As reported today in the Silicon Valley Business Journal, a new medical facility is being proposed to somewhat fill the void left by the closure of the San Jose Medical Center nearly five years ago. A site has been picked out at 14th and Santa Clara Streets, and the plan’s backers will be approaching the county board of supervisors for funding from Measure A bonds.

The proposed facility doesn’t sound like a true replacement for SJMC, more of a clinic than a hospital, and there is no mention of an emergency room in the plans. It does sound like the proposed owners have a history of serving uninsured patients, so this could really help out a lot of downtown residents.

Found this in my inbox, from the San Jose Downtowner newsletter:

Downtown Ice is set to open at 5 p.m. Friday.  Come early and have a chance to show your skating prowess to the Bay Area.  Weather permitting, NBC’ Bay Area’s John Farley will be at the rink doing live weather reports during the 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. newscasts.

On Sunday and again Nov. 23, you can skate with the hardest working fish in the NHL - Sharkie!  He will skate with the kids, help inexperienced skaters, and play around with the others. He will also have photo cards to sign. He’ll be there both Sundays about 3:30 p.m. for an hour.

Next Monday-Thursday, and again Nov. 24-27, families can take advantage of the early bird promotion.  That is, one free child admission (12-under, a $13 value) with one paid adult admission ($15).  Download the coupon here. Limit: two free kids with two paid adults per coupon.

Downtown Ice is open 5 p.m.-midnight Friday; noon-midnight Saturday, noon-10 p.m. Sunday and 5-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday.

Admission, $15 for adults and $13 for 12-under, includes skate rental.
Rink information is available here.

Tuesday, November 11, is Veterans Day; there will be a memorial ceremony and a parade in downtown San Jose.

The Parade‘s Opening Ceremony begins at 11:00 am with a memorial ceremony at Plaza Cesar de Chavez.

The Parade begins at noon from Delmas Street (near HP Pavilion) and travels east along Santa Clara to Market Street. The Parade then proceeds south on Market and ends at San Carlos Street; the reviewing stand is near Park Street.

Major General William H. Wade II of the California National Guard is this year’s Grand Marshal.

The United Veterans Council of Santa Clara County organizes the parade.

From the United States Department of Veterans Affairs Website where you will find a plethora of information:

World War I - known at the time as “The Great War” - officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, in the Palace of Versailles outside the town of Versailles, France. However, fighting ceased seven months earlier when an armistice or temporary cessation of hostilities, between the Allied nations and Germany went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. For that reason, November 11, 1918, is generally regarded as the end of “the war to end all wars.”

Since then, our main conflicts have been Word War II, Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq.

I knew the campus was going to explode Tuesday night. And that’s where I wanted to be. I wanted to see for myself the reaction of such a historical moment in the faces of the young voters that helped make it happen. So when I heard the television announce Obama’s win, I grabbed my keys and jumped into the car, barreling towards the San Jose State campus.

It seems that I had just missed the celebration near the Tommie Smith and John Carlos statue. According to the Spartan Daily, about 150 students spontaneously gathered around the iconic statue screaming their heads off.

I also found this clip from CNN’s iReport (some language NSFW). You can see just how pitch black the area around the statue is. This celebration was impromptu, but people knew exactly where they wanted to stand at this moment, right beside two of SJSU’s own black history icons, that total darkness couldn’t keep them away.

I didn’t arrive on the scene until that larger group splintered into pockets of excitement and migrated towards more well-lit areas of campus. Out in the plaza area in front of the dorms, students were hugging, high-fiving and occasionally breaking out into chants of “O-ba-ma!”

I followed a friend into the dorms where a group of about 75-100 students crammed into a meeting room to watch both McCain’s and Obama’s speeches. (See the Spartan Daily’s video here.) The RAs brought in stacks of pizza and it was gone in 20 minutes. People were excited. People were jumping. People were hugging and screaming and accidentally knocking over soda. Some were gasping, some were silent, and some were obviously disappointed at the election results. But everyone seemed to be in agreement on two things: both speeches hit just the right tones, and there was simply not enough pizza.

I walked out of the building only to find some of the more rambunctious students ride a shopping cart down a sloping walkway, thrashing their vocal chords with screams of “OOOOOOBAAAAAMMAAAA!” all the way down. A group of black students beat-boxed and improvised rap lyrics to mark the occasion. Another group hugged every moving thing that passed their way. I could still hear all the commotion on my way back to my car.

Knowing that SJSU couldn’t have been the only celebratory hotspot in the neighborhood, I drove downtown with my windows down and listened out for any whoops and hollers. Some came from an occasional bar or two, some came from bicycle bells ringing, but not a whole lot of outright festivities. So I drove down a little further, turned the corner, and found exactly what I was looking for: a group of about 30 people marching down the streets, chanting, singing, waving to honking cars and celebrating every little bit of feedback sent their way.

I wanted to jump out of my car and take some pictures, but alas, I forgot my camera AND my phone.

So to those of you who were witness to that crowd — or heck, if you have pictures of ANY Election Day revelries/pity parties around the South Bay — please post them in the comments. I and everyone else would love to see them.

Protest against Prop. 8 in downtown San Jose

I shot this footage about 15 minutes ago on Santa Clara Street. I would estimate 100 people or more are taking to the streets to protest Prop 8. They are marching now and should be out for a while yet.

(I apologize for the bizarre audio — my cell phone and YouTube don’t like each other.)

The Tech Museum of Innovation once again is offering free admission to The Tech’s regular museum galleries on the second Sunday of each month.

The Free Second Sundays program runs through September 2009, except August. It does not include admission to IMAX or to special exhibits, such as “Leonardo: 500 Years into the Future.”

