In the leap year that was 2012, tragedy turned to hope, sadness questioned pride, outrage preserved inaction, fear gripped the earth and bewilderment seemed to multiply itself many times over in Gilroy and South Santa Clara County.
When it was over, the 366 days of 2012 offered about as much as each year that preceded it – a promise that some things will always change.
This story touched and inspired us
This story of a young girl’s gesture of compassion reminds us of just how mighty the power of the pen can be. In November of 2010, a Christopher High School sophomore, Katie Wheat, then 15, wrote a letter as part of a military care package campaign called Operation Interdependence to Gunnery Sgt. Ralph Earl “EJ” Pate Jr. serving in Afghanistan. Pate’s Company Commander, Greg Wrubluski, found Katie’s letter June 26, 2011 inside Pate’s vest after he was killed disarming an improvised explosive device. Pate’s mother, Erma Stroud, now has the letter – personally delivered by Wrubluski – at her Mullins, S.C. home. Stroud called Katie to thank her.
“I wanted her to know that he died,” said Stroud. “I know he wanted to reply, or else he wouldn’t have kept the letter on him.”
Knowing a grieving mother found solace in her letter “was crazy,” said Katie. “My heart was pounding…I pretty much just listened. I didn’t know what to say to someone who just lost their son.”
Amazing Andrew, graduation just another milestone, May 31:
Andrew Cabatingan, a “brilliant” pupil who raked in straight A’s, is also a wheelchair-bound, legally blind 18-year-old whose severe neuromuscular disease didn’t stop him from graduating Christopher High School, or from pursuing a higher education at UC Berkeley.
Extraordinary love and care, Dec. 28:
Gilroy parents Elena and David Desatoff provide continual care for their twins, David Jr. and Jonathan, who are challenged with cerebral palsy. A little kindness from the community this holiday season went a long way when a San Jose contractor offered to build a wheelchair-friendly ramp that now provides handicap access from the family’s driveway to their front porch.
It’s a dog-eat-dog world: Canine tales from 2012
There seemed to be no shortage of dog stories this year, which, for a community that love its canines, sparked interest, compassion and sometimes outrage for pups such as River, the little terrier that was rescued in early August from Uvas Creek after someone tied a brick to her legs and left her there to drown. The town was shaken up by two serious pit bull attacks – one in November, where an aggressive pit bull barreled into a residential home and killed a pet poodle; and another at Starbucks in July. The owner of a pit bull fled the scene after his dog allegedly attacked a smaller dog in the parking lot, giving it serious injuries that led to its euthanization, and sending its owner to the hospital. We were horrified in April at the news of several animal poisoning suspicions on the 100 block of Ronan Avenue in northwest Gilroy, and we melted at the sight of Chikita: A “micro-tiny” Chihuahua born Feb. 22 and believed by her owner to possibly be the “world’s tiniest dog” at 3.5 inches tall.
This story was tragic
Stacy Lonnberg kills daughter and husband in drunk driving incident, Jan. 16
Authorities said Stacy Lonnberg, 51, was “unremorseful” after learning that she accidentally killed her husband and 26-year-old daughter while driving the family’s pickup in a heavily intoxicated state.
Lonnberg, a Gilroy resident, allegedly consumed an alcoholic Bloody Mary and popped an oxycodone narcotic on an empty stomach before getting behind the wheel of the Toyota Tacoma pickup Jan. 14. An hour later, the vehicle crashed after it was seen by numerous witnesses exceeding 80 mph on Highway 85 in Los Gatos. The truck side-swiped another vehicle and then rolled multiple times before coming to rest on the freeway.
Killed in the accident were Lonnberg’s daughter Tiffiny Gillette, and Lonnberg’s husband Fred Lonnberg, 57. Injured was Stacy Lonnberg’s 3-year-old grandson – Gillette’s son – who was traveling with the family in the Tacoma and suffered minor scrapes to his hands and feet, according to authorities.
Stacy Lonnberg was charged by Santa Clara County prosecutors with two counts of double murder and one count of child endangerment for her alleged responsibility for the deaths and injuries.
This story broke our hearts
Toddler shooting death a “horrible mistake,” July 5
While 2012 saw numerous mass shootings that crushed communities from coast to coast, in Gilroy 3-year-old Preston Orlando accidentally shot and killed himself July 5 when he found his father’s Glock-.30 handgun in his parents’ bedroom.
