Sam Liccardo delivered his first State of the City speech as San Jose mayor Saturday morning at Independence High School, and the message was one of better times to come.

Mayor Sam Liccardo will outline key initiatives and budget priorities for San Jose in his first state-of-the-city address this weekend.

With the collective force of 6,000 litter picker-uppers, San Jose was able to haul away the equivalent of 44 filled-to-the-brim semis of trash last year.

Presidents Day means a day off for millions of school kids and some of their parents. All but a few government offices are closed. Patriotic and historical groups are staging re-enactments. Retailers are taking advantage of the holiday to lure in shoppers with sales.

Thanks to a pair of whistleblowers, who filed a federal claim on behalf of the county and other government entities in 2011, Iron Mountain has to repay $44.5 million. Some $575,000 of that amount goes to Santa Clara County.

Delivering the annual State of the County address to a packed Montgomery Theater, Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors President Dave Cortese called 2015 a "year of opportunity." He outlined a plan to advance affordable housing initiatives while improving public safety and public health. “Working together, we can seize on the opportunity to better our community,” Cortese said.

A 23-year veteran of the San Jose Fire Department has been promoted to temporarily lead the agency until the city manager appoints a permanent chief.

Dave Cortese, the recently appointed president of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, will deliver the State of the County address Tuesday.

The county will consider enlisting private sector help or adopting a full vote-by-mail system to speed up the vote count on election night.

Anyone with the time and interest in learning about the inner workings of local government can sign up for a 10-week class through Santa Clara County.

In his inaugural speech after being sworn in for his second term today, Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen highlighted the reforms made since taking office in 2011.

After 29 years with the San Jose Fire Department, interim Chief Ruben Torres will retire from his post at the end of the month. But he's taking a similar job just 30 miles away.

This Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the 'Freedom Train' will take its last right, ending a three-decade civil rights tradition.

The San Jose Police Department will hold another community meeting Saturday about its drone, an unmanned GoPro-strapped quadricopter it acquired early last year without public input.

The race to succeed former San Jose Councilman Kansen Chu—and by extension his interim replacement, appointed council member Margie Matthews—begins in earnest at noon today.

San Jose's newly sworn-in Mayor Sam Liccardo has named Councilwoman Rose Herrera his vice mayor through 2016.