Handling everything from Little League to terrible tracks
A caller from Montana (!) asks the Red Phone how she can get the scores of local Little League games. They were not on our Web site when she looked.
We’ve checked with sports editor Josh Staloch, and can offer two suggestions. The first is, check back soon. Josh says the Free Lance will be posting the results of major games soon on its Web site.
The second is to go to the Web site of the Hollister Little League, where every score of every game played this year is available. The address is: http://eteamz.active.com/Hollister/schedules/
Also, a reader called in to protest certain photos that ran in this paper following the Independence Rally. Her chief concern was her claim that some of the girls pictured were, well, girls, which is to say under 18. “Kids should not be exploited in that way,” the caller said, and we agree.
The Red Phone called the Hollister Independence Rally Committee and posed this question: Did HIRC check the IDs of women participating in the Miss Rally or the leather and lace shows to confirm that they were over 18?
Red Phone awaits a call-back, and will report to you when we get one.
Red Phone says good-bye until Saturday, and encourages readers to call in with their problems and concerns. We will do our best to help. Here’s the number: 635-9219
Red Phone on Hold
Did anybody get the number of that truck?
One popular way to deflect criticism is to change the subject. Ineffective, but popular. Case in point:
The Red Phone has been persistent in its efforts to get Union Pacific Railroad to keep the rail crossing over Highway 25, just north of the county line, in good repair. No sooner had it fixed one problem a few months ago than another cropped up, in the concrete slabs between the tracks. We report, they ignore.
Enter our first caller, who says it isn’t the fault of the trains that the concrete between the tracks is failing. After all, said the caller, “the trains aren’t jumping the tracks.” He insisted we track down the heavy trucks that are obviously at fault and blame them.
No, we won’t. Here’s why.
It is Union Pacific’s responsibility to keep the crossing in good repair, since it is the presence of their rails that interrupt the normal road bed, and without which there would be no concrete slabs to maintain. It is their responsibility to build a roadbed that can withstand the obvious stress caused by modern heavy trucks.
The caller would also like us to tip our hats to increased security on American trains, in light of what is happening elsewhere in the world. We assume that’s a reference to the London bombings.
The absence of a major attack on American trains is not proof of an effective security system, but in any event, that’s changing the subject.
So we will continue our unrelenting effort to get UP to fix the road bed – and keep it in good repair.
