There are now 20 vaccination clinics across Santa Clara County, with several new sites opening within just the past week. San José Spotlight has created an interactive map to show where eligible residents can get their vaccines. Santa Clara County is continuing to open new sites in communities hardest hit by COVID-19, including Gilroy and East San Jose. Each...
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Santa Clara County has an optimistic outlook post-COVID-19, board leader says
Despite the past year’s 1,700-plus COVID-19 deaths, gaping budget shortfalls and widespread job loss, Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors President Mike Wasserman sees light at the end of the tunnel. In his first State of the County address earlier this month, Wasserman called for unity and preparedness for a post-pandemic world and made an...
Good Samaritan Hospital CEO resigns following COVID-19 vaccine scandal
Weeks after a scandal involving inappropriate COVID-19 vaccine distribution, Good Samaritan Hospital’s top administrator is stepping down and leaving the hospital’s parent company, San José Spotlight has learned. The hospital’s CEO, Joe DeSchryver, submitted his resignation Tuesday morning, telling staff in an email that he would no longer be with the hospital’s parent company, HCA...
San Jose leaders to give housing developers a break on park fees
Desperate to see more housing built in San Jose, lawmakers voted unanimously Tuesday to give developers a break on fees at the expense of local parks. Housing developers are required to either add parks and community centers into their project plans or pay a fee to the city that will go toward supporting parks in...
San Francisco 49ers consult medical experts to bring fans back to Levi’s Stadium
The San Francisco 49ers launched a medical advisory team aimed at reopening Levi’s Stadium to fans during the COVID-19 pandemic. The team says the committee, made up of several prominent Bay Area health officials, will make safety recommendations that will allow for the return of fans to Levi’s Stadium. While the committee’s findings are right...
More parks, housing? Google, San Jose to release agreement
In exchange for building a mega campus in downtown San Jose, Google promised to support the community. On March 8, the city will reveal exactly what that means when an agreement months in the making becomes public. But will the agreement live up to its stated objectives—protecting residents, businesses and open space from the impact of 20,000 new Googlers...
COVID-19 pushes Santa Clara County dropout rate up
Distance learning has led to an increase in students dropping out of high school in Santa Clara County. The 2021 Silicon Valley Index, released by nonprofit Joint Venture Silicon Valley’s Institute for Regional Studies, showed this was especially true for homeless youth, English-language learners, Hispanic and low-income students. Rachel Massaro, vice president and director of...
New hate task force in Santa Clara County launches as incidents rise across country
San Jose Councilmember Maya Esparza knows first hand the pain of losing a loved one to hate violence. Her 6-year-old nephew, Stephen Romero, was killed at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in 2019. The gunman appeared to have ties to white supremacist ideology. Now, Esparza is leading Santa Clara County’s first ever hate crime task force...
San Jose commission mulling ‘strong mayor’ plan stresses equity in outreach
After three meetings, a new San Jose commission tasked with reshaping San Jose’s governance has not yet dug into switching to a strong mayor system — the main reason the commission was formed. The city’s Charter Review Commission is tasked with helping the San Jose City Council decide whether the mayor should have more power...