51.8 F
Morgan Hill
January 30, 2026

SCVWD review of Open Space Credit Policy concerns farmers

Owners of South County's small farms and ranches have had plenty to keep them awake at night, with growing government regulation, higher operating costs and increased competition from bigger growers outside the area.

King of El Toro: Live Oak, Sobrato square off in seventh edition of the rivalry game

The battle for the king of El Toro will once again be waged on Richert Field Saturday.

Friends moving into retirement together get plenty of advice

DEAR ABBY: In response to "Contemplating Change in Rhode Island" who is considering retiring with a friend to a city with a warmer climate, I would offer the same advice we have given our friends. She should know that she'll need to be proactive in developing a social network in her new location.

Adopt Robin

Robin is a 15-year-old Abyssinian mix who is very sweet, loves to be brushed and is good with other cats. She would make a perfect lap cat. She is available for adoption at the San Martin Animal Shelter. Interested? Call (408) 686-3900. 

Girl can conquer shyness by reaching out to others

DEAR ABBY: I'm a 14-year-old girl who just started high school. I started to notice boys when I was in middle school, and I'd like to start dating soon.

Romeo and Juliet are alive … in San Juan Bautista

If you think Romeo and Juliet had it rough, go see San Juan Bautista's El Teatro Campesino's “Valley of the Heart.” Luis Valdez' new play is the story of two young lovers, Thelma (Teruko) Yamaguchi, an American-born Japanese (Nisei) and Benjie Montaña, (Chicano), who fall in love at the beginning of World War II.

Oversight Board approves $25 million downtown improvement plan

The Morgan Hill Redevelopment Oversight Board Tuesday morning gave City Hall the green light to start moving on its plan to use about $25 million in bond proceeds to spruce up the downtown area.The City, as the successor agency to the defunct RDA, still has the time and legal flexibility to make minor changes to the plan if it turns out one or more of the eight future projects on the list is not worth it, and if the City Council wants to shift proposed funding from one project to another. But Tuesday’s 6-0 vote by the Oversight Board (board member Steve Kinsella was absent) was a crucial step for the City to begin seeking design and construction contracts with the bond proceeds that are left over from a 2008 RDA bond issue. According to the terms of the tax-exempt bonds, the City has to spend about $9 million of the funds by the end of 2014 and the remaining $16 million by the end of 2015, City staff have said. “The intent today is to get this (approved) so we can start planning” the use of the funds, City Manager Steve Rymer said at Tuesday’s Oversight Board meeting. The projects approved by the Oversight Board, which was created by the state to dissolve the RDA after the state shut the agency down in February 2012, are:-$4 million for investment with private development-$2 million to exercise an option to purchase downtown property on Depot Street, between Second and Third streets (BookSmart building and land)-$10.1 million for a multi-level parking structure in the area of Depot Street along the west side of the railroad tracks-$1.5 million to relocate the Caltrain loading platform from the east side of the tracks to the west side-$1 million for median improvements and utility undergrounding on Monterey Road south of Dunne Avenue-$1 million to improve existing downtown parking lots-$2.9 million for Monterey Road streetscape improvements in the downtown-$2.1 million for downtown side street improvementsThe plan and any future revisions to it will also require approval by the California Department of Finance. The Oversight Board approved the projects as part of a list of 130 ongoing obligations the RDA initiated before it was shut down that still require payments for the six-month period from Jan. 1, 2014 to June 30, 2014. The board is tasked with approving such Recognized Obligation Payment Schedules every six months until all the RDA’s former obligations are settled. At the same time, the state continues to pass some of the former RDA revenues through to cities, counties, school districts, community colleges and other basic services. The seven-member Oversight Board includes two representatives appointed by the City, two by the County, one by the Santa Clara Valley Water District, one by the Santa Clara County Office of Education and one by the Chancellor of Community Colleges. The RDA was permitted to use tax increment financing to improve and revitalize blighted properties in order to generate economic development. The bonds taken out by the RDA in 2008 were originally intended to provide street, infrastructure and other improvements, according to City staff. The City has long wanted to use a significant portion of the funds to revitalize the downtown area, where the RDA purchased (and the City now owns) the vacant Granada Theater building, the Royal Clothier building, former site of Simple Beverages and other properties. 

Volatile sister must reach out for help on her own

DEAR ABBY: My younger sister, "Tanya," is 22 and a single mother. Her son is 2. She's pregnant again, and this time her baby will be a girl.

Southern CA man arrested in underage sex sting

Authorities arrested a southern California man who traveled to Morgan Hill with the intent of having arranged illegal sexual relations with two minors, according to Morgan Hill police. Stephen Lewis, 21 of Oceanside, was arrested Saturday following a multi-agency sting involving Morgan Hill Police, Homeland Security Investigations and the Silicon Valley Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, a press release from MHPD said. Lewis, who lives in southern California, contacted a man over the Internet who agreed to allow Lewis to have sexual relations with his two minor children, police said. The man contacted by Lewis was in fact an undercover agent. The undercover agent and Lewis arranged a predetermined time and location in Morgan Hill to meet, police said. When that meeting happened, Morgan Hill police took him into custody without incident. Lewis was later booked at Santa Clara County Jail on suspicion of meeting a minor to engage in lewd or lascivious behavior and possession of child pornography, police said. “Law enforcement works diligently to protect everyone in our communities, especially children who are the most vulnerable,” Morgan Hill Police Chief David Swing said. “I am very proud of the dedicated professionals who worked as a team to keep this predator from victimizing children.” Joseph Vincent, Assistant Special Agent in Charge for Homeland Security Investigations in San Jose, added, “Many child sexual predators mistakenly believe they can act on their unconscionable urges with impunity and anonymity online, but as this case shows, nothing could be further from the truth. Homeland Security Investigations will continue to work closely with its law enforcement partners here and around the globe to target those engaged in the sexual exploitation of children to see that they are held accountable for their crimes.” Anyone with information about this case can contact MHPD at (408) 779-2101, or the anonymous tip line at (408) 947-7867. 

Dominguez to be sentenced in October

The former Gilroy Unified School District Board of Education trustee charged with swindling $52,000 from a leading South County nonprofit; using campaign donations for personal expenses; and defrauding an international engineering firm out of “tens of thousands of dollars” for meetings that supposedly never occurred; will appear at 2:30 p.m. Oct. 17 for probation and sentencing in Dept. 38 at the Hall of Justice in San Jose.

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