Gilroy Dispatch

08/09/2026

Twice Tyger, a vineyard north of Gilroy, opened a seasonal tasting room this summer at 11775 Watsonville Rd. while it works through county approval for a permanent facility on its own estate. The winery moved from limited weekday hours to a full Thursday-through-Monday schedule. Separately, VTA and Caltrans are asking the public to weigh in on the Santa Teresa Boulevard extension project at an Aug. 11 meeting in Gilroy.

08/04/2026

Fifteen Gilroy nonprofits split $261,038 from Fourth of July fireworks booths, a haul that only exists because gross sales hit $522,077 before a city mitigation fee and vendor costs cut it in half. TNT Fireworks, the wholesale supplier behind every booth, still walks away paying just $18,925 in service fees plus roughly $12,923 in permits, a fraction of what it moves through the program each year.

Read more here ➤ wklys.co/nonprofit-fireworks-sales

08/03/2026

The Gilroy Garlic Festival drew more than 12,000 people over three days at the Hecker Pass Outdoor Events Center. All three days sold out at 4,000 tickets each, up from a 3,000-a-day cap in 2025, as the festival pushes toward its 50th anniversary in 2028. Ticket proceeds benefit local schools, nonprofits and community organizations.

07/28/2026

Rebekah Children's Services CEO Christophe Rebboah's compensation rose to $368,417 last year while the agency laid off six union positions and reported roughly $5 million in annual surpluses over the past five years, according to workers. Management blames state and county budget cuts tied to federal funding reductions, but SEIU Local 521 members say bargaining stalled first, and they filed a 10-day strike notice set to begin July 27.

Read more here ➤ wklys.co/rebekah-children-picket

07/27/2026

The Gilroy Garlic Festival drew more than 12,000 people over the three-day event, organizers said, as the festival pushes toward its 50th anniversary in 2028 following its return in 2025 after a yearslong hiatus. https://gilroydispatch.com/gilroy-garlic-festival-brings-bigger-crowd-more-vendors/

07/24/2026

Gavilan College hosts its free "Ready, Set, Enroll" event Aug. 1 to help new and returning students prepare for the fall 2026 semester. Staff will help with enrollment, financial aid applications and course planning at the college's Gilroy and Hollister campuses. The event runs 9am-2pm.

07/17/2026

Track how a newly engineered scheduling conflict with the main county fair prompted regional agricultural groups to organize the inaugural South Valley Ag Fair, giving local 4-H and FFA youth an independent venue to showcase livestock. In local emergency management, civic officials expand public hours at the Christopher High School Aquatics Center to provide immediate heatwave relief as persistent high temperatures hit South County.

07/17/2026

Duane Boyd "Tom" Thompson

https://www.legacy.com/person/Duane-(Tom)-Boyd-Thompson-61828976

07/17/2026

Construction on a proposed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing facility in Gilroy has been temporarily paused while federal attorneys prepare their response to a lawsuit challenging the project, according to opponents of the facility.

Construction on a proposed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing facility in Gilroy has been temporarily paused while federal attorneys prepare their response to a lawsuit challenging the project, according to opponents of the facility.

07/16/2026

With weather experts calling for persistently high temperatures through at least the end of this week, Gilroy residents and members of the public can cool off this summer at Christopher High School’s Aquatics Center. https://gilroydispatch.com/chs-aquatics-center-open-to-the-public-for-the-summer/