The Board of Supervisors of the San Mateo County allocated $1 million on Tuesday to an expansion effort to build affordable housing for local farmworkers.
“We are 100 percent committed to this effort,” said San Mateo County Supervisor Ray Mueller, whose District 3 includes most of the county’s agricultural land. “This $1 million represents the start-up costs needed to move forward quickly.”
The funds, from the half-cent sales tax on Measure K, the city said in a statement, will help cover costs for planning, project management and other work.
He also said he is seeking $5 million in state funding from the Joe Serna, Jr. Farmworker Housing Grant Program as part of an overall effort to improve living conditions for coastal farmworkers.
The action gained urgency after the tragic shooting on January 23, 2023 at two coastal farms that killed seven people and seriously injured one.
The mass shooting drew attention to farmworkers living in overcrowded conditions in unlicensed facilities, a situation that numerous local officials called unacceptable.
The County is currently working with the City of Half Moon Bay to identify and develop a potential site that could house 45 to 50 units of manufactured housing for low-income farmworker families.
Mueller said he also hopes to receive state grants to build affordable housing for local farmworkers.
“All of our farmworker families deserve a safe and healthy place to live. If we are going to ensure we maintain a thriving agricultural community on our coast, what we need more than anything is affordable housing for our farmworkers and their families.”
Much has been said about the benefits of Artificial Intelligence, however, it has worried many others, as it can trigger misinformation and there is a possibility that it will replace some professions.
According to Hector Palacios, a scientific researcher at ServiceNow ResearchArtificial Intelligence is like a computer program created from languages that come from mathematics.
During the program Hecho en California, led by Marcos Gutiérrez, Anna Lee Mraz, CEO of Península 360 Press explained that the basis of Artificial Intelligence is created from dictionaries in which things are defined and described.
"The problem with this is that these dictionaries are created by humans and humans come with information biases," he said.
In that sense, Mraz explained that because humans are the ones who choose what information to provide to AI, it can contain biases that impact even racial and social justice issues.
"There is a problem - in Artificial Intelligence - that can lead to discrimination in more than one sense," he stressed.
Recently, at a press conference dedicated to Artificial Intelligence and organized by Ethnic Media Services, experts expressed their concern about the racial biases that AI contains, since it has been proven that it does not recognize the gender of communities of color.
However, this is not the only concern that exists regarding Artificial Intelligence, as it is believed that in the future it could replace some professions.
"There are a number of jobs where you're not going to need a human to write a letter anymore," Mraz said.
Recently, the World Economic Forum (WEF) pointed out in a report that office functions will be the most affected by artificial intelligence.
"If Artificial Intelligence drives us to enhance capabilities, how are we going to enhance stigmas? That is one of the dangers, we are going to enhance stigmas, racism, unemployment, if we do not put a critical hand to it," warned Manuel Ortiz Escámez.
Finally, Ortiz warned that AI, despite all its benefits, can generate misinformation in events such as elections, especially "by those who can afford it," due to the number of messages and images created from it. He therefore recommended being careful with the control that the highest authorities and the creators of AI have over the information.
Contra Costa Health issued an advisory Tuesday night for areas of downtown Martinez near the Amtrak station, where a mercury spill occurred Monday.
Authorities found "minor" mercury contamination in the street from Marina Vista Avenue to Alhambra Avenue to Buckley Street and Berrellesa Street, they said at 8:20 p.m.
Authorities advise that if residents must be in the area, they should stay on the sidewalk.
The mercury spill that closed the Amtrak station in Martinez on Monday was larger than initially thought and may have spread to the platform, inside the train station and out onto the street, Contra Costa Health (CCH) officials said.
The station remained closed as of Tuesday and Amtrak is using the old train station a few blocks away at Ferry Street and Marina Vista Avenue.
CCH Deputy Director Matt Kaufmann said the county will bring in a contractor later Tuesday to help with the cleanup. County officials initially estimated that between one pound and 1.5 pounds of mercury was spilled.
“We have not confirmed that amount,” Kaufmann told the Contra Costa Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. “What we can say is that we can monitor mercury in the air, which is really the primary concern. What we have found is about a thousand times less than what would be considered immediately dangerous to life and health.”
Kaufman said CCH was informed of the spill by the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District around 3 p.m. Monday. The station was then closed.
Kaufmann said CCH is working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board to further assess the situation and conduct additional monitoring.
There is no timetable for reopening the station and the source of the mercury remains unknown.
Kaufmann said anyone who was in the area Monday should check shoes and clothing. Anyone who thinks they may have tracked in mercury should double-bag their clothing and shoes, put them outside and call the county's hazardous materials team at (925) 655-3200.
She reminded people that they should not try to wash their clothes or put them in a washing machine, as that could spread contamination.
