Community

It’s over the creek and through the woods to Paradise Christmas Tree Farm we go for those South County residents who know their way to the scenic holiday spread which has been operated by proprietor Don Bianucci since 1980.

Parishioners of West Hills Community Church have taken Sunday Service to a whole new level by performing a variety of community service activities throughout South County.The goodwill collaboration of the church-goers on Sept. 27 included:—Repairing the fence, hosting a barbecue and a pickup baseball game at the Boys & Girls Club’s El Toro Youth Center (17620 Crest Ave.);—A Family Fall Fellowship, including barbecue, youth games and face painting, for residents of the Village Avante Apartment Complex (16480 Del Monte Ave.);—Active participation with a booth at the Taste of Morgan Hill;—Painting of the Pavilion at Morgan Hill Community Park;—Respite Day for families with special needs children at West Hills Community Church (16695 Dewitt Avenue);—A food and clothing drive at their church, where members helped sort items and then deliver them to the  The Lord’s Table in Gilroy;—Senior Center visitations, including Hill View (530 W. Dunne Ave.), Valley Pines (545 E. Main Ave.) and  Villa Rose (16095 Church Street);—Sunday Friends, helping needy families, at Lowell Elementary School (625 South Seventh Street in San Jose); and—Community Garden, helping to re-establish the teaching of botany by repairing garden irrigation and planter boxes, at Christopher Elementary School (565 Coyote Road in San Jose).“We are excited to be able to show our love for our communities and hopefully give support by helping complete projects and deepen our relationships with the local community,” said Leslie Carmichael, Minister to Children at WHCC. “Service:Sunday is one tangible way our church seeks to show our love and support for the people of the community.”

Photographer Robert Eliason spent Saturday, Sept. 26, at the 26th annual Taste of Morgan Hill in downtown Morgan Hill. The food, wine and art street festival, organized by the Chamber of Commerce, brought thousands of visitors to downtown Morgan Hill. The two-day event also featured live entertainment, a classic car show and a quilt and fiber arts show. 

Displaced residents of a Morgan Hill apartment complex are still waiting to return home, weeks after a suspected armed robber hid out in their building, prompting police to disperse a chemical agent inside that left the residences temporarily uninhabitable.Among those affected is the Smith family, who has had no option but to stay in hotels for the last four weeks due to damages resulting from the suspect’s recklessness and the police response. But the Smiths don’t blame the police, and on the contrary are grateful to the authorities for keeping them safe and to the community for helping them stay sheltered.“I would have done the exact same thing” as the police, said Darrell Smith, who enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps at the age of 17 and subsequently served in the Army Reserves. “When lives are on the line, I wouldn’t expect anything less.”Among the weapons used by the SWAT team in the Sept. 5 standoff on Berry Court was a chemical agent, “equivalent to a pepper spray/powder,” in an effort to coax the suspect out, Morgan Hill Police Sgt. Carson Thomas said.Smith recently pointed through the window to show where the suspect tore a large hole through the ceiling to get into the living space.Shortly after the suspect was arrested following the 13-hour standoff, Darrell entered his apartment and his tear ducts and sinuses immediately began running like a faucet—an effect of the chemical agent, which he thought was tear gas.The chemical seeped into the Smiths’ furniture, carpets, clothing, food, stuffed animals and other belongings, Darrell was told. The family can’t return to their Berry Court apartment, where they have lived about a year, until a high-powered fan equipped with a special filter, running 24 hours a day, can remove the chemicals from the air and walls.“Everything is ruined,” said Darrell Smith, who is studying forensic accounting at Franklin University while working full-time as a security guard at a Morgan Hill company. “They have to tear up the carpets and replace them.”On Sept. 5, Morgan Hill police followed the robbery suspect to the Villa Teresa complex on Berry Court. Reports earlier that day indicated the man and an accomplice had robbed the GameStop video game store in Morgan Hill by holding customers hostage at gunpoint. The two suspects stole the victims’ personal belongings and fled the scene, according to police.With specific information on the type of vehicle in which the robbers drove away, police followed one of the suspects to the Berry Court apartments on the northwest side of town.The man, who has not been identified and was not a resident of the complex, climbed into one of a cluster of buildings in the complex, which contained three apartment units, according to Thomas. The suspect climbed into the building through the roof and crawled among the three units through the attic.Police surrounded the block, but the robber refused to surrender, police said. Officers called in the Morgan Hill-Gilroy SWAT team, which stayed on the scene for 13 hours. After that, the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team took over.“He hunkered down the whole duration” of the SWAT team’s shift, Thomas said. “The sheriff’s office took over and he surrendered.”Nobody was injured in the standoff and resulting arrest, police said.Smith and his wife Christa, and their two young children, were not home at the time of the Berry Court break-in and ensuing police standoff. In fact, Darrell, 28, said his family had left the home just before the robber broke in.Darrell later arrived home to a police perimeter surrounding his block. His family had already returned to the same scene, and Christa was outside advising emergency personnel on the layout of their residence in their effort to catch the potentially armed suspect.Christa Smith, who also works full-time and attends Gavilan College in Gilroy, said Tuesday that the landlord still hasn’t given the family a timeline as to when they might be able to move back in.The first few days after the incident, the Smiths bounced among different hotels. For the last several weeks, they have stayed at the Residence Inn in Morgan Hill.Cecelia’s Closet and Food Pantry, a nonprofit run by the Edward “Boss” Prado Foundation, helped the family out with clothing and food after the incident, added Darrell. The city helped them pay for a few nights in a hotel.“Morgan Hill, as a community, has really come to our aid. It’s been real heart warming,” Darrell said.The family is asking the community for help via a website at gofundme.com/xx3rhwgk, where they are asking for monetary donations to help pay for hotel rooms until they can return home.While the dilemma has also been hard on the couple’s 6-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter, they don’t blame the police or the city.A statement on their gofundme.com site adds, “We are so grateful to SWAT, Gilroy, and Morgan Hill P.D., and especially the Red Cross.”All three units in the building remain closed to the residents, with the windows covered by plywood. Others locked out of their homes could not be contacted.Sgt. Thomas added that police are still looking for the second suspect in the Sept. 5 armed robbery. The investigation is ongoing, and authorities have not released the name of the suspect apprehended in the Berry Court standoff.

