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Friday, November 24, 2017
gilroydispatch.com • Vol. 150, No. 47 • $1
Hollister Gun Show obeys law, bans new firearms
LOCAL SCENE Music that Matters
Sign up for ‘Rock The Mic!’ auditions If you like pop, rock and rap music, you’ll love Gilroy Childrenís Musical Theaterís “Rock The Mic!” a highenergy youth pop concert. The 13-week program has after-school rehearsals on Thursdays for students 5-18. Auditions are 4:30pm to 7pm Nov. 30 with no experience required, and all who audition will be accepted. For more information, visit gilroychildrensmusicaltheater.com/ theater-auditions/
THE LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE OF MORGAN HILL, GILROY & SAN MARTIN
NOVEMBER 24, 2017
Toy
Drive A section of the Gilroy Dispatch & Morgan Hill Times
St. Joseph puts gifts under the tree
OUT &
ABOUT CAL END AR EVE NTS OF
PEOPLE DIDN’T WALK OUT WITH NEW GUNS, BUT HAD KITS TO BUILD THEM QUICKLY By Bryce Stoepfel Reporter
Brad Kava
On Tuesday, Dec. 5 at 8:45am, the South Valley Middle School Symphonic Band will be playing an outdoor performance for the Gilroy Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center on Murray Street. (Dec. 7 will be the alternate in case of rain). This will be it’s third year performing winter and holiday selections. During class time they walk down the street with their instruments and play a half hour long concert. Early Fraud Warnings The County of Santa Clara Social Services Agencies is warning the public about text messages and phone call scams targeting beneficiaries of CalWORKs, CalFresh, General Assistance, Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants and Medi-Cal. Text Message Scam: clients across the state report receiving text messages instructing them to call a number where an automated recording asks them to provide personal information including their EBT 16-digit card number and PIN. When the information is given, the perpetrators withdraw funds from the recipient’s Electronic Benefit accounts. Phone Call Scam: reports of callers identifying themselves as County staff or Health Care providers asking for personal information. The scammer is trying to obtain information in order to steal your identity. The County of Santa Clara will never text or call anyone requesting personal information such as an EBT card number or a Personal identification number (PIN). Keep your Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card number and Personal Identification Number (PIN) a secret. Never give out your social security number, EBT card number or PIN to anyone. If your benefits are stolen they cannot be replaced. To verify the authenticity of a call from a Santa Clara County Social Service employee,call 1-877-962-3633.
ROBOTIC RETURNS When you return a book now at the Gilroy Library’s transom, it goes through a robotic sorter that puts it into a basket to be sent back to the main library or to the shelves, ending the problems workers were having with carpal tunnel syndrome from sorting. Librarian Lani Yoshimura demonstrates.
Library has vision THEY STILL CHECK OUT PLENTY OF BOOKS, BUT ALSO HAVE DVDS, AUDIO FILES, COMPUTERS AND EVEN ROBOTS Bryce Stoepfel Reporter
You no longer need to shush in the Gilroy Public Library. Facing the movement to doing everything online, the 53,500 square foot downtown building has become a community hub, with dozens of computers, classes, robots, yes, robots, children’s activities that include reading to dogs, cats and rabbits and classes to build computers.
NEW AVIATION AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE COURSES BUFF UP SCHOOL THIS YEAR Bryce Stoepfel Reporter
Gavilan College President Kathleen Rose talked about new buildings and new programs for the 2017-2018 academic year at Gavilan College. 6
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Q: How have the reading habits of kids changed? A: Kids do absolutely still read. Kids aren’t watching as much television, but they are constantly on their phones or devices. Their hand-eye coordination is entirely different than adults and their brains seem to function in concert with their hands and their devices. Adults tend to do one thing at a time but kids are often doing ten things at a time. I've had some kids ask me what time it is and I point to the clock on the wall and they have no idea how to read it. They need it digitally. For kids to be able to interact
with their phones or computers, they need to know how to read. A lot of kids come here for the computer access because they don't have computers at home. We still see that as one of our main functions for the community is that we have computers available. When we first got computers and internet access at the old library, we used to have a man from the Dominican Republic come in who was usually depressed. One day asked him how he was doing and he expressed the wish to see a newspaper from his home country. We went online, dig a little digging and found a newspaper from his hometown. He was so happy and he would come in almost every day to get online. ➝ Library, 4
Gavilan looks to the future
CHRISTMAS TREES P19 | ROCCA’S MARKET P20 | REALTOR VAHLYA EDREDGE P23
Inside this issue: St. Joseph’s toy drive
Community Librarian Lani Yoshimura gave us a look behind the scenes.
Q: What’s new and exciting this year at Gavilan? A: We’ve made a lot of upgrades to our facilities in the last couple of years. We've made improvements to our student center, the business school and our administration building. To get new students acclimated quickly this year, when students go to the Welcome Center, they were met with an open space with laptops, peer mentors and a welcome committee that was there to answer questions.
When they asked a question about school, they were assisted as to where to go for financial aid, classes, counseling and everything else. Instead of just standing in a line, you can be dispatched to where you need to go, or you can go online or access your myGav portal. We didn't have any lines and that was pretty amazing. Now at the Student Center students can get to where they need to go much quicker. ➝ Gavilan, 10
There were AR-15s, ammo, gun safes, feminist and California secessionists who wish to split up the state at the Hollister Gun Fair held at Balado Park in Tres Pinos–but no customer walked out with a new gun. Some of the more than 200 people who gathered Saturday, however, left with historic collectable firearms and kits to build guns quickly. “I’m here to make sure people do things the right way,” said Blair Snyder the Chico dental technician who put on the show with a $10 admission. “Twenty years ago you could just walk in here and buy a gun. It’s not like that anymore and I think that’s a good thing. I don’t want to be part of a mentally ill person getting guns. You hope that the Department of Justice weeds them out.” Gun shows in California are required to adhere to the normal 10-day waiting period and gun buyers must have a Firearm Safety Certificate and pass a background check. Silencers and bump stocks, which are illegal in California, were not available. However, customers could walk out with vintage firearms such as a 1877 Colt .38 sold for $700 by Mike Ricci from Chico and 80 percent kits which can be used to build homemade guns. The San Francisco Chronicle reported on Sunday that Kevin Janson Neal, who massacred five people in Rancho Tehama on November 14, used two homebuilt semiautomatic rifles built from 80 percent kits, also known as “ghost guns” because they have no serial numbers. Despite the Assault Weapons Control Act of 1989 and a reputation for having restrictive gun control laws by gun control proponents, gun control advocates say 80 percent kits have exploited a loophole in the law. It is legal to build and ➝ Gun Show, 2
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