San Jose Inside

A child's early education alters the course of their life, Santa Clara County Board of Education trustee Joseph DiSalvo writes.

Residents, elected officials and environmental activists are painting a doomsday scenario of what an accident involving the proposed Phillips 66 oil trains would look like in downtown San Jose.

Just days before Pat Kolstad won re-election to the Santa Clara City Council last fall, he used campaign funds to enter a raffle put on by the nonprofit Mission City Community Fund. Just about everything since then has gone wrong.

A veteran San Jose police officer was shot to death Tuesday night by a suicidal man armed with a high-powered rifle.

A sweeping take-down by federal and local law enforcement resulted in an indictment against two-dozen suspected Nuestra Familia leaders.

While the Bay Area as a whole is home to the nation's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, there's a stark difference when regions are broken down.

The real secret to securing political power is, and always will be, voter turnout. Democrats win when there is heavy turnout, and Republicans win with lower turnout. It is just a fact. But what if voting wasn’t just a right for American citizens, but rather a requirement?

In his budget message going before the City Council Tuesday, Mayor Sam Liccardo proposes opening libraries to six days a week, hiring more community service officers and having the Fire Department take over ambulance service.

Fearing the proliferation of "bikini bars" in the South Bay, Supervisor Cindy Chavez asked if the county could broaden its definition of "adult entertainment" to include even fully clothed dancing if it's in a cage, with a pole or on a lap.

San Jose's chronically underperforming ambulance contractor may get bumped if the city finds it more cost-effective to have firefighters take over operations. The plan was introduced as part of Mayor Sam Liccardo's first annual budget proposal.

LaDoris Cordell will retire from her post as San Jose’s independent police auditor this summer, the city announced Wednesday. During her five-year term the former judge brought unprecedented accountability to the San Jose Police Department.

Magdalena Carrasco got redemption in last June’s election, when she defeated Xavier Campos in a rematch for San Jose’s East Side council seat. But now, less than three months after taking office, sources say Carrasco already has her sights set on a run for the State Assembly.

Tenants of Oak Crest Estates mobile home park in north San Jose say landlords are trying to skirt rent control by passing off maintenance costs as service upgrades.

In 2012, a city audit found that San Jose police working off-duty security jobs lacked accountability and, in some cases, abused the system. Three years after the audit called for "urgent reform and a cultural change," more than 80 percent of those recommendations have yet to be implemented.

It is an outrage that Silicon Valley education leaders continue to choose battle ground over common ground. Despite extraordinary innovation that occurs everyday in our region, our education leaders too often choose to protect the status quo.