It’s been quite a year for Santa Clara County. Local elections dominated much of 2024, bringing new faces into government and long-term officials bidding farewell. Other than a congressional race that began with a historic three-way runoff and recount in the primaries and an onslaught of political accusations throughout the season, the outcomes ended without a...
Editorial: San Jose school districts struggle to stay afloat
The flight of families due to the high cost of living in Santa Clara County has caused school enrollment numbers to crash in East and North San Jose — and it doesn’t look like that’s going to change in the coming years. Alum Rock and Berryessa union school districts are predicting enrollment declines of 27%...
Editorial: Omar Torres needs to resign — now
It’s been two weeks since San Jose Councilmember Omar Torres’ shocking text messages were exposed in legal documents. The disturbing messages show the 43-year-old bragging about performing oral sex on a 17-year-old male on a college campus, describing the genitalia of an autistic 11-year-old boy and asking a Chicago man if he’s got “homies under...
Editorial: Open the gates to the Vietnamese Heritage Garden
Public parks and gardens are designed to draw people closer to nature. They are not meant to be gated and locked to limit access to public spaces. That defeats the purpose of creating these parklands, which is why the entrance to the Vietnamese Heritage Garden should be unlocked. Within the gated garden is a bronze monument...
Editorial: Santa Clara County made the right move buying Regional
Santa Clara County never planned to buy Regional Medical Center in East San Jose. The Board of Supervisors wasn’t looking to take on more health care responsibilities. They had already saved three failing hospitals five years ago and ranked as the second-largest public health and hospital system in California. But the situation was dire. Make...
Editorial: California hospital services definition harms patient health
Santa Clara County residents who need emergency medical services should not have their treatment threatened because the closest hospital is miles away. It seems inconceivable that such a problem could exist in a county of such stature, and yet it does, because California’s definition of “general acute care hospital services” has no teeth. What it...
Editorial: San Jose mayor twists truth into scare tactics
Scare tactics are not a good look for San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, who promised government transparency during his mayoral campaign. This behavior is even more disingenuous when he uses it to further his agenda by claiming this news organization spread misinformation about his efforts to eliminate an environmental problem. So let’s set the record...
Editorial: State should step in to save San Jose trauma center
Four months. That’s all the time Santa Clara County officials have to try and prevent a health care crisis in its public hospital system when Regional Medical Center shuts down its trauma center. By August, the only remaining trauma centers in the county will be at Stanford University Medical Center and Santa Clara Valley Medical...
Editorial: San Jose needs to direct more resources to 988
When 988 launched almost two years ago it had two specific goals: streamline suicide and mental health calls to a one-stop crisis hotline and take law enforcement out of the equation when possible. That’s not happening in San Jose. A recent city report shows Santa Clara County mental health teams in 2023 responded to just 2% of...
Editorial: Santa Clara County saves veterans home — but at what cost?
The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors took the right action in saving an East San Jose homeless veterans complex from the wrecking ball — but the property was in total disrepair by the time it did so. The four-plus acres at 10 Kirk Ave. sits on a swatch of land that former owner, Swenson...