Sal Pizarro

3 days ago | mercurynews.com | Sal Pizarro

It was a swingin’ time Sunday in San Jose’s Rose Garden neighborhood, where about 200 people packed into the decked-out backyard of Gordon Biersch co-founder Dan Gordon and his wife, Melissa, for a music-and-memory-filled fundraiser for San Jose Jazz. Besides being a warm-up for August’s Summer Fest, the party also was an opportunity to honor Henry Schiro, an early supporter of what was then known as the San Jose Jazz Society who served as its executive director for more than a decade.

6 days ago | mercurynews.com | Sal Pizarro

The new Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Mountain View is teeming with robots, which makes a lot of sense for a movie theater in the heart of Silicon Valley. The 10-screen theater at the Village at San Antonio Center is decorated with robot toys, a wall of movie posters featuring robots and even has Dumbots, an upstairs lounge with a name inspired by some of the less-intelligent bots in movie history. It’s got drinks with fun names like Gin & Oil and Rusty Smash, plus 24 beers on tap.

1 week ago | mercurynews.com | Sal Pizarro

There will be one fewer place for San Jose fireworks fans to see the rockets’ red glare on July 4 this year, as the city has canceled the annual event held at Almaden Lake Park. And it seems this is partly a case of an event being called off because of its own success. San Jose City Councilmember George Casey announced the cancellation in an email to his district this week, saying that with more than 30,000 people attending last year, it has outgrown the park as a venue.

1 week ago | mercurynews.com | Sal Pizarro

Dads will do a lot of things for their daughters. They’ll sip imaginary tea with stuffed animals, sit while their fingernails are painted and serve as a driver for trips to practice, rehearsals or the mall. They’ll even relearn geometry and manage to appear calm during driving lessons. And sometimes a dad will strap on a pair of high heels to walk around San Jose’s glitzy Santana Row shopping center to raise awareness about sexual assault and raise money to fight it.

2 weeks ago | mercurynews.com | Sal Pizarro

Every so often in San Jose, there’s such a convergence of big events that you could wonder if anyone’s sitting home. This is going to be one of those weekends. For many, the most important event of the weekend is the “No Kings” rally — one of many in the Bay Area and across the country — planned for noon Saturday at downtown’s St. James Park. As Americans, we celebrate our right to protest.