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The state of Silicon Valley is grim when it comes to equity and equality. The 2022 Silicon Valley Index report found that while jobs are back to pre-pandemic levels in the region, income inequality widened, inflation skyrocketed and housing prices soared. Officials from Joint Venture Silicon Valley, a group that analyzes regional issues affecting the economy...
State water rules fail to make a splash in Santa Clara County
In an effort to combat one of the worst droughts in California’s history, state regulators adopted new emergency conservation laws this year, but they won’t make a big splash in the South Bay. The State Water Resources Control Board adopted the new emergency regulations in January. According to the National Weather Service, San Jose experienced...
Santa Clara County expands homeless prevention services, lacks housing
Two years after adopting a multi-prong plan to address the growing homelessness crisis in Silicon Valley, Santa Clara County and San Jose are making some headway. But advocates and officials say the work is far from finished. Since January 2020, Santa Clara County has cut the number of people falling into homelessness annually by more...
Silicon Valley lawmakers want to update public meeting law
California legislators want to change the rules for public meetings following the harassment of local officials in Los Gatos last year. State Sen. Dave Cortese and Assemblymember Evan Low introduced a bill Wednesday to update the Brown Act. The law, created in 1953, governs conduct at public meetings of legislative bodies. Cortese says the law mostly focused...
Santa Clara County wants to close the digital divide
Santa Clara County policymakers are reaffirming their commitment to give tens of thousands of residents faster, more reliable internet. During Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, county officials promised to issue a draft master plan no later than November for closing the digital divide in the county and expanding broadband internet service to unserved and underserved residents. Supervisors...
Santa Clara County sees mixed reaction to mask mandate
While California’s indoor mask mandate expired earlier this week, Santa Clara County is likely weeks away from lifting its own requirement, drawing mixed reactions from residents and business owners. “I think it’s dumb,” Chris Nuland, who works in a San Jose preschool, told San José Spotlight while wearing a mask. “The mandate is a little...
Santa Clara County to support kids who lost parents to COVID-19
Santa Clara County will offer additional support to children who lost a parent or caregiver to COVID-19. The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved creating a program to identify and support county youth who lost parents or guardians to the virus. The board also directed county officials to come up with options to expand wellness centers...
Report warns of worsening wealth gap in Silicon Valley
The wealth gap is growing worse in Silicon Valley, and nearly half of children in the region are in households struggling to get by. Officials from Joint Venture Silicon Valley, a group that analyzes regional issues affecting the economy and quality of life, highlighted these bleak findings and more at a Tuesday news briefing. Joint...
Silicon Valley jail workers say short staffing led to attack
Staffing shortages at Santa Clara County’s main jail partly caused by COVID-19 may have created conditions that allowed for an inmate assault on a deputy in early January. Details about the attack are murky because the Sheriff’s Office will not release records of the assault. However, a sheriff employee did confirm the main jail was significantly short-staffed...
San Jose transit agency investigating toxic culture, workers say
Allegations about toxic work culture are surfacing again at VTA—this time in its customer service department. Current and former VTA workers told San José Spotlight a customer service manager, Combiz Khatiblou, was put on paid administrative leave last month and that an investigation is pending. Current and former employees claim Khatiblou contributed to a hostile...