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Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen has premised his bid to be appointed Attorney General of California on the false notion that he is a progressive prosecutor. What’s true is that Rosen would be the wrong person for the job. Governor Gavin Newsom will appoint a new attorney general soon, following Xavier Becerra’s expected...
Kremen, Santos, Varela: Valley Water gathering public feedback on proposed expansion of Pacheco Reservoir
The first few months of this rainfall season were below average across California, with drought conditions evident statewide. Although the Golden State received a much-needed soaking in late January, moderate drought conditions remain across Santa Clara County. Valley Water remains focused on preparing for future wet and dry years through various projects and programs, including...
Martin: Coming to terms with mental illness, addiction, homelessness
Mental illness is not always hereditary. It’s usually a combination of genetic changes and environmental factors that determines if someone will develop a disorder — and this is true for homeless people. Research and cellular biology has shown that about 5% of diseases are genetically determined, whereas the remaining 95% are environmentally based. This makes...
Levitt: Electronic billboards may work for Denver but they should not define San Jose
In 2015, city leaders seeking to define the future of San Jose went on a junket to Denver and became mesmerized by the digital signs that Rocky Mountain city decided would make its downtown Theater District more “exciting.” The bright, shiny digital billboards and seductive promise to Denver’s government of revenue from advertising started a...
Funk: All school employees need COVID-19 vaccines — not just teachers — before reopening
The pressure is mounting across the country for schools to reopen. The Federal Government has provided financial resources to schools to help pay for the personal protective equipment needed to provide a safe environment for employees and students to return. Gov. Gavin Newsom presented a financial incentive in his January budget proposal for schools to...
Rocha, Yamamoto: San Jose was intentionally planned as a racially segregated city
San Jose was intentionally planned as a racially segregated city. Single-family zoning, which originated in Berkeley, Calif. in 1916, reserved exclusive communities for wealthier and whiter neighbors and deliberately excluded hardworking people of color. This practice spread to other cities. Today, because we know better, we are held accountable to dismantle this racist planning tool...
Hobbs: Major parties provide obstacles to immigration reform
The Republican Party. The right-wing anti-elite populism of the base of the Republican Party, its disdain for civility and compromise during the past 12 years, the accommodation and then subservience of the Republican Party to Donald Trump, and Trump’s inflaming the fear and racism of his base with lies all led to the Jan. 6...
Vargas: Biden administration ushers in new era in LGBTQ+ rights
The inauguration of President Joe Biden on Jan. 20 brought with it a wave of relief for the LGBTQ+ community. During his four years as president, Donald Trump made the oppression of LGBTQ+ people a centerpiece of his administration, a campaign that often targeted the most vulnerable, such as children and the homeless. As Joe...
Lechuga: San Jose’s Alum Rock area needs cultural designation
In the 1940’s when my grandfather Gustavo Gutierrez arrived in San Jose as a “bracero,” there was only one area of the city that welcomed him to settle down and make a home — East San Jose. The roots of District 5 are deep with Mexican American families as well as newly arrived immigrants from...
Bramson: California’s rent relief measure puts power in the wrong place
Not too long ago, in a Silicon Valley very, very close by, tens of thousands of hardworking people could be heard asking themselves: “How am I going to pay the rent this month?” This was before the pandemic wiped away their jobs, emptied their bank accounts and left them with a mountain of debt and...