A spring concert series kicked off last week in a downtown San Jose park, and despite an ongoing lawsuit, organizers will not be deterred. Friends of Levitt Pavilion San Jose, a nonprofit, hosted its first springtime concert in St. James Park last Sunday, the latest step in establishing a permanent outdoor performance venue. The shows will...
San Jose parents demand transparency after school gun threats
San Jose Unified School District parents are terrified after the arrest of several students who brought guns to school and made threats on social media to shoot classmates. At a Wednesday safety meeting at Herbert Hoover Middle School that went late into the night, distraught parents gathered to demand immediate action and transparency from the...
San Jose officials want to stop shady politics
San Jose is on a path to close an election loophole that former Mayor Sam Liccardo and his right-hand man used to raise more than $1.5 million to fill seats on the City Council. The city is looking to prohibit elected officials and their staff from working on political action committees (PACs) that raise money for local...
UPDATE: San Jose officials challenge mayor’s housing plan
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan’s controversial plan to divert millions of dollars away from affordable housing is being challenged—this time by his own colleagues. Now, the mayor is trying to get ahead of his plan being thwarted with a new spending plan. San José Spotlight obtained an early draft of a budget document being released...
San Jose youth art gallery needs new home
After years without a space of its own, a youth art studio finally found a gallery location. But at the end of May everything has to come down. And for now, there’s nowhere to go. Julie Stover founded the nonprofit ArtHouse Studio, originally known as ArtHouse Kids, more than 20 years ago as a way...
San Jose collects developer fees, but slow to replace trees
San Jose is set to receive a considerable amount of cash to replace several hundred trees that will be ripped up to make way for two industrial developments. Roughly $1.1 million in tree fees will be paid by two developers that will more than double the current amount in the city’s tree removal coffers. As the...
‘Did a gun go off?’: San Jose school district parents want answers
Livid parents want answers why students with loaded guns are showing up on the campuses of Willow Glen High and Hoover Middle schools in the San Jose Unified School District. Last Wednesday, two school resource officers arrested a Willow Glen High School student who walked onto campus armed with a loaded ghost gun and knife. The...
First candidate enters San Jose District 2 race
South San Jose is where resident Babu Prasad raised his children, established his first business and bought his first house. Now it’s where he’s running for office to continue serving his community. Prasad announced his run for the San Jose City Council District 2 seat on Sunday. He hopes to replace current Councilmember Sergio Jimenez, who leaves office in 2024 after two...
San Jose shrinks in population and desirability
San Jose has dropped down to the 12th most populated city nationwide following an exodus of residents during the peak of the pandemic—but it continues to rank as one of the top 15 best places to live in the country. Residents said there’s a disconnect. The city’s population has dropped from 1,014,545 residents in April...
San Jose casinos could lose a big bet
A San Jose ballot measure on gambling is turning into a one-way benefit and none of it’s going to the casinos as originally intended. San Jose voters approved Measure H in 2020, allowing the city’s two casinos—Bay 101 and Casino M8trix—to add more tables in exchange for paying higher taxes. Since the measure passed, the...