A San Jose business-backed political action committee announced three endorsements on Friday in the 2020 City Council races. The Business San Jose Chamber PAC, which was formed last summer after members of the PAC for the silicon valley organization (the former chamber of commerce) broke away amid division on the panel, is backing Republican Jonathan...

Santa Clara lawmakers voted this week to award $600,000 to two local rape crisis centers for sexual assault survivors, the latest push by county leaders to bolster women’s services and combat sexual violence. The YWCA-Silicon Valley will receive $503,000 in funding and $97,000 will be allotted to Community Solutions through two one-time contracts. Supervisor Cindy...

Silicon Valley residents who worry they’re being overtaxed can breathe a sigh of relief. They just dodged another one. A proposed 5/8-cent sales tax increase pitched by county lawmakers to fund health care, child care and environmental protections won’t appear on the ballot next year. Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez decided Tuesday to pull...

A new poll released Wednesday found 80 percent of San Jose voters would support a measure to limit campaign contributions and move mayoral elections to presidential years to boost voter turnout. The three-day poll was funded by the campaign supporting the measure, called The Fair Elections Initiative. 504 likely Nov. 2020 voters were surveyed. The...

During a San Jose City Council meeting Tuesday, city lawmakers unanimously approved a response to a grand jury investigation that found problems with the Valley Transportation Authority’s governance, including a lack of knowledge and experience from board members who represent cities across the county. Mayor Sam Liccardo, who is on the VTA Board of Directors,...

After months of speculation, three finalists for a highly-coveted position on the San Jose Planning Commission were announced Thursday. According to city documents, the finalists are: Mariel Caballero, a Santa Clara County deputy director at the probation department; Louis Barocio, vice principal at East Side Union High School District; and business owner Rolando Bonilla. The...

In an effort to help elevate poetry and celebrate the literary arts, Santa Clara County is looking for its next Poet Laureate, a poet appointed by the government to compose poems for special occasions. Established in 2008 by the Board of Supervisors, local poets are chosen based on their past bodies of work. “The Santa...

Santa Clara County Supervisor Dave Cortese’s resolution to declare a climate emergency was approved by the Board of Supervisors earlier this week. The declaration acknowledges that global climate change is “caused by human activities” that have resulted in a climate emergency that impacts the well-being health and safety of Santa Clara County residents. It demands immediate...

Two Silicon Valley lawmakers are looking to patch up a $250,000 loss of funding for San Jose’s Planned Parenthood centers after the nonprofit organization pulled out of Title X, a decades-old program that provides grants for affordable birth control and reproductive health care. The decision to leave the program came after President Donald Trump demanded...

As part of its Capital Program Committee meeting Thursday, VTA gave an update on the BART Silicon Valley extension. This 10-mile stretch of fresh track includes two stations, one in Milpitas and another at Berryessa, near the San Jose Flea Market. As part of its agreement with BART, VTA will hand over the operation of...