Opinion

Cordevalle deserved better than the finish it got on Sunday to close out the 2016 U.S. Women’s Open.

FOMO, or the fear of missing out, prompted my husband and I to abandon San Jose and move to Gilroy. With approximately 50 wineries between Morgan Hill and Hollister, the dizzying array of music, wine and food events throughout the summer—many of them free or at very low-cost—offers something for nearly everyone.

California has some of the most beautiful weather in the country, but those beautiful sunny days can expose us to harmful side effects if we aren’t prepared.Ultraviolet (UV) radiation is the main cause of skin cancer in children and adults, and is the most common cancer in California and the nation. Tanning beds and some welding equipment are also known to cause skin cancer.  Approximately 128,000 Californians will get skin cancer this year and one out of every five people in California will get skin cancer in his or her lifetime. The federal government has classified UV rays as a known human carcinogen because of their extreme likelihood of causing skin cancer.UV rays can be harmful to both adults and children, but children are particularly sensitive, especially before age ten. Children’s risk of developing skin cancer later in life is increased if they get sunburns and/or tan.The good news is that skin cancer caused by UV radiation can be prevented. The California Department of Public Health suggests that to prevent skin cancer you should decrease the time you spent outside from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., wear full-length clothing and a hat with a wide brim and neck flaps, wear UV-protective sunglasses, seek shade, apply sunscreen SPF 30 or higher to exposed skin, use lip balm SPF 30 or higher and avoid tanning beds.Additionally, people should be aware that cancer-causing UV rays are the strongest from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., from mid-spring through mid-fall, at higher altitudes, concentrating an extra 6 percent per 1,000 feet gain in elevation and with a lack of thick cloud cover.You can find additional information about UV safety on the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) website:  https://www.cdph.ca.gov. The website provides resources and tips on how to stay safe from cancer-causing UV radiation.The better prepared you are, the more likely you are to have a fun and safe summer, and I encourage everyone to take the steps necessary to become educated on this issue to protect yourself and your family.  Monning represents the 17th Senate District, which includes all of San Luis Obispo and Santa Cruz counties, and portions of Monterey and Santa Clara counties.

SAN MARTIN—So first of all, I cannot oversell just how amazing it is to walk around Cordevalle and hear the languages being spoken and the accents of those speaking.

With media credential in tow, I spent a couple of hours walking the golf course at CordeValle on Thursday for the first round of the U.S. Women’s Open. So what’s the spectator experience for a tournament like this? Pretty enjoyable—and that’s an understatement.

Anyone who has ever lost a pet knows how helpless it feels not to be able to locate their animal. Fortunately, it’s now easier than ever to prevent this from happening. Santa Clara County Animal Care and Control and VIP Pet Care are proud to sponsor a free registered microchip and free rabies vaccination clinic Sunday, July 17 at the County Animal Shelter, 12370 Murphy Ave., San Martin. Santa Clara County Animal Control Officers carry microchip scanners in their vehicles. When they pick up a stray animal, they scan it for a microchip. If the animal is wearing a license tag or has a registered microchip, the officers will return the pet to the owners if possible. For more information about this event, call VIP Pet Care at (800) 427-7973.Homelessness decreased 14 percent in just two years in our county,thanks to innovative programs and partnerships between government and local nonprofits. There is no question about it: Housing First works. The concept of Housing First has proven effective in our community; we know that by providing people with housing in conjunction with supportive services, they are significantly more likely to stay housed and off the streets. As recently reported in the press, a single homeless person often uses $67,000 in government services annually. Once housed, that number drops down to $24,000. The significant saving is due largely to homeless individuals relying on expensive emergency room services for basic health care. Once housed, this reliance drops dramatically. By focusing on housing for the homeless, we can save lives and taxpayer money.From July 4 to 10, the U.S. Women's Open—dubbed the Super Bowl of women's golf—will take place for the first time ever in Santa Clara County! The public can watch 156 of the world's greatest professional and amateur golfers compete for the sport's ultimate trophy. The 71st U.S. Women's Open, presented by the USGA and hosted at CordeValle, will draw thousands of visitors from around the world to our region. Kudos to all involved with bringing this event to our County.The county is partnering with Racing Hearts to place lifesaving heart defibrillators (AEDs) throughout the community. So far, 249 AEDs have been installed, each of which is supported by a 5-year program of supplies and service. This translated to protecting over 943,230 students and adults per year, at 185 sites! If you have a location in your area which is high risk that you feel would benefit from our county's matching grant program, Racing Hearts (Program Manager for the County) is available to answer questionsabout how to start work on bringing AEDs into your community.  Contact them at (650) 308-4183 or email [email protected]'t forget to submit a photo for my 2016 Summer Photo Contest. Grab your camera and show us your favorite summertime images of landscape, farmers markets, parades, county parks, neighborhood BBQs, pets and other fun images of summer. The deadline is July 29. Simply email your photo (ONE per person please) to [email protected] along with your name, address, and where you took the photo.Santa Clara County Supervisor Mike Wasserman represents District 1, which includes South County, on the board of supervisors. He can be reached at (408) 299-5010 or [email protected].

