Virginia Street Ribbon Cutting

The recent work on the Virginia Street bridge to widen the flood channel was celebrated on Saturday with a ceremonial ribbon cutting. Participants included Beau Goldie, Chief Executive Officer of the Santa Clara Valley Water District, Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio, Councilmember Sam Liccardo, and Joe Judge, Director of Santa Clara County Water District, Autumn Young, San Jose City College Student Trustee, and Omar Torres, past President of the Washington Neighborhood Advisory Council.

Attendees enjoyed dancing by members of Brenda Lopez Folklorico.


Please note that the Virigina Street has not yet re-opened. It should be another few weeks and is dependent on the weather.

Keep your eyes out...

There have been a few reports of a woman attempting to burglarize vacant homes in the area. Look out for a 1990s white Jeep Cherokee driven by a woman in her mid 30's, about 5'3", 130 lbs with dark brown/black hair. She has been seen peering into homes that are vacant due to remodels as well as pending foreclosure, so keep that in mind.

If you see someone fitting this description, please call 911 to report a possible crime in progress.

Warming Centers

The weather is cooling down, so even if you don't need to visit a warming center, please keep an eye out for neighbors who might need this information.

The closest location to us is the Willows Senior Center at 2175 Lincoln. Other locations around the city are available.

Ceremonial re-opening of W. Virginia Street Bridge

The Santa Clara Valley Water District is inviting local residents to its ceremonial reopening of the West Virginia Street Bridge after nine months of closure to expand it over the widened channel.
The event will take place at the intersection of Harliss Avenue and West Virginia Street on the expanded secton of the floodplain. Light refreshements will be served.
View a ribbon cutting ceremony with San Jose City Councilman Sam Liccardo and the water district board of directors and parade across the bridge before it opens to vehicular traffic. The Brenda Lopez Folklorico will provide entertainment.

RSVP to Tony Mercado, 408-265-2607 ext. 2342 or tmercado@valleywater.org.

San Jose mayor lays out stark choices in his state-of-the-city speech

From the mercury News:
"San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed's State of the City address, 2011
San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed laid out a stark choice in his State of the City speech Thursday night: Either the city's employees accept significant pay and benefit cuts to curb their runaway pension costs or the already-lean city work force will be pared dangerously thin."

Willow Glen Lifestyles Home Tour

The 29th Annual Willow Glen Lifestyles Home Tour will showcase six Willow Gen homes and gardens as a fundraiser for the San José Day Nursery. Approximately 1200 people in Willow Glen and surrounding areas attend each year.

For more information, see www.sjdn.org or contact Melinda Dobbs for more information at mdobbs77@gmail.com.

Willow Glen school has six sets of twins

Read in the Mercury News about the class at Explorer Preschool in Willow Glen that has six sets of twins in one class.

Great American Litter Pick Up

Help clean up litter in San José. To participate in this year’s Litter Pick Up, call (408) 277-3208 and sign up for one of the meeting locations listed below. On the day of the event, register at your meeting location and receive litter clean-up supplies*. Following the event, join us for a Celebration Lunch at your Council District’s Event Kickoff Location. Lunch is free for volunteers.

For online information, go to www.sanjoseca.gov and scroll down to Events & Exhibits.

* Donated supplies are limited. Volunteers are encouraged to bring their own pick-up stick and gloves.

March 19 – 8:30am-1pm
Willow Glen Community Center
2175 Lincoln Ave., Room 7

For more information, call (408) 277-3208 or http://www.sanjoseca.gov/prns/antigraffiti/

2011 Mayor’s State of the City Address

Mayor Chuck Reed and the San Jose City Council invite you to the 2011 State of the City Address. In addition to the Mayor's annual speech, the event will honor outstanding citizens from each Council District and exemplary city employees.

New This Year:
The 2011 State of the City Address will be FREE for all guests (meals will not be served) and held during the evening to encourage more residents to attend after work. In addition, the event has been moved to the San Jose Civic Auditorium, offering attendees a sneak-peek of the historic theater's renovation. The venue also features theater-style seating in lieu of tables.

