Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a trio of bills sponsored by the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC), the state’s political watchdog group, making it easier for the rest of us to police our politicians.

Almost two weeks into the federal government shutdown, there are still 800,000 employees sitting at home, waiting for Congress to approve a budget and allow them to get back to work. Meanwhile, members of Congress have not had any hold placed on their paychecks, and a growing number of people are not happy about it.

A new policy is expected to require Santa Clara County restaurants to post grades from their latest health inspection report on the front window of the establishment. No more hiding that cockroach problem.

After Russia imposed a number of draconian anti-gay laws over the summer, LGBT advocacy groups asked U.S. leaders to sever sister-city ties with any Russian towns. San Jose fielded some of those requests, but councilmembers Xavier Campos, Ash Kalra and Pete Constant say the city’s in a better position to use that international relationship with Ekaterinburg to open up a meaningful dialogue instead. The trio said as much in a memo to the Rules and Open Government Committee, which will meet Wednesday.

City Manager Debra Figone’s annual budget performance review, which will go before the City Council on Tuesday, shows that 2012-13 revenue totaled $2.29 billion, about 1.2 percent ($28.6 million) below the budgeted estimate. Other items on Tuesday’s agenda include Xavier Campos hosting a gun buyback at a District 5 church, Kansen Chu pushing a solar panel incentive program and a semi-annual review of city audits.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, will stop by San Jose on Tuesday to highlight affordable housing efforts and help out with a community service project at Lake Cunningham Regional Park, which is located in San Jose Councilmember Rose Herrera’s district.

After spending most of this year’s anticipated Measure A revenue to pull out of a deficit and boost some service levels, Santa Clara County officials are looking for ways to spend a remaining $9.7 million of the 1/8 cent sales tax. Other items on Tuesday’s agenda include the county picking up the full cost of the Healthy Kids program—rather than getting a little help from San Jose, a plan by Supervisor Ken Yeager to save a Santa Clara library and Supervisor Joe Simitian looking to grade local restaurants.

Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation Thursday that grants drivers licenses to undocumented immigrants, while a number of gun control measures are pending approval.

Community members will have a chance to weigh in on San Jose’s gang-prevention efforts at a series of town hall meetings this fall. The Mayor’s Gang Prevention Task Force will host four meetings this month through November to gather input about the city’s efforts to suppress local gang activity.

Earlier this year, Councilman Don Rocha considered calling it quits. He was fed up with a City Council he felt was obsessed with cutting employee costs and not improving public safety, libraries, streets and community centers.. Things are better now and Rocha is willing to stick around. On Wednesday night, the District 9 representative sent out an email and posted to his Facebook page that he’s planning to seek a second term.

After failed past attempts to regulate medical marijuana collectives in San Jose, the city should take up the issue again, says Councilman Don Rocha—just as a voter initiative to legalize the stuff cleared for signature gathering. Other items on the agenda for Wednesday’s Rules and Open Government Committee meeting include Councilman Xavier Campos asking for the city to sponsor a gun buyback event, Voice Mayor Madison Nguyen wanting some pension reform clarification and David Wall doing his best David Wall impersonation.

Agencies in Santa Clara Valley have finalized a sweeping conservation plan that will set out guidelines for development in exchange for preserving South Bay creeks, trails and open space. State, county and local agency leaders will meet Thursday morning at the Anderson Dam in Morgan Hill for a signing ceremony to launch the Santa Clara Valley Habitat Conservation Plan.

A nearly 100-year-old Chinese restaurant may get a historic designation, protecting it from new development. The City Council on Tuesday will vote whether to make Ken Ying Low an official historic landmark. Located at 625 N. Sixth St. in Japantown, the building is the last vestige of what was once a Chinese neighborhood. Other items on the council agenda include a $154,000 contract for a company to count trees in San Jose and stricter requirements for healthy options in city-owned vending machines.

Families that faced eviction and homelessness were bought a little time Tuesday, when the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted to pull $1 million from reserves to cover a shortfall in the Section 8 housing subsidy program caused by the federal sequester.

When the economy tanked, metal theft increased along with the price of non-ferrous alloys. Thieves haven’t slowed down since, snatching up copper wire, aluminum, fire hydrant parts, manhole covers, streetlights and other metal parts to trade in for cash at recycling centers. San Jose’s Rules and Open Government Committee will consider endorsing legislation to combat metal theft when it meets Wednesday. Other items on the agenda include firework regulation and defending mobile home residents from rent hikes.

That single-use plastic bag ban worked. The city enacted the 10-cent charge and San Jose’s shoppers adapted accordingly, bringing their own reusable bags instead of opting for single-use recycled paper bags, according to city staff. It’s a good thing, too, because that good behavior is pushing the city to consider canceling a fee increase that would have come into effect Jan. 1, upping the price-per-paper bag to 25 cents. Other items on Tuesday;‘s City Council agenda include a $5 million settlement with a Halloween partier who was shot 20 times by police and the potential pick up of two new fire engines.