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Local and federal police are looking for at least two suspects who used handguns to commit an armed robbery of a downtown Morgan Hill bank Saturday, according to authorities.About 9:15 a.m. July 30, employees at Chase Bank, 17599 Monterey Road, called police to report there had been a robbery, reads a press release from MHPD. When officers arrived, employees told them that two armed men walked into the bank and demanded the teller give them all the money in the register.The two men displayed handguns and were carrying duffel bags, police said. The suspects were wearing hooded sweatshirts and masks that covered their entire faces.Based on photographs and witness descriptions, the suspects are described as two men about 6-feet to 6-feet-3-inches tall with slim builds, police said. One suspect was wearing a gray hoodie with dark pants and white shoes. The second suspect wore a black sweatshirt with blue jeans and red/white/black Nike shoes.The suspects were last seen fleeing the bank in a blue Ford Focus, which drove westbound on West Main Avenue as it left the scene, authorities said.No injuries were reported during the robbery, police said.Investigators from MHPD and the FBI are investigating all leads in the case.Anyone who has information about the July 30 robbery can contact MHPD Cpl. Purvis at (669) 253-4912.

Two juveniles were arrested after police found a revolver in their possession July 28, according to Morgan Hill police.Officers responded to a report of suspicious activity in the area of 15855 Monterey Road. When officers arrived, they contacted two suspicious juvenile males subjects who matched the descriptions provided by witnesses in the south parking lot of 500 Vineyard Town Center, according to police.One of the juveniles immediately ran, but an officer quickly caught up to him, police said. A search of the subject revealed he was in possession of a revolver cylinder. Police searched the area and found a .38 revolver frame that matched the cylinder.The juveniles were identified, and police determined they were from San Jose and Gilroy respectively, police said. They were on active juvenile probation with gang, curfew and alcohol clauses. MHPD officers arrested then on suspicion of possession of unlawful weapons, resisting arrest and probation violations. Both were transported to Santa Clara County Juvenile Hall.Authorities did not release the suspects’ names because they are juveniles.Police do not think the young men were involved in the July 16 downtown shooting, in which two vehicles were damaged by gunfire but no injuries were reported.Anyone with information about this case can contact MHPD Cpl. Scott Purvis at (408) 779-2101 or the anonymous tip line at (408) 947-7867.

