Above a noisy jazz cafe in a small, packed room, a crowd sat attentively Thursday evening as a panel of experts –an advocate, a policymaker, and an industry professional — spoke on raising building height limits in downtown San Jose. The first-of-its kind educational forum, hosted by San José Spotlight, touched on the hot policy debate dividing...
Santa Clara County receives over $21 million for homeless housing
Santa Clara County will receive more than $21 million in federal grant funding for homeless housing programs, county officials announced Friday. The funding is part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Continuum of Care (CoC) Competition. The award includes more than $1 million in new federal funding for housing assistance and supportive services...
Silicon Valley advocates talk about discussing homelessness with kids
Scary. Dirty. Drunk. Those are some of the words that a classroom full of children used to describe homelessness, said Andrea Urton, who leads the nonprofit HomeFirst, which runs the largest shelters in Silicon Valley. “One child said ‘AIDS’ once,” Urton said. Urton says it’s critical for communities to change the conversation around homelessness to...
After City Hall fight, California Waste Solutions wins another year in San Jose
After a yearlong battle with its largest recycling hauler over money and contamination, San Jose agreed to allow California Waste Solutions to service 166,000 homes for another year. It’s a decision that means nearly one hundred CWS employees get to keep their jobs. CWS employees in January showed up in strength at City Hall in bright yellow vests to protest a staff...
