Lawmaker Delivers the Goods

--Assemblywoman Jackie Speier, 38, has a new constituent. Speier gave birth to 6-pound, 10-ounce Jackson Kent Sierra, becoming California’s first modern legislator to give birth while holding office. The birth occurred at San Francisco Children’s Hospital on Monday afternoon. “From what we hear from people at the hospital, it was a very easy delivery. She’s doing just great,” said David Nakayama, a staff aide. The South San Francisco Democrat is one of only 38 women to serve in the state Legislature since four women were elected in 1918. Capital old-timers think that Speier is the first California lawmaker to give birth during her legislative term, although no one was sure about the early women in the Assembly. Present at the birth was Speier’s husband, Steven Sierra, a physician. Speier was an aide to Rep. Leo J. Ryan and accompanied him on the trip to Guyana to visit the Jonestown commune of the Rev. Jim Jones. She was wounded in the attack by Jones’ followers that killed Ryan and four others. She ran unsuccessfully for Ryan’s seat, later won election to the San Mateo Board of Supervisors, and, in 1986, to the state Assembly.

--John Hay is trying to sell a cave for $3.3 million. But this is no ordinary cave. Five years ago, Hay, a rock ‘n’ roll light-show creator and a founder of Celestial Seasonings herbal teas, paid $146,000 for 240 acres in the Ozark Mountains of northwestern Arkansas that included Beckham Creek Cave. He converted the cave into an opulent bomb shelter. Groundskeeper Bill Ashworth said the 7,500-square-foot shelter has five bedrooms, cascading fountains and multicolored lighting designed by the man who used to do lights for the rock group Kiss. It also has 200 Geiger counters, a truckload of dried food and a hydroelectric generator. So far, Hay has not found a buyer. He thought it would be perfect for singer Michael Jackson. “Michael’s personal business manager really liked the property,” Hay said. But Jackson decided not to buy. The prince of Liechtenstein has also passed on it.

--Amid reports of his failing health, Japan’s Emperor Hirohito, 87, was scheduled to leave Tokyo on Wednesday for a month-and-a-half vacation in the mountains. Hirohito, the world’s longest reigning monarch, underwent intestinal bypass surgery last September. The Kyodo news service reported that the emperor’s doctors diagnosed signs of anemia in mid-May. Kyodo also said Hirohito’s strength and weight appear to have diminished. The Imperial Household Agency denied that the emperor is ill.