After tense negotiations marked by charges of sabotage and retaliation, San Jose police have reached a tentative agreement with the city for a significant pay raise over the next three years. The deal still needs to be approved by the union and City Council, which could happen later this month. If approved, San Jose Police... The post San Jose police reach tentative pay agreement amid tension appeared first on San José Spotlight.| San José Spotlight
San Jose elected leaders are set to raise how much they can accept in gifts from business and labor interests, arguing it will save taxpayers money. The City Council on Tuesday will decide whether to raise its gift limits from $50 to $200, which equates to a higher number of free meals or tickets they... The post San Jose leaders want higher limit for gifts appeared first on San José Spotlight.| San José Spotlight
More than a year after Congress passed a law to force TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app or else be banned from U.S. markets, the app is still up and running — and the White House is actively promoting it. The White House’s official TikTok account, created just over two weeks ago, has posted more... The post California lawmakers torn on Trump ignoring Congress’ TikTok Law appeared first on San José Spotlight.| San José Spotlight
San Jose is being recognized as the nation’s safest major city, but officials say there’s still work to be done. A report by financial tech company SmartAsset has ranked San Jose safest out of the 50 largest U.S. cities based on several factors, including violent crimes, traffic fatalities per 100,000 residents, median income and housing... The post Report: San Jose is safest large city in the U.S. appeared first on San José Spotlight.| San José Spotlight
Jtown Pizza Co. is shuttering after six years in Japantown, with its owners buried in debt from city red tape over historic buildings. The closure has sparked fears for the family’s financial future and their other businesses in the neighborhood. It has also renewed debate over preservation in San Jose. Owners Jordan and Rina Trigg... The post San Jose restaurant closure is symptomatic of larger problem appeared first on San José Spotlight.| San José Spotlight
Cupertino has lost a woman who dedicated her life to the community and public service. Those close to former Mayor Hung Wei said her fighting spirit will be missed. Wei, surrounded by family and friends, died Aug. 28 at age 69 from stage four lung cancer. She is survived by her two sons and husband.... The post Former Cupertino mayor dies from lung cancer appeared first on San José Spotlight.| San José Spotlight
Last September, I took the very first train on Caltrain’s opening day of electric service. After decades of advocacy, hard work, setbacks, and doubts, it finally happened. That moment zooming up the peninsula on a quiet eclectic train felt historic, and now — just under a year later — the results are undeniable. In July,... The post Mallon: California can still do big things for transit appeared first on San José Spotlight.| San José Spotlight
Cramped within a tiny, aging section of Santa Clara County’s flagship public hospital, a team of people in cyan and navy scrubs treats the worst burn injuries in California. But a wave of massive federal spending cuts may complicate efforts to expand.| San José Spotlight
San Jose is looking for a new e-scooter partner after negotiations with the exclusive vendor fell through. Scooter users were surprised to see an announcement in the Spin app last week, saying it would end services on Aug. 27 in San Jose. City officials said they declined to renew the company’s permit because Spin never... The post San Jose on the hunt for new e-scooter provider appeared first on San José Spotlight.| San José Spotlight
One business corridor near downtown San Jose wants to attract more people with financial support from property owners. A community benefit improvement district (CBID) has been formed along The Alameda to enhance the area’s safety, provide cleaner streets and attract more businesses. Property owners along The Alameda, from Schiele to Stockton avenues, will invest more... The post San Jose business corridor forms district to fund improvements appeared first on San José Spotlight.| San José Spotlight
Last week, the National Coalition Against Censorship released a nationwide statement, signed by more than 500 individuals working across the arts and culture sector and over 200 cultural institutions. It reasserts the arts sector’s commitment to retain programmatic independence and resist pressures of self-censorship under a cloud of growing pressures from new federal policies, executive... The post Urbanowski: Cultural freedom demands collective courage appeared first on San José Spotlight.| San José Spotlight
