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Guest View: Protecting the newts of Alma Bridge Road
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....
Guest View: Prioritizing children over plastic
What were your favorite school memories as a child? Mine included counting roly-polies in the grass at recess, having mud-sliding contests after school, and picking wildflowers with my friends. Some of my least favorite memories were having to play soccer on plastic turf on...
A whole latte love: fundraiser for damaged cafe tops $30,000
At the 114 Royce St. newspaper office, we sometimes worked until midnight in the startup days. One warm night, I walked outside to the distinctive smell of freshly roasting coffee beans. A column of smoke rose over Main Street, three blocks away.
I followed it...
Discover LOST Gatos: Happy Birthday, Los Gatos!
On Aug. 10, 1887—135 years ago today—a newly created Board of Trustees voted to officially incorporate the Town of Los Gatos. Let’s mark the occasion with a quiz about our beloved town’s history.
1. Who was awarded a land grant for El Rancho Rinconada de...
Tales of the Town: Sheriffs, Guns & Money
As a young journalist, I was once invited to a meeting with Sheriff Bob Winter at a Los Gatos insurance office. At one point, one of the attendees asked the folksy sheriff if there was anything he could do to help. I remember Winter...
HORTICULTURE: Deadhead spring bulbs after bloom
Fruiting warm season vegetables that are now in season, such as squash, tomatoes and beans, are more abundant with regular harvest. Plants that produce such fruit respond to their natural obligation to generate seed. Deprivation of the fruit that contains their seed stimulates production...
Supporting kids through back-to-school transitions
The back-to-school season can be a time of excitement and anticipation, but can also bring anxiety and stress for children. As parents and caregivers, supporting kids through these transitions is crucial, especially when it comes to their mental health.
Why are transitions hard for kids?
Transitions...
Guest View: Many unanswered questions surrounding artificial turf
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,...
Horticulture: Vines are aggressive social climbers
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....
Here’s how Los Gatos can keep its commissions active
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...


















