Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors

Susan Ellenberg’s election to the Santa Clara County District 4 seat stands to shift the board to the center in the years ahead.

What would’ve been a routine nomination erupted into a political brawl between county Assessor Larry Stone and Supervisor Dave Cortese.

Anyone can anonymously turn in unwanted firearms to the Sheriff’s Office under a new county program.

Garbage haulers, cemetery operators and public safety unions spent heavily to hit Susan Ellenberg with attack mailers, to little effect.

The retro sign at the first-ever Orchard Supply Hardware store in San Jose vanished, prompting outcry from preservationists.

Janet Gray Hayes, San Jose’s first female mayor and the first woman to lead a major US city, died Monday in the Saratoga home she shared with her daughter.

With the Sunnyvale Armory slated for demolition to make way for permanent low-income housing, north Santa Clara County stands to lose its only cold-weather shelter.

Santa Clara County supervisors want to bring electronic cigarettes and vapes under the purview of existing anti-smoking laws.

The stink of ex-Supervisor George Shirakawa Jr. has dissipated, and Santa Clara County is focused on a fresh start for 2014. “Scandal is no longer in the air,” Supervisor Ken Yeager said after Tuesday’s State of the County speech, delivered by recently sworn-in Board President Mike Wasserman. “We certainly spent most of last year changing and improving public outreach and creating much more transparency than there was before.” Wasserman’s address focused on the county’s role as a safety net for the most vulnerable, while also highlighting the little-known services it provides for residents.

Given that clientele often overlaps, Santa Clara County will integrate its departments of Drug and Alcohol Services and Mental Health. Also, on the agenda for Tuesday’s county Board of Supervisors meeting: a new name for the South County Airport, making campaign disclosure forms available online and funding an anti-terrorism law enforcement communications network.