San Jose’s projected budget deficit has been reduced by almost half since initial estimates from earlier this year, but the city still faces a growing housing crisis and major deficit next year. The City Council previewed the proposed 2025-26 budget during a budget study session Wednesday, which drops the projected budget shortfall of $60 million to $35.6 million. The...
San Jose mayor wants new police unit to arrest homeless people
More details are emerging about San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan’s plan to arrest or hospitalize homeless people for refusing offers of shelter — and the city could create a police unit to do so. Mahan presented more details about his “Responsibility to Shelter” initiative Thursday, including expanding the city’s in-house homeless outreach efforts and establishing...
San Jose fire hid drug tampering, patient exposure
San Jose firefighters raised internal alarms in 2023 about addictive painkillers that went missing from their paramedic drug inventories, and gave morphine from tampered vials to patients with traumatic injuries, according to email records obtained by San José Spotlight. The emails indicate Fire Chief Robert Sapien and city leaders knew about a firefighter drug theft...
Feds cut millions for San Jose community projects
The federal government has eliminated millions in potential funding meant for community projects in San Jose involving the Alum Rock business corridor, Happy Hollow Zoo and more. Sarah Zárate, director of intergovernmental relations for the city, told councilmembers Tuesday that even though Congressmembers Ro Khanna, Jimmy Panetta and Zoe Lofgren requested $5.5 million in federal...
San Jose park to replace historical Japanese farmhouse
San Jose has finalized the removal of a farmhouse once home to World War II Japanese internment camp survivors to make way for a huge housing development — and one official isn’t happy about it. The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a parkland agreement with Hanover Company, the developer of a 1,472-multi-family housing...
San Jose hockey arenas to get security upgrades
San Jose’s premier hockey arenas are receiving security upgrades to improve fan safety as attendance steadily increases. The City Council unanimously approved $1 million in improvements Tuesday for SAP Center and Sharks Ice at San Jose — including vehicle barriers and access controls, as well as key card access and detection systems. Of the $1 million being allocated from the...
Beloved San Jose Chinese restaurant forced to close after 28 years
Eric Diec calls every customer who walks through the doors of Chef Li a friend. He bustles around the small Chinese restaurant in West San Jose carrying pots of colorful orchids and steaming plates of garlicky string beans, stopping to chat with customers. Diec owns one of the few remaining small, family-owned restaurants in Camden...
San Jose fire chief in hot seat over drug oversight failures
To save money, San Jose leaders cut a critical fire department program last year that tracked the storage of addictive painkillers for cross-trained firefighter paramedics. Nine months later, the theft of opioids from nearly two dozen fire stations has raised concerns that patients in serious pain received tampered drugs. San Jose Fire Fighters Local 230, the...
San Jose public library fights to maintain funding amid budget woes
Library advocates say they expect to ride out the upcoming San Jose budget cycle without any major cuts. But trouble could be on the horizon, with the city projecting an ongoing shortfall over the next few years. San Jose’s Library and Education Commission learned April 16 of three anticipated public library budget cuts, which include...
San Jose’s first tiny home village on private land already half full
San Jose’s newest temporary housing site will be a litmus test as to whether using private land to build shelter will be a good model for reducing homelessness. The Via Del Oro tiny home site, which can house up to 150 people and allows pets, opened Thursday. San Francisco-based nonprofit DignityMoves built the homes on...