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With poppies and other wildflowers in bloom, Bear Gulch filled with water and California condors soaring above volcanic peaks, Pinnacles National Park is in its peak season.Park rangers say that April is the most popular month for hikers of all ages to enjoy one of the newest jewels in the National Park system, located at the southwest corner of San Benito County.The new year saw the opening of a new hiking trail from the western entrance to the park, east of Soledad, and another increase in vehicle entrance fees.A seven-day vehicle pass now costs $25—five times greater than when the new park opened five years ago—and another $5 increase is expected later this year.Drastic cuts to national park staffing that had been included in last year’s budget proposed by President Donald Trump’s administration are on hold, but loom in the new budget year.In the meantime, the parking is enjoying a bright spring, says Park Ranger Beth Hudick.She said there are hiking trails that serve the most novice and the most experienced hiker, meandering among jutting volcanic spires, cliffs, and peaks in the dense chaparral country of the Gabilan Range. She also advised that weekday visits may be a better time for locals, avoiding heavier weekend traffic. She is one of 40 staff that provide seven-day assistance to visitors.Pinnacles offers 32 miles of trails, accessible from two entrances. There is no road that stretches across the width of the 41-square mile park, connecting east and west entrances. It’s a 7-mile hike from one side to the other.Geologists say the spectacular rock formations at Pinnacles were formed about 23 million years ago, when the region was all volcanoes.The east side of the park is located off Highway 25, about 30 miles south of Hollister. The west side of Pinnacles is 12 miles east of Soledad, off Highway 101. Both entrances to the monument are located on Highway 146, which is obstructed within the park boundary by the Pinnacles rock formations.The Pinnacles Visitor Center, Bear Gulch Nature Center, Park Headquarters, the Pinnacles Campground, along with the Bear Gulch Cave and Reservoir are located on the east side.The West Visitor Contact Station is on the West side.Hudick notes that Pinnacles National Park is primarily a hiking park. The shorter trails are more accessible on the west side of Pinnacles. Park rules allow pets only in the paved areas of the park, including parking lots, picnic areas, and the campground, but are prohibited on all hiking trails. Pets must be on a 6-foot leash and be attended to at all times.Pinnacles National Park is a protected habitat for many sensitive and even endangered plants and animals, and strictly prohibits pets on all hiking trails.Hudick said “flat, easy trails”—one a mile and another 1.7 miles— are accessible from the west side parking lot and visitor center.President Trump’s proposed Interior Department budget for the 2018 fiscal year —still under review—would increase funding for energy development on public lands while cutting virtually everything else, including the National Park Service. Overall the budget would cut the Department of the Interior’s spending by roughly 12 percent.Last month the National Park Service released its budget justification, explaining the requested funding levels and their impacts. The National Park Service would lose 1,242 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff, leading to significant challenges at almost every park, if Congress endorses the President’s cuts.At these levels, visitors to Pinnacles, Yosemite and other parks would experience service reductions, and remaining employees will face heavier workloads. At this funding level, it was estimated that nearly 90 percent of parks would reduce their current staffing levels, leading to a reduction in services to the public. Likewise, support programs would also experience staffing and service level reductions, which further impacts parks.Environmentalists fear that not only would cuts impact the visitor experience, they would hamper the National Park Service’s ability to preserve natural resources.

The South County Faith Based Coalition will host two events in the coming weeks that are intended to bring locals together to help their fellow residents and honor the region’s law enforcement.

The vision is quite clear for the American Cancer Society, which wants to double its contributions in 2018 to better support cancer research and services to those stricken with the life-altering disease.

