Economy

California’s homeless population remains the biggest in the nation, but the crisis is growing more slowly here than in most of the rest of the country, according to new federal data.  The number of homeless Californians increased just over 3% last year compared to the...

Driven by increasing residential values and despite a “troubled” commercial real estate market, Santa Clara County’s overall property assessment roll grew by $35.6 billion, or 5.4% in the last year, according to Assessor Larry Stone’s office. The growth includes an increase of around 5% in...

With a cold winter storm bearing down on Morgan Hill, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrators joined local and regional representatives Feb. 23 at the top of Anderson Dam to announce the availability of $727 million in low-cost loans that will fund the rebuilding of...

Small businesses in Santa Clara County can apply for grants of up to $2,500 if they have been negatively affected by the Covid-19 pandemic after the county reopened its microbusiness grant program. While the county has awarded more than 500 grants through the program's first...

High-speed internet is coming to South County, as local providers have been installing fiber internet lines and infrastructure underground and on utility poles in recent months. This work will continue well into next year in an effort to expand the availability of fast, reliable...

With gas prices soaring, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) is urging residents to consider public transit as an affordable and eco-friendly alternative to driving. A single ride on VTA costs $2.50 for adults, $1.25 for students, and $1.00 for seniors. Riders can pay...

Every year,  lawmakers in Sacramento introduce a flurry of bills, most of which are eviscerated during the legislative process and end up on the Assembly or Senate trash heap. A select few make it to the governor’s desk, and assuming they dodge the veto...

Cristina Cortez earns just $20.70 an hour running dialysis procedures for older patients suffering from kidney failure in the city of Gilroy. Because of her husband’s serious work injury in 2017 and their need to economize, her family of five moved an hour away...

A Bay Area nonprofit launched an emergency weekend meal program last weekend in partnership with the Gilroy Unified School District, and is planning to serve 500 children and their families every Saturday and Sunday in November.  The program, led by Community Seva, was launched in...

Santa Clara County supervisors voted unanimously today to ask voters to approve new sales taxes that will place half the county in the double digit bracket. The higher taxes are needed to close a projected billion-dollar budget shortfall they say is the result of...