Guest View

By Kollin Kosmicki San Benito County must address the severe farmworker housing shortage.   As a journalist in the early 2000s, I examined heartbreaking farmworker housing conditions in Hollister. Multiple families, sometimes dozens of residents, often packed into small homes and poverty-stricken conditions.   The situation already reached a...

We need to work harder as a community to protect one another by understanding that this virus is serious and precautions are still needed.

In 1978, an openly gay man named Gilbert Baker designed a Rainbow Flag that represents a symbol of pride for the gay community. It has been said that Harvey Milk, one of the first openly gay elected officials in the United States of America,...

The economic downturn that the world is facing today as a result of Covid-19 may have been unavoidable. But the level to which so many of our neighbors are struggling today has been compounded greatly by the recent economic history of the United States, in which the economic security of working families has been sacrificed on the altar of corporate profits.

Winter storms brought significant snowfall to the Sierra Nevada and other California mountains in December. Snowpack is critical for the state’s spring water outlook because when the snow melts it runs downhill into streams that fill reservoirs that hold about 30% of the state’s...

There comes a time when each of us comes to terms with aspects of life that can change our views and challenge long held beliefs. For me it is the present issue of police in schools (school resource officers).

As I noted at the San Benito County Board meeting June 14, the discussion about San Justo Reservoir’s longstanding closure has been one of the worst broken records imaginable for local residents.  That stale melody on repeat among political entities—ranging from the county to Congress—has...

We know by now that most adults who’ve refused the Covid-19 vaccine will not be budged, no matter what they’re told by science and common sense. They’ve chosen this as their line in the sand—or, for a more apt metaphor, their hill to die...

Benjamin Franklin said there were two things certain in life: Death and taxes! When it comes to special interests’ involvement in influencing our government, I can add two more certainties: Bad policies and more taxes to cover the costs of those policies. To be clear,...

May is Water Awareness Month. It’s also the start of our irrigation season when water use starts to go up dramatically. Over 60% of residential water use is for landscape purposes in the summer.   This is especially important since we are in the grips of...