Max Taves

3 weeks ago | mercurynews.com | Max Taves

San Jose calls itself the “Capital of Silicon Valley” and was ranked by WalletHub this year as the second happiest city in the United States. As San Jose leaders look to change that, voters in District 3, which covers the downtown core, will be filling an unexpected City Council vacancy in a special June 24 runoff election.

1 month ago | mercurynews.com | Max Taves

It’s getting warmer by the day here in Silicon Valley, and yet there’s a growing chill descending on its incubation chambers. Over the last 70 years, Bay Area universities used their freedom and funding to make America great. Stanford University and UC Berkeley, leveraging their educational autonomy and federal investments, have trained the brains directly responsible for the technology underlying U.S. military, economic and scientific dominance.

1 month ago | record-bee.com | William Roller |Max Taves

By Max TavesIt’s no mystery why Californians keep losing their homes to wildfires. They keep building in the most flammable areas. State Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara is doing his part to keep it that way. His new regulation will effectively force ratepayers and taxpayers across California to subsidize the cost of living in predictably combustible corners of the state. And, most troubling of all, it will encourage more construction in those risky regions.

1 month ago | mercurynews.com | Max Taves

It’s no mystery why Californians keep losing their homes to wildfires. They keep building in the most flammable areas. State Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara is doing his part to keep it that way. His new regulation will effectively force ratepayers and taxpayers across California to subsidize the cost of living in predictably combustible corners of the state. And, most troubling of all, it will encourage more construction in those risky regions.

May 11, 2024 | sacbee.com | Max Taves

Scapegoating immigrants is easy. Looking in the mirror? Not so much. But now’s the time for introspection. Inflamed by a Mein Kampf-quoting former (and possibly future) president, immigration ranks as the top issue on voters’ minds, surpassing the economy, deficit and crime in Gallup’s February . Immigration has never ranked this high in Gallup polls stretching back to 1981. Whether rising fears of immigrants are rational, the surge at the southern border is unprecedented.