An East San Jose school district’s redistricting plans have left some community members frustrated. The Alum Rock Union School District board of trustees has redrawn its boundaries, shifting from at-large trustees to trustees representing specific areas of the district. The board on May 20 voted 3-2 — with Trustees Corina Herrera-Loera and Minh Nguyen voting...
Bell: Santa Clara County budget cuts threaten future for foster youth
Education is often called the great equalizer. But for young people in foster care, education is too often disrupted by instability, interrupted schooling, trauma and a lack of consistent support systems. At the very moment these students need more guidance, more advocacy and more opportunity, proposed budget cuts in Santa Clara County threaten to remove...
San Jose animal shelter improves care, but has more to do
More than a year after San Jose officials pledged sweeping reforms at the city’s troubled animal shelter, a Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury said the work of rebuilding public trust is far from over. The civil grand jury’s May 27 report found the San Jose Animal Care Center has reduced overcrowding and increased adoptions,...
California streamlines affordable housing funding
California is creating its first standalone housing agency to help streamline funding for affordable housing development — except it has no new money due to proposed state budget cuts. Starting July 1, the state will create the California Housing and Homelessness Agency to house various departments overseeing state and federal housing funding programs under one...
San Jose State at top of class when it comes to AI
San Jose State University has smoked the competition in a national computer science and technical skills assessment, beating out Stanford, CalTech and UC Berkeley. Since 2021, SJSU has jumped 47 spots to become No. 2 in the nation for data-driven programming and software engineering skills, just behind the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The university offers...
Philbrick: How much space should we dedicate to cars?
In April, San Jose broke ground on a new downtown housing project with something many Americans consider essential missing entirely: parking. The historic Bank of Italy building is being converted into much-needed housing — with no on-site spaces for cars. Impractical? Maybe not. Instead, the project reflects a question cities across the country are increasingly...
Blueprints confirm ICE involvement in South County facility
Detailed blueprints show an ICE office with detention and processing space is planned in South Santa Clara County. The 111-page document obtained by this news outlet, dated Sept. 17, 2025, illustrates a future U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility with detention areas, detainee processing areas, interview and holding rooms, spaces for mothers with infants,...
San Jose hotel tax on track for victory
A measure to increase taxes on San Jose hotels appears to be on an easy path to victory. More than 65.6% of votes tallied so far are in favor of Measure A, which would increase the city tax levied on hotel guests from 10% to 12%, according to election returns released Wednesday evening. Officials with the...
Jeff Rosen ahead in Santa Clara County DA race
In the race for Santa Clara County District Attorney, incumbent Jeff Rosen holds a lead in his bid to reign supreme for another four years. Early results show Rosen, who is running for his fifth consecutive term since he was first elected to the office in 2010, is ahead of his opponent Daniel Chung. As...
Urbanowski: The World Cup and our international city
People will often ask, “What is it that makes San Jose unique? What is that cultural identity?” Recently, I heard a wise, globe-traveling civic and cultural leader describe San Jose as the place where everyone from all over the world can find a piece of home. In San Jose, you can find your people, your...