Amy and George Hsu look forward to an affordable lunch five days a week at Sunnyvale United Methodist Church. It’s where they socialize with dozens of older adults, listen to a lively jazz band play “Blueberry Hill” and get a meal with fresh fruit and vegetables they wouldn’t be able to budget for on a...
San Jose candidate forum focused on downtown business community
Candidates running for the District 3 seat on the San Jose City Council shared their thoughts on downtown politics with the city’s business community as the election approaches next month. Gabby Chavez-Lopez, executive director of the Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley, and Planning Commission Chair Anthony Tordillos appeared at the Rotary Club Summit Center for...
Cupertino slow to build housing residents can afford
Cupertino is known for its wealthy tech world. But one in four households struggles with the cost of living in a city slow to build affordable housing. The city’s proposed housing plan for the next five years, which it submits to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for grant funding, reveals 26%...
Santa Clara County critical of plan to arrest homeless people
Despite San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan’s claim his policy to arrest homeless people for refusing shelter is meant to connect them to treatment, there isn’t a plan for how it’s supposed to work. Since Mahan rolled out his “Responsibility to Shelter” policy in March, Santa Clara County officials and a former judge have pushed back on the...
San Jose streamlines social media policy for politicians
San Jose leaders are updating the city’s social media policy to ensure elected officials relinquish their online communication channels once their term ends. City officials began drafting the “Transition of Elected Officials” policy after San José Spotlight reported in 2023 that former Councilmember Maya Esparza refused to turn over social media pages affiliated with District...
San Jose officials push for South Vietnam flag emoji
As emojis become a widespread form of global messaging, San Jose leaders are calling on the world’s leading text encoders to add a symbol for the Flag of South Vietnam. The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to urge the Unicode Consortium — the Mountain View-based organization overseeing the digitized use of text in all of the...
Silicon Valley transit agency expects multiyear budget deficit
As the economy teeters at the edge of a recession, Silicon Valley’s public transit agency is weighing its options on how to weather the storm. VTA is facing a large budget shortfall over the next two years, with a roughly $868,000 deficit in 2026 that’s expected to balloon to $14.9 million in 2027. Without tightening...
San Jose to dress buildings in large ads for major sports events
City officials want San Jose to reap the economic benefits from the World Cup and Super Bowl when they come to the region next year, and large-scale advertisements attached to buildings is part of the plan. The San Jose City Council has unanimously approved bringing back “supergraphic” signs to broadcast ads on buildings in downtown...
Sunnyvale ready to dip into surplus with looming federal cuts
While Silicon Valley grapples with millions of dollars in federal cuts, one city is trying to use its own money to weather the storm. The Sunnyvale City Council allocated its fiscal year 2025-26 federal grants on May 6. The city has about $383,000 from the HOME program, $1 million in Community Development Block Grant funding...
Cupertino Whole Foods closure opens door for nearby businesses
Rats shutting down a grocery store are never a good thing — unless regulars from that market end up boosting businesses in the surrounding area. The Santa Clara County Department of Environmental Health shut down the Cupertino Whole Foods at the end of April after finding rodent droppings in the receiving bay, deli, juice bar...