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As cities like Morgan Hill and Gilroy struggle to slow construction of new housing with self-imposed slow-growth measures, they fear that the new Housing Crisis Act of 2019 could reverse their efforts. The new state law signed this month by Gov. Gavin Newsom redefines the...

The venue may have been smaller, and there may have been 80,000 less people in attendance, but for just under an hour, the Gilroy Garlic Festival was back. On July 24, the day the 2020 festival was scheduled to begin before it had been canceled...

By Chris Casson Madden

GIRLS GOLF Christopher opens season with a win The Christopher girls golf team won its first match of the season 240-255 over Monte Vista Thursday at Gavilan Golf Course (par 31).  Natalie Gutierrez led the Cougars with a 38 while teammate Nina Velez shot a 42. The medalist of the match was Jessica Fore from Monte Vista who scored a 29.Christopher will play at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday at San Benito.  Gilroy's Harrison has good outing as lone Mustang golfer The Gilroy girls golf team kicked off its season Thursday, but only one golfer represented the squad. LaTherian Harrison was the face of Gilroy High, taking on four Notre Dame of Salinas opponents. She shot a 58 on the day to finish in third out the five golfers. Harrison had two bogeys in the match on Hole 5 and 9. Gilroy will play at 3 p.m. Tuesday against Everett Alvarez at Salinas Country Club.  GIRLS WATER POLO Mustangs fall to Monterey Senior Katie Clark had three goals in Gilroy's game against Monterey, but it just wasn't enough. The Mustangs (1-2) lost 15-7 Thursday on the road. Clark led the team in goals, followed by senior Jaci Boyd who had two andAbby Kienle and Kailee Chang who each had one a piece. Gilroy will be back in action at 5 p.m. Monday when it hosts Harbor.  VOLLEYBALL CHS falls to Aptos The Christopher girls volleyball team fell 3-0 to Aptos at home Thursday. The Cougars lost 13-25, 16-25, 8-25. Olivia Tabron and Katelyn Viray both had five kills in the game for CHS. Cheyanne Dela Merced had 14 assists and six digs. Marielle Gomez led the Cougars with 14 digs, while Christa Arroyo had 11. Christopher will be back on the court at 6:30 p.m. Monday at Mount Madonna School. FIELD HOCKEY GHS tops North Salinas The Gilroy field hockey team picked up it's first win of the season Thursday. The Mustangs topped North Salinas 4-2 on the road to improve its record to 2-0-1 on the season.  Gilroy will play at Del Mar at 3:30 p.m. Monday.  

Most of the members on this year's Gilroy Little League Junior (13 and 14 year olds) softball All-Star team remember the heartache of falling just shy of a Little League World Series berth while playing at the Majors level last season.

A judge on Thursday once again delayed the decision to set a

Police staked out an apparent migrant camp east of Morgan Hill

Fire crews aided by a Cal Fire helicopter put out a stubborn 7.5-acre brushfire in the hills of Christmas Hill Park on Tuesday afternoon while volunteers worked below setting up for this weekend’s garlic festival, which is expected to bring about 100,000 visitors to town.“We were on it very quickly, our stations are very close. I would say our first unit was there within five minutes,” said Colin Martin, division chief of field operations for the Gilroy Fire Department, which was aided by Cal Fire crews.Martin said he was worried about the effect on the festival when the fire broke out at 2:35 p.m. The cause is under investigation.Crews were concerned about flammable substances such as propane at the garlic festival.“We would have shut all the valves that we have installed, all the safety devices would have been put into play and we would have evacuated everyone out of the area,” said Chris Wagner, operation supervisor for AmeriGas.Mother Nature played a role in containing the fire.“We were fortunate we didn’t have any significant wind events at the same time,” Martin said.A Cal Fire helicopter dropped water on the flames, which were in a hilly section over the park and didn’t spread to the festival site. A bulldozer also set up a protective line shielding the park.“My key objective was to keep it from the hill and not let it jump to the other side of Miller,” Martin said. The very hot fire, fueled by burning trees and thick brush, jumped over one dirt road.Seven engines, 21 firefighters and two battalion chiefs battled the blaze for two hours. It was under control by 4:22 p.m. and crews cleared the area at 7:51 p.m. after mopping up hotspots.Black smoke indicates heavy fuel, such as oak trees and thick wood and white smoke shows lighter brush, said Martin. From the time they left the firehouse on Chestnut Street and drove up Tenth, they saw thick black smoke and large flames.The helicopter crew was lucky that there was a holding pond for construction of the Eagle Ridge development nearby. It was a short flight between the pond and the flames.

GILROY