San José Spotlight has won eight California Journalism Awards in the annual contest sponsored by the California News Publishers Association, including four first place honors. The yearly competition highlights the best print and digital news reporting and photography in the state. News organizations compete based on size and circulation. San José Spotlight took part in...
Panel: Lack of housing is main cause for San Jose homelessness
The lack of affordable housing, systemic racism and weak safety nets continue to be the leading causes for Silicon Valley’s homeless crisis, a panel of experts last week. Hosted by San José Spotlight and nonprofit Destination: Home as part of an event series on the issue, the Thursday panel examined the root causes of homelessness—and...
COVID boosters suggested for Santa Clara County youth
Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are recommending COVID-19 booster shots for children ages 5 to 11, time will tell whether parents take their children to get the jab. In Santa Clara County, as of May 26, about 60% of children ages 5 to 11 are vaccinated and 70% of children ages 12+...
How Silicon Valley gun rules changed after the VTA shooting
When a disgruntled employee fatally shot nine coworkers at a VTA rail yard last year, Silicon Valley officials vowed to take action. The May 26, 2021 VTA mass shooting is the deadliest gun massacre in the Bay Area’s history, where nine transit workers died from the attack. Another worker, haunted by the event, died by suicide months later. A...
Never forgotten: VTA commemorates fallen San Jose workers
The VTA community gathered Thursday to mourn workers killed in a mass shooting one year ago—and to find a path toward healing. Speaking at the Guadalupe light rail yard in downtown San Jose shortly after dawn, General Manager and CEO Carolyn Gonot addressed a group of workers and families who lost their loved ones in...
San Jose VTA faces lawsuit from family of shooting victim
One year after a disgruntled worker killed nine colleagues at the VTA rail yard in downtown San Jose, the family of one victim is suing for negligence. The family of Lars Kepler Lane filed a lawsuit Thursday against VTA, the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office and Universal Protection Service, VTA’s private security contractor. The suit, filed in...
Can San Jose’s VTA fix its broken work culture?
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...