Cheers to Local Crime Fighters
The following events, organizations and people deserve either a Thumbs Up or a Thumbs Down this week.
THUMBS UP: For the safe return of six of the eight golden retriever puppies nabbed during a brazen afternoon burglary on Clearview Drive last week. The owners tirelessly tracked down the six puppies that were scattered throughout Hollister and Salinas with the help of a tipster. Not only were the pups returned to their worried mother, but the owners’ work led police to a large-scale burglary ring and fencing operation in Hollister. Two arrests were made and more are expected to come, police say. Hopefully, the remaining puppies are safe and sound and police officers’ hard work will result in the return of more burglary victims’ property.
THUMBS DOWN: For the 50 percent rise in car thefts in Hollister this year. Crafty car thieves are taking advantage of residents who leave their doors unlocked while running to do errands or who are leaving their cars running in the driveway to warm them up on cold mornings. Police say residents can avoid having to file a stolen vehicle report by take some simple and effective steps such as drinking their coffee in the car while it heats up and always locking their doors. Don’t make it easy for an opportunistic crook to leave you one car short of a full garage.
THUMBS UP: For 19-year-old Hollister resident Ryan Bergamini for becoming the first-ever local to be named the national winner of the Agriculture Mechanic Repair and Maintenance Placement Proficiency award from the Future Farmers of America. Bergamini received the top honor in front of 50,000 people at a FFA convention in Kentucky last week. While he’s pursuing a college degree in mechanized agriculture and is already hard at work for Caterpillar, Inc., he hopes to one day open his own tractor repair business in Hollister. Good work, Ryan.
THUMBS DOWN: For the House of Representatives, which is diluting organic standards. Small organic farmers have long been the backbone of a movement pooh-poohed for years by corporate interests – until the popularity of the products finally made big business realize there was a lot of money to be made in the practice. Now, the House of Representatives has passed a bill watering down the definition of “organic” to allow the use of non-organic ingredients in organic foods if true organics ones are not “commercially available.” That is a naked grab for market share by commercial growers who want to produce cheap “organic” products and muscle out the smaller farmers who are producing the real McCoy.
