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The Morgan Hill Planning Commission June 28 recommended a November ballot measure to extend the city’s growth control ordinance for 15 more years, with a population cap of 59,000 in 2035 and no more than 230 new homes annually.

People like the stage sets artist Glynis Crabb has done for South Valley plays so much, they have asked if she could put them in their homes.Crabb, 68, spends months building her intricate and authentic designs in a Gilroy warehouse and then has them trucked to the Limelight Theater in Gilroy, South Valley Civic Theater in Morgan Hill and San Benito Stage Company in Hollister.“Set design can set the whole mood of a show,” says actress Rachel Perry. “As an actor, I feel that the set lends itself to the characters we become onstage.”Perry’s known Crabb for a few years through their mutual appreciation of theater.“She is an amazing talent,” Perry says. “Her vision and execution are always flawless and fun.”Crabb’s art varies depending on the production. She’s worked on sets for productions ranging from The Wizard of Oz to Always…Patsy Cline. She’s responsible for the set of Limelight Theater’s summer season production of Lend Me a Tenor, opening this week. The Tony-award winning comedy by Ken Ludwig originally debuted on Broadway in the late 1980s.“When there are original pieces of art on the set that have to be created, she’s my go-to person,”says Kevin Heath, the Limelight’s co-owner.Crabb gets inspiration for her set designs from the larger theater productions in San Francisco and Monterey.“Being part of the set design and the set artist, I usually go to the big shows and either get ideas or pull their set apart,” Crabb jokes. “‘I would have done it that way’ or ‘That’s fantastic.’”She scales down what she sees in big money productions but keeps the essence for the smaller halls.“The big shows rely on projection a lot these days, which is a beautiful thing and I think there’s a designer putting that together,” Heath says. “It can be effective. But for smaller theaters, and ours is a good example of that, we can’t rely on a big flat screen that will tell a story. We have set pieces that tell it. That’s where a set artist like Glynis is super important.”Crabb enjoys working with Heath and said that they seem to be on the same wavelength most of the time.“She’s as crazy as I am, so that helps,” Heath jokes.For the current comedy, Lend Me a Tenor, Crabb takes playgoers to 1934 in Cleveland, where an opera singer takes a knock-out drug and his assistant has to fake the role.“Kevin wanted it to look like a classy 1930s hotel room,” Crabb says. “I wanted to keep the colors down to a minimum, because I think it can get too busy onstage sometimes.”The production, directed by community theater performer Steve Spencer, also marks the Limelight Theater’s annual fundraiser for the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s research.“Glynis usually donates something besides her time, which is important,” Heath says. “She donates to the fundraiser as well.”Crabb was introduced to set artistry and design in 1999 when her son graduated from Gilroy High School. She got involved with the Sober Graduation event.“We converted the two gyms into four different areas,” Crabb says. “I had two rooms: a disco room and an arcade room. That was the first time I really painted large. I did a 64-foot by 10-foot-high Star Wars battle scene, with the Death Star and everything, in the disco room. The arcade room had Batman, Robin and the Joker.”Crabb said she spent nearly two months in a warehouse on the outskirts of Gilroy working on the event’s artwork. A friend of hers got her involved with South Valley Civic Theater afterwards.“It was The Music Man,” Crabb says. “So my friend called me up and asked if I would help. At the time I worked in a small warehouse at the north end of Gilroy. We had to transfer everything on trucks to the South Valley Theater in Morgan Hill on the back of pickups! We lost a few things.”Crabb has done around 20 shows for South Valley Civic Theater over the years. Her favorite set was the theater’s 2010 production of The King and I.“That was a fabulous set!” Heath says. “One of the best sets I’ve ever seen.”Heath thinks set design is just as important as a good actor or good costume designer.“The set designer has to have a vision of course, and the director has to have a vision,” he says.“Speaking for Glynis and I, I would come up with the bones of the set and have a vision. I’ll send her pictures on Facebook and go ‘I’m thinking of doing this.’ And she’ll come in and make it better than my original idea.”Crabb came to the United States from the United Kingdom in 1975 with her husband and son, who was eight at the time.“I’ve done some art on and off throughout my life, but never really pursued it,” Crabb says. “I wanted to go to an art college when I was young, but the teachers at school said I wasn’t good enough, so I didn’t do that.”Crabb says she left school not knowing what she wanted to do. She became a radiographer, which fulfilled what she wanted to do at the time.“I always wanted to paint. Because I’ve worked all my life, I’ve never really had the time. And so now I’m 68, like pretty much retired from X-ray. So I have the opportunity to pursue it now.”“She had an art exhibit here at the beginning of the year,” Heath says. “She also helped us out last year when we had an artist cancel at the last minute. I called her and said ‘Can you bring your art over, because we need an art exhibit.’ And she said ‘Sure.’ She really supports the center. We couldn’t do it without her.”Although Crabb’s been painting on smaller canvases lately, she says she prefers painting in larger mediums, much like her theater sets.“I enjoy painting large and letting the art speak for itself,” says Crabb. “We’re all different. Every artist produces something different and I think it’s part of themselves.”

