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During a warmer than usual Sunday in November 1959, members of the Japanese community in Morgan Hill gathered in a garage to share steaming bowls of white rice, renew friendships and celebrate their proud heritage in the first of many events that led to the founding of the annual Haru Matsuri festival.

On the Third Street side of the old liquor store building in downtown Morgan Hill, something artistic—and, so far, much less controversial than the parking garage spider planned nearby or the future development of the “Simple Beverages” property—was just created by a local painter.With a vision of capturing Morgan Hill’s historic beauty and inviting community members to participate in its transformation from a blank canvas to a colorful painting, Debbie Arambula’s 8 foot-by-16 foot mural has a little piece of everything small town.“It’s a rural narrative,” said the 54-year-old known as “The Heart Artist,” who has lived in Morgan Hill off and on for the last 40 years. “There’s a lot of history in there.”Picturesque illustrations of native Poppy Jasper, El Toro Mountain and Villa Miramonte as well as vibrant images of cherry blossoms, apricots, French plums and vineyards—painted using a special Novapaint acrylic with an anti-graffiti coating—scream out open space, natural beauty and farming. Also included in the design is the fitting slogan, “Kissed by the Sun. Enchanted by the Land.”“One of the things I’m known for are my heart portraits. I try to capture the essence of who they are in the form of color and paint a heart that represents them,” said Arambula, who was selected for a $10,000 grant through the City of Morgan Hill’s “place-making” public art program. “For me, this is a heart portrait that represents Morgan Hill.”Arambula, who added the finishing touches to her mural earlier this week and will be on site for a May 1 dedication ceremony at 6 p.m., has also painted hidden hearts in the mural as a fun game for children to come out and see how many hearts they can find.For two hours on April 11, Arambula welcomed community members to add a brush stroke here or there to make everyone feel a part of the public art display—which will remain on the building wall for a temporary basis until the site is developed.“When you do a community mural like this, it’s very different than just painting one all by yourself. It’s very controlled,” explained Arambula, who brought in volunteers called “station captains” to help organize and direct the 50 or so guest painters from ages 2 to 77 that arrived.Arambula, who received the city grant in January and immediately started researching and studying the local history, has spent well over 200 hours on the mural from concept to near completion.“It’s a work of love, completely,” said Arambula, who plans to be done by the end of the week before she hits the road in her recreation vehicle on a nationwide tour of her hearts art with stops in Menlo Park, San Diego, Chicago and Colorado.“She’s got hearts all over the world,” added her longtime sweetheart and husband Steve Arambula, rambling off Japan, Denmark, Germany and Saudi Arabia to name a few.Her artwork, which can be viewed online at heartworksgallery.com, is also featured at the Wynn Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. But Arambula’s heart belongs to Morgan Hill, where she met her husband 35 years ago.“I wake up every morning so blessed to live here,” said Arambula, tearing up at times as she talked about the ranchers, farm workers and rich history of Morgan Hill. “This is such an honor to do this.”The City of Morgan Hill granted 12 placemaking and public art projects, awarding approximately $100,000. Some of the other mini-grant art projects include artist Helen Lessick’s “Soil Sample Morgan Hill” at the Community Garden that they celebrated on Saturday and the Morgan Hill Zendoodle Club’s display also along the wall on Third Street.Other art projects approved by the city’s public art grant program, to be installed in the coming weeks, include a bronze family of deer created by Evelyn Davis on the Monterey Road median; a wine-country themed mosaic by Peter Hazel outside the Community and Cultural Center; a giant Adirondack chair on the corner of Second Street and Monterey Road; and a temporary park on the corner of Third Street and Monterey Road that will feature a bicycle “fix-it” repair stand, benches made of reused propane tanks, and a historic steel map near the train station on Depot Street.

