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Like dominoes placed long ago in a haphazard, yet still kinetic array, the walls of one of downtown Morgan Hill’s longtime favorite shopping centers came crashing down this week.The demolition of Depot Center, colloquially known as the BookSmart center, is scheduled to be complete this week, according to city officials. The razing of the building that used to house more than a dozen commercial tenants will make way for a new residential/commercial project to be developed by new property owner City Ventures.“They had to remove some asbestos” before knocking down the structure on Depot Street between Second and Third streets, Assistant City Manager Leslie Little said. “Their plans are completely approved. They can move right into construction.”The new project, known as Depot Station, will have up to 29 townhomes and four commercial units ranging in size from 516 to about 3,000 square feet, but the details are subject to change as construction gets closer, according to City Ventures Marketing Manager Petrise Switzer.Current plans call for two-car private garage for 26 of the residences, and three one-car garages for the rest, Switzer added. The project will also deploy environmentally-friendly amenities, an aspect of residential construction that City Ventures prides itself on.“The homes at Solera Ranch are solar,” Switzer said, referring to the single-family home City Ventures under way near the intersection of Monterey and Old Monterey roads in north Morgan Hill. She didn’t know yet if the new homes downtown would use solar power, but added, “We are a green builder.”About a block and a half away, on Monterey Road, hospitality entrepreneur Frank Leal and his crew are in the process of “deconstruction” of the Downtown Mall, which will make way for the new Granada Hotel. Little said the Downtown Mall is “being gutted from the inside out,” as Leal strives to reuse many of the materials—such as lumber and decorative supplies—from the existing structure in his new project.“Environmentally, that’s the smart thing to do,” Little said.The four-story Granada Hotel will house up to 60 rooms, conference space, a swimming pool and spa. The ground floor will contain a steakhouse and market hall, flower shop, and lobby with a wine bar.Next door at the Granada Theater, Leal’s renovation project will transform the former movie house into a multi-purpose event center. Community Solutions’ annual Black, White & Bling fundraiser is scheduled there for Dec. 10, shortly after the expected completion of construction.These projects and others are part of the city’s longtime plan—first set into motion by the now defunct Redevelopment Agency—to revitalize the downtown neighborhood. Completed projects that work toward that end are the new four-story parking garage and various street and public infrastructure upgrades throughout the downtown.Demolition is complete and grading is underway at the former Simple Beverages property at Third Street and Monterey Road. Developers Ken Rodrigues and Don Imwalle will build four new restaurants owned by The Opa! Group on the site by next summer.The former Royal Clothier building at Second Street and Monterey Road—now owned by developer Lone Star—will soon see exterior renovations, Little added. Royal Clothier men’s clothing store has moved across the street on Monterey Road, and Tryst boutique is getting ready to move out to a new location downtown.The city sold these sites—as well as the Granada Theater, Downtown Mall and Depot Center properties—to their current owners last year for fractions of the cost that the RDA paid for them in 2008 and 2009.Most of the former tenants of the properties have found new locations to make way for the new development, though most were unable to remain downtown.Furthermore, the 4,000-square-foot retail shell on the ground floor of the Third Street side is “fully leased,” Little added. Orange Theory Fitness, a private gym, and Coffee Guys coffee shop will move into those spaces after tenant improvements are complete.The design process for three new downtown parks is also moving along, Little said. One of the parks will be located on Second Street, one on the top of the hill at Third Street and Del Monte Avenue where a city water tank is, and other other in the Caltrain parking lot on Depot Street.All of the projects are expected to be complete within the next 18 months, according to the developers and city staff.When the downtown revitalization is complete, the city will have spent $25 million of former RDA funds on the public infrastructure improvements, parks and assistance to the private developers.

It’s back to school time and you know what that means. Yes, it’s time to drop off the kids at school and do the happy dance. For the next several months, your mornings will be spent in the drop off line—a genuinely happy place.

