Tag: Morgan Hill
MHUSD, GUSD recognized by Silicon Valley Education Foundation
The Morgan Hill and Gilroy Unified school districts were two of five recognized for taking “a step toward raising the bar for their students” at the 9th annual Pioneers & Purpose conference, organized by the Silicon Valley Education Foundation.
Feel-good times at fest
The Granada Theater has opened up for audiences only a few times since it was shuttered as a full-time movie venue in 2003, but the crowds who filled the theater’s northern auditorium for the Poppy Jasper International Film Festival’s Friday night “Local Showcase” screening acted like they were sitting in a neighbor’s living room.
MH Staples temporarily closed due to fire damage
The Staples office supply store in Cochrane Plaza will be closed for the next few weeks while damage from a recent fire is repaired, according to staff at the Gilroy Staples branch. Fire crews responded to the fire about 6:38 a.m. Nov. 2, according to CalFire Battalion Chief Brandon Leitzke. The fire started in the section of the store, at 1023 Cochrane Plaza, where copy machines are displayed and sold, Leitzke said. The fire set off automatic sprinklers in that section of the store, causing extensive water damage. The cause of the fire is unknown, Leitzke said. The Morgan Hill store “should be open by Thanksgiving,” said Cecilia Mora, a cashier at the Gilroy Staples store. The Gilroy Staples is located at 8840 San Ysidro Ave.
Labor reportedly offers to “negotiate” lower fines for three farmers
California labor regulators this week offered to “negotiate” lower fines for three Morgan Hill farmers who were stuck more than a year ago with hefty penalties for what area farming and legal advocates considered minor violations, according to one of the legal advocates. Janelle Orsi of the Sustainable Economies Law Center, which has supported the three growers since they were cited, said Wednesday that a manager from the California Bureau of Field Enforcement contacted her to negotiate to lower the fines.“He said the (Department of Labor Standards Enforcement) has been giving the cases a good deal of attention and they would like to negotiate lower fines for all three farmers,” Orsi said. Last week the Times reported that the three farmers - Xay Duc Hoang, Fanny Tam and Siu Wah Mok - have spent the last year seeking some reprieve from the fines for labor violations which would have siphoned away significant portions of the farmers’ incomes. The farmers grow Chinese vegetables, a crop category which generates about $4 million per year countywide, according to the 2013 Santa Clara County crop report.Plus the growers, who speak little or no English, felt the state inspectors didn’t make an adequate effort to ensure the growers understood their requirements, nor to understand certain aspects’ of the growers’ operations.The violations were mostly related to incomplete or incorrect information on their wage statements for their employees. Local farming and legal advocates said the violations did not harm anyone, and the growers simply made “honest mistakes.” In Hoang’s case, for example, regulators imposed a fine of $9,000 for his cited violations. His household income is about $55,000. Mok was imposed a fine of $3,000, and his income is about $13,000. Legal advocates also suggested the citations against all three farmers were even illegal, as they cited the wrong labor code they allegedly violated. Last week Hoang, represented by an area attorney offering his services pro bono, filed an appeal to his fine in the local district court, Orsi said. “I’m not sure what the DLSE is considering as far as offering to lower the fines,” Orsi said. “We believe the farmers should not have to pay fines at all, given the mistakes and problems with the cases. At the very least, I do not think any of the farmers should have to pay more than $250 each, since that is the statutory fine that can be imposed per violation.” Orsi has been on labor regulators’ case about the fines constantly in recent weeks. She wrote a letter to Labor Commissioner Julie Su last month listing the many ways she thinks the citations and fines are misguided and excessive, and contacted Su’s office every day for a week before an appeal was filed on behalf of Hoang. Su could not be contacted by press time.
