Hoping to bolster returns in San Jose's District 4 council race, election officials have expanded hours and ballot drop-off sites.

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.

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.

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.

Sam Liccardo delivered his first State of the City speech as San Jose mayor Saturday morning at Independence High School, and the message was one of better times to come.

Mayor Sam Liccardo will outline key initiatives and budget priorities for San Jose in his first state-of-the-city address this weekend.

Two years after upping its local minimum wage, San Jose may back a statewide effort to raise the minimum to $13 an hour by 2017. Mayor Sam Liccardo, who voted against San Jose's minimum wage increase in 2012, says the policy makes more sense at a state level.

All candidates vying for San Jose’s District 4 council seat will have a chance to speak at a forum next Monday. Organizers originally planned to limit the panel to the top five fundraisers but opened it up to all active candidates after some pushback.

Rose Herrera has enthusiastically embraced her role as veem (vice mayor of San Jose), but City Hall insiders worry the second-term council member might be taking her post a little too seriously.

Vietnamese media exec Manh Nguyen held on to his fundraising lead in San Jose’s special election for the District 4 council seat. But Bob Dhillon, a retired realtor, has also tallied impressive numbers with just a week until absentee ballots can be cast.

San Jose is applying for a $3.3 million federal grant that would restore nearly a third of the firefighter positions lost in a round of layoffs in 2010.

Last month ex-San Jose Councilman Xavier Campos joined a lobbyist and consulting firm. Less than two weeks later he took a meeting with a council member's chief of staff. City Attorney Rick Doyle says that's concerning when it comes to San Jose's revolving door policy.