San Jose Inside

The mayor's race is on, so of course there are going to be fireworks. But the latest tiff in San Jose's quadrennial contest actually involves fireworks.

Mayoral candidate Madison Nguyen lays out her plan to create a Mayor’s Business Advocate (MBA) position.

In a poll commissioned by his backers, 17th Congressional District Rep. Mike Honda (D-San Jose) holds a solid lead in his bid for re-election. But a closer look at the numbers shows Honda's early advantage might not be as strong as he'd like.

The first poll for the San Jose mayor’s race came out this week, and county Supervisor Dave Cortese sits atop the pack. This really isn’t surprising. What’s interesting is the fight for second.

State Assemblyman Paul Fong has owed $100,000 to one of Sacramento's most notorious lobbyists throughout his five-plus years in the State Assembly. A review of Fong's voting record shows the favor has not gone unreturned.

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You may notice something a little different this morning. After months of work, San Jose Inside has received a substantial facelift. Our hope is the new layout and commenting system will create better functionality and allow you to more easily share and comment on the stories you care about most.

A union-backed poll for the San Jose mayor's race can be read many ways, but the percentage of undecided voters stands out most.

Los Gatos and other South Bay cities begin to consider their own gun control measures as Sunnyvale’s Measure C works its way through court.

Supporters of a ballot initiative to legalize medical marijuana in San Jose attended Tuesday night's Miley Cyrus concert at the SAP Center to collect petition signatures. Things probably got a little weird.

The nearly two-year standoff between the city of San Jose and owners of Casino M8trix may finally be coming to an end. On Monday, owners of the Tetris-adorned tower and card club filed papers to pull their lawsuit over several disputes—mainly the city’s rejection of gaming on the top/eighth floor. Sean Kali-Rai, a lobbyist for the card club, said he met City Manager Ed Shikada last week for coffee and had his “first meaningful interaction” with a city official in six months.

Councilman Pierluigi Oliverio's plan to change the way San Jose funds it police department comes back to the Rules and Open Government Committee this week.

So many of the higher paying jobs in our valley involve some aspect of computing and programming. A story in the Mercury News this past weekend highlighted the issue of access to technology by gender.

In 2011, a sociology professor released a study on campus climate at San Jose State University that noted problems with minorities feeling singled-out, isolated and discriminated against—sometimes even by faculty. The report’s author, Susan Murray, offered three recommendations: require diversity training for all staff and teachers, establish an office of campus diversity and incorporate diversity research into the tenure process.

To help car-sharing take off in San Jose, the city plans to donate free parking to Zipcar for a year-and-a-half. The City Council will discuss the plan when it meets this week, along with a proposal to expand wireless Internet service in downtown.

Santa Clara County will consider an ordinance to punish employers for wage theft, a charge that would disqualify businesses from public contracts and give workers a formal recourse to lodge complaints against stingy bosses. The motion going before the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday would direct the county to come up with a draft ordinance over the coming months. Supervisor Dave Cortese brought forward the idea, citing a 2008 study by the National Employment Law Project that says two-thirds of the 4,387 low-wage workers polled in New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago were denied full compensation.