New briefs

Parcel tax forum for schools
A forum at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 27, at the Scotts Valley Community Center will be an opportunity for the community to learn the details about the funding plight at Scotts Valley’s public schools and a proposed parcel tax. After a short presentation, people can ask questions about the situation.
Scotts Valley raises $10K for injured fan
A fundraiser at Malone’s Grille on April 13 brought in $10,000 to support Bryan Stow, a San Francisco Giants fan who is in a medically induced coma after he was beaten by two men following a Giants-Dodgers game April 1.
Many local businesses donated auction items to raise money for the Stow family, and restaurant owner Patty Malone donated 30 percent of the grill’s proceeds.
The story has gone national, as the family was interviewed on ESPN and Giants star pitcher Tim Lincecum donated $25,000 to Stow’s fund.
To follow Stow’s progress or to donate toward medical costs, supporters can visit www.support4bryanstow.com.
Bethany University to remain open
Following several days of meetings April 11 through 13 in Sacramento, university and church leaders determined that Bethany University will again be open in the fall.
The discussion followed financial questions that left operation of the 500-student Assemblies of God-run university, founded in 1919, in question.
According the university, Bethany University Corp. and its parent corporation, Assemblies of God Northern California and Nevada District Council, raised about $600,000 in immediate pledges, and negotiations with several major donors may yield further support.
The university said it is launching an effort to restructure operations and governance to make sure it will be financially stable to continue its primary mission, to prepare leaders for church and society.
Lompico Water discusses merge with SLV
A subcommittee of Lompico County Water District board president Rick Harrington and board member Shannar Abraham reported on their meeting this week with the San Lorenzo Valley Water District in relation to a potential merger.
The committee met with SLVWD representatives Monday, April 18, and reported that SLV Water expects it would cost $2.5 million to merge the two districts. Abraham said that SLV Water officials said the larger district does not support a merger that would create an expense for its present customers, so Lompico would have to foot the entire bill by creating an assessment district and then selling a bond to fund the merger.
The merger would include an intertie between the two district’s water systems and the replacement of most of Lompico’s water tanks.
Lompico budget committee disbanded
The Lompico County Water District’s board voted 3-2 to disband its budget committee. Rick Harrington, Lois Henry and Bill Smallman voted for the resolution, and Sherwin Gott and Shannar Abraham voted against it.
Gott was the lone member of the committee tasked with building the district’s 2011-12 fiscal year budget. However, the majority on the board voted to take Gott off the committee and assign the budget creation to the district’s bookkeeper after several of the board members became frustrated with divisiveness and lack of communication in the budget process.
Gott claimed he did not receive correct information from district staff. However, the staff and other board members said the information was incomplete because of the shoddy work of previous district employees.