The following events, organizations and people deserve either a
Thumbs Up or a Thumbs Down this week:
THUMBS UP: Ridgemark residents, especially those who live just a hard slice off the fairways, are used to finding stray golf balls in their yards. Over the years, Marshall Crisman has collected nearly 5,000 gently used balls picked up from his yard and during daily walks around the neighborhood. What to do with all those golf balls? Ridgemark resident Judy Pulling came up with the idea of sending them to the troops in Iraq after watching an episode of “Hooked on Golf” on TV and learning that soldiers there enjoyed smacking golf balls to relieve stress. Eric Dietz, Ridgemark Golf and Country Club general manager, is coordinating the effort to send the balls to the troops and hopes to have 50,000 ready to ship off by July 4. Dietz, a PGA pro, figures it’s a win-win situation, helping the men and women serving in Iraq while also promoting his favorite game. He thinks some of those soldiers might come home hooked on golf. “Their sand game is going to be really good,” Dietz said.
THUMBS DOWN: A string of weekend armed robberies in Hollister since the first of April has local business owners on edge and the police department on high alert. Three restaurants and a liquor store have been held up, all between 10pm and midnight, over the past three weekends. In each incident, the robbers wore masks and were armed with either handguns or a knife. Police said they believe two criminals working together might be responsible for the robberies.
THUMBS UP: Up to three endangered California condors will be released into the wild today at Pinnacles National Monument, adding to the 13 condors that now call the Pinnacles area home.
The park south of Hollister works with a national program dedicated to saving the huge scavengers and has been a condor reintroduction site since 2003. As recently as the 1980s, the world’s condor population numbered only 22 birds. Today, thanks to a successful recovery project that operates condor breeding programs in California, Arizona, Oregon and Idaho, there are 280.
THUMBS DOWN: A shortage of volunteers is causing problems for the San Juan Bautista Fire Department. Two years ago, the all-volunteer department had 26 firefighters, but since then the number of volunteers has dropped to 14. One thing contributing to the problem is that San Juan Bautista has become more of a bedroom community than it used to be, according to Fire Capt. Chris Finstead, himself a commuter. “People don’t get as involved,” Finstead said. Last Saturday afternoon, when a fire at a trailer in San Juan Bautista reignited, only one firefighter was available and it took 30 minutes to respond. Finstead said he and others are planning to start going door-to-door in the Mission City to try to recruit new volunteers.
