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For the first time in its 14-year history, the Poppy Jasper International Film Festival has added a second location, expanding into two buildings in downtown Gilroy.The Granada Theater, the Morgan Hill Community Playhouse and the Grange Hall in Morgan Hill, will continue to host the bulk of the four-day festival.Festival President Mattie Scariot is hoping for significant attendance increases from the expansion of the venues for the April 5-8 event. Her goal of 3,000 tickets is three times the previous festival high of 1,000 tickets in the 2004 inaugural year.The increased ticket sales could be a boost for local downtown restaurants and bars in downtown Morgan Hill and Gilroy.“We expect the festival to have a big impact on local restaurants,” Scariot said. “We will not serve food at the event, so people will need to go out for lunch and dinner. I think it will create a lot of economic vitality for those restaurants.”For Scariot, the high expectations are following on the heels of several years of dropping ticket sales. Ticket sales have ranged within the hundreds, and the festival's weakest showing in 2016 at Gavilan College in recent memory. To help right the ship, Scariot has led a serious of changes to how the festival is marketed."We’re doing a lot of things differently," Scariot said. "We changed our branding, our logo, the website, and we added new programs to appeal to more people. We want to get filmmakers from outside of the community, but we also want to include those from within the community."In both Morgan Hill and Gilroy the film festival will be centered downtown.In Morgan Hill, the Granada, 17440 Monterey Road, will be the center of the festival screenings, with the Opening Gala on April 6. The Morgan Hill Community Playhouse, 17090 Monterey Road will open the festival April 5 with a Local Filmmakers Day, with selected films screened on April 6.The Old Strand Theater in Gilroy, at 7588 Monterey Road, formally the Vix, will open its 5,000 square-foot-event space for a film screening room all day on Saturday, April 7.A building at 7652 Monterey Road, formerly The District, will host a filmmaker’s lounge on that day, where music videos will be screened, and live bands will perform, followed by a midnight movie.“Rather than scramble to find a new place, I have a building that is currently under negotiations to lease, so I donated the building so we can keep the festival downtown,” said The District building owner Gary Walton. He was optimistic about the festival’s benefits for Gilroy.“Obviously, if you have thousands of people here the restaurants and hotels will benefit,” Walton said. “We’ll get the hotel tax dollars; some will shop at the outlet stores. In a broader sense, we’re looking to bring people into the community.”Aside from providing a home at his Granada Theater for the festival’s opening gala, and its closing awards ceremony, owner Frank Léal has also assisted with the festival's marketing."Frank Léal has been a tremendous help.," Scariot said. "They are helping us to make radio and television commercials that are getting a lot of airplay on local airwaves. He’s a good person and a great supporter."Since the films will run late in the evening, Scariot believes that most festivalgoers will stay locally. The Holiday Inn Express in Morgan Hill is the official hotel of the festival. The Holiday Inn has donated 10 rooms to the event for volunteers and visiting filmmakers.“The Holiday Inn Express was a huge coup for us, nobody has ever done that before,” Scariot said. They came to us saying they wanted to work with us.”Two of the festival’s special guests include two notable Gilroyans who’ve made an impact in Hollywood. Randy Spendlove, President of Paramount Music, and Emmy award-winning writer Kevin Rubio. “In Gilroy, the city council has been very supportive,” Scariot said. “Fred Tovar wants to put forth a proclamation to honor Spendlove and Rubio. Of course, Gary Walton has been a tremendous help. I would give him another ‘Man of the Year Award.”The Poppy Jasper International Film Festival is a 501 (3) c non-profit organization, and relies solely on about 60 volunteers.The Poppy Jasper International Film Festival will be held from April 5 - 8 in downtown Morgan Hill and Gilroy. Tickets and a complete festival schedule are available at pjiff.org.

