Cover:
The New Welfare State
A Metro special report on welfare reform and the people it affects.

Get a Job: California's new welfare reform law was born out of rancorous politics, but is being celebrated by both sides now.

Cultural Revolution: Why Santa Clara County didn't wait for the Legislature to tell it how to reinvent itself.

Deal Them Out: In three weeks, 20,000 legal immigrants countywide will lose their food stamps.

Back to Work: A reluctant welfare mom experiences the joys of employment--a photo essay.

Welfare as They Know It: A reluctant welfare mom, a lifelong welfare recipient and a welfare adult without kids share their view from the inside of the System.

News:
Public Eye: Lobbyist for the little guy takes his last flight.

Leading Romance: Ballroom dancing is sweetly ribald in the Japanese film Shall We Dance?.

L.A. Jungle: 187 doesn't make the grade.

Mafia Kickboxer: Acting roommates wrestle with gay gags in Tony Vitale's Kiss Me, Guido.

Footloose in Nice: A child shall lead them in Mondo.

Three Shades of the Blues: An interview with young blues lion Jake Sampson.

Love Is Dead: But the Mr. T Experience keeps on singing and jesting about the pain and pouting of punk heartbreak.

Tell Laura We Love Her: A tribute album honors the memory of Laura Nyro.

Bach and Beyond: Carmel Festival matches Bach to Mozart and Strauss with mixed results.

A Ray of Strings: Bass great Ray Brown brings his unbroken beat to the Stanford Jazz Festival.

Beat Street: Barbara Manning strikes the match.

Pizza Your Heart: Industrial-sized portions and larger-than-life Italian-Americana decor make Beppo's Palo Alto's worst-kept secret.

Russian Greens: Shakespeare SC fills Ostrovsky's The Forest with environmental conceits and jests.