Legislation to streamline homeless housing development is making its way through the state Senate. State Sen. Josh Becker has introduced Senate Bill 1395 to speed up the time it takes to build temporary housing in California. Becker is gathering support for his proposed legislation and came to San Jose on Monday to share his vision...
San Jose homeless residents on Microsoft land worry about sweep
About 40 homeless people are tucked away on a small parcel of land adjacent to busy Highway 237. The encampment sits around the same location where Microsoft plans to construct two data centers in San Jose near the Milpitas border. The unhoused residents said a Caltrans worker tipped them off to a looming sweep. Officials...
Fact check: Did Omar Din create 200 homeless shelters?
Residents are questioning claims in a recent campaign ad from state Assembly candidate Omar Din that he helped create homeless shelters in San Jose. The advertisement asserts Din — Sunnyvale’s vice mayor and a candidate for Assembly District 26 — will prioritize public safety and includes examples of his past work, ranging from increasing funding for...
Silicon Valley ‘firing on most of its cylinders’ despite tech layoffs
Hundreds of Silicon Valley elected leaders, government officials, business groups and nonprofit workers turned out at San Jose State University on Friday for the State of the Valley conference, a one-day meeting about the region’s trends. The annual conference focuses on the plethora of data about the region in the Silicon Valley Index, an annual...
Billionaires bankroll Silicon Valley congressional candidate
From Walmart to Amazon, the world’s wealthiest corporations and billionaires are part of a multimillion-dollar effort to send a Silicon Valley political newcomer to Congress. So is a super PAC that the candidate himself created. The dizzying maze of money began in a political action committee (PAC) started by congressional candidate Peter Dixon before funneling...
Fact check: Why did Madison Nguyen move to Las Vegas?
An advertisement against Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors candidate Madison Nguyen is calling out her loyalty to the county. The mailer, paid for by the South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council, compares Nguyen, a former San Jose councilmember and vice mayor running to replace District 2 Supervisor Cindy Chavez, to one candidate it endorsed in the race...
Sunnyvale officials rank top priorities for 2024
Sunnyvale officials are prioritizing what local issues they’ll tackle this year, and topics like homelessness and transit safety are topping the list. The Sunnyvale City Council ranked its priority projects out of the 40 proposed on Feb. 15, signaling what the city will be working on — though it could take years for some to...
East San Jose needs more voting centers, leaders say
East San Jose leaders say their neighborhoods face a shortage of voting locations for the March 5 primary election — a problem worsened by language and transportation barriers. There are almost twice as many places to cast your vote in San Jose’s Council District 5, which has no local race, than in District 8 where...
Santa Clara County can’t keep up with housing its homeless residents
For every one Santa Clara County household that was housed in 2023, nearly two households became homeless, a recent report reveals. Approximately 4,297 new households experienced homelessness for the first time last year, according to the county’s year-end analysis of its 2020-25 Community Plan to End Homelessness. That’s a 24% jump from the 3,473 households...
Sunnyvale seeks bids for homeless service provider
Sunnyvale is going back to the market for homeless service providers as officials press the existing partner for results. The Sunnyvale City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a six-month contract extension to nonprofit homeless provider HomeFirst, totaling $206,710. During that time, the city plans to open submissions for other providers and have a partner picked...