Thousands of VTA riders have been stranded without public transportation for 10 days due to an ongoing union strike, and the agency’s board chair has been out of town. Social media posts show Sergio Lopez, chair of the VTA board of directors and Campbell mayor, was in Yosemite over the weekend for a policymakers conference,...
Former Silicon Valley lawmaker lands job with national PAC
A former state assemblymember who made a bid for Congress last year has found another way to enter the national arena — by heading a political action committee supporting LGBTQ+ candidates. Evan Low, who represented Assembly District 26 and previously served as Campbell mayor, is now president and CEO of LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, a federal...
Sunnyvale aims to preserve retail spaces in northern neighborhoods
Sunnyvale wants to preserve retail space in an underserved community, but the city will have to convince developers the investment is worthwhile. The Sunnyvale City Council voted unanimously Tuesday, with Councilmember Murali Srinivasan absent, to approve a retail preservation program for two aging retail centers slated to be turned into townhomes. The program would allow...
Silicon Valley faces challenges as its population gets older
Although Silicon Valley has a reputation for attracting young, tech-savvy workers, the cycle may no longer be true as statistics point toward older adults shifting the dynamic and the area being ill-equipped for the looming change. Fewer births and longer life expectancies will have Americans age 65 and up outnumbering children by 2030, according to...
North San Jose business takes hit as insurance bails
San Jose small businesses dependent on liability insurance have fallen on hard times as insurance carriers exit California or increase premiums by double digits. Laine’s Bait and Rentals, one of the most recognizable family-owned storefronts in North San Jose’s Alviso neighborhood, is one of those businesses. The mom and pop shop opened in the 1950s...
Santa Clara County cuts early education program
Santa Clara County teachers and local leaders are warning of chaos after mass layoffs have decimated a critical preschool program for families living in poverty, known as Head Start. Head Start staff received pink slips around March 15 amid uncertainty as to whether the federal program under the Trump administration will reimburse the Santa Clara...
San Jose council approves mayor’s budget plan
San Jose officials have signed off on the mayor’s plan to reallocate a majority of funding meant for affordable housing and put it toward temporary homeless shelters. The City Council voted 7- 4 in a contentious meeting Tuesday to accept Mayor Matt Mahan’s March budget message for the 2025-26 fiscal year — with the elimination...
San Jose congressmembers speak out against Medi-Cal cuts
Straight from the halls of Washington D.C., local representatives joined forces with Santa Clara County officials Tuesday to defend the most vulnerable against sweeping federal cuts they say could devastate California’s second-largest public health and hospital system. Reps. Sam Liccardo and Zoe Lofgren, from Districts 16 and 18 respectively, rallied alongside County Executive James Williams...
San Jose mayor’s proposals criminalize homelessness, advocates say
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan is taking a hardline approach in his budget plan to get homeless people off the streets. Community advocates are calling it unjust. Mahan’s upcoming 2025-26 budget message proposes several ways to tackle homelessness, including reallocating more Measure E funding toward temporary shelter, encampment services and homelessness prevention. While proponents say...
Los Gatos orchard could become townhomes
Wild mustard is in full bloom at one of Los Gatos’ last orchards, where hundreds of bare, brown walnut trees stand as remaining vestiges of the town’s agricultural past. That may soon change. San Jose-based Urban Catalyst recently submitted revised plans for a 138-townhome development to replace the orchard at 14789 Oka Road. Plans for the...