Campaign disclosure forms covering the first half of 2014 came due Thursday, giving political nerds their first chance to break down exactly how much money was raised and spent in the first half of the year. The numbers also show who's well poised for the November runoff.

New details emerged this week regarding the San Jose Police Department's purchase of a drone, which has been described as a tool to assist the bomb squad. Privacy advocates aren't so sure.

San Jose’s parking enforcement officers are a notorious bunch. The cash-strapped city, not too proud to strip the couch cushions as it scavenges for revenue, has an army of these ticket punchers at the ready, ruthlessly hunting down the tardy. But a recent Smart Meter malfunction had me questioning what kind of program they're running over there.

San Jose Inside has obtained an internal bulletin San Jose police chief Larry Esquivel sent out July 14, explaining that the status quo on smart phone searches has to change. But that could be the tip of the iceberg regarding 4th Amendment issues in Santa Clara County.

Exactly how does the San Jose Police Department intend to use an $8,000 bomb-sniffing drone? That’s just one question that could be answered by Muckrock’s three-year project to peel back the curtain on local law enforcement agencies deploying unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones.

UPDATE: Two referendum efforts will not make it to the Registrar of Voters, a city spokesman told San Jose Inside. It appears not enough signatures of San Jose residents were turned in to the city clerk.

Sam Liccardo will not accept a voluntary expenditure limit for the San Jose mayoral runoff. The decision leaves little doubt that the 2014 mayor's race will end up being the most expensive in city history.

The Food and Drug Administration is the man at the end of the bar that you would prefer tells his story walking. His claims are rote, the bark of calamity whistling through his toothless bite. But the FDA’s continued ban on allowing gay and bisexual men to donate blood is not toothless—it’s spineless.

Hundreds of historical documents were discovered in May, sealed in a combination safe on the second floor of San Jose’s City Hall. There is some debate about their authenticity, but an assortment of meeting minutes and letters provide a unique perspective of San Jose's rural roots.

The Santa Clara County Office of Education announced Tuesday that Jon Gundry is the lone finalist to take over as superintendent of schools. A recent report, however, suggests Gundry does not have the strongest track record for improving the results of low-income students.

Post-election: When people stop being polite and start being real. According to a report, Bobby Lopez and Neil Struthers recently had a public dispute about the East Side City Council race. At a Starbucks.

Internal emails for top Santa Clara County Office of Education administrators provide a rare glimpse into an insulated power structure that attempts to control the message at all times, delays the delivery of information when possible and spins uncomfortable facts into purple public relations prose.

The Mercury News will return to downtown San Jose, the newspaper announced Thursday in a deliciously meta article of self-praise. But the adulation of the expected move isn't the real takeaway from this story. The real takeaway is a sweetheart parking deal.

A transportation measure intended to raise the local sales tax will have to wait until 2016. Silicon Valley Leadership Group CEO Carl Guardino said new polling projects low voter turnout. But questions remain about how Guardino's been handling his polling information.

With the primary election just four days away, a unique rock-the-vote effort is taking place in San Jose. Silicon Valley Cannabis Coalition (SVCC) announced Friday that certain medical marijuana collectives in town will offer free and reduced-priced pot for proof of voting. So, quick question: Is this legal?

Magdalena Carrasco’s campaign on Thursday accused San Jose Councilman Xavier Campos of hiring a private investigator to follow her and her children. Campos' office had no comment.