Melissa McKenzie

Santa Clara University Students Help Create Mural Reflecting San Jose’s Community Concerns

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Mural

In an effort to raise awareness and consciousness about issues facing the Guadalupe Washington neighborhood of San Jose, Santa Clara University students teamed up with community members to have a mural painted at Washington Elementary School. Seven undergraduates enrolled in SCU’s Community Based Participatory Action Resource course spent 20 weeks photographing neighborhood concerns and collecting … Read more

Twiddle and Twirl Your Paddles at Santa Clara’s The TopSpin

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The TopSpin

In 2007, Santa Clara’s The TopSpin table tennis center was the first full-time ping pong facility in the Bay Area. Since its founding 11 years ago, the sport has grown. Additional centers have popped up throughout Silicon Valley, but The TopSpin remains the only South Bay center named as one of 10 USA Table Tennis … Read more

Mostly Developer Meetings Noted for City Council on September Calendars

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In August, the Santa Clara City Council Members met with people like Jude Barry and discussed topics like Related Santa Clara.

September calendars continue the pattern of mostly developer meetings, interspersed with public meetings and events.   Mayor Lisa Gillmor Immediately after Labor Day, Gillmor met with San Jose resident *Kirk Vartan to discuss the “Agrihood project:” 160 mixed-income apartments, 165 affordable senior apartments, 36 townhomes and approximately 1.5 acres of agricultural open space at the … Read more

The Full Picture of Santa Clara’s “8th Council Member”

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Silva Party: Jude Barry

In 2005, a CNN article called Related lobbyist Jude Barry one of five political consultants to watch and likened him to Karl Rove, the political strategist famous for his plan to achieve a permanent party majority in government by sowing division, systematic gerrymandering and framing the debate by planting messages in the news media. A … Read more

Labor, Lobbyists and Developers Appear Frequently on Tardy Council Calendars

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In August, the Santa Clara City Council Members met with people like Jude Barry and discussed topics like Related Santa Clara.

Of all elected official calendars available through Ordinance No. 1950, only Police Chief Mike Sellers and Acting City Clerk Jennifer Yamaguma had their August schedule up for viewing prior to the Sept. 10 deadline. Every other calendar, less City Manager Deanna Santana and City Attorney Brian Doyle, was up exactly one week after the deadline, … Read more

Tea Collection Opens at Santana Row

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tea collection

Making the foreign familiar for “little citizens of the world” and their parents, the San Francisco-based children’s clothier, Tea Collection, opened its first brick-and-mortar location at Santana Row in August. Although the company’s moniker doesn’t instantly associate it with clothing for kids, co-founders Emily Meyer and Leigh Rawdon wanted a name that would incite pause … Read more

Triton Museum Debuts Oktoberfest

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Triton Museum Debuts Oktoberfest

It may not have been Munich, but approximately 150 people drank beer to support the Triton Museum of Art at its first ever Oktoberfest fundraiser on Sept. 22. Despite the museum being no stranger to fall events — previously holding the Fall Floral Festival and Blues Bash — Oktoberfest was new territory, as there was … Read more

Cake Expressions: Nearly 40 Years of Slices

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Cake Expressions: Wedding Cake & Bride

Julia Child has famously been credited as saying, “a party without cake is just a meeting,” and although cakes may occasionally be present at meetings, parties are where they shine. For centuries, cakes have been an integral part of celebrations around the world. Whether homemade or store bought, in the form of tiered rounds, stacked … Read more

Sunnyvale’s C.J. Olson Cherries to Close

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Olson Cherries

The iconic C.J. Olson Cherries stand near the corner of El Camino Real and S. Mathilda Avenue in Sunnyvale is set to close at the end of the month. Owner Deborah Olson, who was born during cherry season and worked side-by-side with her grandmother, Rose, at the stand until her grandmother’s death in 1988, said … Read more

Golden Mushroom: Another Santa Clara Staple Closing its Doors

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Golden Mushroom

Golden Mushroom Pizza has become the latest casualty in a string of long-standing Santa Clara restaurants closing its doors. The pizzeria, which opened on Dec. 19, 1974, will close for good on Thursday, Sept. 20 — just three months shy of its 45th anniversary. According to Caroline Moran, who currently runs the day-to-day operations with … Read more