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BECAUSE Santa travels by flying through the sky and landing on roofs, you’re not likely to come into contact with Rudolph or his fellow reindeer while driving home from work or a holiday party. But, you DO need to drive cautiously to avoid their cousins, black-tailed deer, which are often to be found crossing local roads during deer breeding and migrating season (October to December).  Even in the daytime, they can be found close to our suburban developments, browsing on acorns, berries, fungi, grasses, sage, lichen, nuts, and shrubs and varying their diet with garden plants and tree fruit.  The black-tails, a subspecies of mule deer, prefer mixed habitat with both open areas for feeding and forest or brushy areas for protection.  The south Bay Area provides them such a prime habitat, such as at Anderson Lake where this deer was seen.

There is more to a natural landscape than meets the eye. We stand in awed reverence beneath Yosemite Falls or on the rim of the Grand Canyon. Who wouldn't? The grandeur is overwhelming. But what about those ho-hum areas that we pass without notice? Are those places empty wasteland, or do they hold some importance beyond our ken?

A “heroic effort” by a California Highway Patrol officer who responded to a fatal accident in Morgan Hill early Sunday morning probably prevented another death in the aftermath of the collision, according to police. The mother of the rescued woman called the officer an “angel.”About 1:45 a.m. Dec. 13, CHP officers Steven Davis and Jason Smith responded to a report of a traffic collision involving a sedan and a semi truck on U.S. 101, just north of the East Dunne Avenue exit.When the officers arrived, they saw a 2013 Chevrolet Sonic stopped in the southbound lane, facing the wrong way and fully engulfed in flames. The burning vehicle was blocking the U.S. 101 off-ramp from East Dunne Avenue.As Smith approached the vehicle, he saw a motionless man lying on the pavement next to the left side of the vehicle, police reported. In the front passenger seat of the Sonic, Smith saw a woman slumped over, sitting motionless inside the burning car.Despite the heat of the flames, Smith rushed to the passenger’s side of the vehicle and attempted to open the door, which would not open, according to a CHP press release. Smith then began extracting the woman, later identified as 28-year-old Felicia Regalado of Hollister, from the vehicle through the front passenger’s side window. With the help of a citizen, Smith pulled the woman away from the vehicle to safety.“Had Officer Smith not risked his own life to extricate Regalado from the burning vehicle, she would have surely perished in the flames,” the press release states.The driver of the same vehicle, Joseph Young, 28 of Hollister, was ejected from the vehicle and died as a result of injuries suffered in the collision.Regalado was later transported to San Jose Regional Medical Center with “major injuries,” according to police. She remained there this week, and her mother said Regalado is starting to feel better already.“We are very grateful that (Smith) was there to help her, and I would like to meet him personally to thank him,” Frances Cardenas said on the phone while sitting next to her daughter at San Jose Regional. “He was my daughter’s angel.”Young was Regalado’s boyfriend of about 2.5 years, Cardenas added. The couple had been living with Young’s family. At the time of the Dec. 13 accident, the couple had been traveling from a Christmas party for Young, a sheet metal worker, and his co-workers in San Jose.“We gave her the news that her boyfriend passed away, and she plans on going back to live with (his family),” Cardenas added. Regalado also hopes to return to her job at Round Table pizza in Hollister after she recovers from her injuries.Officers determined that the Sonic was traveling southbound at an unknown rate of speed when it rear-ended a Freightliner semi truck traveling about 55 to 60 mph, said police, who think the driver of the Sonic was impaired by alcohol or drugs.The 39-year-old driver of the Freightliner, out of Monterey, was uninjured in the accident, police said.Anyone who witnessed the accident or the events leading up to or after the collision can contact the Hollister-Gilroy CHP Area Office at (408) 848-2324.

A 19-year-old San Jose man involved in a domestic incident was shot to death by a police officer Monday evening outside an apartment complex in Gilroy, police reported.

