Editorials

In 2016, county voters overwhelmingly agreed to tax themselves and spend $950 million to address the housing crisis and shelter more than 5,000 homeless persons. A year later, developers showed up for a November 2017 Board of Supervisors meeting to receive project approvals but...

It sounds crazy, but a presidential rant on Twitter may have forced Gov. Gavin Newsom to “clarify”—actually, backtrack—his position on California’s high-speed rail. “The project, as currently planned, would cost too much and take too long,” the governor said of the state’s high-speed rail plan...

It is now too late to try and convince California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to back off, and allow Saint Louise and O’Connor hospitals to be saved by Santa Clara County. He has doubled down, and all of his cards are on the table. This...

Santa Clara County Executive Jeff Smith has a difficult time understanding just what has occurred in the past two weeks. His vision of leading a dramatic expansion and improvement of a public healthcare system is suddenly on the verge of hitting a brick wall...

Slow growth, the movement that rocked Gilroy’s City Council two years ago with new Mayor Roland Velasco riding the crest of the Measure H vote, is alive and well. While three of four incumbents in the Nov. 6 election won re-election by solid margins, one...

There were cheers last week about the record or near-record turnout levels in the midterm elections in California, and across the U.S. While the numbers were relatively high—approaching 60 percent in some California counties— they were properly qualified by adjectives such as “midterm,” “off-year”...

Don’t be misled by so-called “safe and sane” fireworks on this holiday, or any other. These sparklers can still blind and burn skin. They can ignite housefires and wildfires. They can kill or maim pets. The “safe and sane” designation assumes another very important ingredient:...

Nearly 29,000 San Benito County adults were registered to vote in the June 5 primary. In neighboring Santa Clara County, the number of registered voters was a record, approaching 850,000. The “turnout”—the percentage of registered voters that actually cast ballots—was considered above average for...

Five candidates are running for California Assembly District 30, and two have emerged as serious contenders to represent the region’s half million residents. The district includes south Santa Clara County and San Benito County and is currently represented by Anna Caballero, who is running...

In two decades as the county’s sheriff, Laurie Smith’s legacy includes both accomplishments and mistakes, and as she runs for a sixth four-year term, her challengers have sought to direct attention to the latter. Smith’s department’s investigation led to the successful prosecution of  Sierra LaMar’s...