Opinion

Three months after the Daughters of Charity Health System named their preferred buyer for medical facilities in South County, city councils in Gilroy and Morgan Hill still are mum

Library a true community resource

I am not a train expert, and I won’t pretend to be, so please excuse me if my terms and expressions are more slang-like than official. I am writing in response to a recent tragedy that struck my community just two days ago. It was just nine days into 2015 when a 54-year-old Gilroy man was struck and killed by a Union Pacific railway maintenance vehicle. This accident occurred at the intersection of Masten Avenue and Monterey Road, one I frequent every day on my way to school and work, and again on my way home. I cross this intersection with my 15-month old daughter in the car. With my 8-year old siblings in the car. My mother, my father, my grandfather, my neighbors—we all cross this intersection and its railroad tracks on a daily basis. And now I can’t help but question mine, my family’s, and all the members of my community’s safety crossing these tracks. This fear is not of the trains or the maintenance vehicles, but rather, of Union Pacific itself.

An area as beautiful as ours deserves a great looking newspaper, too. In freshening up the Gilroy Dispatch, we were conscious of its heritage, which dates back to 1868. So we updated a classic look to create a contemporary news presentation.

Block sale of hospital

The massacre last week at the French satire publication Charlie Hebdo was a direct affront to our freedoms of speech and expression. Sunday’s march in Paris was an expression of solidarity and the fact that we won’t cower to the terrorist acts of extremists of any stripe. As journalists, we must never allow anyone or anything to affect our right to speak and report freely and to express our opinions. Free speech and expression were a relative novelty on planet Earth at the violent birth of our republic nearly 240 years ago. Patriots who called themselves Americans even before we existed as a nation died for what they believed and we continue to believe to be among the fundamental rights of humankind. And Americans have died ever since protecting and defending those freedoms and those who enjoy them, often perhaps with little thought to the sacrifices or what their world would be like absent free speech and expression. In the wake of the Paris massacre of journalists, Jews and police officers targeted by those who murder in the name of religion, we as Americans must be vigilant, stand like steel and never surrender what is right and what so many have laid down their lives and loved ones to safe-keep for the future of this country and the world.

Support sale of hospital

As we get head into 2015, we reflect on 2014 and make resolutions to hopefully carry us through the upcoming year. We promise to eat healthier, exercise more, be a better person and pray for world peace. But instead of searching for that magic cure, or constantly working toward fulfilling New Year's resolutions, just be happy—it's not that hard.

For the most part, holiday traditions are very similar across the world. Families come together to share the holiday spirit, gifts are exchanged and there is usually food involved. Generosity is spread to those less fortunate, and there tends to be a feeling of being uplifted.

My name is David Johnson; I've worked in the laboratory of Saint Louise hospital for 19 years, while it has changed hands multiple times. During those years I have taken pride in this hospital and worked hard with many others to provide for the South Valley Community the best possible health care.