VandalismThree juveniles were seen throwing eggs at a commercial building on the 16100 block of Monterey Road, police said. The incident was reported 6:19 p.m. Dec. 9.Accident with arrestsA white Ford Mustang crashed into a light pole in the area of Monterey Road and Main Avenue, and four occupants fled the scene on foot, according to police reports. Police later caught up with the four adult occupants of the vehicle and cited three of them on suspicion of controlled substance related offenses. The accident happened 10:22 p.m. Dec. 9.Stolen vehicleA gray four-door Honda Civic was stolen from outside a residence on the 700 block of East Dunne Avenue, according to police. The crime was reported 6:30 a.m. Dec. 10.Someone stole a black Honda Civic from the 16500 block of Del Monte Avenue, according to police reports. The crime was reported 5:48 a.m. Dec. 9.A green 1993 Toyota pickup was stolen from the 15200 block of La Alameda Drive, according to police reports. The theft was reported 11:40 a.m. Dec. 5.A thief or thieves stole a black 2000 Honda Civic from a parking spot on LaCrosse Drive, according to police reports. The crime was reported 5:29 a.m. Dec. 6.A silver 1998 Honda Civic was stolen from the 16500 block of Monterey Road, according to police reports. The crime was reported 7:11 a.m. Dec. 7.A green 1989 Honda Civic was stolen from the 16900 block of Del Monte Avenue, police reported. The crime was reported 10:19 a.m. Dec. 7.Grand theftA thief or thieves stole cash from a day’s worth of sales at Taco Bell, 17000 Condit Road, according to police reports. The crime was reported 6:40 p.m. Dec. 4. Petty theftA woman in a wheelchair tried to steal makeup and batteries from Nob Hill Foods grocery store, 451 Vineyard Town Center, according to police reports. The attempted theft was reported 5:17 p.m. Dec. 5.Someone stole a license plate off a motorcycle parked in the area of East Dunne Avenue and Monterey Road, according to police. The theft was reported 10:06 a.m. Dec. 7.DisturbanceTwo students at Live Oak High School, 1505 E. Main Ave., were issued citations after they were involved in a fight on campus, police reported. The incident was reported 10:10 a.m. Dec. 7.Auto burglarySomeone broke into a Honda Civic and stole a camera, police reported. The incident was reported 7:38 p.m. Dec. 7.All subjects are innocent until proven guilty. Information is compiled from public records.

Morgan Hill resident Steve Caposio’s run toward stardom is solidly under way, as the construction contractor-by-day appeared on—and won—the Dec. 13 episode of The Food Network’s nationally broadcast “Cutthroat Kitchen” reality television series.Caposio, always a showman, told more than 100 of his closest friends and family, gathered at his home for a viewing party of the Sunday evening broadcast, that the producers contacted him earlier this month and asked him to return to the show’s “Tournament of Champions.” Caposio expects to return to Food Network studios in February 2016 for production of that program.But Caposio isn’t about to forget where he came from. He also announced after the conclusion of the Dec. 13 broadcast that he wanted to donate his winnings from “Cutthroat Kitchen” to his sister-in-law Sally Brown, who is undergoing treatment for breast cancer. He handed Brown and her husband Jimmy a check for about $7,000 at his home Sunday night.“These two are very close to me, so if it’s the least I can do,” Caposio told the crowd in his living room, with his arms around the Brown couple and their 13-year-old son Jimmy.Sally Brown, who came down from Novato for the viewing party, said she had no idea Caposio was going to make such a gesture. She said she was “overwhelmed” with emotions. Sally Brown is the sister of Caposio’s wife Shana.Caposio, the 49-year-old owner of  several businesses—including Exterior Construction, Pac-Net Auto Sales and a security firm called Pledge Protection—has been cooking almost his whole life, beginning under the tutelage of his mother Etta Caposio. He also has a personality possessed by an endless magnetic energy that fills the corners of every room he occupies and makes strangers feel immediately welcome.This combination of charisma and love of—not to mention talent for—cooking inspired Caposio, on the advice of friends and family, to start trying to enter show business a few years ago. His appearance on “Cutthroat Kitchen”—a Food Network favorite hosted by Alton Brown that is now in its 12th season—was his most high-profile appearance yet.“He’s a character,” said Mattie Scariot of 152 West Productions. Scariot has been managing Caposio and his show-biz ventures, which include an indie film about poker players with Hollister director John Nava that is currently in the editing room. “He just keeps talking. He cooks amazingly well, and he has always wanted to do television.”Caposio entered the Dec. 13 party at his home with a grand entrance to Frank Sinatra’s “Come Fly With Me” piped at full volume, as he ran onto the upstairs landing in front of scores of guests who began assembling an hour earlier. He strutted down the stairs to a sustained applause, hugging, kissing and shaking hands with every guest he passed—the whole time casting a huge, playful smile that revealed his own amusement with making such a dramatic, clichéd arrival.Each episode of “Cutthroat Kitchen” pits four chefs against each other in a winner-takes-all competition in which contestants can sabotage while trying to out-cook each other. In the Dec. 13 episode, titled “We Don’t Need Another Gyro,” the contestants were tasked in each round with cooking a crabcake benedict, a gyro and a rhubarb pie. Each contestant starts with $25,000, and in each round gets to bid on a sabotage effort to staunch their competitors.For example, in the last round Caposio, going by the stage name “Chef Capo,” sabotaged competitor “Chef Carla”—who frequently referred to Caposio as “old man” or “grandpa” throughout the show—by forcing her to cook a rhubarb pie on an awkward pan shaped like the symbol for the number pi.During the party at Caposio’s home, guests got a chance to sample the gyro recipe that he produced on the show.In his living room, Caposio treated his Morgan Hill audience to his own live commentary of the broadcast, animated by wild hand gestures, a wide range of facial expressions and witty banter.“I was sweatin’ after the second round,” Caposio said, describing how nervous he was during production.After three rounds, Judge Simon Majumdar declared Caposio the last man standing, causing the crowd in the Morgan Hill living room to erupt in applause.“I’m very proud of my son,” said Etta Coposio, Steve’s mother and an accomplished cook herself who has published a book and used to own an Italian restaurant in Cupertino. “He was a good student. He was always at my hip in the kitchen. I believe in having a sense of humor, even when you’re cooking—it’s all going to come out alright.”Steve Caposio’s continued push into show business doesn’t end with his invitation to return to “Cutthroat Kitchen” for filming in February. He is also the co-star in the upcoming indie film “The Biggest Game In Town,” a “people movie with poker in it” written and directed by Nava. 152 West is working with Nava on cinematography, editing and other production tasks.Scariot and her husband Nils Myers introduced Nava to Caposio when he was looking for the right actor to play the role of “Diamond Dave.”“I had a part that’s a terrible poker player and a worse cook, but he has great charisma,” Nava laughed.Nava went to Caposio’s house to meet him, and within 30 minutes he knew not only that he was the perfect co-star; he also wrote more scenes for Caposio based on the budding actor’s strengths.“I went home and expanded his character,” said Nava, who added that everyone on the film’s set was impressed with Caposio’s acting chops. “He’s the comic relief. He’s a natural, and he’s gifted. He’s willing to take risks. I’ve been around actors a lot, and Steve is one of a kind.”Keeping his feet on the ground, Caposio—a father of two grown sons and an 11-year-old daughter—knows how blessed he is.“Every one of these people, I’ve been cooking for them forever,” Caposio said Sunday night, referring to the crowd at his home. “I come from an Italian family, and every event we do revolves around food. It brings the family together. In the end, that’s all you’ve got left—family and friends.”

