Opinion

Californians are rightfully confused by the rapid, even erratic, changes of course that Gov. Gavin Newsom has steered in recent weeks after drawing praise for his early and straightforward actions in the first days of the public health crisis.

To meet this moment, as a matter of educational equity, school leaders, parents and the business community must ensure that science is not once again pushed aside in schools.

As a longtime advocate for open government access in San Benito County, though, I can say with certainty that allowing virtual access to public meetings—along with allowing traditional in-person involvement—would improve the level of openness in local government.

The flames of this cartoon certainly grabbed my attention or better yet my thoughts as I puzzled over the readout on the hand-held device picturing the country in a conflagration.

The Covid-19 pandemic has created an extremely trying situation for essential businesses, which have stepped up in amazing and heroic ways to provide the goods and services that Californians rely on daily.

As worrisome as those aspects of one-party rule may be, we have now entered still another political phase in California—one-man rule.

Latino inclusion begins with growing and harvesting our food going back at least to my childhood in World War Two. At that time, our mother brought us children to pick string beans in a San Jose field near the soon-to-be Hawaiian Gardens.

It would be wonderful to be able to look only in front of you and not look down at the ground that is littered with garbage such as plastic bottles, metal cans, paper coffee cups, plastic bags and so on.

California’s Latino community is experiencing the brunt of the Covid-19 pandemic’s impact. About 50 percent of the state’s more than 62,000 cases, and 33 percent of its total deaths are Latino, more than any other racial or ethnic group in California.

This new reality will impact San Benito and Monterey counties’ ability to deliver critical services as we will not have the spike in tourism to Pinnacles National Park nor the Los Padres National Forest this year, which will reduce vital revenues on which we rely upon.