Last week, Alpha: Blanca Alvarado Middle School, a charter authorized by Alum Rock Union School District, presented its rationale for opening a second middle school at a public hearing for the county Board of Education. The school’s founder, John Glover, filed a petition with the Santa Clara County Office of Education to begin instruction in the 2014-15 school year. The Alum Rock board denied the original charter school petition July 2 by a 4-1 vote, but the county is considering overruling that decision.

A bill landed on Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk Friday that would give victims of childhood sexual abuse a longer window to sue private organizations that employed their abusers. Senate Bill 131, authored by State Sen. Jim Beall (D-San Jose), passed the Assembly Wednesday and then the state Senate with a 21-8 vote Friday. Brown has less than a month to sign the bill into law.

Russia inspired pandemic outrage this summer when it introduced a spate of homophobic laws, including one that outlaws “gay propaganda,” which could get citizens and tourists jailed for something as innocuous as wearing a rainbow T-shirt. Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors President Ken Yeager wants his colleagues to take a stand against the draconian legislation, especially since the country plans to host the 2014 Olympics and Paralympics.

A gut-and-amend state Senate bill that would restrict nonprofits from spending taxpayer cash for political purposes has elicited opposition from K-12 and community college associations, various local governments—including San Jose—and the nonprofits that get money from them. That and more at Wednesday’s Rules and Open Government Committee meeting.

I recently voted to use $1.2 million of the Santa Clara County Office of Education’s budget to keep 170 low-income children in Head Start programs this school year. The program had been cut due to the federal sequestration. Each dollar put into quality early learning experiences returns at least $7 to society through increased productivity, while also reducing the need for federal assistance and fewer teens/adults entering the criminal justice system.

After four months of negotiating, threatened strikes and sickouts, Santa Clara County reached an agreement Friday with its biggest union, whose employees agreed to chip in more from their own paychecks for healthcare in exchange for small raises.

Joseph Di Salvo, a county Board of Education trustee, implores President Obama to rededicate the country to meeting its education goals when he speaks at the 50th anniversary celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.‘s most important speech.

In a move New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg might appreciate, Councilman Ash Kalra wants to ban sugary drinks from all city-owned buildings and city-sponsored events. Other items on the Rules and Open Government Committee agenda include a potential raise in the airport’s noise curfew fines and David Wall alleging that the Environmental Innovation Center fiasco was a ponzi scheme.

The people in charge of providing financial and protective services for Santa Clara County residents run a department lacking structure and accountability, according to a just-released Civil Grand Jury audit that goes before the county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. Other items on the board agenda include grand jury reviews for health inspections of food trucks and farmers markets, and a review of Juvenile Hall.

Ticked off that Santa Clara County refused to continue labor negotiations over the weekend and still demands forced overtime to patch up staffing shortages, the county’s largest union sounds like it’s ready to strike. SEIU 521 will hold a noon press conference to announce the decision, where it is expected to demand benefits that would make it easier to recruit and retain qualified workers.

Starting in September, as a result of federal budget sequestration earlier this year, rent will rise significantly for Santa Clara County’s Section 8 tenants, close to 60 percent of whom are elderly or disabled.

District Attorney Jeff Rosen has been touting his swollen campaign piggy bank to the press as a warning to potential challengers in 2014, and a re-election fundraiser hosted by beer distributor and philanthropist Mike Fox Sr. earlier this month, which included former San Jose Police Chief Chris Moore among guests, only added to the $131,000-plus Rosen raised in the first six months of this year. But word is the DA’s already strong chances of staying in office will get the kind of Series-A funding startups love. A group of Sand Hill tech investors are in the process of forming an independent expenditure (IE) committee to support Rosen, and they’ve approached Democratic operative Jude Barry to manage it.

The nation spends more than $60 billion a year to keep more than 2.5 million people incarcerated. If we continue to spend our money on locking people up instead of investing in early childhood education, nothing will change.

UPDATE: SEIU approved a strike authorization with 96 percent of voting members in favor.

Santa Clara County workers marched down Hedding Street to the tune of Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Going to Take It” Monday evening, as SEIU 521 union members voted for the right to authorize a strike.The voting continues Tuesday as county officials and labor union negotiators have yet to form an agreement.

Santa Clara County inmates will continue receiving mail after jail officials abandoned a contentious plan to limit correspondence to just postcards. Jail chief John Hirokawa originally brought up the idea earlier this summer in hopes of limiting the amount of drugs smuggled in through envelopes or postage stamps. But the community put up a fight, saying the mail restriction could dry up prisoners’ ties with friends, family and life outside their cell. The county jail and Elmwood Correctional Facility receive about 200,000 pieces of mail a year. If the postcard-only policy passed, the county would have become the first in Northern California to enact such a ban and one of a few-dozen in the nation.

Since slashing construction fees for high-rise development in downtown, two towers have broken ground, including the $135 million 23-story project at One South Market. Hoping to spur more nearby development, the City Council on Tuesday will consider whether to vote in a similar half-off discount for buildings of any size as long as they create jobs. Other items on the agenda for the first council meeting of the 2013-114 fiscal year include another look at building restriction height around the airport, a potential study of the city’s sewer system and an update on the city’s graffiti abatement contract.