Silicon Valley and other parts of California must find alternative solutions to address its growing homeless crisis, suggests Market Urbanism Report founder Scott Beyer. An Opp Now exclusive.

Anyone who's worked in a mix of government, nonprofit, and business jobs knows that each sector is different, and provides its own strengths and weaknesses. Irene Smith, D3 council candidate, made the same point in a forum with her opponent, Omar Torres. But thin-skinned nonprofit veteran Patricia Gardner took bizarre offense in the Letters section of the Merc, sadly proving the point she was purportedly trying to oppose. The Opp Now team unpacks her twisted logic, below.

In an exclusive conversation with Opp Now, the California Policy Center’s Jackson Reese gets to the root of the SCC Democrats’ recent letter on school board candidates that they label as dangerous. Reese identifies how liberal-leaning school boards fund teachers unions, which fund the Democrat party—together keeping state gov’t overinflated and progressive.

In SJUSD’s only true election this cycle (Brian Wheatley will be appointed in lieu for a second term in Area 4), incumbent José Magaña and challenger Andres Macias are running for Area 2 San Jose Unified board member this Nov. In the first of a two-part series for Opp Now, Magaña and Macias address SJ schools’ academic attainment problems, and their approaches to student success.

An article published by the SCC Democrats contends that school board candidates backed by a local Republican group employ slippery political “codewords,” including “parents rights.” Jackson Reese of the California Policy Center investigates this assertion and what progressives have to gain from espousing it.

Gov. Newsom finally took action to help the state's mentally ill and unhoused population by signing into law CARE Court, which creates a legal mechanism that can require mental health treatment for the severely mentally ill. County Supervisor candidate Johnny Khamis answers the misguided criticisms of the CARE Court offered by local progressives (Representative Ash Kalra and Supervisor Susan Ellenberg) in an Opp Now exclusive Q and A.

Statewide reporting on SCA 10/Prop 1, on which Californians will vote later this year, tends to be highly enigmatic—sidestepping the questions that leave local citizens confused and concerned. In Opp Now’s exclusive series investigating this Const. amendment’s parameters for late-term abortions, Eric Scheidler—the Pro-Life Action League’s E.D.—examines the Merc’s latest commentary.

Californians will vote on Prop 1 (SCA 10) this Nov., which appears on the surface to neatly pen the state’s pro-choice legal stance into its constitution. However, responses across the Golden State have ranged from apathy to disappointment to disgust—as experts/orgs can’t agree on how SCA 10 would inform late-term abortion restrictions. In this latest Opp Now exclusive, prominent legal experts and advocacy nonprofits (from multiple viewpoints) parse the bill.

SoCal’s Marc Ang is president of Asian Industry B2B and renowned for his pioneering journalism championing minority communities and fighting bills like Prop 16. He turns his gaze on local Santa Clara County decarceration advocates' arguments for zero dollar bail, and finds that facts don't support their assertions. An Opp Now exclusive.

Santa Clara County's zero-dollar bail order—which released people accused of crimes without bail—was rescinded last week amid concerns from San Jose officeholders that the order increased crime. The Merc's news coverage of the development bizarrely focused more on the arguments against the news development than on the news itself, revealing a curious bias toward left-leaning, decarceration advocates. A quick analysis of the story follows.