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Drives me crazy to hear something like I did this morning – that the stands for the fans are uninhabitable at Gilroy High’s Garcia-Elder Stadium – this, just before the start of football season for GHS, Christopher High and Gavilan College. This, after the school district had to move graduation ceremonies – those are in June by the way – because of these same “unsafe” bleachers. What got done in between? This is yet another example of why I strongly believe that school district’s need to hire an on-staff project management director that has a background in construction – someone who can tell b.s. from reality and can come up with solutions. The person would be independent from, but wori with the facilities manager who is in charge of maintaining and operating facilities. What school districts need to do is: 1. Form an advisory facility committee composed of members from the business and construction world; 2. Hire a staff administrative-level project construction management person to oversee all facilities projects. That person would negotiate contracts and have, as clients, the taxpayers and the school district. If districts would make those changes, a lot of money would be saved and a lot of battles avoided. And, really, when you’re talking about spending millions of dollars in bond money and getting the best bang for the buck, doesn’t it make perfect sense?

Anyone doubting the quality of our local wines should read the recent Wine Spectator magazine that featured Josh Jensen of Calera Winery (Hollister) on the cover. Jensen's Burgundy-style Pinot Noirs are world famous for their vivid berry flavors and limestone minerality. Calera's wines are so good that the winemaker from Opus One in Napa Valley makes an annual visit to Calera to get pointers on growing wine grapes. In addition to Wine Spectator, Wine and Spirits magazine has again named Calera as one of the top 100 wineries of 2013. Calera may be a little off the beaten path, but the drive will reward you with a taste of its wines and equally spectacular views of the Diablo mountains.

This summer my husband Steve became a tomato evangelist. Every day when I come home, I find him out in the garden, communing with his tomato plants. It all began when our neighbor (a paramedic and an avid amateur gardener very aptly named Denise Gardner) gave us six heirloom tomato plants she had germinated from seeds.

I live in west Gilroy by the levee and have a cement wall for a

Alaska is such a vast and varied place that any trip there can only superficially touch the few sites that a traveler might choose to visit. It is hard to imagine that even a lifelong Alaska resident can truly “know” such an immense and wild place.

Posey became just the fifth National League Rookie of the Year