We strongly urge Gov. Gavin Newsom to pass Assembly Bill 572, a bill to protect grieving families from coercive interrogations by law enforcement, after the violent police killing of a family member. As sisters who lost our father to law enforcement — and experienced the coercion ourselves — this bill is deeply personal to us....

Laura Reyes began experiencing terrible pain on her shift at a local Burger King. She quickly went to management, saying she was very ill and needed to leave work. Management did not allow her to leave. Laura went back to work, fearing for her job, and the pain got worse and she started bleeding heavily....

Our country is at a crucial point, and the impact will be deeply felt in our schools. The path our schools have journeyed over recent years has been rocky and inconsistent at best, and the road ahead will pose even greater challenges and risks. Hopefully, we won’t have to go over the cliff before we...

My family has called East San Jose home for decades. I went through Alum Rock Union School District from kindergarten through eighth grade and later returned to serve as a teacher and principal. ARUSD shaped me, and it pains me to see a destructive cycle of superintendent turnover, fueled by a dysfunctional board, repeat endlessly....

The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors is preparing to debate a countywide proposal that once again unfairly targets local restaurants and immigrant business owners — piling new, unnecessary burdens on more than 1,600 small businesses already struggling to survive. I know how damaging it can be when new regulations target one industry while leaving...

Billboards are signs advertising products and services not available at the sign’s location. Such in-your-face advertising was justifiably banned on public property in San Jose for 46 years before the City Council in 2018 revoked that ban with limited public knowledge or approval. Last February, the council approved the first of several giant digital billboards,...

Even on vacation—between coastal drives and indulging my 9-year-old’s joy at Disneyland—I can’t stop thinking about Mayfair. While exploring one of Santa Barbara’s gentrifying neighborhoods, a street sign caught my eye: Sal Si Puedes—Spanish for “get out if you can.” I was stunned. How could such a loaded phrase be casually embedded in the landscape?...

What do a video game controller, ironing board, microwave, drone, Rubik’s cube and rice cooker have in common? None of them should be in our local waterways, yet all these items were among the litter removed during this year’s National River Cleanup Day. Every spring, I’m reminded of the incredible power of community. On National...

Public education in America is in crisis. As institutions across the county contend with an ideological shift, the Santa Clara County Office of Education is intent on implementing broad austerity instead of ensuring care, access and equity to all. In March, layoff notices abruptly called for a 25% reduction of its workers without a contingency...