Tag: Morgan Hill

Police chased a suspicious vehicle from north Morgan Hill to the Salinas area and arrested one of the occupants after disabling the car, authorities said. A Santa Clara County Sheriff’s deputy attempted to make a traffic stop on a Honda sedan in the area of Monterey Road and Palm Avenue about 10:40 p.m. Wednesday, according to Sheriff’s Sgt. Kurtis Stenderup. The Honda was allegedly speeding and the car’s registration was expired when the deputy tried to initiate the traffic stop, Stenderup said.The driver of the Honda failed to yield to the deputy and fled the area south on Monterey Road, police said. Officers continued to follow the vehicle, and the chase continued south at speeds reaching more than 100 mph, Stenderup said. Multiple agencies - including Morgan Hill Police and the California Highway Patrol - assisted County authorities in chasing down the suspect, according to witnesses. The pursuit continued onto U.S. 101 southbound, police said. Officers anticipating the suspicious vehicle’s arrival deployed “spike strips” on the freeway just south of the pursuit to puncture the Honda’s tires, Stenderup said. When the Honda reached the area of the spike strips, the vehicle became disabled and stopped in the area of U.S. 101 and Crazy Horse Canyon Road in Monterey County, police said. Officers observed a number of people run on foot from the stopped Honda, but were only able to detain and arrest one of the vehicle’s occupants, Stenderup said. Arrested was a 25-year-old Santa Clara man, police said. Stenderup did not know if the man was the driver or a passenger in the Honda. He was booked at Santa Clara County Jail. Authorities have not yet released the arrested suspect’s name because the investigation is incomplete, Stenderup said. The other occupants of the vehicle have not been identified or arrested, police said. No injuries were reported.

The Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center in Morgan Hill introduces the newest member of its educational team: A female saw-whet owl rescued in July in Aptos after suffering a fractured left wing and nerve damage that makes her permanently unable to fly.

A Mercedes-Benz sedan spun out on a patch of road ice in south Morgan Hill Tuesday morning, forcing the closure of DeWitt Avenue for a few hours, police said. No injuries were reported in the single-vehicle accident, which happened about 6:45 a.m., according to Morgan Hill Police Sgt. Bill Norman. The vehicle was traveling southbound on DeWitte Avenue, north of the intersection of West Edmundson Avenue, when it slid across a patch of “black ice,” Norman said. The Mercedes sedan, driven by a female adult, slid off the roadway, through a fence and into a residential front yard. The owner of a home near the crash site had been running sprinklers during the night, and the water ran off the yard into the road where some of it created a sheet of ice, Norman said. The California Highway Patrol is investigating the accident, police said. Morgan Hill police assisted with traffic control in the aftermath of the accident, including closing a stretch of DeWitt Avenue for several hours Tuesday morning. 

Downtown Morgan Hill will celebrate Small Business Saturday and the beginning of the holiday season with festive “street scenes” in front of Monterey Road businesses. The one-day parklet project will allow businesses and organizations to transform a dozen on-street parking spots on Monterey Road, between Second and Third streets, into “lively street scenes,” according to Morgan Hill Economic Development Manager Edith Ramirez. Examples of the street scenes to decorate downtown Morgan Hill for the event include Santa Claus stations, art galleries and outdoor lounges. The effort was launched by the Tourism Alliance, which has developed an “ideas book” identifying more than 70 strategies of how to promote Morgan Hill as a tourism destination, City staff said. The purpose of the parklet project is not only to decorate the downtown, but also to encourage residents and visitors to shop local and support downtown businesses.“It’s like performance art for the downtown,” said Brad Jones, co-owner of BookSmart on Depot Street. “It’s going to attract people, and get them to look around and do some prospecting here.”The downtown scene project is sponsored by the City of Morgan Hill and the Morgan Hill Downtown Association. The parklet event will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, which happens to be Small Business Saturday - a counter and follow-up to Black Friday which marks the unofficial beginning to the winter holiday shopping season. The nationwide Small Business Saturday shopping campaign encourages people to shop locally and from small, independent retailers for their holiday needs. Jones, who is president of the MHDA, explained that when residents shop at their local independent stores, up to three times more of the money from their purchases remains in the local community than if the money were spent at big-box chain stores. “There’s a lot of reasons to support small businesses because they give back to the community in ways that no big-box store has even dreamt of,” Jones said. “The people who own small businesses are part of your church, or your service organization, and without those people a lot of good wouldn’t happen in your community.”City staff also announced Wednesday that the City is participating in the “100 percent local campaign” to help promote Morgan Hill’s locally made food products such as premium wines and pick-your-own fruit farms. The local campaign is in partnership with the Santa Clara County Farm Bureau and the Wineries of Santa Clara County, according to a press release from City Hall. Those who create and sell local products can participate in the local campaign by signing up at www.morganhill.ca.gov, and list their companies and products for residents and visitors who want to buy local and promote agri-tourism in Morgan Hill, City staff said. These efforts and more are part of a heightened focus by the City in recent years to promote tourism and economic development in Morgan Hill.“Increasing tourism is one of the economic development goals for the City,” Ramirez said. “However, even though we have all the amenities that a weekend getaway would offer, many people don’t know about these great amenities. This creates a tremendous opportunity to brand the City as the perfect weekend destination and as an alternative to the wine regions up north.” 

A San Mateo-based solar power provider recently opened a facility in Morgan Hill which employs about 120 people, and offers to install and maintain sun-powered electricity systems for homes and businesses throughout northern and central California.

The Morgan Hill Tourism Alliance, in partnership with the Morgan Hill Downtown Association and the City of Morgan Hill, will assemble the first ever “Downtown Street Scenes” event from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday on Monterey Road between Second and Third streets.

Morgan Hill Unified School District’s decision to deny two charter school petitions went to trial on appeal Wednesday night in the courtroom setting of the Santa Clara County Office of Education.

A war of words and charges of “dirty pool” politics have characterized a bruising battle in Morgan Hill over the last seven months as two charter school organizations seek approval to open elementary schools.

Recology South Valley has filed a request to keep its garbage and recycling transfer station in San Martin open “indefinitely,” according to a Santa Clara County planner. The San Martin Planning Advisory Committee will discuss the request at its Nov. 20 meeting at the South County Office Building, 80 W. Highland Ave.The transfer station’s current use permit includes a requirement that the facility at 13920 Llagas Avenue close by February 2015, according to County Planner Rob Salisbury. That clause was added to the permit after 2005, when the facility’s owner indicated Recology was planning to move its garbage and recycling drop-off and processing operation to a location east of Gilroy. However, the company’s plans have changed, and Recology wants to remain at the San Martin transfer station for the foreseeable future, Salisbury said. Recology’s request does not include any changes to the facility’s footprint other than a reduction in the number of daily vehicle trips to and from the transfer station. “They’re not proposing any changes to the operation or infrastructure,” Salisbury said. “Staff’s recommendation is simply to remove the condition they have to close, which would allow them to remain in operation indefinitely.” After the San Martin Planning Advisory discusses the request, that body’s recommendation will be forwarded to the County Planning Commission which will consider the request at a future meeting.