A 17-year-old girl struck and killed a San Jose woman with her car at Blossom Hill Road and Dartmouth Drive on Oct. 19, police spokeswoman Gina Tepoorten said.

Esther Ouellette, 51, was walking north in the crosswalk on Blossom Hill Road around 3 p.m. when the San Jose teen hit her. Police said several cars in the outside lane stopped to let Ouellette cross the street. The teen was driving in the inside lane.

Ouellette was taken to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, where she died from head trauma, Tepoorten said. Investigators interviewed the 17-year-old girl, who remained at the accident scene. Police said there were witnesses in at least two cars that drove off. Police are now looking for them.

Anyone with information can call police investigator Denise Escobar at 408.277.4654. Anonymous tips can be left at 408.947.STOP.

City council backs
small businesses

The San Jose City Council showed its support for small businesses at its Oct. 18 meeting when it voted unanimously to select an organization that will manage money for the city's small business loan program. According to the city's office of economic development, the small business loan program, which has been in existence since 1994, has helped businesses ranging from retailers to contractors to software companies. "I am pleased to see that our city is taking the necessary steps to guarantee that these small businesses continue to thrive and succeed within our community," District 10 Councilwoman Nancy Pyle said.

New format for sample ballots

The Nov. 8 election will be the first countywide election to use a new small ballot format. Instead of bilingual books, the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters has separate books that are printed for English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese and Tagalog ballots.

The Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters is changing the look of the sample ballots it mails to voters. Sample ballots are mailed according to how voters answered the preferred language survey. Voters who picked English as the preferred language will receive only the English sample ballot. Voters who selected any of the other four languages will receive an English book and another in that language.

Voters can update their language preference by calling 1.866.430.VOTE or complete a language survey card at the polls on Nov. 8. Changes can also be made online at www.sccvote.org.

Flowers, candle vigil for slain officer

More than 55 San Jose residents planted daffodils and blue and yellow pansies at Fontana Park on Oct. 23 in honor of police officer Jeffrey Fontana, 24, who was shot and killed in Almaden during a routine traffic stop on Oct. 28, 2001. Resident Kim Enderie said she organized the planting with the Las Madres neighborhood group after noticing bunches of bouquets left at the park sign named for Fontana. The city donated 100 daffodils. Almaden Valley Nursery donated the pansies and soil, which were arranged to spell out Fontana's badge number.

Enderie's husband, who is a police officer, teamed up with about 20 other officers the Friday night before the planting to build a flower box. A local firefighting team brought by a truck for light during the dark hours, Enderie said. The flowers will serve as a backdrop for the candlelight vigil planned for Oct. 28, at 6:30 p.m. at Calle Almaden, near Fontana was shot. The event will end at Fontana Park. The man who allegedly shot Fontana is scheduled to go to trial Dec. 7.