You never know what you are going to get at a show by the Morgan Hill-based dance cover band the Emphatics.

When Morgan Hill resident Daniel Reyes would tell his friends and family that he was a writer, some would respond with skepticism and ask for a sample of one of his published works.

The Morgan Hill Freedom Fest—one of the oldest parades in the county—has exploded like fireworks over the years, growing from one day to two days.The beloved hometown event, which started in 1876 with sack races, a picnic and parade now includes a parade, street dance, car show, family fun night at the aquatic center, live music and patriotic singing.The celebration starts at 6 p.m. July 3 with a patriotic sing and music festival, capped with a downtown street dance. Sunday night’s singers include local school children led by Karen Crane for the Patriotic Sing and Musical with the National Anthem sung by incoming Sobrato High School freshman, Angelina Madriaga. Also performing are Brooklyn Anderson and cover band the Hack Jammers.Monday’s events include an early morning 5K for adults and a kids’ 1-mile race, a car cruise, a parade and a fireworks display with a concert on the green.“It used to be a parade, fireworks and picnic, and then we started the 5K race and then we started the car cruise and parade together,” says parade chair Bob Hunt.Hunt, along with his wife and co-chair Maureen Hunt, have overseen Fourth of July festivities in Morgan Hill for the past 27 years.“It’s a darn good parade with lots of great events—all of them, all seven,” says Bob Hunt.Car enthusiasts can catch vintage vehicles warming up the parade route before the parade floats through downtown. The cruise will end with a car show at the Centennial Community Center.The parade this year will include some of last year’s best contenders, including Grand Sweepstakes Winner St. Catherine’s Church and most Patriotic Winner, the Freedom Fest Patriotic Singers.“They are all wonderful,” says Maureen Hunt.Each year there is a patriotic theme people can decorate to, says Bob Hunt about the parade floats. This year’s theme is “America, My Home Sweet Home.”“We’ve had some really excellent float builders,” he continues. “A lot of do-it-yourself floats—like last year we had the St. Catherine’s for the second year in a row take Grand Sweepstakes with their float because they did such an outstanding job and they did it themselves.”“They had the Statue of Liberty in New York, and people had their suitcases and they were coming to America from all of their homelands,” says Maureen Hunt, recalling St. Catherine’s 2014 winning float for ‘Destination America.’The Independence Day celebration has grown over the last several decades and continues to be one of the few celebrations in the Bay Area that includes events all day. It’s the only event run entirely by volunteers.After the parade, folks can head over to the Aquatics Center and splash down at the water park before the fireworks light up the sky.The July Fourth concert on the green includes musical performances by Country Cougar, The Patriotic Singers and The Usual Suspects.

