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South Valley Civic Theatre’s upcoming production, “The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical,” is making its way to the stage Feb. 23 at the Morgan Hill Community Playhouse.  The show is based on the popular book “The Lightning Thief” by author Rick Riordan, which was...

This has been a year of labor unrest in California, a state in which unions represent a relatively small faction of the state’s workforce but wield great political power. The most obvious example is the protracted strikes of actors and writers in Southern California’s iconic...

If Bay Area housing stakeholders are to ever address factors that have led to construction delays and the rise in costs for constructing desperately needed housing, we must delve deeper into how a well-intentioned law has inadvertently led to difficulty in producing sufficient housing....

As a lifelong resident of Gilroy (since 1964!) whose family comes from farming throughout Santa Clara County, I’ve lived through the change of our once prevalent orchards to today’s Silicon Valley. As Silicon Valley developed and job opportunities soared, so did the cry for...

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...

When small businesses are protected in the State of California from unjust attacks, so too is the California economy. For decades, small business owners have been embroiled in litanies of legal battles that forces them to stare down the prospect of financial ruin. Why?...

While December’s rain and snow show promise, water managers remember the same thing happened last year—epic early storms followed by the driest January through March in California’s recorded history.  After three dry years, all of us are hoping for some reprieve this winter. But the tough reality...

I’m sitting at my laptop, basking in the memories of last week’s camping trip to the Sierras. My camping trips actually began when I was still in diapers; after that, yearly camp adventures were part of my life. But, that magic age came for...

The ever-continuous magic question: “Is now the right time to buy?” Is it?  My response has always stayed the same: “if the time is right for you.” How do you determine that in an ever-changing and evolving market? Many considerations, economics, interest rates and of...

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...