Significant assets belonging to Infineon Technologies, including a plant in Morgan Hill, has been sold to Cree Inc. for $428 million on Mar. 6, a move made by Cree to expand its 5G wireless market. The sale will not include Infineon's Chip Card and Security operations in Morgan Hill. Cree plans to merge the new acquisition with their Wolfspeed radio frequency division.Infineon, which produces chips, sensors and microcontrollers, is a leader in wireless technology. With the acquisition, Cree hopes to bolster its transition to 5G cellular technology.“The acquisition strengthens Wolfspeed’s leadership position in RF GaN-on-SiC technologies and provides access to additional markets, customers and packaging expertise,” said Cree CEO Gregg Lowe in a press release. “This is a key element of Cree’s growth strategy and positions Wolfspeed to enable faster 4G networks and the revolutionary transition to 5G.”Infineon’s products are also used in self-driving cars.Between Infineon's operations in Morgan Hill, North Carolina, and Arizona, Infineon has about 260 employees. Worldwide, the Neubiberg, Germany based Infineon Technologies AG employs over 30,000 employees.As part of the deal, Cree intends to hire the approximately 260  employees in the US locations of Morgan Hill and Chandler, Arizona, as well as in Finland, Sweden, China and South Korea. While the company has built in a transitional period, the former employees of Infineon will become part of Cree Wolfspeed.“Cree is a strong new owner for this portion of our Radio Frequency business and has an excellent reputation in the industry,” Reinhard Ploss, CEO of Infineon said in a press release. “We are excited about the business rationale and the prospects for the combined businesses. At the same time, we will be able to focus our resources more effectively on Infineon’s strategic growth areas and will retain a strong technology portfolio for the wireless market.”Included in the sale is the main packaging and test operations facility in Morgan Hill, existing intellectual property, and existing customers. With the acquisition, Cree expects to increase annual revenues by $115 million.“We are looking forward to combining our strengths with Cree,” said Gerhard Wolf, Vice President, and General Manager, RF Power Products at Infineon. “With our highly skilled and dedicated team, advanced technologies and commitment to business excellence, we look forward to serving our customers seamlessly as the 5G mobile standard ramps up.”5G technology is the successor the 4G mobile wireless data technology, and it promises faster internet speed. As the type of information that's conveyed via the internet becomes more complex, 5G technology will be better able to handle the huge amounts of data that are needed. As the technology behind autonomous cars advances, the evolution of 5G technology becomes more important.Cree is a Durham North Carolina manufacturer of LED lighting and power components.

The community of San Martin held a citywide cleanup Saturday, March 24—the second of its kind since the small unincorporated town of 7,800 added a chamber of commerce in August 2017. The County of Santa Clara acknowledged San Martin with a ribbon cutting ceremony Saturday morning—honoring its Trash Bash as an ongoing community event.Connie Ludewig, San Martin Chamber of Commerce membership chair, said the group of more that 85 volunteers gathered from local schools and organizations collected 4,000 pounds of trash including soiled baby diapers, a dead goat in a bag, and an undelivered package that was taken to the San Martin post office.Ludewig praised the efforts of the community for all the people who showed their support for “The Jewel of South County—to protect our history, environment, and rural neighborhoods.”With the rains clear for much of the morning, the organizers were delighted with the energy of the crowd and the people who showed up to contribute.“It warms my heart to know that there were community-minded folks from as far as San Jose, to San Juan Bautista who showed up, and collected at least two tons of trash from the San Martin roads and creeks,” said Ludewig.Trina Hineser president of the San Martin Neighborhood Alliance and community liaison for the San Martin Chamber of Commerce, said the community is passionate about efforts because San Martin has long been viewed as a dumping zone and residents are working hard to rebrand themselves as “The Jewel of South County.”“Being active to beautify our area is one way the community is coming together to do that,” Hineser said. “We’ve seen the county step up and acknowledge the work we are doing. We’ve seen code enforcement more proactively addressing the concerns in our community.”Hineser said since the development of neighborhood alliance and the chamber, plus regular town hall meetings, the residents are more dedicated and energetic about their community.By being proactive and providing information ahead of time and getting community involvement and offering solutions together, Hineser hopes to build a stronger community.“We are gaining momentum and each time one more person is willing to pick something up,” Hineser said.

