City of Morgan Hill Government News

Morgan Hill is set to receive more than $2 million from the federal government to help with local projects that are intended to improve transportation efficiency and safety in the coming years.

The 43rd Morgan Hill Mushroom Festival, formerly known as Mushroom Mardi Gras, will take place May 25-26 in the city’s downtown, organizers announced.

Voters in Morgan Hill will likely get to vote in November on whether elected city officials should be subject to term limits, after the council decided to place a measure on the ballot.

The Santa Clara County Planning Commission delayed its consideration of a portable toilet storage facility in San Martin, so members could get more information before making a decision.

Big 5 Sporting Goods, 150 Cochrane Road in Morgan Hill, is in its final days after announcing its closure in late 2023.

The only memory Leon Malmed, 86, has of his parents was a tragic moment in July 1942, when French police — acting under orders of the country’s Nazi German occupiers — showed up at his family’s home to arrest the adults for being Jewish. It was also the last time that Malmed, who was just barely 4 years old, would ever see his parents.

A former Santa Clara County Sheriff’s deputy was convicted of fabricating a “mysterious” drive-by shooting, in which he claimed he was the victim near Morgan Hill, authorities said.

The Morgan Hill Unified School District is facing an annual budget deficit of more than $13 million by 2025 and may have to cut several staff and programs that have been funded by state and federal pandemic funds in recent years.

The city of Morgan Hill is getting ready to expand its police department headquarters on Vineyard Boulevard to allow more space for detectives, traffic officers and training.

The Times takes a look back—in photos and words—at the historic gains, wins, losses and recoveries experienced by Morgan Hill and surrounding communities And what to expect in the coming year.

The Rotary Club of Morgan Hill donated a total of $45,000 worth of grants to local organizations in 2023.

Joseph Alexander, who survived 12 concentration camps during the Holocaust, will speak about his experiences at a rare event in Morgan Hill on Jan. 11.

A new Chick-fil-A restaurant with one of the largest drive-thru facilities in northern California is coming to Morgan Hill.

Kids and families from Morgan Hill and beyond partook in an afternoon of playing, singing, dancing, learning and gifting at the Magical Holiday festivities at the Magical Bridge Playground.

The city will break ground this week on Morgan Hill’s first dedicated outdoor pickleball courts, which will be located at the Community Park off West Edmundson Avenue.

Morgan Hill City Council members want to resume remote public comment via Zoom at their meetings, but they hope they can do it in a way that discourages people who might seek to use the forum to spew hateful or offensive views.

Infrastructure for gas appliances — including stoves and water heaters — will remain prohibited in new homes in Morgan Hill after the City Council heard a review of the local ban at a recent meeting.

The California Department of Housing and Community Development certified Morgan Hill’s 6th Cycle Housing Element almost a year after the City Council approved the document that covers housing needs from 2023-31, according to the city.

New Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas picked new committee chairpersons and canned others, with winners including Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, the Davis Democrat who was named Assembly majority leader, and Encino Democrat Jesse Gabriel, who is taking over the budget committee, though at a time of budget deficits.

The free, walk-through outdoor event features a vast array of Christmas lights, hand-painted life-sized displays, themed decorated Christmas trees, light tunnels and free hot chocolate for every visitor, says the invitation from West Hills Community Church.

Two Los Gatos-based establishments—a wine shop and a restaurant/bar—will soon open new locations in downtown Morgan Hill.

Pre-leasing has begun for Vida at Morgan Hill, a new residential project that includes 389 units on a nearly 20-acre site on Jarvis Drive.

U.S. Army veteran Ramon Reyes and his chocolate labrador, Huey—who are clients of San Martin-based Operation Freedom Paws—were recognized in an effort to highlight the life-changing impact that service dogs can have on military veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Construction is under way at the Fairview Road site of Gavilan College’s new San Benito County campus.

John Bannister of BCH Construction in Morgan Hill remembers watching his grandfather crush grapes and tuck the wine barrels under the porch at the family home in the Central Valley on the E&J Gallo ranch where they worked as farm laborers.

The Morgan Hill Police Department will use a $60,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety to help make local roads safer.

Two years ago, the cost of the dam project—required for earthquake protection and improved flood control for the Coyote Creek watershed—was estimated at $648 million.

Morgan Hill’s Anderson Reservoir, which spilled over and flooded central San Jose neighborhoods in 2017, could be an even bigger problem in an earthquake. Fixing the dangerous reservoir is a priority, but that comes at a price.

Oregon-based Pinnacle leased space in the new Butterfield 5 Tech Park on the 18200 block of Butterfield Boulevard in Morgan Hill.