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Morgan Hill
April 9, 2026

Perfect holiday gifts for the wine aficionado

With the holidays fast approaching, my thoughts turn to family gatherings, gift-giving and sparkling wine - not necessarily in that order. Since the topic of family gatherings would far exceed the limited word count of this column, I will focus on gift ideas for the wine lover on your list and sparkling wines that can be essential to getting through family gatherings.

One dog on Santa’s good list, one dog on the other

Dear Santa, Hi, it's me, Kirby the dog. I know that normally dogs don't write you to ask for presents, but honestly? I'm no ordinary dog. And I've been really, really good this year, unlike my friend, No-no Lulu who is quite the bad dog. Like “barks-at-all-the-neighbors” bad. And “brings-dead-frogs-into-the-house-and-leaves-them-on-the-floor-so-the-female-human-will-scream-when-she-sees-them” bad. Honestly, Santa, I could go on and on about how bad No-no Lulu acts.

The lost opportunity of playground education

I recently visited one of the many neighborhood parks that we are fortunate to have in Morgan Hill. In fact the park near my home recently went through a playground renovation, having some of the latest and safest state of the art playground equipment installed.

Newfangled turkey dinner and a martini can take care of the shopping sting

Oh joy. It’s Christmas shopping time again. I so look forward to Black Friday, I can barely contain myself. Truth is, I rarely leave home from Thanksgiving until the following Tuesday. I went to the Gilroy Outlets one year and spent the entire day driving around looking for a parking place. The only thing I remember getting was gas.

‘Big River’: A joyful ride down the Mississippi

“Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot.” – Mark Twain

Church provides alternate holiday service

“Merry Christmas” or “happy holidays” are probably the most common expressions heard this time of year. Greeting cards come in the mail proclaiming, “Joy to the World.” Shoppers, meanwhile, are crowding the malls in search of gifts that will bring feelings of delight to their recipients.

Don’t take a ‘holiday’ from financial goals

We’re well into the holiday season now. And while the holidays are joyous, they can also be expensive. In fact, at this time of year, many people make spending decisions they end up regretting. But you can enjoy the holidays and still stay on track toward your financial goals by following a few simple guidelines, including the following:

Change constant for local news business – except it’s still all about our town

More than a decade ago, as the dawn of the information age turned into mid-morning, our industry hemmed and hawed: Should we charge customers to read the news online? Pros and cons were tossed about like sports cliches in post-game interviews. And, as an industry, we took it “one game at a time” which turned into “one year at a time” which, in my view, turned into a decade of madness.

Columnist opens door to the culinary world

Hello and welcome! I am proud to introduce to you my new column, The Flavor Chronicle. My name is Mitch L. Mariani II and some of you may remember me from my former column, Mixed Grill. This is another food column and I will continue to write about grilling and barbecue, but only seasonally. In The Flavor Chronicle, I have the unlimited culinary world open and unbounded. As my culinary interests go far beyond the grill, I’m very excited for all the possibilities.

I challenge you to conquer Clouds Rest

Each new year, we resolve to lose weight, exercise more, or make some other pledge of self-improvement that usually withers and dies before January is gone. But sometimes, if the challenge has enough allure, and if we do it with the support and companionship of friends, we might follow through and maybe even come away with a lifelong memory.

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