Dine downtown after the event and receive special discounts. The San Jose Downtown Association will be kicking off a special two-month promotion at this year's State of the City Address. Print this gift certificate to save $10 at select restaurants (participating locations are listed on the certificate) or to receive discounts for your favorite performing arts groups or museums.

Space is limited. All attendees MUST pre-register for this event.

DEADLINE EXTENDED to Tuesday, February 15, 2011.

Event Date/Time:
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Doors open at 6:00 PM
Program begins at 6:30 PM

Willow Glen Lou's Village in the news

Scott Herhold of the San Jose Mercury News wrote about Lou's Village and their plans to come to Willow Glen. Check out the article from February 10.

District 6 Spring Newsletter

Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio's District 6 Spring Newsletter is available online. Topics include recent events in the neighborhood, important phone numbers to have on hand, new local businesses, a 2011 calendar of events, and more.

See more at http://www.sanjoseca.gov/district6/documents/February2011Newsletter_000.pdf.

North Willow Glen garage sale: Set for May 21

The neighborhood garage sale is back! Mark your calendars for Saturday, May 21. More information will be available as we get closer to the date. In the meantime, feel free to contact Lila Kakuk at fetter1101@yahoo.com if you are interested in helping organize or have a burning question.

Get ready to clean out your closets, garages, and homes!

Bay Area high-speed rail plans delayed at least a year

State leaders on Thursday delayed releasing key details of the Bay Area section of the California high-speed rail project and said they won't unveil information on how the tracks will run through the Peninsula until at least 2012.

Read more at the Mercury News.

Greater Gardner Coalition Meeting tonight, 7 pm

Everybody in Gardner, North Willow Glen and Gregory Plaza are invited to attend a neighborhood-wide meeting this Wednesday, Feb. 2. San Jose Police Lieutenant Ta will be one of the guest speakers.

Come to the Gardner Community Center to learning more about our neighborhood. Children and students are welcome to attend.

Greater Gardner Coalition General Meeting
Date: Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Location: Gardner Community Center, 520 W Virginia St., San Jose

Proposed Agenda
7:00 pm Welcome and Introductions - Harvey Darnell, Chairman
7:05 pm Guest Speaker - San Jose Police Lieutenant Ta - Discuss policing and public safety throughout our area
7:30 pm Guest Speaker - Tony Torres
7:45 pm Los Primos Market - Liquor Sales Permit
8:00 pm City Council Representatives updates
8:15 pm Open Nominations for 2011-2012 Board Members
8:30 pm Neighborhood reports
NWGNA - Bill Rankin
Gardner - Cha Cha Rojas
Gregory Plaza - Mary Pizzo
District 3 NAG - Debbie Wade
9:00 pm Adjourn

What to do when a pet is lost

Great info from Alison England:

I just wanted to pass along a couple of sites that were recently useful in bringing home a neighbor's lost pet. These two sites have photos of animals that have been turned in to shelters.

www.southcountypets.com

This site has links to our most local bay area shelters. Several have listings of photos of pets either at the shelter or being held by a resident until the pet can be found by its family. It's a huge time-saver rather than trying to physically visit all the shelters.

This is also a nice site to use for looking for a pet to adopt, as photos of adoptable pets are listed under a different category. (Careful, checking out the pictures of these loves can be addicting and could lead to bigger things.)

www.petharbor.com

This is a very large set of links to shelters all over. It's a little harder to whittle down to more local shelters, but because it covers shelters virtually everywhere, it could be useful if you suspect a pet may have either roamed a great distance or perhaps may have been lost during a move or accidentally hitched a ride a great distance.

Please record both of these sites where you can find them in the future. You never know when you or someone you know might need them. A North Willow Glen family was recently reunited with their cat that had somehow traveled from Willow Glen to Saratoga.