A group of prominent South Bay nonprofit leaders say a meals program that feeds hundreds of thousands of local seniors a year is at risk because of contract changes with nonprofit Sourcewise. But Santa Clara-based Sourcewise, which was accused in 2016 by a county lawmaker of diverting federal funds meant for senior meals, denied accusations that the...
State proposal would drain $145M from Santa Clara County’s general fund
Santa Clara County officials said that a proposed amendment in a state bill would strip the county’s general fund of about $145 million annually, draining its budget for homeless services, supportive housing and child care among many programs if the proposal passes. “It’s the county’s core services that are most in jeopardy so we must...
South Bay leaders demand Kansen Chu resign over racially-charged remarks
Bay Area civil rights organizations joined forces Monday to call for Assemblymember Kansen Chu’s resignation in response to his “racist and hateful” comments. Condemning Chu’s comments to the Chinese language publication World Journal, Walter Wilson, a community leader from the Black Leadership Kitchen Cabinet, said leaders in Silicon Valley’s Asian, Black and Latinx communities will...
South Bay nail salons struggle amid shutdown, despite new state order
When Tina Le first arrived in America in 2003, she took up doing nails as a part-time job. Two years later, she opened a shop in San Jose that she adoringly calls her “second child.” “I love my job, and I’m very proud of my work,” Le said in an interview. “We are here to take...
Young: Black Lives Matter movement envisions a future that embraces all lives
For those of you who believe All Lives Matter — you’re correct. I do not believe you’ll ever see or hear anyone in the Black Lives Matter movement say different. There is anger, angst, anxiety, sorrow, remembrance — right now, there are a plethora of feelings that have materialized due to recent events, and they...
Liccardo focuses on police, inequality in San Jose’s $4.1B budget
San Jose’s $4.1 billion budget will be finalized this week, a major annual decision that comes this year in the midst of a pandemic that’s caused enormous projected deficits. But Mayor Sam Liccardo’s focus in a recently-released proposed budget was first on police reforms and inequality. Liccardo’s annual June budget proposal addresses head-on community calls...
San Jose activists storm Liccardo’s house, call for defunding police
Sandy Sanchez was moved to tears in front of San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo’s house Friday evening. Her son, Anthony Nunez, was fatally shot by two San Jose police officers four years ago. He was 18 years old. “I received his high school diploma a year later. He was working so hard to get it,”...
BART opens in Santa Clara County after 31 years in the making
It was one of the best days of former San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales’ life. “I feel like a kid at Disneyland for the first time,” he said. But instead of riding the rollercoaster on Space Mountain, Gonzales rode the first BART train departing from San Jose — a moment 31 years in the making....
San Jose police should wear face masks in public, officials say
As the coronavirus pandemic spread across the nation this spring, police departments in major cities began requiring officers to wear masks and gloves when interacting with the public. The San Jose Police Department added a mask requirement to its COVID-19 response plan March 30. The policy reads: “Effective immediately all personnel will wear all PPEs...
Abare: We can prove black and brown lives matter by emptying our jails
On the afternoon protesters shut down Southbound 101 in San Jose, I was working in a mobile clinic parked by the local jail, where COVID-19, law enforcement and race converge in real time. Examining my patient, I paused for a few seconds, stethoscope hovering over his chest, as the whir of a helicopter passed. My...