Community

This year’s Morgan Hill Freedom Fest promises to offer all the excitement and celebration that area Independence Day revelers are accustomed to during the local commemoration of the holiday, capped off with “the largest fireworks show ever produced in Morgan Hill,” according to organizers.

San Jose-based Orchard Supply Hardware filed for bankruptcy Monday, but will remain in business after a $205 million pending sale to rival hardware store Lowe’s, which bought out at least 60 of the 91 Orchard Supply stores in California, according to Reuters.

The South Valley Quilt Association awarded $4,000 in scholarships to local students who plan to pursue careers in the fiber arts and fashion design.

Four local wineries made South County proud at the California State Fair Wine Competition in Sacramento. The winners were announced Thursday.

The Daughters of Charity Health System, a regional healthcare system with 22 sites including Saint Louise Regional Hospital in Gilroy, recently announced the creation of a Santa Clara County Market that aims to bolster communication between hospitals; continuity of patient care from the Emergency Room to the physician’s office; and placing a heightened emphasis on preventative, informative care as well as ongoing chronic disease management.

More than a decade after Irenne Zwierlein – a Native American tribal member who previously inked plans with a major developer to build on roughly 6,000 acres of pristine property just south of Gilroy known as Sargent Ranch – forged documents in an attempt to prove herself the rightful leader of the local Amah Mutsun Tribal Band of Ohlone/Costanoan Indians, the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs made a move last week that left her rivals “absolutely blindsided.”