Community

County officials will present the “Santa Clara County Fairgrounds: Market Oppportunities Draft Final Report” from 7 to 9 p.m. at a Sept. 15 public meeting. The meeting will take place at the Fairgrounds’ Fiesta Hall at 344 Tully Road in San Jose.The report provides a starting point for the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisor’s dialogue on future uses of the 150-acre site. The Board of Supervisors will hear the report at their meeting in late September.“The Santa Clara County Fairgrounds property is an important community asset,” Board President Dave Cortese said. “The future use of the site warrants extensive and careful consideration by the community and the Board of Supervisors. This initial report is a good starting point. We still have a long way to go to create a vision for its future.”Since October 2014, the county has gathered feedback and ideas from the community and various stakeholders; interviewed individuals and organizations who have brought forward early proposals for some portion of the Fairgrounds; completed an existing conditions report on the facilities; and evaluated the operations of the current Fairgrounds.The consulting team of C.H. Johnson Consulting also has conducted a market assessment of support for various uses at the Fairgrounds, and looked at how those uses may or may not fit together.“We have insisted on a transparent and visible process to reinvigorate the Fairgrounds,” District Two Supervisor Cindy Chavez said. “That’s why we have collected thousands of individual opinions from the public over the last year—and now we want the public’s input on this report, too.”The county has done a variety of community outreach efforts for this project, including a combination of community booths at regional events, a community workshop, stakeholder meetings and a multilingual online survey.More than 2,700 people have participated in person and over 2,800 have taken the online survey, according to county staff. The administration is exploring commissioning additional statistically reliable surveys.Final Drafts of the consultants’ reports are available for review by the public in advance of the Sept. 15 community meeting at sccgov.org/fairgrounds.

Exactly what caused a wild pig harvested in Morgan Hill to turn bright blue on the inside remains a mystery, but two state experts have a consistent and convincing theory.A reddit.com user by the name of “GlendilTEK” posted the discovery on the social media site Sept. 8, with a link to photos of the unusual pig. The user said his or her in-laws shot the wild pig on their ranch in Morgan Hill. The in-laws cut open the pig and found its fat was a fluorescent blue color throughout its body. The animal’s muscle and organs did not appear to be discolored, GlendilTEK noted.The reddit user has been seeking input from the online community as to how the pig turned blue on the inside, and even sent a sample to University California, Davis for research.A spokesman for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said experts have “occasionally” seen previous cases of wild pigs exhibiting a similar discoloration of their insides. In those cases, it was determined the affected animals had likely consumed chemicals that contained a blue dye.“Pigs eat pesticides and rodenticides, and it stains the fat of the pig,” said Fish and Wildlife spokesman Andrew Hughan. “We recommend not eating the animal, and you should try to dispose of it so it doesn’t get back into the environment.”Robert Poppenga, a veterinary toxicologist with the California Animal Health and Food Safety at UC Davis, agreed the pig might have been exposed to an “anticoagulant rodenticide.”“These things have happened in the past,” Poppenga said.He added that the dye itself is probably not harmful to surviving pigs. But he doesn’t recommend letting scavengers get into an affected pig’s carcass.“I would probably dispose of the carcass if possible, where it’s not left out for other animals to feed on,” Poppenga said.Neither Poppenga nor Hughan are familiar with the specific details of the case of Morgan Hill’s blue pig.If the UC Davis lab receives a sample of the pig tissue from the Morgan Hill rancher, researchers could examine the item to determine a specific cause.Hughan added that Fish and Wildlife would like to speak to the rancher who discovered the discolored pig in order to obtain a sample that department staff can test on their own.This newspaper attempted to contact GlendilTEK for more information including the exact location of the blue pig, but has not heard back from the reddit user.

City staff is asking community members to fill out an online survey to help in the process to update the city’s Master Plans for Parks, Recreation, Trails and Bikeways.The survey is available at mhparksplan.com. Residents can also sign up for email notifications regarding future workshops and meetings related to the planning process.The Master Plan update will develop a blueprint for future City planning and development in the areas of parks, recreation, trails and bikeways.“The City of Morgan Hill is committed to creating a plan that aligns with local needs, preferences and priorities—and community input will be integral to this process,” the Sept. 3 announcement states.The city has hired MIG, Inc. as consultants to undertake the process, which is expected to run through Sept. 2016 when it will reach the City Council for final review.For more information, contact Chris Ghione at [email protected] or (408) 782-9154.

