Crime in WG seems to be making more and more of the neighborhood news recently, with the SJ Mercury News running at least two stories this week about ongoing investigations that are looking for your help.

On Tuesday, Police say a couple stole a grocery cart of food from Mi Rancho Market, on the northern end of Lincoln Avenue:

A San Jose grocery store employee briefly hung onto the hood of a moving car as he tried to stop three people who were stealing a cart full of groceries just before dinnertime Tuesday, according to police.

The employee of the Mi Rancho supermarket at 1003 Lincoln Ave. — whom police did not identify — was not hurt during the robbery.

Police later found the suspects’ abandoned car — a silver Mercury Grand Marquis. But the three suspects —a woman and two men — are still at large.

Also today, police released a sketch of a man suspected of exposing himself near Branham High School and Ida Price Middle School earlier this month.

This follows police activity earlier this month, when officers in SWAT gear used a battering ram to break down the door of a house on Malone Road and arrested two of the inhabitants:

1200 block of Malone Drive, 7:19 p.m. Tuesday. A search warrant resulted in the arrest of four people, the recovery of narcotics packaged for sale and an illegal weapon.

Exciting times, no? ;-(

OK. Aside from completely throwing in the towel, WGx isn’t sure what to do anymore. And neither, apparently is WG’s own taxi-driving roving reporter Joann Landers.

In the past few days, she has filed two completely separate reports on two completely different accidents — both at the exact same intersection: Combine a curving two-lane road with an unofficial commuter cut-through, and the intersection of Hamilton/Pine & Hicks Avenue has been quite unsafe this past week.

Via her San Jose Metblogs website, Joann published pictures of a pedestrian accident on August 30:

A gentleman walking with his wife … was hit in the crosswalk, when a woman driving a white Toyota made a left turn from Hicks on to Pine. The gentleman, bleeding profusely from a head wound, was taken to the hospital via ambulance.

Another accident on September 4 included two cars, with one ending up upside down. Joann again published pictures.

Hey! Slow Down! … Here’s to safe week of driving in Willow Glen!

In an ironic development first “uncovered” by WGx, well-intentioned citizens across WG have been turned into criminals! … Either that or they are avoiding suspicion by canceling “Produce Exchanges” that had been planned between neighbors.

The growing – and suddenly illegal – trend of swapping backyard-grown fruits and and vegetables seemed like a good idea at the time, but is now under fire from the Santa Clara County Department of Agriculture: “Home gardeners within the quarantine zone are not allowed to move fresh produce or plants from their properties.” The non-fermented vegetable prohibition is the result of a quarantine in place to protect commercial farms from the Light Brown Apple Moth.

Just to make things more confusing, not all of the vegetable swapping options are verboten. Community gardens and school life labs are exempt from the sharing ban. Kevin O’Day from the County explains, via the WGNA eList:

… I think what may be a source of confusion on this topic are the provisions for those with plots at school or community gardens. These sites operate under a compliance agreement, are trapped and they receive a regulatory inspection on a 30-day cycle. Because of these safeguards, harvested produce is allowed to move freely out from the community gardens within the quarantine zone. This protocol is similar to that used for commercial growers with fields within the regulated area.

Thus, tonight’s exchange planned on Settle Avenue has been canceled.

And now the once-great idea will whither on the vine, along with some really great tasting tomatoes.

Oops. Nevermind?

WGx — in the form of guest columnist Holly Barr — was the first to report on an emerging neighborhood Produce Exchange concept recently started in the Rosegarden Neighborhood. In its August 1 edition (not yet online), the WG Resident adds to the excitement with a front page picture and inside feature on the clever — and friendly — idea.

And in today’s SJ Mercury News, the County Health Department throws cold water on the whole thing.

It turns out that WG is inside the quarantine area for the light brown apple moth, which means you’re not supposed to take your produce off of your property.

But before you load up that basket of fresh-picked tomatoes, peppers and zucchini, and before you cut a bouquet of flowers to take to your mom, check out the latest version of the county’s light brown apple moth quarantine map. Lines have recently been redrawn to include even more of Santa Clara County in an effort to curb the spread of this relatively new and voracious pest.

County agriculture officials are reminding home gardeners who live inside the quarantine area that plants and produce grown inside the zone may not be removed from the property. Yes, even to share with someone next door or across the street.

But WGx is pretty sure the swapping of your neighborhood garden bounty is a genie that is too far out of the bottle to be put back in. A separate story in today’s Merc also highlights the joys of a local Filipino produce exchange

And for you vegetable-growing scofflaws out there, the next RG Produce Exchange is scheduled for August 4.

Bring your running shoes, in case you have to leave quickly with your ill-gotten goods.

The streets of WG were the topic of safety and maintenance discussions in two different publications last week. WGx thought you’d want to know …

The SJ Mercury News Mr. Roadshow column provided some perspective on the Hamilton Avenue commute into and out of WG. At the end of a column on wasting gas, Gary Richards tells us not to hold out too much hope any any signal timing improvements:

Q Why aren’t the lights on Hamilton Avenue in Campbell timed better? It seems as though every night I stop at five or six of the six lights between Highway 17 and my house heading east toward Willow Glen …

A Campbell and San Jose will be working together to see what changes can be made, but for now the news is not good. The Hamilton signals are generally timed to favor eastbound traffic during the afternoon commute. However, city engineers say that because of heavy traffic and closely spaced signals, they cannot always avoid having motorists stopped at some intersections. … In addition, they can’t time the lights at Meridian and Leigh avenues, two busy intersections, because they are too far apart.

