San Jose

San Jose

With federal settlement, San Jose State promises to better protect students

San Jose State University is promising major changes to how it handles claims of sexual misconduct and discrimination following a federal settlement of a decades-long sex abuse scandal in its athletics department. The university will pay $1.6 million to female student-athletes sexually harassed by an athletic trainer named Scott Shaw, the U.S. Department of Justice announced...

UPDATE: San Jose committee recommends mental health, gun safety proposals

Nine people died at a May mass shooting at VTA’s Guadalupe light rail yard. A new proposal from a San Jose councilmember wants to make sure another tragedy doesn’t happen again. Councilmember Raul Peralez unveiled a sweeping plan Wednesday aimed at evaluating workplace culture among city employees and reducing gun violence. Peralez wants the city...

San Jose unveils new goals to solve homelessness

San Jose aims to cut its homeless population by 20% by the end of next year through a new initiative to provide more housing and job stability. Mayor Sam Liccardo, joined by Councilmembers Sergio Jimenez, Dev Davis and Pam Foley, announced a plan called “Compassionate and Clean San Jose” Wednesday that would triple the number...

How do new state laws affect San Jose’s Opportunity Housing?

San Jose was considering a bold strategy to densify housing when a state law effectively abolished single-family zoning across California. Proponents claim the local vision is far from dead. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bills 9 and 10 into law last week that could dramatically increase housing density in residential neighborhoods by allowing the development of up...

San Jose Speaks: A conversation with Superintendent of Schools Mary Ann Dewan

San José Spotlight hosted an exclusive conversation with Santa Clara County Superintendent of Schools Mary Ann Dewan in the final installment of our San Jose Speaks series, which features interactive conversations with South Bay leaders, influencers and decision makers. Dewan discussed how schools are recovering from COVID-19, bringing children back safely to campuses, policing in...

Neighbors decry safe parking site for San Jose homeless

A coalition of San Jose residents are fuming that their elected leader left them out of discussions about a safe parking site for homeless individuals in their neighborhood. An empty parking lot in North San Jose just south of Highway 237 holds at least four RVs and four unhoused residents after close to 70 people were swept from an encampment...

Peralez and Chavez face off in San Jose mayor forum

Two longtime labor leaders faced the first test in their mayoral aspirations Monday—though only one of them has actually announced a campaign for mayor. Downtown Councilmember Raul Peralez, who announced he’s running for the city’s top political job in April, faced off with Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez during a Democratic mayoral candidate forum....

San Jose councilmember proposes prefab housing for homeless

San Jose Councilmember Matt Mahan has a solution to help end homelessness: Prefabricated homes on public land. That’s the proposal the District 10 councilmember will bring before the city’s Rules Committee on Wednesday. He hopes San Jose and Santa Clara County can identify sites to build prefabricated units, or housing that can be assembled quickly off-site while a foundation is being...

Why can’t San Jose solve its homelessness crisis?

Despite decades of robust efforts and hundreds of millions of dollars spent, San Jose’s homelessness crisis continues to grow—leaving residents, officials and advocates frustrated. For some unhoused residents in Columbus Park, the largest encampment in San Jose, the solution to their problem is simple: Give them housing. “Everybody out here wants to live in a home,” said...