Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has made a habit of taking big swings on critical policy issues, laid out a proposal earlier this month for reforming the California Environmental Quality Act, aiming to make it easier to build major infrastructure projects. But with California facing a deficit of millions of homes, and officials up and down...
San Jose collects developer fees, but slow to replace trees
San Jose is set to receive a considerable amount of cash to replace several hundred trees that will be ripped up to make way for two industrial developments. Roughly $1.1 million in tree fees will be paid by two developers that will more than double the current amount in the city’s tree removal coffers. As the...
San Jose day care had dangerous lead levels in water
Recent reports ordered by the state reveal children at an East San Jose day care center were drinking lead-infected water. Kidango-Linda Vista Center is one of more than 14,000 licensed child care centers in California being ordered to test its drinking water for lead under Assembly Bill 2370. The law mandates that licensed child care...
Santa Clara County air quality earns failing grade
Santa Clara County is still struggling to clean up its poor air quality, with communities of color among the most affected. The American Lung Association’s newly released 2023 State of the Air report shows Santa Clara County scored an “F” on the report in high ozone days and particle pollution levels—factors that contribute to an array of...
Weather damage keeps San Jose parks closed
San Jose parks are still reeling from the heavy January rains, and the recent onslaught of wet and windy weather isn’t helping. Sixteen parks around the city are closed and it’s unclear when they will reopen. In the last three months, a relentless number of atmospheric river storms have pounded the Bay Area. Rain coupled with strong...
East San Jose lake restoration loses funding
Things got heated at Tuesday’s San Jose City Council meeting when councilmembers reversed a prior decision to use more than $3 million of Measure T funds for the restoration of Lake Cunningham in East San Jose. This week, councilmembers voted 8-3 to divert the remaining $3.2 million in funds from the environmental protection budget into...
Coalition calls on San Jose to build park along Coyote Creek
A 50-acre piece of land along Coyote Creek sits deserted and is frequently home to encampments and blight, yet the city still hesitates to support a coalition’s pursuit to turn it into a park for community benefit. Coyote Meadows Coalition, a group comprised of more than a dozen local groups and hundreds of volunteers, has spent the...
FAA pauses investigation of Santa Clara County leaded fuel ban
The Federal Aviation Administration is temporary suspending its investigation into Santa Clara County’s ban on the sale of leaded fuel at its airports. The investigation is on hold for six months as part of an agreement signed this week between the FAA and county officials. The agreement also serves as an invitation for the two county...
How clean is Silicon Valley’s drinking water?
It’s been more than two decades since the movie “Erin Brockovich” brought the real-life issue of contaminated drinking water in a small Southern California town to a mass audience. But the harmful compound at the heart of the film, Chromium-6, is still present in much of the drinking water around the state, including in the...
Silicon Valley lawmakers lobby Biden for federal storm aid
Local leaders want federal aid for Santa Clara County residents who’ve been excluded from financial assistance after the recent storms. With more than $50 million in damages countywide, state Sen. Dave Cortese and Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, along with local Congressmembers Jimmy Panetta, Ro Khanna, Anna Eshoo and Zoe Lofgren, have written letters urging President Joe...