Morgan Hill residents and businesses will have to cut their consumption by 32 percent the rest of this year, according to a draft of new water regulations from the State Water Board. But city officials have contested the chief metric used by regulators to arrive at that figure.The new proposed regulations, announced by the state board April 18, place urban water suppliers throughout the state into “tiers” of conservation standards in order to reach a statewide consumption reduction of 25 percent.The tiers are based strictly on each water supplier’s per capita daily consumption water, as measured from July to September 2014. Cities and suppliers who used the least amount of water based on this measurement are required to cut water use by as little as 8 percent this year in comparison to 2013 consumption, while those using the most water will have to cut up to 36 percent.The city of Morgan Hill is on the higher end of the scale. Customers used 198.5 gallons of water per person per day in summer 2014, and will have to cut water use by 32 percent over the coming year, according to the draft water board regulations.But Morgan Hill Program Administrator Anthony Eulo said that number is wrong because it is based on an incorrect calculation of the daily metric submitted to the water board by city staff. City staff have recalculated the figure, which Eulo said is lower than 198.5 gallons, before the new regulations are enacted.“We sent them corrected numbers,” Eulo said. “We don’t believe they have had time to consider those numbers.” He declined to say what the city’s recalculated figures are before the state board has had a chance to consider them.The water board is accepting input from the public and water suppliers on the proposed tier placements. The board will release a revised draft April 28, and allow more public comment before adopting the new regulations at the May 5-6 board meeting.On April 1, Gov. Jerry Brown issued a mandatory call for a 25 percent statewide water conservation cut from 2013 usage. The executive order was in response to the ongoing historical drought in California, which Brown noted has resulted in a record low Sierra snowpack level of 5 percent of average.Water suppliers throughout the state rely heavily on the snowpack for potable water each year.Also on April 1, the Morgan Hill City Council declared a “level 2” water supply shortage and implemented new residential restrictions. These include limiting outdoor landscape irrigation to two days per week, and a prohibition on filling new swimming pools, decorative ponds and outdoor spas. Refilling of swimming pools is limited to one foot of water.Residents and the city, which owns swimming facilities at the Centennial Recreation Center and Aquatics Center, are permitted to refill water lost through evaporation, Eulo said. The city does not drain and refill its swimming pools.Even if the state water board keeps Morgan Hill in the 32-percent conservation tier, Eulo thinks the city can achieve such a cut without having to declare a “level 3” shortage, which would allow the city to place a moratorium on new building permits and prohibit all outdoor landscape irrigation.The state water board’s new regulations do not consider past conservation rates, such as Morgan Hill’s 21 percent cut in water use from June 2014 to February 2015.Some cities, such as Arcata, which cut only 1 percent of water use during the same period, will only have to cut 8 percent over the next year under the new state regulations. That’s because the city of Arcata is already conservative in its consumption, at 43.5 gallons per person per day in Summer 2014, according to the water board statistics.The city’s level 2 restrictions include penalties up to a $500 fine for customers who repeatedly flout the call for consumption.

