In celebration of July 4 and in recognition of the men and women of the United States Armed Forces, the VTA will provide free bus and light-rail service all day on July 4.

This free service will make it easier for people come to the San Jose America Festival at Discovery Meadow, in front of the downtown San Jose Children's Discovery Museum. VTA will provide more trains to accommodate passengers and will operate about every 15 minutes between 3 p.m. and 11 p.m.

Light-rail service will operate about every 10 minutes from approximately 5 to 9:20 p.m. and again from approximately 10 p.m. to midnight. The NBC-11 Fireworks Spectacular show starts at 9:30 p.m. The Children's Discovery Museum Station will be closed on July 4 to allow trains to move freely through the event area. But the San Jose Convention Center Station will be open.

The Day on the Meadow and the House for the Homeless on July 3 and the San Jose America Festival and Concert for the Homeless benefit the programs of the Emergency Housing Consortium.

For more information on the San Jose America Festival, call 408.294.2100 ext. 444 or visit www.americafestival.com.

New officers sworn
into Campbell post

The Campbell-based West Valley Memory Post 99 installed its new officers on June 22. Eddie Arabe, District 13 Commander of the American Legion, administered the oath of office to Commander Chuck Berls; First Vice Commander Art Spicer; Second Vice Commander Jim Garcia; Third Vice Commander Ray Peralez; Adjutant Earl Honey; Sergeant-at-Arms Bob Slevin; and executive board members Lee Turcotte, Glen Furlong and Dan Cook.

The American Legion Auxiliary also installed new leaders. Theresa Jacob, American Legion Auxiliary District 13 president, administered the oath of office to President Diana Lane; First Vice President Andrea Kippes; Second Vice President Nira Allen; Treasurer Betty Berls; Chaplain Franie Fitzsimons; and Parliamentarian Louise Sparagna.

West Valley Memory Post 99 has 746 members. Congress chartered the American Legion in 1919 as a patriotic, mutual-help, and wartime veterans' organization. The American Legion Auxiliary was organized in 1919 to assist the American Legion. It is the world's largest women's patriotic service organization, with nearly 10,500 units located in every state and some foreign countries.

Heroes to celebrate Free Comic Book Day

Comic book lovers won't need Peter Parker's supernatural spider sense to spot a great deal in Campbell this weekend. The Heroes comic book store on E. Campbell Avenue will be giving away free comic books this weekend.

Heroes will be just one of thousands of other comic book shops around the world participating in Free Comic Book Day, a celebration of the American art form of comic books.

True to its name, during the third annual Free Comic Book Day, stores will give away millions of comic books, ranging from the traditional superhero genre to crime noir to child-friendly humor.

Free Comic Book Day will be held on July 3 at Heroes, 24 E. Campbell Ave., from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The event coincides with the weekend release of the movie Spider-Man 2. For more information about comic books, visit www.FreeComicBookDay.com. For more information about Heroes, call 408.378.3667.

Park restrooms are
open this weekend

Shade from trees won't be the only source of relief people at John D. Morgan Park can look forward to this Fourth of July. The city expects the new restroom facility on the Budd Avenue side of the park to be completed just in time for the holiday weekend.

"We're really pushing to have it done by July 4, because that's a very big weekend," Campbell senior engineer Fred Ho said.

On Jan. 6, 2004, Campbell awarded a $147,178 contract to Reno-based Restroom Facilities to replace the existing restrooms on the Budd Avenue side of John D. Morgan Park. Installation of the new restroom facility began in late May and has taken a little more than a month to complete.

The new restrooms will be much bigger than the old ones, Ho said. The surface will also be sprayed with an anti-graffiti coating and the facilities will be compliant with the American Disabilities Act.

Moreover, Ho said, "The old restrooms were just ugly."