Top Stories: June 29, 2009

Shootin' Varmints at SJSU; School Boards & Money; Homelessness up (or Down)

By Staff (Jun 29, 2009 )

Happy Hunting at San Jose University
A man hunting birds and squirrels was arrested this Saturday at San Jose University. According to reports, the man was shooting the animals with a BB gun. According to local police, he could be charged with animal cruelty. Read More at the Mercury News.


The Cost of Education
With California facing a $24 billion deficit and cities and counties throughout the state reporting similar financial woes, a Civil Grand Jury Report for Santa Clara County says that school superintendents and board members are overpaid. In addition to disproportionate salaries, the Report claims that the superintendents and board members receive excessive health care, housing loans, car allowances, and other perks. The report added that three local districts that do not overpay are Palo Alto, Mountain View Whisman and Mountain View-Los Altos.

Meanwhile, Silicon Valley School Boards are struggling to complete their budgets by this Tuesday’s deadline, as required by law. Ironically, the budgets they come up with will be tossed out almost as soon as they are ready. This is because 60 percent of local districts’ funding comes from the state, which has not yet passed its own 2009-2010 budget.

Governor Schwarzenegger has already proposed cutting the state’s K-12 budget by $5.2 billion, leaving local boards to base their budgets on these and other anticipated cuts. Nevertheless, the districts are preparing their budgets, hoping that the real numbers are not too different than the numbers they came up with.
Read more at KLIV and the Mercury News.


More or Less Homeless in Santa Clara County
While the number of homeless people in Santa Clara County has dropped slightly, there has been a steep rise in the number of chronically homeless people, a countywide survey reveals.

According to InnVision Program Director Julia Burkhead, local homelessness has been seriously affected by the foreclosure crisis. Many of the people kicked out of their homes are actually renters, she adds, not homeowners, and as such received no notice and did not even get their security deposits back. On the other hand, she adds that there has been a drop in rental prices, making housing slightly more affordable for some.

In contrast, chronic homelessness increased 35 percent over the past year, while the number of homeless people who abuse drugs and alcohol has increased from 30 to 41 percent. Read More at KCBS.