Guest View, Marie Blankley: Considering the future of the transit center
With my support, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority held two community meetings in Gilroy to introduce the possibility of and receive feedback on an affordable housing project at the Gilroy Transit Center. However, the project described in their request for approval to authorize...
Guest View: Period Project tackles menstruation stigma
Period poverty is defined as the struggle those who have a menstrual cycle face while trying to afford menstrual products. Despite not being able to control a menstrual cycle, those who have one are still left to purchase products that some cannot afford. I...
Guest view: AB 1454 shows how to improve child literacy, efficiently and effectively
Every teacher in California wants their students to be able to read. But too often, we’re not given the tools to provide effective reading instruction.
While serving as an English language arts/English language development teacher on Special Assignment for Gilroy Unified School District, our Las...
Guest View, Fred Tovar: Stronger together
Dear members of the Gilroy community, I wanted to share with you a copy of the letter that was sent to the Santa Clara County Democratic Party in response to a resolution they presented recommending removal of their endorsement.
Dear Mr. Bill James and Santa...
Spoking My Mind: Happy New Gear
Yes, a very happy new gear to all!
Did Santa bring you a new bicycle last month? Spectacular! Send me a picture of you and your new ride—landscape is preferred over portrait—and I’ll try to feature it in a future column.
Have you signed up for...
Guest View, Zach Hilton: Biking for a vibrant city
Whose town has the true Pedal Power? Meaning, the most people with wind in their hair, and with wheels turning. With young people and adults rolling in the open air.
Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition invited cities across San Mateo and Santa Clara counties to a...
Spoking My Mind: Opportunities lost and found
Recently, I was gazing out the window of our VRBO, two tall flights above the narrow, cobblestone path below. Florence’s early-morning street view was certainly a lot quieter than our previous one in Rome! Off to the right, I spied two colorful bicycle wheels...
Guest View: State’s experiment puts lives at risk
World War II changed the face of the world and all the people in it. In California, attitudes on how to view and treat mental illness were changing as well.
Growing up in post-WWII California, we didn’t have homeless people per se. Of course there...
Guest view: Food security is critical to economic and national security on Central Coast
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...
Rabbi Mendel Liberow: As we respond to the crisis in Ukraine, unity is key
They tried to kill us. We won. Let’s eat.
Jewish festivals often conjure up something along these lines. Purim, the Jewish festival that takes place on the 14th day of the Hebrew month of Adar—this year March 16-17—is no exception.
In 357 BCE, Persia’s King Ahasuerus...






















