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Despite having the most land available for ongoing development in Santa Clara County, South County will not have a place at the table when it comes to making key decisions on future growth.The Santa Clara County Cities Association, which gets to fill one seat on the seven-seat governing board of the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO), the state mandated agency that oversees boundaries of cities and special districts in the county, decided to appoint Rob Rennie, Vice Mayor of Los Gatos, over Gilroy Councilwoman Cat Tucker to the county commission’s board at a contentious meeting earlier this month.The Association, which aims to “represent the mutual interests of the diverse 15 cities of Santa Clara County,” decided on Rennie after Sunnyvale councilman Jim Griffith, who serves on the Cities Association Executive Board, claimed it would be a conflict of interest for the Gilroy councilwoman to serve as commissioner because Gilroy was the subject of a lawsuit brought by LAFCO.Tucker, who had served on the Board for three and a half years, two of those years as an alternate before the term she was appointed to fill was up last April, put herself forward to fill the seat left vacant when the previous commissioner, Tara Martin-Milius from Sunnyvale, failed to win re-election to her council seat in November.The odds seemed to be split evenly between Tucker and Rennie, who was currently serving as an alternate on the board, when Griffith made the erroneous claim.While it is true LAFCO sued the city of Gilroy in January last year over alleged deficiencies in the environmental review of the proposed North Gilroy Neighborhood Districts Urban Service Area Amendment—otherwise known as the 721-acre Ranchos Los Olivos housing proposal—it was settled three months later after the development proposal was pulled by the applicant and Gilroy City Council rescinded its certification of the environmental impact report. As part of the settlement, the City of Gilroy agreed to pay $24,500 to cover LAFCO’s court fees.The initiated litigation was called “unprecedented in the history of our LAFCO and possibly LAFCOs nationwide” by the agency in its 2016 annual report.At last week’s council meeting, Gilroy Mayor Roland Velasco thanked Tucker for her efforts, saying, “We knew it was going to be an uphill battle, thank you for going above and beyond.”For more on this topic, read Gilroy City Councilman Dan Harney's opinion piece in the Gilroy Dispatch on LAFCO and the city's place in the valley: http://www.gilroydispatch.com/opinion/gilroy-s-changing-role-in-silicon-valley/article_3c8414ee-e8d4-11e6-b012-97347d401b6e.html

A divided Morgan Hill City Council Jan. 25 approved an approximately $88,000 expense for a consultant to conduct a “quiet zone” study at selected railroad crossings in town.A quiet zone is a section of railroad tracks, typically located in “residentially sensitive” areas, in which a train proceeds silently, without the conductor blasting the horn as an approach warning, according to a city staff report.Quiet zones, which are governed by the Federal Railroad Administration, are created with the use of safety measures to enhance the crossing. These measures include enhanced gate systems for vehicles and pedestrians, traffic signal coordination and more.In Morgan Hill, the study, to be conducted by Michael Baker International, will specifically look into establishing quiet zones on the Union Pacific tracks where they cross Dunne, Main and Tilton avenues, according to city staff. These intersections are located in higher-density residential neighborhoods where the train horn, particularly late at night, can be disruptive.The council voted 3-2 to approve the $88,330 study, with Mayor Steve Tate and Councilman Rene Spring opposed.Tate noted that if the study determines that quiet zones are possible at any of the intersections in question, the cost to construct and develop each quiet zone is $3 million to $6 million—a sum the mayor said is too high for the city to commit to, or to even embark on a study that might not lead to any action.“I don’t know where it falls in our list of priorities,” Tate said. “To me the safety issues we have on our other streets need to be looked at as well. I’m just saying don’t do it now. Let’s figure out our priorities first.”Spring noted the cost of the study is almost “$90,000 for a project we may never get financed.”He added that the state’s High Speed Rail project presents another potential hindrance. If the HSR Authority chooses an alignment through Morgan Hill that follows the UP tracks, that could make the study a moot point.But Mayor Pro Temp Larry Carr suggested if the study determined quiet zones are feasible and desirable in Morgan Hill, the city should try to convince the HSRA to help pay for the construction of the zones.He added that “eliminating the train horn” in some of the city’s higher-density residential areas is a quality of life improvement that is worth pursuing.The study is expected to be complete in six months, according to city staff. The cost of the study is funded by the city’s long range planning fund and the public facilities fund.

