Posting about sideshows and street races in San Jose on social media can now cost you up to $1,000 and six months in jail. The San Jose City Council unanimously approved a new ordinance Tuesday that will make it illegal to encourage or promote people to show up to a sideshow event. San Jose already...
San Jose 911 dispatchers call for higher pay, increased staffing
With their city contract about to expire, emergency dispatchers are calling for increases in pay and staffing levels to handle local 911 calls. “We do our job because we want to help citizens in San Jose, but a lot of us aren’t able to live in the city that we serve in,” said Scarlet Darmousseh, a...
Residents call for changes to San Jose government, elections
San Jose is asking residents to weigh in on the city’s ruling document—and some say radical changes are needed. The city’s Charter Review Commission, a 23-member panel that meets every two weeks to discuss changes to the city charter, held its first public hearing Monday on changes to the city’s governance. The two major changes being...
UPDATE: San Jose lawmakers approve Berryessa urban village, shrink flea market
Months of negotiations, rallies and proposals ended Tuesday with the San Jose City Council voting unanimously to approve a multi-million square foot development at the site of the San Jose Flea Market. Councilmembers approved the Berryessa BART Urban Village project, a plan to rezone a 61.5-acre portion of the flea market site to include up...
San Jose backs off plan to evict homeless residents
A flyer threatening to criminally prosecute nearly 200 homeless people living in Columbus Park sent many longtime residents scrambling—but the city says it was all a misunderstanding. Living in the crash zone of an airport flight path has its downsides, like constant threat of eviction—but the unhoused residents of the 40-acre plot of land in San Jose say the...
Judy Rickard spent a lifetime fighting for LGBTQ rights in San Jose
Judy Rickard didn’t realize she was a lesbian until graduate school. The 73-year-old spent the next 50 years of her life fighting for LGBTQ rights. “I always knew I was different but I didn’t know what that was,” Rickard told San José Spotlight. “If you’re different and you know it, it’s one thing. If you’re...
VTA to get $20 million from state after San Jose mass shooting
State lawmakers are set to give $20 million to VTA to help it recover from the deadliest shooting in Bay Area history. The funding is included in the state budget and will allow the transportation agency to provide mental health resources to employees and their families, resume light rail service and improve safety upgrades at the Guadalupe...
Sandoval: Housing and homelessness are LGBTQ+ issues
Everywhere you look this month, you see rainbows for LGBTQ+ Pride Month. From major corporations changing their logos on social media, to local shops displaying every type of rainbow product you can imagine, to cities, counties, and states raising the rainbow flag. San Jose is no exception, where the new police chief continued the tradition...
Silicon Valley transit agency publicizes dispute over alleged debt
Two Bay Area transit agencies disagree on whether one owes the other money—and local officials say the dispute could be handled better. “The more I read about it, this is clearly a power play,” said Eugene Bradley, founder of Silicon Valley Transit Users. “They’re going to have to work something out.” The San Mateo County...
San Jose Legends: John Sobrato’s generosity is everywhere
Editor’s Note: San Jose Legends is a new series that tells remarkable stories of the historic and legendary people who helped shape and transform our city. Silicon Valley philanthropist John Sobrato is aware that wealth has the ability to change people. For Sobrato, 82, the son of Italian immigrants who first settled in San Francisco,...