The long-awaited rollout of the new generation of the Clipper Card payment system started Wednesday, with Bay Area travelers now able to pay for public transit trips more efficiently and conveniently. Clipper will transition the individual cards of passengers over the next 12 weeks with new features that will allow people to instantly add money...
Silicon Valley’s wealthiest skip their own backyard
Silicon Valley’s wealthiest residents are steering billions of dollars to national and global causes instead of investing in their own backyard — a trend that’s persisted for at least five years. The region’s richest donated $1.52 billion to philanthropy this past year, according to a recent report from the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. But just...
Hundreds of Santa Clara County families face displacement
Santa Clara County has helped thousands of families secure permanent housing over the past several years. Yet homelessness continues to rise, and the end of a federal program that houses many families threatens the county’s progress. In 2021, the county launched the “Heading Home” campaign to reach “functional zero” of homeless families by 2025, or...
County assessor candidate earns support of San Jose mayor
As the race to become Santa Clara County assessor enters its last lap, leaders of Northern California’s largest city are all in on candidate Neysa Fligor. San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and the City Council have endorsed Fligor in the race to succeed former longtime Assessor Larry Stone, who resigned in July and kicked off...
Homelessness no longer top issue for Bay Area residents
The number of Californians who are “very concerned” about homelessness has plummeted below 30% over the last six years. The percentage of Bay Area residents who are “very concerned” about the presence of homeless people in their community has dropped from 63% in 2019 to 28% in 2025, according to annual surveys conducted by the...
Campbell sales tax among highest in state after Measure A
Santa Clara County’s hospital lifeline sales tax increase won’t affect Silicon Valley residents equally. The temporary five-eighths-cent increase, approved by voters last month as Measure A, will bring the sales tax rate to 10% or higher in three cities where voters have already approved existing local tax measures: Milpitas, Campbell and San Jose. Los Gatos...
Santa Clara County may shake up volunteer disaster aid efforts
Santa Clara County wants to make changes to the region’s disaster aid pipeline — raising alarms for the nonprofit that has run it for decades. Emergency resource leaders are scratching their heads at the county’s efforts to restructure the region’s state-recognized Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster. The network of community groups is managed by Collaborating Agencies Disaster Relief Effort (CADRE),...
Santa Clara County sues over federal housing grant changes
Santa Clara County and a coalition of 10 other local governments and nonprofits are filing a lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s administration for upending federal grants for permanent housing. The lawsuit, filed Monday, alleges changes the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has made to federal Continuum of Care grants are unlawful and...
Silicon Valley properties part of Greystar $7M rent increase settlement
Greystar, the largest landlord in the U.S. with multiple major properties in Silicon Valley, has reached a $7 million settlement in an antitrust lawsuit that alleges the property management company colluded with competitors to drive up rent prices, according to a recent news release from California Attorney General Rob Bonta. The settlement is part of an ongoing lawsuit filed...
Silicon Valley candidate’s lofty campaign ideas scrutinized
Santa Clara County assessor candidate Rishi Kumar is turning heads — and raising eyebrows — with a vow to shield older adults from property taxes. Some people are pushing back on the idea. After the abrupt resignation of the county’s 30-year former assessor, Larry Stone, a special contest to manage the county’s $700 billion real estate roll...