd., punched the clerk and stole several packs of cigarettes. The victim sustained minor facial injuries, but did not require medical attention. One suspect was described as a Hispanic male adult 28-30 years old, 5'7", 190 pounds, wearing a dark hoodie and black pants. The other was described as a black male adult, 24-25 years old, 5'9", 170 pounds, wearing a grey hoodie and blue pants.

NEWARK

People who swim at the Silliman Aquatic Center should pack their goggles and floaties away or head to another pool for the next six months. Starting Tuesday, the Newark-based swimming facility will be temporarily closed. The center’s three swimming pools will be inaccessible while repairs are being made to its ceiling and Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system, according to city officials. City leaders anticipate that the repairs will be completed within six months and plan to reopen by April 2013.

The 2012-13 school year began Monday in Newark. We wanted to see how local children kicked off the year. We asked parents and teachers to submit pictures, and they delivered. .

The Alameda County Mosquito Abatement District announced Thursday that three crows in the Fremont/Newark area and a squirrel in Livermore have tested positive for the virus. Alameda County now has five birds and a squirrel that have tested positive for West Nile, the district said. National figures reflect a 40 percent increase in West Nile virus cases since last week. Those stats indicate the number of cases may rival the record years of 2002 and 2003.

UNION CITY

To say the James Logan High football team has dominated the Mission Valley Athletic League for the past 13 years would be an understatement. The Colts won 11 of the last 13 league crowns and the last three in a row. Those days are over. Logan was awarded an independent status by the North Coast Section in the off-season and thus will play a 10-game, non-league schedule. As such, for the first time in a long time, the MVAL race is wide open. There is no clear-cut favorite. Expect Washington and American to battle at the top. Newark Memorial lost a lot to graduation, but could factor into the mix. .

Union City celebrated a major achievement last weekend. More than 400 community members hit the James Logan High School track and camped out overnight to help fight cancer by participating in Relay for Life, a 24-hour fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. Collectively, Union City Relay participants raised just over $94,000 — only a few grand short of their very ambitious goal of $100,000. Team Zoe, a Relay team formed in her of late teen Zoe Inciong, raised the most funds with more than $11,000.

A Washington Hospital nurse accused of sexually assaulting two women while on the job pleaded not guilty in court Thursday, according to media reports. Jon Jeffrey Quianzon, 31, of Union City faces four counts of sexual battery and one count of sodomy, the Fremont Argus reports. One of the victims is a 21-year-old Hayward woman who visited the hospital for treatment June 10, police told the newspaper. A Washington Hospital employee claims to have witnessed the sexual assault and reported it. During the investigation, a second patient came forward and said she was sexually assaulted by Quianzon at the hospital in 2009. Quianzon is no longer employed at Washington Hospital and is out on a $135,000 bail. He is scheduled to appear in court Sept. 28 for a pretrial hearing.

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