Red Phone received this photo earlier this week from a reader.
It appears workers painted new stripes down Watsonville Road near
Burchell Road, right over a dead raccoon.
Ooops!
Red Phone received this photo earlier this week from a reader. It appears workers painted new stripes down Watsonville Road near Burchell Road, right over a dead raccoon.
Red Phone: Well, Red Phone contacted Sadegh Sadeghi, senior traffic engineer for Santa Clara County roads and airports division, who said workers made a huge mistake. The crew is supposed to survey the area and make sure it is free of debris before painting. Obviously, that did not occur in this instance, he said.
“They completely missed it,” Sadeghi said Wednesday afternoon. “Something went wrong. They will be more attentive in the future.”
Crews returned to the area Tuesday, cleared the dead animal and repainted the lines, he added.
Treat each other with respect
“I read about Garden Court, and I’m probably the person they were talking about. We have a garage we park cars in. Our cars are all on our property and nobody else’s property and the people that are probably complaining are the one’s that have their garage locked and are using it for a living room instead of a garage. That’s illegal, so I wouldn’t complain too much about the people on Garden Court that have cars on their driveway and in their garage. Thank you.”
Dear It’s Probably Me,
Red Phone has gotten numerous complaints regarding illegally parked vehicles, appliances stored in front yards and trash piled adjacent to homes. Red Phone wants to reiterate that’s it’s here to listen and find a solution to your problem or to direct you to the appropriate person or department. But, it’s usually best to try to resolve neighborhood issues one-on-one. If you have a neighbor you think is causing problems, think how you would like to be treated, then treat them in a similar fashion. The Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” or simply put, “treat others as you would like to be treated.”
So good callers, let’s try to walk a mile in each other’s shoes before casting stones. And remember, should all else fail, Red Phone is here to listen.
A lesson not learned
“I guess the new way to celebrate a graduation from GHS is to launch bottle rockets and set off M-80s with mom and dad giving tacit approval. Those bottle rockets have to come down somewhere, or were your kids cutting science class the day gravity was explained and don’t understand the concept? So what happens if the neighbor’s house catches fire from an illegal firework? Your kid is going to use the magic words ‘Dude, I’m sorry,’ and that will make it all better? I guess all those firefighters camped out at Christmas Hill Park recently didn’t make an impression.”
Dear Annoyed,
Red Phone agrees. What better message do people need than to see area firefighters battling two wildland blazes in the past nine months. First, the Lick Fire then the Summit Fire. Launching fireworks into the air is a dumb thing to do. One spark could touch off a blaze, leaving the responsible party liable for damages that could reach into the millions. Then what are you going to say? “Dude, I don’t have that kind of dough.”
Finally, Red Phone contacted Fire Marshal Jackie Bretschneider, who said neither police nor fire got a call regarding fireworks that night. If you see someone igniting illegal fireworks, call 846-0350. Or if you know someone has illegal fireworks, call her and she’ll send someone out or she’ll personally knock on their door.
“We’re trying to prevent problems,” she said. And remember, safe and sane fireworks are only allowed between July 1 and midnight July 4.
