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News From Silicon Valley's Neighborhoods Avant Guardians Another artsy downtown San Jose coffee hangout bites the dust, leaving the survivors to ponder why the self-proclaimed Capital of Silicon Valley can't attract and hold its counterculture. Safety Dance Willow Glen--Ah, life is good in Willow Glen! The quaint neighborhoods, the bustling downtown, the pedestrians being mowed down on their way to get bagels ... Since 1989, 23 pedestrians have fallen victim to the onslaught of traffic on Lincoln Avenue, and the townsfolk are taking drastic measures to put an end to it. In late April the business association will install small neon-orange crossing flags on either side of the crosswalk in front of Blockbuster and Sharky's so pedestrians can wave them as they cross. If the flag program is a success, batons, band music and white patent leather boots also will be installed on either side of the crosswalk in an effort to make safety fun. Drugstore Row Los Gatos--Los Gatans like their druggists homegrown, thanks, and that spells trouble for a proposal to replace the locally owned Rinconada Pharmacy in Rinconada Hills Shopping Center with a Longs Drugs. A number of neighbors showed up at a recent meeting to protest Rinconada's possible eviction and praise its owners, David and Vivian Matsuo, for going the extra mile for their customers. The Matsuos say their lease expired after they sought expensive structural repairs to the building; Duckett Wilson Development Co. says the Matsuos ignored the company's offer to extend the lease. A Very Good Year Cyberspace--A mysterious missive received at Mission Control in the Metro ship brings the good news that VCRs can be tricked into Y2K compliance for free. "You probably hadn't thought the Y2K bug would be an issue for your VCR," the message reads. "Some, if not most, VCRs won't be able to use the programmed advanced recording feature. DO NOT THROW AWAY YOUR VCR IN THE YEAR 2000! Merely set the year on 1972, since those calendar days of the weeks and months will correspond to those in the year 2000." [ Metro | Metroactive Central | Archives ]