You can’t judge a book by its cover, but with wine, it’s a different story. We often purchase a bottle of wine based on a colorful, eye-catching label. But reading what the label says will improve your chances of actually liking the wine inside. Here are 10 tips for better understanding what’s in the bottle. The largest words on a wine label are usually the name of the winery or company that made the wine.If the label lists the name of the varietal, it means there is at least 75 percent of that varietal in the bottle—the remaining 25 percent can be one or more different grapes. If you don’t see the name of a varietal, it means that the wine is a blend.Labels will tell you where the grapes are grown. If you see Santa Clara Valley, you know right away that the grapes are premium. Riper styled wines typically come from Lodi or Paso Robles where the growing season is quite warm. Monterey wines usually produce cooler climate grapes such as pinot noir and chardonnays, which tend to be a little crisp and drier.Next look for a vintage date—the date the grapes were picked. NV means non-vintage—the grapes used were from more than one year.Some wine labels use the word “reserve” for a wine has been aged a bit longer than usual or to connote a wine that is extra special.I like to see “estate” on the label—letting me know that the grapes were grown on the wineries’ property—giving the winery a lot of control over how the grapes were grown and nurtured.Most wines are somewhere between 12 to 18 percent alcohol by volume (ABV). Usually, the higher the alcohol, the bolder and richer the wine will taste.Don’t miss the back label where winemakers tell the world why their wine is so awesome. The Medeiros Family Wine label shown here says, “From vine to bottle. Our reputation is in every glass.”I also like to see “produced and bottled by” which again means that the winery held control over how the wine was fermented, aged and finished. If the label only says “bottled by” it means that someone else made the wine.Sulfites are naturally occurring in most wines. Dry red wines usually contain around 50 parts per million (ppm), which is quite low when compared to other foods. As a reference, french fries contain up to 1,850 ppm. Finally, while some wine labels are informational only, others will surprise you with a little trivia. For instance, the label on the back of Kirigin Cellars Malvasia Bianca says that it was Mrs. Kirigin’s favorite wine. Others may tell you about their location, like Sunlit Oaks Winery: “Our terrain is reminiscent of Tuscan hillsides with 180-degree views from San Martin to San Juan Bautista.”If you need a chuckle, Satori Cellars Estate Za-Zin’s label suggests that you “sit cross-legged, a glass of Zin in your left hand and a slice of Za in your right.”

Identity theftSomeone used the victim’s social security number to fraudulently open phone accounts in the victim’s name. The crime was reported 3:56 p.m. Aug. 11.Stolen vehicleA thief or thieves stole a silver 1997 Honda Civic from a residential parking spot on the 200 block of East Dunne Avenue.  The crime was reported 8 a.m. Aug. 12.Someone stole a white HaUlmark trailer that was parked at Pinnacle Manufacturing, 17680 Butterfield Blvd. The crime was reported 10:38 a.m. Aug. 12.A white 1993 Honda Civic was stolen from a parking spot on La Honda Court. The crime was reported 8:20 a.m. Aug. 14.Someone stole a white 2005 Chevrolet Impala from the 16800 block of Barnell Avenue. The crime was reported 6:33 p.m. Aug. 18.A thief or thieves stole a white 2003 GMC pickup from the 18500 block of Butterfield Boulevard. The crime was reported 8:53 a.m. Aug. 18.Petty theftA homeless man stole two bottles of Grey Goose vodka from Trader Joe’s, 17035 Laurel Road. The suspect was detained and cited on suspicion of petty theft. The crime was reported 10:49 a.m. Aug. 13.Someone stole about $300 worth of meat from Safeway grocery store, 840 E. Dunne Ave. The crime was reported 3:40 p.m. Aug. 14.A customer at Dollar Tree, 16975 Monterey Road, ate five grocery items from the store and refused to pay for them. The crime was reported 4:07 p.m. Aug. 19.Three men and a woman stole an air mattress and other items—worth a total of $548—from Target, 1061 Cochrane Road. The suspects were associated with a silver Honda Civic.BurglaryA thief or thieves broke into a new home on the 1700 block of Ventura Drive and stole speakers. The suspect or suspects gained entry by popping open a rear window. The residents of the home were just starting to move in. The crime was reported 4:29 p.m. Aug. 13.A woman in her 20s walked into Target, 1061 Cochrane Road, and stole about $875 worth of electronics items. The suspect reportedly entered the front door of the store during business hours and walked back to the electronics section. The woman loaded two fire alarms and two security cameras into her cart and ran out of the store, to a white Honda Accord. The crime was reported 5:35 p.m. Aug. 17.Auto burglaryA thief or thieves broke into a silver Honda Civic parked on LaCrosse Drive and stole a stereo. The crime was reported 2:16 p.m. Aug. 14.Two suspects cut the lock of a Ford F350 work truck and stole tools. The crime was reported 3:14 a.m. Aug. 19 on the 16900 block of Del Monte Avenue.Someone broke into a Toyota Highlander on Lotus Way and stole a purse. The crime was reported 6:38 p.m. Aug. 17.A thief or thieves broke into a Toyota Tacoma on the 16400 block of Del Monte Avenue, and stole a key that belonged to another vehicle. The crime was reported 9:14 a.m. Aug. 18.Hit and runA driver of a red Chevrolet pickup truck collided with a gray PT Cruiser in the area of Fisher Avenue and Butterfield Boulevard, and left the scene without exchanging information. Police tracked the red pickup to a residence in Gilroy. Property damage but no injuries were reported in the accident. The incident was reported 5:20 p.m. Aug. 17.All subjects are innocent until proven guilty. Information is compiled from public records.

