In search of Gilroy’s history
Is there a genealogical society for the area? I grew up in Gilroy with my mother and stepdad owning the Willows Restaurant and Bar. I would love to connect with some of the old-timers who still live in the area. Any suggestions on contacts would be appreciated. I live in Virginia now and my maiden name was Phyllis Nash. Thanks for your interest.
Phyllis Garner, Virginia Beach, Va.
Email: sa********@ya***.com
Civil liberties and Ferguson
Statistics have shown year after year all across American that racial profiling does exist.
Using 2013 stats from New York City, shooting victims equaled 567. Of the arrests for those shootings, 70 percent were black, 25 percent were Hispanic, and 3 percent were white, yet the total shooting victims by the NYPD only equaled 7 or .01 percent. Although the percentages may change, I’m willing to bet that those stats will hold up across any town in America. No race enjoys being singled out, but America doesn’t have a corner on the market. Jews in Germany, North vs. South Korea, Palestinians in Israel, post 9/11 Muslims, Sunni vs. Shiite, etc, etc.
What’s not being talked about however is the substratum of this iceberg, and that’s the civil liberties of American citizens being stripped away. In less than 10 years our government (federal, state and local) have enacted or changed laws allowing the growing surveillance of our society:
-Warrantless wiretaps and incredible amounts of personal data collection by the NSA.
-Placed camera on every street corner and traffic light.
-Using GPS in your cars and cell phones to track your movement.
-Selective no fly lists, various stages of undress, patting down 7-year-olds and checking diapers for explosives along with the use of body scanners.
-Drones in sky with the ability to kill.
-Arresting witnesses for recording police actions.
-Changing gun ownership laws restricting the type of guns, magazine size and protective clothing. Federally diminishing the production and importing of ammo in the name of homeland security.
-Criminalizing whistleblowers, with the likes of Julian Assange of Wiki leaks and Edward Snowden of the NSA.
Today Americans are unsafe, not because of terrorists and domestic extremists, but because they have lost their civil liberties and have no protection from unaccountable government power.
It’s time we stopped the police state and return to the “policing” state.
Larry Tovey, Gilroy
No money for boondoggle
Please publish Congressmens’ (13 including our former State Senator Jeff Denham) letter to House Appropriations Committee to deny big boondoggle Bullet Train any of our tax money from the federal government. California government, including CARB, is shoving this albatross, Trojan Horse down our throats, increasing gas and diesel taxes on 1/1/15 to pay for Bullet Train’s despicable subsidies ($1B/year), bigger than VTA, COG, Caltrain’s and Amtrak’s combined.
The Gilroy City Council wants to tax us into bankruptcy; at least somebody in government is looking out for taxpayers. We must send our thanks to these courageous Congressmen and tell the City Council that we’ve been drained dry and have no more money to pay their boondoggle’s expenses, e.g., transit buses and trains. If people want to have bus or train rides, then they should pay for the service, and not demand that their neighbors pay for their rides.
Motorists and truckers pay 102 percent of all their transport costs, while boondogglers’ transit systems’ riders pay only about 1 percent of the fully amortized costs of their rides.
The double standard espoused by City Council’s VTA-supporters is intolerable and will doom us to the same fate as the Soviet Union’s.
Joseph P. Thompson, Esq., Past-President, Gilroy-Morgan Hill Bar Assn., Past-Chair, Legislation Committee, Transportation Lawyers Assn., Charter Member, COG’s Citizens Rail Advisory Committee, Charter Member, COG’s Citizens Transit Task Force
Torture is evil
For those of you who think torture is OK, we may end up having to fight another war in Iraq because of it. The terrorists organization ISIS started in an American operated prison in Iraq where they were all tortured together by Americans under the Bush administration. Torture is not who we are and it’s not what we do. Torture is pure evil and it’s a crime against not just those who are tortured but against humanity itself. We, as a nation, are now paying a very heavy price for our sins. People need to go to jail for this.
Marc Perkel, Gilroy
Enjoy a winter concert
The South Valley Symphony warmly presents to the Morgan Hill, Gilroy, and San Benito County communities a gift of traditions new and old for music lovers—and especially for families—at its annual winter concert this Sunday afternoon.
The musical celebration of the holidays will start at 4 p.m. Dec. 14 at Gavilan Community College’s theater. It will kick-off with a humorous re-telling of the legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin—told from the point of view of a rat. “A Rat’s Tale” was composed by Bay Area musician Henry Mollicone who, dressed to resemble a rodent, will provide the comic narration of the story as the symphony’s musicians and the Cabrillo College Youth Chorus performs the score.
Other pieces to be performed include Debussy’s Dances Sacred & Profane for Harp and Strings with the harp solo by the talented Ruthanne Adams, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s “Christmas Eve Sarajevo,” and our concertmaster and principal violinist Bev Blount performing favorite holiday songs.
Our winter concert is a wonderful way for families and friends to take a break from their holiday shopping and enjoy a moment together in festive musical merriment. As is the case at all our concerts, children accompanied by their parents and all students with a valid ID can enjoy the concert for free.
Please join the South Valley Symphony this Sunday afternoon and discover the musical joys of the holiday season.
Anthony Quartuccio, South Valley Symphony director and conductor
