Metro

Wake of the Weeklies

Accountant Sharon Ryan takes over as president and publisher of the media consolidation monster that is Bay Area News Group this month as lines blur further between previously distinct publications. Last month, Silicon Valley Community Newspapers—a once-independent group of weekly papers that fell into the hands of the San Jose Mercury News—announced it was going to an “all access model.” This exciting new development was billed to readers as a way to have all the news in all formats, a media smorgasbord of sorts. But is it actually good for the local state of journalism?

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How Santa Clara Scored Big in Attracting the 49ers, Super Bowl L

Here it comes. The biggest, baddest sports spectacular in the United States of America. Super Bowl L—that is L as in roman numeral 50; and “L” as in “L”ove it—will be an unofficial national holiday. This is an extravaganza and event so special that it dwarfs all other sporting events. And to think it all started with one man’s vision, a letter and a personal visit.

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Supervisor Shirakawa on the Hot Seat

Santa Clara County’s scofflaw Supervisor George Shirakawa had no problem admitting in last week’s Metro cover story his four-year failure to file campaign disclosure forms. But that seems to have changed now that the reported illegal conduct —along with payments he made to friends and family members with money he raised to run for office and retire campaign debts—has resulted in a Fair Political Practices Commission investigation into the supervisor’s secretive activities.

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Mercury News Caught with Stolen Racks

San Jose Police were called to the headquarters of the San Jose Mercury News on Wednesday afternoon after an independent distribution firm discovered its news racks — along with those of other local publications — in a metal recycling dumpster behind the daily’s plant. News outlets whose news racks were found in the garbage container included Metro, the Palo Alto Daily Post, the Mountain View Voice, Good Times, La Oferta, the San Francisco Chronicle and other publications.

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