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Mark Sanchez, 24, has one of the hottest jobs in Gilroy—so hot he has to wear ice packs under his outfit.

Maria and Ricardo Hernandez moved to Gilroy from Cupertino, a town with noodle houses aplenty. Luckily for them and other lovers of ramen, they have a new place with authentic Japanese fare that satisfies their cravings.“It’s hard to find a good ramen place and this place is one of the best,” says Maria, 36.That place is Ten Japan in Hecker Pass Plaza at 1340 First Street, Suite C, in Gilroy.Ten Japan, open four years now, shut its doors to renovate this past spring. Owners Jo and Akiko Shiihara wanted to create a new feel to their restaurant and decided to install a sushi bar.Bamboo at the entry sets the tone for the restaurant and the walls, now painted sleek black, are adorned with colorful abstract metal art that make the room pop. Finally, pendant lights hanging over the sushi bar and each table for two make for a relaxed ambiance.Now diners can enjoy their sushi and ramen while groovin’ to techno house beats or feelin’ irie with some reggae rhythms for the lunch crowd.Jo Shiihara, 44, noticed that many Japanese restaurants in the area didn’t have traditionally trained chefs making authentic Japanese cuisine. He said he felt compelled to show Gilroy what good Japanese food should taste like.Jo is a classically trained French chef who worked in Tokyo’s famous Figaro Restaurant for 11 years.He and Akiko moved from Santa Barbara, where Jo worked as a chef at Arigato Sushi.Jo says that a unique aspect of his food is great sauces, which he attributes to his training in French cuisine.Kayla Fernandez, 20, is one of the servers at the restaurant and says that among the most popular items on the menu are the garlic edamame ($5.50) and the miso ramen ($9.75) with thick wavy noodles in a miso soup that begins with a pork bone broth base.The result is a creamy dish that is savory, but not overly salty. It’s prepared with sliced chashu, cabbage, bamboo shoots and topped with scallions, chopped spinach and sweet corn.In addition to nigiri and sashimi, Kayla says other big sellers include Ten Japan’s butterfly roll ($9.50) and two speciality rolls: the 49er ($13.50) and the Lethal Weapon ($13.50).Even if you’re not a Niners fan, the 49er roll is a palate pleaser with shrimp tempura, avocado, mango, salmon and tuna. It’s topped with crunchy tempura flakes and the sweet and cool flavors of the mango and avocado are balanced by a spicy aioli sauce.Our party accepted most of Kayla’s suggestions and next on our list to try was the Lethal Weapon. Not surprisingly, this specialty roll packed some heat—made with spicy tuna, salmon, yellowtail, fresh cucumber and jalapeño pepper. The Lethal Weapon was topped with tempura flakes and plated with habanero sauce alongside the chef’s spicy aioli.Customer Chris Pacheco, 31, of Gilroy says “the sushi is better than anywhere else and the service is great.”Ten Japan is a quaint but swanky little place. The staff is relatively small and the restaurant fills up quickly. Jo Shiihara is proud to bring these flavors to Gilroy. “I love to hear the customers are impressed and say thank you to the chefs,” he says.

