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Every generation has grown up being told that they, the youth, are the future. In American society, this means that the youth (theoretically) have the power to sway elections once they are of voting age.  Unfortunately, the youth vote has not always met its potential...

By Mattie Scariot The Poppy Jasper International Film Festival will take place virtually from Wednesday, April 7 to Tuesday, April 20 this year. This longtime, internationally acclaimed, local festival in Morgan Hill, San Martin, Gilroy, Hollister and San Juan Bautista will feature fantastic films, panels,...

On April 21, the Gilroy Garlic Festival Association (GGFA) released a statement that the Garlic Festival was postponed indefinitely due to prohibitive insurance required by the City of Gilroy. We stand by that statement. Some of the talk online against the city and council is...

The Gavilan Joint Community College District extends from the Coyote Valley to the southern edge of San Benito County, and includes the communities of Morgan Hill, San Martin, Gilroy, Hollister, San Juan Bautista, Tres Pinos and Paicines, along with the surrounding rural areas. It...

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...

In California’s fight against homelessness, the Governor just announced a $12 billion plan to end homelessness in five years. Combine that with Santa Clara County’s 5-Year Plan to End Homelessness and one might think we are making progress. But it seems the more money...

The governor just released his revised spending plan for the California budget, and while he did not admit that we are headed towards a recession, he did acknowledge the state faces economic uncertainty.  His assessment of the state’s growing fiscal challenges brings a greater focus...

Whenever I think of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, two things come to mind: sales and whitewashing. As a capitalist nation, we will frequently throw any social and moral awareness behind a paywall regardless of the original person’s message. The irony of an MLK sale...

By John Varela Early next month, Valley Water will take a significant step toward fixing Anderson Dam so it can safely withstand a large earthquake.  The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ordered Valley Water to begin lowering water levels in Anderson Reservoir starting Oct. 1. This effort...

There’s an old adage that one must first acknowledge a problem exists before it can be addressed. It bears repeating because of a huge disagreement over the size of California’s state budget deficit. In December, the Legislature’s independent budget analyst said the state faces a...