Santa Clara County officials on Wednesday released details of a revised and extended shelter in place order that lifts restrictions on some industries in the region, effective May 4 through the end of the month. At a high level, the newly-revised order generally reaffirms many of the restrictions that have governed how residents live and...
Update: San Jose slashes budget, approves new sexual assault unit
The San Jose City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved making massive cuts to the city budget for the fiscal year, as officials brace for an expected shortfall of least $45 million due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “It’s going to be a long road for us,” Budget Director Jim Shannon said. “When we released our forecasts...
Bay Area may lag behind state’s plan to lift stay-home restrictions
Californians are “weeks, not months” away from seeing some loosening of the state’s stay at home order and schools could bring kids back later this summer, Gov. Gavin Newsom and California health officials said Tuesday. Certain retailers, including those that can offer curbside pickup, manufacturers, offices where working from home isn’t possible and some public...
San Jose residents protest temporary homeless housing plan
More than 200 South San Jose residents and housing advocates spoke at a virtual town hall Monday night to express concern or applaud a plan to fast-track dozens of new housing units for homeless residents during the region’s shelter-in-place order due to the coronavirus pandemic. “As a city, we really have two emergencies on our...
Views from above: Coronavirus has a dramatic effect on the Bay Area
The shelter-in-place order issued by regional health officials March 17 aimed to decrease the spread of coronavirus, but it has also dramatically affected the look of the Bay Area. The South Bay is no exception. With traffic coming to a halt, air quality and visibility has greatly improved. Nitrogen dioxide, a key pollutant, dropped by...
Unsung heroes of Silicon Valley: Moses Arroyo
Underneath the city of San Jose runs 2,000 miles of sanitary pipe that serve more than 1 million people. Each year, those in the city’s Department of Transportation’s Sanitary Sewer division clean more than 900 miles of pipe and complete more than 500 repairs. The dangerous work is done underground with sharp tools at depths of 40...
Coronavirus: Bay Area’s stay-home order will be extended through May
Bay Area residents will continue to shelter in place through May, the top health officials across the region announced Monday, about one week before the current order to stay-home was set to expire. The official order will come “later this week,” according to a joint statement by the seven Bay Area health officers who have...
South Bay cities brace for budget cuts, layoffs after coronavirus
Governments across the country are bracing for furloughs, layoffs and service cuts in response to revenue shortfalls dealt by the COVID-19 pandemic, and experts and city officials expect the damages will be felt for some time. Findings from a National League of Cities and the United Conference of Mayors survey published this month reveal that...
COVID-19 is intensifying longstanding racial disparities in Silicon Valley
COVID-19 is hitting black and Latinx people hardest, preliminary Santa Clara County data show. Meanwhile, those same groups are the ones most in need of financial relief in the region, community groups say. The pandemic’s racial disparities show officials must center race in discussions to address the public health crisis and Silicon Valley’s economic recovery,...
Exclusive Q&A: Dr. Sara Cody answers San José Spotlight readers
Santa Clara County Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody, who led the charge on the nation’s first shelter-in-place order, is a tough person to nail down these days, but on Friday she sat down to answer San José Spotlight readers’ questions. The exclusive Q&A session was streamed online by San José Spotlight on Facebook and moderated...