Community

Two South County residents participated in the Boston Marathon today, where two massive explosions detonated at the finish line, instantly turning a beloved international athletic event to a chaotic scene of gruesome deaths and injuries. 

Operation Freedom Paws, the nationally-renowned Gilroy organization that matches service dogs to US war veterans as well as special needs clients, has snatched up a competitive grant from the local philanthropic Gilroy Foundation.

The Central Coast Barnstormers semi-pro football team won its third straight game Saturday with a 48-0 victory over the Golden State Giants at the Galileo Academy of Science and Technology in San Francisco.

Having played soccer for more than 40 years, the 47-year-old Giuliano Santini wanted to give his son the same opportunity in the sport he loves. But once his son reached the age of 6, Santini had trouble finding the right fit for a club soccer team.

Tierra Bella, Spanish for “beautiful land,” is the aptly named cycling tour hosted annually by the Almaden Cycle Touring Club of San Jose. Now in its 36th year, Tierra Bella had an estimated 2,000 riders cover about 144,000 miles through Gilroy and Morgan Hill on Saturday.

A much smaller crowd than organizers had hoped for attended the Gilroy Community Forum at the MACSA Youth Gym on IOOF Avenue Friday night. The forum was organized as a direct response to the gang-related shooting of Jesse Silos last week.

CHS and GHS spring concert: The Gilroy and Christopher High School choir programs present their spring concerts at 7:30 p.m. April 16 and 17 at Mission San Juan Bautista. $5 donation at the door.

The South Valley Middle School pool is set to sink without a trace beneath a tidal wave of concrete this summer, following a year of back-and-forth banter between the City and the Gilroy Unified School District over whether and how to keep the facility open.

A Community Forum and Peace March organized to address the issue of gang-related violence amid simmering tension over the recent homicide of Jesse Silos, 30, will be held in Gilroy on Friday and Saturday.