The Poppy Jasper International Film Festival, which ended Sunday night in Morgan Hill, featured a wide variety of exclusive screenings of original films created by artists from all over the world. But it was a South County-produced documentary about a Morgan Hill woman determined to raise awareness of a common, yet little-known form of dementia that tugged at the heartstrings of local spectators.“Sue’s Story” is a 38-minute documentary about Sue Berghoff and her family, and how they reacted to her diagnosis in early 2017 of Lewy Body Dementia. The documentary—which debuted to the public for PJIFF April 6 at the Morgan Hill Community Playhouse—chronicles Berghoff’s initial frustration with her mysterious symptoms, to disbelief at her diagnosis, to her steadfast determination to push for more awareness of LBD.Sue and husband Chuck Berghoff’s ultimate goal—shared by prominent members of the Bay Area medical community interviewed in the documentary—is to generate funding for research that might lead to a cure.Chuck Berghoff, who travels to San Mateo once a month for an LBD support group, said they’re hoping to expand resources to South County—in particular, Saint Louise Regional Hospital in Gilroy.“We’ve struck a nerve in that we’re working on broadening awareness of a disease we had never heard of 14 months ago,” said Chuck Berghoff, who has been a Rotary Club of Morgan Hill member since shortly after the couple moved here six years ago. “The way you cure a disease like this is you start with awareness, and that drives funding support, ultimately (leading) to a pharmaceutical company developing a cure.”“Sue’s Story” features interviews with the Berghoffs, as well as their children, friends and the Bay Area doctors who are leading the research and support efforts for LBD patients and their families. Footage includes clips of a “Pizza In Paradise” fundraiser that the Berghoffs held at their west Morgan Hill home in September 2017, which more than 100 people attended and raised more than $40,000 for LBD research and support efforts.“Sue’s Story” was produced, written, shot and edited by South County media veterans Robin Shepherd, L. Mattock Scariot and Nils Myers. Scariot and Myers are the owners of 152 West Productions, and have long been involved in the PJIFF. Scariot was director of the 2018 festival, which started April 5 and wrapped up Sunday at the Granada Theater in downtown Morgan Hill. For the first time in its 14-year history, the growing festival spanned multiple venues in Morgan Hill and Gilroy.“Sue’s Story” was invited to the PJIFF by the festival organizers, and thus it was not eligible for judges’ awards. However, PJIFF audience members voted it the festival’s “Best Documentary,” Scariot said.LBD is a neurodegenerative brain disease, and the second-most prevalent form of dementia (Alzheimer’s being the most common). There is no cure or effective treatment to halt or slow the progressive disease, which can become debilitating. An autopsy of famous actor Robin Williams’ brain revealed he suffered from LBD.In “Sue’s Story,” Sue Berghoff’s children and longtime friend Mary Sue Garcia commented on the tragedy of a highly educated, intelligent, driven woman like Berghoff—a Bay Area high-tech professional for more than 30 years—being afflicted with a disease that impacts cognitive functions. But they also commented that they weren’t surprised how she responded with a determination to make a difference so that future LBD patients might not have to suffer as those before her have.“This is the most important thing I feel like I’ve done in my life,” Sue Berghoff, also an active member of the Morgan Hill chapter of the American Association of University Women, said in “Sue’s Story.”After “Sue’s Story” screened April 6, the film’s creators and interviewees sat for a Q&A panel with the audience. Included on the panel were the Berghoffs, Garcia, Dr. Kathleen Poston of the Stanford Neurology and Neuroscience Center and Robin Riddle of the Brain Support Network. Shepherd and Scariot were also on stage to answer questions.Chuck Berghoff said on-stage during the Q&A, “This film is just the beginning of our journey (to) grow and pursue research funding.”Shepherd said Tuesday that while “Sue’s Story” was in production, the Friends of the Morgan Hill Senior Center donated $10,000 to the Lewy Body Dementia Awareness & Research Fund, which was recently established under the Morgan Hill Community Foundation. “That was a huge help in getting us started,” Shepherd said.The research fund continues to accept donations, which can be made at the MHCF website at morganhillcf.org.The producers’ next step is to distribute the film to universities, hospitals, senior centers, nonprofit organizations and more film festivals, Shepherd said. 

The April 10 ceremony has been canceled, according to the CHP office. It will be rescheduled at a later date when Jose Perez is available to attend. The California Highway Patrol will recognize two men—one a Morgan Hill resident—for saving the lives of two people involved in a 2017 traffic accident, according to authorities.The awards ceremony for Jose Perez, of Morgan Hill, will take place 10am April 10 at the Hollister-Gilroy Area CHP office, 740 Renz Lane. Alexander Pittaro, of Sen. Bill Monning’s office, as well as CHP Coastal Division Chief L.D. Maples, Assistant Chief Paul Vincent and Capt. Scott E. Parker will present Perez with the CHP Commissioner’s Medal of Distinction Award.To be recognized at a separate ceremony is Vidal Flores, who helped Perez remove two occupants from a burning vehicle in the moments after the same accident, which took place in unincorporated Gilroy.About 12pm Jan. 21, 2017, a head-on collision resulting in a fatality occurred on SR 152 east of San Felipe Road, according to authorities. A 2002 Mercedes and 2005 Ford pickup had collided into each other. A third vehicle, a 2012 Scion sedan, was also involved in the accident.The driver and passenger of the Ford suffered major injuries to their lower extremities as a result of the collision, and were incapacitated, according to authorities.Perez and Flores were passing by the scene in their respective vehicles moments after the accident, and stopped to help. The two safely removed both occupants from the Ford, police said.Minutes after the Good Samaritans removed the occupants out and away from the vehicle, the passenger compartment of the Ford became fully engulfed in flames, according to the CHP.“If not for the selfless acts of Jose Perez and Vidal Flores, both the driver and passenger of the Ford pickup would have perished in the flames,” reads a press release from the CHP.Flores will also receive the Medal of Distinction at a separate ceremony, authorities said.

Locals are getting more excited as the May 16 Amgen Tour of California’s time trial stage approaches in Morgan Hill, with cycling celebrities scheduled to make an appearance at area schools and an outdoor kickoff concert coming up.

County officials with the Department of Tax and Collections want to remind the public that the second installment of the 2017/2018 property taxes is due by 5pm April 10.

County officials have established a new toll-free universal phone number to report suspected cases of child abuse and neglect while also proclaiming April as National Child Abuse Prevention Month, according to the Santa Clara County Social Services Agency’s Department of Family and Children’s Services.

