Morgan Hill Independence Day, Inc., is offering a workshop Saturday for groups interested in participating in the city’s Fourth of July parade. The parade workshop runs from 9:30-11:30am. There will be a float building workshop from 1-3pm. The float building workshop will cover platform selection criteria, float design, construction and decoration as well as presentation and performance. The workshops will be held at the YMCA Senior Center, 17666 Crest Avenue.
Parade entries are due by May 24. Late registration will run until June 4, but the fee will be doubled. To reserve a spot, call 779-3387 or e-mail pa****@****ic.com. Applications are available at www.mhparade.com.
Avoid the 13 Memorial Day Weekend Crackdown
Freeway saturation by three area commands of the California Highway Patrol and six special in-city enforcement teams are set for the four-day Memorial Day weekend Avoid the 13 crackdown on intoxicated drivers in Santa Clara County.
The effort begins on Friday, May 26, and ends at midnight on Monday, May 29. No sobriety checkpoints are planned.
Officers from Palo Alto to Gilroy arrested 118 DUI suspects over last year’s Memorial Day weekend, a 156 percent jump over the previous year’s total. Five people were injured in alcohol-related crashes and no one died.
CHP officers from the Redwood City, San Jose and the Gilroy-Hollister offices will flood the freeways with patrol cars on all four days, said Officer Chris Armstrong. “Nearly all our officers will be on the road,” he said. The Redwood City office covers northern sections of the county.
All departments in the county will emphasize DUI enforcement with officers on regular beats, according to Mountain View Police Chief Scott Vermeer, chairman of Avoid the 13 for the sponsoring Santa Clara County Police Chiefs Association. Â
“DUI enforcement is always a major patrol emphasis,” Vermeer said. “We lean even harder on it over the Memorial Day weekend because we know that many people will be drinking and fear that many will drive. Designated drivers are the key; they are the best way to avoid arrest.”
In-city teams are scheduled for Gilroy, where Corporal Rosa Quinones reports that DUI units will be assigned all weekend on swing and midnight shifts; Sgt. Mark Brazeal will do the same in Morgan Hill and Sgt. Kay Iida will field similar units in Los Altos.
Sgt. Joe Oliver of the Santa Clara police will assign extra DUI units every day, pairing up a regular police officer and a reserve officer in the same car. The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office will assign two-deputy units throughout the weekend according to Sgt. Troy Boser and police in Mountain View are posting extra DUI overtime hours, reported Sgt. Mike Alexander.Â
Similar Avoid campaigns are in effect throughout the nine-county Bay Area and in Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties.
Teen Community Police Academy Graduation
Fourteen teenagers graduated this week from the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office Teen Community Police Academy.
The academy is an 11-week course designed to provide students with an inside look at various aspects of the Sheriff’s Office. Topics include traffic laws and enforcement, criminal law, juvenile law, search and seizure, sexual assault, gangs, ethics, narcotics, officer safety, bomb investigation, crime scene investigation, and tours of both the County Jail and Coroners Office. Students participate in practical exercises including vehicle stops. There is a three-hour class at the Sheriff’s Office firing range on safety with and around firearms. All students will also complete a 10-hour ride-along with a patrol deputy.
For more information on the Teen Community Police Academy, please contact the Sheriff’s Office Cupertino School Resource Officer at (408) 868-6624.