Computers, the internet and social media have all had an enormous impact on the way our wineries do business.

GILROY

For terrific summer fun, it’s hard to beat a concert at Fortino Winery in Gilroy. On a very warm evening, a group of us arrived just as the sun was setting and in time to snag the last table. We came stocked with picnic baskets full of submarine sandwiches, heirloom cherry tomatoes and summer salads.

Police throughout Santa Clara County will begin their annual end-of-summer DUI enforcement campaign Aug. 19 by placing extra officers on the roads and conducting sobriety checkpoints until Labor Day.The crackdown is known as the “Avoid the 13” campaign, which places extra law enforcement resources on the road to limit drunk or impaired driving during the holidays and other high-traffic times.“During this period (Aug. 19 to Sept. 5), local law enforcement will show zero tolerance for drunk driving,” reads a press release from the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office.The Avoid the 13 effort will deploy two DUI/drivers license checkpoints and another 42 DUI “saturation patrols” to stop and arrest alcohol- and drug-impaired drivers during the 18-day end-of-summer period, police said.Operations in South County include saturation patrols in the cities of Morgan Hill and Gilroy on Aug. 19, 20, 25, 26, 27, 28 and Sept. 1-5, according to the press release.The California Highway Patrol will conduct a DUI/license checkpoint at an unspecified location in unincorporated South County the night of Aug. 20.According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than 10,000 people die each year in drunk driving crashes nationwide. In California, 882 deaths at the hands of drunk drivers occurred from 2010 to 2014. During the 2014 Labor Day weekend, 40 percent of the fatalities in traffic crashes involved drunk drivers.“People need to understand that drunk driving is not only deadly, but it is illegal,” said Sheriff Laurie Smith. “Drunk driving is a massive problem in the United States, with more than 10,000 people dying annually. Drivers need to pay attention to their own driving, but also to others on the road who could be driving drunk. It is your business. If you think you see a drunk driver, report them—call 911.”Of the 9,967 people who died in impaired-driving accidents in 2014, 64 percent were themselves drunk drivers, the press release added.The county’s Avoid the 13 DUI task force is funded by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the NHTSA.

City of San Jose Airport Commissioner Tom Cruz will challenge incumbent appointee John Varela for South County’s seat on the Santa Clara Valley Water District Board of Directors in the Nov. 8 election, according to election officials.The qualifying period for candidates ended this week, and the latest list of candidates on the Registrar of Voters’ website shows Cruz and Varela vying for the District 1 seat on the seven-member board.The board appointed Varela to the seat December 2015, after former Director Dennis Kennedy resigned due to health reasons. Varela was appointed to complete Kennedy’s unfinished term, which expires after the November election.Kennedy, a former longtime mayor of Morgan Hill, died in March age 77.Cruz and Varela were both among the 21 applicants for Kennedy’s seat when the SVWD board began the appointment process last year. After a public interview process, the board chose Varela.Varela, a 38-year Morgan Hill resident, is a former mayor and city councilman for the City of Morgan Hill. He is also an entrepreneur and co-founder of a number of nonprofit organizations in South County, and of several for-profit companies in the renewable energy industry. He is also the co-founder of South Valley Angels, an organization that helps people start small companies.Cruz, a south San Jose resident, works for the County of Santa Clara and is a San Jose Mineta International Airport Commissioner. He ran against Kennedy in the November 2014 election for the District 1 SCVWD seat.District 1 on the SCVWD board includes South County from south San Jose to Gilroy, and unincorporated areas in the southern and eastern areas of the county.The SCVWD provides wholesale drinking water to the county’s 1.8 million residents, and has an annual budget of about $524 million.

Sobrato quarterback John Bell throws a pass during Sobrato’s intersquad scrimmage held at the high school on Friday.