In other news, an overzealous police officer was faulted in a Metro Letter to Editor. Eseentially, a bicyclist got a ticket for riding a few blocks against traffic — on the sweltering Ride Your Bike to Work Day, no less.

Gas prices go up, traffic increases — and biking isn’t always the answer. Transit anyone? … wait a minute, the news isn’t very good there, either …

Thursday is a “Free Transit” day across the Bay Area. Actually it’s a retooled Spare the Air concept, with officials offering predictable free transit without concerning themselves with actual weather patterns. But commuters of all stripes are complaining about the chaos one day could bring. Good luck, everyone!

Who needs grocery stores when you live in Willow Glen?

If you are looking for fresh strawberries or cherries, you barely need to step out of your car. Sidewalk vendors and corner produce markets have opened up all across WG, including Pine/Bird, Pine/Cottle, Willow/Cherry, and many more mobile locations — including that rolling cart on Lincoln Avenue south of the WG Farmers Market on Saturdays.

And the Ravizza Farms family has opened the doors on their unofficial cherry stand from last year — the actual doors of a house along Minnesota, west of Hicks.

Technically, sidewalk vendors need permits to ply their wares. Earlier today, SJPD officers were closing down the regular berry/cherry vendor on the corner of Pine Avenue and Cottle. Two officers were carting away the fruit at about 2:00 pm today. Sellers on this corner get more attention than others, because motorists can really impede traffic if they don’t pull clear of the crowded intersection.

Of course, the sidewalk vendors are much more mobile and fleet when it comes to setting up shop in a new location. Maybe Fresh & Easy could learn a few things from them.

The SJ Police Department has apparently made quick work of a rising tide of car burglaries that have been occurring across Willow Glen.

Increased reports of thefts from locked and unlocked cars in wide stretches of WG started a few weeks ago on the WGNA Elist. Neighbors from Lennon, Christina, Cherry, Bennet, Kotenberg, and Camino Ricardo, started reporting a series of car burglaries. In addition to the rise in eList conversation, Willow Glen 2.0 created a section inside its Neighborhood Watch forum for tracking trends in thefts and safety concerns.

While most victims admitted their cars had been left unlocked overnight, the crimes still seemed brazen enough to trouble many residents. Some of the cars had been locked, and in most cases, thieves had been stealing small electronic devices like GPS units, MP3 players, iPods, laptops, and cell phones.

Over the weekend, police apparently found a lot of the stolen items and began contacting victims to reunite them with their lost electronics. Tessa Miller was the first to tell of her newly-found fortune:

SJPD was just here. They “happened” upon a house in the vicinity and recovered some goodies. Among them was my brother in law’s ipod and nano(he is smart enough to have his name engraved on them). Empty wallets…also a really nice camcorder that the thieves stole then used to tape themselves, so if you are missing any items please contact them. They are working on getting the belongings back to the owners … cell phone … small gps unit … camcorder … watches …

And according to the officer they will fingerprint on a vehicle (I was told by dispatch that they do not because I have prints on my car from them trying to break in.)

Hey … maybe WGx is turning into a True Crime weblog …

Which of these things is not like the other? Don’t answer that.

But do read Friday’s SJ Mercury News, which should include a story about the “Shotgun Bandits” and their arrest. Although their targets were mostly outside of WG, at least one suspect lived on Malone Road, where he was arrested earlier in April:

Last month, a group of masked robbers went on a dangerous spree, police said, bursting into at least a half dozen businesses armed with a sawed-off shotgun and snatching fistfuls of cash from the registers as employees and customers cowered in fear.

But investigators eventually caught up with the alleged robbers, after a sergeant became suspicious about a clerk at one of the targets - an lingerie and adult novelty store called Cupid’s Corner. …

(more…)

Did you get the phone call?

You know those endless automated phone calls you got back during the run-up to California’s primary election in February. It was like those, but seems to be for a much higher purpose … It came from FindToto.com, and is meant to help reunite a lost dog with her owner:

[Phone Script]: … lost her dog Bella on April 11. Bella is a black and tan Shiba Inu, which looks like miniature husky … small 20-25 pounds, with pointy ears and a curly tail. She is shy and scared, so if you see her please calmly call her and do not chase her.

Bella and her owners were attacked by a pit bull on April 11 in Branham - Thousand Oaks area, and Bella ran away. The dog might have been seen near WG High School over this past weekend, thus the blanketing automatic phone calls to surrounding homes.

A $1000 reward has been offered, and you can call 877-738-8686 with any information.

By the way, if you are the sort who prefers not to be included in such automated phone campaigns, FindToto gives you an opt out option at the end of the recorded message.

After a depressing 2007, the WG Crime Report got off to a potentially horrible start for 2008, when a group of over-zealous revelers caused $6500 worth of damage to an SUV and injured its occupants near the corner of Meridian & Foxworthy:

A San Jose man, his wife and good friend are reeling from a violent clash they had early on New Year’s Day with a group of skateboard-wielding teens they said beat the friend and pummeled their car.

The dozen or so teens scattered as soon as they heard police sirens approaching about 1:30 a.m. and none have been apprehended.

But, keeping with the excellent police work which has quickly solved the other noteworthy crimes across the neighborhood, three arrests have been made in the case.

Initial reports placed damage closer to $20,000 and NBC11 reported there were a dozen assailants. There is no word on additional pending arrests or the actual number of skateboards involved.