Plans for a new 10th Street bridge over Uvas Creek that will connect homes on the city’s west side to the heart of Gilroy provide a glimpse into the city’s future.The new bridge and associated roadway improvements will link residents of Glen Loma Ranch—Gilroy’s largest housing development at more than 300 acres and nearly 1,700 homes at full build-out (expected by 2020)—Eagle Ridge and other westside subdivisions to the center of the city and Highway 101.“This is not the 10th Street of today,” said Mayor Perry Woodward, a native Gilroyan, at the Aug. 1 City Council meeting, where the council approved the final design contract for nearly $2 million to Bengal Engineering.“When you open it up to 1700 homes in Glen Loma, and all the homes in Eagle Ridge and other developments to 101; it’s going to become a much more heavily trafficked corridor.”Later, he added: “The bridge itself will create a new way for people coming down from Miller Avenue to get to Highway 101 and regional-serving businesses on Highway 152.”In addition to a new 10th Street bridge over Uvas Creek, other major items in the multi-million dollar project—funded through developer fees paid into the city’s traffic impact fund—include two new roundabouts along 10th Street, one at Uvas Creek and the other at Orchard; the re-routing of the levee trail to accommodate the new bridge and allow trail users to pass under the new 10th Street roadway; two new airport-style drop-off zones along 10th Street at Gilroy High; and a center median that keeps cars and pedestrians from crossing the roadway.The 10th street project has been under consideration for a long time. Councilmember Cat Tucker recalls discussing some variation of it in the early aughts during General Plan 2020 meetings.“We know that something has to be done,” Tucker said, but she still has reservations about some aspects of the design, which was last presented to the council in February at a special joint session with Gilroy Unified School District.At that meeting, Tucker and others expressed safety concerns about pedestrians and students walking to Gilroy High under the new 10th Street extension at Uvas creek.Called a “breezeway” by Gilroy Public Works staff, because it is open at top, the pathway has also been called, somewhat derisively, a tunnel.“My main question is, why create a tunnel?” said Tucker, recalling her days growing up in Los Angeles where she had to venture through graffiti-laden pedestrian tunnels.David Stubchaer, senior engineer and operations manager for the city, told the council that after hearing those concerns at the February meeting, the design was amended and the pathway in question was widened to 23 feet. The overhead clearance, he said, was about 10 feet—or enough to ride a bicycle standing up and not hit your head. There will also be graded skylights, he said.Tucker said she intends to keep an eye on the plan going forward and attend public meetings that are scheduled as the consultation process continues.“This is not going to be taken lightly,” said Tucker. “People from all over the city need to be aware of this, not just those who live near [10th Street].”Councilmember Roland Velasco said he wanted residents who lived off 10th Street by Gilroy High School to be consulted.“I want to ensure they are aware of the project and there is reasonable accommodation made for them to get in and out,” he said.To keep pedestrians and motorists from illegally crossing 10th Street, a divider (in this design, a wrought iron fence) will run along the median.Councilman Daniel Harney was concerned about emergency responders who would not be able to cross.“The length between the areas where you can make a U-turn is really long. How long will it take emergency responders to make a U-turn to make the call?” he asked.While Harney worried the stretch of 10th Street in question would become a speedway, he liked the two new drop-off zones planned for Gilroy High School.“Using the same approach as airports use for drop-offs is good,” he said.Public works staff said they are in the process of firming up a community outreach schedule.“It will take as long as it takes for us and the council to ensure that the bridge is being designed adequately,” said director of public works, Rick Smelser. “We don’t want to rush this.”Overall, change is coming.“It is a different street today from what it was in 1975,” said Woodward, who lived off 10th Street for a while when he was a boy. “Just as it will be different in 2035 from what it was in 2016.“The future is going to be very different,” he added.

“I wanted to learn something new,” said Linda Mitchell, a Gilroy resident who has been volunteering with Child Advocates of Silicon Valley for 10 years. The group recruits, trains and supports Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASAs) in the region.

The company billed as owning the largest chain of indoor water parks in the world is in talks with Gilroy about building one of its popular family resorts at the city-owned Gilroy Gardens.

