Motorcycle mania:
”
Hi Red Phone. I’m wondering if the CHP can do something about
the preponderance of Japanese motorcycle racing on Watsonville
between Gilroy and Morgan Hill. They’re really excessive speeds,
sometimes in excess of 100 mph I’ve witnessed in the last couple of
weeks. No law enforcement agency seems to be doing anything about
it. So I’m wondering if they would do that. Thank you.
”
Motorcycle mania: “Hi Red Phone. I’m wondering if the CHP can do something about the preponderance of Japanese motorcycle racing on Watsonville between Gilroy and Morgan Hill. They’re really excessive speeds, sometimes in excess of 100 mph I’ve witnessed in the last couple of weeks. No law enforcement agency seems to be doing anything about it. So I’m wondering if they would do that. Thank you.”
The Red Phone checked with California Highway Patrol Officer Chris Armstrong, spokesman for the Gilroy/Hollister office located at 740 Renz Lane, behind the Pacheco Pass Center.
“We do have someone that, depending on manpower, is assigned to that actual beat, that actual area,” Armstrong said. “So what I would recommend is they contact the CHP office and file a traffic complaint. What that does is it requires us to document the amount of hours we are in that area. They will step up enforcement in that area.”
He said he had not heard about the actual racing on that road, although speed is an emphasis for the officer who patrols that area.
“Once we are aware of it, we will do something about it,” Armstrong said. Next time, contact the CHP at 848-2324.
Funny math?: “I’m looking at your lead story on the Gilroy sales tax (June 11). Your numbers are off. The sales tax is a quarter-cent. That would raise, in 2004, $348,950. I’m not sure how you guys did your math. … That’s a big discrepancy. That’s 10 times more you’re expecting to collect and it isn’t going to be there. Thanks.”
The Dispatch’s crack team of mathematicians breezed over a few steps to arrive at its numbers, which perhaps it should have made more clear to readers. Here is the method laid bare:
They started with total taxable sales for a given year and multiplied by a quarter penny. For 2004, that meant the following equation: $1,102,312,600 x .0025 = $2,755,781.50. That figure would have been above and beyond the city’s one-percent share of the 8.25 percent sales tax. In 2004, that current equation spelled $11,513,126 in sales tax for the city.
Notice that city sales tax revenues are slightly above one-percent for 2004, based on actual returns from the state Board of Equalization. For purposes of the story, we used actual returns from that agency, while using our own method to calculate the returns from a quarter penny sales-tax increase.
An imperfect science, indeed, but one they believed was the most accurate.
Great job!: “Hi Red Phone. I just wanted to say that the feature on Friday (June 10) of all the Gilroy High School kids who have done so well in school, I thought it was just awesome. It was one of the best things I’ve read in so long. I read it twice, it was so good. Also the photos of all the kids were great and I also appreciated that you picked kids who, some of them were not so successful with their GPAs, but they were successful in other ways. It was really a great feature. Great job by the reporter, photographer and the editor who laid it out.”
The Dispatch staff thanks you for the generous compliments. The Red Phone’s blushing on behalf of everyone.
Hey Gilroyans! Do you have a concern about your trash and recycling service? Just let the Red Phone know. And remember to leave a name and number when you call or e-mail. A Dispatch reporter is working on an article on the differences between city and rural garbage collection and, along with the Red Phone, would like to hear from you. Contact the Red Phone at 842-9070 or e-mail
re******@gi************.com
.
If you call in about a problem with a streetlight or suggestion for a turn signal, please give the intersection street names. It makes it easier for the Red Phone to report the problems or offer the city suggestions.
