Traffic Court moves to South County
The Santa Clara County Superior Court’s Traffic Clerk Offices have been reassigned to the South County Courthouse, 301 Diana Drive in Morgan Hill, and the Family Justice Center Courthouse, 201 N. First St. in San José.
Traffic Court handles cases that usually begin when a citation or ticket is written by a law enforcement officer. Tickets can be issued for violations of traffic laws and other non-traffic offenses.
“The Court is confident that by moving traffic court calendars to the South County Courthouse from the Hall of Justice and by ensuring a staff of employees with bilingual skill sets, residents will attest to an improved user experience,” Presiding Judge Beth McGowen said. “Much thought and consideration was taken into account for the Traffic Division’s primary location, which is adjacent to a transit hub, inclusive of CalTrain and Valley Transit Authority services, along with convenient and free parking.”
Beginning Feb. 14, traffic hearings will no longer be held at the Hall of Justice, and will exclusively take place at the South County Courthouse and the Family Justice Center Courthouse.
“The Family Justice Center Courthouse is located in the heart of Downtown San Jose, which means parking can be difficult. The Court highly encourages the use of the Valley Transportation Authority’s Light Rail and Bus Routes, as well as public parking lots in the area,” said Alicia Vojnik, the Santa Clara Court’s Chief Officer of Operations. “We sincerely encourage court visitors to explore their travel options beforehand so that parking encumbrances are not incurred while attempting to solve a traffic-related matter.”
Many traffic matters can be resolved online without speaking to a clerk on the phone or coming to a courthouse. Online services relating to traffic matters such as paying a fine, filing an Ability to Pay Petition, establish a payment plan or request an extension can be done online.
For information, visit scscourt.org/court_divisions/traffic/traffic_home.shtml.
Guests can show proof of correction, request traffic school, set up payments, pay in full, check-in for arraignment or obtain general information regarding a traffic matter. Excluding court holidays, the Traffic Public Counter hours of operation at the South County Courthouse will be from 8:30am–3pm Mondays through Thursdays, and from 8:30am to noon on Fridays.
Rosa named to Dean’s List
Dean College is pleased to announce that Emily Rosa, of Morgan Hill, has earned a place on the Dean’s List for the Fall 2022 semester. Students named to the Dean’s List have demonstrated a serious commitment to their studies while at Dean College.
Founded in 1865, Dean College is a private, residential college located in Franklin, Massachusetts. Dean College offers baccalaureate degrees, associate degree programs, as well as a robust schedule of part-time continuing and professional education credit and certificate programs throughout the calendar year.
Rebates for electric vehicles
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) last week announced the launch of its Pre-Owned Electric Vehicle (EV) Rebate Program, providing qualified residential customers up to $4,000 when purchasing or leasing a pre-owned EV. The program aims to distribute more than $78 million to promote the adoption of EVs and make EV ownership more affordable for all customers, says a press release from PG&E.
Current PG&E electric customers may qualify to receive a $1,000 or $4,000 rebate, based on household income, when purchasing or leasing an eligible pre-owned all-electric vehicle or plug-in hybrid EV. To take advantage of the offer, interested customers must successfully submit a rebate application within 180 days of the date of purchase or lease. The application is found online at https://evrebates.pge.com/how-to-apply.
“This new rebate program addresses the continued growth of the pre-owned EV market with a focus on making EVs more affordable for all customers throughout our service area. Affordability can be a barrier to EV adoption, and this program will help offset costs for our customers who want to explore pre-owned EV ownership,” said Aaron August, PG&E Vice President, Utility Partnerships and Innovation.
The Pre-Owned EV Rebate Program is funded by the California Air Resources Board’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), an initiative designed to reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change. PG&E earns LCFS credits for supplying low-carbon fuel in the form of electricity, and re-distributes funds generated from the sale of those credits through customer programs. The Pre-Owned EV Rebate Program has no impact on customer rates.
The rebate program is being implemented in partnership with the Center for Sustainable Energy.
PG&E offers a variety of tools, rebates and resources to help educate customers and encourage EV adoption. Customers can check out PG&E’s EV Savings Calculator, an online resource to browse vehicles, discover incentives, locate charging stations and more. The calculator is found online at https://ev.pge.com/.
Nearly 500,000 EVs have been sold in PG&E’s service area, representing one in seven EVs in the country, says the press release. As part of the 2030 targets outlined in PG&E’s Climate Strategy Report released last year, the company is preparing the grid to quickly and safely power at least 3 million EVs—or about 12,000 GWh of EV-related electric load. PG&E is also working to enable 2 million of those EVs to participate in vehicle-grid integration applications, allowing EVs to be a cornerstone of both electric reliability and climate resilience for PG&E customers broadly.
