Community financial institutions are the backbone to a healthy society, providing loans for small businesses, disaster recovery, low-income families, immigrant communities and affordable housing developments. That essential service is now in danger. President Donald Trump’s executive order to dismantle the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI) last month put a target on these institutions and brought...
Freshman Silicon Valley lawmaker makes his mark
Silicon Valley’s newest assemblymember has hit the ground running in his first four months, with a hefty bill package supporting economically disadvantaged Californians. District 26 Assemblymember Patrick Ahrens was sworn into office Dec. 8, and since then he’s met with thousands of residents, community leaders and local officials. The freshman state lawmaker is carrying 17...
San Jose congressman talks tariffs with small businesses
President Donald Trump’s tariffs have begun to hit the economy, and one congressional lawmaker heard fear, frustration and anger from local businesses during his trip to San Jose. Rep. Jimmy Panetta, who sits on the House Subcommittee on Trade, introduced legislation to ensure Congress, not the Trump administration, decides who imposes broad tariffs. In partnership...
Silicon Valley firefighters clash over territory
Silicon Valley officials want to extinguish their feud with state firefighters over regional territory. But their vote to expand Santa Clara County Fire Department coverage threatens to fan the flames. The Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO), a land use board comprised of elected officials from across the county, voted 6-1 Wednesday to remove Cal Fire...
San Jose transit agency employees working without new deal
VTA and its unionized frontline workers have made little progress toward a new deal since a Santa Clara County judge stopped a historic strike one week ago. Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265 received three offers from the public transit agency’s negotiators over the weekend — all based on previous offers that union membership soundly rejected....
Ex-Silicon Valley lawmaker fined for hiding payments to Alec Baldwin
Former California Assemblymember Evan Low tried to conceal hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments to celebrity Alec Baldwin for campaign appearances using a big tech advocacy group he founded, according to a recent state report. Low — who represented Assembly District 26 and lost a bid for Congressional District 16 to former San Jose...
UPDATE: Santa Clara VTA light rail starts to come back on line
The VTA light rail Orange Line has returned to full service and partial service has been restored to the Blue Line Monday, after the historic union worker strike paused the agency’s bus and light rail services for almost three weeks. The fully restored Orange Line runs from Mountain View to Alum Rock, and the partially...
Federal cuts end Campbell theater citizenship ceremonies
About seven people gathered in a confused cluster around a notice on the windows of the Heritage Theatre in Campbell to learn their path to citizenship was no longer available there. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) canceled its longstanding contract with the theater March 12 due to a “termination for convenience of the government”...
Ex-Silicon Valley education leader dismisses lawsuit
Former Santa Clara County Superintendent of Schools Mary Ann Dewan has dropped her lawsuit against the Board of Education after trustees fired her last year. The lawsuit, dropped Thursday, claimed trustees had no authority to fire her because she was a constitutional officer and therefore could only be removed by the voters, Steven Ellenberg, Dewan’s...
Santa Clara County to increase revenue by neutering pets
Santa Clara County leaders are facing their most uncertain financial crisis since the pandemic, and they’re turning every stone for ideas on wrangling extra money. That includes, for the first time, spaying and neutering pets. The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the new service Tuesday, which will open the Animal Services Center in San Martin...