Respected leaders fight fear, mistrust, apathy The Santa Clara County Office of the Census has spent months preparing “trusted messengers” to help hard-to-count populations understand it’s in their communities’ interest to fill out next year’s federal Census 2020 form. With distrust of the federal government soaring among many immigrant groups, the County knows it is...

 Counties put heads together ahead of 2020 Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian recently convened up to 150 people from around the state to talk about the many 21st-century election security challenges California’s 58 counties confront with less than a year before the state’s 2020 presidential election primary. Reports of Russian interference in the 2016...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1wV7ImXJkI&feature=youtu.be Yeager: About 30% of homeless people identify as LGBTQ Santa Clara County has opened the nation’s second homeless shelter that focuses on serving the needs of the LGBTQ population. The New Haven Inn located in central San Jose, just south of downtown, has housing and services for up to 20 adults. The first LGBTQ-focused...

https://youtu.be/l_jEoOvvPeU It was a cold, rainy Saturday morning, but that didn’t stop nearly 400 enthusiastic and energetic high school girls and their mothers from gathering in East San Jose on March 9 to learn from their peers and to hear from policymakers. The seventh annual Strong Girls, Strong Women Conference was organized by the County...

‘Urgent priority’: E-cigarettes erode decades of effort Public health officials have spent millions of dollars over many decades trying to curb tobacco use, much of it designed to discourage kids from ever taking up the nicotine habit. After all, quitting is great, but never starting is even better. In Santa Clara County, as elsewhere, these...

Vietnamese-American Service Center’s design packed with meaning Hundreds of people gathered recently in the Board of Supervisors Chamber to revel in an engaging architectural presentation of what will one day open as the Vietnamese-American Service Center. A range of culturally relevant health and human services will be available when the center opens in summer 2021....

Culture, science and a moonlit hike Parks aim for more cultural relevance When the waxing moon peered through the haze above at Santa Teresa County Park after days of hiding behind rainclouds, a tide of humanity began arriving as if pulled ashore by lunar gravity. Santa Clara County Parks interpreter Kelsi Ju was there to...

HIV/AIDS Santa Clara County 2018 State of the local epidemic on World AIDS Day

Full House: First-time homebuyer program draws crowd The notoriously high price of existing homes in Santa Clara County has made first-time ownership little more than an ever-fading dream for many households. Among them are social workers from community-based organizations, health care professionals, teachers and school employees, and public employees of the County, cities and other...

Off of welfare, into the light County of Santa Clara hails success stories Five Santa Clara County CalWORKs clients recently stood before family, friends and admirers to soak in congratulations. Each had overcome huge obstacles in 2018, regaining their sense of self-worth and moving toward financial independence. In what all of the County Supervisors described...

Check out these cute critters at the Santa Clara County animal shelter

Heroes honor children’s health services at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center The 2018 Heroes Run to raise awareness and some money for children’s health services at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center drew about 1,000 people to the 5k race and fun run. “It’s kind of an event on high octane,” said VMC Foundation CEO Chris...

Santa Clara County Librarian defends patrons’ privacy rights Santa Clara County Librarian Nancy Howe last weekend accepted the Zoia Horn Intellectual Freedom Award from the California Library Association. The award goes to California people, groups and organizations that have made significant contributions to intellectual freedom. In Howe’s case, she turned down grant funding on behalf...

County, partners take steps to save remaining working farms and ranches Cherry grower Chris Borello’s extended family has been farming in Coyote Valley and other parts of southern Santa Clara Valley for generations. But the clan is also among the South County landowners who have cashed in over the years on the sky-high price of...

Welcome to the twilight zone “Birds really eat a tremendous lot. But — I … I — I don’t really know anything about birds. My hobby is stuffing things. You know — taxidermy.” Norman Bates, perfectly normal proprietor of the Bats Bates Motel, in Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho” In a clearing deep in the woods stands...

Saratogans check out local library branch’s all-electric ‘Go Go Biblio’ Santa Clara County Library District recently rolled out a fleet of four miniature bookmobiles that you’ll soon see at various schools and community events. The idea of the all-electric souped-up golf carts is to bring the library to the people and not require everyone to come to...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvxkKlBlDcs Election officers go extra mile for democracy as paid volunteers The Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters on Friday issued an urgent call for volunteers to work as election officers on Nov. 6. “This is a remarkable opportunity for Santa Clara County residents to observe, promote and facilitate one of our most important civil...

County, partners break affordable housing barriers It practically takes a fistful of permits to open a lemonade stand in Santa Clara County today, let alone build affordable housing for the homeless. Most people probably want to help. But they almost invariably resist affordable housing complexes in their own neighborhood. Undaunted, the County of Santa Clara,...

Elders in tune Every one of us is gradually moving toward old age, and more and more of us seem likely to live right up to the century mark. In a youth-oriented culture, the prospect of age-related decline is uncomfortable to contemplate. Yet while we must indeed adjust to the inevitable changes, old age need...