San Jose finance officials have hit more than 100 property owners with debt claims for failing to pay thousands of dollars for sidewalk repairs outside their homes. The City Council earlier this month approved potential penalties for 111 properties that owe a total $307,000 in mandatory sidewalk repairs as of May 8 — the number...
Tordillos grows fundraising lead ahead of San Jose special election
The special election for the District 3 San Jose City Council seat is Tuesday, with stakeholders spending their final dollars to help elect the next downtown representative. In campaign finance filings posted Monday, Planning Commission Chair Anthony Tordillos grew his lead to almost $100,000 ahead of Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley Executive Director Gabby Chavez-Lopez....
San Jose low-income families get a shot at home ownership
Four low-income families in San Jose will soon be able to purchase a home of their own. Habitat for Humanity has been renovating the historic Pallesen Apartments building, now located at the corner of Fourth and Reed streets, and will sell the condominiums to first-time buyers when the rehabilitation is complete in August. The 115-year-old...
Padilla: San Jose leaders need to be held accountable
Politics is a sector fraught with unsavory decisions, hypocrisy and many actors who make us all at some point say: How the hell did that person get into office? On this last point, we had a moment just recently in San Jose where a group of councilmembers and political staffers were caught venerating Tammany Hall,...
Santa Clara County Assessor Larry Stone resigns
Santa Clara County Assessor Larry Stone is stepping down next month after 30 years on the job. Stone, 84, announced Monday he’s leaving office July 6, well before his term ends in December 2026. He’s overseen the region’s property values for three decades, through an economic recession and pandemic. A news release from Stone’s office said...
East San Jose cultural district nets $50K grant
The School of Arts and Culture at Mexican Heritage Plaza is gearing up to launch San Jose’s first distinct cultural district. Housing Trust Silicon Valley, a nonprofit community development group, announced on June 11 it will award a $50,000 grant to the School of Arts and Culture at Mexican Heritage Plaza. As the plaza celebrated...
Cupertino all-inclusive playground welcomes everyone
Cupertino resident Alicia Schober got teary-eyed at the opening of a new, all-inclusive playground at Jollyman Park earlier this month. It would have provided another outlet for her son’s sensory needs if it had been available when he was growing up. As soon as the playground’s gate opened on June 13, children, adults and older...
San Jose landmark project dropped
Silicon Valley nonprofit leaders are going back to the drawing board after recently announcing the cancellation of a long-anticipated San Jose landmark project. San José Spotlight reported in May that nonprofit Urban Confluence raised more than $3.3 million over several years to build a towering art installation dubbed “The Breeze of Innovation” within Plaza de Cesar...
Santa Clara County homelessness hits new high
Homelessness has increased in one of the most expensive regions in the nation, a tell-tale sign of what could come. Santa Clara County has 10,711 homeless residents, up 8.2% from two years ago, according to preliminary results from this year’s point in time count conducted in January 2025. This has happened despite significant investments in temporary...
San Jose advocates demand release of alleged racist texts
A growing coalition of social justice leaders is demanding San Jose City Hall release text messages between councilmembers that allegedly include racist and derogatory remarks, two weeks after San José Spotlight broke a story about the inflammatory conversation. The Black Leadership Kitchen Cabinet of Silicon Valley and AFRO-Upris joined the NAACP of San Jose/Silicon Valley...