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A veteran Morgan Hill police detective has won an inaugural award, honoring her pivotal role in creating a Santa Clara County trio of “Family Justice Centers” aimed at getting as much help as possible for domestic violence victims, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office.Because of her influence in creating these centers, the award will be named after this year’s recipient, MHPD Det. Melinda “Mindy” Zen. The award is given to the victim advocate, law enforcement officer, or other service provider who has done an exemplary job advocating for domestic violence survivors, according to DA’s office staff.“Detective Zen exemplifies the hard work and determination it takes to effectively advocate for domestic violence survivors,” Assistant DA Cindy Seeley Hendrickson said. “She has made it her mission to try to ease the trauma and extreme vulnerability—physical, emotional, and financial—of many battered women in our community. I truly believe she has saved lives.”Morgan Hill Chief of Police David Swing added, “I believe Detective Zen’s success is founded in her innate ability to quickly build rapport with the survivor during their time of need and her strong sense of justice that drives her to seek out the offender in an effort to hold the batterer accountable. Her strong work ethic is only matched by her professionalism and compassion for those she serves.”The award comes along with the public release of the 2015 Domestic Violence Death Review report. The report showed that there were 13 domestic violence related deaths in the county last year, an increase from two the year before.Since 1994, there has been an average of 12 domestic violence related deaths every year, according to the DA. The report highlights some themes found in the most lethal, local cases of domestic violence:• “These crimes happen in every community in the county, east and west, north and south, rich and poor, with the homicides this year occurring in Saratoga, Milpitas, San Jose and Gilroy. Half of the eight victims were professionals or retired professionals and at least three of the incidents occurred in upscale neighborhoods,” reads the report.• For the second year in a row, an elderly man, facing medical issues killed his wife and committed or tried to commit suicide. “Experts believe that there will more of these tragedies as our elderly population increases and issues such as caregiver stress, terminal illness and dementia create later-in-life mental health crises that our health care system must recognize and address,” according to the report.The report concludes with a call for all potential victims to closely heed: All threats must be taken seriously, whether or not you feel the perpetrator has the means to follow through on them or says that the threats were just a joke.

More than a dozen Morgan Hill Future Farmers of America pigs were injured after someone allegedly let them loose over the weekend, only a few weeks before the animals and their student caretakers are scheduled to participate in the county fair.Morgan Hill FFA member Ellie Fisher said someone trespassed on the local Future Farmers of America farm at Live Oak High School on East Main Avenue overnight July 9, and opened the gates to the enclosure for all 15 pigs. When students showed up at the farm July 10, they saw the pigs running loose around the farm, suffering from various injuries.Pigs are territorial animals, Fisher explained, and often fight when allowed contact with each other. Some of the pigs likely slipped repeatedly on a concrete floor located outside their enclosure while fighting. As a result, some of the animals are now having trouble walking, and almost all of them ended up with “deep cuts and bruises.”“We’re hoping they will make a full recovery by the fair, which is in a few weeks,” said Fisher, a junior at Live Oak and a Morgan Hill FFA member who raised one of the pigs since shortly after its birth in March. Her pig suffered the worst injuries, she added.All 15 pigs are about five to six months old.The Santa Clara County Fair will take place Aug. 4-7 at the county fairgrounds in San Jose. FFA members at Live Oak are hoping their injured pigs will be healthy enough by then to show them at the fair—an annual highlight that FFA chapters throughout the county look forward to every year.The students are certain that someone intentionally let the pigs loose, because the animals are enclosed behind a series of fences and gates. The pigs cannot open the gates themselves, Fisher added.Police have been asked to patrol the area for any potential suspicious activity, and FFA members have asked the public for any information about the vandalism/trespassing.

Petty theftTwo men and woman entered the Microtel Inn and Suites, 16245 Condit Road, and stole bags full of food items. The incident was reported 3:37 a.m. July 2.DisturbanceA man ate at Marie Callender’s restaurant, 18599 Sutter Blvd., and left without paying. However, he left a bag containing his belongings in the restaurant and returned to retrieve it. Restaurant staff refused to give the man his belongings until he paid for his meal, and reported the incident to police. The man left without paying and without his bag and possessions. The incident was reported 12:12 p.m. July 2.A resident on the 100 block of Berkshire Drive who claimed he was a San Jose police officer had a loud party with subjects setting off fireworks. The resident reportedly screamed over the fence to his neighbor when the neighbor complained, and told her she couldn’t do anything about the disturbance because he is a police officer. The incident was reported 9:04 p.m. July 3.A resident of Barnell Avenue reported his neighbors were setting off fireworks the night of July 3. When the witness approached the neighbors to request they stop shooting fireworks, they threatened him. The incident was reported 11:08 p.m. July 3.Two juveniles were throwing items from the top of the downtown parking garage and hitting pedestrians with the items. The incident was reported 12:08 p.m. July 4.Stolen vehicleA thief or thieves stole a white 1994 Honda Civic from the parking lot of Safeway, 235 Tennant Station. The vehicle was subsequently recovered by San Jose police in San Jose. The theft was reported 6:27 p.m. July 2.Someone stole a brown 1997 Honda Accord from the 17800 block of Crest Avenue. The theft was reported 12:20 p.m. July 4.TheftSecurity staff at Strixe, 650 Tennant Station, detained a suspect who stole a purse. Police responded and arrested the suspect. The theft was reported 1:18 a.m. July 3.BurglarySomeone broke into Pita Pita restaurant overnight and stole money and televisions. The thief or thieves gained entry to the restaurant through the building’s roof. The suspect or suspects might have also made entry to the H&R Block building next door. The crime was reported 12:38 p.m. July 3.All subjects are innocent until proven guilty. Information is compiled from public records.