In the second day of the Sierra LaMar murder trial, the attorney for accused killer Antolin Garcia Torres attempted to sow doubt within the jury by attacking the most essential facets of the case presented by police and the prosecutor.“You are not going to hear any evidence that (Sierra) was killed, absolutely none,” defense attorney Al Lopez told the jury Jan. 31.The claim was a stark contrast from that of Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney David Boyd, who started his opening statement less than 24 hours earlier by saying, “Sierra LaMar is dead, and this man killed her,” as he pointed to Garcia Torres seated at the defense table in the crowded courtroom.Lopez continued his opening statement by attempting to pick apart various other arguments Boyd presented before him at the Hall of Justice in San Jose. He implored the jury to “keep an open mind throughout this whole process. You haven’t heard the evidence yet.”Garcia Torres, 25 of Morgan Hill, is accused of kidnapping and killing Sierra March 16, 2012, the last day the 15-year-old Sobrato High School sophomore was seen alive. Her remains have not been found.He is also accused of three unrelated attempted kidnappings in 2009, when he allegedly attacked three women in the parking lots of two local Safeway stores.Lopez told the jury none of the state’s evidence proves Garcia Torres was involved in those 2009 crimes. There is even an “innocent explanation” for the defendant’s thumbprint on the battery of a stun gun used in at least one of the attacks, found by crime lab experts during the police investigation.Employed as a “courtesy clerk” at Safeway in 2009, one of Garcia Torres’ responsibilities was to perform “go-backs,” Lopez explained. This entailed placing items back on the shelves that customers returned or decided not to purchase after all before closing out their purchase.The packaging on Duracell nine-volt batteries, such as the one found in the stun gun recovered from the parking lot crime, tends to “bust open on a regular basis” just from incidental handling. When this happened in the store, it was Garcia Torres’ job to place the batteries back inside the packaging, tape them up and place the item back on the shelf.“That’s why Mr. Garcia Torres’ thumbprint would be on that battery,” Lopez said. He added that Safeway employees would testify about this later in the trial.Lopez added that none of the three female victims in the Safeway incidents could pick Garcia Torres out of a photo lineup, and the attacks appeared to be run-of-the-mill robberies rather than kidnapping attempts as the prosecution claimed.On Jan. 30, Boyd said the 2009 Safeway victims didn’t see a photo lineup until after Garcia Torres was arrested on suspicion of killing Sierra in 2012, but they all gave similar verbal descriptions of the suspect hours after their respective incidents. Boyd added Jan. 31, finishing up his opening statement before Lopez started, that “nothing was said, nothing was taken” from the women, indicating the attacker was not interested in robbing them.Lopez then went into a lengthy refutation of the DNA evidence that allegedly ties Garcia Torres to Sierra in the hours after she disappeared—a lynchpin of the DA’s case.Lopez said the prosecutor’s case relies on “background DNA” found on Sierra’s discarded belongings and in Garcia Torres’ red Volkswagen Jetta. This DNA was found in such small amounts that it could have been transferred to the incriminating locations by a third or fourth party, and there is no way to determine, with certainty, how or when it appeared there.DNA, Lopez told the jury, can be left in a location simply with the touch of a hand, and can stay there for years. “This case is not the ‘gold standard’ DNA,” Lopez said. “It’s called ‘contact DNA’…It’s too sensitive. You’re picking up everybody’s DNA who touched it…And you get mixtures from many people in that sample. There is no way of knowing how many people touched it.”Boyd told the jury earlier that a DNA analysis of Sierra’s jeans, which were found discarded in her bag along with the rest of the clothing she was wearing the day she disappeared, showed a strong likelihood of Garcia Torres’ DNA on the pants. He added that a rope found in the trunk of the defendant’s car had a hair that matched Sierra’s DNA, and a glove—also found by investigators in the trunk—held the teen’s genetic material.But Lopez said investigators did not follow “DNA protocol” when processing the items from Sierra’s bag, which they found off the side of the road near Laguna Avenue a couple days after she disappeared. He showed photos of the items placed on a “dirty” corkboard by detectives before being sent to the contamination-controlled crime lab.“The government has big problems in this case with transfer” of DNA and potential evidence contamination, Lopez said.Plus, photos of the rope do not show any hair on it, despite Boyd’s claim that more than 50 such fibers were found on the item. “The rope was in evidence for four months before they found that hair,” Lopez said.Garcia Torres’ attorney also questioned the relationship between the defendant and hundreds of microscopic glass beads found in Sierra’s discarded clothing. Boyd said these beads are the kind found in roadway paint, used to make the surface more reflective. He suggested this evidence shows Garcia Torres dragged Sierra or her body across a road surface some time after he kidnapped her.But Lopez said these beads were found only on Sierra’s clothing, and nowhere in Garcia Torres’ car or on his belongings. Furthermore, he said a defense witness will testify that there are no drag marks on Sierra’s belongings that contained the beads.Finishing up his opening statement the morning of Jan. 31, Boyd said Garcia Torres and Sierra met “for the first and last time” the morning the teen disappeared, despite the defendant’s claims to police that he had never met her.Sierra vanished as she walked from her north Morgan Hill home to her school bus stop near the intersection of Palm and Dougherty avenues.Garcia Torres “learned” from the foiled Safeway attacks to pick a younger, smaller victim, “immersed in her own life, with her headphones in her ears as she walks toward her bus,” Boyd said.The trial for Garcia Torres is expected to last up to five months at the Hall of Justice in San Jose. If convicted, he faces a possible sentence of death or life in prison.

