In about 90 days, San Jose’s gun harm reduction ordinance is supposed to take effect. The policy, the first of its kind in the nation, will apply to all San Jose residents who own firearms. Individuals will be required to pay a $25 annual fee and have liability insurance. San Jose officials said the program will raise...

San Jose has a three-mile vision for the west side of the city that will change Winchester Boulevard forever. The Winchester Urban Village Plan stretches from Interstate 280 to just shy of E. Hamilton Avenue. The goal is to seamlessly develop this portion of the Winchester Boulevard corridor with compatible architecture, open space and expansive...

Election season is here, and we’re looking to put together a reader panel to talk about the key issues, contests and what matters most to you. We want to know what your top pritoties are as you head to the polls in June and November. What do you want to see in your next mayor?...

Rats. Trash. Desperation. Mental illness. Humanitarian crisis. These words define the conditions at the sprawling Columbus Park homeless encampment in San Jose. No matter how many millions of dollars San Jose and Santa Clara County throw at homelessness, if the premise to the solution is flawed, then the problem cannot be fixed. And therein lies the...

Pastor Ralph Olmos wasn’t worried about city permits when he opened his food stand—Lighthouse Ministries Food Pantry—at the corner of E. Julian and 17th streets in San Jose. Olmos was worried about people going hungry. He knew parents were choosing to feed their children, while they went without. He knew covering rent, utilities and medication came first...

Four years ago, I rushed home to the Las Vegas apartment I shared with my husband Josh and blurted out the words quickly and breathlessly. The idea had been percolating all day in my mind. I was obsessed with it. I couldn’t think of anything else. “Let’s start a nonprofit news organization in San Jose,”...

Once a decade, San Jose redraws its political boundaries in order to achieve a level playing field. The process aims to ensure the city’s 10 council districts have equal representation. It reviews whether minorities, businesses and neighborhoods are fairly aligned. It works to ensure that those who govern do so not just for the betterment...

After celebrating our two-year anniversary in January, San José Spotlight is growing its news team and kicking off 2021 with an experienced leader at the helm. Leslie Griffy, a longtime San Josean and veteran journalist and editor, is our new managing editor and newsroom leader. She replaces Simar Khanna, who stepped down in December. Leslie,...

San José Spotlight is a finalist for two national journalism awards, including the prestigious Publisher of the Year, the Local Independent Online News (LION) Publishers announced last week. The honor recognizes San José Spotlight among the top local news websites in the U.S. San José Spotlight, which launched its ad-free, paywall-free website Jan. 2019, is...