Good Karma Bikes, a nonprofit bike shop in Willow Glen that refurbishes donated bicycles to give away to homeless residents in San Jose, was burglarized twice this past week, just after celebrating its tenth anniversary. In the last decade, founder and CEO Jim Gardner says Good Karma Bikes has made 200,000 bicycle repairs, helped 25,000...
San Jose booted the Christopher Columbus statue, but not the holiday
More cities across the country are scrapping Columbus Day and replacing it with Indigenous Peoples’ Day to commemorate native communities who inhabited the Americas long before European explorers like Christopher Columbus arrived. But even as the trend is growing nationwide, progressively deemed cities such as San Jose are still heavily polarized on making the switch,...
San Jose: More than 40 families reunited with aging parents from Mexico
After violence in Michoacan tore his family apart, Jose Angel Mendoza was separated from his mother and hasn’t seen or spoken to her in more than two decades. But on Saturday, Mendoza and his loved ones were one of 43 families gathered in a San Jose auditorium, waiting to be reunited with his mother after nearly a...
San Jose Downtown Association meeting took an unexpected turn
A roomful of San Joseans gathered inside a church hall Friday to hear about the state of downtown amid a rapidly changing landscape from a longtime Silicon Valley leader. Instead, they got an earful about a labor-backed measure that Scott Knies, executive director of the San Jose Downtown Association, called “devious” and “duplicitous.” The initiative,...
PG&E restores power in San Jose, but city costs soar amid shutdown
After a grueling week following a statewide power outage and a countywide state of emergency, San Jose officials confirmed Thursday evening that PG&E has restored power to most residents and the city will return to normal operational hours Friday. At a news conference Thursday afternoon, Mayor Sam Liccardo said fewer than 1,500 PG&E customers in...
San Jose: What you need to know before PG&E shuts off power
In less than 24 hours, the city of San Jose expects a massive power shutdown in its East and South side neighborhoods, both areas that are populated with a growing elderly community and people of color. After last year’s brutal wildfire season and fierce backlash, PG&E is taking extra safety measures in bracing for this...
UPDATE: San Jose lawmakers add new safety restrictions for mobile food vendors
San Jose lawmakers unanimously approved new restrictions on mobile food vendors at crowded public events on Tuesday in light of a new state law, but many expressed concern about proper enforcement mechanisms over non-permitted vendors. All vendors must now stay 500 feet away from popular public events in San Jose. For years, sidewalk peddlers weren’t allowed...
San Jose taxpayers will shell out $1.4 million to fight retirees lawsuit
Fighting a lawsuit from a group of prominent San Jose retirees who say the city started shortchanging their pensions five years ago could cost San Jose taxpayers $1.4 million — and those costs could keep rising. The San Jose City Council voted in September to spend up to $1.4 million on an existing contract with law...
Poll: Majority of San Jose voters don’t support strong mayor government
Months after a poll sponsored by a business group revealed that San Jose voters favored switching to a strong mayor government, a new poll sponsored by a labor organization is suggesting the opposite. The poll, obtained by San José Spotlight, was conducted by EMC Research and found that at least 56 percent of respondents were not interested in...
Production vs. preservation: San Jose leaders split on anti-displacement
Increasingly, more families and communities of color in San Jose are struggling to stay in their homes and keep their businesses. As the city prospers amid an economic boom, vulnerable residents in low-income neighborhoods affected by a spike in development and increasing cost of living expenses are subject to higher rates of displacement in the...