{"id":294298,"date":"2026-05-01T03:46:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T03:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/294298\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T03:46:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T03:46:08","slug":"stronger-age-restrictions-are-needed-for-e-bikes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/294298\/","title":{"rendered":"Stronger age restrictions are needed for e-bikes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Submit your letter to the editor via this form<\/a>. Read more Letters to the Editor<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Stricter regulations needed for e-bikes<\/p>\n

Re: \u201cDeaths, injuries tied to e-bikes on the rise<\/a>\u201d (Page A1, April 28).<\/p>\n

Thank you for your coverage of the rise in serious injuries related to e-bikes, especially with young riders.<\/p>\n

Assemblymember Diane Papan is sponsoring a bill (AB 2595<\/a>) to create a pilot program in San Mateo County that sets a minimum age of 12 for e-bike riders. Marin County and San Diego County already have age-restricting pilots (ages 16 and 12, respectively).<\/p>\n

While some people argue that cars are more dangerous than bikes and that registration is onerous, we should all be able to get behind keeping kids younger than 12 off of these heavy, fast vehicles.<\/p>\n

Vice Mayor Leslie Ragsdale
Hillsborough<\/p>\n

CEQA initiative would cost wildlife, taxpayers<\/p>\n

Re: \u201cVoters to have a say on CEQA<\/a>\u201d (Page A1, April 27).<\/p>\n

Your article frames weakening CEQA as a path to reducing costs. For California\u2019s wildlife and taxpayers, the reality is the opposite.<\/p>\n

For five decades, CEQA has required developers to assess impacts on wildlife habitat, wetlands, and migration corridors before breaking ground. The California Chamber of Commerce initiative guts that process, reducing it to a checklist of whether a project clears existing minimums, too low a bar for ecosystems stressed by drought, wildfire, and habitat loss.<\/p>\n

Cleanup costs will shift to cities and taxpayers because mitigation requirements will disappear. This initiative was bankrolled by corporations and billionaires. They aren\u2019t spending that to lower your costs. They are spending it to increase their profits.<\/p>\n

Once a wetland is drained or a corridor paved, the damage is permanent. This measure benefits billionaires. California\u2019s environment pays the price.<\/p>\n

Lexi Mendoza
Palo Alto<\/p>\n

Loss of Brin\u2019s support should end Mahan bid<\/p>\n

Re: \u201cSergey Brin confronted Gavin Newsom at a treehouse party \u2014 then launched a political war<\/a>\u201d (April 27).<\/p>\n

Now that Sergey Brin has switched his allegiance from Matt Mahan to Steve Hilton (really, Sergey?), it\u2019s time for the mayor to do the right thing and drop out of the race for governor.<\/p>\n

Without billionaire backing, his campaign will limp to a halt, and he\u2019ll be marked as a loser, perhaps even a spoiler a la Ralph Nader. That could end a promising career. If, instead, he drops out and throws his support behind one of the leading candidates, he\u2019ll be remembered as someone who put his constituents ahead of his own ambition. That leaves the door open for any number of future statewide offices.<\/p>\n

Betty Yee did it, but Mahan\u2019s withdrawal would make a bigger splash. It would be good for him personally and for everyone in California dreading an all-Republican runoff.<\/p>\n

Doug Edwards
Los Altos<\/p>\n

Congress, courts should do their jobs<\/p>\n

The talking heads on both sides claim that the three assassination attempts on Donald Trump are a result of overheated rhetoric, but I must disagree.<\/p>\n

The combination of Trump being the most divisive president in history and the failure of the Republican Congress and the Supreme Court to do their jobs in controlling his autocratic, dictatorial and corrupt actions causes sane members of the population to look for other options. We believe and claim that violence has no place in a democracy, but in reality, we currently do not have a functioning democracy, and so the \u201cno violence\u201d phrase will not apply for all.<\/p>\n

The best solution is for each of the three equal branches of government to act on their constitutional responsibilities and hold Trump and his administration accountable for the disgraceful actions displayed daily. Ignoring them and not forcefully calling them out is not the solution.<\/p>\n

Richard Becker
Cupertino<\/p>\n

White House ballroom must be halted<\/p>\n

Construction of the White House ballroom should be halted on the following grounds:<\/p>\n

Scale: The 90,000-square-foot ballroom is twice the size of the original structure. Experts from the National Trust for Historic Preservation testify that this destroys the historic mansion\u2019s aesthetic integrity.<\/p>\n

Lack of oversight: U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled construction must halt because the President lacks unilateral authority for such massive reshaping without congressional authorization.<\/p>\n

Ethics: Reports indicate donor steelmakers received tariff exemptions days after contributing to the project. Furthermore, using foreign-produced steel contradicts \u201cAmerica First\u201d policies.<\/p>\n

This flagrant violation of law and aesthetics must be stopped. I urge readers to contact their representatives to demand accountability for the \u201cPeople\u2019s House.\u201d<\/p>\n

David Burgess
San Jose<\/p>\n

Top earners worsen affordability crisis<\/p>\n

The CEOs of this country are getting an obscene amount of wealth for their services. That is a big reason why a brand-new car is unaffordable for most Americans.<\/p>\n

PG&E\u2019s CEO gets almost $20 million<\/a> and Starbucks\u2019 CEO gets $31 million<\/a> in compensation. CEO\u2019s compensation increased 940%<\/a> from 1978 to 2018. In 2024, CEO\u2019s made 281 times<\/a>\u00a0the wages of the average U.S. worker. This wealth will ensure the financial well-being of their future families for a century or two after they are dead and buried.<\/p>\n

This kind of obscene compensation is a big reason everything is so unaffordable for the rest of us, because we end up paying for it through higher prices. The obscene compensation for U.S. athletes, actors and entertainers is also a big reason why average people can\u2019t afford ticket prices anymore. Only the rich can.<\/p>\n

Patricia Marquez Rutt
Redwood City<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor. Stricter regulations needed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":294299,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[184,7,5307,47501,1843,1312,186,536,383,643,41759,181,2953,1564,188,975,195,395,1492,5572,88,90,89,397,198,200,1695,1649],"class_list":["post-294298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-bay-area","tag-california","tag-california-ballot-measures","tag-california-governor-election","tag-california-legislature","tag-courts","tag-cupertino","tag-donald-trump","tag-economy","tag-environment","tag-hillsborough","tag-latest-headlines","tag-letters","tag-letters-to-the-editor","tag-los-altos","tag-opinion","tag-palo-alto","tag-peninsula","tag-public-safety","tag-redwood-city","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news","tag-san-mateo-county","tag-santa-clara-county","tag-south-bay","tag-trump-administration","tag-u-s-congress"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=294298"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294298\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=294298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=294298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=294298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}