Author: Annalise Freimarck (Annalise Freimarck)

Pop-up brings flea market vendors to downtown San Jose

Berryessa Flea Market vendors are popping up outside San Jose City Hall. Their booths are loaded with Mexican candy, artisanal crafts and produce, welcoming city employees, residents and councilmembers to peruse colorful stalls and ask questions. The event marks a new location for vendors to sell goods outside the flea market grounds. It’s a first-of-its-kind...

San Jose pickleball players upset over city rules

A skirmish has broken out on one of San Jose’s most popular pickleball courts between players and the city—and it can’t be settled with a score. Citywide Sports, an offshoot of the San Jose parks department that handles field reservations, is asking pickleballers at Paul Moore Park to break down their nets every day to keep...

Silicon Valley water district helps the homeless and environment

Valley Water is introducing two new approaches to combating pollution created by homeless encampments near creeks—portable toilets and debit cards. The water district announced earlier this week that it will place portable toilets and wash stations at 20 key sites near homeless encampments along the creeks through an initiative called the Portable Toilet Facilities Program....

Silicon Valley community colleges could see enrollment bump

After years of declining enrollment due to the pandemic, community colleges across California are considering a new approach to attract more students—enrolling students before they even graduate high school. California Community College Chancellor Sonya Christian is proposing a three-pronged course of action to encourage enrollment, as reported in the Los Angeles Times last week. It...

Data reveals disparities among children in Santa Clara County

Santa Clara County children of color and those who live in low-income households face disproportionate disparities in education, poverty levels and housing, new data shows. The 2023 Santa Clara County Children’s Data Book compiles data about equity issues among children from across the county in an effort to pinpoint population needs pertaining to everyday issues. Children...

Santa Clara County leads electric car sales

Santa Clara County is leading the way in electric car purchases as sales soar across the state. More than 43% of new car purchases registered in the county this year were zero emission vehicles, the highest in the state, according to 2023 California Energy Commission data. Last year the county’s percentage was 34%. Laura Neish,...

Santa Clara County preserves affordable apartments for seniors

San Jose housing advocates are praising a deal between county and federal agencies to preserve affordable housing for low-income seniors on the east side of the city. The Santa Clara County Housing Authority purchased Girasol Apartments and Jardines Paloma Blanca last week from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for $4.15 million and...

San Jose free food pilot feeds those in need

Residents in affordable housing across San Jose and Palo Alto have access to free food through an effort to prevent food waste and provide support to low-income families. First Community Housing, a nonprofit affordable housing developer, is offering free groceries in a pilot program at Iamesi Village in downtown San Jose and Curtner Studios near Guadalupe Parkway....

‘It’s just a matter of time’: How Santa Clara County is preparing for fires

A few embers from a fire can become catastrophic in minutes, igniting new blazes that can rip through homes, businesses and acres of land. That’s why Ali Tohidi, mechanical engineering assistant professor at San Jose State University, and his team are studying how embers, also known as firebrand showers, spread. The team at SJSU’s Wildfire Interdisciplinary Research...

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