Prosecutors declined to prosecute the boy’s father, Brandon Orlando, who has been an officer at the San Jose Police Department for nine years.
The police report of the incident on Kentwood Court said Preston was in the bedroom by himself when he reached into the nightstand and found the handgun, which he accidentally discharged toward his head. His father immediately ran into the room after hearing the gunshot and called 911. Paramedics were unable to treat the toddler who died on the way to the hospital.
In what was described by the DA as a fluke and “accident,” Brandon Orlando placed the “backup gun” in his nightstand drawer, “exhausted” upon returning from his graveyard shift with the police department the morning of July 5.
Authorities said Orlando took full responsibility and is haunted by the tragedy.
“There is definitely no court ordered punishment that could rival the degree of loss that (Orlando) and his family have suffered,” assistant district attorney Terry Harman said in September.
This story shocked us
Iraq veteran suicide, double homicide, March 19
The heartwrenching news of an Iraq war veteran who killed his mother and little sister before taking his own life sent shockwaves through Santa Clara County and beyond. Martha Gutierrez, 52, was shot and killed inside a car by her son Abel Gutierrez, 27. She was last seen March 13, the day before her 11-year-old daughter, Lucero Luna-Gutierrez was murdered by Abel in their apartment in northwest Gilroy. Abel, an Iraq war veteran who apparently was suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, shot and killed himself. His family members described him as suicidal after he returned home from his tour in Iraq. Abel would talk to the wall, sleep with his guns and wake up from night terrors, shouting expletives at the Pakistanis and Iraqis out of a dead sleep, said Martha’s brother Faustino Gutierrez. “I always wondered if he would kill himself, but never Lucero,” Faustino said.
This story made us laugh
Case cracked: Mystery of the Mystery Machine, Jan. 5
We all got a kick out of the psychadelic ‘87 Toyota MasterAce (more commonly referred to as a Toyota van wagon) painted to look like the famous Mystery Machine from the “Scooby Doo” cartoons. We were even more delighted when we finally got to meet the fun people who painted, and also drive the van: Gilroyans Erika Cisneros, then 23, and her then 19-year-old brother, Edgar Cisneros. Zoinks!
This story was a long time coming
Catholic Church apologizes to local Native American tribe, Dec. 22:
It took more than 200 years, but a landmark reconciliation ceremony was held between the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band of Ohlone/Costonoan Indians and Mission San Juan Bautista, which lies just west of Hollister. Bishop Richard Garcia of the Catholic Diocese of Monterey publicly asked forgiveness for past violent acts committed against the Mutsun and other Native Americans who once lived and worked at the mission.
This story stirred controversy
Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors approve Mosque, Sept. 25
Hundreds of residents of San Martin, Morgan Hill and Gilroy showed up to a series of public hearings to voice a passionate combination of support, opposition, fear and hope for the proposed Cordoba Center mosque project during the summer of 2012.
That review process culminated in the Sept. 25 Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. Following hours of public testimony presented by dozens of residents, the board unanimously approved a permit for the 15-acre site where the South Valley Islamic Community plans to build the mosque and community center.
Since then, a loosely organized group of residents who call themselves the People’s Coalition for Government Accountability has filed a lawsuit alleging the County did not conduct a thorough enough review of the project’s potential impact on the environment.
Hefty raise for Gavilan College president
In May, the Gavilan College board of trustees voted to give its president, Steve Kinsella, a $42,000 salary raise from $234,090 to $276,090, at a time when the school and public agencies throughout the region and state continued to stress the need to cut costs.
Councilman has felony drug conviction
Gilroy City Councilman and 2012 candidate for mayor Dion Bracco, now 54, was convicted of felony possession of methamphetamine for sale in 1990, the Times reported in February, prompting demands for his resignation and a communitywide debate on whether or not it’s possible for former criminals to redeem themselves with dedicated public service.
This story was bizarre
It’s raining lint on Gilroy senior community, July 19:
A malfunction at an industrial laundry facility flooded nearby residents of a Gilroy senior citizen community with a two-month-long lint-rain in the summer of 2012.
The Wagon Wheel Mobile Village at 8282 Murray Ave. was impacted by the lint storm, which inconveniently placed fluffy blue tufts of cotton candy-like lint balls bespeckling driveways, collecting in corners of carports and amassing along sidewalk gutters in the mobile home park.
