Community

Employees dressed in purple gathered outside Community Solutions Tuesday afternoon with noisemakers and signs in a labor union rally for better pay, better benefits and more time off.

Since owners Adam Sanchez and Ann Zyburra reopened the Milias Restaurant June 21, 2011 – which originally opened its doors 89 years ago in downtown Gilroy – they, as well as some guests and employees have reported seeing ghostly figures, hearing strange sounds and other eerie, unexplainable phenomena.

The San Benito County Amateur Radio Emergency Service and W5YI-VEC will conduct an amateur radio license class and exam session in Morgan Hill Nov. 9.

Friends and family of murder victim Tara Romero will commemorate the local teen’s short life with a balloon release on the second anniversary of her death.

The First Street McDonald’s restaurant in Gilroy donated $950 to Las Animas Elementary as part of their McTeacher’s Night fundraiser, which took place Oct. 23, according to a press release.

Calfire announced a prescribed burn is scheduled for Sunday in San Benito County and that its smoke will be visible throughout the region, according to a statement from the state agency.

Morgan Hill’s haunted graveyard, “Terror on Lassen Way,” will return for the 17th year from 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. this Halloween.

Live Oak High School alumna Kassandra Pena, 24, will compete for the title of Miss California Latina 2013 Dec. 1.The competition will take place at Hotel Westin in Pasadena, and the winner will go on to represent California at the 2014 Miss Latina US, according to a press release from the Miss California Latina Pageant. Pena’s family moved to Morgan Hill in 2007, when she graduated from Live Oak, she said. Now a San Jose resident, Pena graduated from San Jose State University in 2011 with a degree in broadcast journalism. She was also a member of Lambda Theta Nu sorority at SJSU. Pena’s platform is gang prevention, according to the press release. She currently writes for LatinitasMagazine.com, an online digital magazine empowering Latina youth through the use of media and technology.Pena is the current title holder of Miss San Jose Latina 2013. Some of her sponsors are DryBar - Santana Row, and Mexico Lindo Restaurant, the press release says. Her parents still live in Morgan Hill, and Pena said she visits them every week. 

The Stuttering Foundation has put together a special DVD entitled, “Stuttering: For Kids By Kids,” to help children who stutter overcome their varying challenges in life.