Environment

The Santa Cruz Boardwalk Giant Dipper has drawn over 60 million thrill-seekers to scream while careening around the roller coaster’s hairpin turns. But more than 65,000 motorists a day know that roller coaster ride pales compared to the high-speed, white-knuckle turns it takes to...

On Aug. 12, Daniel Alpert, a software engineer at Afresh, headed towards Sausalito, with friends, snacks, tents and sleeping bags in tow. Their destination? Haypress Campground, near Mill Valley. Their mission? Taking in the Perseids light display in the skies above. “I had never seen...

On May 29 around 2pm, Shadi Allen, a resident of Mountain Laurel Lane in Los Gatos, became aware of a possible fire while she was on the second floor of her home. She smelled smoke wafting through the bedrooms, then looked out of a...

There wasn’t a specific address, just a crossroads. A good 20 minutes out of town, the intersection of Sears and Wright Station roads is definitely somewhere in the middle of nowhere. The hills were looking dry and not so green, even after the rain of...

Just three miles south—or 11 minutes away—from downtown Los Gatos, we have Bear Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve, nearly 1,500 acres of unbridled nature. It features six miles of hiking and equestrian trails that meander along perennial creeks. This acreage was acquired for us...

On Saturday morning, Los Gatos Kiwanis boardmember Nancy Pearson arrived at Old Forbes Mill with coffee and donuts in-hand, prepared to guide members of the Los Gatos High School Key Club, and other volunteers, on an environmental spruce-up.  While embarking on this green clean, Pearson...

Earth Day, which has now been around for decades, marks the anniversary of the birth of the environmental movement. Los Gatos’ annual “Spring into Green” event was held Sunday in Park Plaza, a day before—and in honor of—that important day. But then again, isn't...

Imagine embarking on a five-hour journey every morning, not to an exotic destination, but to your kitchen sink. Picture a 25-pound container, not filled with books for school, but with water that's scarcely clean, strapped to your back. This is not a challenge from...

As part of the Sanborn and Upper Stevens Creek Forest Health Plan, adopted in August 2023 by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, Santa Clara County Parks is closing a few hiking trails. The closures are necessary, officials say, in order to put vital...

Over the last decade, Valley Water has continued to spend more money on cleaning up homeless encampments around Silicon Valley. In fiscal year 2013-14, the regional water wholesaler put $786,085 into the initiative. That grew to $1.5 million just a few years later, then...