Columns

As a resident of Los Gatos, I’ve come to appreciate the town’s unique blend of charm, tranquility and a certain...let’s say, pleasantness. It’s a place where everyone seems to be on their best behavior, a land of smiling faces and polite conversations. But as I’ve...

“Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” —motto associated with the United States Postal Service But developers might? Our little charming town of Los Gatos has had a post office since 1864. But...

During the past few years, I’ve served as a member of the Community Health and Senior Services Commission (CHSSC) in Los Gatos. For most of that time, our commission, which is supposed to have six adult members and one youth member, has had one...

Along a Highway 101 frontage road near San Juan Bautista there’s a discrete wrought iron sign proclaiming, “FREEDOM REIGNS.'' You may have driven by many times and never noticed it, or the keypad located just below to the left. We slowed down to enter...

Saturation of the soil should be a rare problem within the local chaparral climates. Water is a limited resource. That is why plants that are not native or endemic to other chaparral or desert climates rely on supplemental irrigation. Many exotic species would not...

A week before the 2022 New Year, I received a text from a friend expressing his dismay at the great number of dead newts he saw on Alma Bridge Road while he was biking. This was right after one of the December winter storms....

Regardless of how appealing many of them are in home gardens and landscapes, vines are flagrantly exploitative. They rely on shrubbery, trees or anything they can climb on for support. As they reach the tops of their supports, they extend their foliar canopies above....

He has much in common with other residents of Los Gatos: He’s a veteran who grew up in a family with mining interests overseas. He’ll buy you a cold drink on a hot day. When he’s offered a free beer at the bar he...

In Morgan Hill, there are no roads looking like a pockmarked moonscape and no tumbleweed rolling across the open spaces. The city’s drama level is lower than the cost of living (although perhaps not by much). The downtown area is vibrant, filled with restaurants,...

There are drought-tolerant, warm season turf grasses that are tougher, require less water/maintenance/fertilizer and, if maintained properly, will equal or exceed artificial grass in quality, safety and perhaps usability. Natural grass fields also have many other health and environmental benefits such as providing oxygen,...