A large South San Jose homeless shelter will be converted to permanent supportive housing following complaints from neighbors over crime and safety. The City Council on March 17 approved converting 1 Branham Lane — a 168-apartment, three story complex plagued with structural and managerial issues — from temporary shelter into permanent housing. The modular housing site...
San Jose’s largest school district closes five schools
Hundreds of parents sat anxiously and silently as they waited for five board members in San Jose’s largest school district to determine the fate of their children’s future — and then the room erupted with “shame on you.” The San Jose Unified School District voted 3-2 Thursday to close five schools next school year, following...
Campbell council picks new vice mayor after restaurant incident
Campbell has a new vice mayor after the City Council removed the title from one councilmember in the wake of alleged inappropriate behavior at a local restaurant. The City Council on Tuesday unanimously voted to appoint Councilmember Anne Bybee as vice mayor after Elliot Scozzola, who represents District 4, was removed from the position at...
Cupertino residents say housing project sits in risky wildfire zone
A controversial housing development in Cupertino is heading toward potential approval, as city officials weigh state housing mandates against resident concerns about wildfire risk and evacuation safety. The Planning Commission in February voted 3-2 to recommend the city move forward with a 51-townhome project on a 2.5-acre site along Linda Vista Drive — to the...
San Jose deadlocked on divesting from companies with ICE ties
Despite growing calls for San Jose to divest public funds from certain companies, the City Council has decided to hold off — for now — on making any major changes to the city’s investment portfolio. The decision Tuesday came as a setback to supporters of a proposal that would have seen the city gradually phase...
Google unveils historic restoration of Hangar One in Mountain View
Once reduced to a skeletal frame, a massive landmark visible from U.S. Highway 101 has been restored to its original form minus the toxic chemicals that made it too dangerous to inhabit for decades. Spearheaded by Google’s Planetary Ventures, the historic restoration of Hangar One impressed local officials who gathered at Moffett Field in Mountain View on...
UPDATE: San Jose prepares to strip public tributes to Cesar Chavez
San Jose leaders are advancing plans to start scrubbing late labor leader Cesar Chavez’s name from the city following recent allegations of abuse. The San Jose Rules and Open Government Committee on Wednesday unanimously approved moving forward with the early stages of taking Chavez’s name off city-owned sites, such as Plaza de Cesar Chavez in...
Silicon Valley congressional race grapples with integrity
Integrity has become the theme of Silicon Valley’s hottest congressional race between Rep. Ro Khanna and his challenger, Ethan Agarwal, who’s ripped into Khanna over family ties to stock trading. Yet questions are emerging about Agarwal’s own past as a tech company founder — dogged by millions of dollars in legal debts, defaulted payments and...
New South Bay power substation to be built at existing site
Environmental advocates are claiming victory in a two-year fight to keep an energy substation away from wildlife corridors in the stretches of open space south of San Jose known as Coyote Valley. The California Public Utilities Commission voted unanimously March 19 to allow LS Power Grid California to construct a transmission line and terminals at...
San Jose airport unaffected by TSA lines or ICE
As travelers experience chaos, lines trailing around terminals and federal immigration agents in major airports across the country, San Jose Mineta International Airport remains calm and void of agents. Travelers breezed through security lines in San Jose Monday as President Donald Trump ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to more than a dozen major airports, including Houston’s...