Elks hands out scholarships
Gilroy – As part of the Elks National Youth Week, Gilroy Elks Lodge 1567 honored graduating high school seniors from Gilroy and Morgan Hill Wednesday. Gilroy High School seniors, Scott Charvet and Kayla Medina received $1,000 scholarships from the Gilroy Elks Lodge. Live Oak High School seniors Spencer Lines and Jessie Henry received $1,000 scholarships from the Gilroy Lodge and Mark Curtis received $800 from the California-Hawaii State Elks Association. Jessie Henry also received a $800 scholarship from the California-Hawaii State Elks Association and Spencer Lines is an Elks National Foundation Awards finalist and may receive between $4,000 and $60,000 when the winners are announced later in the month.
The selection process begins at the Local Lodge and continues through district, state and national judging. Male and female applicants compete separately but are judged using the same criteria. The awards are apportioned equally.
14-year-old injured
in forklift accident
Gilroy – A 14-year-old suffered major injuries after the forklift he was driving collapsed on top of him Sunday afternoon, police said.
A group of four Gilroy teenagers discovered an abandoned forklift in the parking lot of the old Wal-Mart parking lot and managed to start the machinery about 3:30pm.
The teen driving the forklift raised the boom all the way up causing the machinery to turn over, pinning the teen’s legs underneath, police said.
He sustained a compound fracture to the left ankle, major lacerations to the right femur and a dislocated kneecap.
“He was pretty scared when we got there,” said Sgt. Wes Stanford. “He had the boom as high as it would go – about 15 feet up. Physics just took over.”
The teens told police the keys were left inside the forklift, however, the keys were not located at the scene, Stanford said.
“We’re still working on who owns the forklift,” he said. “It looks like (the teens) found the keys on the forklift, or the keys were accessible.”
Prevent child drowning
Gilroy – With summer rapidly approaching the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office reminds the community of the extreme danger of leaving children unsupervised in or around pools and other bodies of water.
Although swimming pools, spas, and hot tubs pose substantial risks for child drowning, bathtubs, toilets, and buckets of water or other liquid can be just as deadly. Many caregivers report that child drowning victims were out of their sight for less than five minutes.
If a child is injured or dies as a result of a caregiver’s extreme negligence, the caregiver may be prosecuted.
Details: 779-2543.
MHPD goes two wheel
Morgan Hill – Two officers are patrolling the city on new motorcycles. Their presence on the streets revives the department’s traffic enforcement team, something the city has been without for several years.
The emphasis on traffic is in response to residents’ comments on a recent city survey, according to Morgan Hill police Cmdr. Terrie Booten. Â
“The population increase, an increase in traffic around our schools and the ever-present speeders in our neighborhoods all combine to make traffic enforcement a hot topic,” said Booten.
The officers will focus on enforcing traffic laws, investigating serious injury and fatal collisions that occur in Morgan Hill and augment the patrol force, when necessary, Booten said. There have been no motorcycle officers in Morgan Hill for more than 14 years, Booten said, and the department has had no dedicated traffic enforcement team for more than three years.
Send news items to Robert Airoldi. FAX to 842-2206, mail to Gilroy Dispatch, 6400 Monterey Road, Gilroy, 95020, or e-mail ed****@****ic.com
