The Bay Area Review November 3, 2017

South Valley Review

VOL. 1, NO. 18

November 3, 2017

Better at knowing what matters to you.

Page # 7

Rebuilding Together Recap

Hilltoppers Academy Gains Second Location!

Page # 9 Downtown Drop Up and Away!!

Page # 11 Gift of Sight 2017 Fall Rebuilding Day 2017 was a tremendous success, and we could not have done it without all of you! 38 senior and/or disabled homeowner families are now living in safer and healthier homes and 2 non-profit organizations have impactful facility

upgrades, all because of the outstanding House Captains and Volunteer Coordinators, generous Sponsors and over 1000 Volunteers who participated on October 28th. We are in awe and grateful for the endless hours you dedicated to every project!

Volunteers were dispersed throughout San Jose, Milpitas, Cupertino, Los Gatos and Morgan Hill, installing new railings and grab bars, energy efficient

Continued on Page 8 Y1Z

SVR Home Delivers Papers To These ZIP CODES 95119 95123 95124 95125 95032 95008 95037 95051 *COMING SOON* 95126 95128

When...Where Symphony Silicon Valley presents The Nutcracker

SVR South Valley Review 2059 Camden Avenue Suite 219 San Jose, CA, 95124 (408) 898 - 7534 Minority Owned Business President: Richard Pugh Richard@southvalleyreview.com Publisher: Brigitte Jones Brigitte@southvalleyreview.com Executive Editor: Sonya Ruffin Editor@southvalleyreview.com Operations/Accounting: Dorothy Pugh Accounting@southvalleyreview.com Graphic Design Director: Amanda Faris Graphics@southvalleyreview.com Assistant to Publisher: Kal-el R. Pugh Editor at Large: Pearl Baeni

SVR welcomes letters to the Editor Please limit content to 200 words or less.

Submissions are subject to scrutiny for content and grammar but all effort will be made to retain intended meaning of such letters.

Symphony Silicon Valley presents “The Nutcracker” with the Ballet Stars of Moscow Company from December 16 through December 24, 2017 (Full schedule below).

The tradition of professional ballet in San Jose continues with a full company of Russian dancers direct from Russia and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s magnificent music performed LIVE by Symphony Silicon Valley conducted by Maestro George Daugherty. Make a whole day of it. Park once and visit Christmas in the Park, have a skate at the outdoor Ice Rink Under the Palms next to San Jose Museum of Art, ride the Ferris Wheel and the other rides and games at Winter Wonderland, and enjoy a meal at one of the dozens of eateries within just 3 blocks of the theater. Downtown San Jose is amazing this time of year.

San Jose Center for the Performing Arts, 255 South Almaden Blvd, San Jose, CA 95113 Tickets: $38 - $100 Box Office: 408.286.2600 x23 or www.symphonysiliconvalley.org PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE Saturday, December 16, 2017 at 2:30pm and 7:00pm Sunday, December 17, 2017 at 2:30pm Monday and Tuesday, December 18 and 19 (No Performances) Wednesday, December 20, 2017 at 7:00pm Thursday, December 21, 2017 (No Performance) Friday, December 22, 2017 at 7:00pm Saturday, December 23, 2017 at 2:30pm and 7:00pm Sunday, December 24, 2017 at 2:30pm

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Anonymous letters will not be printed.

Articles so published reflect the views of the authors - not necessarily those of South Valley Review.

All submissions become the property of B & R Media Group, Inc. and cannot be acknowledged.

David C. Gorsulowsky, M.D.

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OUR NOVEMBER EVENTS November 8, 2017 - “Mission Siberia 2017� Presentation in San Jose. It is a private event, open to public. Important to know: This presentation will be held in Lithuanian without translation to any other language.

