The mayor's message: By getting back to basics and working together, we are beginning to see progress on some of our most challenging issues.

Mahan’s new committees including council members, staff and community representatives will center around key issues raised by his mayoral campaign.

The 49ers say Santa Clara owes it $2.74 million. The city says the team owes it $1.1 million. Each side refuses to pay until the other side pays first.

A new internal accountability report describes a non-emergency call system that’s critically understaffed and woefully behind the times.

A pilot program to report illegal fireworks in San Jose has blown up in the city’s face.

San Jose will consider creating its own immigration office to support residents who may qualify for deportation relief under President Obama's newly expanded immigration policy.

Five weeks from Election Day, the San Jose mayor's race—expected to be the most expensive race in city history—is ramping up. Attack ads are in the mail, media attention is intensifying and candidates are squaring off in public debates. Here's a list of upcoming events.

National Night Out, the yearly crime-prevention event observed with neighborhood block parties, takes on greater meaning in San Jose, where an understaffed police force continues to grapple with rising crime.

While the budget approved Tuesday by the City Council avoided cuts, it fell short of enough money to restore and ramp up services, like repaving streets and hiring more cops.

The San Jose Police Department blotter for April 6-9 includes gang suppression sweeps, a physical assault and cellphone theft from a hotel restroom.

Santa Clara County jails have seen a sharp uptick in assaults over the past few years, partly because of state prison reforms that pushed more dangerous inmates to local correctional facilities.

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.

The stink of ex-Supervisor George Shirakawa Jr. has dissipated, and Santa Clara County is focused on a fresh start for 2014. “Scandal is no longer in the air,” Supervisor Ken Yeager said after Tuesday’s State of the County speech, delivered by recently sworn-in Board President Mike Wasserman. “We certainly spent most of last year changing and improving public outreach and creating much more transparency than there was before.” Wasserman’s address focused on the county’s role as a safety net for the most vulnerable, while also highlighting the little-known services it provides for residents.

A 9-year-old boy in Washington, described as frightened and crying, sat in front of a judge in juvenile court waiting to see if he would be granted bail for a charge of assault with a deadly weapon. The boy found a gun at his mother’s house, put it in his backpack and took it to school. When he put his backpack down, the gun went off, critically wounding an 8-year-old girl. This comes from a brief Associated Press article in a local paper. There are questions that went through my mind about this story: How is a nine-year-old competent to stand trial? And, Washington State grants bail for kids? Thee state of California doesn’t do that–isn’t bail to make sure someone shows up for court? And why did he bring the gun to school?