Published in the February 18-March 3, 2015 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Robert Airoldi
Wesley LaPorte and Daniel Barnes scored big on the ‘Shark Tank’ TV show.
Robert Airoldi
Two cousins, Wesley LaPorte ( a former Morgan Hill resident) and Daniel Barnes, pitched their solution to germ-laden phones on “Shark Tank” last month. The duo’s company is PhoneSoap, a device that uses ultraviolet radiation to clean cell phones. They asked Shark Tank investors for a $300,000 investment in return for 7.5 percent of their company. The ended up making a deal with Lori Greiner for $300,000 in exchange for 10 percent of equity stake in the PhoneSoap company.
• • •
Morgan Hill resident Lance LoFaso was diagnosed with lung cancer
Simone LoFaso and her father Lance LoFaso.
just one day before he died in late January, leaving behind Simone, his 13-year-old daughter and his wife Amy Jones. Moved by their circumstance, the volunteers at the Granada Theater, the daughter’s Charter School family, and individuals from her Girl Scouts troop family have pulled together to get the word out about a fundraiser that will be held at the theater at 2 p.m. Feb. 20.
LoFaso was a sci-fi fan, so the theater is showing Steven Spielberg’s classic “E.T.” The cost is $10 and 100 percent of the proceeds will be given to the family.
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Pamela Rose and The Wild Women of Song performed at the Granada Theater earlier this month.
The Granada Theater is becoming the place for hearing the best in local music. And that was proven Feb. 7 when Bay Area musician Pamela Rose — known as the “jazz and blues queen” — took an audience along a history trail of famous and talented women who wrote and performed jazz music during the Tin Pan Alley era.
Rose’s band is called The Wild Women of Song and they gave a rousing concert that got the house rocking.
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Lawson Sakai and French Counsel
General Pauline
Carmona.
Morgan Hill’s 442nd Army soldier veteran Lawson Sakai received last month the Legion of Valor from French Counsel General Pauline Carmona. The award makes Sakai a knight of the French Republic. The 442nd is the most decorated unit in the United States Army, helping to liberate France from Nazi control during World War II.
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Bicycles stolen from Specialized Bikes Morgan Hill headquarters were found at the alleged thieves’ Morgan Hill home. They were arrested.
Two thieves broke the front door of Specialized Bikes in the early morning hours of Feb. 2 and stole two one-of-a-kind bicycles worth $44,000 from the lobby. The two bikes were Michal Kwiatkowski’s 2014 World Championship winning S-Works Tarmac and the 001 of 250 S-Works McLaren Tarmac belonging to Specialized founder Mike Sinyard.
The suspects tried to sell the bikes to a local Specialized retailer, Cupertino Bike Shop. When the store owner received their call he knew something was off and immediately phoned Specialized. His information helped the police track down the criminals and ultimately make the arrests within 48 hours. Great job by all.
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A group of volunteers greeted attendees at the Chocolate & Wine for Valentine event that raises money for the Teachers Aid Coalition.
The Teachers Aid Coalition showed its love for local schools with its famous Chocolate & Wine for Valentine event that raised thousands of dollars to purchase classroom supplies.
The event’s co-host was the Rotary Club of Morgan Hill, and major sponsors were local companies Advanced Energy, Thomas Kinkade Co., Paramit and Anritsu. Hearts and flowers to TAC and local dentists Don Nguyen and Jon Hatakeyama for putting this annual event together.
