Phil Watkins was 23 when he was shot to death by San Jose police after he called 911 saying he was going to kill himself and was holding children hostage. Sharon Watkins said her son was shot 10 times when he ran toward officers holding a pocket knife. Recalling the confrontation six years ago, she...
Author: Lorraine Gabbert (Lorraine Gabbert)
East San Jose education leaders at odds with push to reopen schools
San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo’s efforts through his new advocacy organization to reopen San Jose schools is sparking frustration for some — particularly communities of color. Liccardo launched a petition through Solutions San Jose — sending two emails within 24 hours — to gather signatures demanding COVID-19 vaccines be prioritized for teachers and to reopen...
New petition calls for opening San Jose businesses
In the year since Santa Clara County issued its first shelter-in-place order to curb the spread of COVID-19, businesses have faced a rollercoaster of directives — open, close, open and close again. But one former lawmaker says it doesn’t have to be that way. Other states have less restrictions and allow businesses to open with...
In socially distant times, a downtown San Jose social venue struggles to open
Before the pandemic, two downtown San Jose bar owners joined forces with a vision for an entertainment venue in San Pedro Square. What they had in mind was a place where people would come together and socialize. It would have a bowling alley, a karaoke bar and an arcade. Co-owners David Mulvehill and Mike Messinger...
Supervisors seek to protect Coyote Valley from development
Santa Clara County lawmakers this week moved to preserve open space, flood plains and wildlife corridors in the Coyote Valley but stopped short of adopting a development ban, despite pleas by environmentalists. Although more than 1,000 acres are protected from development in North Coyote Valley, the middle and southern sections remain threatened. Based on a...
San Jose leaders agree Thomas Fallon statue must be removed
After residents demanded for decades the Thomas Fallon statue, seen as a symbol of oppression by many, be taken from its lofty perch in the center of downtown San Jose, a key panel agreed. The Rules and Open Government Committee of the San Jose City Council, which sets future City Council agendas, voted unanimously Wednesday...
State’s largest vaccination site opens in Santa Clara County at Levi’s Stadium
Gov. Gavin Newsom was on hand Tuesday to open the largest COVID-19 vaccination site in California at Levi’s Stadium. The site eventually will serve up to 15,000 doses a day, subject to supply, for health care workers and people 65 and older who live in Santa Clara County, regardless of their health care provider or...
COVID-19 vaccination clinic brings hope to East San Jose
The recent arrival of the COVID-19 vaccine at Mexican Heritage Plaza signaled the dawn of a new day in East San Jose, an area hit harder than any other in Santa Clara County by the pandemic. San Jose Councilmember Magdalena Carrasco said it’s critical to have a vaccination site “smack in the middle” of a...
UPDATE: San Jose mayor calls for removal of Thomas Fallon statue
San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo is calling for the removal of the controversial Thomas Fallon statue, a decision that comes days after overwhelming pleas from the community. “For the third time in three decades, debate over the Thomas Fallon Statue has reopened old wounds and deepened divides,” Liccardo wrote in a blog post explaining his...
Fate of Thomas Fallon statue launches public forum on San Jose art
Some consider Capt. Thomas Fallon an important part of history. Others call him a symbol of oppression and have long called for the removal of the downtown statue depicting Fallon on horseback raising the U.S. flag in San Jose in 1846. People on both sides will get a chance Jan. 29 to have their say...