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Faced with an uptick in homeless deaths amid the pandemic, city leaders expanded shelter services for San Jose’s unhoused residents. The San Jose City Council on Jan. 12 unanimously adopted a $11.3 million expenditure plan for its Homeless, Housing, Assistance and Prevention Program, which provides homeless outreach and shelter services citywide. The budget approval allows the city...
Ten new state laws Santa Clara County residents should care about
In 2020, California was blindsided by the coronavirus pandemic, unprecedented calls for racial equality and devastating wildfires. The year’s turbulence led to many new laws. Business-related laws include an increase in minimum wage, extended family leave and additional COVID-19 regulations. Others focus on equity, criminal justice and police reform. Of the hundreds of new laws...
VTA plans to run more buses on seven routes so it doesn’t leave so many people behind
Santa Clara Valley Transit Authority is going to run some bus lines more frequently so fewer passengers get left behind. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the transit agency has been requiring passengers to be spaced six feet apart on its buses and light rail cars. Doing so, though, has limited the capacity of its vehicles,...
‘The war has begun’: Silicon Valley official called to resign over Facebook posts
Silicon Valley leaders are demanding a local Republican elected official resign following a series of Facebook posts inciting violence Wednesday, just as a pro-Trump mob took over the U.S. Capitol in a dangerous attempt to overturn the election. Phil Reynolds, who is an elected member of the Santa Clara County Republican Party’s Central Committee, publicly...
San Jose residents largely aren’t thrilled with living here
When asked to rate life in San Jose, residents still largely give it a “meh” or worse. A plurality of residents — 42% — rate the quality of life in the city as just “fair” and another 16% rates it as “poor,” according to a recent report. Those ratings are essentially unchanged from the previous...
Cultural competency at center for new San Jose spokeswoman
As the need for information is heightened during the pandemic, San Jose has selected a new leader to communicate with the public from City Hall. Carolina Camarena — San Jose’s public information manager and emergency public information co-lead since July — will serve as director of communications for City Manager Dave Sykes. She replaces former...
San Jose congressmember recounts terrifying attack on Capitol
WASHINGTON, D.C — Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren first realized lawmakers could be in danger as she watched security at the U.S. Capitol whisk House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to safety on Wednesday afternoon. It was no surprise thousands of Trump supporters had descended on Washington D.C. in the hopes of overturning the presidential election. They had discussed...
Alum Rock school district appoints new trustee
After its newly-elected trustee ditched the job before taking office, the Alum Rock Union School District selected a replacement — Minh Pham. The district’s four sitting trustees voted unanimously to accept Pham as their fifth member late Thursday night. “While we had two good candidates, Mr. Pham’s depth and breadth of experience made him the better...
Racism and hypocrisy: San Jose activists react to police response to pro-Trump mob
As a pro-Trump mob scaled walls, smashed windows, looted lawmakers’ offices and pointed their weapons inside the U.S. Capitol, they faced little resistance from police. The stark difference between how law enforcement largely stood by as the mostly white insurrectionists destroyed public property and how they wore full riot gear in response to Black Lives Matter...
San Jose chef starts meal program to help restaurants, hungry residents
When chef Rodney Baca and his wife Madelyn saw how the COVID-19 pandemic was ravaging their community and small business owners, the philanthropic duo decided to help fellow restaurateurs, restaurant workers and food suppliers. “The inspiration came from not allowing any more of us to go down if I could help it,” said chef Rodney...