This year was daunting for Silicon Valley leaders and their efforts to confront homelessness. Actions to stem the growing tide of people falling into homelessness were threatened by federal and state funding cuts, on top of a record number of people losing their housing, driven by rising costs. Santa Clara County and San Jose leaders...
Fligor has large lead in Santa Clara County assessor race
Early results show Los Altos Vice Mayor Neysa Fligor leading by a large margin in Tuesday’s runoff election to decide Santa Clara County’s next chief property taxer. As of 9:22 p.m. Tuesday, Fligor has 65.7% of the vote with 108,556 votes, while former Saratoga Councilmember Rishi Kumar has 34.2% with 56,617 votes. Voter turnout in...
Palo Alto affordable housing project begins to welcome tenants
An affordable housing project on Charleston Road in Palo Alto that is meant to support adults with developmental disabilities is finally welcoming tenants to the building, and expects to fill all of the apartments later this month. The 50 apartments that have been built at 525 E. Charleston Road are being rented out at below market rate,...
San Jose businesses seek economic strength in numbers
San Jose’s local businesses have faced a whirlwind of economic shocks in recent years. A growing number of small business owners want to find their footing by banding together through the formation of new business improvement districts. The City Council on Dec. 16 advanced proposals for two such districts — one covering the Alum Rock-Santa...
Time is running out in San Jose Viet Museum dispute
San Jose community leaders have until Wednesday to end a battle for control of the Viet Museum at History Park, or they’ll be iced out of managing the cultural landmark for good. Community members have been fighting over who has legitimate authority over the Immigrant Resettlement and Cultural Center, the nonprofit that operates the museum....
Mountain View and school district aim to fix crumbling creek banks
The city of Mountain View is partnering with the Mountain View Whisman School District to fix a treacherous stretch of Stevens Creek, where extensive erosion of the creek bank has threatened to encroach upon both the Stevens Creek Trail and a nearby school campus. Mountain View Whisman’s board voted unanimously on Thursday, Dec. 18, to commit $990,000...
2025 in review: San Jose Little Saigon at a crossroads
San Jose’s Vietnamese community sees no shortage of milestones, activism and political drama every year — 2025 was no exception. Little Saigon’s iconic community gathering space – a commercial plaza known as Vietnam Town – is facing a reckoning. The death of a beloved immigrant pioneer has prompted new urgency, from leaders he mentored, to...
San Jose historic Mineta home sold to church honors its legacy
The historic home of San Jose’s first Asian American mayor now belongs to a local church with deep roots in Japantown’s community. Wesley United Methodist Church purchased the childhood home of Norman Yoshio Mineta last summer and spent the last year and half renovating the nearly 100-year-old house. The Mineta house, which sits across the...
San Jose adds AI tools to its disaster tactics
San Jose faces a wide array of disaster risks — everything from wildfires to floods and mass shootings — each of which poses its own difficult questions for emergency management officials tasked with leading the city’s evacuation efforts. But those emergency planners will soon get a high-tech assist in these life-or-death calls from a cutting-edge,...
2025 in review: Silicon Valley’s biggest stories
It was a transformational year for Silicon Valley. A county assessor’s 30-year reign came to an end. Two city leaders were sentenced in court. Superintendent firings and mass layoffs rocked a host of local schools. And a judge brought an end to a historic transit labor strike. But for each chapter that was closed this...