Courtrooms are overcrowded. The increasing demand for public services is skyrocketing at an astronomical rate. The situation is dire: Countless vacancies, longer processing times and avalanching workloads are being thrust onto staff, the demand for more people to physically be present at their assignments continues to rise. Enforcement for social distancing and mask wearing depends...
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San Jose mayor renews push for gun control after mass shooting
In the aftermath of Wednesday’s mass shooting at a VTA light rail yard, San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo is doubling down on gun control measures. In July 2019, Liccardo, incensed by a mass shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival, proposed an ambitious gun control plan: Make all gun owners in the city carry insurance—an idea that...
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San Jose mourns its fallen transit workers, remembers ‘VTA family’
Family and friends of the nine VTA workers killed Wednesday blanketed the plaza of San Jose City Hall on Thursday, surrounded by hundreds of other workers uniting as one—the “VTA family.” Many in the crowd of hundreds of people broke out in cries, sobbing as speakers went up to pay their respects to those who...
South Bay panel discusses violence against Asian Americans
Violence against Asian Americans has increased since the start of the pandemic, but isn’t new to American history. That was the focus of a panel hosted earlier this month by Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian and Asian Americans for Community Involvement. The panel on violence against the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community...
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San Jose leaders honor VTA mass shooting victims
Speaker after speaker rose to the podium outside VTA headquarters in San Jose Thursday to speak the names and stories of those lost in yesterday’s mass shooting. Pictures of all nine Valley Transportation Authority workers killed were displayed beside more than a dozen VTA leaders and allies—some struggling to hold back tears as they described the friends and...
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New details emerge in San Jose VTA rail yard shooting
New details have emerged about Wednesday’s mass shooting at a VTA light rail yard that left 10 people dead, including the shooter who turned the gun on himself. Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith appeared on NBC News’ “Today” show this morning to talk about the latest developments. “We know the suspect entered the facility and...
Collins: An unprecedented opportunity to address the housing crisis
This month’s column is very personal to me because it really represents an intersection of two of my professional career paths—retail and housing. Before my role as CEO of the Santa Clara Association of Realtors, I spent nearly a decade working at the San Jose retail icon, Mel Cotton’s Sporting Goods. In 2005, I left...
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San Jose councilmember mourns friend lost in VTA shooting
San Jose Councilmember Raul Peralez waited to hear back from a childhood friend following Wednesday’s shooting at a Valley Transportation Authority light rail yard—a VTA overhead lineman at the light rail for close to 10 years. His shift ended around 8 a.m., an hour and a half after reports of the shooting. “I was sending him text...
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Ninth victim of VTA shooting in San Jose dies, county identifies victims
Santa Clara County’s medical examiner reported late Wednesday another VTA employee died of his injuries in an area hospital after Wednesday’s mass shooting at the agency’s light rail yard. Alex Ward Fritch, 49, was taken to the hospital earlier in the day with critical injuries. He died Wednesday evening, bringing the death toll from the...
San Jose city manager resigns after 34 years
After more than three decades at San Jose City Hall, the city’s top administrator is calling it quits. With the city reeling from a mass shooting at a VTA rail yard earlier Wednesday, City Manager Dave Sykes sent an email to the city’s workforce letting them know he’s retiring this summer. “I immigrated to the...