San José Spotlight is highlighting community members who make a difference for AAPI Heritage Month. Ellina Yin compares citizen participation in local government to putting together a piece of IKEA furniture using one of those frustrating assembly manuals that have no words. A self-trained community educator and activist, Yin wants to be the Allen wrench,...
San Jose may rethink voting method for special elections
San Jose is taking another look at ranked choice voting after the City Council rejected a proposal to adopt the idea in city elections four years ago. Amid concerns over the spiraling costs from special elections, councilmembers are considering a charter amendment that would give the city the option to use ranked choice voting in...
Palo Alto seeks ‘pro-housing’ designation after resisting growth
Palo Alto is seeking to earn a pro-housing designation from the state of California this year, a label that would mark a major shift in the way the city has responded to growing regional housing needs amid significant resident pushback to new development. If the city’s application succeeds, Palo Alto would join 74 other cities — including...
Santa Clara County Fairgrounds shifts leadership structure
After two years of uncertainty, Santa Clara County Fairgrounds leaders are gearing up to change their own governing structure, ceding more control to the county over the 165-acre public property’s future. The Fairgrounds Management Corporation board of directors on Wednesday voted unanimously to move forward with the county’s recommendations to go from five volunteer board...
Silicon Valley lawmaker favors AI tech partnerships over regulations
With artificial intelligence threatening to upend workplaces throughout Silicon Valley, the area’s representative in Congress has an idea he hopes will reduce anxieties about the revolutionary technology: nudge tech companies to take a central role in educating the workforce of the future. The tense relationship between recent college graduates and AI has been on display...
San Jose Taiko expresses Japanese American pride
San José Spotlight is highlighting community members who make a difference for AAPI Heritage Month. In a warehouse on The Alameda, San Jose Taiko members beat drums, play a bamboo flute, shake a beaded gourd, ring bells, switch positions and instruments and dance in practiced choreographed movements for hours. The group was practicing for performances...
Santa Clara County church commits funds to immigration defense
Faith leaders across Santa Clara County are committing money to immigration legal defense services as advocates warn families continue to face fear and uncertainty around detention and deportation. More than 120 donors across the Presbytery of San Jose are giving $15,000 to local immigration advocacy groups to support legal aid services for people facing deportation....
North Sunnyvale residents fight development to prevent food desert
A grassroots advocacy group in North Sunnyvale is working to stop the area from turning into a food desert. The threat of losing the area’s few remaining grocery stores to housing redevelopments at Fair Oaks Plaza and Lakewood Shopping Center has fueled residents to push city leaders and developers to find a way to preserve...
San Jose council candidates raise funds ahead of election
The latest round of campaign finance filings for the 2026 election cycle show money pouring into San Jose’s three competitive City Council races. In each case, a clear fundraising frontrunner has emerged. This cycle, the city is holding elections in its five odd-numbered council districts, though the incumbents in District 1 and 3 — Councilmembers...
Will Bay Area transit tax measure qualify for November ballot?
Transit advocates say they’ve surpassed their signature-gathering goal to put a sales tax on the November ballot, which would raise $1 billion annually for public transit service across five Bay Area counties and could save some stations from closure. Representatives for the Connect Bay Area campaign on Tuesday said canvassers gathered nearly 306,000 signatures — roughly 120,000...