Nonprofit plans to reopen Granada, permanently
After numerous attempts in recent years to reopen the shuttered Granada Theater and preserve it as a local center for cinema and the arts, a local nonprofit might have finally accomplished that dream. The Morgan Hill Granada Preservation Society recently incorporated itself as a 501(c)(3) organization, and about two weeks ago gained a one-year lease on the theater which sits in the heart of downtown Morgan Hill, at 17440 Monterey Road, according to MHGPS Chair John Liegl. Now all the society needs is money - about $30,000, to be exact, in order to reopen the facility in time for their target date of early December, Liegl said. That amount should be enough to upgrade the theater’s restrooms to meet ADA requirements, and make other improvements. The society’s long-term plan is to purchase the Granada, for which they need about $1.6 million, Liegl said. The MHGPS’ initial plan - until they can buy the theater - is to keep the theater split into two auditoriums as it is configured now. One side would be devoted to movie screenings (ideally classic, foreign and children’s films), and on the other side the MHGPS plans to build a small stage for live entertainment, including music, comedy and maybe even one-act plays, Liegl said. That side of the theater would also retain a movie screen.“When we get enough money, we’re going to put in a movable partition so we can have bigger live performances,” Liegl said. Those events would offer more of a “club atmosphere” with meals served from GVA Cafe next door and dining booths to be installed in front of the stage, Liegl said. Although the theater has been closed for permanent business since about 2003. The Morgan Hill Redevelopment Agency purchased the building in 2008, and has attempted numerous times to enlist a private developer to improve the theater or replace it with a mixed-use residential and commercial project. Since the RDA closed in 2012, the property has sat in limbo in terms of ownership, and the theater is now controlled by the RDA Oversight Board, with whom the MHGPS signed a lease recently. The City and other taxing agencies in the former RDA area in the process of trying to place the theater and nearby downtown properties (also formerly owned by the RDA) on the market for redevelopment, a transfer that requires state approval.“One of the problems is the City doesn’t know what to do with the Granada Theater. Our hope is to raise enough money to get it off their hands,” Liegl said. Last year, the Oversight Board and Economic Development Corporation approved a reopening of the theater on a part-time, temporary basis for special events. The Granada was thus the site of the 2012 Poppy Jasper Film Festival, which will call the theater its home for the festival’s 10th anniversary this weekend, Nov. 8 to Nov. 10.MHGPS board members and other proponents of reopening the Granada have long said that doing so would reintroduce an important “hub” for the downtown, attracting visitors who would ostensibly patronize neighboring restaurants or shops before or after taking in a movie or performance. “When the Granada closed, the downtown closed,” Liegl said. Maurizio Cutrignelli, owner of two restaurants in downtown Morgan Hill and the former owner of several others, agreed the downtown was more alive when the Granada was open. “It was basically the anchor for downtown,” Cutrignelli said. “I think it will be good for business (to reopen the theater). It’s definitely nothing better than good to bring more traffic downtown.”The MHGPS website is set up to take donations for the nonprofit society, and will list show and performance schedules when they are decided. The website is www.morganhillgranada.com.
Farmers’ market feud in town
The new downtown Morgan Hill Thursday night farmers’ market has only been open for two weeks, and has already drawn the ire of its firmly established cross-block Saturday morning competitor.
School district slows Rocketship’s launch
History repeated itself Tuesday night when the Board of Education voted 6-1 in front of a modest audience to shoot down a second charter organization’s request to open a school within district boundaries by fall 2014.
Build your own ‘street scene’ in downtown Morgan Hill
In an effort to explore the viability of “parklets” that have become a trend in larger cities to the north, and to bring more visitors to Morgan Hill on one of the busiest shopping days of the holiday season, the Morgan Hill Downtown Association is accepting applications to transform a select number of downtown parking spaces into “downtown street scenes” on Nov. 30.
Turning a new fitness page
Brad Jones is known to many as the co-owner of a beloved local bookstore, an involved community member and familiar face in downtown Morgan Hill.
Pamphlets, petitions against charter
Teachers turned anti-charter activists have joined an effort to squash two charter school petitions.
