English
Spanish
Vietnamese
More than 50 public defenders and others rallied against Santa Clara County court closures on Monday, following a weekend of heated protests in San Jose over police brutality, including the death of George Floyd. Standing in front of the county Superior Court’s Hall of Justice with signs like “Close the jails, not the courts,” advocates...
Advocates urge Santa Clara County to forgive rent as end of eviction moratorium looms
South Bay resident Chris Rios worries he’ll soon become homeless. His tutoring income dropped by half because of the novel coronavirus. His parents’ pay plummeted, too. They’re still waiting for federal checks intended to support those impacted by the virus. While waiting, they’ve fallen nearly $4,000 behind on rent for their three-bedroom Milpitas apartment. Santa...
‘Forgotten heroes’: The plight of Silicon Valley homeless shelter workers
Employees who work at Silicon Valley’s homeless shelters are putting themselves on the frontlines of the pandemic to protect the county’s most vulnerable residents, even as many live on the margins themselves. Two homeless service providers in Santa Clara County told San José Spotlight that, between them, six of their hundreds of shelter workers have...
San Jose businesses, officials worry about prolonged closures
Oanh Turkenkopf and his wife closed their coffee and sandwich shop in San Jose three days before Santa Clara County issued its shelter-in-place order. At 65 and 68 years old, the couple weren’t taking any chances of getting the novel coronavirus. Three weeks later, with the closure eating into their savings and neighbors asking when...
Homeless, advocates protest lack of protections in Silicon Valley shelters
More than a dozen homeless advocates and unsheltered individuals protested at a rally in San Jose on Friday against Santa Clara County’s approach to protecting unhoused people from the novel coronavirus. The county is pushing unhoused individuals into shelters instead of the safer option of sheltering them in hotel and motel rooms, protestors said. It...
As courts largely close to the public, advocates fear power abuses and deaths
A judge’s decision to limit public attendance to court hearings because of the COVID-19 crisis has advocates and others worried about potential abuse of power and harmful consequences for defendants. “We don’t do secret judicial proceedings in the United States,” said David Snyder, executive director for the First Amendment Coalition. “When courts or any other...
Coronavirus LIVE BLOG: March 26 to April 8
Catch up on our current Coronavirus LIVE BLOG here. 5:30 p.m. April 8: Second inmate tests positive for COVID-19 The San Jose Police Department has confirmed a second inmate has tested positive for the fast-spreading coronavirus, though the first has already recovered and is no longer in custody. This time, a 25-year-old homeless man was...
Nurses in Santa Clara County feel betrayed as they work the frontlines of the pandemic
Nurses in Santa Clara County aren’t being adequately protected as they put themselves in harm’s way to treat the public during the novel coronavirus pandemic, according to 11 medical professionals working at local hospitals interviewed by San José Spotlight. There isn’t enough protective equipment or, in many hospitals, adequate training on how to safely reuse...
Santa Clara County repurposes fairgrounds to protect homeless from coronavirus
Santa Clara County will soon use its fairgrounds to shelter at least five dozen homeless residents and provide trailers to socially isolate people with mild cases or symptoms of coronavirus in its latest effort to limit the spread of the pandemic. The 150-acre area normally hosts events like weddings and dog training. Now, it will...
San Jose advocates provide supplies to help homeless fight coronavirus
While most people are huddled indoors because of the novel coronavirus, activist Shaunn Cartwright instead found herself on Friday headed to a San Jose homeless encampment. She’s done it countless times before. But now she’s there to ask a potentially life-saving question. “Has anybody come by to talk to you about the virus?” Cartwright asked....
- 1
- 2