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Dozens of San Jose students among National Merit semifinalists

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:07 GMT

Dozens of students from public and private high schools in San Jose’s Willow Glen, Rose Garden and Almaden Valley neighborhoods are among nearly 1,140 Bay Area high school seniors named as semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program. These students are among 16,000 semifinalists across the nation — less than 1% of the nation’s high school seniors — who will now be considered for around 7,140 scholarships worth nearly $28 million next spring.It’s the third-to-last step in the process. About 95% of semifinalists are expected to be named finalists, and approximately half of those finalists will earn a scholarship. Over 1.3 million high school juniors in 21,000 high schools entered the competition through the 2022 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, or PSAT, which serves as the initial screening of program entrants. The semifinalists announced this week include the highest-scoring students in each state.In the Rose Garden area, the semifinalists from ...

Longtime Milpitas volunteers named Citizens of the Year at awards gala

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:07 GMT

Andy and Sharon Dyson were named Citizens of the Year at the Milpitas Chamber of Commerce’s 64th annual Awards Gala on Friday, Sept. 22, at the Embassy Suites.The couple are longtime volunteers with St. Elizabeth’s Church. They also donate their time to other community events such as the Chamber’s annual crab feed.Last year’s Citizen of the Year, Chamber President Jennifer Cullenbine, welcomed over 120 attendees with champagne to kick off the evening. Cullenbine is founder and CEO of the Milpitas nonprofit Family Giving Tree.Police Officer of the Year honors went to Taylor Goods. Hired by the Milpitas Police Department in 2019, Goods is an officer in the Field Services Division who patrols the city on the midnight shift. Goods is known as a well-rounded, hard-working, and dependable officer who consistently serves the community with empathy.“While evaluating the 2022 candidates, what struck me about what was submitted about officer Goods was the fact that it didn’t just describe a s...

Sunnyvale animal welfare group celebrates 10 years with honors

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:07 GMT

A Sunnyvale-based animal welfare organization celebrated its 10th anniversary with back-to-back honors from the city and Santa Clara County.The Duo Duo Project, founded by Andrea Gung to help end the dog and cat meat trade in China, received the Mayor’s Award of Excellence at Sunnyvale’s State of the City celebration on Sept. 23, as well as a commendation from Santa Clara County Supervisor Otto Lee at the Sept. 24 Paws for a Celebration Gala, also held in Sunnyvale.Duo Duo grew out of Gung’s trip to China in 2012, where she participated in a veterinarian course to learn spaying and neutering skills. It was there she met Dou Dou, a dog the school used to practice surgeries. Duo Duo was slated to be sold off to a meat market, but Gung adopted the dog and brought it to California, where it became the inspiration for the name of her nonprofit.According to Gung, China’s Guangdong province accounts for 40 percent of the dog meat trade and 70 percent of the cat meat trade in China. Althoug...

Nine San Jose residents sworn in as advocates for foster youth

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:07 GMT

Volunteers from Morgan Hill to Mountain View were sworn in Sept. 19 as Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) through Child Advocates of Silicon Valley, a Milpitas-based nonprofit.The swearing-in ceremony, presided over by Judge Shawna Schwarz, capped a training process where 22 volunteers from nine South Bay cities learned how to serve as the go-between for children in the foster care system and court officials. Nine San Jose residents are among the new CASA volunteers: Rekha Amble, Daniel Flores, Kathy Hunter, Rebecca Jedel, Vani Keil, Mankamal Nidhi, Oriana Medina, Dave Schneck  and Sandra Swage.Volunteer training consisted of 30 hours of self-paced courses and presentations, both online and in person, that covered topics like child development, the dependency court system and inclusionary practices.“We are continuously improving our pre-service training,” said Child Advocates CEO Frederick J. Ferrer. “This training included a lived-experience panel, which allowed our CASA cand...

Cupertino resident sworn in as advocate for foster youth

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:07 GMT

Advocating for foster youthVolunteers from Morgan Hill to Mountain View were sworn in Sept. 19 as Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) through Child Advocates of Silicon Valley, a Milpitas-based nonprofit.The swearing-in ceremony, presided over by Judge Shawna Schwarz, capped a training process where 22 volunteers from nine South Bay cities learned how to serve as the go-between for children in the foster care system and court officials. Cupertino resident Mary Rose Klein is among the new CASA volunteers.Volunteer training consisted of 30 hours of self-paced courses and presentations, both online and in person, that covered topics like child development, the dependency court system and inclusionary practices.“We are continuously improving our pre-service training,” said Child Advocates CEO Frederick J. Ferrer. “This training included a lived-experience panel, which allowed our CASA candidates to hear firsthand perspectives from a current CASA, caregiver, social worker and former...

