Vote counts in Santa Clara County are nearly finalized. However, one City Council race in San Jose remains too close to call.

A taxpayer-funded Santa Clara County child care nonprofit faces allegations of unfair labor practices and mismanagement.

High-stakes power struggles will play out in San Jose this weekend at the California Democratic Party’s political convention.

Peninsula politicos received an unexpected surprise earlier this week, when word began to spread that Assemblyman Rich Gordon (D-Menlo Park) was throwing his support behind Marc Berman in his run for the State Assembly's 24th District seat.

California’s political elite, including Gov. Jerry Brown, turned out in mass Wednesday at the State Capitol to honor the late former State Sen. John Vasconcellos. “John always believed people were born good,” Brown said. “I have a darker view.”

The staff churn in Speaker pro Tem Nora Campos’ office is the talk of Sacramento, raising questions about the assemblymember’s ability to advocate for constituents who’ve been shortchanged by ineffective leadership.

Should the city recruit more department heads from outside or promote from within? Councilman Don Rocha says he thinks the city needs to do a better job casting its net to outside talent.

Of San Jose’s 5,000 or so homeless residents, nearly 30 percent are chronically on the streets, according to city housing officials. Most of the chronically homeless suffer from mental illness, physical disability, addiction or some combination of the three. On Wednesday, the San Jose’s Rules and Open Government Committee will discuss legislation that could address such problems.

First came a ban on smoking in public places; now local lawmakers are targeting a particular style of cigarettes. Seeing that menthol smokes are so popular with youngsters, especially minorities, several city officials want to support a Food and Drug Administration resolution that proposes banning the sale of menthol cigarettes. The motion brought by councilmembers Kansen Chu, Ash Kalra and Xavier Campos goes before the Rules and Open Government Committee Wednesday.