Silicon Valley voters this November will cast ballots in one of the region’s most consequential elections: From deciding who to send to Washington to a historic county supervisorial election, there is no shortage of major decisions up and down the ballot.
Santa Clara County to support kids who lost parents to COVID-19
Santa Clara County will offer additional support to children who lost a parent or caregiver to COVID-19. The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved creating a program to identify and support county youth who lost parents or guardians to the virus. The board also directed county officials to come up with options to expand wellness centers...
Silicon Valley jail workers say short staffing led to attack
Staffing shortages at Santa Clara County’s main jail partly caused by COVID-19 may have created conditions that allowed for an inmate assault on a deputy in early January. Details about the attack are murky because the Sheriff’s Office will not release records of the assault. However, a sheriff employee did confirm the main jail was significantly short-staffed...
Indoor mask mandate to stay in Santa Clara County—for now
Santa Clara County is keeping its indoor mask mandate even when the state and several neighboring counties are ready to ease back some COVID-19 restrictions as soon as next week. Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state health department announced Monday that California will begin pulling back some of its COVID-19 rules, starting with the mask...
Santa Clara County puts funds toward disaster service workers
Santa Clara County is adding scores of permanent workers who can focus on delivering COVID-19 aid to residents amid an ongoing pandemic. The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to pay for 251 disaster service worker positions. Most of these positions will be added to the County Executive Office and Office of Emergency Management, and...
Going to an event in San Jose? You’ll likely need a COVID booster
San Jose’s COVID-19 booster mandate for those attending large events at city-owned facilities is officially in effect. Some operators are reporting no impact on the amount of visitors so far. The requirement, passed by the City Council in late January, went into effect last Friday and only applies to indoor events with 50 people or more. It...
Silicon Valley transit workers upset over COVID vaccine policy
Outraged VTA employees are taking their leaders to task over a mandate requiring them to get vaccinated for COVID-19 by the end of April. Santa Clara County public transit workers flooded Thursday’s virtual board meeting to express displeasure with the vaccine policy issued last week. Many are members of VTA’s largest union, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265. They...
Santa Clara County COVID spike, rent evictions equal double whammy
As COVID-19 infections spiked across Silicon Valley over the winter, evictions continued to pile up in Santa Clara County Superior Court. The combination is posing challenges for in-person court hearings. There were 234 residential evictions filed in Santa Clara County from December through Jan. 26, as well as 40 commercial evictions. Tenant defense attorneys say the...
Santa Clara County workers disciplined for lack of COVID shots
A little more than 200 Santa Clara County employees are being disciplined for failing to comply with a county COVID-19 health order that targets high-risk workers. County officials told San José Spotlight on Wednesday that 209 employees are subject to discipline for failing to get vaccinated or a booster shot for COVID-19. The health order...
San Jose college teachers upset over lack of COVID vaccine oversight
As West Valley-Mission Community College District students return to in-person learning, faculty are petitioning for safe working conditions. Teachers distributed a resolution in late January stating the school district’s COVID-19 implementation plan is outdated, and the district is failing to verify student vaccine status. Kate Disney, president of the West Valley Mission Federation of Teachers, said...
Santa Clara County revises COVID-19 testing health order
COVID-19 testing requirements are changing in Santa Clara County, but not drastically. On Monday, county officials announced changes to an ongoing health order allowing health care providers to use antigen testing instead of just PCR testing, and shifting the responsibility of testing and vaccinations back to providers instead of the county. “The update doesn’t make radical changes,”...