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Part 1 of this article, “Steps needed to create a thriving community,” which was published in the May 20 edition of the Gilroy Dispatch, covered the first five common characteristics of thriving communities. This final installment will discuss the remaining four steps and stress why...

I write on behalf of my Gilroy City Council Member Office, in support of Valley Transportation Authority’s Transit Oriented Development in Gilroy and in response to a recent letter from Gilroy Growing Smarter (Gilroy Dispatch, May 21). 1. Downtown Gilroy is the urban core of...

For the past 10 years Gilroy has been a part of the South County United For Health Leadership Team with the focus on addressing health challenges such as poor nutrition, smoking, diabetes and lack of exercise that are the highest in the county. We...

There was an opinion piece in the March 19 Dispatch that led the reader to believe that the Gilroy City Council is ignoring a plan that could end homelessness. That is a misleading statement. What the opinion leaves out is that the Gilroy City Council...

Since Gov. Gavin Newsom’s first State of the State address six years ago, California has stopped pursuing a high-speed rail system that actually connects the Bay Area to Southern California, as was promised to voters in 2008. And in that void, politicians, pundits and...

On Oct. 11, Rebekah Children’s Services (RCS) and the Kneaded Culinary Academy hosted their fifth annual National Coming Out Day in Gilroy.  Guests were greeted by a wonderful rainbow balloon arch created by Laurem’s Cakes and were welcomed by a resource fair, family lawn games...

As we draw nearer to Thanksgiving, I am reminded of this holiday’s origins and significance. There are some interesting and noteworthy parallels with today’s world, two years after Covid-19 began. While Thanksgiving has only been a national holiday since it was established in 1863 by...

I recently pedaled past what used to be Gilroy’s Sunshine Bicycles. Instead of all those shiny new bikes in the windows, all I saw was a lonely, little “For Rent” sign. Truly the end of an era. Shifting gears from sad to happy… A super Cycle...

Like many parents across America, I watched the struggles of students, parents and teachers as the Covid-19 lockdown forced schools to adapt and find new ways of keeping their students engaged and on track. I saw the results of that evolution as well: social...

The agricultural stretch of California’s Central Coast along the Salinas Valley is often called the “Salad Bowl of the World,” and for good reason. It supplies more than 60% of the nation’s lettuce and substantial portions of strawberries, spinach and broccoli.  But beyond the fertile...