Dozens of Saratoga students named National Merit semifinalists

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:07 GMT

Thirty-nine Saratoga students are among nearly 1,140 Bay Area students named as semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program, a countrywide competition among high school seniors.Calvin J. Cha, Karen W. Gong,  Sania Jain, Prital S. Jariwala, Chienyu Sun and Sophia Tian of Prospect High School and Advaith Avadhanam, Sam M. Bai, Avik Belenje, Lynn Dai, Sophia Deng, Sanjoli Gupta, Yanis J. Herne, Victoria X. Hu, Emily Hung,  Madeline Hung, Yashom Kapoor, Zeyneb N. Kaya, Dev Krishnamoorthy, Katelyn Y. Lee, Bryan M. Li, Xiaoran Li, Andrew Lin, Alyssa Liu, Jonny J. Luo, Nikhil Mathihalli, Eric Y. Miao, Uttara Natarajan, Samik Pattanayak, Dhilon A. Prasad, Dhrithi L. Rachepalli, Rushil Saraf, Jarrett P. Singh, Anais Sobrier, Shaolun Sun, Nidhi Vadlamudi, Joseph Z. Wang, Aiden Ye and Matthew W. Zhang of Saratoga High School are among 16,000 semifinalists across the country — less than 1% of the nation’s high school seniors — who will now be considered for about 7,140 scholarships ...

Homebrewers wanted for Oktoberfest competition

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:07 GMT

Braumeister CompetitionOrganizers of this year’s Oktoberfest, set for Oct. 21-22 in downtown Campbell, are looking for a few good homebrewers—20, actually—to submit their Oktoberfest-style Marzen beer for judging by Dan Gordon of Gordon Biersch Brewing Company and Sal Pizzaro of the San Jose Mercury News.The top three winners will be announced Saturday, Oct. 21, in the festival’s Biersch Garten tent and will be awarded medals and bragging rights. The first-place winner will also receive an authentic Oktoberfest glass boot.Applications are due by Oct. 6 and can be found at https://campbelloktoberfest.com/biersch-garten.National Merit semifinalistsWestmont High School students Lisa C. Ido and Akilesh Subramaniam are among nearly 1,140 Bay Area students named as semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program, a countrywide competition among high school seniors. These students are among 16,000 semifinalists across the country — less than 1% of the nation’s high school seniors —...

St. Mary’s to host 55th annual country fair in Los Gatos

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:07 GMT

St. Mary’s fairSt. Mary of the Immaculate is hosting its 55th annual country fair this fall Oct. 6-8 at 30 Lyndon Ave. in Los Gatos.The event will feature carnival rides, games, entertainment, food and drinks. The festivities run 5-10 p.m. on Friday, 10 a.m-10 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday.Othering and BelongingSanta Clara County wants to be welcoming to everyone. The county’s Office of Immigrant Relations partnered with UC Berkeley’s Othering and Belonging Institute to hear from residents about what matters to immigrant communities in the county.This survey is part of a two-year information-gathering process that will inform current and future policy, funding and service delivery.The survey, found online at https://desj.sccgov.org/immigrant-belonging-project, will be open through Oct. 31. All entries will be kept anonymous and participants will not be asked for their name, address or immigration status.Emergency classesWildfire season is upon us, and it’s always good t...

Amazon and Google Are Finally Facing the Music

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:07 GMT

This was originally published as a newsletter from Ryan Grim. Sign up to get the next one in your inbox.First of all, a big thank you to everybody who became members of The Intercept last month during our fundraising drive. I know we send a lot of emails, and it can be overwhelming, but the resulting generosity from readers really is the thing that makes our work possible. We set an ambitious goal of $400,000 for the month, and it looks like we’re going to be extremely close to hitting it, within $5,000 or so, which is wonderful. The support from readers doesn’t just power us financially, it’s a reminder that what we’re doing matters, and it inspires us to keep pushing – on a Sunday, no less! – even when things can often seem hopeless.Of course, if you haven’t yet, or you want to become an even-more-generous donor, you can still do that here, we certainly won’t turn you away.It’s been a wild week in Washington, complete with a bizarre Republican presidential debate, a visit by the a...

Gaetz says he will seek to oust McCarthy as speaker this week and calls for new House leadership

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:07 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Matt Gaetz said Sunday he will try to remove House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a fellow Republican, from his leadership position this week after McCarthy relied on Democratic support to pass legislation that avoided a government shutdown.Gaetz, a longtime McCarthy nemesis, said McCarthy was in “brazen, material breach” of agreements he made with House Republicans in January when he ran for speaker. As a result, Gaetz said he would be filing a “ motion to vacate the chair,” as House rules permit.No speaker has ever been removed from office through such a move. Procedural votes could be offered to halt the motion or it could trigger a House floor vote on whether McCarthy, R-Calif., should remain speaker.“I think we need to rip off the Band-Aid,” Gaetz, R-Fla., told CNN’s “State of the Union.” “I think we need to move on with new leadership that can be trustworthy.”McCarthy has the support of a large majority of House Republicans, but because the GOP hold...