November 21, 2017 - ActionSpot Demo Day. You are cordially invited to the exclusive pitch and demo event at ActionSpot. Come and see our members take center stage to pitch their companies and demonstrate their products. See the next Big Thing in Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Solar Energy, and Digital Health. Afterwards, enjoy refreshments, meet the teams, and get a personal demo. Showcase Events and Reception 4:00pm to 9:00pm.

Please check the ActionSpot website for parking instructions. We look forward to seeing you there! Do you have a startup? Would you like the opportunity to show off what you do to seed & pre-seed capital investors? We have a limited number of demo tables available for $75. If you have any questions, please email info@myactionspot.com

D1 News County Supervisor Mike Wasserman On Sports As a former youth sports coach, I have witnessed firsthand the positive impacts that team sports can have on youth. Being a part of a something bigger than themselves creates purpose, discipline and camaraderie. I recently stopped by a youth softball game that is part of the Pro-Com Athletic Program. This program allows youth to participate in league sports such as basketball, softball and other events while in the juvenile hall, the James Ranch and continuation or alternative schools.

Pro-Com provides

opportunities for positive interactions with staff, through relationship building and coaching and builds skills such as team work, responsibility, confidence, self-esteem and sportsmanship through involvement in pro-social, athletic activities.

As always, you can reach my office at (408) 299-5010, or you can email me at district1@ bos.sccgov.org.

Mike Wasserman Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, District 1

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Education Hilltoppers Academy Hilltoppers Academy recently expanded to a second location meant to offer its students a dedicated Basketball training facility.

Hilltoppers has based its mission on the belief that any child can thrive in an environment that challenges both their intellectual and physical capabilities while also having a little fun.

Coach Shaw and his staff welcomed some of his Champion students, many friends and family to a barbecue feast to christen Hilltopper’s newest facility.

Former student A.J. proudly spoke to current students, about his time spent at Hilltoppers Academy believing “those lessons in self-discipline, teamwork and thinking through your decisions” -- genuinely prepared him for his adult role as a valued employee and a new father to his son.

Hilltoppers Academy has a motto that has been a model for their success from the early days -- PRIDE

A few of our students

P - Personal responsibility “I do what I’m supposed to do,” R - Respect “I treat others the way I want to be treated, and I’m

careful with my actions and my words.”

I - Integrity “I do the right thing, even when no one is watching me.”

D - Determination “I work hard and I don’t give up.”

E - Excellence “I do my best, and it’s great, not good.”

Proud parents and Supporters

Yeah Team!

Josh Cruz who received recognition as TEAM PLAYER OF THE YEAR

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Helping Hands Rebuilding Together Recap Cont.

appliances, painting, fencing and more! Check out all of the amazing photos on our Flickr account - we’re posting more all the time so keep checking back.

Over 30 Amazon

employees came together to spend the day giving back to the Bill Wilson community center in Santa Clara on Saturday October 28th. Our employees are very involved when it comes to

community outreach, and enjoy every minute of it when they can. We cannot wait to join Rebuilding Together Silicon Valley on another project soon!

STACY SEYMOUR (408) 960-9416 www.stacyseymour.com

stacy.seymour@cbnorcal.com Y8Z

High Flying Downtown Drop Bay Area Mayors and Tech Executives rappelled 236 feet to end homelessness. 90+ brave souls (including four Mayors) participated in “Downtown Drop Down� on September 9 hosted by Downtown Streets Team.

Photos courtesy of Leah Stohs

Downtown Streets Team (DST) builds teams that restore dignity, inspire hope, and provide a pathway to recover from homelessness. A volunteer Work-Experience Program in which homeless and at risk Team Members beautify their community in exchange for case management, employment services, and a basic needs stipend. Through their volunteer work, Team Members rebuild effective work habits, take on leadership opportunities, further their education and ready themselves to reenter the workforce through the support of a positive community. Team Members earn valuable work-experience while improving their increased self-sufficiency of our Team Members.

