San Jose reached a milestone in its land negotiations with Google, releasing a purchase agreement that comes up for a vote next month.

San Jose’s successor to the defunct Redevelopment Agency recently sold the Anno Domini property to developer Ken Tersini.

The Mercury News lost a slew of longtime journalists in 2017, and the year ended with word of yet another notable departure.

San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo on Monday unveiled an ambitious plan to build 25,000 new homes over the next five years.

Residents worry that the downtown San Jose Safeway could fold after losing its validated parking hook-up through the city.

City leaders are demanding a public hearing on airport security after two widely publicized security breaches called into question the safety of the San Jose airport.

San Jose mustered up at least some of the money it needs to buy body cameras for police officers, so they can record their interactions with the public.

The City Council on Tuesday will consider a one-year, $650,000 contract with the San Jose Streets Team, an organization that finds work and housing for homeless people who can and want to work.

Business groups worry that San Jose could scare away developers if it imposes a fee on new home construction to pay for more affordable housing, an effort to recoup a fraction of the money lost when the state closed all redevelopment agencies. The City Council, which was supposed to talk about the inclusionary housing fee in December, decided to table the discussion until the new year.

News slows down in the summertime, so San Jose Inside columnist Rich Robinson takes note of some of the bigger and more under the radar stories of August.

Since slashing construction fees for high-rise development in downtown, two towers have broken ground, including the $135 million 23-story project at One South Market. Hoping to spur more nearby development, the City Council on Tuesday will consider whether to vote in a similar half-off discount for buildings of any size as long as they create jobs. Other items on the agenda for the first council meeting of the 2013-114 fiscal year include another look at building restriction height around the airport, a potential study of the city’s sewer system and an update on the city’s graffiti abatement contract.

It was Will Durst’s kind of crowd, as most of the audience could read—or knew someone who could. It was a special addition of the annual event where local politicians poke fun at themselves and each other: Monday Night Live. Held at the San Jose Athletic Center late last month, and on a Friday night instead of the standard Monday, the San Jose Stage Company also celebrated 30 years of local theater. It was a night to remember.

On Friday, June 21, the San Jose Stage Company has an especially auspicious occasion scheduled, as the company will put on a benefit performance to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the political comedy show Monday Night Live! and the 30th anniversary for the company as a whole. The five-hour gala will start at 7pm inside the Silicon Valley Athletic Club’s Corinthian Grand Ballroom. Ticket reservations can be purchased at http://www.thestage.org, or by calling the box office at 408.283.7142.

The San Francisco 49ers’ new stadium in Santa Clara is just a year or so away from its July 2014 opening, but some Santa Clara residents are still fighting the stadium’s construction. Santa Clara Plays Fair, a committee opposed to the newly-named Levi’s Stadium, is organizing its members to appear at the Redevelopment Agency’s Oversight Board meeting Tuesday afternoon.

The city expects to clear up 40 to 60 homeless encampments a year—indefinitely. Annual cost for the cleanups will range around $550,000, and possibly more, if the city approves a contract with Tucker Construction, Inc., at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. Other agenda items for the last council meeting of the fiscal year include a settlement for a man struck by a police car, a renewal agreement with the city’s Sacramento lobbying firm and a potential shift to store city data through cloud computing.

The transfer of the naming rights from HP to SAP is a positive move. The naming rights deal has an annual value of $3.35 million. Even better, SAP is a software company known the world over.