U.S. Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose), Mike Honda (D-San Jose) and Sam Farr (D-Santa Cruz) will hold back-to-back town hall meetings on Feb. 26 scheduled to help educate the public about President Bush's plan to privatize the Social Security program.

Joining Lofgren, Honda and Farr will be an expert from the National Committee to Preserve and Protect Social Security and Medicare.

According to press releases from the three Representatives' offices, "President George Bush has advanced his agenda to dismantle Social Security by alleging a 'crisis' in Social Security and talking about the program's looming 'bankruptcy.'"

In response, Lofgren, Honda and Farr "want the general public to have the real facts about the health of the Social Security program and the truth about privatization."

The meetings are scheduled for Feb. 26 from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Santa Cruz City Hall (809 Center St.) and from 13:20 to 2 p.m. at the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors' chambers (70 W. Hedding St.).

County judges open
for public speaking

The Santa Clara County Superior Court has announced a new initiative to promote interaction between the county's judges and commissioners and the public.

The Superior Court Speakers Bureau will provide judges and commissioners to speak at schools, community organizations and events. The program is designed to increase public understanding of the judicial system by providing a forum for judges to interact with the public in an informal, non-courtroom setting, according to Judge Aaron Persky.

"What we found is that when people come in for jury duty they don't really know how the court works," Persky said.

Judges will not give legal advice or comment on individual cases but they will be able to speak about a wide variety of court-related issues.

"With the recent rash of high-profile criminal cases, people don't often get a global view of the court system. They don't know we do family cases, civil cases, probate," Persky said.

Approximately 15 judges and commissioners have signed up for the program. The program is part of a statewide effort by the California court system to do public outreach, according to Persky.

Groups or organizations interested in having a judicial speaker should contact Carl Schulhof at 408.882.2856.

Winter rains fill up
county's reservoirs

The recent spate of rainfall has been good news for Santa Clara County's water supply, according to a Santa Clara Valley Water District spokesman.

The water level at the county's 10 reservoirs is significantly higher than it was in February 2004. The reservoirs are at 69 percent capacity, compared to 48 percent at this time last year, district spokesman Mike Di Marco said.

"What a difference a year makes,'' Di Marco said.

The Sierra snow pack, from which the county gets half of its water supply, is also having a good year, according to Di Marco.

"This is a banner year in terms of snowfall,'' he said.

The large amount of rainfall helps the county water supply not just by filling the reservoirs, but also by replenishing the groundwater supply. All of this has been accomplished with no reports of flooding of the region's creeks and streams, Di Marco said.

More homeless on
streets than shelters

Preliminary results of a survey aiming to accurately gauge the homeless population in Santa Clara County reveal that nearly twice as many people live on the streets than in shelters, according to county Homeless Concerns Coordinator Margaret Gregg.

Locally, though, the survey failed to find any homeless in Almaden Valley.

Although a final report on the homeless census is due in late March, the preliminary results released on Feb. 8 show that 7,121 people in the county are without homes.

The report is part of a federal mandate by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and plays a crucial role in the progress of the county's long-term plan to end chronic homelessness, according to Gregg.

The homeless count was conducted over a two-day period beginning on Dec. 14 and included homeless volunteers who assisted a professional research firm in locating remote spots where street dwellers live.

Gregg said it was surprising that only 2,778 of the 7,121 people counted were living in shelters. The remaining 4,000-plus people sleep in cars or in camp outdoors, she said.

According to Gregg, the findings do not indicate a need for more temporary facilities but rather the creation of more affordable housing units.

San Jose ranked the highest in the survey with a homeless population of 4,553 people, 2,744 of whom are out on the streets.

The survey team spent three weeks interviewing homeless people following the count in an attempt to compile sociological data on how they ended up on the streets, Gregg said.

Occupational Center to hosts its
annual open house on March 11

Central County Occupational Center will open its doors to the community at the 36th annual Open House on March 11.

The CCOC staff and students welcome parents, other students, businesses and community members to tour and observe hands-on student demonstrations throughout the campus, which serves as Silicon Valley's one-of-a-kind public career technical training facility.

Visitors are invited to watch CCOC teachers and students in action from 8 to 10 a.m., 1 to 3 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. Students will serve as the tour guides.

The center's Interior Design class will present its annual design show, and this year the theme is "A Blockbuster Movie Event." Twelve design teams will create and present mini-rooms featuring movie themes as requested by "clients." Under instructor Wendy Yegge's direction, students paint and decorate a small room setting. Visitors, upon viewing all of the rooms, can vote on their top three favorite themes. The rooms are furnished on a limited budget with furniture, lighting, accessories, sound, food and any other personal touches needed to complete the room's theme.

CCOC offers more than 30 different technical training courses in the career clusters of Automotive Technology, Building Technology, Business Technology, Cosmetology, Engineering/Industrial Technology, Health Services, Law Enforcement and Visual Arts.

Students who chose to attend CCOC spend half a day at their home high school and the other half of the day at CCOC in the career cluster of their choice. The center serves students from 32 high schools within San Jose Unified School District, East Side Union High School District, Milpitas Unified School District, Santa Clara Unified School District, Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School District and Campbell Union High School District.

CCOC is located at 760 Hillsdale Ave., San Jose behind the Capitol Expressway Auto Mall. For more information on CCOC's open house, contact Michelle Alaimo at 408.723.6464.