A dejected Morgan Hill City Council declined to place a local revenue measure on the November ballot at Wednesday’s meeting, and warned residents they will have to accept degrading city streets until up to $5.8 million per year can be found to make repairs and upgrades.The council’s decision July 27 followed a report from public opinion research consultants The Lew Edwards Group and Godbe Research, which presented survey results that indicate the voters would not support numerous ballot revenue measure options.Guided by previous council discussions about the possible revenue measure, the survey gauged likely voters’ response to a variety of potential sales tax and bond measures. The results showed the highest support—59 percent of 398 respondents—for a three-quarter-cent sales tax measure, with the favorability rate declining with subsequent options that included sales taxes of smaller value and bond issue measures, according to Charles Hester of Godbe Research.Hester said as an experienced pollster he would like to see the support percentage in the “low to mid-60s” before recommending placing anything on the ballot. He advised the council not to place a measure on the ballot this year based on these results.“There is simply no support for additional taxes in Morgan Hill,” said Councilman Larry Carr, who pulled papers last week to run for re-election in November.A voter-approved bond, which requires a two-thirds-plus-one majority to pass, would be repaid with higher property taxes.Councilman Gordon Siebert cast a symbolic vote against Mayor Pro Temp Rich Constantine’s motion to decline to place a measure on the November ballot. Siebert has been sounding the alarm for a new source of local revenue, reminding audiences frequently that Morgan Hill collects less per capita revenue from taxes—$550 per resident—than almost every other city in Santa Clara County.City staff have said that they need another $5.8 million per year to get caught up on road and street repairs, maintenance and upgrades, and improve the overall pavement quality. Siebert said without a new source of revenue, the issue of street repairs and maintenance is going to be the “most significant issue we have to face in the next couple of years.”At the July 20 council meeting, the body approved a “resolution of necessity” for $38 million in general obligation bonds for capital improvements to streets, parks and public facilities. That approval was a precursor to the failed effort to place a bond measure on the November ballot.“I’m distraught,” Siebert said. “I’ve been pushing this issue ever since I got on the council.”Constantine added that Morgan Hill is the only city in the county that does not impose a local tax on its citizens.He cautioned that the city is currently paying for park maintenance—another possible use of a hypothetical new sales tax—with fees paid by the developers of new residential units. That’s not a sustainable revenue model, Siebert added.“In some ways I feel like we have failed,” Siebert said of the council, suggesting they collectively haven’t done enough to convince residents of the need for more revenue.Councilwoman Marilyn Librers, who also pulled papers to run for re-election last week, was the only elected official July 27 to state overtly that she has opposed a new revenue measure since the council started talking about it more than two years ago.Still, Librers agreed the city doesn’t have nearly enough money to repair and upgrade the streets. She insisted the funds are nowhere to be found in two-year city budget which was approved by the council in June.“Our budget is lean and mean, and well-managed, but we still have a problem,” Librers said.She wasn’t the only council member who indirectly refuted the suggestion—voiced by resident Armando Benavides in public comments at the July 27 meeting—that if the city managed its funds better they would be able to pay for all the necessary street repairs.“If there’s anyone who can find money in our budget for a $5.8 million shortfall, please step forward,” Constantine said.He added that he supports a new tax on residents, including himself, because he is “willing to pay for a higher quality of life.”The “good news” contained in the survey results, according to Hester, is that 66.2 percent of likely voters think the city is doing a “good or excellent” job of providing services. That number is up from 57.9 percent in a 2015 survey of likely Morgan Hill voters.But with declining quality of streets and parks, for example, this overall favorability might not hold up.“Things are not going to stay ‘looking pretty good’ if we continue to spend the way we’re spending now because we don’t have the revenue we need” to make adequate street and related infrastructure repairs, Siebert continued. “It’s going to be a public safety issue when people start hitting potholes, and going out of control, and 20 percent of the (streetlights) are going out because we can’t afford to repair them, and the traffic signals are going dark.”Mayor Steve Tate—who also plans to run for re-election in November—added he and his colleagues should continue to inform residents of the city’s per capita tax rate in comparison to nearby cities.“Now is not the time to put anything on the ballot,” Tate concluded.The results of the Godbe survey presented to the council July 27 are the culmination of an outreach campaign in which city officials have sought to determine residents’ and likely voters’ priorities when it comes to city services, and to determine the support for a revenue measure on the ballot. The effort also included online informational surveys, pamphlets and other literature to solicit input and provide information about city services.

Gavilan football players are getting a much-needed breather this week and next as the Rams have reached their state-imposed practice limits.

Former world champion Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero, Mexican brawler Alfredo “El Perro” Angulo and undefeated 2012 U.S. Olympian Terrell Gausha participated in a press conference in Santa Monica Tuesday hosted by Spike in advance of the Premier Boxing Champions and Bellator doubleheader Aug. 26 and 27 from Honda Center in Anaheim.

Jim Blean called and said there was an event called A Day on the Lake at Coyote Lake on Thursday in which the San Jose Firefighters Union Local 230 hosts kids in wheelchairs for a full day of fun and excitement—climbing rock walls, boating and inner tubing.

Last Wednesday is a day that will live in infamy. Well, maybe not infamy, but it is a day that my family will forever remember as the day Mom downloaded Pokémon Go and lost her ever-loving mind. So yeah, no infamy, but a whole lot of crazy. I may be slightly obsessed by it. And by slightly I mean I spend lots of time trying to figure out the darn game.