The inadvertent and apologetic culprit was the nearby Angelica Corporation, an industrial-sized laundry company across the street on Murray Avenue that employs about 200 people and specializes in linen management services for healthcare facilities. The problem stemmed from a malfunction in the company’s five “huge” lint filters, according to an engineer at Angelica.
The neighbors wanted to resolve the dilemma amicably, and presumably did so. The senior citizens who were impacted weren’t that upset – just perplexed.
“I picked up (a lint ball) and there was even a little piece of hair on it, and I thought, ‘egads!’” said Wagon Wheel resident Albert Gagliardi, 88.
This story made us proud
New library opens in Gilroy, April 28:
It was a grand and historic day for the community on April 28 as the doors to Gilroy’s stunning new library swung open and welcomed patrons. Coined “the Titanic of libraries,” by one visitor, the 55,000-square-foot, two-story building was completed under budget with a price tag of $34 million – $3 million less than expected. Gilroy voters passed the library bond measure in 2008 by a 70 percent margin, despite the fact that the project received no state funding. In the three-and-a-half years after that vote, the city got to work demolishing the old library, built in 1975 in the same location, and began to build the new library. The finished product is a state-of-the-art building that could swallow the old building four times – but is still the most eco-friendly in Gilroy.
This story made us shake our heads
Ex fire chiefs sue city, May 18
Two Gilroy Fire Department battalion division chiefs filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Gilroy, alleging the city cheated them out of overtime hours for two years, a move that left some City Council members blindsided and incensed.
Retired battalion chief Edward Bozzo and current battalion chief Phillip King filed the lawsuit against the city May 18 for a minimum of $50,000 in back pay, plus unspecified damages and attorney fees.
The complaint claims the city broke federal labor laws by classifying King and Bozzo as employees exempt from overtime, even after putting them on city-mandated furlough.
Their lawyer estimated Bozzo and King were cheated out of being paid for more than 200 hours of work each.
City staff and Councilmen replied that as managerial staff, the two fire department personnel were not entitled to overtime wages.
“The salaries that these individuals receive takes into the account the long hours they work. They get paid a lot because they work a lot,” Councilman Perry Woodward said in May, shortly after the lawsuit was filed.
Volunteer embezzles money from the Garlic Festival, Aug. 2
Stinking was the theft of more than $18,000 from a Garlic Festival cash drawer during the weekend of the festival, allegedly by a festival volunteer, according to authorities. The theft was reported Aug. 2 by festival organizers.
Interim fire chief arrested, Sept. 7
Gilroy Interim Fire Chief Roger Bloom, 52 of Fremont, was arrested by Santa Cruz County deputies when he tried to buy booze for a 20-year-old decoy in an undercover sting outside a Pleasure Point liquor store Sept. 7.
This story impressed us
Over the moon – 960+ API for Gilroy Prep, Aug. 31:
California’s benchmark for the Academic Performance Index is 800, and second-grade students at Gilroy’s newest charter school – Gilroy Prep – achieved a remarkable 970 API score in the school’s first year of operation. The highest possible score is 1,000.
GPS, which opened in fall 2011 and is located at 277 IOOF Avenue, is also the highest-performing first-year charter out of 500 in the state of California since 2006. The previous high score was 957.
“In my wildest dreams, I would not have set the goal as high as we did,” said GPS Principal and co-founder James Dent. “They out-performed anything I could have hoped from them.”
Now, the GPS leadership team heads a charter management organization called Navigator Prep and hopes to establish charter schools in up to eight additional cities. Most recently in late November, the Hollister Board of Education approved a new Navigator Prep charter school that will open in 2013 in Hollister.
This story dragged on forever
Struggle to uncork winery regulations, all of 2012
Santa Clara County embarked on an ambitious 14-month undertaking to clarify and update laws that regulate the local wine industry. The new regulations, such as those related to outdoor amplified sound and event permits, were unanimously accepted by the Board of Supervisors in November. District 1 Santa Clara County Supervisor Mike Wasserman – who initiated the process – says he’s happy with the outcome. Some winemakers were less than thrilled with the final results, however.
This story will forever impact the community
The disappearance of Sierra LaMar, March 16
A core group of volunteers still gather early every Saturday morning at Burnett Elementary School to continue to find the remains or any evidence of the whereabouts of Sierra LaMar, the Sobrato High School sophomore who disappeared March 16 from her mother’s north Morgan Hill home at the age of 15.
