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GILROY—The Christopher volleyball team made the move to the Monterey Bay League’s tough Gabilan Division last season, joining powerhouse teams such as Salinas, San Benito and Notre Dame. The perennial favorites took the top three spots, but the Cougars proved they deserved to be there, too and finished fourth in the division with a 14-18 overall record. Now that it has a year of experience under its belt, Christopher is looking to infiltrate the top three.

FARGO, N.D.—The Gilroy High wrestling program has a storied history of producing elite athletes. The Mustangs have sent several wrestlers to the Asics/Vaughan Cadet and Junior Nationals tournament in Fargo, N.D. before, but none have ever won it—until now.

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,

Congratulations to the newest executive board members of San Martin 4-H. From President to Activities Leader, they all have taken their time to make sure that the best is better. This includes making sure the meetings are in order, organizing events and creating a fun environment for everyone to enjoy. If you are interested in joining the club, these members will be happy to show you the way. So in the spirit of four leaf clovers, good luck to them all!For more information on how to sign up for San Martin 4-H come to our enrollment night 6 p.m. Thursday Sept. 4 at the San Martin Lion's Club, 12415 Murphy Ave., San Martin. Or contact our Community Club Leader, Michelle Tercero at (408) 315-6998.

On Sept. 5, Christopher High School will unveil its largest “classroom” on campus.

A five-story apartment complex and the tallest building in the Garlic Capital—proposed to be 58 feet tall—is coming to downtown as soon as summer of 2016. The 263-unit affordable housing complex, developed by Idaho-based multifamily housing group Pacific Companies, is scheduled for construction on the southwest corner of 10th and Alexander streets.

With the ongoing drought forcing political boards at every level across the state to enact conservation measures, south San Jose resident Tom Cruz—one of two candidates for the expiring District 1 executive director seat for the Santa Clara Valley Water District—wants to make “aging pipeline infrastructure repair a priority.”“The community is already making personal sacrifices and the water retailers are enhancing their conservation rebates,” said Cruz, a 48-year-old Santa Clara County employee. “In fact, the residents of Morgan Hill have benefited significantly from the aggressive efforts the City has implemented.”The City of Morgan Hill is close to reaching the SCVWD’s mandatory conservation measure of a 20 percent water retention. The city council has restricted watering to certain days, and offered rebates for businesses and residents who install high-efficiency toilets, washers and irrigation equipment. Cruz wants the water district to help more, and he advocates cost-effective methods to contain pipeline water leakage in San Jose, Gilroy and Morgan Hill.Former Morgan Hill mayor Dennis Kennedy, 75, currently holds the District 1 director position—one he was appointed to in Jan. 2013 after then director Don Gage vacated it to return as mayor for the City of Gilroy. Kennedy initially offered to not seek election but now wants to keep his post and stay the course against the drought.“That’s the biggest issue that we have that we’re dealing with right now,” said Kennedy, reiterating the 20 percent water conservation target, specifically with Morgan Hill at 19.7 percent. “The Water District does an incredible job offering incentives so the public voluntarily achieves that goal.”SCVWD’s Board recently passed a $500,000 measure for the hiring of water conservation personnel—called water cops by some—whose job it will be to locate and educate blatant water-wasters throughout the area.Another drastic tactic taken by water officials with the support of its board was the cutting off of the county’s surface water users—who were freely tapping into an untreated water pipeline supply via the Central Valley’s San Luis Reservoir for agricultural and landscaping uses. That turnoff directly affected local farmers, most notably Andy’s Orchard owner Andy Mariani, who has since found a temporary water supply—thanks to neighbor George Chiala Farms—to get by at least until next season.“It’s been very tough and I’ve been right in the middle of it,” said Kennedy, who met with Mariani and helped set up several open forum meetings between water officials and surface water users. “I think it’s important for the director to facilitate those meetings and address concerns fairly for everyone.”In his candidate statement, Cruz—a 20-year resident in District 1—stressed the importance of fiscal responsibility to “ensure that the Water District uses the tax-payer funded budget conservatively, wisely and on programs that directly support the community members, businesses and agriculture in South County.”The son of a retired military veteran, Cruz attended college on a U.S. Air Force ROTC scholarship studying electrical engineering and physics. He worked independently as a licensed financial representative before turning to public service with the county, where he has been for the last seven years.“The community is experiencing one of the worst droughts in history,” Cruz wrote. “I will advocate for aggressive water conservation strategies, enhanced rebates to the community and focus on the need to increase the distribution of recycled water for residential landscaping, farmland and agriculture in South County.”The use of recycled water is something Kennedy has wholeheartedly supported during his tenure. He touted the grand opening of the Silicon Valley Advanced Water Purification Center, which takes wastewater that would otherwise be discharged into San Francisco Bay and purifies it by using three proven purification processes: microfiltration, reverse osmosis and ultraviolet light. The $72 million purification center produces up to 8 million gallons a day of highly purified water, according to water district reports.“State laws don’t allow you to drink it,” said Kennedy, but the registered mechanical engineer and former member of the board of directors for the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority drank a glass during the grand opening ceremony to “show how much I trust the process.”In Gilroy, Kennedy was just as proud of the South County Regional Wastewater Authority, which recycles nearly 25 percent of its sewage and wastewater intake. The reclaimed product is used to water golf courses such as Eagle Ridge, large-scale landscaping, the Calpine power plant at Gilroy Foods and even laundry facilities.“That facility has the capacity to recycle over 100 percent of its water waste,” Kennedy said.This is Kennedy’s first water board election, but he was elected five times as mayor of Morgan Hill, where he served from 1992 to 2006. Kennedy believes being director on the water board is well-suited for his skill set.“It’s something that evolved over time,” said Kennedy, a former facilities and engineering manager with IBM. “More and more as I got into it and learned more about what the district does, I just felt this was a perfect fit.”

