MorganHillTimes.com | News Briefs: Nominate a local hero for Community Spirit Awards

News Briefs: Nominate a local hero for Community Spirit Awards

Aug 14, 2008

Nominate a local hero for Community Spirit Awards

Nominations will be accepted through Aug. 22 for the Gavilan College 2008 Community Spirit Awards. Everyone is invited to submit a nomination. Three sets of awards will be presented, one each for Morgan Hill, Gilroy and San Benito County. In each community, an individual, business and organization will each be recognized at an awards ceremony in the fall. Nomination forms and criteria, as well as a list of past winners, are online.

Details: Call 408-848-4724 or visit http://www.gavilan.edu/pio/Community_Spirit_Awards.html.

Downtown Street Fair to be Saturday

The second of two Downtown Street Fairs will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. The fair's purpose is to bring residents together for a fun outdoor event that calls attention to the city's core. East Second Street will be closed to traffic, allowing participants to leisurely shop, patronize local businesses and enjoy live music. Thirty vendors will present their services to the community. Stroll down to Second Street for a variety of live musical performances, eclectic jewelry, homemade dessert and more. Along with this event, all the local businesses and restaurants will be open. This event is produced by the Morgan Hill Downtown Association, a non-profit organization created to guide and manage revitalization efforts in the heart of Morgan Hill.

Details: MHDA events coordinator Danielle Boulger at (408) 779-3190.

Water waste ordinance update approved by council

An update to Morgan Hill's water waste ordinance was approved by the City Council at their Aug. 6 meeting. The ordinance, which hadn't been updated since its adoption in 1948, now includes specific water-wasting activities that could result in fines. These activities include using water on a meter after 10 days of receiving written notice that plumbing is needed, excessive water runoff, serving water in a restaurant unless it's requested and using a hose without a shutoff valve.

Chamber receives check to continue Friday Night Music

The Morgan Hill Downtown Association recently presented a $700.00 check to the Chamber of Commerce on behalf of downtown merchants so that the chamber could continue its Friday Night Music Series into September. The money will cover the costs of the weekly series, featuring area bands from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday night on West Second Street, for the first three Fridays of September, the 5, 12 and 19.

Caltrain hits record ridership and revenue for 2008

It was great year for public transportation nationwide, and on the Peninsula, a great year for Caltrain For the third year in a row, the commuter rail agency hit a record number for ridership and revenue.

From July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008, Caltrain carried 11.96 million riders, up 8.6 percent from fiscal year 2007. This is the highest annual ridership in the railroad's 145-year history. Since the introduction of its popular Baby Bullet service in 2004, Caltrain has seen the turn-around of a dwindling passenger load, which has increased by nearly four million riders in just four years, or approximately 48 percent.

With more riders comes more revenue, and Caltrain brought in $40.1 million in ticket and pass sales. That is a 15.1 percent increase over the last fiscal year However, this was offset by the staggering increase in diesel prices, which have increased 66 percent from the beginning to the end of the fiscal year.

The increase in ridership presents other challenges, as some trains during peak periods are getting more crowded. Caltrain mirrored a national trend, as people looked for relief from high gas prices. Last year, 10.3 billion trips were taken on U.S. public transportation - the highest number of trips taken in 50 years.

Details: 1-800-660-4287 or visit www.caltrain.com.