What a month we’ve had downtown!On June 10, the new pop up park made its debut to incredible enthusiasm and was an instant hit—you’ll see people having a good time there pretty much all day long. This is a concept that deserves a permanent home, but I wonder if a fancy permanent home will have the same charm and personal feel of this overnight success; it feels like we put it together with our community pride.Later, on June 23we celebrated the opening of the downtown parking garage, completion of the street improvements, and all of the downtown art. The parking garage is really, truly, finally done! The tarantula is lit and a hit. Poppy Jasper is always beautiful, but a three-story version is a truly remarkable sight. There is now so much art downtown that a walking tour had to be conducted to show it all off. The street improvements make the street scene feel festive all year round, and the median now feels like a park. Did you submit a name for our tarantula in the naming contest?The Downtown Visioning Summit closed out the month, and I felt that it recapped everything that happened earlier in the month. City staff put together what I felt was the finest overview of what has happened recently and what is about to happen downtown. There were two panels made up of real people that we could relate to. I think many of these folks are the new visionaries and as different as their approach may be, the vision seems to be consistent: we are going to have a lot of people downtown and most of them will be walking, hopefully from their nearby downtown homes.The Visioning Summit really opened my eyes; the new development coming downtown is pretty exciting stuff. There was an overwhelmingly enthusiastic buzz in the attending crowd. Now I’m sure a few were not enthused about what is coming but there seems to be a strong sense that the community is ready for the coming changes.We’re now in July and an event that the community has been working on for almost a year is here: the U.S. Women’s Open Golf Tournament! Women golfers from around the world arrive with their huge media presence, so be prepared and smile a lot when you’re roaming Morgan Hill the next few days.This event holds the potential to give us unprecedented exposure on the world stage, but even if we don’t get the anticipated exposure we know that we should have a hopping downtown while we entertain the best women golfers in the world.Not a bad month for little ol’ Morgan Hill huh? Oh yea, there was this little street thing and parade that I’ll discuss next time…John McKay is Interim President of the Morgan Hill Downtown Association, a city planning commissioner and co-founder of the Morgan Hill Tourism Alliance.

This multi-Toni Award production recreates all the characters from the Disney movie, from Lumiere the living candlestick, to the clock, teapot, chest of drawers and the delightful rug. Wrapped up in Rob Roth’s direction and Matt West’s creative choreography, this fast-moving production will keep adults and kids in awe and wonder.

What better time for a grand moment of laughter? Lend Me a Tenor brings us into a wonderful farce that ends all farces. With two “Ortellos” and an abundance of hot ladies ready to make their dreams come true with the greatest tenor in the world who has an over-the-top jealous Italian wife. Laughter starts with the first moments when the really uptight general manager of the Cleveland Opera can’t find his temperamental, lady-chasing tenor for the evening’s performance.