Week in Review: Two Found Dead in Motel; Wanted Gang Member Escapes Police

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

FREMONT

Another Fremont solar company is going under. Multiple news sites are reporting that GreenVolts has recently lost support from a financial backer, resulting in the laying off of more than 60 of the company’s 80-person staff. Located at 46400 Fremont Blvd., the seven-year-old company, which manufactures photovoltaic systems and touts itself as "the only complete, fully-integrated solar system," is now planning to sell its technology and assets. .

Candidates for Fremont mayor, City Council and School Board took center stage Friday evening in the theater at Mission San Jose High School for one of the first of several political candidate forums to take place for the local elections before Election Day. The event drew an audience of more than 125 people and candidates spoke on local issues and development. Read what mayoral, city council and school board candidates had to say in

Police are searching for four men who beat and robbed a woman during a home invasion robbery Saturday morning. According to the Fremont Police Department, a 49-year-old woman was taking a nap at about 11:40 a.m. inside of her Warm Springs home on the 48000 block of Purpleleaf Street when she woke up to find four men surrounding her bed. One of the suspects had a gun, police said. After a struggle, she escaped but the men stole jewelry from her home before fleeing. For more details and the suspects’ description, .

NEWARK

Two people were found dead in a Newark motel Friday morning. Police were called to the E-Z 8 Motel after the motel’s staff inside of a room. The pair was pronounced dead at the scene and authorities confirmed that the victims were . As of Saturday evening, authorities had not whether the victim was Patricia “Tricia” Martin, who was reported missing by her mother on Monday, but a post on the Missing! Bring Tricia Martin Home Facebook page and indicate the victim is Tricia.  

A 25-year-old woman was arrested after police responded to EZ-8 Motel to a report of a possible stabbing just before noon last Friday, Sept. 7. Authorities said it’s believed the woman tried to stab her father with a ball point pen in the chest. The woman was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and booked into Santa Rita Jail. The man was not injured. For other crime reports in the past week, .

As different companies submit proposals to become Newark's new waste collection provider, residents are asked to tell consultants what they want in a garbage collection company. According to the city website, residents of Newark are asked to participate in an online survey that “will help the City plan for future recycling and garbage services.” The online questionnaire can be found here and those who wish to participate are asked to take the survey by Oct. 1. More information . 

UNION CITY

Police are searching for a known Union City gang member who escaped from officers attempting to serve him a no-bail, felony arrest warrant in Fremont late Sunday night. Authorities tried to contact the suspect around 11:20 p.m. Sunday on the 5000 block of Cello Way. The suspect ran out but was confronted by officers, police said. He then proceeded to lock himself in the Fremont home, prompting an overnight standoff, said Fremont Police spokeswoman Geneva Bosques. The suspect was able to escape police and is still outsanding.

The ’s latest fundraiser is a raffle for four box seat tickets to teen pop icon/heartthrob Justin Bieber’s Oct. 6 concert at the Oracle Arena. The raffle only costs $20, but there are discounted prices for bulk orders. Three tickets purchased together costs $40 with $100 scoring you nine raffle entries. The raffle will close with a drawing on Sept. 28 at halftime during the James Logan High School football match. Fore more information, .

Nearly 500 retired school and city employees in Union City are collecting pensions, dozens of them receiving more than $100,000 a year. The retirement compensation is part of a list posted by the San Jose Mercury News and other newspapers. The CalPERS list was unveiled as the state Legislature last week approved a pension reform bill that is now on Gov. Jerry Brown's desk. The City of Union City has 159 retirees on the list. The retiree collecting the most each year is former police chief Randal Ulibarri. He was paid about $19,140 a month when he retired after working 31 years for the government. For more details, . See . See what Fremont retirees’ pensions are here.   

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