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THE LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE OF MORGAN HILL, GILROY & SAN MARTIN
FEBRUARY 8, 2019
A supplement to the Gilroy Dispatch & Morgan Hill Times
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Finds & Dines
Hot date nights and gifts in South Valley
SOUTH VALLEY MAGAZINE INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Valentine’s Day in South Valley
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THE LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE OF SAN BENITO COUNTY
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Hot date nights and gifts in San Benito
FEBRUARY 8, 2019
SAN BENITO MAGAZINE INSIDE THIS ISSUE
A supplement to the Hollister Free Lance
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$1 • February 8, 2019 • Vol. 126, No. 6 • morganhilltimes.com • Serving Morgan Hill since 1894
Sheriffs hunt for accused rapist PROSECUTORS FILE CHARGES AFTER COUNTY ALLOWED MAN TO WALK FREE Jennifer Wadsworth
AN EXCHANGE OF CULTURE Students from Beijing, China enjoy their Jan. 28 visit to San Martin Gwinn Environmental Science Academy.
East meets West
CULTURAL EXCHANGE, ACTIVITIES AT LOCAL SCHOOL Scott Forstner Reporter
Staff and students at San Martin Gwinn Environmental Science Academy welcomed students and ambassadors from the Chinese Ministry of Education of Beijing, China at a Jan. 28 cultural exchange at the Morgan Hill Unified School District’s southernmost campus.
This year’s focus was environmental sciences, as students worked side by side and planted grapes using compost made by SMG students. In a cultural exchange, SMG students performed a folkloric dance and drums presentation while the visiting students also gave a musical performance. A special lunch of tamales, beans, rice and bachata was served during the visit. Also part of the festivities, representatives from
the Santa Clara Valley Water District gave a presentation on water conservation, while MHUSD’s Julia Cook worked on an engineering activity with the group. The Chinese Society of Education, under the leadership of Chinese Ministry of Education, launched the program in 2010 and has visited 36 countries. The students who visited SMG were from the Beijing No. 2 Experimental School Exchange Group.
Robert Eliason
➝Rapist, 8
Robert Eliason
A month after rape suspect Sharwian Bobian was released from jail, law enforcement officers are searching for him. He is accused of false imprisonment and involuntary sex with a woman who brought food and provisions to his makeshift shelter. The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office initially declined to pursue criminal charges because they believed the case would be difficult to prosecute. On Monday, they reversed course and filed court papers to proceed against Bobian, a 43-yearold homeless and mentally ill man who left his encampment near the San Martin Transfer waste processing facility following his Jan. 4 release and a brief psychiatric hold. As of 8pm Tuesday, Feb. 5, his whereabouts remained unknown. The Sheriff ’s Office investigated the Jan. 2 incident and detained Bobian that night after interviewing the victim and taking her to Valley Medical Center in San Jose for an hourslong rape kit examination, according to records
JAMMING TOGETHER San Martin Gwinn Environmental Science Academy students Jazmin Martinez, holding drumsticks, and Brissya Hernandez join forces with a Beijing, China student during a Jan. 28 visit.w
Becerra doubles down on hospital AG SEEKS A STAY IN DISTRICT COURT TO BLOCK SALE OF O’CONNOR AND ST. LOUISE HOSPITALS Barry Holtzclaw Managing Editor
Last week’s local jubilation over a second court victory in the battle to save Gilroy’s St. Louise Regional Hospital and O’Connor Hospital was short-lived,
as California Attorney General Xavier Becerra two days later made one final attempt to block the sale of the two hospitals to Santa Clara County. Late on Friday, Feb. 1, Becerra asked the U.S. District Court for an emergency stay of a bankruptcy court approval of the sale, which the same bankruptcy judge had affirmed in emphatic terms on Jan. 30. The final legal showdown is set for Feb. 22 in a hearing in Los Angeles, less than one week before the county’s purchase
agreement with Verity Health System expires. That means a judge could make a definitive ruling against Becerra in time to salvage the $235 million deal and keep the hospitals. The unlikely dispute between Santa Clara County, hospital patients and staff on one hand and the recently elected state attorney general on the other roiled past the boiling point in the last week of January. In one week: • The attorney general said if the sale closes
March 1, his bid—pending in U.S. District Court—to claim authority over the deal would be dead. • The county—and U.S. Bankruptcy Court—said Becerra has no legal basis for his claim. • The county said if Becerra is successful in his second attempt at a stay—the first was denied in bankruptcy court Jan. 30—the Verity Health System sale of the two hospitals would be dead. • Patients, health professionals and local politicians took that one step further, saying Becerra’s
actions would close the hospitals and actually put lives of South County residents in danger. • The attorney general told the court he didn’t believe these dire predictions. • In his filing for the stay in U.S. District Court, Becerra said he needed to stop the sale to enable his appeal to continue, but he made no mention that his effort to “preserve vital healthcare services in Santa Clara County” might have the opposite effect. ➝ Becerra, 12