Santa Clara elected officials returned from a monthlong legislative break Tuesday to discuss traffic safety, brainstorm a response to a scathing transportation audit and rework part of a plan that will guide future development in an area slated for major growth. Response to Civil Grand Jury’s VTA Report City leaders are required to respond to a Santa...
San Jose lawmakers adopt new fee for Diridon Station, discuss airport closure
For decades, local officials have wanted to shut down San Jose’s Reid- Hillview Airport, serving local pilots, aviation students and educators as a hub for flight trainings and the local community as a resource for disaster relief. But after hours of discussion, the San Jose City Council on Tuesday reviewed how the nearly 60-year-old airport’s closure...
National watchdog investigates San Jose’s award to Catholic school
One day after a San José Spotlight report highlighted concerns over a six-figure grant the city awarded to a private Catholic school, a national watchdog group announced it is investigating the “unconstitutional grant.” “The city’s decision to award more than 800,000 dollars of discretionary funds to a private religious school, subsidizing religious instruction, is unconstitutional,”...
San Jose: Affordable housing project for seniors raises concerns
An ambitious, urban village project is underway and coming to Blossom Valley, but within it, a proposed affordable housing complex for seniors has some residents shaking their heads. On Monday, city planning officials rolled out a plan to build a 147-unit affordable housing project for seniors at a community meeting at the Hayes Mansion. Hundreds of...
Judge sides with San Jose on transparency lawsuit over Google negotiations
A judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed against San Jose over an alleged lack of transparency in the city’s dealings with Google, which is working on plans for a massive campus in the city. Local nonprofit thinktank Working Partnerships USA and the First Amendment Coalition, a Bay Area nonprofit public interest organization, sued San Jose...
San Jose: A hundred families scramble after charter school opening stalls
Parents of would-be students at Promise Academy — a charter school first expected to open at Allen at Steinbeck in the San Jose Unified School District last year — say they are devastated again after the district pulled the plug on their agreement just before school started last week. That left nearly 100 families scrambling...
Residents rally to ‘reclaim’ demolished downtown Santa Clara
Mary Grizzle still gets emotional when she remembers the old downtown Santa Clara, torn down decades ago after spending much of her youth there. “Just thinking about it, I cry to see the wrecking ball wrecking the City Hall,” she said. “To see all my memories in a week or two just bulldozed.” Much of...
San Jose superintendents raise concern over six-figure award to Catholic school
Two leading superintendents from the three public high school districts in San Jose say the city failed to notify them of a six-figure grant proposal for a work-study program that was instead awarded to a private, Catholic school. Two weeks ago, the San Jose City Council unanimously voted to award a contract to the sole...
