Are we to be the region’s gravel bucket?
It is not for me to say what Sallie Calhoun can do with her
property, but when she thinks that leasing to Raisch Products for a
new sand and gravel quarry is a good idea I think not. Calhoun
states that because of the small traffic on Hwy. 25, there would be
minimal traffic impact from such an operation. She is probably
right if you look south of Paicines, but she is dead wrong when you
look north from Tres Pinos.
During the week there is a constant stream of truck-trailers
going back and forth on Airline Hwy., Union Road and onto Hwy. 156
coming out of the Granite Rock Southside Quarry hauling their
uncovered loads. They start very early in the morning and continue
on throughout the day into early evening. And many times they
travel in pairs.
They can be a real nuisance at times, and usually you cannot
safely pass them until you reach the four-lane portion of Hwy 156
past San Juan Bautista. It becomes one long procession! If another
south county quarry was to go in then the truck-trailer traffic we
have now could possibly double. For us who have homes south of
Hollister and routinely use Airline Hwy. and Union Road, this would
be highly undesirable. It’s bad enough already with the Granite
Rock traffic. Obviously an environmental impact study will have to
be done with Tres Pinos really being affected by new truck traffic.
If we already have 17 sand and gravel operations in the county,
isn’t that enough? Is San Benito County soon to become the
”
gravel pit
”
of California? I think we can do better.
John Ucovich
Hollister
Are we to be the region’s gravel bucket?
It is not for me to say what Sallie Calhoun can do with her property, but when she thinks that leasing to Raisch Products for a new sand and gravel quarry is a good idea I think not. Calhoun states that because of the small traffic on Hwy. 25, there would be minimal traffic impact from such an operation. She is probably right if you look south of Paicines, but she is dead wrong when you look north from Tres Pinos.
During the week there is a constant stream of truck-trailers going back and forth on Airline Hwy., Union Road and onto Hwy. 156 coming out of the Granite Rock Southside Quarry hauling their uncovered loads. They start very early in the morning and continue on throughout the day into early evening. And many times they travel in pairs.
They can be a real nuisance at times, and usually you cannot safely pass them until you reach the four-lane portion of Hwy 156 past San Juan Bautista. It becomes one long procession! If another south county quarry was to go in then the truck-trailer traffic we have now could possibly double. For us who have homes south of Hollister and routinely use Airline Hwy. and Union Road, this would be highly undesirable. It’s bad enough already with the Granite Rock traffic. Obviously an environmental impact study will have to be done with Tres Pinos really being affected by new truck traffic. If we already have 17 sand and gravel operations in the county, isn’t that enough? Is San Benito County soon to become the “gravel pit” of California? I think we can do better.
John Ucovich
Hollister
A refreshing blow to bureaucracy
The Hollister City Council had a special meeting on July 28 to consider, among other topics, asking the voters to exempt the downtown area of Hollister from Measure U for residential development. That is, residential development in downtown Hollister would not be subjected to the allocation limitation imposed by Measure U.
It is an extremely rare event when a government at any level will return some freedom to individuals, in this case, private property owners. The City Council recommended the change be placed on the November ballot. Now we voters have an opportunity to reduce the bureaucracy, even if just a small amount.
Marvin L. Jones
Hollister
A little mobility help?
Since they are tearing up the streets at this time, what better time to help those of us who use our power chairs or scooters to shop and go to the doctor’s? Now is the time for the city to make things right for us to be able to get from here to there with ramps to help us. A ramp on every corner would be a big help. Look at the big mess on Tres Pinos and Airline. You can’t get across at all.
Why don’t we arrange a rally soon to show where the problems are? Maybe this time they’ll get it right for us. By the way, Medicare said we can use our chairs for shopping and medical appointments. Let’s do it before they stop fixing, otherwise we’ll never get it done. Remember, they’re working for you. No results, no pay.
Ellen Newman
Hollister
Where are the immigration numbers?
I read in The Pinnacle’s editorial on July 25 that they are going to publish every week on the front page the cost of the Iraq war. That’s fine. But I have a suggestion to The Pinnacle. Why not print right alongside that figure the cost of illegal immigrants to this country, this state and this city?
Illegal immigrants cost this country billions of dollars with their free health care, free education, free food, free housing, free college tuition and most refuse to learn English. They drive cars without a driver’s license or insurance, drive intoxicated and kill our citizens in accidents. And we the taxpayers pick up the cost and the grief. As just shown recently in San Francisco, a known sanctuary city for illegals, where an illegal immigrant killed three members of one family. He shot and killed all three of them with an assault rifle while they drove home from a family function.
As Mark Dickson stated in his letter on July 18, “California and the nation has been invaded by 40 million illegal aliens.” How true that is. So, where are your figures on that, Mary Zanger and The Pinnacle?
Steve Collins
Hollister
Honor the genuine heroes
As we all know our military is strictly voluntary. If you want to serve your country, you enlist in any branch of the military you wish. These people who enlist are brave young men and women and should be honored and respected. In a letter dated July 11 from Natasha Wist, she makes reference to the people in the military being poorly educated, economically distressed people of color.
That is one of the most ignorant and insulting statements I have heard from you liberal loons in some time. It doesn’t surprise me. That is what you liberals believe about our young men and women who protect your sorry behinds, and it shows where your patriotism is.
These people whom you call poorly educated made it possible for you and your liberal friends like Mary Zanger and that crazy Code Pink to bloviate and do their protesting at recruiting stations. I have had friends and relatives in the military and had a relative killed in combat. None of these brave people were poorly educated or economically distressed.
Harold Nunez
Hollister
Think beyond war
Your Op-Ed piece, “You have a stake in Iraq” hit home hard. That $158.1 million, and counting, swiped directly out of San Benito County to fight the war in Iraq hurts. At least the schools we might have had certainly deserve a grieving funeral and burial. Our vision of a future town beautified with recreation facilities, library and museum framed by parks and road improvements appears to be a mere mirage.
Your parting exhortation, “Like it or not all of us are called to fight the war in Iraq,” left me pondering. Why can’t we stop fighting? Our group, People for Peace, believes that each one of us can do something for peace. As little as smiling at passers-by or talking to our neighbors can change the direction of our country or join us for more ideas.
Mary Zanger
Hollister