A steady stream of families, older adults and working professionals pick out groceries on tables outside a bright blue van, grabbing everything from fresh tomatoes to eggs in the mid-morning Los Gatos sunshine. They joke with each other, look at recipe lists and chat about new products like Cinnamon Toast Crunch waffles. But this isn’t... The post Silicon Valley mobile market brings free food to residents appeared first on San José Spotlight.| San José Spotlight
A devastating fire that recently gutted a vacant youth center in East San Jose hasn’t diminished the community’s desire to restore it for future use. The former Mexican American Community Services Agency (MACSA) building burned down Friday, breaking the hearts of Eastside advocates who want to revitalize and reuse the space. The Alum Rock Union... The post Future of East San Jose youth center uncertain after fire appeared first on San José Spotlight.| San José Spotlight
Last Friday, fire tore through the long-vacant MACSA Youth and Family Center in East San Jose. In the quiet aftermath, two familiar sights remain: the MACSA sign and the twin pillars that for decades welcomed generations of youth to a place that was more than a building.| San José Spotlight
Cupertino residents have mixed feelings about one official's frequent travels overseas and what they mean about his ability to serve the community.| San José Spotlight
Sunnyvale is taking steps to make its downtown more inviting for residents and visitors alike by beautifying its most historic block.| San José Spotlight
Sunnyvale is planning for 126 affordable apartments at 295 S. Mathilda Ave. on a 1.04-acre city-owned site, developed by MidPen Housing. Some nearby residents in a single-family neighborhood are not on board and have complained about parking and litter from the increasing density.| San José Spotlight
Downtown Sunnyvale has returned to pre-pandemic levels of foot traffic and engagement. City leaders and business owners attribute the success to a variety of factors, from its mixture of businesses to ongoing home construction.| San José Spotlight
Laura Reyes began experiencing terrible pain on her shift at a local Burger King. She quickly went to management, saying she was very ill and needed to leave work. Management did not allow her to leave. Laura went back to work, fearing for her job, and the pain got worse and she started bleeding heavily.... The post Cohen: When Washington fails workers, California must lead appeared first on San José Spotlight.| San José Spotlight
Sunnyvale has found the blueprint for creating a prosperous downtown. Officials have figured out how to balance retail, housing and offices in the city's core, even with an aggressive plan to build out nearly 1 million square feet of new office space in downtown.| San José Spotlight
Housed inside a huge renovated warehouse, the exterior of Campo di Bocce of Los Gatos gives little indication of the remarkable scene within.| San José Spotlight
An iconic restaurant in downtown Los Gatos renowned for its fresh fish and handmade pasta is shutting its doors after nearly half a century.| San José Spotlight
Los Gatos has managed to balance its budget despite a multimillion-dollar deficit by cutting funding for programs and services, ranging from library resources to legal fees. But it might not be smooth sailing for long.| San José Spotlight
Pricey downtown Los Gatos is being primed to become more affordable to live near. The Los Gatos Planning Commission voted 4-1 April 8 to recommend the Town Council adopt zoning changes to allow developers to build 100% affordable housing near downtown along Los Gatos Boulevard, without requiring retail space in their plans. Commissioner Susan Burnett...| San José Spotlight
A high-class restaurant and furniture gallery concept could come to an empty corner of downtown Los Gatos. The Planning Commission is recommending granting a conditional use permit to RH, a luxury home goods company with plans to open a restaurant and gallery at 31 University Ave.| San José Spotlight
Multiple Silicon Valley cities are raking in money for micro-transit programs, which transit advocates say is critical for areas with sparser public transportation.| San José Spotlight
Santa Clara County officials are bridging a massive deficit through an infusion of new revenue and realigned costs to balance the upcoming fiscal year's $12.4 billion budget. But it will still require painful cuts.| San José Spotlight
Santa Clara County's largest stream of federal money and funding source for its public hospitals will be washed away if Congress follows through on its proposed $880 billion in spending cuts to Medicaid, known as Medi-Cal in California.| San José Spotlight
It’s cheaper to rent a home in San Jose than buy one, though renters still pay steep prices in one of the most costly cities in the nation.| San José Spotlight
Foreign workers are arriving in Silicon Valley at record levels while the general labor force is getting older and leaving in droves — driven away by soaring housing and health care costs and enabled by the seismic shifts of remote work.| San José Spotlight
