Opinion

How would travel advice apply in more serious anti-Americanism situations? (In response to last week’s Guest View article by etiquette expert Pamela Eyring) How would she handle an incident involving a 9th grader being physically attacked in broad daylight in a public location while on a...

I am a lifelong Los Gatos resident and an active member of our community, including serving as vice-president of the Los Gatos Morning Rotary and other community groups. I am very involved in mental health education and advocacy, including serving as co-chair of Santa...

There are serious problems with ALPR systems Santa Cruz recently demonstrated why automated license plate reader (ALPR) systems deserve far more scrutiny than they often receive. On January 13, the Santa Cruz City Council voted 6–1 to terminate its contract with Flock Safety after discovering...

From the Inbox... Do your homework Dear Mr. Penner, I give you a C- for your latest journalistic effort in the Los Gatan. You should validate your information before releasing your stories for publication. Your article titled “ACLU threatens legal action against town” is devoid of...

Have you ever wondered how prominent figures like Benjamin Franklin achieved remarkable success? One key factor in his rise as a writer, publisher and politician was his mastery of “social intelligence.” What follows is my analysis of how Franklin’s lessons might apply to our...

I enjoyed reading Lisa Traylor Scott’s chronicle of her family in last week’s issue of the Los Gatan as well as the companion piece she wrote last year. As an amateur historian, I’m forever curious about the people whose mostly untold stories reveal how...

I’m still reading the biography of Mark Twain by Ron Chernow. The book is more than 1,000 pages long, so cut me some slack. My last column channeled Twain’s propensity to write fake news stories when he was a journalist. Prior to picking up Chernow’s...

On Saturday, vandals participating in the “No Kings” protests graffitied the Loma Brewing alleyway. As a community, we shouldn’t stand for our town to be treated this way by outsiders. I value the beauty and safety of this town, and will do everything I can...

I’d love to see more coverage on the local LGHS girls tennis team. This has been a dramatic season for them with a group of highly competitive (and highly ranked) players vying for the CCS championship. A great team where it sounds like the team came...

A much-discussed course of action to bring housing affordability to our area is to create more housing. And if we are to build more housing, why does it take so long?  While serving on the San Jose City Council’s Ad-Hoc Committee on Building & Planning,...