San Jose residents pay more for household bills than residents in any other major U.S. city, according to a new report — with annual costs reaching nearly $45,000 when housing is included. San Jose ranks No.1 among the 50 largest U.S. cities with households spending a median of $44,947 a year on 13 common household...
Gilroy extends moratorium on data center projects
The Gilroy City Council has extended a temporary ban on new data center projects in the city for more than 10 months. Councilmembers on Monday unanimously approved a longer moratorium than it set last month as employees work to create objective zoning, development and operational standards for projects similar to an Amazon data center previously...
Silicon Valley Black business group gets first female president
The Silicon Valley Black Chamber of Commerce has made history by choosing its first female president — a longtime member with an empowering personality. Alicia Owens is the new chamber president and executive director of entrepreneurial development, and plans to waste no time upping the presence of the organization. Owens said she wants the Silicon...
San Jose’s draft data center development standards fall short
San Jose is creating development standards for future data center projects, but residents and advocates said they don’t go far enough to protect their health and the environment. City officials presented the draft standards for the first time Thursday in front of a packed audience at City Hall. Dozens of residents spoke during the public comment...
San Jose self-checkout reform effort gets grocer pushback
A union-backed push to impose staffing requirements for grocery store self-checkout areas in San Jose faces fierce pushback from local retailers. Taking inspiration from a handful of Southern California cities that have already adopted such measures — including Costa Mesa, Long Beach and Santa Ana — councilmembers have asked staff to draw up regulations for...
Resident poll shows mixed feelings on living in Bay Area
Bay Area residents overwhelmingly think their lives are headed in the right direction, even as they see the region moving down the wrong track. That’s one of the key takeaways from the annual Silicon Valley Poll, released last week by local think tank Joint Venture Silicon Valley, with 81% of the 1,800 adults surveyed in...
Santa Clara wants better water, air standards for data centers
Santa Clara officials are moving forward with plans to update the city’s policies governing data center development, but have stopped short of considering a moratorium on new projects coming through the pipeline. The City Council on Oct. 6 unanimously approved a plan to prioritize new water and air quality standards for data centers and directed...
After strike threat, tentative deal reached with San Jose public unions
San Jose has reached a tentative contract agreement with its public sector union workers, likely averting a strike and ending a monthslong standoff over demands for higher wages and workforce protections. The tentative agreement struck Thursday breaks a negotiation deadlock between city leaders and two major public sector unions, IFPTE Local 21 and MEF-AFSCME Local...
San Jose sets rules for delivery robots
San Jose’s experiment with autonomous food delivery robots is entering a new phase as the city prepares to roll out rules governing their use, including operating fees as well as fines for companies that run afoul of the new standards. The City Council greenlit a regulatory package Tuesday that will not only set the rules...
Judge hands San Jose win in license plate reader case
A judge has dismissed a lawsuit challenging San Jose’s network of license plate reader cameras, dealing a legal setback to opponents of a technology used to fight crime that has divided the city’s residents over fears of dragnet surveillance. In a ruling delivered Friday, Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey El-Hajj rejected arguments that...