San Jose businesses received more than $2.3 billion in federal funding to keep workers on the job during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Small Business Administration (SBA) approved more than 11.8 million loans through three rounds of Paycheck Protection Program applications, with California having the most loan money approved out of any state, according to federal data....

Some San Jose restaurants are having a difficult time hiring employees, despite the state easing coronavirus restrictions. Ronald DeVries, owner of Pizza Bocca Lupo in San Pedro Square Market, said he’s noticed fewer applicants applying for jobs at the restaurant. Rather than seeing 20 applicants a month as in pre-pandemic times, the owner says he now sees...

After months of discussion, San Jose officials have a timeline for conducting a report which will document residents’ experiences with cannabis-related crimes and barriers to entering the legal market. The findings could determine how the city will use more than $550,000 from the state’s Bureau of Cannabis Control to create a cannabis equity program. Equity programs can...

Google recently paid San Jose its first installment of funds as part of the tech giant’s deal to flood city coffers in exchange for a downtown campus. The tech giant agreed to pay $3 million for “immediate community stabilization” within 30 days of the City Council’s May 25 approval of its Downtown West project. Payment...

Months of negotiations, rallies and proposals ended Tuesday with the San Jose City Council voting unanimously to approve a multi-million square foot development at the site of the San Jose Flea Market. Councilmembers approved the Berryessa BART Urban Village project, a plan to rezone a 61.5-acre portion of the flea market site to include up...

When Councilmember Magdalena Carrasco envisions the future of Alum Rock Avenue, she sees a vibrant corridor of people enjoying the sights and sounds, visitors stopping at small businesses and families walking to and from events at Mexican Heritage Plaza. “We want people to walk, to experience the east side,” Carrasco said. “To nurture the talent...

One of San Jose’s most beloved downtown venues is reopening after almost a year and a half. The San Jose Improv reopens today with comedians Sammy Obeid, Phil Griffiths, Sam Marcoux and Chai Sharma performing. D.L. Hughley headlining this weekend. The neighborhood staple, located at 62 South Second Street, survived earthquakes, fires and now the...

Inequality in Silicon Valley has gone from “bad to horrific” over the pandemic, as indicators such as hunger, homelessness, income inequality and the wealth gap have all increased since last June, new research shows. “While our community was shocked at the incredibly high levels of racial discrimination and income and wealth inequality detailed in the...

The future of the San Jose Flea Market is up in the air following two days of deliberation but no decision on a proposed mixed-use development that would shrink the market by two-thirds of its current size. The San Jose City Council met Tuesday to consider plans for the Berryessa BART Urban Village, but continued...