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A two-year transitional housing facility helping veterans to get back on their feet will have its official grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony at 11 a.m. Thursday in San Jose. In attendance will be Santa Clara County District 3 Supervisor Dave Cortese, San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed and CEO Irvin Goodwin of the Veterans Housing Facility.

The Santa Clara County Clerk Recorder’s office continues to see a growing demand for marriage licenses following last month’s court rulings that upheld same-sex unions in California, as the office issued more licenses Friday than any other day in County history, according to County staff.

Multiple charges

Santa Clara County Farm Bureau launches Facebook and Twitter accounts

Believing that good wine and good parenting go hand-in-hand, a local winery owner and busy mother of two has written a book that pairs the perfect wine for every parenting milestone, such as an earthy Burgundy to relax with following a messy "diaper blow-out."

The best of Morgan Hill and South County are on display at this year’s 2nd Annual Discover Morgan Hill Road Rally and Poker Fun Run, Saturday, July 13, 2013, hosted by the Morgan Hill Community Foundation. The Road Rally showcases the multiple and varied places that make South Santa Clara County such an attractive area for businesses, residents and local tourists.

Police throughout Santa Clara County reported Sunday they arrested 95 drunken driving suspects on the roads during Independence Day and the post-holiday weekend. Officers from 13 law enforcement agencies throughout the county made the arrests between Wednesday and Sunday night as part of the annual “Avoid the 13” holiday DUI crackdown, according to Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Deputy Kurtis Stenderup. With the use of grant funds from the state and federal government, county police agencies during the DUI campaign use saturation patrols and DUI checkpoints during holiday weekends and other times when a higher-than-usual volume of motorists are on the roads, according to police. Funding for the Avoid the 13 campaign is provided by the California Office of Traffic Safety and the National Highway Traffic Administration, police said. Anyone may call 911 to report suspected impaired motorists. 

South County fire and EMS personnel responded to at least two vegetation fires July 4 that were likely ignited by unauthorized celebratory fireworks, but for the most part the Independence Day holiday didn't see any significant local fire or medical emergencies, according to authorities. CalFire responded to two grass fires near Morgan Hill Thursday night, according to CalFire Battalion Chief Brandon Leitzke. One of the fires was just off the U.S. 101 north of Morgan Hill, near the Coyote Creek Golf Course, Leitzke said. That fire burned less than an acre of grass and vegetation. Crews also responded to a grass fire on Murphy Springs Drive in northwest Morgan Hill, which burned about an acre of vegetation before it was extinguished, Leitzke said. Both fires were caused by residents setting off “illegal fireworks,” but neither blaze resulted in significant damage or any injuries, Leitzke said. The City of Morgan Hill prohibits the display of fireworks, except in public displays that are authorized, permitted, and supervised by the fire chief, according to the City's municipal code. In Gilroy, where quieter so-called “safe and sane” fireworks are permitted for sale and display only during the Independence Day holiday, crews did not respond to any calls related to fireworks, according to Gilroy Fire Division Chief Colin Martin. That's not to say there was any shortage of celebration - “You could hear (fireworks) everywhere,” Martin said, but the revelry incited no unusual need for emergency services. “It was uneventful, which is good,” Martin said.

The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office is reporting a “significant number” of DUI arrests made yesterday as a result of local routine traffic enforcement and special Avoid the 13 deployments throughout the county.