Magdalena Carrasco, a former San Jose councilmember, once joined protests against one company’s hold over health care on the East Side. Today she’s helping HCA Healthcare make its most criticized move yet. Carrasco, who left office in 2022 after serving two terms as East San Jose’s representative, now lobbies city officials and her former colleagues...
San Jose mayor’s staffer sues over communist label
A worker in the San Jose mayor’s office is caught in a political storm surging through Little Saigon’s war refugee generation over claims of communist sympathies. Tara Dang, who conducts neighborhood outreach for Mayor Matt Mahan in a city with the largest Vietnamese population outside of Vietnam, sued 8 people in May for defamation. The list ranges...
San Jose cultural leader’s death shocks community
Chris Esparza always wanted to run a nightclub in his hometown of San Jose, friends and business partners told San José Spotlight — and not only did he make it happen, he went on to shape the city’s cultural image through decades of event organizing within the growing Mexican American community. Esparza, 57, died unexpectedly...
East San Jose’s Mexican Heritage Plaza has a bright future
As the Mexican Heritage Plaza celebrates its 25th anniversary, its operators continue to strive for a brighter future for East San Jose residents. The School of Arts and Culture at the Mexican Heritage Plaza and its partners are bringing health care, affordable housing and economic development to the Mayfair neighborhood — as well as creating...
The Biz Beat: Tiki Pete is a tropical getaway in San Jose
Pete Be looks exactly like you’d hope Tiki Pete would look: distinctively Hawaiian, a shaved head, covered in ornate tattoos and wearing a shirt with bright, abstract designs. The downtown San Jose bar owner’s cheerful and self-confident demeanor might come from starting his first business, selling artwork, at an early age. “I was a 14-year-old...
East San Jose hospital loses services while richer areas thrive
A private health company plans to reduce lifesaving care at an East San Jose hospital as it expands another hospital in a wealthier part of the city. HCA Healthcare is increasing the number of acute care beds at Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose’s Cambrian neighborhood on the West Side, close to Los Gatos. Company representatives said...
Silicon Valley candidates backed by Vietnamese American heavyweights
The FBI probe into a Bay Area recycling hauler — and the showdown between its owner and another influential Vietnamese figure — has sent a ripple through one of Santa Clara County’s hottest elections. It’s also revealing how two of Silicon Valley’s most powerful Vietnamese figures are backing competing Vietnamese American political candidates in a...
East San Jose hospital won’t close trauma center amid scrutiny
East San Jose may keep its only medical trauma center after all — just not in the same form. Regional Medical Center — the private hospital owned by for-profit company HCA Healthcare — is walking back the planned closures of its trauma, heart attack and stroke care services which have kept residents alive in that...
Summer movie screenings return to downtown San Jose
Summer in San Jose has brought back the classics: a scorching heat wave, crowded conventions and an almost decade-long tradition of outdoor movies. In partnership with the city’s Viva Parks program, the San Jose Downtown Association is hosting Starlight Cinema — a seasonal summer event that provides free movie showings on Saturday evenings in St....
San Jose unveils war monument at Vietnamese Heritage Garden
San Jose’s Vietnamese community is celebrating a long-anticipated monument symbolizing its post-war roots in the city after the project faced years of delays. The statue, unveiled Saturday at the Vietnamese Heritage Garden, features a Vietnamese soldier and an American soldier, both armed and standing beside each other atop rocky terrain in front of the flags...