Cell Phones and YouTube Usher in a New Era of Accountability

Through the eye of a cell phone camera, an outraged and shocked public witnessed the shooting death of 22-year-old Oscar Grant at a BART station in Oakland in the early morning hours of the first day of 2009. And now, as a result, a tragically common American story—young black male killed by a police officer—may be headed toward an uncommon ending: justice being served.

The Sword of Damocles hanging by a horse hair over the heads of the legislators in Sacramento is about to drop come Feb. 1.  The two choices have been to increase revenue and/or cut programs/spending in order to dig us out of the grave we starting digging when we passed Proposition 13 over 30 years ago. If I begin from the premise that K-12 education is over 40 percent of the state budget, then education, along with all other state-funded programs, must share in the pain.

Presumptive Favorite Claims Relationship Not Romantic

A bombshell story yesterday coming out of La Oferta, San Jose’s Hispanic newspaper, linked county supervisor hopeful George Shirakawa, Jr. with former McCain lover/lobbyist Vicki Iseman, in what might be the only thing stopping a Shirakawa coronation in his race to succeed Blanca Alvarado in District 2.

Squirrels to be Used in War on Terror

Mountain View hit the national news early this week when the Bush administration tapped the small hamlet in the South Bay for their rabid rodent population in order to help fight the war on terror.

The Commander-in-Chief decided to recruit the small furry animals after growing pressure to end the war from the Democratic Party, the American public and Sean Penn hit a crescendo.

It is a common cliché that a city’s downtown is its heart and soul.  Having lived and worked in downtown San Jose all of my life, it is also my belief.  Our downtown, like all others, is the cultural, social, and entertainment hub for a larger region and serves its neighborhoods as the city’s largest park.