Conservationists and open space proponents this week completed the purchase of the Tilton Ranch in Morgan Hill, bolstering a continuous linkage of protected land throughout the South Bay that allows wildlife to live in peace and safely cross between mountain ranges on both sides of Santa Clara Valley.
Santa Clara County Public Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody on Monday issued a revised “risk reduction order” that will go into effect when state officials permit the county to open up more business and public gathering spaces.
Valley Water this week began draining Anderson Reservoir in preparation for a seismic retrofit of the body’s dam in east Morgan Hill, but Gov. Gavin Newsom also vetoed a state assembly bill that would have expedited the project that the water district has been planning for more than 10 years.
Santa Clara County on Sept. 16 expanded its existing Covid-19 testing order to tighten up requirements for large-scale healthcare providers to ensure testing is more easily available, without delays to all residents.
On Aug. 28, CalFire lifted an evacuation warning zone in east Morgan Hill and Gilroy, including the Morgan Hill neighborhoods of Jackson Oaks, Thomas Grade and Holiday Lake Estates.
If South Valley residents are seeing even more smoke than usual today, it’s likely because CalFire has begun setting controlled burns in east Santa Clara County as they continue to fight the SCU Lightning Complex.
These efforts include extensive work inside Henry W. Coe State Park, using bulldozers to cut a 60-foot firebreak inside the park, well in front of the flames.
Lightning-sparked fires spawned by last weekend’s freak storms have since consumed 500,000 acres in and around the Bay Area and show no sign of letting up.