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Jess Brown is the new executive director of the Santa Clara County Farm Bureau, the agricultural organization announced Monday.Brown lives in Santa Cruz and is the head of the Santa Cruz Farm Bureau. He will continue in that role while serving in his new post, the Farm Bureau said in a press release.Brown said he’s excited to help promote area agriculture for the nonprofit that promotes agriculture in Santa Clara County.“I look forward to being a part of the Santa Clara County Farm Bureau; I've admired the organization for many years,” Brown said. “I already know and respect a number of local growers and am excited about working with them to promote and protect the illustrious history of agriculture in Santa Clara County,” the new executive director said.“We feel fortunate to have someone with Brown's experience and familiarity with local agricultural issues as our executive director,” Farm Bureau President Erin Gil said.Previously, Brown worked on the development of a map that lists the locations and products of all farms in Santa Clara, San Benito and Santa Cruz counties that sell directly to the public, the press release states.Brown has served in leadership roles on boards of multiple local nonprofits, according to the press release. He is taking over from former executive director Elizabeth Gabrio, who started with the bureau in August 2014.

GILROY—A woman was knocked off her horse while riding along the Coyote Ridge Trail east of Gilroy and was rescued by authorities Sunday afternoon. The woman was nearly 2 miles from the Roop Road entrance to Coyote Lake-Harvey Bear Ranch County Park when a distress call came in at 1:05 p.m.

GILROY—A Christopher High School sophomore was killed in a Gilroy car wreck on Saturday when the vehicle she was in with two schoolmates veered off Miller Avenue and smashed into a tree.

Glory Baseball will host its second round of spring workouts to fill roster spots for its 18U summer/fall travel team at 9 a.m. May 24 at Gilroy High School. 

GILROY— Sleuths at the Santa Clara County Agricultural Commissioner’s office are investigating the mysterious deaths of at least 1,000 European brown snails in a Gilroy business park.

GILROY—Firefighters battled a two-alarm blaze at Pacific Mobile Estates on 10th Street Tuesday morning when a mobile home fire destroyed a neighboring unit and damaged three others.

GILROY—In Gilroy aviation artist Joe Kline’s latest work, at the end of the muzzle of the M60-7.62mm machine gun in the hovering Huey helicopter, there’s a just visible soldier manning the weapon to cover GIs in a landing zone in Vietnam.

Glory Baseball will hold spring workouts to fill roster spots for its 18U summer/fall travel team at 9 a.m. May 3 at Gilroy High School.

GILROY—Gilroy gymnast Marcela Mantilla hasn't competed since 2013, but she hasn't been taking it easy either.

GILROY—Christine Newberg has helped deliver hundreds of babies at Gilroy’s Saint Louise Regional Hospital and believes the Daughters of Charity Health System’s decision to close that obstetric unit puts lives at risk and is “incredibly irresponsible.”