Cupertino’s latest mixed-use, affordable housing project is almost ready to open its doors. The Westport Senior Apartments will add 267 homes to Cupertino's inventory for older adults.| San José Spotlight
A Cupertino assisted living facility is one step closer to being built after years of delays — but not as originally planned. The Cupertino Planning Commission unanimously recommended changes Tuesday to an older adult assisted living facility as part of the Westport development along Stevens Creek Boulevard. Modifications to the multistory building, requested by developer...| San José Spotlight
A three-alarm fire destroyed the vacant former MACSA youth center in San Jose early Friday.At about 1 a.m., San Jose firefighters responded to a large fire at the vacant building at 600 Sinclair Drive in the city's Mayfair district, officials said.| San José Spotlight
As homebuyers enter the Santa Clara County real estate market, they face numerous challenges in finding a property. Elevated mortgage rates, coupled with rising home prices, have put tremendous pressure on buyers’ budgets. In July, the median price of a single-family home in Santa Clara County was $1,880,000, up 1% from a year ago, while...| San José Spotlight
There's a new voice in San José. Introducing San José Spotlight, the city’s first nonprofit news organization dedicated to political and business reporting.| San José Spotlight
San Jose leaders are updating the city’s social media policy to ensure elected officials relinquish their online communication channels once their term ends.| San José Spotlight
San Joseans have a lot to say about their roads: It’s one of the most common complaints levied against the city. “There are lots of pockets in the city with bad roads that I just don’t feel safe biking,” said Bobby Gonzalez, a San Jose resident and avid cyclist. “Downtown’s roads are designed differently so...| San José Spotlight
The San Jose Department of Transportation has recalibrated its approach to vehicle towing and is prioritizing dealing with blighted abandoned cars.| San José Spotlight
San Jose spent millions on a mobile 311 app to improve community services, but only about 10% of residents use it according to city officials.| San José Spotlight
Butch Larson has been homeless for more than a decade. He’s set up camp near the Guadalupe River in San Jose, a spot he’s called home for three years that will be swept sooner than later.| San José Spotlight
A looming multimillion-dollar deficit will force San Jose to make cuts in the next budget. Instead of detailing what will be lost, Mayor Matt Mahan has outlined his nonnegotiables.| San José Spotlight
San Jose plans to clear homeless people living along its waterways to address issues with environmental pollution, and officials are taking steps to set aside money to make sure those people have somewhere to go.| San José Spotlight
The Sierra Club was forced to file a lawsuit against San Jose. By approving a plan from Boston Properties, Inc. to build a massive glass facade office building—16 stories, 283 feet high, 800 feet long and with three levels of underground parking that egregiously provides no setback buffer between the building and the steep banks...| San José Spotlight
Less than a week after Mayor Matt Mahan announced a bold push to arrest homeless people who refuse help, disturbing videos show San Jose police officers beating and verbally taunting an elderly homeless man — leading to a complaint from the local NAACP chapter. At least six police surrounded a homeless man on Fruitdale Avenue...| San José Spotlight
A South San Jose modular housing project for homeless people is finally opening after months of delay due to issues with mold, plumbing and structural safety.| San José Spotlight
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan is taking a hardline approach in his budget plan to get homeless people off the streets. Community advocates are calling it unjust.| San José Spotlight
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan has long said he wants elected officials and city leaders to be accountable for eliminating homelessness and improving public safety. That's the centerpiece of his latest 2025-26 budget message.| San José Spotlight
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan wants Santa Clara County to scale up shelter and health treatment options in response to the city's renewed crackdown on homelessness.| San José Spotlight
Officials from Caltrans, Santa Clara County and San Jose deny any plans to sweep homeless residents from a site off Highway 237. Yet someone has put the encampment on notice, and its residents are on edge.| San José Spotlight
The mayor of San Jose wants to penalize homeless people who refuse shelter by arresting or hospitalizing them, punting the service-resistant onto Santa Clara County for care.| San José Spotlight
San Jose officials have signed off on the mayor's plan to reallocate a majority of funding meant for affordable housing and put it toward temporary homeless shelters.| San José Spotlight
