Two Join South County Housing
Gilroy – A planning commissioner and a veteran manager from a local orphanage have joined the staff of Gilroy’s leading affordable housing provider.
Planning commissioner and neighborhood activist Arthur C. Barron Sr. and Lynn Magruder, a long-time employee of Rebekah Children’s Services, joined nonprofit South County Housing in March.
Barron has been hired as a Neighborhood Developer who helps organize and raise awareness of community events, youth programs and other services. Magruder serves as a Management Analyst who helps with grant writing and ensuring the agency follows clearly defined internal policies and procedures.
The additions come as the agency pushes forward on a five-year plan to construct nearly 1,500 homes, more than double the housing stock it has built since its founding in 1979.
Driver Pleads Not Guilty in Death
Gilroy – The Gilroy driver who accidentally killed Norman Watenpaugh, a 76-year-old environmentalist, pleaded not guilty to vehicular manslaughter charges Tuesday in county court.
Stephen Richard Lake, 28, was driving south on Wren Avenue in a Dodge Dakota pick-up truck the evening of Oct. 15, 2006 when he hit Watenpaugh as he crossed the street near El Cerrito Way.
Watenpaugh walked two miles after every meal, and had celebrated his 76th birthday with his children and grandchildren an hour earlier at their Chiesa Drive home. Lake was returning to Gilroy from Morgan Hill and didn’t see Watenpaugh until it was too late, he told police.
In January, deputy district attorney Amir Alem filed vehicular manslaughter charges against Lake, who remains free on bail. Blood-alcohol tests conducted immediately after the accident showed no drugs or alcohol in Lake’s system, except for prescription medications he said didn’t affect his driving. Medication bottles and prescriptions found in Lake’s truck have been entered into evidence by Gilroy police.
Crash HurtsFive
Gilroy – An alleged drunken driver side-swiped four cars Saturday night, injuring four people, then barreled west on Hecker Pass Highway, eventually hitting a telephone pole on Watsonville Road.
California Highway Patrol officers identified the driver as 26-year-old Bertin Sanchez of Gilroy. Sanchez was driving a 1997 Chevrolet Suburban westbound on Hecker Pass Highway at 10:33pm Saturday night when he hit four oncoming cars just west of Santa Teresa Boulevard, and kept driving. A moment later, after turning northbound onto Watsonville Road, Sanchez crashed into a telephone pole north of Honeycomb Lane.
“Based on the damage” to his car, “he hit it pretty square-on,” CHP Officer Brad Voyles said.
A CalSTAR helicopter air-lifted Sanchez to Valley Medical Center, where he was treated for internal injuries, Voyles said. Valley Medical Center staff were declined to provide information on the accident Monday, saying no one by that name had been admitted to the trauma center.
Four other people went to Saint Louise Regional Hospital, two of them transported by ambulance. Gilroy Police Sgt. Greg Flippo described their injuries as “minor to moderate,” ranging from neck pain and small cuts to swallowed glass. The victims’ names cannot be released, Flippo said, but they include a 10-year-old child and a 13-year-old child.
The CHP plans to charge Sanchez with driving under the influence, and may add hit-and-run charges after reviewing Gilroy police reports. The two agencies split the case because the hit-and-run took place in Gilroy, while the crash happened in CHP’s jurisdiction.
Sheriff Enforces Seat-belt Campaign
The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office is advising all drivers and passengers that deputies will be issuing tickets to persons not wearing seat belts from May 14 through June 03, including the upcoming Memorial Day weekend. The special enforcement period is part of the state’s “Click It or Ticket” seat belt campaign.
Although deputies in San Martin, Cupertino, Saratoga and Los Altos Hillsand in other unincorporated areas will be writing tickets, compliance with the law, saving lives, and preventing injuries is the primary goal. The enforcement period is part of the state’s annual effort to increase seat-belt use through a combination of heavy enforcement, advertising and public awareness campaigns.
California has the fourth-highest seat-belt use rate in the nation, with the 2006 Click It or Ticket campaign resulting in an increase in the state’s seat-belt use rate from 92.5 percent in 2005 to 93.4 percent in 2006. Since the campaign first began in California in 2005, nearly a million more motor vehicle occupants are buckling up.
California’s 2006 teen seat belt use rate was 90.8 percent, well below the state rate of 93.4 percent, but up from 88.6 percent in 2005.Â
California has a primary seat-belt law which requires every passenger in the car, including the driver, to wear a seat belt at all times. If stopped and found to be in violation, law enforcement will issue citations without warning. Tickets for seat-belt violations range from $80-$91 for adults. When children under 6 are not properly secured in a vehicle, the parent or driver can receive one-point count on their driving record, with a fine of $330 to $401 on a first offense and $795 to $971 on a second offense.
Funding for officer overtime to support California’s Click It or Ticket campaign was provided by a grant from the Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
