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Housing advocates are taking Santa Clara County and several cities to court for their lackluster efforts in new housing amid an ongoing crisis. Californians for Homeownership, California Housing Defense Fund and YIMBY Law filed 12 lawsuits this week after numerous Bay Area cities and Santa Clara County failed to submit plans on how to achieve state mandated...
How clean is Silicon Valley’s drinking water?
It’s been more than two decades since the movie “Erin Brockovich” brought the real-life issue of contaminated drinking water in a small Southern California town to a mass audience. But the harmful compound at the heart of the film, Chromium-6, is still present in much of the drinking water around the state, including in the...
Santa Clara County attorney is suing the DA — again
A Santa Clara County deputy district attorney who was reinstated after being fired is now suing his boss and the county, claiming District Attorney Jeff Rosen is preventing him from coming back to work. The lawsuit represents the latest salvo in a yearslong dispute that started in early 2021 when Daniel Chung criticized criminal justice...
15 of the most influential Black leaders in Silicon Valley
Black residents make up about 3% of Santa Clara County’s population, but the impact of Black leaders on the region is undeniable — even while facing adversity. The Black community in Silicon Valley and across the nation face systemic disparities: The population is overrepresented among the homeless and historical housing segregation has resulted in lower...
Santa Clara County closing mass COVID vaccine and testing sites
Santa Clara County will close its mass COVID-19 vaccination and testing sites by the end of February, but the pandemic is far from over for those with compromised health conditions. County health officials gathered Wednesday to discuss the closures, which are set to happen by Feb. 28. But the pandemic’s long-term impacts on vulnerable populations cannot...
UPDATE: Santa Clara County leader prioritizes addressing mental illness, child care
Santa Clara County is dealing with unaffordable housing, inaccessible child care, homelessness and a mental health crisis. One leader wants to build coalitions to solve the region’s most pressing problems. Supervisor Susan Ellenberg touted her agenda of “building together” on Tuesday in her first State of the County address as president of the Board of...
Full transcript: Santa Clara County Supervisor Susan Ellenberg’s 2023 State of the County
Editor’s Note: This is a transcript of Santa Clara County Supervisor Susan Ellenberg’s full 2023 State of the County address. Thank you. Thank you to everyone here tonight, filling the chambers, the breezeway outside and even the adjacent auditorium. I’m feeling the love! Thank you to everyone watching remotely. Thank you to all the elected...
Santa Clara County ambulance service scrutinized
Santa Clara County will soon solicit a new contract for ambulance services, and one local fire chief is pushing to change the model. In a letter sent to the county’s Health and Hospital Committee last November, San Jose Fire Chief Robert Sapien lambasted the county’s current structure, where a private company is contracted for ambulance...
South Bay reentry program changes lives of formerly incarcerated
Mark Ashford has been in and out of the criminal justice system for 26 years, never staying out for more than five months at a time. A few years ago, everything changed with the help of a support program and reentry services. “It is possible for people to change,” Ashford, 46, told San José Spotlight....
Silicon Valley lawmakers lobby Biden for federal storm aid
Local leaders want federal aid for Santa Clara County residents who’ve been excluded from financial assistance after the recent storms. With more than $50 million in damages countywide, state Sen. Dave Cortese and Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, along with local Congressmembers Jimmy Panetta, Ro Khanna, Anna Eshoo and Zoe Lofgren, have written letters urging President Joe...