Already facing a severe housing shortage, San Jose leaders worry the newest crisis plaguing the region — the coronavirus pandemic — will spread among its homeless community, one of the city’s most vulnerable populations. With more than 6,000 unhoused residents in the city, lawmakers are ramping up their efforts to contain the virus. As part...
Coronavirus: Need help paying a bill or buying groceries? There’s a donor for that.
For many of San Jose’s low-income families, paying a utility bill, filling the gas tank or buying groceries is becoming increasingly difficult as stay-at-home orders stretch out. Pandemic of Love, a San Jose-based chapter of a larger organization, aims to streamline the giving process, making it easier for immigrant and undocumented communities to seek help....
County to consider plan to offer WiFi, devices to neediest South Bay families
Santa Clara County officials on Tuesday will consider a proposal to purchase computing devices and provide internet access for the county’s 15,000 neediest families. The proposal, authored by Supervisor Dave Cortese, calls for partnering with the county’s Office of Education on an initiative that he estimated would cost the county “a little more than $1...
South Bay activists spent lifetime fighting for worker rights. Then they got COVID-19.
Alone in her hospital room at night, Augustina “Sally” Armendariz kept the light on to counter the loneliness and fear she felt at Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center, where she spent four days battling COVID-19 last month. The 77-year-old lifelong Santa Clara County resident and 60-year community activist is a fighter by nature, but...
Tesla files lawsuit against Alameda County after Elon Musk’s Twitter threats
In a heated Twitter rant Saturday morning, Tesla CEO Elon Musk threatened to move his company’s operations out of the Bay Area and sue Alameda County “immediately” for not easing stay-home orders due to COVID-19 that have shuttered his carmaking business. Later, Musk made good on the threat and filed a lawsuit against the county....
‘Forgotten heroes’: The plight of Silicon Valley homeless shelter workers
Employees who work at Silicon Valley’s homeless shelters are putting themselves on the frontlines of the pandemic to protect the county’s most vulnerable residents, even as many live on the margins themselves. Two homeless service providers in Santa Clara County told San José Spotlight that, between them, six of their hundreds of shelter workers have...
Poll: Most Californians support shelter-in-place orders
A majority of Californians support continuing to shelter in place to curb the spread of the coronavirus, according to a new poll, despite protests by some residents ready to get back to work and restart the state’s previously booming economy. About 71 percent of Californians polled by the California Health Care Foundation and survey firm...
COVID-19 testing sites open in East San Jose
After months of calls for more COVID-19 testing, a vulnerable San Jose area that is home to a large immigrant population now has two free testing sites. “This has been a population that has been vulnerable for so many reasons pre-COVID — due to rent, due to food insecurities, lack of job opportunities and educational...
Plan unveiled for reopening San Jose small businesses
Plan announced by San Jose officials and regional business leaders would allow a host of retailers and other small businesses to offer outdoor services when stay-at-home order is lifted.
Your COVID-19 questions answered: Part One
San José Spotlight two weeks ago hosted an exclusive Q&A webinar with Santa Clara County Public Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody, the driving force behind the nation’s first shelter-in-place order credited with flattening the curve on coronavirus infections and saving lives. We received nearly one hundred questions from Silicon Valley residents before and during the...