NewsPolitics
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Where’s the Fire?
BusinessCommunityPolitics Dec 28, 2011, by Josh Koehn
In its nearly 100 years of existence, the Gaslighter Theater in Campbell has gone from holding sharecropper’s cash as a bank in the 1920s and showing movies during World War II to being a small-stage theater for vaudeville acts and an all-ages rock venue as recently as 2006. At that time, the white marble landmark, with thick columns bracketing the entrance, was closed temporarily so it could be refashioned as a lounge. Five and a half years later, the Gaslighter remains dark. But there’s hope the theater could be resurrected in coming months if it can overcome the kind of obstacles that frequently crop up in small town development battles.
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Smokers Targeted Across the South Bay
BusinessCommunityPolitics Dec 21, 2011, by Alastair Bland
A drink and a drag off a cigarette were once a classic fixture of American nightlife. But in the mid-‘90s, new laws made smoking illegal in California bars and other public places, and to light up a cigarette meant placing a coaster on a pint and stepping out the door. Increasingly, cities around the Bay Area now are considering taking the law much further than that. Multiple municipalities in the South Bay are putting forth proposals to make smoking in public and, in some cases, inside one’s home, illegal.
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LGBT History Coming to Public Schools
CommunityPolitics Dec 14, 2011, by Jeff Cianci & Justin Albert 1 Comments
New legislation that goes into effect Jan. 1 will force public schools to begin taking steps to include lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender contributions in lesson plans, but conservatives promise a legal battle.
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Man in the Middle
CommunityPolitics Nov 30, 2011, by Josh Koehn
As the sun sets outside the gothic Tower Hall on San Jose State University’s campus, Mohammad Qayoumi sits at a board table in his office, looking every bit the politician with his crisp shirt and tie, gray hair parted neatly to the right. He doesn’t spend much time talking about himself, even when the questions pertain to the uncomfortable political role Qayoumi is currently being forced to play. The president of SJSU—who was born in Afghanistan and previously presided over Cal-State East Bay—is being pulled in two different directions.
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Leaving City Hall as their home base, more than 30 members of Occupy San Jose protested outside the homes of Mayor Chuck Reed and CIty Manager Debra Figone this past weekend.
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One Man Against the 1 Percent
BusinessCommunityPolitics Nov 09, 2011, by Josh Koehn
Whether it was fatigue from sleeping on the sidewalk, a lack of company in the cold night or anonymous death threats, which at least one outspoken female member received, the occupation in San Jose was noticeably dwindling in bodies and enthusiasm as the arrests started. And then Shaun O’Kelly, known to his friends as Cracker, went climbing.
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Virus Poses Grave Threat to Salmon
BusinessEnvironmentPolitics Nov 02, 2011, by Eric Johnson
Margot Stiles, a marine scientist with the con-servation group Oceana, calls the breaking news of a salmon-killing virus loose in the Pacific Northwest “horrifying.” Tobias Aguirre, director of the international nonprofit FishWise, agrees that the virus—infectious salmon anemia (ISA)—could have a “devastating” impact on fisheries in the region and beyond. They both believe the disease could spread to California—a view widely held by ocean ecologists.
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Arrests of Occupy San Jose Members Continue
BusinessCommunityPolitics Oct 25, 2011, by Jeff Cianci 1 Comments
San Jose police again arrested seven “Occupy Wall Street” protestors and cleared out their campsite early Monday morning in front of City Hall. In response, protestors have vowed to continue airing their grievances with the nation’s financial inequalities.
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Who Will Lead in Downtown Without RDA?
BusinessCommunityPolitics Oct 19, 2011, by Josh Koehn
Five storefronts and a parking lot along South First Street, from San Carlos to San Salvador, stand in dark contrast to their neighbors. The white lights and customers in occupied areas only accentuate what urban planners call “missing teeth” on this city block. Downtown San Jose, like many cities trying to recover from the recession, has seen companies come and go, and restaurants and bars launch and leave. But one entity the city could always rely on to plow money into recruiting and subsidizing new businesses has all but turned out the lights as well.
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A New Occupation
BusinessCommunityPolitics Oct 12, 2011, by Josh Koehn
Nate Roybal is part of the 99 percent. A 24-year-old salesman for a Mountain View telecommunications company, Roybal has unpaid student loans for a degree he never completed. His income keeps him just above the poverty line but doesn’t allow him to pay his bills. For nearly two weeks, Roybal has spent his days working a full shift before driving his car to San Jose to sleep in a tent.
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