A jury in New York federal court on Tuesday found former President Donald Trump guilty of sexually abusing journalist E. Jean Carroll, for which he will have to pay $5 million in damages.
According to the complaint, Trump sexually assaulted Carroll in a fitting room at a luxury department store in Manhattan in 1996.
In 2019, Carroll dared to tell publicly what happened in a book, however, he did not achieve what was expected and in October 2022 Trump described on his social network, TruthSocial, the accusations as a "scam."
Today, the jury found that Trump defamed Carroll in that post.
In record time, a jury made up of nine members, three women and six men, presented the verdict, in which, although they rejected the accusation of rape presented by Carroll, they determined that there was sexual abuse.
Because this is a civil rather than criminal trial, Trump has not been convicted of any crime and faces no prison time. However, he will have to pay the $5 million settlement.
Carroll is not the first woman to accuse Trump of sexual misconduct, but she is the only one to go to trial at a difficult time for the re-election candidate, who faces multiple lawsuits, prosecutors and politicians.
Celebration of May 5, 2023 at EPA. Photo: Omar Quezada, Casa Círculo Cultural.
As celebrations for Cinco de Mayo come to a close, many events were peaceful and most community members and visitors legitimately enjoyed the cultural celebration that has been a tradition in San Jose for decades, the report said. San Jose Police Department ‒SJPD, for its acronym in English‒.
"We are proud to embrace and understand the importance of this celebration to residents and visitors, and we are planning accordingly to ensure everyone can enjoy it safely," authorities said in a statement.
He noted that, as in previous years, the Department took preventative measures to ensure the community could celebrate safely. In doing so, SJPD also employed zero tolerance for criminal behavior.
Over the weekend of May 5-7, SJPD oversaw Cinco de Mayo festivities, while responding to regular calls for service. During the course of normal operations, patrol units observed several misdemeanors, felonies, reckless driving incidents, secondary activities, and other quality-of-life offenses that required enforcement action to maintain the peace, they said.
While proactively patrolling from May 5-7, SJPD statistics included:
Total service calls: 2,642
Total arrests: 115
Total vehicle seizures: 30
Total citations issued: 407
Total reports received: 352
Total firearms seized: 6
SJPD said the dispatch center has historically received numerous requests from residents and business owners concerned about unauthorized gatherings and activities that would occur when people arrive in San Jose from out of town during the Cinco de Mayo weekend.
In recent years, he said, the Police Department has taken a reactive approach to traffic jams, violent crime and vandalism by responding to calls for service and taking enforcement action when appropriate.
That approach, he said, resulted in a large number of arrests and citations, and did little to alleviate the concerns of residents and business owners.
In that regard, he explained that approximately twenty years ago, they studied the crowd control measures that other cities employed during large-scale events of all kinds, and then developed a proactive approach to reducing traffic jams and crime that relied on strategic traffic diversions as a key component.
“In the years since this strategy was used, we have seen a reduction in violent crime and traffic congestion. San José residents are able to get around more easily and celebrate traditional Cinco de Mayo events, which is the primary focus of our efforts. In no way is our response to Cinco de Mayo intended or designed to inhibit anyone’s ability to celebrate the holiday,” he stressed.
However, due to continued staffing shortages within the Department, he said operational plans also included leveraging the use of road closures and other traffic diversions to limit further traffic congestion and avoid delays in response times to address any criminal activity.
“Similar closures and diversions have been used during other major events that draw large crowds across the city. The purpose is to ensure that traffic continues to flow and that community members can celebrate these events safely.”
The Police Department noted that it has been employing this proactive approach to Cinco de Mayo traffic and crowd control for nearly twenty years, and while the deployment of these measures is not new, “the Department recognizes the need to communicate these closures earlier.”
“Going forward, we will strive to announce any planned responses to large-scale events well in advance to ensure the community and our elected officials have adequate notice to prepare accordingly.”
“The San Jose Police Department welcomes and embraces cultural celebrations in San Jose. We strive to keep these events safe for our entire community to participate in and enjoy.”
California Attorney General, Rob Bonta, co-led a multi-state coalition on Tuesday in a legal fight to protect Americans' access to abortion during life-threatening medical emergencies.
In an amicus brief, the coalition supported the Biden administration’s defense of its Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) guidance, which reaffirms hospital obligations by requiring physicians nationwide to perform abortions when necessary in emergency situations.
In July 2022, Texas filed a lawsuit challenging EMTALA's guidance, and in August 2022, a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas barred the guidance from being enforced in Texas.
In response, California and the coalition wrote in their amicus brief that the district court's ruling, if upheld, would not only endanger Texas patients but would also have serious repercussions on health care systems in other states.
"Emergency treatment can mean the difference between life and death for a patient," Bonta said.
