Lunchtime Chaos
”
Hey Red Phone. I’ve noticed the high school has been getting a
lot of coverage and I’m wondering if you know how many students
there are at lunchtime.
Lunchtime Chaos
“Hey Red Phone. I’ve noticed the high school has been getting a lot of coverage and I’m wondering if you know how many students there are at lunchtime. Do a little research and the question you’ll be asking yourself is why haven’t they split the lunches? It’s a lot of students and it’s just asking for a fight. I’d be curious to know what the new principal thinks about that. Thanks.”
Red Phone:
Gilroy High School’s crowded lunchtime is a hot topic and the high school is in the midst of studying the situation, said Principal James Maxwell. A 17-person committee comprised of parents, students, administrators, a police officer, union members and other school and local officials, is currently discussing options.
Union members are a key part of the discussion because if the lunches were split the school schedule would be changed.
With 2,475 students enrolled, it’s obvious the campus is packed during the student’s noontime meal. Still, Maxwell said it’s quite difficult to initiate a double lunch when the school runs on a block schedule. The committee, which has only met once this school year but plans to stage more meetings, should make a final decision by the end of January, said Maxwell.
The committee may decide not to change anything, particularly since a new high school will open up in three to four years and help alleviate the problem, said Maxwell.
Christmas Coming Early?
“Hi Red Phone. I want to register a protest! I’m driving on U.S. 101 and I see this huge Santa Claus off at a Christmas tree farm along 101 and it’s the middle of September! It’s not even Halloween! Somebody needs to ask this business to please wait for another month at least. That’s all. That’s way moving up the season. Thank you.”
Red Phone:
Caller, if you have driven along U.S. 101 recently, you may have noticed the giant inflated Santa Claus is missing from the Battaglia Ranch Christmas Tree Farm, located off San Martin Avenue. The owner, Paul Battaglia wasn’t trying to move the holiday season up, but instead was welcoming Christmas tree farmers from near and far to the Annual Tree Expo held Sept. 16, 17 and 18.
Battaglia Ranch hosted the event, which included workshops for tree farmers and a chance to judge the best trees for the public. Battaglia put the Santa Claus up for the three-day event, but it has been taken down since. Rest assured, good caller, the Santa Claus won’t go back up until after Thanksgiving when the Christmas Tree Farm opens for business selling choose-and-cut and precut trees for the holidays.
Road Closure Inconvenient
“I have a Red Phone issue and haven’t noticed it in the paper. There is the question of the road closure on Murray between Cohansey and Las Animas. Why? This has been a public road for years. We have paid taxes to maintain it. Is it temporary? Can you help get answers? Thanks.”
Red Phone:
Good caller, you actually haven’t paid taxes to maintain the road, but have only been allowed to use it out of the good graces of the family who owns the land.
“Think of it in the same vein as a private driveway going across somebody’s property,” City Transportation Engineer Don Dey explained. “The property owners have been very concerned about the maintenance and liability of the road, of which they’re 100 percent responsible. They decided it would be in their best interest to close off the roadway” with expected traffic increases resulting from annexation of land around them.
Sorry caller, but you’ll have to take the long way around.