The Gilroy Chamber of Commerce's Board of Directors voted Tuesday night to oppose the half-cent general-purpose sales tax measure in a 9-1 vote, according to Chamber CEO and President Mark Turner. The City Council voted Aug. 4 to place the measure on the ballot.

It was a warm and unusually windy Sunday afternoon in Morgan Hill when I spoke with third-generation winemaker George E. Guglielmo. We sat at a picnic table outside the winery, catching napkins that kept taking flight and clutching our wine glasses for fear the wind would soon claim them.

Gavilan College hopes to be one of 15 community colleges allowed to offer bachelor’s degrees as early as January 2015, after the California Legislature’s Aug. 20 approval of Senate Bill 850.The bill, which is awaiting the signature of Governor Jerry Brown, would establish a baccalaureate degree pilot program with 15 community colleges offering bachelor’s degrees in select workforce majors, according to a press release from the San Diego Community College District.“At this point we do not know which colleges will be participating or what the (selection) process will look like,” Gavilan spokesperson Jan Bernstein-Chargin said.California Community Colleges is the largest higher education system in the nation with 72 districts and 112 colleges, serving more than 2.6 million students, according to the CCC Registry.Chargin added that changes to the state’s master plan for higher education must be approved first, and then an implementation plan can be established for the community college system.“It’s definitely something we’re very interested in,” said Gavilan President Steve Kinsella back in February when the bill was introduced by State Senator Marty Block (D-San Diego). “I think it will happen. It needs to happen.”If approved California would join 21 other states already allowing community colleges to grant bachelor’s programs. Brown has until Sept. 30 to act on the bill. “Unlike previous bills, however, SB 850 enjoys bipartisan support and is widely touted as a way for the state to address its need to be competitive in areas of high workforce demand,” the release states.There have been four failed attempts since 2004 to pass a similar bill granting community colleges permission to offer bachelor’s degrees, according to an EdSource report. That same report says the proposal faces likely opposition from CSU, UC and even some corners of the community college system.Stipulations to SB 850 include community colleges can only offer bachelor’s degrees in areas where public universities do not offer such a program, cannot accommodate student demand, or do not have the interest. Such workforce programs include dental hygiene, radiologic technology, health information science/informatics and automotive technology.“The California pilot will allow the legislature to explore this possibility and study the results in a thorough report before making a full commitment that the other states have made,” the release reads.