A few weeks ago, I was on a call with an elderly woman from Honolulu. She had lived in Hawaii her entire life, but her husband had recently died and due to a set of really terrible circumstances near the end of his life, almost all of their entire life savings had been depleted. With...
Philbrick: Driving autism acceptance—not just awareness—in April
Most of us know someone with autism, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows 1 in 44 children has been identified with an autism spectrum disorder. Individuals with autism face hurdles in opportunities and support when it comes to education, employment, housing, health care and—you guessed it—transportation. How can we make transportation equitable and...
Rodríguez: Community colleges in the post-COVID economy
As we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly every aspect of our society and economy continues to face unprecedented changes to the way they operate. This includes higher education and the workforce, where the post-COVID economy is causing employers to reconsider how they recruit new talent at the scale needed to remain competitive. As a...
Staedler: Participation in San Jose’s budget process is vital
One of the yearly San Jose traditions is the mayor’s March Budget Message for the upcoming fiscal year. It sets out budget priorities and starts the process of the creation of budget proposals which will be considered by the entire City Council in May, with a final budget approval in June. Here’s the full 25-page...
Zisser: Outside reviews of San Jose police point to need for robust oversight structure
According to an outside review of the San Jose Police Department published in February, “Hispanic community members experienced a greater amount of independent use of force activities per event than their white counterparts did.” “Additionally, the injuries sustained by Hispanic community members were more severe than those sustained by white community members,” the review said....
Editorial: San Jose’s Winchester Urban Village Plan could get messy
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...
Sandoval: Women providing healing and promoting hope
One of my earliest memories as a case manager was meeting a young woman who just experienced her first night of homelessness. Over the years that have passed, I no longer remember her face, the color of her hair, her frame, or even her age. But I remember her shoes. They were threadbare, the soles...
Robinson: Film highlights the fight for LGBTQ+ rights in Silicon Valley
If you went back to 1978 and said gay people would be able to get married, there would be openly gay elected officials or that gay and transgender people would serve as cabinet members in the United States of America, nobody would have believed it. In fact, many states still outlawed the private lives of...
Diridon: Fight Russia and drive free with an EV
Russia funds their modernized military with income from petroleum. To allow its attack on Ukraine, Russia attempted to blackmail Europe and the world by cutting off petroleum. Already high fuel prices will spike even higher. Though that dynamic is sad, I’ve been driving free since my first of six electric vehicles (EV) arrived in 1996...
Dewan: Santa Clara County schools confront climate change
Growing evidence points to the need for an urgent response as the changing climate is having an observable impact on communities, students, educators and schools. Providing access to safe, healthy, sustainable and resilient learning environments is a focus of policy makers and school leaders. In 2020, the United States experienced a record-breaking 22 natural disasters...