A group of prominent South Bay nonprofit leaders say a meals program that feeds hundreds of thousands of local seniors a year is at risk because of contract changes with nonprofit Sourcewise. But Santa Clara-based Sourcewise, which was accused in 2016 by a county lawmaker of diverting federal funds meant for senior meals, denied accusations that the...
State proposal would drain $145M from Santa Clara County’s general fund
Santa Clara County officials said that a proposed amendment in a state bill would strip the county’s general fund of about $145 million annually, draining its budget for homeless services, supportive housing and child care among many programs if the proposal passes. “It’s the county’s core services that are most in jeopardy so we must...
South Bay leaders demand Kansen Chu resign over racially-charged remarks
Bay Area civil rights organizations joined forces Monday to call for Assemblymember Kansen Chu’s resignation in response to his “racist and hateful” comments. Condemning Chu’s comments to the Chinese language publication World Journal, Walter Wilson, a community leader from the Black Leadership Kitchen Cabinet, said leaders in Silicon Valley’s Asian, Black and Latinx communities will...
Liccardo focuses on police, inequality in San Jose’s $4.1B budget
San Jose’s $4.1 billion budget will be finalized this week, a major annual decision that comes this year in the midst of a pandemic that’s caused enormous projected deficits. But Mayor Sam Liccardo’s focus in a recently-released proposed budget was first on police reforms and inequality. Liccardo’s annual June budget proposal addresses head-on community calls...
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San Jose activists storm Liccardo’s house, call for defunding police
Sandy Sanchez was moved to tears in front of San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo’s house Friday evening. Her son, Anthony Nunez, was fatally shot by two San Jose police officers four years ago. He was 18 years old. “I received his high school diploma a year later. He was working so hard to get it,”...
BART opens in Santa Clara County after 31 years in the making
It was one of the best days of former San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales’ life. “I feel like a kid at Disneyland for the first time,” he said. But instead of riding the rollercoaster on Space Mountain, Gonzales rode the first BART train departing from San Jose — a moment 31 years in the making....
San Jose police should wear face masks in public, officials say
As the coronavirus pandemic spread across the nation this spring, police departments in major cities began requiring officers to wear masks and gloves when interacting with the public. The San Jose Police Department added a mask requirement to its COVID-19 response plan March 30. The policy reads: “Effective immediately all personnel will wear all PPEs...
San Jose got more than $200M in coronavirus aid. Now it’ll have to up its expense tracking
San Jose has led on many of the region’s coronavirus response efforts, but officials are still figuring out how to track the related costs so the city doesn’t foot the entire bill while facing a major budget shortfall. Now San Jose officials are about to hire an outside consultant to monitor and help guide how...
Santa Clara: Retired CHP lieutenant Bob O’Keefe running for City Council
Retired lieutenant Robert “Bob” O’Keefe hopes he can continue to serve and protect the people of Santa Clara — this time from a seat on the City Council. Born and raised in the Mission City, the 60-year-old retired California Highway Patrol lieutenant has joined the race for the District 5 seat, which was vacated by...
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Petition to fire San Jose police officer for actions during protests gains traction
More than 134,000 signatures have been added to an online petition calling for the firing of San Jose Police Officer Jared Yuen, after he was recorded licking his lips while holding his rubber round gun and shouting expletives at protesters May 29. Citing multiple videos of Yuen taken by bystanders on the first day of...