Gilroy Selected as Potential Location for New Great Wolf Lodge Family Resort

                                  


The City of Gilroy, California announced that it has been selected by . as a potential location for a new Great Wolf Lodge family resort. Representatives from Great Wolf Resorts have been considering several locations in Northern California but recently agreed to enter a 60-day exclusivity period with the City of Gilroy to fully assess the potential of building a resort in Gilroy. During this period, the City and Great Wolf will discuss a potential public-private partnership. At the same time, Great Wolf will engage in community outreach about the project.

                                           

Great Wolf Resorts Inc. is the parent company of Great Wolf Lodge, North America’s largest family of indoor water park resorts. The proposed resort would be located off Highway 152/Hecker Pass, on a parcel of land adjacent to Gilroy Gardens Family Theme Park. While project details are still under discussion, the resort would likely follow a similar blueprint as other Great Wolf Lodge resorts, including up to 700 family-friendly suites, a large indoor water park, conference facilities, shops, restaurants, and a variety of other attractions.


Representatives from the City of Gilroy and Great Wolf Resorts will be conducting community outreach programs in the coming weeks to gather feedback from a wide range of residents, community stakeholders, and local organizations.
Needless to say, it would be great for Gilroy, stay tuned.
CTE, Streetwise Special Delivery, Inc.

Mudslides and Flash flooding Are Damaging Southern California

LOS ANGELES (AP) — flash flooding in northern Los Angeles County has filled several roads with mud, stranding vehicles and blocking traffic on one of the state's main highways.

There is one disaster that I hope, I never have to experience in my life time that is mudslides and flash flooding. To see a wall of mud and water coming towards me out of nowhere, with such force would scare me to death. I was watching the news and they were showing the enormous mudslides and flash flooding on Interstate 5 known as the Grapevine, near the town of Castaic California which is in northern part of Los Angeles County. During the afternoon commute on October 15, 2015 hundreds of drivers were stranded a sudden on slot of rocks, mud and debris that poured onto the Interstate 5. At least 6 cars were swallowed up by mud, 4 drivers were stranded and 2 dogs. The authorities were checking cars buried for more victims of this massive mudslide. Interstate 5 five will be closed between Lancaster Freeway to Fort Tejon until the mud and debris is cleaned up. This is only the beginning if El Nino comes this winter like meteorologist are saying, we better get ready. Southern California as well as Northern California will be hit with more flash flooding and mudslides then we have ever seen before. With all the fires that burned thousands of acres this past summer, there is nothing keeping the earth from moving. It is going to be awful.



LM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castaic,_California
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2015/10/15/massive-mudslide-flash-flood-forces-shut-down-of-grapevine-on-i-5-in-both-directions/

Labor Day Festivals Going on in the Bay Area

Labor Day weekend are the last days of summer barbeques, hanging out with family and friends. I put together a list of a few festivals and events going on in the San Jose San Francisco bay area. Go out and enjoy yourself this weekend.

San Jose Bacon Festival August 31, 2013

http://www.livesv.com/event/detail/441758485/San_Jose_Bacon_Festival

Millbrae Art and Wine Festival 2013 August 31-September 1, 2013

http://www.livesv.com/event/detail/441751142/Millbrae_Art_and_Wine_Festival_2013

Sausalito Art Festival August 31 – September 2, 2013

http://sausalitoartfestival.org/

Los Gatos Park Dance August 31, 2013

http://www.livesv.com/event/detail/441757462/Los_Gatos_Park_Dance

The Rave Run 5k in San Jose August 31, 2013

http://www.livesv.com/event/detail/441754598/The_Rave_Run_5k

2013 Kings Mountain Art Fair in the Redwoods in Woodside August 31, 2013

http://sf.funcheap.com/kings-mountain-art-fair-redwoods-woodside/

Great America Stamp Fair in San Jose August 31-September 1, 2013

http://www.livesv.com/event/detail/441783075/Great_America_Stamp_Fair_

The Golden Gate Park Band in San Francisco Sep. 2, 2013

http://events.sfgate.com/san_francisco_ca/events/show/345688983-labor-day-concert-by-the-golden-gate-park-band

The Morgan Hill Mushroom Mardi Gras Festival

MORGAN HILL, CA – The Morgan Hill Mushroom Mardi Gras Festival, now in its 33^rd year of turning Memorial Day weekend into a celebration of the mushroom, has unveiled its plans for the free May 26-27 festival in south Santa Clara County.

            The two-day festival of family-fun includes live entertainment on two stages, arts and crafts, gourmet offerings, mushroom educational exhibit, chef demonstrations, strolling musicians, street performers, and several city blocks of booths with “finds” that include everything from carved wooden mushrooms to news that you can use. Munchkin Land is on track to captivate kids with rides, games and continuous entertainment.