Posters labeled “MISSING” and depicting the teenager’s face, listing her description still dot public walls, bulletin boards and signposts throughout South County. Police, parents, searchers and child safety advocates continue to refer to the case which drew national attention as a reminder for children to be watchful of their surroundings, and for adults to pay close attention to their brood.
Sierra, who would now be 16, was likely murdered while walking to her school bus stop near the intersection of Palm and Dougherty avenues, authorities said.
Antolin Garcia Torres, 21 of Morgan Hill, was arrested in May on suspicion of kidnapping and killing Sierra.
This story put Gilroy on the map
Mary Cortani still a hero in Gilroyans eyes, Dec. 3:
Gilroy’s own Mary Cortani, founder the 501(c)(3) nonprofit Operation Freedoms Paws, was a top 10 contender for 2012’s CNN’s Hero of the Year award and appeared on the Dec. 2 “Top 10 Heroes Tribute Show”. With baited breath, many friends and fans gathered at Station 55 in downtown Gilroy to watch the finale CNN broadcast which announced the winner. Though Cortani did not take away the evening’s top prize of $250,000, she helped put Gilroy on the international map just by being nominated.
An Army veteran of 14 years and former Army Master Instructor of Canine Education, Cortani spearheads OFP, which empowers wounded veterans and others with mental/or physical impairments to not only train their own service dogs, but ultimately function with the help of their service dogs at home and in society.
Gilroy teen makes debut on ‘X Factor,’ impresses judges, Sep. 27:
Christopher High School junior Austin Corini, 16, gained celebrity status this year when he appeared on the FOX TV music competition show, “X Factor.” During the course of the competition, Corini was placed in a group, Playback, with four other contestants. Playback made an impressive rise to the top 28 competitors, but did not win in the end. The group is still recording songs and music videos.
Twenty-twelve saw a number of new arrests and convictions, and the closing out of some significant cases that started in years past.
Landscape scammer
Following news reports pronouncing complaints of misdeeds by a landscaper who ripped off senior citizens throughout South County, authorities charged Michael Oliveira, 43, with 13 counts of petty theft and eight counts of elder fraud – all of which could land him in prison for 14 years.
Felony charges for MACSA leaders
Olivia Soza-Mendiola, 53, of San Jose, and Benjamin Tan, 61, of South San Francisco – the former leaders of the Mexican American Community Services Agency – were charged by the district attorney in April with misappropriating and embezzling more than $1 million from their employees’ retirement funds to pay for the operating costs of El Portal charter school in Gilroy, which closed before the three-year investigation was completed.
Medileaf ringleader faces felony charges
Batzi Kuburovich, 51 of Gilroy, was charged with embezzling $1.6 million through real estate grand fraud and three counts of aggravated white-collar crime. Kuburovich is the co-founder of the former MediLeaf medical marijuana dispensary in Gilroy, and the charges followed an initial investigation into the marijuana club’s financial legitimacy.
OGP sees tons of criminals convicted
More than a year after Gilroy police led “Operation Garlic Press” – the largest undercover sting in the department’s history – 46 suspects were charged on suspicion of federal offenses related to drugs, weapons, gang activity and stolen cars in December.
Francisco Dominguez charged
Four years after former Gilroy Unified School District trustee Francisco Dominguez allegedly embezzled more than $52,000 from a leading South County social services agency, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office charged him with two counts of felony grand theft in October.
Sidewalk lawsuit trips up city
In March, the City of Gilroy took a $450,000 hit, after a 70-year-old man won a lawsuit for tripping over a patch of jagged, uplifted sidewalk on Martin Street in front of Garlic City Billiards two years earlier.
Puppy Killer convicted
Twelve-time felon Bud Wally Ruiz, 53 of Gilroy, was convicted in July of felony animal cruelty and sentenced to six years in prison, more than a year after he killed his wife’s 6-week-old Chihuahua puppy by throwing it against the wall during a domestic dispute.
Andrel Gaines’ killer walks free
Dennis Leffew, a 43-year-old San Jose resident, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for driving under the influence on July 25, for his involvement in the Nov. 6, 2011 accident that resulted in the death of Gavilan basketball player Andrel Gaines at the age of 19.
Suspects in meth bust face 16 years
The three defendants in the 612 pound methamphetamine raid on Roop Road in 2010 were sentenced in federal court in September, two of them getting 12-year prison sentences and one getting 16 years on account of a prior drug felony.
GPD shooting of Singh
In November, the City of Gilroy awarded more than $2 million in damages and fees to the family of Gurmit Singh, 33.