DST programs currently operate in eight cities throughout the bay Area including: San Jose, Palo Alto, Sunnyvale, Hayward, Gilroy, San Francisco, San Rafael and Novato, with nearly a dozen more in the pipeline. To learn more about the Downtown Streets Team or to make a donation, please visit www.streetsteam.org.

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Currents Damsel in Distress

South Valley Review is on the hunt for sales staff! If you are interested, please contact Us at editor@

southvalleyreview.com!

The company was founded by two stay at home mothers from Idaho who saw the need for legal, non-lethal means of protection so they set out to form a line of safe and sassy products. “The mission of Damsel in Defense Is to Equip, Empower & Educate, while supporting charities that help stop domestic violence, sexual

assaults and human trafficking”.

• 1 in 3 women will experience domestic violence from there partner • 1 in 5 women will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime • 38% of rape victims are male • College age women are 4 times more likely to

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Girl Power!

Darlene Tenes of CASAQ hand-picked a few of her favorite women-owned companies to showcase their products. Above is one featured exhibitor. All were encouraged to sip, nibble, and make a purchase in time for holiday giving.

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be assaulted • 75% of the time , you can identify your attacker and in minors that number is 93% Damsel in Defense has products for everyone of almost any age.

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Beauty is in the Eye Gift of Sight 2017 Furlong Vision Correction’s annual charitable program provides 10 LASIK or Photorefractive Keratectomy (PRK) treatments to deserving individuals who need vision correction but cannot afford the procedure. Boardcertified ophthalmologist, Dr. Michael Furlong, launched the annual Gift of Sight program in 2002.

Each year, Dr. Furlong and his staff provide the consultation, surgery and post-op visits at no cost to the recipients.

The vision correction procedures provided include Advanced TopographyGuided LASIK and Photorefractive Keratectomy (PRK).

Surgery day for the 2017 Gift of Sight program was Thursday, Oct. 26 at Furlong Vision Correction’s office (2107 N 1st St. #101, San Jose).

“This is such an inspirational time of the year for me and our entire staff. It’s truly humbling and rewarding to know that we can improve the lives of these recipients with great eyesight,” said Dr. Furlong. “This year, we worked with Kelly Estes and The Cost of Courage Foundation to identify military veterans who would benefit from this program, and our network of optometrists who referred deserving, low-income individuals. The Cost

of Courage Foundation supports the educational and personal needs of deserving military veterans in our community to ensure a successful transition back into civilian life so this is a great partnership with our Gift of Sight program, “ Dr. Furlong added.

Gift of Sight patient stories: Hank Provost served in the Air Force from 19741981 as an electronics technician trained in solid-state theory.

As a Communication Commander, Hank was in charge of a squadron of 500 at Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi.

Hank was drafted while attending Kent State, becoming an activist after the Kent State massacre.

He also protested the Iran hostage crisis, taking 52 American flags and one Canadian flag and stationing himself in front of the Buffalo News station and generating coverage on the Buffalo Evening News. At the time, he was stationed at a top-secret facility in Niagara Falls with access only by the commanders and the President of the United States. His base commander also supported his protest.

Hank worked at a subsidiary of Lockheed in top-secret communications for the shuttle program.

He eventually settled in Gilroy, Calif. with his wife and two sons. He

and his wife owned a women’s lingerie store but his life changed when environmental health problems affected his son’s health. He eventually lost his home, business and marriage and is now at the Veteran’s Housing Facility in East Laser-Assisted Cataract Vision Correction is San Jose. surgery with multi-focal a recognized vision Ilga Hernandez, 26, lenses. Dr. Furlong correction center in is legally blind without established Furlong Vision Silicon Valley offering glasses or contacts. Ilga is Correction in 1998 and Custom Wavefront a Santa Cruz native who has performed more than and Contoura® Vision lives with her mom and 42,000 refractive and Topography-Guided currently takes courses at small-incision Cataract LASIK, the most Cabrillo College and also surgeries. Furlong Vision advanced technology works at Marianne’s Ice available. Additionally, he Correction is located at Cream. Growing up, she 2107 North First Street provides PRK, Refractive was very shy and afraid to Lens Exchange (RLE), in San Jose. For more speak up in the classroom, Implantable Contact information visit www. as she couldn’t see the furlongvision.com.