After walking away from the purchase of six Daughters of Charity hospitals in March due to “onerous and unprecedented conditions” placed on the transaction by California Attorney General Kamala Harris, Prime Healthcare has filed a lawsuit alleging she abused her constitutional authority.

A meticulous and driven retired college professor’s unique passion for rabbits has landed her in the newest edition of the Guinness Book of World Records.

More than 200 people attended the 46th annual Founders Day Dinner, one of Morgan Hill’s favorite long-time traditions that celebrates the city’s first residents.The Founders Day Dinner was first organized by the city, then it was taken over by the Chamber of Commerce several years later, and in recent years has been organized by the Morgan Hill Historical Society. This year’s dinner was held Sept. 19 at the Morgan Hill Community and Cultural Center.“The purpose is to honor long-term residents in the community who have made contributions to make Morgan Hill what it is today,” said MHHS President Kathy Sullivan. “In terms of longevity, they’ve all made a difference in the community.”Specifically, the MHHS annually invites residents who have lived in Morgan Hill for 50 years or longer to the dinner. As part of the tradition, those who have lived here for at least 70 years enjoy a complimentary dinner at the ceremony, Sullivan added.Among the festivities Sept. 19 was a video produced by MHHS that highlighted six of Morgan Hill’s long-term residents:Vic Locarnini, 93, is a former rancher. When his family’s farming operation was split down the middle by the construction of U.S. 101, Lacarnini took a job with the U.S. Postal Service delivering mail, which allowed him to see his friends and neighbors every day.Gladys Payne Martin, 93, was born and raised in the house that still stands at the corner of Diana Avenue and Butterfield Boulevard, behind Frank’s Plumbing.Elena Oberg Moreno, 93, is the widow of Morgan Hill’s first chief of police, John Moreno. She is a former kindergarten teacher, and her family had a prune ranch in Morgan Hill.Peter Musachia, 93, is also the son of a farming family who owned vineyards and made wine during Prohibition. He quit school in eighth grade and worked on the family’s farm.Paul Ward, 92, also grew with a farming family. The Ward ranch was located on Oak Glen Avenue, and his grandparents built the house he grew up in, which still stands in west Morgan Hill.Maxine Ryser Edes, 92, was a hair dresser who ran her own beauty shops in town. Her family founded the Morgan Hill Times.DVD copies of the video are available at the MHHS museum for $25, and the price goes to pay for the production of the video, Sullivan said. The museum is located at the Villa Mira Monte house, 17860 Monterey Road.The MHHS keeps a running list of the city’s long-term residents, and Sullivan said anyone who has lived in Morgan Hill for more than 50 years and is not on the list can contact the society at (408) 779-5755.

Jerry Neumayer, a captain with the MHPD, became the local department's first officer in more than 20 years to complete the Federal Bureau of Investigation's National Academy in Quantico, Va.Police chief David Swing said Neumayer gained valuable knowledge that will assist in local law enforcement and public safety efforts.Neumayer, 43, spent 10 weeks training and networking at the 261st session of the law enforcement training academy. The National Academy offers advanced communication, leadership and fitness training academy for selected officers, Swing said.Neumayer’s class at the “internationally known” academy consisted of men and women from 48 states and the District of Columbia, as well as 23 foreign countries, five military organizations and five federal civilian organizations, Swing said.“The completion of the National Academy is a testament to the dedication Jerry has to the department and community,” said Swing. “Being away from family for 10 weeks is tremendous sacrifice, but I know it is an experience he will cherish for some time.”Neumayer, a 17-year veteran of MHPD and a longtime Morgan Hill resident, has served the community as a coach and board member for local sports organizations. He has been in his current role as MHPD Captain for four years.Neumayer said he has no plans to leave the local department; rather, he is eager to apply his latest training to his career in Morgan Hill. At the FBI National Academy, Neumayer established a new network of law enforcement leaders from around the world. He also completed advanced fitness training that could help prevent injuries on the job.“I am grateful to the department to provide this once-in-a-lifetime training opportunity, and I look forward to applying what I have learned to help improve how we serve the community,” Neumayer said.

A quiet, likable and athletic young Morgan Hill teen is in a coma suffering from a mysterious illness characterized by a low white blood cell count, while his family and friends eagerly await his return to health.

Brew Crawl tickets on sale