“Those seeking to exclude abortion from emergency medical care are putting the lives of countless patients at risk. That is why I stand with my coalition partners in urging the Fifth Circuit to reverse the Texas court’s decision and secure critical emergency medical care for all. California will not stand idly by as anti-choice states like Texas trample on the rights and protections that allow people to live healthy, safe lives,” she added.
Every hospital in the United States that operates an emergency department and participates in Medicare is subject to EMTALA. Under the law, emergency rooms are required to provide all patients who have an emergency medical condition with the treatment necessary to save their lives.
In June 2022, the Biden administration issued guidance reaffirming hospitals’ obligation to provide abortion services when necessary to stabilize a patient experiencing an emergency medical condition.
In a statement, the California Attorney General's Office said that the district court ruling blocking the implementation of the EMTALA guidance in Texas has already put the lives of multiple patients at risk by plunging providers into a climate of uncertainty and fear about the legal and criminal repercussions they may face for performing abortions on patients in emergency situations.
In Texas, for example, a pregnant woman who suffered a miscarriage, she said, was forced to carry a dead fetus for two weeks because of her providers' fears of violating the law in the state.
Another Texas woman who went into premature labor at 18 weeks was forced to wait until she was too weak to walk, had a 103-degree fever and contracted sepsis, a life-threatening medical emergency, before her doctors agreed she was sick enough to legally end her pregnancy.
On March 10, 2023, the Biden Administration filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, asking it to overturn the Texas district court's ruling.
The amicus brief was led by Attorney General Bonta and New York Attorney General Letitia James. They were joined by the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Washington.
Property taxes collected in San Mateo County totaled $3.3 billion for the 2021-22 fiscal year, an increase of $129 million, or 4 percent, over the prior year for 11 consecutive years. property tax growth.
That's according to the San Mateo County Executive's Office, which noted in a statement that the countywide 1 percent General Tax is vital to public services, totaling $2.7 billion, that local government agencies receive.
Image: San Mateo County Executive's Office
About 51 percent of the general taxes collected are distributed to school districts, 26 percent to the county, 15 percent to cities/towns, 7 percent to special districts, and 1 percent to successor agencies. former development agencies.
He also said school parcel taxes and special charges from cities and special districts for services such as sewer maintenance, mosquito abatement and flood control totaling $342 million are included in property tax bills.
Additional taxes to pay debt service amounts totaled $313 million, primarily paid for by voter-approved bonds from local school districts.
“It’s important to our team that we provide taxpayers and residents with visibility into the property tax dollars they pay and where those dollars go,” said Deputy Controller Kristie Silva.
In that regard, the official said that these taxes help fund the operations of local cities/towns, school districts, special districts and the county, which provide essential services to county residents. For his part, County Comptroller Juan Raigoza encouraged all interested residents to visit the web site your office for more information about property taxes and County finances.
En respuesta al aumento de los delitos de odio y al comienzo del Mes de la Herencia de los Asiáticos e Isleños del Pacífico ‒AAPI‒, el gobernador Gavin Newsom, junto con el Departamento de Derechos Civiles de California ‒CRD‒, lanzaron oficialmente CA vs Hate, una nueva línea directa y sitio web estatal multilingüe que ofrece una opción de denuncia anónima y segura para víctimas y testigos de actos de odio.
El Programa CA vs Hate busca ser una respuesta directa al aumento de los delitos de odio denunciados en California, que en los últimos años alcanzó sus niveles más altos desde 2001, saltando casi un 33 por ciento de 2020 a 2021.
«Aquí en California, estamos enviando un mensaje inequívoco de que no se tolerará el odio», dijo Newsom.
«Nos mantenemos firmes por una California para Todos y es importante que responsabilicemos a los perpetradores por sus acciones y proporcionemos recursos para aquellas personas que son víctimas de crímenes de odio. Ahora, los californianos tienen otra herramienta para garantizar que no solo se haga justicia, sino que las personas tengan acceso a recursos adicionales para ayudar a lidiar con las heridas persistentes que quedan después de que ocurra un crimen tan horrendo».
En su oportunidad, la esposa del gobernador, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, señaló que «es horrible que los crímenes de odio estén en aumento, así que quede claro: apoyamos a nuestras comunidades diversas y estamos comprometidos a garantizar que se sientan seguros y escuchados. Aquí no hay lugar para la intolerancia y la violencia alimentada por el odio».
El asambleísta Al Muratsuchi inició la conversación para crear una línea directa estatal para denunciar delitos de odio en 2021: este programa ayudará a las personas y comunidades que son objeto de odio, incluidos asiático-americanos, latinos, afroamericanos, personas LGBTQ+, minorías religiosas y otras comunidades que conforman la diversidad y fortaleza de California.
Los servicios de la línea directa son confidenciales y gratuitos, independientemente del estatus migratorio.
Estos servicios se ofrecen de una manera culturalmente competente y ayudarán a las personas a identificar opciones y los siguientes pasos después de que haya ocurrido un incidente de odio o un crimen de odio.