San Jose will add a seventh tiny home site to its temporary housing stock, giving dozens of people a roof over their head come fall. After more than two years, the Cherry Avenue tiny homes project is about to begin construction, with a planned opening in September. The $18.3-million project will provide temporary housing for...| San José Spotlight
In the South Bay’s only competitive Assembly race, Patrick Ahrens is leading over Tara Sreekrishnan to fill the Assembly District 26 seat. As of 5 p.m. Friday, Ahrens, district director for Assemblymember Evan Low, is ahead with roughly 56.8% of the vote, or 58,658 votes. Sreekrishnan, a deputy chief of staff and legislative director for state...| San José Spotlight
San Jose could hand out more speeding tickets next year, thanks to a controversial bill bringing traffic cameras to several California cities.| San José Spotlight
A San Jose task force aimed at finding ways to eliminate traffic deaths is folding at the end of the year — and while road safety improvements have been made, the city still has work to do in reducing fatalities.| San José Spotlight
On the corner, waiting at the white-lined crosswalk just a block from school, children line up to look both ways and be escorted across the busy intersection by a crossing guard. Dressed in neon yellow or orange, crossing guards were once familiar faces, but many school districts across the country struggle to hire and retain...| San José Spotlight
Originally introduced in the 1970s, right turn on red has since become standard practice at signalized intersections. But some cities are reconsidering whether this decades-old rule still makes sense in today’s urban landscape.| San José Spotlight
Married for about 35 years, Raquel and Carlyle Green have been inseparable ever since, and still are, even after his diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease at age 59. Raquel is now his full-time caregiver.| San José Spotlight
A San Jose grant program aimed at reducing social isolation among the city's older adult population is on the chopping block amid a multimillion-dollar budget deficit.| San José Spotlight
San Jose temporarily limited meals for older adults at city community centers in early December amid a budget shortfall — a move that left recipients flustered.| San José Spotlight
Silicon Valley has long been recognized as the center of tech innovation. Now artificial intelligence is pushing the region into its next iteration. The outcome could end up driving a greater wedge between the haves and have nots.| San José Spotlight
Santa Clara residents will see their electricity bill inch upward in the next year, as the city works on improving its power grid.| San José Spotlight
San Jose firefighters raised internal alarms in 2023 about addictive painkillers that went missing from their paramedic drug inventories, after giving morphine from tampered vials to patients with traumatic injuries.| San José Spotlight
To save money, San Jose leaders cut a critical fire department program last year that tracked the storage of addictive painkillers for cross-trained firefighter paramedics. Nine months later, the theft of opioids from nearly two dozen fire stations has raised concerns that patients in serious pain received tampered drugs.| San José Spotlight
One West Valley city will be forced to tighten its belt in the coming years, as it faces a multimillion–dollar budget shortfall largely due to factors outside its control. Campbell anticipates roughly $66 million in revenue for fiscal year 2024-25, but expects to spend about $70 million, resulting in an estimated $4 million budget deficit....| San José Spotlight
About seven people gathered in a confused cluster around a notice on the windows of the Heritage Theatre in Campbell to learn their path to citizenship was no longer available there.| San José Spotlight
Campbell is facing a lawsuit over a sales tax measure resoundingly passed last November. The Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association, along with Campbell resident David Wolen, is suing Campbell over Measure K, a half-cent sales tax approved by 72 % of voters. The measure raises the city’s sales tax from 9.375% to 9.875%, the highest in Santa...| San José Spotlight
After years of delays and planning, Campbell is about to complete construction on its new library — and one nonprofit is counting on locals to step up and fill in the gaps.| San José Spotlight
The Campbell Police Department will soon move out of its small, decades-old location into a new 21st century building. The city recently broke ground on the 24,000-square-foot operation center.| San José Spotlight
AB 1400, a proposed single-payer health care system in California, would be the first in the nation if passed, and it has a swell of public support.| San José Spotlight
