ESTABLISHED 1868
A New SV Media publication
Friday, September 15, 2017
gilroydispatch.com • Vol. 150, No. 37 • $1
Neighbors complain about new affordable housing project
LOCAL SCENE Jazzy Night The Gavilan College Jazz Festival is one of the top local music events of the year. This year’s version features the Gilroy High School Jazz Band, the San Jose State University Latin Jazz Band, the Dahveed Behroozi Quartet, and Primary Colors. Each group will perform a 25 minute set. The festival will be held at the Gavilan College Theater at 5055 Santa Teresa Boulevard Sept. 30 at 2 p.m. Festival goers will also be able to purchase items from the Gavilan College Art Department and refreshments. Ticket holders will also get discounts at three restaurants in downtown Gilroy when they show their ticket. Old City Hall will offer buy one entree, get another entree for half price, equal or lesser value. Bella Viva Wine Bar will be offering half priced bottles of select Italian wines with the purchase of a pizza or salad. Milias Restaurant will offer 10 percent off any dinner entree (one per valid ticket stub) or buy one, get one free dinner appetizer of equal or lesser value (with the exclusion of lamb chops, oysters and grilled avocado). Tickets are $15 and $10 for students and seniors. Tickets can be purchased at brownpapertickets.com, the Gavilan College Bookstore, Booksmart in Morgan Hill, the Gavilan College sites in Morgan Hill and Hollister, and at the door. For more information call (408) 848-4882.
Reporter
firefighter who was injured, six others were treated for cases of poison oak. GFD Division Chief Chris Weber was on the scene in six minutes and 58 seconds after the first call came in during Labor Day weekend. Engine 48 out of the Las Animas Station followed within a minute of Weber. “This was a challenge for us because we are also battling other incidents in the state, so our county
About 100 Gilroyans bit into the details of the new Alexander Station affordable housing project on 10th Street and they choked on the idea that the 262-unit complex has enough parking. “They way underestimated the parking and I suspect that this is going to need at least twice the amount of parking they have,” said resident Carl Pratt at the Chamber of Commerce Government Relations Meeting at Old City Hall last week. “The apartments are for people with lower incomes, so you'll probably have a couple of people working. Therefore there’s going to be two cars at least. If they only have 1.7 cars per apartment you know there’s going to be overflow and there’s no place to put it.” They also worried that there will be more students living there than the 70 estimated by the builder and the Gilroy Unified School District. “My biggest concern at this point is the amount of population in relations to the school district and I think the parking will be a nightmare,” said Lisa Faria, the Chairperson of the Board of the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce and a local realtor. It’s been no secret that many in Gilroy haven't been fans of the Alexander Station project. They think it’s too big; that there would be people bussed in from Oakland and it would take up too much city resources. With 800 to 1000 expected residents, developer US Residential will have 1.7 parking spaces per unit. For the majority of people at the meeting, this number felt woefully inadequate. Alexander Street, which is also shared with International Paper, will close parking on one side to accommodate semi-truck traffic. US Residential has not yet
➝ Fire Update, 12
➝ Alexander Station, 2
Contributed
The Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve is holding a free open house Saturday, Sept. 23 to kick off National Estuaries Week with events and activities. Enjoy guided walks and chat with scientists and ecological experts, get your hands dirty with land stewardship team, paint your face or some wetland wildlife, embark on a scavenger hunt, or magnify the weird and wonderful wildlife in a drop of slough water at the microscope lab. Activities and presentations are scheduled from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will be local vendors selling fresh tacos, burritos and beverages. Since the official designation of National Estuaries Week in 1988, dozens of sites throughout the coastal United States have hosted gatherings, field trips, events, and seminars to celebrate the extraordinary richness of the nation’s estuaries and the National Estuarine Research Reserve system.
SEPTEMBER 15, 2017
T OUT & ABOU OF CALE NDAR EVEN TS
Radio Fry America How Gliroy’s KFAT revolutionized broadcasting
PASTA MAKING P8 | EAST INDIAN DIET P19 | FOLLIES P20
Inside this issue: Legacy of KFAT
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A trend for Zen GILROY BUSINESS OFFERS PATHS TO PEACE, TRANQUILITY, MINDFULNESS By Bryce Stoepfel Reporter
Within minutes, the mind wanders off to distant forests and worries melt away, if only for a while. Dawn Culp at The Zen Room, may have the cure for the work-a-day blues. And for a reasonable price too. “My services are all designed for people to find that really quiet space inside of themselves,” Culp,44, said of helping her customers find peace of mind away from the hustle of modern day society. “People often tell me after a group meditation that they haven’t slept that well in a long time.”
For Culp, opening her business two years ago was a leap of faith. Many would consider Gilroy to be a little too small, and perhaps a bit too straight laced for a meditation business to thrive. In referring to her customer base, Culp said you may be surprised who frequents The Zen Room. “I’m starting to see a lot more men come in here and say, ‘Hey, what do I have to lose?’” Culp said of some of the changing attitudes she has seen regarding meditation. “All it takes is a veteran, who has suffered horrible experiences, say in Afghanistan, who has terrible PTSD. They come in and they feel so much better. They come back every month and they come to the classes and the group classes. I've seen a lot of improvement in them
and they go back to their VA doctors and ask if they can incorporate meditation as part of the VA offerings that are covered.” Culp grew up in Los Gatos but later moved to San Jose to work in the tech industry. She moved to Gilroy with her husband about 14 years ago with the intent of staying for a couple of years as their home appreciated in value before they moved back to San Jose. Their plans would change. “We fell in love with Gilroy,” Culp said. “I was about as left brain as you could get without being an engineer. In about 2007 I started wondering if that was going to be what I wanted to do for the rest of my life and if that was ➝ Zen Room, 4
Bally fire contained a week later
THE LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE OF MORGAN HILL, GILROY & SAN MARTIN
A section of the Gilroy Dispatch & Morgan Hill Times
By Bryce Stoepfel
RELAX YOUR MIND Former Silicon Valley worker Dawn Culp opened The Zen Room, a business that works the other side of people’s brains, the one that brings contemplation, peace and relaxation and is the opposite of her previous career.
Kick it at the Estuary
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THEY HAVE MAJOR ISSUES WITH PARKING, SCHOOLS AND SECURITY
COST CLOSE TO $1 MILLION By Bryce Stoepfel Reporter
The Bally fire, which started Sept. 3, was 100 percent contained the following Monday at a cost of close to $1 million, according to Gilroy Fire Chief Alan Anderson. Police have since reported the blaze was set by four teens using illegal fireworks. The case has been referred to District Attorney Jeff Rosen’s office for prosecution.
“This was a significant event for us, being on a holiday weekend and during one of the hottest periods in Gilroy,” Chief Anderson told the city council Monday night. “It was 700 feet past Ballybunion Court, so that meant we couldn’t use our four-wheel drive apparatus and we had to have our firefighters hike up to the scene.” Further complicating the job was the steepness of the terrain, which precluded the use of bulldozers from most of the area around the fire. In addition to one
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GREATER THAN LAST YEAR!
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