With a record number of students expected to swell Gilroy classrooms this year, school officials this week launched a citywide poster campaign aimed at getting every one of them to show up on the first day of classes, Aug. 16.“What we typically see is 95 to 96 percent show up on the first day. Three to four percent don’t show up till the second week of school,” said Gilroy Unified School District Superintendent Debbie Flores.“That impacts the child, what they have already missed. So we are really urging parents to send their children to school next Tuesday so they can get everything that is covered in that week and not be behind,” she said, adding, “what we’d really like to see is every student in school the first day.”The district also loses about $40 per day per student in state funding when students miss school.The attendance posters will be displayed in storefronts, on school grounds and elsewhere around the city, according to Flores.The GUSD student population this year is projected to exceed 11,500 and could reach 11,600. That’s more than ever before, and within five to seven years the number is expected to be 12,000, Flores said.The growth is being pushed by new housing developments in western and southern Gilroy, mostly in the areas served by Gilroy High School, Solorsano Middle School and Las Animas, Luigi Aprea, Rod Kelley and Glen View elementary schools.And with home construction by the hundreds continuing apace in new subdivisions along Hecker Pass Highway and Santa Teresa Boulevard, student numbers will continue to swell, underscoring the need to increase classroom capacity for those neighborhoods, Flores said.Those increases will come by way of a planned new elementary school, the top priority for the $170 million school bond measure approved June 7 by voters, and an expansion at Gilroy High School. Solorsano has room for 200 to 300 more students, according to Flores, and a new wing built at Las Animas School will help absorb the influx of new students.For the coming session, GUSD hired four new principals and assigned an interim principal at Mt. Madonna High School. New principals will serve at South Valley and Brownell middle schools and Luigi Aprea and Rod Kelley elementary schools.It’s the largest number of new principals she’s hired since starting in the district in 2007, Flores said.“I am very excited, they are going to do a great job,” she said.GUSD also hired 85 new teachers, up from last year’s 80, for a total of about 550. Some were hired to bolster the special education program, but most will replace teachers who retired or moved away.Also, 25 new hires were made in the classified employee ranks, which includes janitorial and clerical staff, and in the paraprofessional staff, who work in classrooms.Classes start at GUSD’s 15 campuses on Tuesday, Aug. 16.In addition to GUSD’s regular public schools, student numbers are up at Gilroy Prep School, the district’s successful charter school that operates under the Navigator Schools banner, where classes start Wednesday, Aug. 17.With the addition of a 7th grade to the previous K-6 range, the student population at GPS is at 480. The school adds a grade each year and is exploring high school grades in the future.GPS also added two new classrooms for the new grade and hired four new teachers to add to its roster of two teachers and two small-group instructors per grade.This year also sees the addition of a “robust enrichment” program that includes art, Spanish and LegoRobotics instruction, according to Kirsten Carr, director of community outreach for Navigator, with also operates Hollister Prep School in that city.Navigator also has a new CEO, Kevin Sved. Founding CEO James Dent is the schools’ new chief academic officer.“Our ability to focus on teacher coaching and professional development will only continue to grow and strengthen,” Carr said in an email. “That intense coaching leads to even stronger academic support for the classroom and success for our students.” Navigator’s test scores consistently are among the highest in the state.

Running around doing errands or shopping, it’s no surprise that we tend to concentrate on our own agenda. We might be making mental notes: “Okay, I need to buy a wine red dress for the party.I need to get these black heels for the dance.” And while this focus is good, it’s easy to undervalue the retail workers who help us out with everything from the red dress to the black heels.Walking around the outlets this week, I tried to give these employees a little more attention and praise.After browsing around one store, I went to the counter and was greeted by Kimberly Bernardo. Bernardo, 17, is a high school senior who works at De Colores, an all girls’ clothing store.She laughed when I asked her how much she spends on clothes. “I narrowed it down because I usually would go out of control with my shopping sprees, so now I spend about $100 per month,” she says. Her fashion inspiration is Vanessa Hudgens, who is known for getting a lot of her clothing from Urban Outfitters. Urban Outfitters happens to be Bernardo’s favorite store, and not just because of Vanessa Hudgens. Bernardo likes the store’s good clothing materials and hip fashion selection.Forever 21, is trendy fashion hub for young women. Refolding a mountain of T-shirts, I saw fashionably dressed employee, Karly Heredia, at Forever 21.Heredia, 22, must be in the right place, because she gets to work at her favorite store. She spends about $300 a month on clothes, and especially likes thrift shopping for anything that’s different. Like Bernardo, her fashion inspiration is the beautiful Vanessa Hudgens.

Be sure to catch some great rock, blues and country tunes at The Mike Osborn Band’s District Theater performance on Friday, Aug. 12.