English
Spanish
Vietnamese
Councilmember Dev Davis never pictured herself as a politician. She came from hardworking stock — the daughter of a school teacher and a truck driver who hauled farming equipment. At age 10, Davis got her own job delivering newspapers and didn’t know much about the world outside her North Dakota home. “I didn’t really even...
Staedler: A yearly tradition of California housing legislation disappointment
A yearly California tradition that we have become accustomed to over the past several years is the hysteria and disappointment of potential housing legislation. It generally ranges from a hopeful slogan to wild and unsubstantiated levels of optimism. An example of the overstated optimism is the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s CASA — the Committee to House...
Santa Clara County allows facial services to reopen
Santa Clara County is lifting restrictions on licensed estheticians and other skin care professionals who were previously prohibited from operating due to the coronavirus. County public health officials on Sunday afternoon made the change that will now allow facial services to resume. Previously, the county allowed hair and nails salons to reopen for both indoor...
After 40 years in politics, Jim Beall casts his final vote in Sacramento
For Jim Beall, there were no first-day jitters when he stepped foot on the Senate floor eight years ago. “It was December of 2012 – my first day — and by the time I finished the day, I had introduced, I think, three bills,” Beall said. And after a distinguished four decades in public office in...
Questions swirl about Santa Clara candidate’s lobbying record, relationship with mayor
As the race for two open seats on the Santa Clara City Council heats up, documents obtained by San José Spotlight raise questions about one candidate’s relationship to the mayor and his lobbying activity. Robert Mezzetti, a longtime San Jose attorney, is facing Anthony Becker and Gary Barve in the District 6 council race. Mezzetti...
South Bay lawyer’s inside role in the Google sexual misconduct settlement
Announcement of a $310 million settlement over Google’s treatment of sexual misconduct allegations against executives took on added significance for the South Bay’s Ann Ravel because it came the same day U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg lay in state. Ravel, the first woman named Santa Clara County counsel in 1998, is a longtime...
Conservation more than the sum of its parts for Deb Kramer
Not many people knew about the Coyote Creek watershed before Deb Kramer began leading a local effort to protect it. Now, Coyote Creek and the nonprofit dedicated to its preservation are setting the standard for environmental advocacy in the South Bay Area. Kramer took the reins at Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful in 2014 and has...
Irvin: What Valley Water doesn’t want you to know about Measure S
The Sierra Club sees two big problems with Measure S, which would replace the Safe, Clean Water parcel tax approved by voters in 2012. First, there is no sunset date, effectively taking away our right to vote. The Measure S parcel tax can only be reversed by a citizen’s initiative, requiring more han 30,000 valid...
South Bay legislator says ‘crisis of confidence’ in a vaccine could hurt nation
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Public confidence in the COVID-19 vaccination development process is of utmost importance, according to Rep. Anna Eshoo. “The goal must be to have a vaccine that is scientifically proven to be safe and effective,” she told San José Spotlight on Thursday. “Nothing and no one whatsoever should interfere with the scientists and...
Partner in downtown San Jose development alleges racketeering
A federal court in San Jose is expected soon to rule on a lawsuit in which a member of a local real estate consortium has charged some of his former partners with racketeering involving a downtown parcel near the proposed Google Transit Village. The case centers around an approximately 1.2-acre site at 777 West San...