Cover: Best of the Santa Clara Valley
In Metro's annual Best of the Santa Clara Valley edition, our readers voice their curiously strong opinions on "The Best" in everything from restaurants to record stores to razor cuts. Our editors also share their own favorite picks in this fantasy land known as Silicon Valley.

News: Rod to Ruin
The unstoppable Rod Diridon has been ratted out by the academic community, where not everyone appreciates his 'politics as usual' style.

Metropolis News Extras

• San Jose: Project Action bring sexy billboards to town.
  
• Saratoga: Is this creek any more polluted than other?
  
• San Jose: San Jose City Council votes to get Y2K-compliant.
  
• World Wide Web: U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren helps Web surfers compare Sexgate to Watergate.

Man of Iron: Historic foundry will fall to the ground after 70 years, to put up a parking lot.

XO Marks the Spot: All the critical indicators point up for singer-songwriter Elliott Smith.

Taking It to the Streets: Yeska, Horchata and more highlight the annual downtown San Jose SoFA Festival. Plus, a complete schedule of events at the SoFA Festival in downtown San Jose this Sunday.

Audiofile: Reviews of the latest CDs by Option.FM, the Murmurs and Outgrabe.

Binding Freedom: In the art of the Cartagena brothers at MACLA, there is no painless way to learn the truth.

Raking Over Igor: Opera San José's Rake's Progress is long on music, light on action.

Language War: Teatro Visión satirizes English-only movement with I Don't Speak English Only!.