Covid-19

California lends out 500 ventilators as Santa Clara County seeks more

South Bay residents got seemingly contradicting accounts Monday from local and state officials about how stocked California’s ventilator cache is in the face of COVID-19, a potentially deadly respiratory illness that is spreading across the state. Santa Clara County officials stood outside Valley Medical Center in San Jose on Monday afternoon to plead for ventilator donations that...

San Jose looks to increase emergency housing, discuss budget cuts due to COVID-19

With more than 1,200 COVID-19 positive cases countywide and counting, San Jose leaders are scrambling to stop the spread to homeless people and vulnerable residents living in shelters, encampments and overcrowded homes by building emergency housing. The City Council on Tuesday will discuss a proposal to allocate more than $17 million to build modular homes...

Coronavirus: San Jose lawmakers propose suspending rent

Cities across California are passing a slew of laws delaying rent and banning evictions for families who cannot pay during the COVID-19 shelter-in-place order, but some lawmakers say the patchwork of bills don’t go far enough to protect renters. As unemployment rates across the country surge to all-time highs, San Jose Councilmembers Magdalena Carrasco and Raul...

South Bay Asian Americans report attacks, harassment amid coronavirus pandemic

The viral posts documenting attacks or harassment targeting Asian Americans amid the novel coronavirus pandemic are not isolated incidents, nor is the South Bay excluded from it, academic researchers and law enforcement say. While these incidents have been shown in everyday interactions ranging from grocery stores and tenant disputes, researchers say the racism has been...

Efforts to house homeless during COVID-19 may lead to long-term housing options

At-risk homeless Californians are moving into trailers, motels and hotels, where they can isolate under a program Gov. Gavin Newsom said could become a long-term solution in California and a model for other states as COVID-19 spreads. Counties and cities, including Santa Clara County, have worked with the state to lease more than 7,000 rooms and...

Advocates fight back against Santa Clara County’s new cannabis rules

A petition launched Friday to stop Santa Clara County from banning recreational cannabis sales at dispensaries under a new health order garnered thousands of signatures within hours, the latest call from advocates to overturn the controversial decision. As first reported by San José Spotlight on Wednesday, Santa Clara County leaders reversed a previous decision in...