One of the great pleasures of compiling stories for The Biz Beat is meeting remarkable restaurant owners and soaking up their enthusiasm. Having the chance to stand in a corner of a kitchen and watch them prepare their dishes is a joy and an education. Their stories are diverse, from those who learned recipes by...
Major Silicon Valley developments to watch in 2024
In 2023, San Jose and Silicon Valley’s development scene faced numerous challenges, including increasing costs due to inflation and spiked interest rates making financing projects of all kinds more difficult and expensive. While development approvals continued at a rapid pace, many projects are on hold or being changed or resized to cut costs, office space...
Will demographics dictate Silicon Valley’s next congressmember?
The race to replace Rep. Anna Eshoo is one of the most contested and closely watched elections of the season. With less than 50 days before voting begins, the district’s demographics may show which candidates have an advantage. Since Eshoo announced her retirement in November, more than a dozen politicos jumped at the once in...
Embattled Silicon Valley chief gets warm send off from boss
The top investigator at the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office, who was found to have made discriminatory remarks against co-workers and others, has retired and received a glowing review by his boss. In a Tuesday email to all staff, a copy of which was reviewed by San José Spotlight, District Attorney Jeff Rosen praised Moises...
San Jose avoids flooding with recent rain
This year’s winter may not be deluging San Jose in atmospheric rivers, but officials are still preparing for another wet season. San Jose just experienced its first heavy rainfall of the season, receiving between one-half inch to 1.5 inches of rain over the past three days, according to the National Weather Service. During this time,...
Santa Clara reserves fall short of revenue needs
Santa Clara’s budget deficit has shrunk dramatically, but city officials warn that new tax strategies are necessary to build up long-suffering coffers. City officials told the Santa Clara City Council this month the $27 million deficit has dropped to about $9 million. But to maintain this downward trend, city employees recommended some adjustments to the...
Here’s who’s running for San Jose City Council and mayor
In about three months, San Jose residents will go to the ballot box to pick their next councilmembers and mayor. While the city’s top seat is up for grabs, most of the money and focus will be on council races this election season. Half of the San Jose City Council’s seats—all the even-numbered districts—are up...
How Sunnyvale tackles its biggest issues
Sunnyvale’s process for proposing new policies is complex, so we’re breaking it down step by step. Sunnyvale’s “study issue” and “budget proposal” process is how the city sets new city policies and services, respectively. The city uses this process to allocate employee responsibilities and budgetary resources, and each proposed project is ranked by priority. Those...
San Jose animal shelter deaths hit five-year high
Advocates and San Jose officials can agree on one thing: the conditions in the city’s animal shelter are harrowing. That’s how the situation for San Jose Animal Care and Services is described in an annual report for fiscal year 2022-23, which found that while the city is taking in less animals, more animals died this...
Hundreds died on Silicon Valley streets this year
San Jose and Santa Clara County have spent decades and millions of dollars trying to end homelessness, and while some progress has been made, thousands remain on the street each night—and hundreds die each year. In 2023, 201 unhoused people died on county streets, a number officials say is a grim reminder of a failure...