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Friday, February 16, 2018
gilroydispatch.com • Vol. 151, No. 7 • $1
BUSINESS: Performance Foods moving to Gilroy P13
Low rainfall falls short of drought designation RESERVOIR LEVELS ARE FALLING By Barry Holtzclaw Managing Editor
This may be great weather for weekend fun, but a continued lack of rainfall has state and federal officials worried about a return of drought conditions, after two wet winters. It hasn’t rained a drop here for more than a month, and none is forecast for the rest of the month. In Hollister, rainfall this winter is less than half the October-February average—about 4 inches since Oct. 1. In Gilroy and Morgan Hill, less than 4 inches of rain has been recorded since Oct.1, which is barely 25 percent of the normal rainfall for the South County. Federal officials this week reported that “abnormal dryness or drought’ Submitted
➝ Drought, 2
VALENTINE’S LOVERS Alyssa Sutton wrote a winning tribute to her love for her husband Levi, shown here in wedding photo.
Their love radiates
THE LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE OF MORGAN HILL, GILROY & SAN MARTIN
FEBRUARY 16, 2018
OU T & AB OU T CA LE ND EV EN AR OF TS
FIRST DATE WAS A FERRIS WHEEL
A supplement to the Gilroy Dispatch & Morgan Hill Times
A story of talent and ambition
Saintjohn Ward
Staff Report
WINE PASSPORT P12 | ALMOST, MAINE P13
Inside this issue: Gilroy’s R&B singer Vashoun Stjon
The Gilroy Downtown Business Association announced winners of its second annual “Downtown is for Lovers” essay contest and promotion. Alyssa Sutton wrote the winning essay about her continuing romance with husband Levi. The winner was selected by judges at the Gilroy
Dispatch from multiple entries. The couple won a gift basket donated by an assortment of downtown Gilroy businesses, with items including gift cards, services and products. Rack cards highlighting all the offers and specials at downtown businesses were distributed throughout the community. Participating businesses include: Garlic City Mercantile, Old City Hall, Los Pericos, itty bitty Beauty Boutique, Amoretto
Boutique, Shag Beauty Bar, Studio Three, Station 55, FACT Fitness, Limelight Actors Theater, Leedo Art and Frame, Robot Shark, BookBuyers, Café 152 Bread Co., Kutz and Colors, Predators Archery, Frank’s Barber Shop, Gilroy Vacuum Center and Nimble Thimble. Here is the winning essay: “We fell head over heels for each other the first day we laid eyes on each other. We had our first date at the
Santa Cruz beach boardwalk. We spent that first date holding hands and kissing on the Ferris wheel. Ever since that day we haven’t gone a day without talking to each other. Even with our hectic work lives we still make time to add to our love story. He spends his days on a firetruck, I spend mine answering 911 calls. We may only get to see each other once or twice a week sometimes, but those days are the best days of my life. We bought
our first house together here in this amazing garlic city. We love spending out nights together at our favorite restaurants and shops in town. We love going on bike rides to get ice cream or just enjoy the daylight together. We’re newlyweds that argue like an old couple, but we are also newlyweds that love like an old married couple. We share our love and hope our love we have for each other can radiate to everyone around us.”
New math building is on a fast track OLDER HIGH SCHOOL RECEIVES MAJOR UPGRADES Scott Forstner Reporter
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In a concerted effort to capture equity among its two high school facilities as well as expand capacity for a growing population, Gilroy district officials have earmarked $14.5 million for a new two-story, 20-classroom mathematics building on its Gilroy High School campus.
The new quad project is well underway, with the foundation nearing completion on the back side of campus and the prefabricated modular building arriving later this month. It is the latest in a series of upgrades to the 750 W. 10th Street campus that represents district leadership’s continuing efforts to upgrade the 1978 Gilroy campus, on par with Christopher High School, built in 2009. An earlier facelift at Gilroy High occurred in 2012. “This is one that is very dear to my heart. We’ve been working
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on this for some time,” said Gilroy Unified School District Supt. Deborah Flores, who is also part of the facilities subcommittee that made the recommendation for the new math building. “We made a commitment to do everything we could at Gilroy High School to make it look like a new building. It’s a beautiful campus now,” she said. The total cost is funded in part by Measure E ($4.7 million), proceeds from the sale of the Wren Avenue property ($8.3 million) and developer fees ($1.5
million), according to Assistant Supt. Alvaro Meza. For more than two years, the facilities committee members, which also includes Meza, three school board trustees and other district staff, evaluated whether to add seven new portables to the 13 existing ones in the math quad or purchase a permanent structure. The move was essential to accommodate an estimated growth of 2,000 students in the Gilroy High School ➝ GHS, 18
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