A “heroic effort” by a California Highway Patrol officer who responded to a fatal accident in Morgan Hill early Sunday morning probably prevented another death in the aftermath of the collision, according to police.About 1:45 a.m. Dec. 13, CHP officers Steven Davis and Jason Smith responded to a report of a traffic collision involving a sedan and a semi truck on U.S. 101, just north of the East Dunne Avenue exit.When the officers arrived, they saw a 2013 Chevrolet Sonic stopped in the southbound lane, facing the wrong way and fully engulfed in flames. The burning vehicle was blocking the U.S. 101 off-ramp from East Dunne Avenue.As Smith approached the vehicle, he saw a motionless man lying on the pavement next to the left side of the vehicle, police reported. In the front passenger seat of the Sonic, Smith saw a woman slumped over, sitting motionless inside the burning car.Despite the heat of the flames, Smith rushed to the passenger’s side of the vehicle and attempted to open the door, which would not open, according to a CHP press release. Smith then began extracting the woman, later identified as 28-year-old Felicia Regalado of Hollister, from the vehicle through the front passenger’s side window. With the help of a citizen, Smith pulled the woman away from the vehicle to safety.The passenger was later transported to San Jose Regional Medical Center with “major injuries,” according to police. The driver of the same vehicle, Joseph Young, 28 of Hollister, was ejected from the vehicle died as a result of injuries suffered in the collision.“Had Officer Smith not risked his own life to extricate Regalado from the burning vehicle, she would have surely perished in the flames,” the press release states.Officers determined that the Sonic was traveling southbound at an unknown rate of speed when it rear-ended a Freightliner semi truck traveling about 55 to 60 mph, said police, who think the driver of the Sonic was impaired by alcohol or drugs.Anyone who witnessed the accident or the events leading up to or after the collision can contact the Hollister-Gilroy CHP Area Office at (408) 848-2324.