Author: Lorraine Gabbert (Lorraine Gabbert)

San Jose hotel converts to foster youth housing

Hope in the form of housing is becoming a reality for youth emerging from foster care or experiencing homelessness. Construction is underway to convert the 61-room Pavilion Inn, a former hotel on North Fourth Street in San Jose, into affordable, supportive housing to help young adults become self-sufficient and avoid a lifetime of homelessness. In...

San Jose residents want police to clamp down on noisy neighbors

Residents in the West San Jose Starbird neighborhood are wondering why parties with loud music and strobe lights aren’t shut down. The noise and at times lack of response by the San Jose Police Department may have led some residents to believe the city doesn’t have a noise ordinance, but that is not the case....

Respiratory illnesses spiking in Santa Clara County

A dramatic increase in influenza-like illnesses and emergency room visits in Santa Clara County has prompted health officials to urge residents to get vaccinated. County data focused on local wastewater readings this month shows a rise in RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, as well as influenza and COVID-19. The concentration of RSV in wastewater has...

Student homelessness grows in San Jose school district

The number of homeless high school students and families in one East San Jose school district has increased threefold in just three years.  The East Side Union High School District has approximately 900 unhoused students, compared to 300 in 2020. Officials said the number continues to climb and cite inflation, cost of living increases and...

San Jose nonprofits are food lifeline for Thanksgiving

Each year, the lines are long at Sacred Heart Community Service in San Jose, as people and cars queue up for nutritious boxed holiday meals. From Monday to Wednesday, the nonprofit distributed approximately 3,500 free boxes of food. Each box, valued at $150, included a chicken, ham or turkey and all the fixings for the...

Silicon Valley labor leaders make 2024 election endorsements

The South Bay Labor Council’s endorsements for the November 2024 election reveal notable surprises and omissions. The Labor Council, which represents more than 100 unions in Santa Clara and San Benito counties, is throwing its weight behind a number of candidates running for open seats on the San Jose City Council. Babu Prasad, president of...

San Jose college district election: What you need to know

The San Jose-Evergreen Community College District will be adding a new trustee to its board after the Nov. 7  special election. The community college district, which is governed by a seven-member board, has five candidates vying for the District Area 7 seat: Diego Barragán, Lisanna Dominguez, Stephen Eckstone, Clay Hale and Anthony Macias. The seat...