BY SANJNA PARULEKAR AND RASHMI GUTTAL.

The dark Italian rye grass, a short weed brought by the Spanish more than 200 years ago, stands prominently among the light-colored native plants on Tulare Hill in South San Jose.

Scientists believe that the grass, fed by nitrogen from the city's polluted air, has choked both the Goldfield and Purple Owl's Clover, the flowering wild plants favored as a food and home of the endangered Bay Checkerspot Butterfly.

It's easy to think of hard-rocking musicians, like Tom Scholz, as the definitive "bad boys" of the world. But once you get to know a little about him, it's hard to think of him as anything but a nice guy, with a huge heart, who is passionately committed to compassion. When writing songs for legendary rock band Boston, Scholz focuses on positive messages and music that moves.

Patricia Wenskunas was victimized at an early age, and again as a young woman, but both times instinctively survived. Now she helps others learn how to overcome their plight as a victim of violent crime and learn how to survive and thrive!