THE LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE OF MORGAN HILL, GILROY & SAN MARTIN
APRIL 13, 2018
South Valley Magazine inside this issue
OUT & ABOUT CALEND AR OF EVENTS
A supplement to the Gilroy Dispatch & Morgan Hill Times
Sandra McNeal honored for teen mentoring
Rock the Mock
South Valley Magazine INSIDE THIS ISSUE
THIS WEEK: St. Josephs puts gifts under the tree
ESTABLISHED 1868
A New SV Media publication THE LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE OF SAN BENITO COUNTY
APRIL 13, 2018
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Friday, April 13, 2018
gilroydispatch.com • Vol. 151, No. 15 • $1
San Benito Magazine inside this issue
A supplement to the Hollister Free Lance
Well fees will riseSan Benito Magazine INSIDE THIS ISSUE by nearly 8 percent Eating with the seasons
Farm to Table
THIS WEEK: Poppy Jasper screens Luis Valdez’s ‘Ceasar’s Last Fast’
AGRICULTURAL WELLS HIT BY 22 PERCENT By Barry Holtzclaw Managing Editor
➝ Water,8
Bryce Stoepfel
Municipal water districts, homeowners, farmers and ranchers with their own water wells face fee increases of 7.9 to 22.2 percent from the Santa Clara Valley Water District. Well users don’t use the district’s treatment plants, pipes or pumping stations, but they do dip into the same groundwater resources, and the district uses the well-user fees, and rates by “retail” consumers to sustain the system. The rate-setting process for the sprawling water district is scheduled to conclude on April 24, when the board meets to affirm rates it already approved. Public hearings were held April 10 and April 12 to explain the new rates. Groundwater rates would rise up to 7.9 percent for non-agricultural water wells, and up to 22.2 percent for agricultural well users. “As Santa Clara County’s primary water wholesaler, the water district strives to make sure there is enough clean, safe water to sustain the region’s economic
HEAVY HITTERS Three generations of fighters, Ruben, Robert Jr., and Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero at Pound 4 Pound, their new boxing gym at 7648 Monterey Street. Robert Jr. under the tutelage of his champion father and grandfather Ruben is a fighter in training.
Guerreros open new gym 3 GENERATIONS OF GUERRERO FAMILY CREATE BOXING MECCA DOWNTOWN Bryce Stoepfel Reporter
One week after its grand opening, Pound 4 Pound Sports Fitness, the new boxing gym on Monterey Street was popping with the sounds of the sweet science. Whap, whap—swap—pap, pap, pap! “We’re here to build
champions,” said Ruben Guerrero before the day sparring sessions started at the new gym opened by him and his Maricela, parents of former multiple world boxing champion Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero. It was tough to tell that fighters Oscar Escandon and Pedro Cruz were sparing. Even with head and body padding, the shots each threw and absorbed appeared, and sounded, like both were fighting at full steam. “I’d say they’re at 90 percent
speed and 50 percent power right now,” Robert Guerrero said. Like the fighters, Pound 4 Pound looks and sounds like it’s on full power. With the boxing ring, dozens of heavy bags, speed bags, mats, mitts, the new gym at 7648 Monterey St is slick, slim and powerful, just like multiple former world champion Robert Guerrero. It took about seven months to get to opening day, but there’s more to come. “I’m turning this whole area back here into a full gym, with weights, cardio machines and a
place for Crossfit,” Ruben Guerrero said while touring the unfinished back half of the building which had been the Discount Surplus store. “We get kids from the streets, but we also take in kids from the YMCA and the Gilroy Youth Alliance,” Maricela said. “ We’ve also reached out to local high schools and the Gilroy Department of Parks and Recreation. We want to get kids off the street and keep them out of trouble.” ➝ Pund for Pound, 11
City seeks to regain its Tree City status CITY CELEBRATES ARBOR DAY WITH PLANS TO PLANT ANOTHER 400 TREES ALONG GILROY STREETS By Barry Holtzclaw Managing Editor
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The City of Gilroy is on aggressive pace to plant more than 100 trees per year in downtown neighborhoods, replacing many diseased or dead trees.
The City Council last week heard that 100 trees had been planted, with a goal of 500, in hopes of restoring Gilroy to a national “Tree City” designation. To celebrate this renewed effort, the city is hosting a tree party on Arbor Day, Tuesday, April 17, at 5:30pm in Carriage Hills Park, 1701 Crest Hill Way. Mayor Roland Velasco has officially declared April 17 Arbor Day, in Gilroy, and the Parks and Recreation Commission will plant five trees in Carriage Hills Park that have been donated by West Coast Arborists.
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There is more to the tree story in Gilroy than just planting trees, and having a party. The council is considering a new ordinance endorsed by the Planning Commission that would impose stiff fines on property owners who cut down trees in the city limits without city permission. “Trees can reduce the erosion of our precious topsoil by wind and water, cut heating and cooling costs, moderate the temperature, clean the air, produce life-giving oxygen, and provide
habitat for wildlife,” the mayor said in his Arbor Day proclamation. “Trees are a renewable source, giving us paper, wood for our homes, fuel for our fires and countless other wood products— and trees in our city increase property values, enhance the economic vitality of business areas and beautify our community,” he said. “Trees, where they are planted, are a source of joy and spiritual growth,” Velasco concluded. “I ➝ Trees, 17
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