Significant assets belonging to Infineon Technologies, including a plant in Morgan Hill, has been sold to Cree Inc. for $428 million on Mar. 6, a move made by Cree to expand its 5G wireless market. The sale will not include Infineon's Chip Card and Security operations in Morgan Hill. Cree plans to merge the new acquisition with their Wolfspeed radio frequency division.Infineon, which produces chips, sensors and microcontrollers, is a leader in wireless technology. With the acquisition, Cree hopes to bolster its transition to 5G cellular technology.“The acquisition strengthens Wolfspeed’s leadership position in RF GaN-on-SiC technologies and provides access to additional markets, customers and packaging expertise,” said Cree CEO Gregg Lowe in a press release. “This is a key element of Cree’s growth strategy and positions Wolfspeed to enable faster 4G networks and the revolutionary transition to 5G.”Infineon’s products are also used in self-driving cars.Between Infineon's operations in Morgan Hill, North Carolina, and Arizona, Infineon has about 260 employees. Worldwide, the Neubiberg, Germany based Infineon Technologies AG employs over 30,000 employees.As part of the deal, Cree intends to hire the approximately 260  employees in the US locations of Morgan Hill and Chandler, Arizona, as well as in Finland, Sweden, China and South Korea. While the company has built in a transitional period, the former employees of Infineon will become part of Cree Wolfspeed.“Cree is a strong new owner for this portion of our Radio Frequency business and has an excellent reputation in the industry,” Reinhard Ploss, CEO of Infineon said in a press release. “We are excited about the business rationale and the prospects for the combined businesses. At the same time, we will be able to focus our resources more effectively on Infineon’s strategic growth areas and will retain a strong technology portfolio for the wireless market.”Included in the sale is the main packaging and test operations facility in Morgan Hill, existing intellectual property, and existing customers. With the acquisition, Cree expects to increase annual revenues by $115 million.“We are looking forward to combining our strengths with Cree,” said Gerhard Wolf, Vice President, and General Manager, RF Power Products at Infineon. “With our highly skilled and dedicated team, advanced technologies and commitment to business excellence, we look forward to serving our customers seamlessly as the 5G mobile standard ramps up.”5G technology is the successor the 4G mobile wireless data technology, and it promises faster internet speed. As the type of information that's conveyed via the internet becomes more complex, 5G technology will be better able to handle the huge amounts of data that are needed. As the technology behind autonomous cars advances, the evolution of 5G technology becomes more important.Cree is a Durham North Carolina manufacturer of LED lighting and power components.

The morning of April 18, Morgan Hill will be covered with police officers from several area jurisdictions to conduct a citywide “high-visibility, directed traffic enforcement operation,” according to a press release from Morgan Hill Police Department.The operation is scheduled on city streets from 6:30am to 10am April 18. Traffic officers from Campbell Police Department, Sunnyvale Dept. of Public Safety, Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office, Mountain View PD, Milpitas PD, San Jose PD, Santa Clara PD and Los Altos PD will participate in the Morgan Hill operation.During the operation, these officers will pay “special attention” to traffic violations related to pedestrian and bicycle safety along Morgan Hill’s arterial roadways, according to authorities. These violations include “pedestrian right-of-way, jaywalking, 3 foot buffer for bicyclists, red light/stop sign violations, distracted driving, and any other dangerous violations that are observed.”The MHPD press release continues: “The goal of the program is to saturate problem areas with officers during commute hours to enforce traffic laws and reduce injury collisions.”Similar multi-agency traffic enforcement efforts will take place monthly in different communities throughout the year, rotating through participating cities within the Bay Area. A similar operation took place in Morgan Hill in April 2017, when officers from several agencies ticketed almost 200 traffic tickets in a four-hour period on local streets, according to police.In anticipation of the upcoming April 18 operation, MHPD reminded motorists, pedestrians and cyclists of the following traffic safety tips:• Pedestrians and bicyclists should cross streets at marked crosswalks or intersections, and obey traffic signals such as WALK/DON'T WALK signs;• Pedestrians and bicyclists should not wear headphones or talk on their cell phones while in the roadway;• Bicyclists should have their bicycle equipped with a white light on the front visible from a distance of 300 feet and a red reflector visible from a distance of 500 feet to the rear, during darkness;• Bicyclists operating on the roadway are subject to obeying all rules of the road, including stop signs and lighted traffic signals;• Bicyclists shall yield the right-of-way to any pedestrian.And MHPD advised motorists that the following violations can result in collisions, injuries and even fatalities:• Speeding;• Failure to stop for red lights or stop signs;• Failure to yield to pedestrians and bicyclists;• Distracted driving;• Blocking crosswalks;• Turning on permitted light (green signal) but not looking for pedestrian properly crossing in crosswalk.

