Starting Wednesday, masks will not be required indoors in Santa Clara County. County Public Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody announced this significant milestone during a Tuesday news conference. She said the county and the state still strongly recommend wearing masks in all indoor public spaces. “We know that as inconvenient as it may be, COVID...
Calls intensify for Silicon Valley’s Gary Kremen to resign
A growing number of elected officials and community leaders are calling for Gary Kremen to resign from public office. This comes after this news organization reported allegations about inappropriate behavior from a former staffer on his assessor campaign. Kremen, who chairs Valley Water’s board and founded Match.com, announced he was dropping out of the Santa...
Worker complaints keep rolling in at Silicon Valley transit agency
Complaints continue to crop up in VTA’s technology department, months after workers demanded an investigation into toxic work culture. A VTA manager with a history of run-ins with workers made threatening gestures toward an employee, according to a complaint filed with the agency. A complaint submitted to the public transit agency’s Office of Civil Rights...
Silicon Valley homeless tally guaranteed to be an undercount
As hundreds of volunteers went out before dawn to tally the number of people living on Silicon Valley streets this week, advocates say many are being left out of the count. The point-in-time homeless census count is part of a requirement for Santa Clara County to receive federal funding. The two-day event in Silicon Valley involves volunteers, lawmakers and advocates searching...
When will Santa Clara County ditch indoor masks?
Santa Clara County residents might be able to shed their masks indoors as soon as next week, as the county is close to hitting all metrics to ease COVID-19 restrictions. Dr. Sara Cody, the county’s public health officer, said Thursday the region is heading in the right direction, as the seven-day rolling average of new...
Volunteers scour Silicon Valley to tally homeless people
Geneva Strickland used to bounce from one street to another in North San Jose for more than six years before she found housing. On early Wednesday morning, Strickland came back to her old stomping ground with new purpose—to count the number of people who are still homeless. “I want to give back,” Strickland told San José...
Silicon Valley transit agency’s future may be falling off the rails
VTA is pondering the future of its light rail system as it considers how to replace an aging fleet of train cars. The public transit agency’s board of directors met last week to hear about the future of its light rail fleet. According to officials, VTA should replace its fleet of cars in three to...
Judge won’t seal testimony in Santa Clara County sheriff case
A San Mateo County judge has refused to seal a portion of civil grand jury testimony in a public corruption case against Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith. Judge Nancy Fineman denied a motion on Tuesday to seal testimony given by insurance broker Harpreet Chadha to a civil grand jury. The Santa Clara County District...
Nearly half of Silicon Valley children need supportive services to survive
Silicon Valley households with children are struggling to make ends meet, and the data is eye-opening. Joint Venture Silicon Valley recently released its 2022 Silicon Valley Index, shedding light on the stark challenges these families face. In Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, approximately 46% of children live in households that don’t earn enough money...
Silicon Valley’s equity grade is below flunking
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...