School board passes the gavel
Morgan Hill Unified School District Board of Education trustees on Tuesday elected a new president and vice president. Trustee Julia Hover-Smoot is now board president, and Trustee Don Moody was elected vice president. Board officers are elected to a one-year term.
Superintendent Alan Nishino called for nominations for president, and outgoing vice president Kathy Sullivan nominated outgoing Peter Mandel for a second term. Hover-Smoot was also nominated and was elected by a 6-1 vote. Moody was elected unanimously.
After the election, Hover-Smoot was presented with the gavel by Mandel and assumed her seat as president to continue the meeting.
Times Holiday Lights decorating contest
The Morgan Hill Times is sponsoring a holiday lights decorating contest. We want to know which homes in our community, Morgan Hill and San Martin, have the best decorations to celebrate the season. First- and second-place winners will receive a $50 gift certificate to Rosy’s at the Beach, 17320 Monterey Road, in Morgan Hill.
Please send a photo of your decorated home to
ed******@mo*************.com
by Dec. 27.
We’ll announce the winners Dec. 28. Please include your name, address and phone number on your photo submission, not for publication, but to verify your entry.
Basketball game fundraiser
Morgan Hill
The Morgan Hill Police Officers Association is holding its annual charity basketball game tonight at the Sobrato High School gym. The Morgan Hill Blue Knights will face off once again against NFL celebrities from the San Francisco 49ers in a full-court game. The doors open at 6:30 p.m., and tipoff is at 7:30 p.m. Money raised during the event will benefit community programs sponsored by the MHPOA. Please park at the rear of the high school, as there is another event at the same time in the front of the school. For ticket information, call (408) 445-8498.
Holiday donations torched
Morgan Hill
Someone was behaving like the “Grinch” or “Scrooge” Sunday afternoon, setting fire to holiday donations at a Morgan Hill church, according to police Cmdr. David Swing.
Mostly clothing was contained in the storage facility at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on East Dunne Avenue, Swing said. The Cal Fire station at Hill Road and East Dunne Avenue is just down the street from the church, and firefighters quickly extinguished the 1:20 p.m. blaze.
Swing said there were no injuries and he did not have an estimate of the property damage on Monday.
Cal Fire arson investigators have taken over the case, he said. Investigator Dennis Johnsen said Wednesday there was evidence at the scene, and someone had reported seeing some juveniles in the area, but he has not completed his investigation.
Developers want good jobs, not just retail
GILROY
The 50,000 or so drivers who pass through Gilroy’s eastern corridor each day will soon see more retail, but the developers behind the newest Pacheco Pass project reserved much more land for industry and office space, which they say will bring high-paying jobs.
The McCarthy family is filling 16 acres with retail stores and parking spaces and another 90 acres with office and industrial space off Pacheco Pass Highway. The 10-acre Gilroy Crossing Shopping Center and Gilroy Foods sandwich the new retail/office center.
For years city officials have tried to complement Gilroy’s retail tax base with more lucrative, high-tech jobs that could create a textured, self-sustaining economy for the city. Rock-bottom office prices and high inventories in Silicon Valley have slowed this vision in the past, but the McCarthy family believes that will change with the help of retail.
So far the niche-market Tractor Supply Co. is the only open business in the McCarthy Business Park & Retail Center. But a Sonic, Starbucks and Del Taco are likely to join soon after Hooters decided not to open a restaurant, according to Tom Nelson, a retail specialist with Colliers International, the commercial real estate brokerage the McCarthy family hired to find tenants.
Accused shooter’s hearing delayed
SAN MARTIN
A judge delayed the preliminary hearing of an accused attempted murderer for two weeks because his defense attorney was tied up with another case.
Tomas Martinez Romero, 21, appeared Tuesday afternoon at the South County Courthouse on charges of two counts of attempted murder and three counts of assault with a deadly weapon. If convicted, Romero could go to jail for the rest of his life.
On the night of March 27, Romero walked up to a car with five people and fired almost 10 rounds, injuring two people, police said. Police originally held another man in April on suspicion of the shooting, but released him a few days later.
Romero was arrested in late July. By then, he had been arrested in connection with a grisly stabbing, had the charges dropped and was released from custody, and almost deported because he was in the country illegally. Police dragged him off a bus at the last moment to serve him with new charges.
The start of the preliminary hearing – in which the judge hears testimony to decide if there is enough evidence to order the defendant to stand trial – has been delayed several times because Deputy District Attorney Amir Alem and public defender Javier Rios have been exchanging evidence on the case.
The sticking point has been a set of DVDs of witness interviews, which Rios said he does not have. The district attorney’s provided the information, but Rios lost one of the DVDs, Alem said.
Rios was busy with another case Tuesday afternoon and could not appear at the courthouse to represent Romero. He will next appear in court at 1:30 p.m. Jan. 8.
New Web site for VTA
The Valley Transportation Authority unveiled a new Web site Monday morning. The new site is aimed at providing better service and access to information for riders. In addition, maps and trip planners have been made more printer-friendly.
Details: www.vta.org
Rockstarz Boutique sponsors coat drive
Rockstarz Boutique, 17265 Monterey Road, in Morgan Hill, is collecting clean, reusable coats and jackets to assist the One Warm Coat community service effort.
Coats of all shapes and sizes are welcome and children’s sizes are most needed. One Warm Coat is dedicated to distributing reusable coats, free of charge, directly to local children and adults.
Donations can be dropped off at the boutique during normal business hours.
One Warm Coat is a community service effort started in 1992 that has collected more than 400,000 coats for the needy.
Toys For Tots still accepting donations
Donations are still requested for the ongoing United States Marine Corps Reserve Toys For Tots effort in Morgan Hill and Gilroy. Donations are lowest for the children ages 10 to 16 years old.
In Morgan Hill many local businesses are available to accept donations of new, unwrapped toys. A few of the locations are; Coldwell Banker, Booksmart, Lacerda Chiropractic and Cochrane Road Self-Storage, which offers a 24-hour toy drop box.
In Gilroy, West Coast Martial Arts, Gilroy Toyota, ConAgra Foods, Australian Tanning Company & Healthy Inspirations are awaiting toy donations.
