REEXAMINATION ... Nearly five years since Aaron Persky was recalled from his judgeship at the Santa Clara County Superior Court, a 20-minute documentary debuting at 7 p.m. on Sunday on MSNBC aims to dive deeper into the story. "The Recall: Reframed" focuses on the 2018 decision to remove Persky from the court following his controversial sentencing in the case of ex-Stanford swimmer Brock Turner, who was ordered to serve six months in county jail for sexually assaulting an unconscious and intoxicated woman in 2015. Recall campaign organizers claimed that Persky had a history of showing bias against women and defendants of color in multiple sex-crime cases. The campaign to unseat Persky resulted in a ballot initiative supported by 61.6% of voters. "The film offers competing perspectives and asks the difficult question: Who actually bears the burden when we demand harsher punishment for a priviliged white defendant?" Directed by Rebecca Richman Cohen, the film includes interviews with retired county Superior Court Judge LaDoris Cordell and current District Attorney Jeff Rosen. "When a fire is started, a lot of things are gonna get burned," Rosen says in the film's trailer.
BACK WITH A BOOM ... After a pandemic break, Santa Clara County has brought back its fireworks grant program. It provides grants to government agencies and nonprofits to put on safe and legal July Fourth fireworks events in the county. "If you want to celebrate the Fourth of July with fireworks, it's best to leave it to the professionals," county Chief Operating Officer Greta Hansen said in a statement. "We're happy to be able to bring back this grant opportunity to help fund public displays for the community, so we can all see fireworks light up the sky in the safest way possible this year." Since 2016, The program has allocated $25,000 annually to sponsor up to two fireworks events in each of the five county districts, or $5,000 per district. To receive funding, the event must be open to all county residents, be family-friendly and consider fire safety educational elements, the statement said. Applications will be reviewed by a panel of representatives from the Santa Clara County Fire District, the Sheriff's Office, County Executive's Office and Parks and Recreation Department. The Board of Supervisors will review the panel's recommendations in May before selecting grantees. Organizations interested in applying must email an application to CEO-Programs@ceo.sccgov.org by 5 p.m. on March 31. View the application at tinyurl.com/2pxvxcx6.
This story contains 661 words.
Stories older than 90 days are available only to subscribing members. Please help sustain quality local journalism by becoming a subscribing member today.
If you are already a member, please log in so you can continue to enjoy unlimited access to stories and archives. Membership starts at $12 per month and may be cancelled at any time.