Lenses (ICLs) and board even when sitting in the front row. Ilga’s Awarded Best Mortgage Broker 2016 optometrist, Dr. Ted Bailey, entered Ilga into a lottery to be a recipient of the Gift • 1% Down * of Sight • Conventional Financing program.

30 year, 20 year, & 10 year Ilga loves to sing and • Reverse Mortgage is a member • Cash out refinance of Pacific • FHA, VA, USDA, ARM Voices, a non-profit • Investments, multi-unit community loans choir in Santa Cruz.

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Breakfast of Champions Senator Jim Beall, Fifteenth Senate District Senator Jim Beall held a pancake breakfast Saturday October 28th to discuss California’s Houses Crisis: Affordability in Action.

Keynote Speaker was Matt Schwartz from the California Housing Partnership.

The breakfast focused on the outlook for lowincome multifamily housing: the impacts of recent state legislation and potential federal action on rental an Section 8 housing production and preservation for lower income households.

Beall and Schwartz addressed a well attended crowd that was eager to hear the aforementioned message which was a breath of fresh air.

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Quality • Service • Graphic Design Banners • Magnetics • Forms • Brochures Business Cards • Specialty Items • And More Blossom Hill Printing Company is all about creating exactly what you want, customized to fit your needs, at really low prices. We pride ourselves on our commitment to quality and the best service anywhere.

We are a full service commercial print design & brokerage serving South Bay Area businesses for over 42 years. What can we deliver for you?

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Wednesday, Nov 8th 5:30pm-7:30pm The Grapevine’s Ribbon Cutting Ceremony ~and~ Meet the Winemaker, Adam Comartin of Comartin Cellars Come meet the man behind The Grapevines very own signature wine “Valerie’s Cuvee” as well as taking the opportunity to try some of his other tasty gems.

Northern California Residents May Register For Disaster Assistance Residents of Butte, Lake, Mendocino and Yuba who suffered damage or losses from the devastating fires that began October 8, 2017 and continue to burn, can now register for disaster assistance with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), if they are able to do so.

The amendment to the presidential disaster declaration of October 10, 2017 now makes federal assistance available to eligible individuals and business owners in a total of six northern California counties: Butte, Lake, Napa, Mendocino, Sonoma and Yuba.

Survivors who primarily reside in one of the six designated counties can apply online at DisasterAssistance.gov or by phone at 800-621-3362 or (TTY) 800-462-7585. Applicants who use 711 or Video Relay Service may call 800-621-3362. The toll-free numbers are open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week.

Applicants will be asked for the following information: • Social Security number • Address of the damaged primary residence • Description of the damage • Information about insurance coverage • A current contact telephone number • An address where they can receive mail • Bank account and routing numbers for direct deposit of funds Disaster assistance for homeowners and renters may include grants to help pay for: • Temporary housing • Essential home repairs • Uninsured and underinsured personal property losses • Other serious disaster-related needs not covered by insurance.

Low-interest disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) are available for businesses of all sizes, private non-profit organizations, homeowners and renters. Disaster loans cover losses not fully compensated by insurance or other recoveries.

FEMA grants do not have to be repaid. FEMA assistance is nontaxable and will not affect eligibility for Social Security, Medicaid or other federal benefits.

Registering with FEMA is required for federal aid, even if a survivor has registered with another disaster-relief organization, such as the American Red Cross.

Survivors should register even if they have insurance. FEMA cannot duplicate insurance payments, but underinsured applicants may receive help after their claims have been settled.

For more information on California recovery, visit the disaster web page at www.fema.gov/ disaster/4344, Twitter at https://www.twitter.com/femaregion9 and the CalOES website, http://www.caloes. ca.gov/ .

