1990
Nelson Mandela is released from prison – U.S. expels Iraq from Kuwait in Gulf War – Metro buys Los Gatos Weekly and Los Gatos Times-Observer and merges them – Restored De Anza Hotel reopens – F/X nightclub opens in downtown San Jose
Nightlife Rising
San Jose’s newest nightclub, F/X, started out as the Gay Theater, a movie house on South First Street’s Theater Row. As the ’80s surged, redevelopment became the word of the day, and the sexually oriented businesses were quietly given the bum’s rush. The Pussycat chain eventually abandoned downtown, and the theater stood vacant, waiting for the right tenant. That turned out to be a trio of guys as different as anyone could imagine. Carlos deVillalvilla, Feb. 8, 1990
The More Things Change …
Oil prices soar skyward, financial institutions head south, budget deficits bulge at the buttons and there is a foreboding sense that economic tough times are on the way. Yet this November, voters in seven Santa Clara County communities will be asked to raise their own taxes in order to build a baseball stadium. The immediate and principal beneficiary of the tax will be a private business: The San Francisco Giants baseball club. Somehow, priorities seem skewed. Jonathan Vankin, Aug. 16, 1990
Hello, Ron
Ron Gonzales understands power. He didn’t ask permission to play by the rules. He made his own. And he’s moved so quickly that by the time his opponents muster the forces to check his rapid political rise, he could be in Sacramento. But even if that doesn’t come to pass or his Giants stadium proposal loses, the hard-working, ambitious county supervisor has placed so many bets that at least one of his horses is bound to pay off. Jonathan Vankin, Sept. 20, 1990
