Opinion

Santa Clara County has been carrying around the nickname Silicon Valley for half a century. However, the nickname is as one-dimensional as a microchip. The phrase summons images of hoodie-clad coders, driverless cars, and tech CEOs who think kombucha is a food group. Silicon...

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,...

Is it really bye bye to Dinah’s Log? Bye bye to Dinah’s Weekly Log? Please no no! This little “log” provides a sense of belonging in our small town. It’s the place where we check out the delightful highlights of the coming week, where we’ll see...

During the past several years, the Community Health and Senior Services Commission has made significant strides in helping to improve senior services in Los Gatos.  Although our focus on senior services is essential, I believe we must also attend to our community’s mental health. Given...

Did Blum’s comedic Los Gatan article fill a pothole? My recent Los Gatan piece, a brief foray into levity after a series of my more usual serious columns, featured a few lines about the “Grand Canyon-sized pothole” on the Highway 17 north on-ramp. I even mused,...

Community Alliance: Appointment process was politically driven Leadership requires vision, competence, and integrity—qualities seemingly lacking in former mayor Maria Ristow and Vice Mayor Rob Moore. Their actions during the Planning Commission appointment process show a troubling pattern of prioritizing politics over the community’s needs. The Planning...

We've got a crisis on our hands, and it's not the latest TikTok trend or an avocado shortage. We're talking about a severe blood drought. The life-giving, accident-saving, surgery-enabling fluid is in shorter supply than toilet paper during the whole pandemic debacle. You might be...

Crying doesn’t mean something’s wrong. Sometimes it means everything is gloriously right.

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and remained healthy. I’m a “cup is half full” kind of guy, and believe that 2022 has a lot of positive surprises in store for all of us! Board President. In December, my colleagues...

Simitian’s gratitude Thank you for the opportunity to serve in public office for more than 40 years at five different levels: as a local school board member, city council member and mayor, county supervisor, state assemblymember and state senator. At the end of next month, by...