Willow Glen Resident

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News Briefs

La Concha gets green
light from the city

The San Jose Planning Commission unanimously approved La Concha spa owner Gloria Maciel's request for the construction of a new building in Willow Glen.

Maciel wants to relocate and expand her business to an empty lot at 1030 Lincoln Ave. near Coe Avenue. She wants to construct a three-story, 8,941-square-foot building to replace the spa's 1,621-square-foot site, which is closer to Willow Street on Lincoln Avenue.

The planning commission on March 9, 2005, approved the owner's previous three-story, 9,509-square-foot Spanish revival-style building. But after a community meeting on Nov. 7, further changes to the design were made, scaling it down to 8,941 square feet. This scaled-down version is what is being approved.

Many Willow Glen residents such as Mary Pedroza voiced their support.

"This new building will add to the beauty of the location," Pedroza said. "It will also add jobs to those who need jobs."

The Willow Glen Business and Professional Association also supports the project.

"It is a unique specialty service and one of a kind in Willow Glen," said Norma Ruiz, the business association's executive director. "It's locally owned and a long-established business. It is a quality project that paves the way for future developments."

The new spa will reach 42 feet in height and include a 548-square-foot circular terrace-lounge area on the second story. There will be 38 parking spaces created by underground and off-street parking.

Mayoral candidates
talk about housing

San Jose mayoral candidates will discuss affordable housing in San Jose at the EHC LifeBuilders mayoral candidate forum on May 17 from 7 to 9 p.m.

The public is invited to hear the candidates' opinions on how to improve housing options, as part of Affordable Housing week, which is May 13-20.

The event moderator will be NBC 11's Janice Edwards, and the guest speaker will be Chris Block from Charities Housing Development Corporation.

The forum will take place in the Martin Luther King Jr. Library, room 225 , 150 E. San Fernando St. For more information, contact Stephanie Schaaf at 408.539.2136 or visit www.ehclifebuilders.org.

Summer camps go on safari adventure

Youngsters can go on a safari this summer without ever leaving San Jose.

The Friends of Guadalupe River Park & Gardens are registering children ages 7 to 10 for its San Jose Safari, a five-day summer day camp that will take place four times this summer from June through August.

For more information, call 408. 298.7657 or email education@grpg.org.

Capitol Honda in San Jose took learning into overdrive by contributing a portion of each car sale toward school programs in the 2006-07 school year. The amount totaled $80,000.

The San Jose City Council recognized the dealership's efforts and the program recipients at its April 18 city council meeting.

The funding will give school libraries a boost. For the Cambrian School District, it means offering summer reading and extended library hours. The Moreland School District will also be able to offer longer library hours.

In the public schools, libraries are frequently running on a bare-bones budget or operating with the assistance of individual school's parent-teacher associations.

Fit for Learning is
healthy approach

The San Jose City Council commended the county's Fit for Learning program on April 18 for promoting nutrition and fitness in Santa Clara County schools.

The Santa Clara County Office of Education developed the program with the Health Trust and Healthy Silicon Valley as a way to abate obesity and other health issues in children.

The program now operates in 92 elementary schools, including Willow Glen, Booksin, Schallenberger, Galarza Elementary Hammer Montessori, Canoas, Hacienda and River Glen. Other area schools include all four Cambrian elementary schools, Capri in the Campbell Union School District and Easterbrook Discovery, which is part of the Moreland School District.

Fit for Learning focused on fifth-graders during the 2005-06 school year. Next year the program will expand to include kindergarten through sixth grade.

Presentation tops the
list in eScrip program

Presentation High School was recently honored for its participation in the "Macy's Shop for Education" program. The program, powered by eScrip, raised $2 million in 2005.

Presentation is in the top 10 percent of more than 35,000 organizations that participated in the program.

The school was able to raise more than $35,000 in contributions through the eScrip program.

According to Presentation's eScrip volunteer Karen Howell, the program has allowed Presentation, an all-girls Catholic private school, to reach its scholarship and fundraising goals.

The eScrip program, headquartered in San Mateo, was founded in 1997 to design and implement innovative marketing programs that would bring retailers, manufacturers and service providers together in an effort to help support education.

For more information about the eScrip program, visit www.escrip.com.