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Rapidly spreading ‘Rabbit Fire’ scorches over 7,500 acres in Riverside County 

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:00:07 GMT

The “Rabbit Fire” that broke out on Friday night is continuing to spread and force evacuations near Beaumont. According to fire officials, the blaze has torched 7,600 acres and remains just 5 percent contained. Mountainsides near the 79 Freeway were seen charred by the wildfires as early as 6 a.m. Sunday morning. The two biggest challenges firefighters face are accessing the remote area that the fire is spreading through and mitigating the effects of the large amounts of dry brush in the area, but fighting the blaze at night is proving to be a key tactic in extinguishing it. “As the earth cools down, the wind will go in the reverse direction of where it was coming to,” said Cal Fire Deputy Chief Lucas Spelman. “In this area we’ve been having fires over and over the last few weeks because of the heat and how dry it is.” The “Rabbit Fire” that broke out on Friday night is continuing to spread and force evacuations near Beaumont. (KTLA)Firefighters are responding to a wildfir...

Sunnyvale’s e-scooter program gets dozens of complaints, thousands of rides

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:00:07 GMT

Bird E-scootersEight months into Sunnyvale’s E-scooter Share Pilot Program, the city had received 59 complaints about the electronic devices provided by Bird.The majority of complaints were related to damaged e-scooters. A report from the city manager’s office indicated that staff had not needed to impound any e-scooters due to unaddressed safety problems or hazards.Bird launched a one-year e-scooter share pilot program in Sunnyvale last October to provide a first-/last-mile transportation option. Between February and May, the average daily number of e-scooters within Sunnyvale city limits was 78. They were generally stationed near businesses, parks, bus stops and major transit stops.“Since the start of the service, Bird e-scooters have been used for 6,323 rides,” the report read.For more information, visit https://www.sunnyvale.ca.gov/homes-streets-and-property/transportation-and-traffic-safety/e-scooter-share.Remote meeting accessSanta Clara County residents will soon be able to p...

Swarm of Milpitas students take home awards from National Bees

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:00:07 GMT

A swarm of Sinnott Elementary School students excelled at the 2023 International Academic Competitions (IAC) National Bees competitions in Arlington, Virginia last month​.Sixth-grader Tejus Karadi placed third in both the Latin American History National Championship exam and the American Geography National Championship exam and eighth in the history bee. Fellow Sinnott sixth-grader Stavya Dangaria secured a second-place finish at the Science Bee Nationals.Stavya finished first and Tejus placed third at the 2023 IAC Academic Bee, a medley of all subjects including but not limited to science, history, geography, literature and current events.Third-grader Tara Karadi, the youngest of the Sinnott team to qualify for the playoffs, competed in geography and science bees, reaching the quarterfinals in both disciplines. Fifth-grader Shreya Ram and sixth-grader Parth Baheti also made it to quarterfinals of the science bee, while sixth-grader Kashvi Agarwal secured fourth place.Sixth-grader J...

Let’s make Santa Clara County a more accessible place for all

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:00:07 GMT

Here’s a statistic you probably didn’t know: Nearly 160,000 of our neighbors in Santa Clara County live with a disability. That’s one in 12 people. That one in 12 could be a co-worker, a friend or family member or a neighbor.Folks in the intellectual and developmental disability (I/DD) community may experience the world a little differently, but they want to enjoy everything life has to offer like everybody else. Maybe they process and absorb information differently, or maybe the way they interact with their environment looks different.Some disabilities are visible; some aren’t. Regardless, people with disabilities in our county deserve the same support and access to resources as everybody else.For those of us who are in a position to make the world more accessible, it starts with removing physical and social barriers to help people with disabilities integrate fully into society. My office and I are fortunate to be in such a position.I recently pushed for a two-year partnership with...

Assemblymember Gail Pellerin named chair of Elections Committee

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:00:07 GMT

State Assemblymember Gail Pellerin is tapping into her roots in her new role as chair of the Assembly Elections Committee.Pellerin, whose 28th district includes Los Gatos, served for nearly three decades as the Santa Cruz County clerk, where she managed elections conducted in the county. She also served as president of the California Association of Clerks and Election Officials from 2010 to 2012 and as co-chair of the Secretary of State’s Voting Accessibility Advisory Committee.State Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas announced her appointment earlier this month. She replaces Assemblymember Isaac G. Bryan as elections committee chair.“With her 27 years of experience as a county clerk, Assemblymember Pellerin is well prepared to improve the accessibility of our elections while ensuring they remain secure and fair,” Rivas said in a statement.“I’m honored to have the confidence of the Speaker and continue to work to ensure that California is the gold standard for secure, accurate, transpare...

