Santa Clara County is expanding resident access to life-saving prescription drugs—and helping cover the cost. County officials rallied in front of the Santa Clara Valley Healthcare Pharmacy in Mountain View Wednesday to encourage local city officials, school board members and hospital representatives to spread the word about the program. Santa Clara County launched the effort, called...
Santa Clara County sheriff corruption trial begins
The trial of Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith, who faces several charges of misconduct and perjury, began on Wednesday as the beleaguered sheriff made her way into the courtroom. In what will be the first public testimony regarding the charges, a civil grand jury charged Smith with five counts. She is accused of awarding concealed carry licenses...
‘It’s just horrendous’: Thousands of San Jose seniors face homelessness
After a year of bouncing around different homeless shelters, Ellen Rollins is getting ready to move out of interim housing and into a one-bedroom apartment in San Jose. But the move has her anxious and uncertain about managing her future. Her prospective apartment is market rate and will be covered for 10 months by Santa Clara...
San Jose housing shortage is the worst in the U.S.
San Jose’s housing crisis is the worst of any major U.S. city due to its limited supply of homes. That’s according to a recent study from Angi which says the San Jose metro area, which includes San Jose, Sunnyvale and Santa Clara is faring worse than other major metro cities like Washington D.C., San Francisco...
State funding rains on Silicon Valley cities
Three cities in Santa Clara County are receiving a windfall in state funding for a number of community projects. Assemblymember Alex Lee secured nearly $32 million for the five cities in his district—the largest allocation the area has seen, according to the elected official. San Jose received the lion’s share with $10 million to build...
Silicon Valley officials call for gun violence prevention in schools
Silicon Valley school districts and officials are pushing for new approaches to preventing gun violence, while experts question whether police on campuses add to school safety. At an event hosted as part of the House Democrats’ Gun Violence Prevention Day of Action, a number of officials including San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, Congressmember Zoe Lofgren and...
Santa Clara County to study lead levels near airport—again
Santa Clara County is planning another study of airborne lead levels around Reid-Hillview Airport after banning the sale of leaded plane fuel at the facility a year ago. Deputy County Executive David Campos told a group of East San Jose residents about the new study at a community meeting this week. This is the third study on lead levels around the the...
What San Jose should know about the new COVID vaccine
The new omicron variant booster shot may be a game changer in the fight against COVID-19. Until now, the current vaccine and boosters did not target omicron. The new booster shot is designed to be effective against omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5. The formula combines half of the original vaccine with protections that target the omicron subvariants....
Santa Clara County mental health system ‘fundamentally broken’
Since Santa Clara County declared a mental health crisis in January, little has changed to combat the problem, supervisors said in a pull-no-punches memo to County Executive Jeff Smith. Local officials are frustrated with county’s lack of progress in addressing its mental health crisis, and are demanding an acceleration of several projects—including the construction of...
UPDATE: Santa Clara County to overhaul plans for new jail
After more than a decade of planning, Santa Clara County is poised to go back to the drawing board to redesign its new jail, while criminal justice advocates call to abandon the plan altogether. The Board of Supervisors voted 3-1-1 Tuesday to pump the brakes on a plan to construct a new $689 million jail,...