Game Time Hilltoppers Academy World Games 2018 ALL STARS/WORLD GAMES June 24 - 30 Santa Clara County Fairgrounds Hilltoppers Academy is a great place to find yourself, if you are a kid living in San Jose - with some extra time and energy to burn.

Coach Louis Shaw and his staff know what it takes to put kids in his charge through their paces. With the intent and drive to bring out what is just beneath the surface, in regards to untapped talent and skill for athletics and academics.

Hilltoppers Academy

has been in the business of challenging their students to excel in all facets of their young lives -- as a means to build a strong foundation to succeed in a physical and intellectual environment.

For several years now, Hilltoppers Academy has hosted the ALL STARS/ WORLD GAMES, this annual event brings together the best high school athletes from around the state -- to show off their skills on the court

or on the field. WOW! This is a big deal for all concerned ... those who are hosting and for those chosen to participate.

Hilltoppers Academy is a member of the USSSA (ESB), a select group of schools that have demonstrated strong academic results, sound organizational practices and the genuine ability to close the achievement gap in their communities.

For more information: Hilltoppersschool.org

THIS IS BIG! We are going to the Home of the NBA Warriors to play the All-Star Game March 25th, 2018!!

Church Directory Santa Teresa Hills Presbyterian Church 5370 Snell Ave, San Jose, CA 95123 (2 blocks north of Blossom Hill Rd on Snell) (408) 629-5906 Email: santateresahills@gmail.com

We are a friendly, progressive, multicultural church striving to understand and apply the teachings of Jesus Christ. All are welcome!! Come visit us and participate in opportunities for spiritual growth, fellowship, and community outreach. We can pursue our faith journeys together! Sunday services are at 10:00AM with children’s Sunday school and nursery care available on site. Handicapped and hearing impaired services available. Visit our website for sample sermons, photos and a lot more information www.sthpc.org We look forward to meeting you!!

To showcase your church in our Church Directory, please send your information to

editor@southvalleyreveiw.com.

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Valley Extra Our Corner of the Valley

By Scott Taper

Charter Schools are a business. There it is. It’s the unspoken truth about charter schools in California and across the United states. In California the average allocation of funds per student varies from neighborhood to neighborhood, but the average student allocation is $9,595 per student. When a charter school is granted a charter, it receives those funds instead of the public schools in the districts in which they are started. Do the math. A 200 student charter school receives $1,919,000, instead of those funds going to the traditional public school. Charter schools are not private; indeed, they are public schools that are created to better educate children, maybe.

They rent facilities from the school district or in the case of a few, they may build their own. However, in all cases they promise to offer a better opportunity for education than the local public school. Many do not offer such education opportunities because they are failing as badly as some public schools or worse. In my opinion, in many schools, both traditional public and charter schools, the art of teaching has been abandoned and relegated to computer application education such as Khan Academy, which was meant to supplement

teachers, not replace them. Each student is supposed to follow a personalized learning program, or PLT, that permits that student to progress at his or her rate of learning. Now imagine that Trump’s appointed Secretary of Education Betsy Devos makes it even easier to for parents to use the money to intended for charter schools and uses it instead for private, nonpublic schools. The public school system that is already under assault from charter schools will become focused even more on getting students to graduate high schools, not prepare them for college. Charter schools will place even greater emphasis will be on getting more students, not education. There have already been terrible examples of such schools nationwide, which I hope parents and school officials are paying attention. Right here in Northern California, Livermore had a charter school that was caught sending undesirable students to another public school allegedly for racial reasons.

Parents, choose your schools wisely, whether they are charter or traditional. Base your decision on what you have heard from other parents and from students because your son or daughter may find themselves woefully behind if they are able to make it college because they have not taken the required courses.

Scott Taper is a biweekly contributor who consults in the field of commercialization and licensing of patented technologies/ consumer products. Send inquiries to staper@scitechcal.com Y 15 Z

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