 

            The mushroom is the festival star, which can be tasted in soup, stuffed, sandwiched, deep-fried, marinated, over rice, and much more. Local mushrooms growers are hosting educational exhibits on how mushrooms grow and the latest nutrition research and the availability of just-picked, locally grown Portabella, Crimini and white mushrooms – the ultimate take-home souvenir.

California ranks second in the nation in mushroom production, and more than 60% of those mushrooms are grown in Santa Clara and Monterey counties.

            Wide ranging food choices, such as local BBQ and fruits hand-dipped in chocolate, are available in food booths throughout the festival and in nearby restaurants.

Entertainment headliners will be Evolution, with their Journey tribute; and the popular Joe Sharino Band. Music, on two stages for listening or dancing, will include zydeco, classic rock and the blues of the local favorite Red Beans & Rice.

 

Back by popular demand is the announcement of Ms. Mushroom and Mr. Fungi winners of a broadcast competition sponsored by MHAT local cable access. Street performers include the Mama’s Wranglers (formerly Kid Fiddlers), who will roam the town with Jimbo the Clown, Monty the Mushroom, minstrels, jugglers, jesters and a walker.

Shoppers can entertain themselves for hours browsing fine arts, handmade crafts, jewelry, clothing, home and garden wares and marketplace vendors. Specialty shops and merchants in Morgan Hill’s charming downtown area are only a short walk.   

Saturday morning will also feature the fruit and vegetable stands at the weekly Morgan Hill Farmers Market from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. on Depot St., between Main & Second Sts.

Munchkin Land has planned entertainment for kids of all ages. Youngsters will have rides, games, a petting zoo and pony rides, as well as children’s entertainment on the Munchkin Land Stage. Older kids are more likely to gravitate to the rock climbing wall or Eurobungy trampolines. The children’s area is located on Depot St., between Second and Third Sts.

Merchants in the Commercial Exhibit on Depot St. will offer special rates, deals and giveaways on their services.

In addition to no charge for admission, parking is free in surrounding parking lots and throughout downtown Morgan Hill. Hours are 10 a.m.-7 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. on Sunday. For information call (408) 778-1786 or go to www.mhmmg.com.

______________________________________________________________________

 

Located in downtown Morgan Hill, California, the Morgan Hill Mushroom Mardi Gras Festival is held Memorial Day weekend each year. Attendance estimates are about 70,000 visitors over the two-day event. The mission of the Mushroom Mardi Gras Festival (a non-profit 501(c)3 corporation), is to provide a fun and entertaining family festival with an emphasis on promoting the mushroom and educating consumers about the health benefits of mushrooms, all while financially awarding scholarships to high school seniors living within the boundaries of the Morgan Hill Unified School District and monetary donations to local non-profit clubs and organizations. The Festival has awarded over $700,000 in scholarships and over $350,000 to local non-profits over the past 32 years.

 

A Media Center with news releases, fact sheets and images for download is available to the news media from the home page of www.mhmmg.com.

This is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month for April

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For all you drivers who don’t obey the law and continue to talk on the phone without using a hands free device or texting stop it. The month of April is the National Distracted Driving Awareness. The California Highway Patrol and other law enforcement agencies across the state are cracking down on distracted motorists. CHP Commissioner Joseph Farrow said, “We are taking part of a national campaign sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to bring attention to the issue of distracted driving; specifically cell phone use and texting and driving.” More than 3,000 people across the country were killed last year as the result of distracted driving, said Farrow. The fine for talking on a cell phone or texting is $159.00 or higher. Don’t do it! It is not worth putting your life and other at risk. For a call or text that can wait.

LM

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2013/03/26/chp-set-to-crack-down-on-distracted-driving-in-april/

Airship. Future Way to Get Heavy Cargo Transported.

I came across this article the other day about Aeros Corporation in Los Angeles they are developing the Airship. The Airship is supposed to be way of the future in moving and shipping heavy cargo for the military, possible firefighting, possible use in the public sector like UPS and a luxury way of transporting people. I thought this would be great because you would be able to move heavy cargo and people much cheaper because there using helium. What’s neat about this invention is it can hover, so there is no need to have any ground support. A prime example where this technology would have been much needed was in New Orleans during hurricane Katrina when the airports where flooded. It would have meant supplies would have gotten to the people much quicker. This technology would be great when disaster occur. The Airship is supposed to be able to carry 60 tons of cargo. Its size is 270 feet long, 100 feet tall, 75 feet wide and weighs 36,000 pounds. It has vertical take-off and landing at full maximum payload.  I think Aeros Corporation in Los Angeles has something that can change the future in the way cargo is transported. The one thing about this technology is there are going to be flaws in the system. I hope Aeros Corporation in Los Angeles puts the Airship to the test in all the situations and make it safe.

