Growing up in San Jose, Councilmember Raul Peralez found himself sitting on a curb while police searched his car — dozens of times. His crime? Driving slowly in his forest green 1965 Impala Super Sport lowrider as a person of color. “I was often told (by officers) that because of the car I drove, the...
Author: Jana Kadah (Jana Kadah)
New San Jose speed limits applauded, but still fall short
Drivers will need to start pumping the brakes because speed limits are coming to some busy San Jose streets. The City Council this week approved speed reductions on smaller roads in specific San Jose business districts. The locations, which include Evergreen Village Square, portions of Almaden Avenue, Jackson, Post, Santa Clara and Willow streets, will...
New report paints grim picture of downtown San Jose
A new analysis shows downtown San Jose is reeling economically from the pandemic – more than its neighboring suburbs. According to the report, presented at a council committee Monday, the downtown’s recovery has been grim and economically lagging because many of its driving forces, including commercial projects and events, have not returned to pre-pandemic levels....
No more parking incentives for electric cars in San Jose
Despite San Jose’s lofty goal to reduce its carbon footprint, City Hall is eliminating a program that incentivizes people to drive electric vehicles. The city’s clean air parking permit program that provides free parking for electric vehicles at city-owned parking lots and on-street parking meters, is sunsetting at the end of June. The program began in 2001. But...
A San Jose temple’s latest adversary? A former planning commissioner
A former city commissioner is behind a new push to stop a Sikh temple from expanding in a suburban San Jose neighborhood — but his attempts, like many before it, have failed. Jim Zito, who sat on the San Jose Planning Commission and unsuccessfully ran for City Council in 2020, filed an appeal in April to...
What the overturning of Roe v. Wade means for Silicon Valley
The outrage is palpable with the overturning of Roe v. Wade, but women in Santa Clara County will not be impacted. “Absolutely nothing is changing,” Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez told San José Spotlight. “In fact, not only are we continuing services, but we’re going to be expanding them.” On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court...
Silicon Valley gig workers demand corporate support after deaths
It is a simple ask: gig workers don’t want to be killed on the job. More than a dozen Lyft drivers and other ride-share app workers rallied for more protections on Thursday in front of the San Jose Lyft office. They want corporations to invest not only in more security, but to also financially support family...
San Jose regulates police use of military equipment
The San Jose Police Department has hundreds of military-grade items in its armory and is asking for more. City officials are scrutinizing the request. The City Council unanimously approved a new policy on Tuesday, which guides how the San Jose Police Department should pay for, acquire and use certain types of gear considered military-level equipment—including...
San Jose nonprofit makes offer to buy Cesar Chavez’s house
The home of one of San Jose’s greatest activists may become open to the public, depending on a pending purchase. Nonprofit Amigos de Guadalupe, with the city’s help, put in an offer this week to purchase the family home of Cesar Chavez, a historical landmark in East San Jose at 53 Scharff Ave. The city...
Clinton honors Mineta at San Jose memorial
Norm Mineta, former U.S. secretary of transportation and San Jose’s first Asian American mayor, is being laid to rest in his hometown. Family, friends and colleagues shared warm memories, funny anecdotes of Mineta’s charismatic personality and powerful stories of his accomplishments and fortitude at a Thursday memorial at the San Jose Civic Center. Mineta died...