Environment

“April showers bring May flowers” —A proverb meaning unpleasant things can ultimately lead to a positive outcome. One very nice thing about living in “these parts” is the changing of the seasons. And by the way, Los Gatos and Saratoga are designated “tree cities.” Well, OK, a...

A vegetation fire threatening several homes in the 18500 block of Montevina Road above Los Gatos didn't end up consuming any structures or injuring anybody this afternoon, authorities said. The blaze sparked around noon and as Santa Clara County Fire Department and Cal Fire crews...

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...

A new state law allowed Santa Clara County businesses to donate almost 5 million pounds of food during the first half of 2022, according to a press release from the county.  SB 1383 took effect this year. It requires grocery stores and other businesses to...

A recent statewide snowpack measurement from the California Department of Water Resources is another indication that the tremendously wet winter might have been too much of a good thing. The agency’s readings from 130 snow sensors placed throughout the Sierra Nevada show the  snowpack’s snow-water...

Before you pull up any more “weeds” in your garden, you may want to consider what Alrie Middlebrook has to share about native edible plants and trees. This past Saturday and Sunday, 50 or so gardens around the San Francisco Bay participated in the...

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...

This past Wednesday, the Los Gatos Town Council and Planning Commission held a joint special session to discuss the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA (pronounced SEE-qua), as it pertains to developments planned for the community. David J. Powers and Associates, an Oakland-based private environmental...

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...

A state nonprofit that aims to reduce and eliminate the use of dangerous pesticides on agricultural fields in California plans to sue the agency tasked with regulating them. The announcement came Nov. 18 during a press conference convened in Watsonville by Californians for Pesticide Reform. Mark...