“I was here last Saturday, and this place was packed.” Chris Reeves, our river pilot from Tributary Whitewater Tours, was amazed how quiet the Oxbow put-in location was by the edge of the Middle Fork of the American River. Chris is used to guiding busy weekend trips, but it was a beautiful Monday morning, and we practically had the river to ourselves.I rummaged through a pile of wetsuits, lifejackets and helmets to properly suit up for the adventure ahead. My friends and I were attending an Outdoor Writers Association of California conference and had chosen this sixteen mile river adventure from among several conference activities. It had been years since I had been on a white water trip, and I was excited for the adventure ahead.A handful of Class IV rapids awaited us—water without a sense of humor. We gathered around Chris for a review of safety and paddling protocol. I paid special attention when Chris pointed out a rope line around the perimeter of the raft. “If you fall overboard, grab that rope.” That seemed important.On board and underway, we bounced through a succession of fun Class II and Class III rapids, each of us responding promptly to Chris’s hollered commands. Two miles down the river, we encountered our first Class IV rapid: the Tunnel Chute. The Tunnel Chute is actually a manmade feature built by miners in the late 1800’s to divert water around a spot that, once it became accessible, yielded huge quantities of gold. The roiling 80-foot chute ended with a squeal-inducing drop. Just like that, mayhem turned into utter stillness as we slid quietly though a dark ninety-foot tunnel; smiles and chatter all around.After our nifty handling of Tunnel Chute, I was looking forward to Kanaka Falls, our next Class IV rapid. My recollection is a bit foggy. All I know for sure is that one minute I was paddling and the next I was in the water. As I went overboard, I remembered Chris’s words that morning and thought to myself, “Grab that #$@&%* rope!” I did. My boat mates snapped into action and in a flash I was back on board.As we did after each rapid, we excitedly recounted the drama at Kanaka Falls. Steve’s wife, Kathy, would have joined me overboard had Steve not snatched her out of mid air. I teased Jack that while I was in the water, I thought I saw him going through my wallet.Drifting along in peaceful water; time to soak in the deep and magnificent canyon this river had cut. The steep walls, cloaked in a variety of conifers and oaks, easily reached 2,000 feet above us. Near one bend in the river, soft afternoon sunlight from around the corner gilded the edges of the mantle of trees above us. Fabulous.Soon, we reached Chunder, another Class IV rapid, and once again, it was, “Man overboard,” and once again, it was me. When I popped to the surface (don’t let go of that rope!), my boat mates warned me that we were about to hit a huge granite wall named Mike Tyson with me as the front bumper. I turned around in time to cushion the impact.My tale suggests more danger than fun when you run the Middle Fork of the American River. Not so. Acquaintances became friends, and smiles were the order of the day.  River rafting, or whatever activity you prefer, our hosts proved that Placer County is a great outdoor play land.

Artists’ reception

Morgan Hill’s new city attorney will receive a loan of up to $835,000 from public funds to help with the purchase of a home and property within the city limits.City Attorney Donald Larkin and the five-member Morgan Hill City Council agreed back in May, when the two parties negotiated his employment contract, to offer such a loan if he chose to relocate his residence here. Since he was hired, Larkin has decided to move to Morgan Hill, according to Mayor Steve Tate.As a result, the council June 22 unanimously approved the loan, which will bear interest at the 10-year U.S. Treasury rate, plus .25 percent. As of June 27, that interest rate was about 1.44 percent, bringing Larkin’s housing loan interest to about 1.69 percent.According to the loan agreement, Larkin will pay principal and interest on 50 percent of the loan amount, and interest only for the remaining 50 percent. The entire balance is due to the city in 30 years, or within 12 months if Larkin becomes no longer employed by the City of Morgan Hill.The loan will not close before Larkin begins his new job at City Hall July 11, according to Tate.Councilmember Larry Carr noted the loan is a “better investment” than it would be if the funds were invested in the city’s investment portfolio. That portfolio generates about 1 percent interest for the city.Funds for the loan will come from the city’s general fund reserve, which will see annual revenue of about $27,000 from Larkin’s principal and interest payments, according to a city staff report.The council voted unanimously May 4 to hire Larkin as its new city attorney. He will replace former City Attorney Renee Gurza, who resigned from the position November 2015 after about 2.5 years on the job.Larkin is an 18-year veteran of municipal law, most recently as Deputy County Counsel for Santa Clara County, with his primary assignment in the sheriff’s office. He has previously worked for Morgan Hill, as Acting Deputy City Attorney several years ago.Larkin’s starting salary in Morgan Hill will be about $215,000.The council has offered housing loans to its city manager and city attorney in previous years. In 2014, the council offered City Manager Steve Rymer a $950,000 loan to purchase a home, plus a $110,000 home improvement loan in 2015.

An intoxicated man punched a Morgan Hill Police officer in an attempt to escape a traffic stop late Friday night, according to authorities.An MHPD officer made a traffic stop on a vehicle driving recklessly on Butterfield Boulevard, according to police. The driver was identified as Dante Fullard, and he was on probation.Fullard appeared to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs, police said. Another officer arrived to evaluate Fullard for DUI when the suspect punched the officer in the chest and fled on foot.The officer was not injured and chased Fullard, according to authorities. The two MHPD officers caught Fullard, who was arrested without further incident.The suspect was in possession of a white powdery substance, which tested positive for cocaine, police added.Fullard was booked at Santa Clara County Jail on suspicion of multiple charges.

Former Gilroy High School science teacher Doug Le was charged with 20 felonies Monday for impersonating a female porn star and soliciting photos from high school boys, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorneys office.