Opening statements started Jan. 30 in the trial for Antolin Garcia Torres, who is suspected of kidnapping and murdering 15-year-old Sierra LaMar of Morgan Hill.

With Sobrato well ahead in the third quarter—leading 32-17—Luke Walton pulled down a rebound and looked up the floor.

KiannaBriel Maldia saved her best game for the biggest stage.

Opening statements in the trial for Sierra LaMar’s suspected murderer are scheduled to start Monday, Jan. 30 at the Hall of Justice in San Jose.Antolin Garcia Torres, 25 of Morgan Hill, faces a charge of murder in relation to the disappearance of Sierra, who was 15 when she disappeared from her home the morning of March 16, 2012. Garcia Torres has been in custody at the county jail since his arrest in May 2012.He faces a possible death penalty if convicted of murdering Sierra.Sierra disappeared from her north Morgan Hill home while she was walking to her school bus stop near the intersection of Palm and Dougherty avenues, according to investigators. She was a sophomore at Sobrato High School at the time of her disappearance.Authorities have not found Sierra’s remains, but located some of her belongings—including her cell phone and her handbag containing some of her clothing—in the days after her disappearance was reported. These items were found off the roadsides in neighborhoods near Sierra’s home.Investigators have said they found DNA evidence connecting Garcia Torres to Sierra and her disappearance.In the same trial, Garcia Torres also faces three charges of attempted kidnapping in relation to three incidents in 2009 in two Morgan Hill Safeway parking lots. These charges are unrelated to the Sierra LaMar case.  

Police are looking for a suspect or suspects who fired gunshots into a vacant building in north Morgan Hill the night of Jan. 26.Morgan Hill officers responded to the AM/PM Arco gas station and convenience store, 18605 Monterey Road, about 9 p.m. on a report of shots fired, according to police.When officers arrived the shooter or shooters had fled the scene, according to MHPD Capt. Shane Palsgrove. Officers are following up on leads in their search for the suspect or suspects.Nobody was injured or struck by gunfire during the incident, police said.More details will be posted as they are available.Anyone with information about this incident can contact MHPD at (408) 779-2101.