Sunnyvale has been named “happiest place in the U.S.” by a SmartAsset ranking, and Mayor Larry Klein in his State of the City address laid out plans for keeping it that way. This year’s speech was themed around Sunnyvale’s safety, diversity and distinctiveness, highlighting a wide variety of topics that distinguish Sunnyvale from other cities....
‘People flee bad leadership’ in Sunnyvale’s public safety department
Retired Sunnyvale officials say police officers are leaving the once highly regarded department in droves—and they’re blaming the leadership of the chief. Chief Phan Ngo took the helm of Sunnyvale’s Department of Public Safety (DPS) in 2017 and since then nearly 30 officers have departed, according to city data through June 2023 obtained by San José Spotlight....
Moffett Park development can anchor Sunnyvale’s future
Nearly two decades ago, Sunnyvale Planning Commissioner Larry Klein helped lay out a plan to support continued growth of the city’s burgeoning Moffett Park into the major corporate office and research hub it is today. Now, Klein is the mayor, and the city is once again plotting out a vision to help revamp Moffett Park over...
Family of Sunnyvale Airbnb shooting victim speaks out
It’s been more than a year and a half since 18-year-old Elias Elhania was fatally shot at a house party in Sunnyvale, but his parents still see him in their lives. “He is with us, around us all the time. We see him around when we go shopping, we see somebody who looks like him,...
Sunnyvale Starbucks workers feel exploited
Employees of a busy Starbucks store in Sunnyvale are working to unionize, joining a growing movement by workers at hundreds of the chain’s stores pushing back on what they call unfair and exploitative conditions. Most of the 24 partners—what Starbucks calls its employees—at the store near South Mary and Fremont avenues have signed onto a letter...
Silicon Valley students stranded by shuttered schools
A popular Bay Area charter school system is closing its two Sunnyvale campuses this June despite months of attempts to save them, but parents and teachers said the ordeal is far from over. Board members from Summit Public Schools voted to shut down the middle and high schools in Sunnyvale, called Summit Denali, at a special...
Sunnyvale charter schools lack funding to stay afloat
An imminent shutdown of a Sunnyvale charter school could be the result of longtime financial issues and lack of transparency. Officials with Summit Public Schools, which runs charter schools in Washington and California, provided information to the Santa Clara County Board of Education on Wednesday about the dire financial state of its Summit Denali middle...
UPDATE: Education leaders can’t stop Sunnyvale school closure
Santa Clara County education leaders are questioning the probable closure of a charter school in June as parents scramble to find a new place for their children. The Santa Clara County Board of Education received a report Wednesday regarding Summit Denali, a charter middle and high school in Sunnyvale run by Summit Public Schools. Charter...
Thousands raised for blind and homeless Sunnyvale man
Mir Sayed’s connection to the world just got a whole lot stronger. The homeless blind and hearing-impaired senior, who spends his days listening to a radio, received a surge of community support to help him stayed housed after San José Spotlight reported about his potential eviction. The 93-year-old initially had just enough funds to stay...
Sunnyvale gets sleek new City Hall
Sunnyvale’s environmentally conscious and modern City Hall building is nearing completion. The four-story, 120,000-square-foot building is expected to produce enough clean energy to power itself, and could be ready for move-in by March. The new building is going up next to the old city hall on the 26-acre civic center property along South Mathilda Avenue...