Resident Selected to Environmental Committee
Morgan Hill – Alex Kennett, Morgan Hill resident and businessman, has been selected by the Committee for Green Foothills to serve on its board of directors.
The committee and its advocates believe that their selection is a relevant one being that Kennett is involved with several Morgan Hill entities.
By day Kennett runs a company called Solutions, which coaches and mentors businesses.
Outside of work, he chairs the Economic Development committee for the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce.
Kennett also holds elective office as district 1 director on the Santa Clara County Open Space Authority and serves as president of Morgan Hill Independence Day Inc., the all-volunteer organization that sponsor’s the city’s July Fourth commemoration.
Kennett sees himself as a bridge between business and the environment and plans to watch over the threat of urban sprawl in South County.
“We’re all in the same county,” Kennett said. “There seems to be a ‘glass wall’ there at Bernal Road that separates South San Jose from South County. We need to get rid of that wall. We have the only farming area left in the county and it’s important to watch over it.”
Brian Schmidt, a legislative advocate for the environmental watchdog group, said that Kenett’s involvement in the Morgan Hill area would make his job easier.
“Since Alex is a Morgan Hill resident, he already has a good connection with the community,” Schmidt said. “He knows a wide variety of people and organizations. With Alex in there, it’s like we’re already involved.”
Corina Marshall, the interim executive director for the group, said that Kennett’s involvement and experience with the Open Space Authority will benefit the welfare of the county.
“He’s very engaged in what he does,” Marshall said. “He’s very progressive and proactive on environmental issues and he looks out for the welfare of the community.”
Violence Erupts at Krazy Koyote
Gilroy – Fed up with gang violence outside the Krazy Koyote, police are compiling a list of recent incidents connected with the popular Gilroy bar, a step that could ultimately lead the city to suspend or pull its license.
The bloody list spans from November to last Sunday, when two men were stabbed and two were shot in the bar’s Church Street parking lot, the third gang-related stabbing outside Krazy Koyote in nine months. Seventeen Gilroy officers and investigators, four Sheriff’s deputies and two California Highway Patrolmen sped to the scene just after 2am Sunday to find the four victims bloodied.
Police have been tight-lipped about the attacks, refusing to identity the victims, the weapons or the gangs involved. Gilroy Police Sgt. Jim Gillio said police don’t know the motivation for the attacks, won’t specify what the gunman or gunmen said and have no indication the fight was a turf issue. Sgt. Gillio added that one of the four male victims is a Gilroy gang member, but declined to give details on where the other three victims were from or whether they had gang ties. All four victims were recovering as of Monday afternoon.
Krazy Koyote co-owners George and Marcos Headley have stressed their own cooperation with Gilroy police, and struggled to shake off the bar’s outlaw image. Responding to critics’ claims that the hip-hop acts draw gang members, Marcos Headley has emphasized the bar’s wide array of music options, from country line dancing to punk. No major fights have broken out inside the bar, which is patrolled by 15 private security guards.
Christopher Ranch Recalls China-grown Ginger
Gilroy – Christopher Ranch recalled more than 1,000 pounds of fresh, loose ginger from Northern California grocery stores after state officials found the vegetables contained an unapproved pesticide.
The California Department of Public Health reported Sunday that the ginger – distributed by the Gilroy-based Christopher Ranch, better known as the world’s largest packer of an array of garlic products – carried aldicarb sulfoxide, a pesticide harmful to humans. The company, which acquired the China-grown ginger from an Alhambra-based importer, Modern Trading, Inc., had already sent out 630 boxes of ginger to 14 stores, including Albertsons supermarkets.
“Consumers who may have purchased this product from Albertsons stores and Save Mart stores in northern California should discard it,” a department press release warned.
At low levels, the pesticide can cause nausea, headache and blurred vision, according to the press release. No reports of pesticide poisoning have been received as of Monday afternoon, Lea Brooks of the public health department said.
Save Mart Supermarkets, which operates Albertsons, has pulled fresh Chinese ginger from its shelves and offered to refund or replace any purchased at its stores between July 10 and 26.
Police Investigate Alleged Embezzlement, One Arrested
San Martin – Two employees of Calstone, a San Martin concrete masonry company, allegedly conspired to steal $5,600 worth of Calstone products in January and resell them without their boss’ permission. Gilroy resident Martin Vargas, 35, was arrested 11:30am July 24. His co-conspirator, 25-year-old Sergio Ivan Valdez of Hollister, allegedly wrote a fraudulent sales order to aid Vargas, and helped remove the stolen goods from the property. Valdez is on probation until May 2008 for another crime and is at large. Vargas was arrested on suspicion of grand theft, embezzlement and conspiracy.
