The planet’s changing climate disturbs Suds Jain so much, he says, that more than a decade ago he retired so he could have more time to fight it. A former electrical engineer, Jain is seeking election to Santa Clara City Council’s District 5 seat, competing against retired CHP lieutenant Robert “Bob” O’Keefe. Jain has been...
Beloved San Jose museum names its first female president
The Tech Interactive — the innovative downtown San Jose museum that’s brought family-friendly STEM education to Silicon Valley since the 1980s — will soon see an innovation to its leadership. Earlier this month, the center named Katrina Stevens — the director of learning science at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative — as The Tech’s new president and CEO,...
San José Spotlight wins national Publisher of the Year award
San José Spotlight this week won the prestigious Publisher of the Year award from the Local Independent Online News (LION) Publishers, recognizing our nonprofit newsroom among the top news publications in the country. LION Publishers is an association of more than 300 independent online media operations across the U.S. “This award reaffirms why we started...
San Jose’s new city attorney fought for women to have a voice
When Nora Frimann walked into a courtroom early in her career in the 1980s, she said people assumed she was a court reporter. She went on to become a managing partner at Hoge Fenton, a leading San Jose law firm, in 1990, a time when few women practiced law, especially litigation. And now Frimann has...
‘Miles to go before I sleep:’ Teresa O’Neill seeks reelection to Santa Clara City Council
Within a span of 22 years, Teresa O’Neill has served on Santa Clara’s City Council, planning commission and school board. And she doesn’t intend to end her career in public service anytime soon. “I feel like I have accomplished a number of things, but there’s still miles to go before I sleep,” O’Neill said. The...
Santa Clara County supervisor race heats up with call for tax returns
Santa Clara County supervisorial candidate Otto Lee loaned his own campaign a staggering $460,000. Now his rival Kansen Chu wants to know if that money is clean. In a recent Facebook post, Chu demanded Lee disclose his income taxes and posted photos of his own 2019 federal tax returns. Chu, an assemblymember, challenged the the former...
Exclusive Q&A: U.S. House District 18 candidate Rep. Anna Eshoo
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, is running for re-election against Democratic challenger Rishi Kumar. Eshoo was elected to Congress in 1992 and currently chairs the Subcommittee on Health and serves on the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology. Eshoo and Kumar were recently given the opportunity to answer the same 10 questions from San...
Santa Clara council candidates, 49ers, police union point fingers over campaign donations
The San Francisco 49ers have now poured millions more into a campaign to unseat Mayor Lisa Gillmor’s allies on the Santa Clara City Council — drawing the ire of the city’s police union. The NFL team initially invested $250,000 into a PAC to help elect Anthony Becker, Suds Jain, Harbir Bhatia and Kevin Park. The...
Kevin Park pushes for more collaboration on the Santa Clara council
Santa Clara City Council hopeful Kevin Park hopes to improve collaboration in the Mission City — rather than take the limelight. Park compared his mindset to that of Los Angeles Lakers guard Alex Caruso, his favorite player on his hometown basketball team. “(Caruso’s) the engineer on the team. He’s not there to make the spotlight plays,”...
Santa Clara lawmaker calls herself environmental candidate but owns lucrative oil and coal stock
Teresa O’Neill has touted herself the environmental candidate for Santa Clara City Council but a review by this news organization found the councilmember owns up to $1.02 million in stocks in oil and coal-mining companies, according to her recent Form 700 disclosures. On her ballot statement and in various interviews, O’Neill has cited fighting climate...