On Holy Thursday, local clergy leaders from numerous faiths represented in South County performed a foot washing ceremony outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office in Morgan Hill. It was an effort to “show solidarity” with immigrants who have been removed from their homes and separated from their families by federal agents, according to organizers.

The final chapter of BookSmart may soon be written.Citing mounting debt following a move from downtown Morgan Hill to East Dunne Avenue, BookSmart owners Brad Jones and Cinda Meister face the imminent closure of their Morgan Hill mainstay.“It’s heartbreaking,” Meister said. “This is our passion, to be part of the community and to support literacy and the arts. It’s a safe place for the community to gather. It’s much more than a bookstore.”Friday afternoon, the day after Jones and Meister announced the news of their store closing via email, aggrieved longtime customers came forward to pay their condolences.“A lot of our regulars have come forward asking what they can do,” Jones said.In its 22 years as Morgan Hill’s independent bookstore, BookSmart has cultivated a loyal core of supporters. Last Friday, March 23 those customers were shocked to read an email sent by Jones and Meister announcing their decision to close."It is with heavy hearts we must announce our closing," the message read. "The move to our Dunne location was very costly—financed with high interest and short-term loans. Our effort to refinance this debt has been unsuccessful and therefore we are unable to pay our bills. Starting today, we are liquidating our merchandise to pay our vendors and taxes."The store’s owners estimate BookSmart will be closed within a month or month-and-a-half, unless they receive a sudden infusion of financing from a surprise source.To finance their move in 2016 from downtown Morgan Hill to their current location at 1295 E. Dunne Ave., Jones and Meister ran up what would become a mountain of debt—$250,000 worth.The move, which took almost five months, left a vacuum of revenue. It also broke up the spending habits of former customers who went elsewhere, said the owners. Along with the cost of prepping the new location, the ongoing expenses cut deeper and deeper into the store's economic vitality. Eventually, it became too much to bear, and Jones and Meister said they were forced to bow to the economic reality.BookSmart was also plagued by the cost of rent, which for them is about $7,500 a month. They said they are now five months behind on the rent.More than a bookstoreBookSmart started as a small bookshop in downtown Morgan Hill. Jones and Meister branched out when they soon after added a toy store and a coffee shop to their book retail business. When the opportunity came to move to a larger location, they decided to put all three ideas together into one place at the downtown shopping center known as Depot Center, on East Second Street.“We bought an option to eventually own the property ourselves,” Jones said. “We paid more money up front so we could buy it later. Then, the economy changed and all the opportunities we had to purchase the property evaporated. We brought in some financial partners, but the city eventually bought the option on the property.”Specifically, the city’s Redevelopment Agency purchased BookSmart’s option on their former downtown site in 2010 for $1.7 million. Even though the state shut down the RDA in 2011, state regulators allowed the City of Morgan Hill to keep the option, and later sell it to developer City Ventures in order to complete the RDA’s former vision of modern mixed-use, residential/commercial development on the former Depot Center property and sites throughout the downtown.The old 25,000-square-foot Depot Center building, which had been a number of things in the past—including an egg plant—was also the home of several other local businesses, most of which also relocated out of the downtown neighborhood in 2016 before City Ventures demolished the structure. BookSmart moved to its current, and likely final location in a newer commercial shopping center in east Morgan Hill, near the intersection of East Dunne Avenue and Condit Road.According to Jones, BookSmart received no help during the move.“The city helped the other tenants to move, but in the contract, we signed when we purchased the option to buy the building, we also waived our rights for future relocation,” Jones said.After the move outside the downtown in 2016, BookSmart remained steadfast in its efforts to support community arts and culture. Jones and Meister formed the nonprofit BookSmart Community Advantage program, which has offered fun and educational workshops, art lessons, music classes and more, primarily geared toward children. Without a center of operation, the future of Community Advantage is uncertain and the foundation's board are exploring other options.As downtown Morgan Hill continues to ride a wave of redevelopment and renewal, BookSmart owners feel they have been left high and dry.“I was the president of the downtown association for years, and we really wanted the downtown to be something special, and right on the verge of that happening, we were out,” Jones said.As the crisis loomed, Jones and Meister launched a Gofundme campaign in July which eventually raised $20,000. The also sought financial relief by applying for a loan from the Grow Morgan Hill Fund. Despite support from the city council, their application was rejected since they've been operating at a financial loss for the last two years.“It would take someone to help us refinance the loan. That would mean, $250,000 over 10 years so we could make the monthly payments,” Jones said. “Every payment we make now goes to service the debt and nothing more.”Today, the old home of BookSmart is long gone. The corner of Second Street and Depot Street is now a construction zone, where City Ventures is building its project, consisting of commercial units on the ground floors and a number of “live-work” residences upstairs.And, while Morgan Hill leaps into the future, Jones and Meister will make a similar leap into the unknown.“We don’t know what we’re going to do; we need to find jobs,” said Jones, who was scheduled for a hip replacement surgery at the hospital this week. “We put every penny we had in this, and we put other people’s money into it too. We need to pay them back.”