Image by San Diego State University Press In 1769, Father Juan Crespi journeyed with Spanish officials to establish mission settlements in Alta (Upper) California. His diary, excerpted below, recalls Christmas ’69 as “biting” cold—but abounding in good food, gifts, and jovial communion, between friends and strangers alike. From The Journal of San Diego History. Christmases…

Image by Geoth on Flickr It’s not North Beach, but SJ has its own legacy of Beat Literature from the 1950s. And perhaps none is more stirring than this dreamy, little-remarked passage from Jack Kerouac’s The Dharma Bums, in which the narrator hitches a (literal and spiritual) ride on a southbound Xmas Eve train, beginning…

Image by Wikimedia Commons Historian April Halberstadt whisks us back to Christmas a century ago in her historic San Jose home—when local agriculture was booming, the city rapidly expanding via annexations, and the faith-centered Wright family (living in now-Halberstadt’s home) making their mark on CA politics. An Opp Now exclusive. We live in an old…

Watson Park: Pearls and Perils   Let me say this as clearly and strongly as I can: We must get Watson Park right.   I’m referring to the sanctioned homeless encampment the City is in the process of developing near Empire Gardens Elementary School in the Watson neighborhood of D3.   We have to get it…

Property taxes are uniquely burdensome because they tax homeowners repeatedly for something they already own, says HJTA’s Susan Shelley, who asks why the revenue can’t be limited to property-related services. But as Prop 13 protections are eroded by parcel taxes/bonds, local gov’ts—flush with extra dollars—often spend outside their scope. In this Opp Now exclusive Q&A,…

In 2022, then-SJ State professor Dr. Elizabeth Weiss drew attention to the university’s rule (now rescinded) against “menstruating personnel” handling anthropological remains. Last week, Weiss wrote in the Martin Center that SJSU’s alleged silencing of volleyball coach Melissa Batie-Smoose indicates a larger issue of “failing to protect and respect women.” [SJSU having a transgender player…

Image generated using Dall-E SF Valencia St’s center-corridor bike lane took out parking places and made cyclists feel unsafe. To restore business to local merchants, SFMTA finally agreed to return the bike lane back to the sides of the road. But this won’t be cheap. The design, which might include dangerous “floating parklets,” will slash…

Image by James Vaughan In a strange mea culpa, liberal SF senator Scott Wiener admits that progressive governance has failed local cities in many respects. But his apologia suggests he doesn’t really mean it. From an SF Standard editorial. Democrats must distinguish ourselves as the party of results by focusing on governing well in the places…

Image generated using Dall-E Across the Golden State, voters flagged their discomfort with pols and policies that accelerated social unrest. Prop 36 won because it reforms Prop 47, the starting gun for theft and disorder that collided with Californians’ sense of public safety. Soft-on-crime DAs have now been recalled in SF, Alameda, and LA—and some…

If voters’ Prop 13 protections are clearly under threat, they’ll push back, says HJTA Comms VP Susan Shelley. In this Opp Now exclusive Q&A, she recalls how Prop 5’s proponents claimed it wasn’t a tax, and they were “just asking questions”—but, she says, voters saw right through that tangled, deceptive messaging: although outspent, HJTA’s “shoestring”…

Depicted: Proposed high-speed rail dubbed the “Portal” project by TJPA With the incoming Trump administration planning to defund California High-Speed Rail, it’s time for local transit officials to revisit the already weak case for extending HSR and Caltrain from 4th and King Street in San Francisco 1.3 miles to Salesforce Transit Center. Below, an Opp Now…

Cinderella and Prince Christopher grew up in separate worlds, but soon find their similarities—and mutual affection—overcome everything else. From Cinderella (1997). Concluding our Opp Now exclusive Election ’24 series, SJ Housing Commissioner Roberta Moore rejects the notion that ideological polarization is just a fact we must accept in Silicon Valley—pointing instead to common goals we…