Campbell’s celebration of Parks and Rec Month goes swimmingly

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:00:07 GMT

Family swim, water tower artCampbell’s celebration of National Parks and Recreation Month continues July 22 with “Under the CCC,” a family themed recreation swim night at the Campbell Community Center at 6 p.m. Registration is $2.50 at https://secure.rec1.com/CA/campbell-ca/catalog.On July 23, Campbell Recreation and Community Services is hosting a water tower chalk art contest in the community center parking lot from 9-11 a.m. Artists are free to create any masterpiece they would like, but a prize will be awarded for the best water tower chalk art of the day.Artists are responsible for bringing their own non-toxic chalk to use for the event. Registration is required to Eventbrite.comRemote meeting accessSanta Clara County residents will soon be able to participate remotely in meetings of the county’s 52 boards and commissions that are subject to the Brown Act, the state’s open meeting law. Apart from the county Board of Supervisors and its policy committees, remote participation ha...

Latest line: A good week for Mark Zuckerberg, a bad week for Big Oil

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:00:07 GMT

Mark ZuckerbergFacebook co-founder launches Threads, a new social media platform similar to Twitter, drawing 100 million users in the first week, and sending parent company Meta’s stock to a 52-week high.    Big OilPPIC poll shows 65% of likely California voters oppose new offshore oil drilling, and 64% oppose a 2024 ballot measure that would overturn a state law prohibiting new wells near homes and schools.   Pamela PriceOpponents launch a recall against the liberal Alameda County district attorney, who they say is soft on crime. But it could cost $1 million to collect 93,000 signatures needed to qualify for the ballot. 

They said it: Lemme take that vote back

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:00:07 GMT

“On Tuesday, I made a bad decision. Voting against legislation targeting really bad people who traffic children was wrong. I regret doing that and I am going to help get this important legislation passed into law.”— Assemblywoman Liz Ortega, D-Hayward, explaining on Twitter why she joined five other Democrats on the Public Safety Committee who refused Wednesday to vote for a Republican bill declaring child sex trafficking a “serious” felony in California. After Gov. Gavin Newsom intervened, she and three others voted for it.

After years of ‘waiting and fighting,’ victims of San Jose State sex abuse scandal ready for trainer’s trial

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:00:07 GMT

The sex abuse scandal at San Jose State brought down a university president and athletic director, spurred a federal investigation that issued a scathing report and cost the university millions in legal settlements.But what at least two dozen former female athletes are still waiting for — after years of being ignored or not believed — is criminal justice. Over the next three weeks, a tightly-knit group of survivors — many now in their 30s — is expected to gather in a federal courtroom in San Jose for the trial of Scott Shaw, the former head athletic trainer accused of sexually assaulting them during treatments as far back as 2009. Jury selection begins Monday. Shaw kept his job for another 11 years, allegedly abusing more female athletes, as university officials dismissed — and then hushed up — the allegations and threatened a Spartan swim coach who kept up a decade-long crusade to expose the abuse.According to court records filed in preparation for the trial, the accusations agains...

What were readers’ driving concerns when Mr. Roadshow first hit the streets in 1992?

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:00:07 GMT

Q: Reading your colleague Larry Magid’s column in which he reflects on the stories he’s covered over the past 40 years makes me wonder what Roadshow was like when you started writing for the Mercury News. When did you publish your first column and what were people writing to you about then?It would be interesting to see some of your earliest letters. I’ll bet readers were grumbling about crummy road conditions, litter, traffic jams, high gas prices, and clueless drivers, just like we do today. Has anything changed?Alan Feinberg, Los GatosA: Thanks, and you’ll see a series of some of the most memorable Roadshow stories a little later this year. The first Roadshow column was published in 1992 and readers then were asking about when Highways 85 and 87 would open, among other issues. And as you note, many people have the same concerns that drivers have now.Q: Claire Lomax said her friend in Germany described how the “zipper effect” helps traffic flow. I want to mention...