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Morgan Hill resident, Lupe Lorraine Martinez Villanueva (Leda) 85, died peacefully at her home July 10, 2008. She had been a dialysis patient for the last two and a half years. Leda was born Dec. 12, 1922 in Trinidad, CO to Max and Salome (Lucero) Martinez. She was 5th of 15 brothers and sisters. She attended public schools in Trinidad, CO. As a child, she spent many of her formative years living with her grandparents. She married the love of her-James O. Villanueva (Partner) on Dec. 18, 1948, in Pueblo, CO. She, her husband, and their 2 month old baby girl came to a farm in Morgan Hill(off of Cochrane Rd.) in July 1949 where her parents and siblings were picking apricots. Leda and her husband then moved to Los Gatos where her husband worked on a chicken ranch. They lived there until 1952, and then came to a ranch in Morgan Hill to make a home and raise a family.

(UPDATED WITH CORRECTION 3-11-09): The San Francisco millionaire

This summer, administrators at Gilroy High School have been working to fill five positions—including the activities director, assistant principal, counselor and two teachers—after staff members left their posts.“I've been in the business for 20 years, and I can't ever remember having five different staff members from one site leave in one year,” GHS Principal Marco Sanchez said, adding that two people climbed the ranks within the Gilroy Unified School District.Kanani Pratt, formerly a Social Studies teacher at Gilroy High, became the school's assistant principal after Christine Anderson moved on to serve as the principal of Rucker Elementary School.“I’m going from the micro level to the macro level, from the department to the whole school. It’s a big jump and it’s an exciting jump with different responsibilities,” Pratt said. “I’ll definitely miss the intimate interaction with the students inside the classroom. I’m going to be very visible on campus, but it’s not the same as having a captive audience for two hours a day in a classroom.”“I've always enjoyed working with Kanani as the department chair of social studies and our Advanced Placement coordinator,” Sanchez added. “She has been fantastic there and I know she'll do a great job as an assistant principal. She's done a marvelous job so far over the summer just helping me hire and fill vacancies for teaching positions.”Former English teacher, department chair and GHS graduate Ethan Stocks became the assistant principal at Milpitas High School, and former academic coordinator Julio Villalobos is now the assistant principal at Alum Rock Union Elementary School.Eleven-year GHS veteran and former activities director Jeremy Dirks—also a Mustang—left to accept a position as assistant principal of San Benito High School. According to Sanchez, former activities director at South Valley High School, Chris Leong, will replace Dirks.“I really enjoyed my time at Gilroy High School,” Dirks said. “To be honest, the place made me into the person I am today and it's difficult—but I'm looking forward to an exciting new opportunity.”Though the transition was made easier simply because he's lived in the Hollister area for the past 11 years, Dirks said he'll miss the students and staff at Gilroy High.Stocks, Pratt and Dirks graduated from San Jose State—from the same program—and worked alongside each other at GHS for more than 10 years.“Their talents will all be missed,” Sanchez said, speaking to the three staff members moving outside GUSD. “We spent the whole summer finding their replacements and that's been difficult.”GHS administrators are hoping to hire two teachers this summer—a Social Studies teacher and an English teacher, according to Sanchez.

Morgan Hill residents: fanciful fare will soon make dreams come true – in style – for an event that’s helped raise funds for local education.

James Lucio, 33, of the 8400 block of Delta Way, 2:29 a.m.

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GILROY

The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors approved the appointment of Dr. Sara Cody as the new County Health Officer this week. Cody served in an interim role after the Dr. Marty Fenstersheib’s retirement.