The number of Latino residents dying by suicide has gone up 48% over the last 15 years while making up half of Santa Clara County's homeless population — and they're reporting more instances of unfair medical treatment than any other demographic in the county.| San José Spotlight
San Jose smoke shops will soon be monitored more closely by the city for unregulated drugs due to a new permitting system.| San José Spotlight
One small West Valley city has the most smoke shops per person in Santa Clara County. Officials are taking steps to change that statistic.| San José Spotlight
More than 100 people packed the Camden Community Center Wednesday to speak against a West Valley hotel converting to temporary homes for homeless women and children.| San José Spotlight
Although Silicon Valley has a reputation for attracting young, tech-savvy workers, the cycle may no longer be true as statistics point toward older adults shifting the dynamic and the area being ill-equipped for the looming change.| San José Spotlight
About 37 senior nutrition programs serve 16,000 older adults a free or low-priced lunch during the week across Santa Clara County. The programs keep growing every year, as the region’s aging population on a fixed income struggles to purchase affordable, nutritious food and find activities combating loneliness.| San José Spotlight
San Jose is doubling down on traffic safety, and red light runners and speeding drivers need to pump the brakes if they don't want to pay hundreds of dollars in fines.| San José Spotlight
As a professional dedicated to the well-being of older adults, I am deeply troubled by the recent decision by the current federal administration to dismantle the Administration for Community Living (ACL). This move sends millions of seniors nationwide a disheartening message: you are not important. The ACL has been a cornerstone in supporting older adults...| San José Spotlight
Santa Clara has more data centers than any other California city, and demand is growing as more people use the internet and digitally demanding technology advances, such as artificial intelligence.| San José Spotlight
Santa Clara County’s emergency medical services chief is denouncing the San Jose Fire Department for potential violations of federal law, after this news outlet exclusively reported that Chief Robert Sapien knew about firefighter narcotics thefts — which led to patients receiving drugs from tampered vials — for longer than the city has let on.| San José Spotlight
The Palo Alto Police Department is exploring the possibility of acquiring drones for a variety of uses in police work and for other city departments.| San José Spotlight
The Campbell Planning Commission has unanimously agreed that more than $100 million in public projects aligns with the city’s goals for the next five years, including a $12 million proposal to redo the community center pool.| San José Spotlight
San Jose leaders say stores selling tobacco, liquor and other illicit products are over concentrated on the east side of the city — and they are looking to temporarily ban new ones.| San José Spotlight
As local tech growth slows and companies expand more rapidly elsewhere, California’s oldest public university is approaching a turning point. San Jose State is trying to better serve growing demand for health care and social services jobs, which have seen the largest growth in Silicon Valley compared to other fields over the past three years.| San José Spotlight
Plans for a Cupertino assisted living facility are moving forward, but with significantly less retail and parking than originally envisioned.| San José Spotlight
San Jose is updating its 311 app that tracks resident complaints to more efficiently address thousands of requests about abandoned vehicles. The 311 app is designed to be a one-stop shop for residents to report a variety of issues including blight, graffiti and potholes, or request other supportive services. Residents depend on the city to resolve issues pertaining to...| San José Spotlight
Driving through San Jose on any given day, you might be greeted by abandoned shopping carts flipped over and scattered along underpasses, near railroad tracks or on sidewalks. Now, San Jose councilmember Sergio Jimenez wants to eliminate littering carts by revamping the city’s Abandoned Shopping Cart program, a decades-old policy that hands out fines for carts run awry...| San José Spotlight
The San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board has green lit San Jose’s plan through 2027 to tackle homeless encampment trash going into city waterways — further ensuring the city's compliance with environmental regulations.| San José Spotlight
San Jose has been clearing homeless encampments along city waterways, and is looking to do the same for people living under freeways.| San José Spotlight
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Amid a budget shortfall, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan wants to move money allocated to affordable housing toward temporary housing solutions — indefinitely.| San José Spotlight
