In the wake of the mass shooting at a train yard in downtown San Jose last May, VTA officials promised to improve work culture to make life easier for employees. But after a year, workers say little has changed and they’re not hopeful about the future. VTA employees started publicly complaining about a toxic work culture...
Decade of violations documented at Silicon Valley cement plant
A controversial Santa Clara County cement plant has accumulated more than 2,100 violations from different regulatory agencies over the past decade, according to a new report. Supervisor Joe Simitian recently announced the county has compiled the first comprehensive list of all local, state and federal violations that took place at the Lehigh Southwest Cement property between...
Silicon Valley cities cook up new restaurant model
Families across Santa Clara County are flocking to food halls, one-stop eateries to order a variety of cuisines from local restaurants. Similar to food courts, food halls—also known as “micro kitchens”—let customers come to a storefront to order food from multiple restaurants and enjoy their meal on site. Variations on the idea are popping up...
UPDATE: Santa Clara County officials advance ghost gun ordinance
Santa Clara County officials discussed prohibiting unserialized firearms and measures to reduce gun violence locally as a mass shooting unfolded in Texas. The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday ordered its legal representative to come up with recommendations for an ordinance banning ghost guns—non-serialized firearms that can be assembled from parts or through 3D printers, making...
Santa Clara County spurs more affordable housing
Santa Clara County has seen a number of milestones in its effort to increase the affordable housing inventory this month, including a first in a decade development for North San Jose. The county and cities like San Jose and Santa Clara are racing to build more housing—especially affordable and supportive residences—to help address a housing crisis that...
Valley Fair parking fees a burden for San Jose student workers
A coalition of mall workers and San Jose State University college students are fighting to be heard at Westfield Valley Fair. On Thursday, the group known as Low Income Versus Elite protested in front of the mall on Stevens Creek Boulevard against its employee parking fee policy. For retail workers who make minimum wage, having...
Silicon Valley fire officials gear up for future blazes
For George Huang, the fire chief for Cal Fire’s Santa Clara Unit, the term “fire season” is no longer in his vocabulary. It’s now simply “the fire year.” “We are facing another terrible, terrible fire year,” Huang told San José Spotlight. As of last week, 95% of California—including Santa Clara County—was in either severe or extreme...
Silicon Valley residents could face fines for wasting water
Although Valley Water aims to educate the public on conservation, it might start issuing fines for water wasters. Residents could see water enforcers in their neighborhoods this summer, and offenders being slapped with fines up to $500 after repeated warnings. Valley Water board member John Varela said in a statement that if the statewide drought...
Santa Clara County elections office preps for June primary
Although the 2020 election was filled with fears and fallacies, Santa Clara County election officials say there is nothing to worry about here. With less than one month until the June 7 primary, several measures are in place to ensure a safe and accurate election cycle. This week the Registrar of Voters released a security report to...
UPDATE: San Jose approves ban on ghost guns
San Jose officials have signed off on a ban on homemade firearms, marking the city’s latest effort to tighten local gun control. On Tuesday, councilmembers unanimously approved an ordinance prohibiting residents from possessing, manufacturing, selling, assembling, receiving or distributing unserialized firearms and their parts. These homemade weapons are also known as ghost guns because they’re...