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About one year after the San Jose City Council took action to shield more than 300 acres of Coyote Valley land from development of massive distribution warehouses, several landowners are now proposing a major energy facility. Former San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed represents a group of three property owners pushing early plans to accommodate an electricity transmission...
San Jose pushes electric vehicle use in low-income areas
San Jose wants to boost electric car adoption in low-income and disadvantaged neighborhoods by eliminating “charging deserts” and adding incentives to make juicing up more attractive for residents. As part of a pilot program unanimously approved by the San Jose City Council Tuesday, the city will work with vendors to install banks of electric vehicle (EV)...
San Jose college students demand changes to 988 hotline
Activists are demanding changes to Santa Clara County’s suicide prevention hotline amid concerns the service is failing to live up to community expectations. College advocacy group Students Against Mass Incarceration gathered at San Jose State University on Thursday to urge the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors to make several changes to how the 988...
Santa Clara County hospital execs threatened workers over striking
Health care workers have filed a complaint against Santa Clara County, claiming hospital leaders intimidated and threatened them for planning to participate in a strike. The California Public Employees Relations Board is investigating a complaint filed on Oct. 31 by SEIU Local 521. The complaint alleges Santa Clara Valley Medical Center (VMC) executives engaged in...
Santa Clara County crisis hotline is understaffed
Four months after Santa Clara County rolled out its 988 mental health crisis call center and intervention teams, the program remains short-handed, testing the confidence of mental health advocates who have eagerly awaited its arrival. In several cases, 988 calls resulted in a police-only response, which runs counter to the program’s goal of lowering the...
Santa Clara County cement facility shuttering for good
A massive cement plant near Cupertino that has run afoul of regulators thousands of times will be shuttered permanently. Lehigh Southwest Cement Company said it will not restart its cement kiln at its 3,510-acre Permanente Quarry and Cement Plant. The company’s property is located largely in the hills of unincorporated Santa Clara County, with portions...
How San Jose schools are using federal COVID funds
Three of San Jose’s largest school districts received a total of more than $155 million in federal funding to tackle COVID-19. Those dollars have served as a lifeline to schools throughout the pandemic and since, but after 2024 that well of money will dry up. The federal funds have been allocated in three rounds throughout...
San Jose doctors delay strike amid agreement
After more than two years of negotiating, Santa Clara County and its doctors have reached a pending agreement on a new contract, averting a strike scheduled to start in November. County Executive Jeff Smith said the county and Valley Physicians Group, a union representing more than 450 doctors in the Santa Clara County health system, met for three...
San Jose invests in solar power to reach climate goals
San Jose plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars over the next two decades to meet its carbon neutral goals, including utilizing solar power. On Tuesday, the city council approved four contracts worth an estimated $530 million to build out the city’s battery storage to access and store more solar energy through its San Jose Clean Energy...
Silicon Valley mental health workers rally for better wages
Low pay, heavy workloads and unprecedented worker shortages: that’s the reality facing mental health professionals at one of the largest behavioral health providers in Santa Clara County. Dressed in purple shirts and carrying signs, more than 50 members of SEIU Local 521 rallied Wednesday in front of Momentum for Health’s headquarters in San Jose. They’re demanding...