Latino Heritage celebrated
Assemblymember Alex Lee celebrated Latino Heritage Month Sept. 23 by honoring six Latino community leaders and a Latino-owned local business. The event was co-hosted by District 5 San Jose City Councilmember Peter Ortiz.
Honorees included Dr. Roxane Fuentes, Superintendent of San Jose’s Berryessa School District; Riko Mendez, CEO of SEIU Local 521; Jessica Paz-Cedillos, co-executive director of the School of Arts and Culture at San Jose’s Mexican Heritage Plaza; Victoria Salas Salcedo, an English teacher at Rancho Milpitas Middle School; Fernanda Morales, a recent graduate of KIPP San Jose Collegiate who collaborated with San Jose’s mayor to create an ordinance to uphold student safety; Tatiana Villaseñor Carrillo, a community organizer for Latina Coalition Silicon Valley; and Tacos Al Pastor, which hosted the event at its East San Jose location.
Lee’s Assembly District 24 includes Milpitas.
Folklore Fridays
The Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority is hosting three virtual lunchtime deep dives into local folklore in October. Each week’s streamed event will showcase the South Bay’s cultural history and diversity.
Folklore Fridays are set to stream live Oct. 11, 18 and 25, noon to 1 p.m. on the authority’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/openspaceauthority. Recordings will be published at https://www.youtube.com/@openspaceauthority.