Morgan Hill Police Chief David Swing was sworn in March 21 as President of the California Police Chiefs Association, which represents the state’s municipal police chiefs whose agencies serve more than 26 million Californians.Swing, whose law enforcement career spans the last 23 years—all at MHPD—has been involved in the CPCA in various roles over the last seven years.“One of the benefits (of this involvement) is the opportunity to network and build relationships in law enforcement throughout the state,” Swing said. “As president, I will further expand and strengthen those relationships.”Swing was sworn in for a one-year term as president at the association’s 41st annual Training Symposium, at the Westin Hotel in Long Beach.Swing has been chief of police in Morgan Hill since 2011. His law enforcement career began as a reserve officer at MHPD in 1995.He was appointed to the CPCA’s board of directors in 2013, and was elected second vice president of the board in 2016, according to a press release from MHPD. Swing has also chaired the association’s Law and Legislation, and Political Action Committees for three years.Plus, he has served on the California League of Cities Board of Directors, representing CPCA for two years.“I am honored to lead the California Police Chiefs Association this year. We have much to be proud of as an association and profession, and much to accomplish in the coming year,” Swing said. “We will continue to collaboratively address issues facing our profession, including strengthening community trust, rising crime rates, the growing impacts of homelessness and the mentally ill, and the unprecedented reforms that have impacted the criminal justice system. All of these issues have significant impacts in the manner we serve our communities.”As Morgan Hill’s police chief, Swing has noted his belief that community engagement is a key ingredient to safe communities. He has led efforts with the City of Morgan Hill to increase community involvement, including an “outcome-based” plan for public safety focused on building community trust, according to the press release.He hopes that as leader of the CPCA, he will be able to influence his colleagues and the association to “engage the silent majority, to find their voice.” Swing was referring to the majority of residents in Morgan Hill and similar communities throughout out California who support their local police department and law enforcement in general.“I think it’s important for peace officers to hear the support from their communities,” Swing said. “If I look back 12 months from now, if we have found meaningful ways to help people find their voice and demonstrate their support, then this will be one of the most successful years of my career.”Earlier in his career, Swing found his calling in the work of domestic violence, according to the MHPD press release. He has led initiatives that strengthened MHPD’s response to domestic violence, including a federal grant that improved advocacy for victims and resulted in the opening of a Family Justice Center in Morgan Hill.Swing holds a Bachelor’s degree in public relations, and a Master’s in public administration from San Jose State University. He is a graduate of the California POST Command College, an executive leadership development program.For more information about the CPCA, visit the association’s website at californiapolicechiefs.org.

Twenty-five bowlers flocked to Morgan Hill Bowl Sunday, March 18 helping to raise $2,200 in funds for Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center’s fifth annual Bowl-A-Thon.

Sarah’s Vineyard, founded in 1978 by a group of four wine enthusiasts led by Marilyn “Sarah” Otteman, will celebrate its 40th anniversary this year with a May release of its “Estate Chardonnay,” according to a March 15 announcement.

The U.S. Supreme Court justices Tuesday heard arguments in its first abortion-related case under President Trump, and “pregnancy centers” in Gilroy and Hollister were center stage.

Morgan Hill City Councilman Larry Carr will next appear in court April 18 for a pre-trial conference on a domestic battery charge, according to authorities.Carr, 49, had a hearing March 19 at South County Courthouse in Morgan Hill, but it was postponed because his attorney could not be present, according to Santa Clara County Supervising Deputy District Attorney Vishal Bathija. He is next scheduled to appear in court at 1:30pm April 18.At a hearing in February, Carr pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charge of domestic battery.The charge stems from a Nov. 25, 2017 incident involving his girlfriend of 11 years, with whom he shared a home in downtown Morgan Hill at the time.Morgan Hill Police responded to the couple’s residence that evening, and arrested Carr after taking statements from him and his girlfriend. The woman had told police, during a lengthy verbal argument, that Carr “ripped the glasses from her face and threw them to the ground, causing them to break,” and pulled her hair in the process, according to the police report of the investigation.Carr told police at the time that any contact he made with his girlfriend during the argument was accidental. He has continued to deny the allegations since his arrest.The victim did not exhibit any injuries or indicate a complaint of pain, according to police.Carr—who is currently serving in his fifth term as a Morgan Hill councilmember—was convicted of a similar misdemeanor charge in 2015, in relation to an incident at the couple’s previous home March 23. Carr pleaded no contest to domestic battery and completed a 16-week counseling program. The court later dismissed the charge from his record, at Carr’s formal request. Carr has also denied acting violently in that incident, and he pleaded no contest to avoid prolonged court proceedings.If Carr is convicted of the 2017 charge, the court can consider the 2015 conviction as a prior offense in his sentencing, according to authorities.