Sheesh … went from 100-degree plus
open-all-the-windows-and-doors-and-turn-the-fan-on summer to
where’s-the-comforter-and-should-we-turn-on-the-heat it’s 37
degrees in the morning fall. No, I don’t think there’s an
”
app
”
for that. Mother Nature’s quick switch is way beyond our control
…
Sheesh … went from 100-degree plus open-all-the-windows-and-doors-and-turn-the-fan-on summer to where’s-the-comforter-and-should-we-turn-on-the-heat it’s 37 degrees in the morning fall. No, I don’t think there’s an “app” for that. Mother Nature’s quick switch is way beyond our control …
A nice thing to do if you’re not a baker, but want a delicious holiday pie for your table or a treat to bring to the friendly neighbor’s Thanksgiving feast is to buy one from a Gilroy High senior to support Grad Night. Gizdich pies, from the working farm just over the Highway 152 hill in Watsonville, are scrumptious. If you can’t find a GHS senior, give a holler to Amy, as in Amy Holler, at 712-9812 or e-mail her at ah*****@******rt.org. BTW, it’s a nice Sunday drive to go over the hill in fall, visit Gizdich and have a slice of warm pie with vanilla ice cream. Note to parents and grandparents: There’s a playground for the kids, too.
Back in Steubenville, Ohio, at a football playground. That’s where ‘Coach’ Bobby Garcia, quarterback Jeff’s dad, is this weekend hanging out with his former Gavilan College players who are now coaching. Undefeated Steubenville High is going up against unbeaten Massillon Washington High in a battle of titans. That has to be golden fun for Bobby, and I hope his son gets one more shot at NFL glory. Just seems like Jeff – the guy who always hustles and shows up with 100 percent – deserves a suitable finish, on his own terms, to his 16-year career.
No suitable finish for drivers coming into Gilroy on Santa Teresa Boulevard from the north. They get only the dreaded bottleneck treatment. In the neighborhood of 90 percent of the cars travel further south than Sunrise Drive, yet Santa Teresa narrows to one lane while there’s an entire right turn lane for Sunrise Drive turnees. Makes no sense whatsoever unless you’re a traffic engineer trying to create frustration.
Bottleneck on the high school phone lines will happen every time if Gilroy High sends out weird Halloween-esque computer-generated messages like the one sent to all parents on Tuesday about the veiled “bomb threat.” The computer-spun voice is creepier than the computer Hal in the movie “2001.” We’ve embedded a link in our news story so you can listen to the message on our Web site. (It would be a spooky front door Halloween recording). Suffice to say the threshold for such a creepy all-call to parents should be higher. We’d prefer greatly, of course, Principal Marco Sanchez’s voice – and a call to the newspaper about what’s going on would be good, too.
Higher and higher go the costs while the benefits to Gilroy seem more and more dubious. The California High Speed Rail project might become the biggest waste of taxpayer money ever in this state. Imagine 1-mile long corridors north and south of downtown Gilroy’s high speed rail stop. Imagine elevated tracks flanked by, presumably, sound walls. Imagine our dear governor, Arnold, requesting $4.7 billion in federal stimulus funding for the state’s high-speed train system – and not a penny for the Merced-to-Gilroy section of the train line. Sound like a nightmare to you, too?
While we’re on the subject of governance, I received this (honest, I really did):
Dear Editor:
I wanted to bring your attention to a recent series of events that unfolded in Washington, D.C., concerning the honor of my hometown and our pride and joy: garlic.
After a high-ranking member of Congress compared the House’s current healthcare legislation to an “unpopular garlic milkshake”, Gilroy’s congressional representative, Mike Honda (D-CA) took issue with the slight. Honda personally delivered a bountiful basket of Gilroy’s flagship crop to the Ohio Rep’s office. The staffers there said they liked garlic, and would fix their boss a meal with the gift. The basket was accompanied by a poem underscoring the benefits of both the healthcare proposal, and the stinking rose:
Two things make for a healthy heart
Gilroy Garlic, for one, a good start
Public option? Also high in the American eye
Sixty five percent n’er want it to part
Big thanks to Rep. Honda for standing up for the little city in the southern end of California’s 15th District!
~ Ben Parmentier
Ben is a legislative assistant with a good sense of humor for San Joaquin Valley Congressman Jim Costa (no relation to Steve of Gilroy’s Headstart Nursery fame). Mike Honda – obviously a very, very, extremely busy guy with matters of grave national importance to attend to – is our “rep”. Santa Clara County poet laureate, next, Mike?
From Santa Barbara, activist Sharon Byrne reports on the medical marijuana dispensary issue to Gilroy gadfly Ron Kirkish that, “We now have ‘mobile’ doctors and dispensaries, advertising online, with no storefront, and showing up at your home to give you an instant recommendation and deliver your pot. How does one regulate this kind of junk???” Don’t know, but I know this: Gilroy shouldn’t find out. The Council should stomp this dispensary joint out Monday night before it gets lit. Let ’em sue.
