THE LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE OF MORGAN HILL, GILROY & SAN MARTIN
MARCH 30, 2018
South Valley Magazine inside this issue
Timeless Galaxy
A supplement to the Gilroy Dispatch & Morgan Hill Times
Fans to Meet Sci-fi Artist at BookSmart
OUT & ABOUT CALENDAR OF EVENTS
SEEKER’S VISION P8 | BLACK DIAMOND MINES P12 | MEALY BUGS P16
South Valley Magazine INSIDE THIS ISSUE
THIS WEEK: St. Josephs puts gifts under the tree
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Friday, March 30, 2018
THE LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE OF SAN BENITO COUNTY
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San Benito Magazine inside this issue Local film festival grows toSan Benito Magazine INSIDE THIS ISSUE two cities UT & ABO R OF NDA CALE TS EVEN
A supplement to the Hollister Free Lance | March 30, 2018
OUT
Sassy Trio
Folksy Sisters Sing at the Aromas Grange
SEEKER’S VISION P8 | BLACK DIAMOND MINES P12 | MEALY BUGS P16
THIS WEEK: Poppy Jasper screens Luis Valdez’s ‘Ceasar’s Last Fast’
ATTENDANCE GOALS ARE TRIPLE THE BEST YEAR OF POPPY JASPER Bryce Stoepfel Reporter
Scott Hinrichs
For the first time in its 14-year history, the Poppy Jasper International Film Festival has added a second location, expanding into two buildings in downtown Gilroy. The Granada Theater, the Morgan Hill Community Playhouse and the Grange Hall in Morgan Hill, will continue to host the bulk of the four-day festival. Festival President Mattie Scariot is hoping for significant attendance increases from the expansion of the venues for the April 5-8 event. Her goal of 3,000 tickets is three times the previous festival high of 1,000 tickets in the 2004 inaugural year. The increased ticket sales could be a boost for local downtown restaurants and bars in downtown Morgan Hill and Gilroy. “We expect the festival to have a big impact on local restaurants,” Scariot said. “We will not serve food at the event, so people will need to go out for
CLEAN FUN No puddle goes unsplashed for Yelmar Acosta, 3, and mom Yelzy Soberanis during San Martin’s March Trash Bash.
Citizens pick up tons SAN MARTIN WHIPS ITSELF INTO SHAPE WITH SECOND TRASH BASH By Debra Eskinazi Magazine and Features Editor
➝ Poppy Jasper, 2
The community of San Martin held a citywide cleanup Saturday, March 24—the second of its kind since the small unincorporated town of 7,800 added a chamber of commerce in August 2017. The County of Santa Clara acknowledged San Martin with a ribbon cutting ceremony Saturday morning—honoring its Trash Bash as an ongoing community event. Connie Ludewig, San Martin
Chamber of Commerce membership chair, said the group of more that 85 volunteers gathered from local schools and organizations collected 4,000 pounds of trash including soiled baby diapers, a dead goat in a bag, and an undelivered package that was taken to the San Martin post office. Ludewig praised the efforts of the community for all the people who showed their support for “The Jewel of South County—to protect our history, environment, and rural neighborhoods.” With the rains clear for much of the morning, the organizers were delighted with the energy of the crowd and the people who showed up to contribute. “It warms my heart to know that
there were community-minded folks from as far as San Jose, to San Juan Bautista who showed up, and collected at least two tons of trash from the San Martin roads and creeks,” said Ludewig. Trina Hineser president of the San Martin Neighborhood Alliance and community liaison for the San Martin Chamber of Commerce, said the community is passionate about efforts because San Martin has long been viewed as a dumping zone and residents are working hard to rebrand themselves as “The Jewel of South County.” “Being active to beautify our area is one way the community is coming together to do that,” Hineser said. “We’ve seen the
county step up and acknowledge the work we are doing. We’ve seen code enforcement more proactively addressing the concerns in our community.” Hineser said since the development of neighborhood alliance and the chamber, plus regular town hall meetings, the residents are more dedicated and energetic about their community. By being proactive and providing information ahead of time and getting community involvement and offering solutions together, Hineser hopes to build a stronger community. “We are gaining momentum and each time one more person is willing to pick something up,” Hineser said.
Chlorine gas held neighborhood hostage HAZ MAT TEAMS CONTAIN THREAT, DILUTE GAS, NO INJURIES By Barry Holtzclaw Managing Editor
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Hundreds of apartments and homes in central Gilroy experienced a tense four hours on March 23, as hazardous materials
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crews contained a potentially deadly chlorine gas incident. City firefighters said that a maintenance worker at the Bellagio Villas Apartments, 1129 Montebello Drive, miraculously escaped injury when the apartment complex pool house filled with chlorine gas. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health describes the gas as a “chemical
warfare choking agent.” It was used in the trench warfare of World War I. Gilroy Division Fire Chief Jim Wyatt, the incident commander, said that about 10:30am the maintenance worker was pouring 14 gallons of chlorine into a filtering system dispenser inside a pool house next to the outdoor pool in the center of several apartment structures.
The man said he thought he was pouring water into the dispenser from a old plastic juice jug to dilute the pool chemical. Instead, the jug contained concentrated muriatic acid, which is 1used as a cleaner. There was an instant chemical reaction, and a noxious greenishyellow gas bubbled up from the ➝ Chlorine, 11
Summer Explorers Pre-K – Grade 2 May 29 – August 10
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