SAN MARTIN—The U.S. Women’s Open was decided by a club grazing the sand.

Lydia Ko was tied for 52nd place before the start of Friday’s second round of the U.S. Women’s Open at CordeValle in San Martin. But two rounds later the world’s top-ranked player finds herself in a familiar position: on top of the leaderboard entering the final round of a tournament.

While the world’s top ranked female golfer Lydia Ko made her move back into contention at the 2016 U.S. Women’s Open, a trio of Korean competitors landed in the top three spots of Friday’s second-round leaderboard at Cordevalle Golf Club in San Martin.

The Gilroy Historical Society hosted its annual architectural award ceremony at Chitactac-Adams County Park on June 26. The event marked the society’s sixth year of honoring its recipients at a ceremony dedicated to promoting the preservation and welfare of architectural gems all across the city.At the event, five homes and one commercial building were recognized by the Gilroy Historical Society in a variety of award categories, including Historic Home and Certificate of Commendation.“You drive by these beautiful, old places that have had a facelift or a paint job and they just stand out at you,” says Kathy Hodgdon, co-chair of the architectural awards committee.Hodgson explains that the process for selecting the awards is fairly simple with the help of the community and committee members.“We have nominations [of historical properties] and each committee member goes out and takes a look,” she says. “Each member makes their observations and they cast their vote. I tally it up and there we go!”Connie Rogers, president of the Gilroy Historical Society, says the most enjoyable part of the event is getting to congratulate and compliment the building owners for all their hard work.“We are trying to raise the level of awareness of Gilroy’s history. and where our roots are because we as a community have grown fairly rapidly in the last 20 or 30 years,” she says. “People who have moved here in that time don’t know that much about us. It’s really an attempt to educate everyone, especially people who have moved here more recently, of our roots and why we are the way we are.”Rogers believes that the award winner’s accomplishments lead to an infectious sense of pride in the community.“When one owner upgrades and improves his property, the neighbors say, ‘Oh, well you know, maybe I should get mine looking better too,’” she says.While not a California native, Rogers is keen to infuse the Gilroy community with her East Coast values of architectural preservation.“My hometown is actually New England and they hardly tear down old buildings back there,” Rogers says. “They renovate, modify and improve them, but they never tear them down and start over. This is an attitude that I would like to foster in Gilroy that no matter what the age is of your property, it’s still important to maintain it and keep it nice looking.”Rogers ultimately views the upkeep and maintenance of historic buildings in Gilroy as passion projects that require both time and financial investments. The Furlong House, which won the Historic Home award this year, stands out to Rogers as a memorable recipient.“Last week at the museum, I discovered a picture of the house when it was out on the ranch,” Rogers said. “I was so surprised. It was the same house!”The Furlong House was not always located where it is currently standing today. Around 1900, the property was located east of Holsclaw Road and the creek before finding its permanent location in the city at 7311 Alexander St.Built in 1878, the Pioneer-style home is a property with distinct character that Rogers finds both funky and eye-catching. Although the original photograph she stumbled upon excludes the recent additions of two little windows situated under the eaves of the second story, it retains much of its classical charm.  It is now divided into three apartments, but the Moreno family has owned the historic building since 1961.“The son of the woman who owns the Furlong House had gotten an award two years ago for his house, so it runs in the family!”Rogers hopes that in time, more historic houses within the community will continue to find loving homeowners who not only preserve Gilroy’s historical buildings but who, in turn, preserve Gilroy’s history.Interested in learning more about Gilroy’s historical buildings and neighborhoods? Connie Rogers leads walking tours on the first Saturday of every month, excluding holiday weekends.

As a proud resident of the Silicon Valley, I’m often tempted to laud the technical and digital health-improvement initiatives of the innovation hub that we live in. Recently, however, I’ve been struck by the simplest of messages promoted by the Office of the Surgeon General of the United States: The easiest thing we can do to make both ourselves and our communities healthier is to … take a walk.

The death of a friend is devastating, but for former Gilroy resident Danielle Rhinehart, experiencing such a loss in her senior year of high school was life-altering