Today we celebrate the birthday of the visionary labor leader and community activist, Cesar Chavez. His contribution to the fight for economic and social justice for California’s farmworkers underscores the fact that we still have much to accomplish to ensure fair and safe working conditions for these workers. As our state addresses the overwhelming task...
Coronavirus: Unemployment claims skyrocket in California, local schools remain closed
Unemployment claims have skyrocketed in California as state leaders anxiously watch for what has become a contentious coronavirus stimulus bill to pass through Congress. More than 1 million unemployment claims have been filed since March 13, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday. By comparison, before the respiratory disease caused state leaders to issue a wide-reaching “stay...
Coronavirus LIVE BLOG: March 11 to March 25
Catch up on our current Coronavirus LIVE BLOG here. 9:30 p.m. March 25: State leaders push Gov. Newsom to ban evictions A group of state leaders, including Sens. Jim Beall, Scott Wiener and Assemblymen Ash Kalra and Kansen Chu, urged Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign an executive order banning all evictions during California’s State of...
Death toll rises as Santa Clara County officials plead for medical supplies
Santa Clara County has emerged as the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the Bay Area, and on Friday the contagious virus claimed two more lives in the county as more San Jose firefighters tested positive for the illness. Meanwhile, nurses across the county are pleading for donations as they face a shortage of safety...
UPDATE: Fund for Santa Clara County nurses raises nearly $600K as more first responders fall sick with coronavirus
One day after Santa Clara County nurses put out a plea for donations of medical safety supplies to protect themselves from the coronavirus pandemic, a powerful group of allies came together to answer the need. On Friday, the Silicon Valley Leadership Group announced it had launched a drive to collect money and supplies for the...
San Jose labor leaders question missing signatures after measure fails to qualify
A citywide measure to shift mayoral elections to presidential years and prohibit certain campaign contributions has failed to qualify for the November ballot, but labor leaders are questioning the process and claiming nearly 2,000 voter signatures went missing. Last month, labor officials delivered nearly 100,000 signatures to San Jose City Hall to qualify the initiative....
Mahan builds big lead in race for San Jose City Council seat
Tech leader Matt Mahan had a big lead in the San Jose City Council District 10 race after the first wave of election results were posted Tuesday evening. By the end of the night, he had 58.3 percent of the vote with 47 percent of ballots counted, far ahead of nurse and businesswoman Helen Wang,...
Chu, Lee have early lead in Santa Clara County supervisor race
As election results trickled in Tuesday night for the crowded Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors District 3 race, Assemblymember Kansen Chu and former Sunnyvale Mayor Otto Lee have the edge to advance to the November runoff. By the end of Super Tuesday, Chu secured 34.1 percent of the vote and Lee has 28.1 percent,...
Serving as county supervisor would be ‘homecoming’ for Magdalena Carrasco
Running for the Santa Clara County Supervisor seat is somewhat of a personal homecoming for Magdalena Carrasco. A San Jose councilmember since 2015, the lifelong resident has her sight set on returning to the government building she worked in for 11 years of her life as a social worker, campaigning to fill Dave Cortese’s seat...
Tiny homes community opens in San Jose
San Jose’s more than 6,000 homeless residents will have more opportunities to get off the streets and find permanent housing with the opening of 40 tiny homes in the northeast corner of the city. The first “bridge housing community” in the city provides a safe and stable place to stay and supportive services while its...