The company behind a network of automated license plate reading cameras is losing its public safety contracts across Silicon Valley. The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors is the most recent slate of officials to join Los Altos Hills and Mountain View in severing ties with Flock Safety over concerns the company has enabled unlawful...
Advocates want San Jose to divest from companies tied to ICE
San Jose officials are weighing growing calls to divest the city from companies that critics say don’t align with local values. The City Council is set to take up the controversial divestment conversation March 24 during an annual review of the city’s investment policy. A group of local advocates has long been urging the city...
San Jose mayor’s social media use faces criticism
Just weeks after announcing his run for governor, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan launched two new social media accounts on X and Instagram, each one designated as a city-backed account for official messaging. The move in February came amid City Hall grumbles about the mayor’s longstanding practice of using individual social media accounts for both...
Silicon Valley tech economy is hot, but not everyone benefits
Silicon Valley’s tech economy is hotter than ever, but many residents are being left behind. That’s one key message from this year’s Silicon Valley Index, an in-depth annual report card for the region from local think tank Joint Venture Silicon Valley. The group presented the report at its annual State of the Valley event Friday...
State card room crackdown could cost San Jose
San Jose officials are urging California regulators to rescind new rules for the state’s card rooms, warning of dire economic fallout if restrictions take effect as planned in the coming months. In a Feb. 19 letter sent to Attorney General Rob Bonta, city officials warned the regulations, which set stricter rules for certain types of gameplay,...
Bernie Sanders warns about AI ‘tsunami’ at Stanford town hall
Workers, students and researchers in Silicon Valley are no strangers to the idea that artificial intelligence may be coming for their jobs. Many are under the impression that it’s not a matter of if, but when. But for Sen. Bernie Sanders, a longtime critic of the billionaire class, the new technology has ramifications that go...
The Biz Beat: San Jose Mexican bakery offers Oaxacan delights
Upon entering Dulcinea Panadería Oaxaqueña in San Jose, the intoxicating aroma alone should be enough to overwhelm your senses. But if it doesn’t, the dazzling display of more than 100 varieties of cookies, pastries, breads and cakes — almost all made fresh daily — certainly will. It might be surprising to discover all of this...
San Jose slow to tell workers about data breach
San Jose administrators have disclosed that private information for current and former city employees may have been compromised, following a data breach last month. The incident occurred on Jan. 9 when a “workforce member” lost a USB drive that may have contained Social Security numbers, according to a letter city officials sent to people whose...
Super Bowl gave San Jose and Santa Clara major economic boost
South Bay leaders say preliminary figures and anecdotal observations gauging the economic impact from Super Bowl 60 suggest a yearslong effort to prepare the region for the flood of new visitors has paid off. If they’re correct, it’s a sign the South Bay managed to secure a larger slice of the economic pie than when...
Santa Clara County DA says budget cuts threaten public safety
A routine address from Santa Clara County’s top prosecutor became a dark vision of potential injustice across Silicon Valley’s criminal landscape. District Attorney Jeff Rosen — during his annual State of the Office speech on Tuesday — warned of threats to public safety as a $470 million county budget deficit will require his office to...