Los actos de odio se pueden denunciar en 15 idiomas diferentes a través del portal en línea y en más de 200 idiomas al llamar a la línea directa.
«Con el lanzamiento de la Línea y Red de Recursos Ca vs Hate, afirmamos inequívocamente que no hay hogar ni lugar para el odio en California», señaló Lourdes Castro Ramírez, secretaria de la Agencia de Negocios, Servicios al Consumidor y Vivienda.
«Estamos redoblando nuestro compromiso de combatir el odio al aprovechar la fuerza de nuestra diversidad y empoderar a los californianos con recursos y apoyo para prevenir y acabar con el odio en todas sus formas», agregó.
La línea directa también se complementará con una campaña de divulgación multilingüe, que enfatizará la participación de la comunidad, además de tener como objetivo apoyar los esfuerzos que fomentan la presentación de informes y el acceso a los recursos a través de anuncios de servicio público específicos, marketing directo y otras actividades.
CA vs Hate también buscará superar los desafíos de la denuncia, ya sea por temor a represalias, falta de confianza u otros problemas, al ofrecer a las personas objeto de odio un enfoque centrado en la comunidad que no requiere compromiso con el sistema legal penal.
La línea y red de recursos CA vs Hate son para denunciar incidentes y delitos motivados por el odio que no son de emergencia.
Los informes se pueden realizar de forma anónima llamando al (833) 866-4283 o al 833-8-NO-HATE, de lunes a viernes de 9:00 a 18:00 horas o en línea en cualquier momento.
Las personas que deseen denunciar un delito de odio a la policía de inmediato o que se encuentren en peligro inminente, llamen al 911.
Para obtener más información sobre CA vs Hate, los interesados pueden visitar www.cavshate.org.
This publication was supported in whole or part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library.
Silicon Valley Community Foundation ‒SVCF‒ recognized and celebrated the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Castellano Family at an event on May 4 at the De Anza Hotel in downtown San José, a non-profit organization that was born out of luck and love for roots, and that provided opportunities and support to the Latino community in Santa Clara County for two decades.
"It was all the fruit of the love between my parents, of the love my mother had for her community," said Armando Castellano, Emeritus Trustee of the Castellano Family Foundation to Gina Dalma, Executive Vice President of Community Action, Policies and Strategies of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, about how the organization that closed its doors after 20 years began.
During the talk, Armando Castellano highlighted the love that his father Alcario always had for his mother Carmen and continued his legacy even when she was gone.
With a completely Latino focus, this foundation created by Alcario and Carmen Castellano, who earned 141 million dollars in California in 2001, money with which they decided to help the community to which they belong, the Latino community, was a pillar in the Silicon Valley community.
Photo: P360P
Photo: P360P
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20 years have resulted in thousands of scholarships for children, youth and adults who promoted Latin arts and culture in the region.
In addition, they added programs focused on helping low-income, at-risk, or incarcerated Latino youth achieve their educational goals, such as Summer Bridge, mentoring and tutoring to promote retention and follow-up; and to promote awareness and knowledge among parents/families about university requirements, academic support, and the academic socialization of their children.
Likewise, over the course of two decades the Castellanos created strategies to promote Latino leadership and diversity such as leadership development focused on Latinas and youth, training/education programs designed to increase the diversity of local nonprofit boards, and collaboration with nonprofit partners to create or expand paid internships for Latinos.
At the tribute to the Castellano family, it was announced that their foundation is ending its work and a $1 million fund was allocated to SVCF to support Latinx leadership and Latinx-serving nonprofits in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.
At the nonprofit panel, Manuel Santamaría, SVCF’s vice president of community action, Diane Ortiz, executive director of Youth Alliance, and Dr. Adriana Ayala, executive director of Chicana Latina Foundation, highlighted that only 1 percent of philanthropic resources support Latinx organizations, and called for increased funding for Latinx-led and Latinx-serving organizations.
This, they specified, so that these communities can build their power and realize a bright future.
To support the LatinXCEL Fund, launched in 2021 by SVCF and the Castellano Family Foundation, please contact donate@siliconvalleycf.org. The LatinXCEL Fund seeks to raise $10 million over five years to support nonprofits and leaders serving the Latinx community in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.
This Sunday, May 7, at around 4:30 a.m., a shooting occurred in Redwood City, in the 400 block of Redwood Avenue, where five men were injured, reported the city Police Department.
Authorities said in a statement that an unidentified male suspect approached a group of people drinking on the sidewalk and then opened fire on them with a 9mm handgun, wounding four adult men and a 16-year-old boy.
All of the injured were taken to the hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
The Redwood City Police Department He said he is actively working on this case in which, so far, no arrests have been made.
Authorities have asked anyone with information about this case to contact Detective James Schneider at 650-780-7607.
