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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. 

As Gilroy residents prepared for the winter holidays news of a fatal plane crash involving a local family sent shockwaves throughout the community.Gilroy residents Jason Thomas Price, his wife Olga Price and with their three children, Olivia, 9, Mary, 10, and John, 14, were killed when the small plane Jason Price was piloting crashed into an almond orchard outside Bakersfield on Dec. 19. News outlets initially covering the crash identified Jason Price as the pilot and his family as the passengers.At 4:26 p.m. that day, a Los Angeles air traffic control tower received a distress call from an aircraft, later identified by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as a Piper PA-32, single-engine, seven-passenger plane, according to the Kern County Sheriff’s Office.The family had left the Reid-Hillview Airport in San Jose and were on their way to Henderson, Nev., when the crash occurred. Emergency responders conducted a ground search and found airplane wreckage in the orchard near the intersection of Panama Lane and South Allen Road. Debris from the crash spanned a quarter-mile, according to the Kern County Sheriff’s Office. At press time, the NTSB and FAA had not concluded their investigation into the cause of the crash.Jason Price was a principle reliability engineer at Genesis Solutions, a position he held for five months according to his LinkedIn profile. His company released the following statement: “On behalf of Genesis Solutions and its employees, we express our deepest sympathy and condolences for Jason Price and his family. Jason was an associate of our organization and a valued and loved team member, friend, and contributor to our customers and the maintenance and reliability professionals we serve. We are mourning this tragic loss.”As news of the tragedy spread through Gilroy, residents who knew the family shared their heartbreak.Olivia and Mary were students at Luigi Aprea Elementary School, which had just closed for the winter holidays on Dec. 18. Misty Blythe, a fellow parent whose children went to school with the girls had just seen them at school.“Friday was the last day of school for all the kids,” said Misty Blythe via Facebook. “We [were] all saying goodbye and happy holidays, and see you next year.”Blythe shared a friend with Olga and had been to few birthday parties with the friendly mom.“It’s such a sad thing. They will be very missed. Olga was a good friend, awesome mother and loving wife.”

Luke D. Brugnara pleaded not guilty Thursday morning on multiple

Toby Jax Haro, 17, a senior at Mt. Madonna High School, is this week's "Student of the Week."

Gilroy High football coach Tim Pierleoni liked what he saw after his team scrimmaged Seaside on Aug. 20.  “I’m very happy with the way the kids played,” said Pierleoni, who returned to his alma mater in the off-season after spending 11 seasons on the sideline...

The Gilroy Dispatch will further establish itself downtown by moving its office to Monterey Street in October. The newspaper will relocate from 64 West Sixth St. to 7455 Monterey St., sharing the space with the long-established Nimble Thimble. An affiliated entity of the Dispatch purchased the...

'Chronic runaway' left for school Jan. 6 and hasn't been back

Three rifles, three pistols and ammunition were found in a

The results are in from the recent DUI/Driver’s License checkpoint conducted by Gilroy Police Department’s Traffic Unit on April 19 in Gilroy. Approximately 550 cars drove through the checkpoint, according to Gilroy PD Sgt. Pedro Espinoza. One driver was arrested for DUI; a second driver was arrested for a felony warrant; 20 citations were issued to drivers for driving unlicensed; and eight citations were issued to drivers driving on a suspended license.