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Friday, October 6, 2017
gilroydispatch.com • Vol. 150, No. 40 • $1
BUSINESS: Machine makes mammograms more manageable P4 LOCAL SCENE
Majority of students fall below California standards
Great Wolf, big mystery
More than Pink at Outlets The Gilroy Premium Outlets are going More Than Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, in October. The marketplace has partnered with Susan G. Komen for the second year in a row to raise funds and awareness for the cause and to reduce breast cancer deaths by 50 percent in the next 10 years. In order to raise funds and awareness, activities throughout the month include $10 Discount Cards will be sold providing 25 percent off one item at participating retailers, including kate spade new york, True Religion, Kay Jewelers Outlet and Abercrombie & Fitch. All proceeds from the sale of Discount Cards go to Susan G. Komen. For every donation of $10 or more, shoppers will receive a More Than Pink reusable tote, water bottle, and scarf while supplies last. Simon is offering a Susan G. Komen Visa Simon Gift Card. For every Gift Card purchased, Simon will donate $1 towards Susan G. Komen.
SOME QUESTION TEST’S VALIDITY By Brad Kava Editor
acorns provide an important food resource for squirrels, deer, wild turkeys, crows and racoons, among dozens of other species that enjoy the favorite food of cartoon chipmunks, Chip and Dale. “No they don’t have a negative impact,” Smith said. “It’s more of a nuisance cleaning them. There will be more oak trees popping up everywhere. It will increase the amount of wildlife that comes to properties to munch on the acorns.
Only 40 percent of the students in the Gilroy Unified School District meet or surpass state standards in math and 48 percent in English, according to a statewide report released this week of 2017 test scores. These are above state results in math, which are a dismal 38 percent passing and slightly below the state results in English, which are 49 percent meeting or above state standards. In Gilroy 5,943 students in grades 3 through 8 and grade 11 submitted tests in English and 5,956 in math. The results showed little improvement from the previous year, in which 60 percent of Gilroy’s students were below the state standard in math and 52 percent in English. The California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress, CAASPP, is in its third year of use. It replaced the long-used STAR test and is based on the state’s Common Core Standards. Numbers for Hispanic students, who comprise 80 percent of the district, showed no improvement. In English, 60 percent fell below state standards and 68 percent were below in math this year. Last year 59 percent were below in English and 69 percent in math. “Overall, the 2017 scores leveled off, after substantial growth in 2016 in both English Language Arts and mathematics,” said GUSD Superintendent Debbie Flores. “This trend was seen across the county, as well as statewide. We are taking proactive steps to improve our students’ performance on the state tests. This includes continuing to focus our efforts on the adoption of Common Core aligned materials in English Language Arts and Mathematics at all levels, as well as ongoing professional development for teachers.” There were also big
➝ Acorn, 16
➝ Schools, 14
Rare and Artful Bibles on Display for a day
Contibuted
The Gilroy Museum at 195 Fifth St. is hosting a special viewing of the Kitaji Bibles Saturday Oct. 21 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.. These are translations of the Bible into Japanese, colorfully illustrated by Captain Kitaji of the Salvation Army in the 1920s through 50s. He was the caretaker of Gilroy Hot Springs. Scholars have compared these volumes to the calligraphy of the medieval monks. The two-volume set is being donated to the “Japanese and Japanese American Diaspora Project” at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, but are making a special appearance in Gilroy first. They are said to be “the most significant artifact associated with Gilroy Yamato Hot Springs” because of the near 30 years Captain Kitaji lived there while working on the Bibles.
LODGE FEEL Great Wolf ’s outpost in the Poconos Mountains fits in with the rural feel.
NO ONE SURE YET ON FUTURE OF RESORT PROPOSAL By Bryce Stoepfel and Brad Kava
As of Wednesday, a deal between the Gilroy and Great Wolf Lodge had slipped away. Or did it? On Monday councilman Fred
Get Those Applications in
THE LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE OF MORGAN HILL, GILROY & SAN MARTIN
OCTOBER 6, 2017
OU T & AB OU T OF NDAR CA LE EN TS EV
A section of the Gilroy Dispatch & Morgan Hill Times
Mount Um Inside this issue: Mt. Umunhum
want,” he said. “They are making a business decision to find a place where they can break ground immediately. “We remain hopeful that Gilroy will be selected as a site down the road. We need to remain hopeful because the tax revenue would provide a lot of funds to the city to hire more police, fire, and do road repairs. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for the future that this city, but this city council probably won’t see it. It’s a long term project.” But Tuesday, the city council announced it would meet with an attorney from Great Wolf Lodge in a closed-door session at city hall on Wednesday night. And the city manager of Manteca said his city hadn’t been ➝ Great Wolf, 12
Plop, crack, plop, plop, plop By Bryce Stoepfel
LUTHERANISM P8 | FALL BREWS P15 | REALTOR TREVOR DIRESTA P16
58015 02001
EMPTY SPACE The land that could house a resort is now mostly empty.
OAK TREES GO NUTS WITH A BUMPER CROP OF ACORNS
Spectacular landmark reopens
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Brad Kava
Gilroy’s Rotary Club is accepting applications for its annual charity giving program. Last year Gilroy Rotary’s Charitable Giving program distributed over $44,000 to local agencies and programs. Since Gilroy Rotary began its program in 1991, local Rotarians have distributed over $743,000. Gilroy Rotary is a volunteer organization, comprised
Tovar posted that the resort was choosing Manteca over Gilroy, but Tuesday he removed the post. In private conversations this week, council members who had been negotiating with the resort in private sessions, said they thought the waterpark and hotel chain preferred a more shovel-ready site and Manteca had been working for a decade to prepare one. Gilroy would have to go through months of work and environmental review. At Monday’s city council meeting Mayor Roland Velasco seemed to indicate the current deal was off the table but they could be talking in the future. “As the community knows the exclusivity period between Gilroy and Great Wolf Lodge has expired and they have indicated that they will be exploring other possible locations that fit what they
Reporter
Squirrels rejoice! It's a bumper crop of acorns this year and besides the delight of these fuzzy, tree climbing varmints, the good news is that they do not harm lawns and have little impact except for the nuisance of cleaning up after them.
“Because of the weather there are a lot more acorns this year,” said Moki Smith, an arborist with Morgan Hill Tree Service. “Acorns are seeds of oak trees and those trees are monoecious, so they have both the male and female reproductive organs, which means they pollinate themselves. That process depends on the trees, weather patterns and available resources. If that process gets interrupted or altered, that can reduce or accelerate the acorn yield.” While they can be annoying,
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