Peter Friess, President of The Tech: “By opening the doors of The Tech once a month at no charge, we hope many more people will take advantage of all the museum has to offer. We applaud the ScholarShare College Savings Plan and Fidelity Investments for their dedication to education and the community.”

Check the Tech Museum of Innovation’s Website for directions, parking, and a plethora of information.

Free Sunday Dates:

November 9, 2008
December 14, 2008
January 11, 2009
February 8, 2009
March 8, 2009
April 12, 2009
May 10, 2009
June 14, 2009
July 12, 2009
No FREE Second Sunday in August
September 9, 2009

The current BART extension plan calls for six BART stations in the South Bay. Six. Of those six stations, four are in San Jose and of those four stations only one is technically downtown.

The downtown station will be located on East Santa Clara Street, between Market Street and 3rd Street. Another station will be located near the the Arena and the Diridon train station. Some say that area is part of downtown; I say it is a stretch. The other two stations are on the east side of San Jose, Alum Rock and Berryessa.

The Alum Rock station will be located at East Julian & North 28th Streets, near 101.

The Berryessa station will be located in the Flea Market area. The city wants to flatten the Flea Market and replace it with housing. Just think of all the people who would come down to the Flea Market from around the Bay Area to spend their money. But, no! Put in housing so those residents can take BART out of the area.

There will also be a station in Milpitas (Montague/Capitol) near the Great Mall and there will be a station in Santa Clara near the Caltrain station.

With these exciting San Jose station locations, where will we be going in San Jose? Could it be that there will be a great deal of ridership between the Alum Rock and Berryessa stations? Maybe downtown residents will hop on BART at the downtown station so they can go up to the Great Mall in Milpitas. The city will want to get those Shop San Jose posters up in the stations.

I did not mention the really exciting news, the Santa Clara station will have an Automated People Mover system that would connect to the Norman Y. Mineta International Airport! Wow! Now everyone in the Alum Rock, Berryessa, and Milpitas areas can haul their luggage on BART and a people mover to the airport! The ease of it all. Wait a minute. The Santa Clara station would be on the west side of the airport and the terminals are on the east side of the airport. That Automated People Mover will cost a pretty penny to build/operate.

So, you want to use BART to get the heck out of San Jose you say. Currently there are plans for 5,000 paid parking spaces with plans to increase that to 10,000 by 2030. VTA claims there will be over 100,000 riders (Yeah, right). Let us assume half that number will leave San Jose, how are they getting to one of the stations? Well, VTA would love for you to take one of their buses or light rail. However, will VTA be able to handle/afford the increased demand? Are you willing to spend most of your life on public transit?

We could save money by forgetting BART and electrifying Caltrain for a great deal less money. Electrified Caltrain would be environmentally good and the trains would be faster (faster to SF than BART). Not to mention we would only have to pay for the Caltrain portion in Santa Clara County.

Stuff to read: Transbay Blog, BayRail Alliance, and VTA.

Yesterday, high winds tried to keep the zeppelin in Arizona. Today the 246-foot airship appeared in the sky over Blythe, California. At last look they set down in San Bernardino.

While in San Jose for the Steampunk Convention, Abney Park (”The Airship Pirates”) will go up in the airship. Tickets for the ride are Sold Out, but tickets for the Steampunk Convention seem available.

Diana Spechler, a Steinbeck Fellow at San Jose State University from 2004-2005, will read from her newly published book on Thursday. Who by Fire is an account of the rending and eventual re-ordering of a family suffering from the loss of their kidnapped child.

From Publishers Weekly:

In her affecting debut, Spechler raises the question of whether, in rescuing others, we risk ruining ourselves. Thirteen years after the abduction of youngest child Alena at the age of six, the remaining members of the Kellerman family are still deeply damaged by their shared loss. The irresponsible oldest daughter, Bits, seeks out random sexual encounters with near strangers to fill the voids in her life. Son Ash, meanwhile, dabbles in a variety of compulsive behaviors before settling on Orthodox Judaism, cutting himself off from the rest of the family and moving to Jerusalem. The mother, Ellie, enlists the help of a charismatic stranger to help save Ash from what she views as a cult, and when Alena’s remains are discovered, Bits determines to bring Ash home for their sister’s long-overdue memorial service. Told in alternating chapters by Bits, Ellie and Ash, the narrative is notable in large part for how little these family members actually interact with one another despite the drama that confronts them all. Though the ending is overly tidy, Spechler’s debut raises provocative questions about religion, violence and the resilience of families and individuals. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The reading takes place Oct. 23 at the Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies, San Jose State University, 7:00 p.m. The Center is located in room 590 of the King library and features the world’s largest Steinbeck archive, featuring manuscripts, correspondence, photos, oral histories, first editions, films, memorabilia, art.

Yasmin Davidds wants your cell phone. The one you don’t use anymore. Because if they still work, thousands of battered women across the country can use them to keep in touch with emergency services while escaping an abusive relationship.

Bring your used (or dead) cell phone, batteries and accessories in any condition from any wireless service provider to San Jose State on Oct. 21, 6-9 p.m., and hear Yasmin deliver a powerful message to young Latino college students about domestic violence and assault.

Date: October 21, 2008 Time: 6 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Location: San Jose State University Student Union, Barrett Ballroom

The co-sponsoring Verizon HopeLine program:

• Distributed more than 60,000 phones with more than 180 million minutes of free wireless service to be used by victims of domestic violence
• Properly disposed of more than 1 million no-longer-used wireless phones in an environmentally sound way
• Kept more than 200 tons of electronic waste and batteries out of landfills

Verizon also offers a little-known service to everyone on their network: If you dial #HOPE (#4673) on a Verizon phone, operators will connect you with counselors in crisis intervention, safety planning, information and referrals to agencies in all 50 states. The call is toll and airtime free.

Go to mobilizingvoices.com for more information.