With five of San Jose’s 11 City Council seats up for grabs in 2026, the city is gearing up for another busy election year. As the looming contests begin to come into focus, San José Spotlight has asked several local political observers to discuss the races and election storylines they’ll be following most closely. They...
San Jose falling behind on key climate target
Halfway through the decade and the clock continues to tick down on San Jose’s ambitious climate target of reaching carbon neutrality by 2030. The road to success is looking steeper than ever. The City Council has formally acknowledged the city is not on track to hit the climate milestone. The admission came as part of...
2025 in review: Silicon Valley’s biggest stories
It was a transformational year for Silicon Valley. A county assessor’s 30-year reign came to an end. Two city leaders were sentenced in court. Superintendent firings and mass layoffs rocked a host of local schools. And a judge brought an end to a historic transit labor strike. But for each chapter that was closed this...
San Jose shopping cart crackdown could be costly
As part of a year-long effort to rein in San Jose’s problem with abandoned shopping carts, the city has been reviewing proposals to hire a company to retrieve and return carts to grocery stores. A three-month pilot program shows such a retrieval service could easily recoup its costs through fees charged to grocers. However, the hundreds of...
San Jose delays regulatory rollback for local card rooms
For the second time in as many weeks, San Jose officials have postponed voting on a proposal to loosen regulations on the city’s two casinos. Backers said the package of five rule changes marks the final step in a reform push launched in June intended to lighten the administrative burden placed on the city’s two...
East San Jose paints its stories on neighborhood walls
A community-inspired mural project aims to beautify and revitalize a neighborhood in East San Jose. Artists gathered for the East Side Stories mural painting festival Saturday, complete with a DJ and lowrider cars around Tropicana Liquors on Story Road. Muralists created images of the Virgin Mary, lowriders and Mesoamerican symbols on the liquor store’s exterior walls....
San Jose climate goals pivot from leaf blowers
San Jose residents have been clamoring for a ban on gas-powered leaf blowers for years, complaining about their noise and pollution. In response, the City Council began reviewing a proposal to encourage the use of electric leaf blowers through a subsidy program. The city is moving forward with a green subsidy more than a year and...
San Jose residents to get rebates on energy bill
Customers with San Jose Clean Energy, the city’s primary energy provider, are set to get a break on their energy bill come January. With the company’s reserves flush with cash, it has announced a plan to distribute $25 million in rebates to about 330,000 of its customers. “Energy costs were lower than expected in 2025,...
San Jose’s revised preservation rules clear way for park project
San Jose officials have amended the city’s historic preservation policy in order to advance a long-delayed project that would bring millions of dollars of new amenities, including a music pavilion, to St. James Park. The measure — which does not specifically name the park project — sparked widespread pushback from local preservationists who warn it...
San Jose to study apartments with single staircases
San Jose has taken its first tentative steps to soften longstanding building rules requiring all new apartment buildings — even relatively small ones — to include at least two stairways. Housing advocates have campaigned for years to scrap such requirements for mid-rise residential buildings, arguing they significantly add to the cost of constructing new homes....