Proposal for high-speed rail bridges in downtown San Jose raise alarm

Read this article for the latest on high-speed rail and how it might affect you. Have your say at these meetings:

What: California High-Speed Rail Authority leaders will hold an open house on routes from the Diridon station south to Merced.
When: Tuesday, Jan. 12, 6 to 8 p.m.
Where: Roosevelt Community Center, 901 E. Santa Clara St.

What: California High-Speed Rail Authority leaders will give a presentation on possible routes from Diridon Station north to the Santa Clara County line.
When: Thursday, Jan. 14, 6 p.m.
Where: Bellarmine College Preparatory, Liccardo Center, 960 W. Hedding St. Signs will direct participants to parking and the venue.

For information: http://www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov/library.asp?p=8281

Are you ready for the big shake?

Read about earthquake preparedness so you are ready before you need to be. Leave a comment to share with others in the neighborhood how you have prepared already or how you would like to improve on your just-in-case plans so we can all learn from each other.

Greater Gardner SNI Meeting Minutes Available from Jan 6

The meeting minutes from tonight's Greater Gardner Strong Neighborhoods Initiative are available on the Yahoo! Groups site.

If you are not a member of the Yahoo! Groups site for NWGNA, send an e-mail to nwgna-subscribe@yahoogroups.com with your request.

Announcing the winners of the 2009 Holiday Decorating Contest!

First Place: 426 Coe
Second Place: 546 Atlanta
Third Place: 477 Atlanta
Honorable Mention: 538 Fisk

BIG thanks to our prize sponsors, Taqueria Tlaquepaque, Treehouse In The Glen, and Mojo Burger. We also had an anonymous donation of a gift certificate from Willow Glen Meats and Smokehouse.

Many, many thanks for your involvement and the wonderful support from our community businesses.

New high-speed rail article in SJMN today

State high-speed train rides to be costlier, ridership lower than promised to voters

Safety alert from San Jose Police

San Jose Police have issued a school safety alert due to an attempted kidnapping/suspicious circumstances incident at New Jersey and Harris Avenues on Dec. 9 at approximately 8:00 a.m. Since I cannot upload the Word file here, here is an excerpt.

If you have any information regarding this incident, please contact the San Jose Police Department School Liaison Unit at (408) 277-5263. In the event of an emergency, call 9-1-1 immediately.
---------------
Details:

On 12-9-09 between 8:00 a.m. and 8:15 a.m., an 11 year-old male juvenile was walking to school on Harris Ave in the Cambrian Park area of San Jose when he was approached by a “lone female” in a vehicle. The female stopped her vehicle alongside of the 11 year-old male and yelled out “Your mom has just had a heart attack. Get in the car and I will drive you to the hospital”.

Since the child had just left his house a few minutes prior, he knew that his mother was alright. The juvenile then ran to his school. While running, he observed the vehicle leaving westbound on Harris Avenue.

Suspect(s) Information:

The female is described as a white female adult in her 30’s, blond hair in a ponytail. She was last seen wearing a black t-shirt. She was also seen wearing large rimmed glasses.

Suspect vehicle information:

The vehicle is described as a Chevrolet 4 door sedan or an SUV type vehicle.

---------------

The tradition continues

If you are new to Willow Glen, you can read more about the holiday yard tree tradition.

Holiday yard trees delivered!

A wonderful neighborhood tradition continues as holiday yard trees have been delivered and are being installed. This is a long-standing tradition throughout Willow Glen and makes the neighborhood look really festive. Thanks to the Shukait family for their hard work in the entire project!

Neighborhood street decorations are up!

Thanks very much to the great volunteers who came out this morning to help hang holiday decorations along North Willow Glen streets. The tradition is to hang wreaths on the vintage-style lightposts along Delmas, and bows or garland along the fence in Fuller Park, and along the gateway fences at the edges of the neighborhood.

Many thanks to Dan, Pat, Chuck, Harvey, Bill, and of course the volunteer mascot, Max.

Willow Glen Farmer's Market needs your input

From Norma Ruiz, Executive Director, Willow Glen Business Association:

Attention residents and business owners of Willow Glen! The Downtown Willow Glen Farmers' Market would like to hear your opinions. Please consider taking a very short online survey (less than 5 minutes) about the market.

The purpose of the survey is to receive feedback from the residents and merchants on how the organizers, South Bay Farmers' Market, can improve the Willow Glen Farmers' Market. SBFM recognizes that there is room to improve and change; they would like to hear what residents think as they make plans for next year's market.

To take the short survey, please click here.

Garlands, wreaths, bows, oh my!

Sunday Nov. 29 is the day to put up holiday decorations in our neighborhood and we're looking for helpers. We'll be meeting in the Starbrite/Smokehouse parking lot (on Delmas between Hull and Fuller) at 10:00 am. to put up garlands, wreaths, and bows. Please join us to meet your neighbors and to decorate our streets.

Want to enjoy the beautiful fall weather even more?

It's that time of year again for the annual house decorating contest. We've got fliers in hand to deliver in the next week, and are looking for volunteers to deliver to a street or two. If you want to get some fresh air and exercise and to meet some of your neighbors, please e-mail Bill or call 408)893-6684.

High-speed rail

The High Speed Rail Authority Board will meet on Thursday Dec 3 and hear an information item about the alternatives through Diridon and Gardner. It is expected that the staff will be revealing which alternatives they have eliminated, and which they will continue to study.

The meeting is in Sacramento at 10 am. Public testimony is right at 10 am.

This board will make the final decision about a route. This is your chance to make them familiar with our neighborhood's issues.

More info about the meeting and location at http://www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov

Street decorations and contest fliers

It's that time of year again for the annual holiday house-decorating contest. We've got fliers in hand to deliver, this weekend or next, and are looking for volunteers to deliver to a street or two. If you want to get some fresh air and exercise and to meet some of your neighbors, please send an e-mail to bill@networds.com or call 408)893-6684.

Links to the Past

After a couple years of leading nowhere, links to our old website have been restored. Some interesting ideas and history there... Plus there's new interest in North Willow Glen's online presence, so... watch this space!