Thanks to the work of the staff of Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services, and under the recent leadership of trails manager Yves Zsutty, San Jose’s entire trail system has undergone an amazing transformation.

The company that provides Santa Clara County’s ambulance services is in need of rescue. In December 2010, the Board of Supervisors contracted with Rural Metro, which missed an important bond payment last week, leading industry insiders and county officials to worry that the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based company may be headed towards bankruptcy. So what do the elected officials who supported the Rural Metro contract have to say about the current mess? Nothing.

Mayor Chuck Reed’s pension reform plan went to trial Monday in a Santa Clara County court room. The outcome of the case is expected to influence other cities considering ways to cut down on the cost of retirement benefits. The lawsuit, brought against the city by its employee unions in response to Reed’s Measure B reforms, demonstrates the challenge of reforming pension plans despite having to cut public services to pay for them.

Judge Arthur Weisbrodt drew boos from a handful of San Jose Rotary Club members when he quoted an anonymous source as saying “I would tell the voters that voting for Cindy Chavez is the same as voting for George Shirakawa or Ron Gonzales. The same corruption, dishonesty and back deals.” Weisbrodt was moderating a debate last wednesday between Chavez and Teresa Alvarado in the runoff election to fill former county supervisor George Shirakawa Jr.’s seat.

The sheriff’s office recently proposed limiting all mail sent to inmates to postcards instead of the envelope-enclosed letters currently allowed. Sorting through the 200,000 letters a year is tedious, jail officials say. Some of the letters are soaked, spliced or stamped with drugs: PCP, acid, meth and other contraband. Some contain needles. Some hide gang communications. The idea of switching to simply postcards—outside of inmates’ communications with their attorneys—would save money and time. But families and friends of inmates, as well as community activists, argue that the change would constitute a civil rights violation and endanger the rehabilitation of those incarcerated.

A convicted serial rapist may get released in Santa Clara County, should a judge agree to a writ objecting to his relocation to Los Angeles County, where he was born and raised. SoCal native Christopher Evans Hubbart, 62, has admitted to raping 40 women in Los Angeles and Santa Clara counties between 1971 and 1982, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office. Due to more lenient laws in the past, Hubbart likely avoided prison terms that would have kept him incarcerated for life.

UPDATED: Retired Judge John A. Flaherty denied pay increases for police officers in his arbitration ruling between the city of San Jose and the Police Officers Association, refusing to restore wages that were cut by 10 percent in 2011.

Every two years, Santa Clara County does a Homeless Census and Survey to receive federal homeless funding. The most recent survey, conducted in January 2013, shows an increase in homelessness, as more and more people are setting up encampments in San Jose. Here are some possible steps San Jose and Santa Clara County can take to address the issue in a more humane way.

Meeting just bi-weekly, and not at all in the month of July, the life of a Santa Clara County supervisor can be a punt-pass-and-kick competition when it comes to making tough calls. It’s no surprise then that supervisors decided to defer any decision on the fate of County Executive Jeff Smith, whose contract expired at the end of June.

Santa Clara County residents enjoy longer life expectancies and overall better health than the rest of the state and nation, but stark disparities based on wealth and race persist.

The Santa Clara Family Health Foundation, a local nonprofit that helped bump up the county’s sales tax last fall, doesn’t want the public to know about its secret political activities. And now it’s lawyering up to quash Metro/San Jose Inside’s public records act requests.

County ambulance provider Rural Metro missed its monthly response times for emergencies in Sunnyvale all but once during a 17-month period ending Novemebr 2012, according to internal documents. This and other system failures have placed the company’s contract in jeopardy.

It is time downtown San Jose residents took back Saint James Park. Unlike the glory days of almost a century ago, when presidents and unions held massive rallies in the square, neighbors and downtown workers now describe the park as an unfortunate eyesore.

Independent actuarial firm Harvey Rose sent a disturbing report to county Supervisor Joe Simitian this month, detailing how Santa Clara County now finds itself with a $1.68 billion unfunded liability to cover its retirees’ health care benefits.

City officials admit that San Jose’s IT department tails behind other Silicon Valley municipalities, and to change that they want a new department head. In questions geared toward candidates applying for the role of chief information officer, the City Council asks how the applicants plan to make San Jose more competitive and how to improve data access to the public. Other items on Tuesday’s San Jose City Council agenda include a $10 million airport taxiway proposal, a resolution supporting a ban of flavored tobacco sales in San Jose and a possible bump in fees for developers.

On Monday, a press release sent out by the Office of Pubic Affairs announced that County Executive Jeff Smith, “consistent with his word,” launched a webpage dedicated to “Reform Efforts.” This should solve everything.