“Happy Thanksgiving, God bless, and let’s eat!” a man declared before a line of people waiting for food. “Amen!” they shouted in response. Hundreds of people lined up on Thanksgiving Day to receive food from local nonprofits during a year that’s left residents reeling from a global pandemic, restrictive health orders and economic fallout. “We...
Matt Mahan prepares to take office as new District 10 councilmember
While dozens of local candidates battled it out in November, Matt Mahan quietly prepared to move into his council office and take the reins from termed-out Councilmember Johnny Khamis. The new Almaden Valley councilmember handily won his election in March and has since sat in on District 10 meetings to pick up where Khamis left...
Who’s serving free Thanksgiving meals in San Jose?
At least five churches and local nonprofits are serving Thanksgiving meals around San Jose this week with the help of individual donations and local food banks, such as Second Harvest of Silicon Valley. “Second Harvest acquires food through a number of different sources, some donated, some purchased, and then distributes it out into neighborhoods throughout...
San Jose invests in wind energy from New Mexico
By the end of 2021, thousands of San Jose homes will be powered by renewable wind energy — generated by a fleet of turbines 1,000 miles away in New Mexico. Since its launch in 2019, San Jose Clean Energy, the city’s electricity supplier, has invested in renewable energy such as solar and battery storage but the new...
South Bay lawmaker, water company donate Thanksgiving gift cards for needy families
Like many of this year’s holiday traditions, Thanksgiving food events, donation stations and canned food drives have taken a hit due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s put a wrench into dozens of free turkey drives this holiday season as charities scramble to figure out socially distanced ways to serve low-income communities and communities of color. And as Silicon...
A look inside San Jose’s Office of Racial Equity
Five months ago at the height of Black Lives Matter protests, San Jose leaders created a racial equity office, a proposal that was shot down just two years earlier. Some critics, including civil rights leaders from Silicon Valley De-Bug, said lawmakers created the office to pacify protesters demanding the city defund the police. They said...
San Jose talks campaign finance after dramatic and costly election
As San Jose winds down from a feisty and expensive election season, Councilmember Sergio Jimenez asked lawmakers to rethink campaign finance regulations to help restore public trust in local government. “We’ve seen an astonishing amount of money spent on negative, divisive and often — as we all recall — misleading or outright false advertisements,” Jimenez...
Silicon Valley Turkey Trot goes virtual for 16th annual race
Thanksgiving Day in Silicon Valley means more than family dinners, touch football and volunteering. For the past 15 years, families across the Bay Area have flocked to downtown San Jose to participate in the Applied Materials Silicon Valley Turkey Trot. This year, the race is taking another page from 2020: it’s going virtual. Since its...
Watch: A live chat with VTA General Manager Nuria Fernandez
The need for reliable public transportation has never been greater, especially amid the pandemic. Valley Transportation Authority, the South Bay’s largest transit agency, is on the edge of transformation with several critical projects — such as BART to San Jose and a light rail extension to Eastridge — while grappling with unprecedented budget challenges. What...
South Bay Latinx community starts push for immigration reform in Biden administration
While President-elect Joe Biden plans how to meet the challenges facing the nation, San Jose’s Latinx community is creating a strategy for immigration reform. The Si Se Puede Collective will be asking local officials to sign a list of demands, which include a pathway to citizenship for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, ending...