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Manning? Not yet. Manningham? Yep.

Bulldogs finish perfect first round in BVAL with sweep

As the California High Speed Rail Authority finalizes its plans to bring the train through, around or above Morgan Hill, city officials have a list of questions about the project and how it will impact local residents and businesses.City Hall is thus asking the community for input on this massive project before the City Council considers sending the HSRA a “scoping letter” on the locals’ preferred alignment later this month, according to city staff.“Regardless of the alignment that will ultimately be decided by the Authority, there are many questions that the city council and community must have answered prior to any decisions being made,” reads a Nov. 7 press release from city staff.The HSRA’s staff and consultants are currently considering four alignment alternatives for the train that will zoom through Morgan Hill at speeds faster than 200 mph. The HSRA board will choose its preferred alignment option by spring of 2017, after which will follow an environmental review and public comment period.The four alignment options are described as:• At grade, on a berm, along Monterey Road or adjacent (on the east side) of the Union Pacific Railroad tracks;• Elevated, in a viaduct, along Monterey Road or adjacent (on the east side) of the UPRR;• Elevated in a viaduct along the west side of U.S. 101;• Elevated in a viaduct along the east side of U.S. 101.The viaducts in the elevated options would rise 30 to 60 feet above the ground.While the City of Morgan Hill has “no legal authority to determine the future of the project,” the council hopes to work with the HSRA to influence the project so it “minimizes impacts on the community while developing the best project through/around Morgan Hill,” the city’s press release states.At the Nov. 16 meeting at council chambers on Peak Avenue, the council will discuss issues and questions that should be addressed in the final draft of its scoping letter to the HSRA.City staff have posted a draft list of questions for the HSRA on the city’s website. These include:“Will the HSR project have lighting for safety?”“What is the main safety mechanism if the train is derailed?”“How does noise change at different speeds?”“Will the Morgan Hill segment begin construction independent of progress in San Jose or Gilroy?”Residents can view the full list of questions and submit their own by visiting the city’s website, morganhill.ca.gov/1552/High-Speed-Rail.When completed, HSR will take travelers from San Francisco to Los Angeles in two hours, 40 minutes. The total budget of the statewide rail project is about $65 billion, which will be financed by a voter approved bond, federal stimulus grants and cap-and-trade funds, according to HSRA staff.Construction is already underway on the HSRA section that goes from Fresno to Bakersfield. The San Jose-to-Merced section—the one that will pass through Morgan Hill—is expected to be operational by 2025, planners said.Stations are planned in San Jose and Gilroy, among other locations throughout the project.The project will require the HSRA to acquire private residential and commercial properties that currently stand in the way of any alignment option.

Three Santa Clara County Main Jail correctional officers were charged Sept. 8 with the murder of inmate Michael Tyree.The guards—identified as Matthew Farris, 27, Jereh Lubrin, 28, and Rafael Rodriguez, 27—are accused of beating inmate Tyree late last month so much that they caused massive and eventually fatal internal injuries, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office.“These men violated the law, human dignity, and the job that they were sworn to do,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a press release. “They may have thought that their violence, enacted late at night in the obscurity of a jail cell and against a helpless and mentally ill inmate, was invisible. Today we see it for all of its brutality. Mr. Tyree was not invisible. His death was not invisible. We will see that there is justice.”The guards are also accused of felony assault under the color of authority for beating another inmate minutes before their alleged fatal assault on Tyree.In its complaint against the officers, the DA’s office claims at around 10:50 p.m. on Aug. 26, the three guards entered the cell of another inmate in the same “pod” as Tyree and physically assaulted him.According to the DA’s office, inmates reportedly heard the blows and Tyree screaming, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Stop.”According to the press release, a short time after allegedly assaulting the first inmate, the officers entered the cell of Tyree.The DA’s office alleges after the closed-door beating—which left Tyree with numerous injuries all over his body—inmates heard Tyree crying. Then they heard his body hit the floor.Later, according to the DA’s office, two correctional officers entered Tyree’s cell just after midnight to find Mr. Tyree dead on the floor, covered in his own waste. He was pronounced dead at 12:35 a.m. The County Medical Examiner estimated that his internal injuries to his liver and spleen were so severe that he died within minutes of the trauma.If convicted of the charges, the guards could face life in prison.“I appreciate the District Attorney’s decision to file murder charges against the three correctional deputies arrested for the murder of Michael Tyree,” Sheriff Laurie Smith said. “While no one can bring Michael back to his family, we can ensure that those responsible for his murder are brought to justice as swiftly as possible. The reprehensible actions of those accused of this cowardly act are not indicative of the values we expect from our correctional deputies. As the Sheriff, I will redouble my department’s efforts to root out any correctional staff that does not share and exhibit the high standards the public rightfully expects from us.”Tyree was in custody related to his probation for a misdemeanor drug possession that was being monitored in Santa Clara County Superior Court's mental health court, according to the DA’s release.He was also charged with petty theft.The sheriff’s office announced Sept. 4 that it will request funding for a modernized camera system in the Main Jail and Elmwood Jail facilities. The announcement was in response to the death of Tyree.“Expanding the number of cameras at each of our custodial facilities will improve the safety of inmates, visitors and correctional staff assigned to those facilities,” Sheriff Smith stated.  “This is a common sense improvement designed to increase our staff’s ability to monitor our jails and ensure stricter accountability for all personnel assigned to our facilities.”On Sept. 3, following the arrest of the correctional deputies on suspicion of the murder of Tyree, Smith and her top command staff met with community leaders from several organizations to provide them with a detailed briefing on the arrests and to listen to concerns and ideas as to how the sheriff’s department can continue to work collaboratively to address those concerns, according to sheriff’s Sgt. James Jensen.“We had a great discussion with the sheriff at yesterday’s community meeting. We look forward to continuing the conversation with the sheriff and working within the facilities,” said Reverend Jeff Moore, President San Jose-Silicon Valley NAACP.In attendance at the meeting with community leaders were representatives from the NAACP, Silicon Valley Debug, Jail Observer Program, Correctional institutions Chaplaincy, among others.Chaplin Evelyn Vigil from Correctional Institutions Chaplaincy said, “I am grateful for the sheriff’s swift and decisive action in this case and look forward to continuing our cooperative efforts to provide high-quality care to inmates and staff,” said Vigil.In addition to the proposal to expand and modernize the jail’s camera system, the sheriff’s office has proactively sought input from the FBI on its operations and will continue to review and improve its current policies, procedures and protocols for safely managing those in custody that must cope with mental illness.

The future of Uesugi Farms may be in doubt, but its owners have assured fans of its Morgan Hill Pumpkin Park that the popular attraction would open in the fall of 2019. GIlroy-based Uesugi Farms had told creditors and announced online in late 2018 that...

How many times have you been on the range struggling with your