Give your used belongings that you don’t need anymore a “second chance” at a series of garage sales, recycling and donation events throughout South County starting Sept. 12.The annual Second Chance Week starts with the citywide Gilroy Garage Sale Sept. 12 and 13. It ends with a similar weekend event in Morgan Hill Sept. 19 and 20, according to city staff.“Each day of the week is dedicated to making people aware of different ways to reduce, reuse and recycle,” said Morgan Hill Environmental Services Assistant Andi Borowski.Events include:—Universal Waste Awareness day Sept. 14: Properly dispose of consumer electronics, batteries, fluorescent lighting and other devices that contain mercury. Locations include Johnson Lumber and Ace Hardware in Morgan Hill; Westside Recycling, 16290 Railroad Ave. in Morgan Hill, and Pacific Recycling, 5895 Obata Way in Gilroy; and the Santa Clara County HHW program for mercury containing devices (call 408-299-7300 for details).—Freecycle Day Sept. 15: Freecycle helps reduce waste by connecting people who are throwing away unwanted items with others seeking the same items. There are freecycle groups in both Morgan Hill and Gilroy. Visit trashnothing.com and click “Join Now” to sign up.—Donate Coats for Kids and Adults Too Day Sept. 16: Bring your children’s gently used coats to the Morgan Hill Community and Cultural Center, 17000 Monterey Road, or Gilroy City Hall, 7351 Rosanna Street. The coats will be donated to underprivileged children and their parents, according to city staff.—Second Sight Day Sept. 17: Bring your old eyeglasses to Gilroy City Hall or the Morgan Hill Community and Cultural Center. The Lions Club will give your eyeglasses a second chance to serve someone less fortunate.—Recycle your Cycle Day Sept. 18: Do you have a used bicycle to donate? Drop it off at the Morgan Hill Corp Yard, 100 Edes Court, or Sunshine Bikes in Gilroy, 311 First Street. Bicycles for children and adults will be accepted. Donors are asked to donate bicycles that are functional and can be easily repaired by a mechanic, free of rust or corrosion and clean enough that you would accept it as a gift.To register your garage sale for either of the Gilroy or Morgan Hill garage sale weekends, visit secondchanceweek.com. Applications are due no later than Sept. 4 for the Gilroy garage sales, and no later than Sept. 11 for Morgan Hill participants.A full list of participating garage sales will also be posted on the website before the events.Second Chance Week is sponsored by the cities of Morgan Hill and Gilroy, as well as Santa Clara County. For more information call (408) 310-4169.

The 26th annual Taste of Morgan Hill food, music and art festival will take place at its usual downtown location Sept. 26 and 27.Taking place on Monterey Road from Dunne to Main Avenue, the two-day festival sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce will feature live entertainment, a variety of cuisine, scores of arts and crafts vendors, as well as beer and wine. The event will also include a quilt show inside the Community and Cultural Center, 17000 Monterey Road, and a classic car show on the southern end of town.With construction of numerous downtown streets in the process, festival organizers are forced to make some changes to the entertainment schedule. But construction activity will not be a hindrance to festival attendees, according to Chamber Chair Rich Firato.“The city and contractors have assured the Chamber of Commerce that the streets will be available and ready to go, so we’re moving ahead,” Firato said.This year, the Taste of Morgan Hill will not feature any large stages for music performances as it has in the past. Instead, solo performers will play music on designated street corners throughout the festival grounds, Firato added. A DJ will also play in front of the festival’s main beer and wine tent.“There will be music throughout the whole event,” Firato said.An exception is Saturday night, Sept. 26, when two bands will entertain crowds at the Downtown Amphitheater, located next to the Community and Cultural Center. Starting at 5:30 p.m., rhythm and blues act The All Star Band will play on the stage. They will be followed by Entourge from 8 to 10 p.m.“It’s just another great night to be out in Morgan Hill on a Saturday night,” Firato said.Admission is free. The festival takes place 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sept. 26, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sept. 27.

Local restaurants’ food safety compliance records are now available with a swipe of a finger with the launch of the County of Santa Clara Department of Environmental Health’s new SCCDineOutApp for Apple iOS devices.

The heat is back on in South County this week with triple digit forecasts set through Saturday, according to Forecaster Steve Anderson of the National Weather Service.

Apartments for rent are few and far between within the Morgan Hill city limits, and those that do become available cost an arm and a leg as an overwhelming demand for a limited number of rental units drives up monthly payments.

Up on stage for their first official gig at GVA Cafe in downtown Morgan Hill, four local neighborhood kids—calling themselves Antique Radio—performed as one in front of a crowd of family and friends.

The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Aug. 25 to adopt a resolution to to keep trains carrying millions of gallons of crude oil out of Santa Clara County.