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Top Stories: May 25, 2010Success Against Gangs; Death Threats at Willow Glen School; The Cost of Firefightersby Danny Wool on May 25, 2010
Money for Mariachi Olé! There may not be money for much in San Jose, but there's money for Mariachi. The Mexican Heritage Foundation announced that it has been awarded an $800,000 grant to run three summer music and dance camps this summer. The camps are intended to promote Mexican music and dance among low-income children. Each camp is scheduled to last eight weeks and provide meals for needy children aged 6-17. The program is being funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Emergency Contingency Funds, as well as a consortium of groups including SJSU, Parks and Recreation, and various other groups, including the Boys and Girls Clubs of San Jose and Second Harvest. Singer Linda Ronstadt, artistic director of the MHC and the San Jose Mariachi Festival, explained the importance of the camps, which provide meals and music to needy children, "Access to healthy nutrition and music education has shown to increase the academic achievement of children from low income environments." Read More at the Business Journal. Getting It Right with Gangs San Jose is doing something right when it comes to dealing with increasing gang violence. So right, in fact, that the U.S. Attorney's office has started to take notice. This week, a group of officials will be stopping by the city to learn about how we handle our gang problem. They are hoping to pick up some tips, which they can then share with other cities. The secret, everyone agrees, is the multipronged strategy taken by the Mayor's Gang Prevention Task Force. Rather than simply focusing on law enforcement after crimes have been committed, the task force also takes steps to prevent young people from falling to the allure of gangs in an extensive prevention program. Once people are already in gangs, an intervention program is used to win them away, and show them that there always are alternatives. Mayor Chuck Reed says that San Jose is "very proud of our model and happy to get a chance to talk about it." Hopefully, it will also be happy to continue paying for it, despite the strain on the budget. Read More at KCBS. Buckle Up…Or Not Santa Clara County is a pretty smart place, so it's hard to believe that people just "forget." But according to police, that's the most common reason people give, when asked why they forgot to put on their seatbelts, and Santa Clara has the worst seatbelt rate of any county in California. According to the State Office of Traffic Safety, only 84 percent of local residents put on their seatbelts, meaning 16 percent—one in six—do not. This is far higher than the state average, which is 95 percent, or one in twenty. California first began enforcing seatbelt use almost 25 years ago, in 1986. In fact, it was one of the first states to do so, and the law has reached almost across the nation—only one state, New Hampshire, does not require seatbelts. On the other hand, people need a reminder now and then, which is why California is launching its new Click It or Ticket campaign. People are warned that the fine for a first offender is $142, while a minor under age 16 without a seatbelt results in a fine of $445 or over $1,000 for a second offense. That's one way to raise revenue. Read More at NBC Bay Area. Death Threats at Willow Glen Middle School The police were out in full force yesterday at Willow Glen Middle School, after a "kill list" was found scrawled on a bathroom wall. The San Jose Unified School District says that this was just a precautionary measure, and that the student had already been suspended for another infraction of the rules. Had the threat been more serious, the school would have been closed down for the day. The district added that in addition to the SJPD, the school also worked closely with the child's parents, who were very understanding and supportive of their efforts. The school also notified the parents of the other students by email that there was a safety issue for Monday though it did not go into details about the precise details. Some students did, however, post a Facebook page about the event, which included a version of the list. On it were both teachers and students. Most parents were satisfied with the precautionary measures taken by the school, and only a handful kept their children home that day. Read More at ABC 7. The Cost of Firefighters City Manager Debra Figone came out with her response to the unions' proposed city budget, saying that it was just one-third of what the city was asking of the union, and that the total savings would be $14.6 million, not $25 million, as the unions claim. So how much are public employees really making? Not the head honchos who earn over half a million—there were only three of those last year. The Merc, however, is keeping tabs, thanks to a Supreme Court ruling that rejected union privacy claims. One of the most interesting finds, they point out, is that firefighters are among the highest paid employees in the Bay Area, with four cities—Millbrae, Vallejo, Redwood City, and Mountain View—having an average gross salary of over $150,000. With 74 firefighters facing layoffs in San Jose, that alone could save the city over $10 million. Now it's up to the unions to decide whether to keep those people employed at a slightly lower salary, or to let them go and keep the average salary higher. Considering high unemployment rates, the right decision seems obvious. Read More at The Mercury News. by Danny Wool on May 25, 2010 |
 San Jose is rapidly becoming a world center for traditional Mexican music. |
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