>>> plus -- >> reporter: i'm damian trujillo live in san jose.crime fighting with limited resources. and it's working. that's coming up next. >>> plus, panic after a night out at the theater. hundreds trapped inside after the collapse of the ceiling in the middle of a show. >>> fighting back with limited resources. a small group of san jose police officers are trying to take back the streets in one area of town that's being plagued by gangs and drugs. it's just south of the san jose state campus. that's where nbc bay area's damian trujillo spent the day walking the beat with the commander. >> reporter: in the fall of this year, that's only three months ago, gang members didn't even wait for nightfall. in they attacked in broad daylight. that's when operation william street kicked into gear. >> he's working on his skills how to talk to mentally ill people down here. >> reporter: captain tony used to walk these streets south of san jose state university as a beat cop. now he's commander of central division, one of the city's tougher areas. >> that

here's nbc bay area's damian trujillo. >> reporter: almost six months left before the primary election, the fields of candidates looking to lead california's third largest city is already very crowded. >> i think we're going to have the most candidates we've had since 1971 when there was 14 candidates. >> reporter: dr. terry christianson has studied san jose politics for more than four decades. the battle ahead between councilmen sam lacardo, rose herera. insiders tell me council meetings might also get a little more political and testy now. >> oh, yeah, it's going to be a year-long battle. >> reporter: also on the ballot, county supervisor dave cortezi who might be the popular choice of the labor movement. several other candidates have also filed. >> ready for the mayor's race? >> who's running? >> half the city council. >> half the city council. >> reporter: those we spoke with in the neighborhood say they need to -- >> i heard about that on the radio. i just moved here from los gatos so i haven't checked into city politics yet. >> are you ready for mayor's race? >> no, not yet. not

we're live in east san jose, damian trujillo, nbc bay area news. >>> want to follow up on sa sunnyvale'srict gun ordinance. the nra is going to file a lawsuit in federal court tomorrow to overturn the measure that bans magazine clips from holding more than ten bullets. the nra says thisaéÑ restrictio violates gun owners' second amendment rights. the nra filed a similar lawsuit against the city of san francisco last month. >>> it was a gruesome car crash in the streets of san francisco that killed a 16-year-old high school student. and now nearly three months later, the district attorney has ttáy 58-year-old jenny zhu will be charged with felony vehicular manslaughter and two counts of witnesses told police they saw her mercedes suv speeding at up to 80 miles per hour before it slammed into a minivan and catering truck at pine and goff in september. a 16-year-old was killed. his mother and sister critically injured. d.a. george gascon says if convicted she could face up to seven years in prison. >>> the search is on for the bad beard bandit, what the fbi is calling a man suspected of terr

nbc bay area's damian trujillo is the only tv reporter yet to see the report. he's live at kip hayward academy in east san jose with a look at the troubling results. >> reporter: well, jessica, here's a report right here. this is a school that's actually doing something right. nearly three-quarters of the student here graduate from the eighth grade being algebra proficient. the report's authors say other schools no to copy the strategy here and stop using poverty and language as an excuse. they walk into susan oba's class with one thing in mind. college. >> two minutes. go as fast as you can while still getting everything 100% correct. >> reporter: they're learning proportional ratios in the seventh grade prealgebra class. most come from low-income families. half speak english as a second language. if the state test scores are any indication, three out of four of the students will be on the college track. >> we tell students that there's really, you know, no excuse for not meeting the expectations. so if whether that's homework completion, being on time for sch

nbc bay area's damian trujillo is on the campus. one expert says the president needs to get in front of the cameras now. damian? >> reporter: well, you know, diane, this is the latest e-mail announcing the latest fact-finding efforts and a special task force that the president has appointed. but our expert says these kinds of messages are the last thing you need during crisis communications. hundreds of answerry students marched on the san jose state campus 2 1/2 weeks ago. four of their white schoolmates are charged with hate crimes and battery after allegedly assaulting, bullying, and racially tormenting their lone black roommate. and in the days after the arrests, this is a lone public statement made on the stage by university president. it came five days after the arrests. >> we failed all of our students. >> reporter: the rest of his messages to the campus have come via e-mail. >> that's the public relations mistake that he's making at this moment. >> reporter: brenda bulger runs pox digital and wonders who was advising the pres

nbc bay area's damian trujillo joins us. how serious are the threats to leave downtown from the businessowners? >> reporter: things seem to be turning around. now, the good news is the efforts of these merchants, the city and police, are actually working. things are turning around. while some crime still exists, these merchants say it's not the same as it was six months ago. there was a time not long ago when downtown san jose almost lost this as part of its landscape. what was happening outside the app developer's headquarters on south 2nd street had them thinking about making a change. >> there were some dangerous crimes. there was a gang almost that was involved. >> reporter: in fact, because of the violence, pinger's ceo threatened to pull his business and his 60 employees out of the downtown area. >> we thought about not renewing the lease. i think a lot of people said, do we want to be here? and if it's not going to change, then i don't think we can risk our employee safety to be downtown. >> reporter: the threat came

i'm damian trujillo. today some of the smartest latinos in silicone valley are right here in our studio. this is your "comunidad del valle." ♪ >>> we begin with the latina success network. that's the title. welcome to the show. >> thank you, david. >> you're trying to enhance the success of latinas in the valley in a holistic sense. tell us what that means. >> what i found and i'm a

i'm damian trujillo. today some of the smartest latinos in silicone valley are right here in our studio. this is your "comunidad del valle." ♪ >>> we begin with the latina success network. that's the title. welcome to the show. >> thank you, david. >> you're trying to enhance the success of latinas in the valley in a holistic sense. tell us what that means. >> what i found and i'm a co-founder, there's two founders, the other found certificate amy hernandez and what we found is that, you know, we had a soft launch in november. and we had 50% entrepreneur women show up and 50% professional women show up. and so the reason we came up with the concept was because we found that there's really not a holistic approach to dealing with latinas, they will attend, you know, seminars or go to some university program or, you know, get advice from someone as it relates as to how to succeed in business whether entrepreneur or professional. but usually the person giving them the choice or giving the advice has a bunch o

damian trujillo joins us with more. >> reporter: they've been hundred dollarled up all day here along the parks. some say they'res used to these cold temperatures. they're going to get a good dose of that tonight. >> richard washington spent the day looking for the spot with the most sunshine at st. james park. >> it's right on you. 8:00, maybe about 3:00. >> there are roughly 5,000 to 7,000 people living on the streets in santa clara county. and there's only 300 emergency beds available at armories and shelters. >> my parents kicked me out a long time ago. i've been here ever since on probation. you know, i'm just trying to get my life together, you know? >> it will be another cold night for anthony coleman. one man who doesn't mind the cold weather is the owner of andy's orchards. 60 ache oefrs apricots, cherries and peaches in morgan hill. the cold temps allow his trees to rest for the winter. >> it induces sleep. it causes the leaves to fall quicker and for the tree to go into a dormant state. and that kind of gives it a good sleep. >> and cold weather means more work for this man