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Lightning-sparked fires spawned by last weekend’s freak storms have since consumed 500,000 acres in and around the Bay Area and show no sign of letting up.

A 20-year-old man sexually abused a child under his care at the YMCA, and authorities are in the process of notifying parents of other children who have been in contact with the suspect, police said. Morgan Hill Police were notified last Friday that a 6-year-old girl complained that Nicolas Lhermine, 20 of Morgan Hill, forced her to engage in a “lewd and lascivious act” while attending a local YMCA childcare program, according to Morgan Hill Police Capt. Shane Palsgrove. Lhermine was working as a YMCA childcare provider at the time of the incident, and he had violated several YMCA policies that were in place to prevent staff from being alone with the children, police said. Lhermine has worked at the YMCA for about four years in various capacities. Officers arrested Lhermine Friday night, the day of the alleged incident, Palsgrove said. During the investigation, officers located evidence of another sexual assault victim. The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office charged Lhermine with sexual acts with a child age 10 or younger, and possession of child pornography. The childcare program where Friday’s incident took place was stationed at Paradise Elementary School, Palsgrove added. The program was sponsored solely by the YMCA, which used a portable unit on campus for the program. Lhermine’s employment at the YMCA did not include any involvement in any programs the nonprofit offers in partnership with the City or local schools. The YMCA will be notifying parents of all children who have been in contact with Lhermine at the YMCA, Palsgrove said. Parents are encouraged to speak with their children, asking open ended questions regarding sexual abuse, and report any allegations or inappropriate incidents that may have led to criminal acts to the police. Palsgrove added the YMCA responded quickly to the incident. “At the Y, the safety and well-being of all children in our care is our primary objective,” YMCA Chief Operating Officer Elizabeth Jordan said. “We are taking this matter very seriously and are cooperating with the Morgan Hill Police Department’s investigation of the allegation.” Jordan added the YMCA staff have “extensive experience” in developing youth through educational program. She added that YMCA employees complete “rigorous screening” including a California Department of Justice background check, and annual trainings including child abuse identification, prevention and reporting. Employees are also closely monitored and supervised while on the job. “We are shocked by this development and are anxious to support the police investigation to discover the results,” Jordan said. Community Solutions offers free services to the victims of sexual assaults, and professionals there encourage victims and parents to make use of those services.“Statistics indicate that one in four girls and one in six boys will be sexually abused before the age of 18,” Community Solutions Sexual Assault Program Manager Erica Elliot said. “The effects of child sexual abuse can be devastating, which is why it is so important for those that are victimized to reach out for services and support. Survivors need to know it is never too late to get help, and parents need to know that it is never too early to start a conversation with their children about good versus bad touches and safe versus unsafe secrets.” Community Solutions’ crisis line can be reached at (877) 363-7238. Anyone with information about this incident, or who thinks they or their children may have been victimized by Lhermine can contact Morgan Hill Police Detective Burdick at (408) 779-2101 or the anonymous tip line at (408) 947-7867. 

Gilroy

Producer Jordan Foley and a Hollywood crew of 50 came to Gilroy a month ago to find a place that was bleak. Instead, they fell in love a city they say is better to film in than Hollywood.They spent weeks filming the movie Desolate around Gilroy, a dystopian story about life after a severe drought, sort of a “Mad Max” in the South Valley. They found the city randomly, because director Frederick Cipoletti’s wife drove through it on her way from Los Angeles to the Bay Area.They wanted brown hills and open fields, a place where a few survivors battled with villains who wanted to steal land, kidnap women and kill anyone who stands in their way. What they also found was a city they loved.“I can’t say how amazing Gilroy was,” said Foley, 37, who has produced two other movies, Puncture, starring Chris Evans and The Open Road with Justin Timberlake and Jeff Bridges. “This is the best experience I’ve ever had working in any town anywhere. There’s a lot more going on in the city than we could have imagined. This movie wouldn’t have happened if not for the people of Gilroy. I’m almost afraid to tell people how amazing it was because I want to come back without the big studios coming up and changing everything.”A big chunk of the movie’s $700,000 budget was for housing at the Hilton and moving the cast and crew. People told Foley he would save money if he shot in L.A., but he found Gilroy was a big savings because local businesses let him film cheaply and ranchers were generous with their land.“When you factor in what it would have cost with locations and permits and cops and firemen— all the things that come with filming in L.A.—we saved money by coming to Gilroy and got so much bang for our buck and the beauty of it will come out on the screen.”Some of the locations for Desolate include Sandy’s Cafe, Saccullo’s Surplus and Glass, Bamboo Village, Launderland, Farmer’s Feed and Supply, ranches owned by Don Christopher and Bill Derosa and Bolado Park in Hollister. The film used 100 locals as extras.The movie features Callan Mulvey, Tyson Ritter, Mark Kassen, Will Brittain, Natasha Bassett and Juston Street.Mulvey played in 300: Rise of an Empire, Captain America: Winter Soldier and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Tyson Ritter is the lead singer for the alternative band The All American Rejects. He acted in the movie The House Bunny. Kassen was in the TV series Another World. Will Brittain was in the 2013 film A Teacher and is in the new remake of King Kong called Kong: Skull Island, due out in 2017.Natasha Bassett was in Hail Caesar! Juston Street was in Richard Linklater’s latest Everybody Wants Some!!The production did most of the shooting from 2 p.m. to 11 p.m., but pulled some all-nighters in businesses that needed to be open in the daytime.Mary Saccullo couldn’t believe how much they transformed her store into an eerie green and blue lit room. “It was like another world for seven hours,” she said.Foley, who produced the movie with the director and writer Jonathan Rosenthal, said Gilroy’s cooperation really showed up one night when they were staging a shootout by the railroad tracks downtown.“We called police dispatch and said we’d like to fire off 12 blanks right now,” he said. “They said, ‘OK, have fun.’ In L.A. that would never happen. They’d make you have four kinds of police there and the F.B.I. It was amazing.”

From a small 2.5-acre plot of land used for organic raspberries grew one of the largest employers in San Benito County: Earthbound Farm. With more than 12,000 employees and 200 associated farms, Earthbound dwarfs the next largest business in the area, Hazel Hawkins Medical Center, by 2,400 percent, according to California labor market information,

Ten straight Central Coast Section titles have given Gilroy High’s wrestling program a marquee name, but the dynasty isn’t being built under the glitz of bright lights.