A defense attorney’s motion to suppress potentially key evidence in the 2011 drive-by shooting murder of Morgan Hill teen Tara Romero will once again delay the trial for the five suspects, according to authorities.The motion was initially filed by attorneys for defendant Fernando Mateo Lopez, 23 of Gilroy, and was joined by three of the other suspects, Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Peter Waite said.The motion, which was filed just before an April 21 hearing at the Hall of Justice in San Jose, claims that police did not have probable cause to search a residence on Barnell Avenue and seize evidence where Mateo Lopez and the four other suspects were found shortly after Romero was gunned down at the age of 14 the night of Nov. 4, 2011.A hearing on the motion is scheduled for May 7 at the Hall of Justice, where Waite will argue that evidence should not be suppressed in an upcoming trial for the suspects.But at the April 21 hearing, Superior Court Judge Helen Williams “indicated she is inclined to grant that motion,” Waite said.“It’s disturbing to me,” Waite said of the possible exclusion of evidence.Waite added that it is unclear exactly what evidence among the scores of items and binders of statements recorded by investigators would be suppressed if the motion is granted. He further called the motion “confusing,” but he will oppose it nonetheless at the May 7 hearing.Moments after the Friday night shooting, Morgan Hill police saw a Chrysler matching the description of a vehicle involved in the crime speed through a stop sign. Officers followed the vehicle to Bahena’s home on Barnell Avenue, and surrounded the residence after observing evidence including a gun and shell casing inside the Chrysler.All five suspects were arrested after a brief standoff, according to police.The five suspects were traveling together in the Chrysler when they drove by the southwest Morgan Hill intersection and opened fire, according to investigators. Shell casings from a handgun and rifle, both of which were recovered in the area of Bahena’s residence, were found at the scene.Joining the motion to suppress evidence April 21 were suspects Ricardo Diaz, 22 of Morgan Hill, and Primitivo Hernandez, 26 of San Jose.Ramon Gutierrez, 20 of Morgan Hill, is charged with the same crime, but his case is being processed separately because he was declared mentally incompetent to stand trial at an earlier hearing. He remains in custody in a mental hospital.The fifth suspect, Esmeling Bahena, 21 of Morgan Hill, is not a subject of the motion to suppress evidence, Waite said.All five suspects are in custody, charged with murder and attempted murder for their involvement in the drive-by shooting that left Romero, a freshman at Sobrato High School, dead. The shooters also injured three teens who were standing with Romero on a grassy area outside the Village Avante apartment complex, according to authorities.All four victims were students at Sobrato at the time.The suspects are also charged with an enhancement for carrying out the shooting for the benefit of a criminal street gang.Following a lengthy preliminary hearing and criminal grand jury proceedings in the summer of 2013, the court ordered there was enough evidence for all four of the competent suspects to stand trial for the crime.Authorities have not said who they think pulled the trigger on the firearms during the drive-by shooting, though Gutierrez told officers shortly after his arrest that Mateo Lopez fired the handgun from the rear seat of the Chrysler. Diaz allegedly told police that he was driving during the shooting.Romero and other victims had been out celebrating a friend’s birthday the night of the shooting. The group of teens was standing outside the apartment complex, a few feet from the curb, waiting for a ride home when the shooting happened.The suspects—alleged Sureno gang members—are accused of carrying out the shooting to settle a “beef” with rival Norteno gang members who lived at Village Avante, according to police.Police said the victims were not associated with any gang-related activity, and were mistakenly targeted by the suspects.

Petty theftSomeone stole alcohol, makeup and hair dye from Wal-mart, 170 Cochrane Plaza, according to police. The theft was reported 5:16 p.m. April 10.Two thieves stole tools, flashlights and gloves from Home Depot, 860 E. Dunne Ave., according to police reports. The suspects were allegedly driving a light-colored pickup with Nevada plates and a dirt bike in the back. The crime was reported 9:45 p.m. April 14.VandalismUp to five teenagers were seen breaking up a concrete creek culvert in the area of Vineyard Boulevard and La Crosse Drive in order to dig up dirt to make bicycle jumps, according to police reports. The subjects were contacted by police and advised not to dig on city property. The vandalism was reported 2:15 p.m. April 11.Auto burglaryA thief or thieves broke into a white Ford Excursion and stole a stereo, according to police. The theft was reported 6:26 p.m. April 11.Someone broke into a city utility trailer some time before 8:07 a.m. April 13, according to police reports.RobberyA male victim was transported to a nearby hospital with facial injuries he suffered during a robbery in the area of Spring Avenue in Morgan Hill, according to police. The crime was reported about 9:07 p.m. April 11, when the victim knocked on a neighbor’s door, bleeding from his face, to report the incident. The victim’s phone and wallet were stolen during the robbery. On follow-up from the hospital, police were notified the victim suffered a broken nose and orbital bone. No suspects have been identified.Stolen vehicleSomeone stole a 1999 purple Acura Integra four-door from The Willows apartment homes on the zero block of West Edmundson Avenue, police reported. The theft was reported 8:20 a.m. April 13.A white 1984 Chevrolet S10 pickup was stolen from the area of Peet and Cochrane roads, according to police reports. The crime was reported 9:50 a.m. April 17.BurglarySomeone broke into a home in Morgan Hill and stole a gun safe, which contained two guns and ammunition, according to police. The burglar or burglars gained entry through the home’s pet door. The crime was reported 5:58 p.m. April 14.Smoking violationA resident of an unidentified location in Morgan Hill reported his neighbor was smoking tobacco less than 25 feet away from his residence, police reports said. Smoke was entering the neighbor’s residence at the time of the call, which was about 8:45 p.m. April 15.

A local business was swindled out of $1,000 after falling victim to a phone scam March 21 that involved the caller posing as a representative from Pacific Gas & Electric. The caller falsely notified the victim that their electricity would be shut off if the amount was not paid immediately, according to authorities.

Felony evading

Dear Red Phone: