Our country is at a crucial point, and the impact will be deeply felt in our schools. The path our schools have journeyed over recent years has been rocky and inconsistent at best, and the road ahead will pose even greater challenges and risks. Hopefully, we won’t have to go over the cliff before we...
Ex-San Jose councilmember sentenced to 18 years for child molestation
Disgraced former San Jose Councilmember Omar Torres has been sentenced to 18 years in prison after pleading ‘no contest’ to child molestation charges in April — a final turn in the shocking saga that rocked City Hall and Silicon Valley’s political scene. Torres listened, while his family looked on, as Superior Court Judge Cynthia Sevely...
NBC Bay Area: Fire scorches vacant MACSA building in San Jose
A three-alarm fire destroyed the vacant former MACSA youth center in San Jose early Friday. At about 1 a.m., San Jose firefighters responded to a large fire at the vacant building at 600 Sinclair Drive in the city’s Mayfair district, officials said. Fire officials told NBC Bay Area the building was fully involved when they...
Silicon Valley child care program boosts businesses
At a time when Santa Clara County is grappling with a lack of child care and day care centers are struggling to stay afloat, one program is giving providers the support they need to prosper. Last August, San Jose gave $1 million to Upwards for its Boost program to help child care centers streamline their...
San Jose pulls out all the stops for 2026 sports bonanza
With major sports events bringing worldwide attention to Silicon Valley in 2026, San Jose is preparing to host a global audience and dazzle its residents. City leaders are pulling out all the stops to ensure San Jose get the recognition and economic benefits as it hosts a slate of sports events, including the Super Bowl...
Santa Clara County scores millions for affordable housing project
Gov. Gavin Newsom has awarded three California communities millions of dollars for affordable housing — and Santa Clara County hit the jackpot. The Algarve Apartments received $40 million in state Project Homekey+ funding to begin construction on the $79 million project in San Jose. When completed in October 2027, the development will provide 90 apartments...
Collins: What are the largest hurdles facing homebuyers in today’s market?
As homebuyers enter the Santa Clara County real estate market, they face numerous challenges in finding a property. Elevated mortgage rates, coupled with rising home prices, have put tremendous pressure on buyers’ budgets. In July, the median price of a single-family home in Santa Clara County was $1,880,000, up 1% from a year ago, while...
Fired-up Newsom shares his pitch for a Democratic turnaround
An animated Gavin Newsom on Wednesday shared his pitch for how to turn around the Democrats’ brand and better oppose President Donald Trump’s administration, identifying the party’s ailments with a one-word diagnosis. “At the end of the day, to me, the essence of the challenges of the party is weakness,” the California governor told Politico...
Fines to skyrocket for San Jose blighted property owners
San Jose leaders are raising the maximum daily fines for absentee landowners whose properties attract blight and crime — an aggressive signal that one official says makes the city’s penalties some of the highest in the state. The City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved raising daily penalties from $2,500 to a maximum of $20,000 for...
Controversial Santa Clara County dam expansion scrapped
One of Valley Water’s most controversial and costly projects has been shelved indefinitely. The water district’s board of directors unanimously voted Tuesday to suspend the Pacheco Dam expansion project after eight years, which would have brought the dam’s water capacity from 5,500 acre feet of water to 140,000 acre feet of water. Directors cited the...