Guest View

We recently hosted a pop-up Jewish New York Deli experience. There were knishes, half-sour pickles, Dr. Brown’s Cream Soda, matza ball soup, and of course, hundreds of pastrami sandwiches on rye bread.  As I watched customers come and go, picking up their deli to enjoy...

This guest view is part of a periodic series on tips to prepare for wildfire season, which started May 1 in Santa Clara County.Will your home survive when the embers arrive? Wind driven embers ignite many of the homes destroyed by wildfire. Your home could be at risk!  BE EMBER AWARE and make changes to reduce the threat to your home. Remove leaves and pine needles from your rain gutters, keep your firewood a safe distance from your home and clean out debris from under your deck. You can learn more at emberaware.comMost people believe that wildfires ignite homes through direct contact with flames, but it is rare to have a home ignite this way. Flaming brands and embers can travel a mile or more ahead of the active front of a wildfire. Up to 60 percent of wildland/urban interface home ignitions result from embers.Tip Number 4: Deck dangerDecks are one of the parts of your home that are vulnerable to embers during wildfire. This applies to decks comprised of wood boards as well as those made from plastic and wood-plastic composite deck boards.If your deck ignites, the flames can ignite your combustible siding, break the glass on an adjacent window or sliding glass door, or climb to the eave and burn into your attic. If you have a deck and live in a high fire hazard area, you should consider the following:• Keep the gaps between deck boards free of pine needles, leaves and other debris. This tip also applies to the intersection between your deck and your house. Embers can become lodged in the gaps and ignite the deck. Also, don’t allow fallen pine needles and other dead plant material to accumulate on the deck surface during fire season.• The area underneath the deck is particularly susceptible to ember attack. Don’t store firewood, gas cans, lawn mowers, cardboard or other combustible materials under the deck and keep this area free of weeds, pine needles and leaves. Consider enclosing the deck with solid skirting, such as siding that is properly vented, or with 1/8-inch wire mesh to limit ember penetration and reduce maintenance. Don’t enclose it with wooden lattice.• Rotted or otherwise poor condition wood is more easily ignited by embers than wood in good condition. Replace deteriorated wooden deck boards and posts with new ones.• Install metal flashing between the deck and the side of the house. Be sure the flashing is installed to allow proper drainage of water.• If wildfire is threatening, remove combustible materials from the deck, including newspapers and magazines, baskets, door mats, dried flower arrangements, and place them inside the house or garage. Propane tanks should be placed at a distance of 30 feet or more from the house.Decks can contribute to the wildfire threat to your home. Take steps now to reduce the deck danger.Fire Marshal Dwight Good serves the Morgan Hill Fire Department and South Santa Clara County Fire Protection District and the CalFire Santa Clara Unit. He has 24 years of fire service experience. He can be contacted at [email protected].

Summer break just ended for youth across California. Some children savored the opportunity to participate in sports leagues, attend camps with friends or travel to new places. But for many other children, staying physically fit and academically motivated this summer was a real challenge.During the months of summer vacation, research indicates that, on average, children fall one month behind where they left off academically in the spring. This loss in learning during the summer impacts disadvantaged children the most, accounting for as much as two-thirds of the total gap in their academic achievement compared with their more advantaged peers.While falling behind academically during the summer, children also put on additional weight—equal to half the total weight gain acquired during the entire year.Currently, more than 70 percent of Americans age 17 to 24 cannot serve in the military, primarily because they are too poorly educated, are overweight or have a criminal record. As a retired U.S. Air Force Brigadier General and a member of the nonprofit organization Mission: Readiness, I consider this a matter of national security.The good news is high-quality summer learning programs in our neighborhoods successfully blend academic instruction and other enrichment opportunities for youth. Programs like Building Futures Now (BFN) offer a five-week session to help narrow the achievement gap and prepare students for school in the fall. BFN focuses on students’ potential and offers intensive methods that improve students’ math, reading and writing skills, while balancing activities that are enriching and fun.Healthy meals and proper hydration are also key components to the program, and students are provided a selection of fresh fruits and nutritious meals to pick from daily.There are key challenges to programs like BFN. Many lack physical space required for students to engage in the 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity that’s recommended on a daily basis. Further, the costs of running quality programs continue to outpace funding.The state’s After School Education and Safety (ASES) Program supports quality after-school and summer learning across the state, serving hundreds of thousands of students each year. Hundreds of students remain on their waiting lists. Yet, since 2007 the California consumer performance index (CPI) has increased by 19 percent and the state minimum wage has increased 33 percent, while the ASES daily funding has remained at $7.50 per student per day.Due to funding issues, a majority of programs have cut staff hours and reduced services. Each of us can do our part by urging community leaders and public officials to advocate for additional resources for quality summer learning programs.Many school districts are already planning for next year’s programming and we must ensure that the summer of 2017 is not a season of brain drain and weight gain. Providing youth with effective ways to improve their academic skills and stay physically active during summer is just common sense, and will ensure they lead healthier, more productive lives.Jeffrey Lawson is a retired Brigadier General, U.S. Air Force and a Morgan Hill resident.

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).

In my 17 years as a central coast franchise owner, I was always grateful for my community and the passion they had for supporting local family-owned businesses.

To consider non-essential legislation without opportunity for public hearings violates the Brown Act, writes Bob Silvestri, president of Community Venture Partners in Mill Valley. And, he says more new housing bills do not qualify as essential legislation.