A flagship program that employed homeless people to clean the streets of San Jose and connect them to housing is abruptly ending. Nonprofit Downtown Streets Team is ending operations Oct. 31, citing financial and political pressures that make it difficult to sustain the organization. The nonprofit formed 20 years ago in Palo Alto and expanded to 15...
East San Jose school district mismanages health insurance payments
The board vice president of an East San Jose school district will give back thousands of dollars in health care premiums after the district overpaid him, due to an administrative error. Andres Quintero, board vice president of the Alum Rock Union School District, will be required to reimburse the district $4,527.90 in insurance premiums. The...
Future of East San Jose youth center uncertain after fire
A devastating fire that recently gutted a vacant youth center in East San Jose hasn’t diminished the community’s desire to restore it for future use. The former Mexican American Community Services Agency (MACSA) building burned down Friday, breaking the hearts of Eastside advocates who want to revitalize and reuse the space. The Alum Rock Union...
Ex-San Jose councilmember sentenced to 18 years for child molestation
Disgraced former San Jose Councilmember Omar Torres has been sentenced to 18 years in prison after pleading ‘no contest’ to child molestation charges in April — a final turn in the shocking saga that rocked City Hall and Silicon Valley’s political scene. Torres listened, while his family looked on, as Superior Court Judge Cynthia Sevely...
NBC Bay Area: Fire scorches vacant MACSA building in San Jose
A three-alarm fire destroyed the vacant former MACSA youth center in San Jose early Friday. At about 1 a.m., San Jose firefighters responded to a large fire at the vacant building at 600 Sinclair Drive in the city’s Mayfair district, officials said. Fire officials told NBC Bay Area the building was fully involved when they...
High-end downtown San Jose restaurant closes
An upscale San Jose restaurant has closed less than two years after it opened, as the city grapples with attracting people to the downtown core. Rollati Ristorante, an Italian-American restaurant across from San Jose City Hall, abruptly closed Tuesday due to declining revenues. Customer foot traffic dropped 30% from last year, according to Alistair Levine,...
The Biz Beat: Downtown San Jose clothing store suitable for all occasions
For more than 105 years, Hammer & Lewis Clothiers has existed in an indefinable place in culture and time. Its two San Jose locations offer Cary Grant-worthy suits, the shiniest of dress shoes, classic flannel Pendletons and jackets flamboyant enough for Burning Man celebrants. It is de rigueur for zoot-suited pachucos and aficionados of fine...
San Jose Viet Museum remains closed amid lawsuit
San Jose’s Viet Museum has been closed for months due to a political power struggle. Now its leaders are suing each other in an attempt to settle the matter for good. The Immigrant Resettlement and Cultural Center — the nonprofit managing the old farmhouse in History Park that stores precious artifacts, photographs and art from...
San Jose group targets small businesses to uplift neighborhood
As East San Jose’s Mayfair neighborhood struggles with poverty, gentrification and divestment, one group is creating a plan to uplift people economically. Last year, workers with nonprofit Amigos de Guadalupe knocked on doors in Mayfair to learn about what residents need most. Residents said they want a way to make more income and have more...
East San Jose school leader fired for looking into questionable expenses
A former East San Jose school superintendent is speaking out about his abrupt firing, saying he was let go for asking board members to reimburse questionable expenses billed to the district. The Alum Rock Union School District board of trustees voted July 31 to fire then-Superintendent German Cerda, less than a year after he was...