LM

http://www.technobuffalo.com/2013/03/01/out-of-the-ashes-the-rebirth-of-the-airship/

http://www.aviationweek.com/Blogs.aspx?plckBlogId=Blog:27ec4a53-dcc8-42d0-bd3a-01329aef79a7&plckPostId=Blog:27ec4a53-dcc8-42d0-bd3a-01329aef79a7Post:119fbb0b-5c10-4b47-86d9-848a10cc6032

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-JYHfX6kmc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZGCHhL7zm4&feature=endscreen&NR=1

San Jose Earthquake’s New Soccer Stadium

The San Jose Earthquake soccer team was founded on June 15, 1994 as San Jose Clash. San Jose Mercury News had a contest in which the fans were encouraged to send in suggestions for the name of the franchise. That is how the name Earthquakes name came about. The San Jose Earthquake’s play their matches at Buck Shaw Stadium in Santa Clara, California. The capacity of the stadium is 10,525 seats. Well the new stadium will have a capacity of 18,000 seats. The stadium will be built on what is known as Airport West. This is on the west side of San Jose International Airport. The new stadium will have 12 luxury suites, mixed use residential, retail, R&D and hotel development. The groundbreaking of the new stadium was on October 21, 2012. There were 6,256 participants on hand digging into the ground. This set a Guinness World Record. Well the construction has begun and the new home of the San Jose Earthquakes is underway. The target date of the completion is the spring of 2014. I think this is going to be great for the economy in the San Jose, Santa Clara area. This means more jobs and it will allow San Jose to host international soccer matches.

LM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Earthquakes_Stadium

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2011/11/29/new-earthquakes-stadium-feature-field-level-suites

Northern California Says Farewell to the Space Shuttle Endeavour.

Growing up in the 1960s NASA’s space program has always been fascinating to me. When I look up at the stars, I wonder what it would be like to be up there and If there other civilizations up there? Well NASA’s Shuttle Space program is over. Space Shuttle Endeavor flew over California on September 21, 2011 for its final flight. It hitched a ride on top of a 747 jet. It took off at 8:17 a.m. from Edwards Air Force Base, located on the border of Kern County, Los Angeles County. Space Shuttle Endeavor then soared over northern California cities of Sacramento, San Francisco Burlingame, Mountain View, Atherton, East Palo Alto, Oakland, Berkeley, Richmond, Fremont, Foster City, Los Altos, Menlo Park, Millbrae, Palo Alto, San Mateo, Santa Clara, San Jose and Sunnyvale. There were 100 of thousands of people cheered the passing Space Shuttle Endeavor. People even got emotional. George Kucera, 47 said, "That made me feel like a little boy again,'' he watched with thousands near the Golden Gate bridge, "I lost myself in a moment." Fifteen year old Alex Thanos of Redwood City said, "It was incredible, an once-in-a-lifetime experience. It was breathtaking." I saw it on TV and I started to get a little teary eyed. This was history in the making, I am sad to see NASA’s Shuttle Space Program end. All good things must come to an end.  

LM

  

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/09/space-shuttle-endeavour-sacramento.html

http://www.examiner.com/article/the-last-flight-of-the-space-shuttle-endeavor

California State Senate Approves Self-Driving or Autonomous Cars

Yes! The future is here self-driving cars have arrived. I remember in 2011 my cousin Michael Ealey owner of Streetwise Special Delivery Courier Service in Gilroy California, was driving from Gilroy to San Jose to do a pickup and delivery. He called me on the phone and said he was driving next to a self-driving car made by Google. Senators from the state of California voted 37-0 in support of the bill that would allow self-driving cars on the streets and highways as long as a licensed driver is aboard. Senator Alex Padilla said "Human error is the cause of almost every accident on the road today. If autonomous technology can reduce the number of accidents, and then we also reduce the number of injuries and fatalities on California's roads," sponsor of the bill, State Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima), explained to the Los Angeles Times. "For me this is a matter of safety." These self-driving cars use radar, video cameras, lasers and a database of information collected from manually-driven cars to navigate and are meant to prevent accidents. I think this would be great, there should be no more accidents and no more traffic jams wouldn’t that be nice. All the handicapped people who have not been able to drive will finally get their chance. Would everyone go for the self-driving car? I don’t think so, because first of all the car will drive only the speed limit. We all know in this fast pace world people won’t like going the speed limit. What if there is some kind of electrical outage in the world? Like we see in the movies, what then? I would like to see how these cars drive, I probably would be nervous wanting to put my hands on the steering wheel. If the people of California passes Padilla's bill, SB 1298 and this bill is signed by Governor Jerry Brown it would go into effect in January 2013.

LM

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/22/self-driving-cars-in-ca_n_1536738.html

How to avoid paying for traffic tickets!

Image via Wikipedia

Image by Indiana Stan via Flickr

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Subject: How to avoid paying for traffic tickets!

First off, I've gotten five traffic tickets over the past 17-years, two for speeding and three for moving violations. I paid for only one of them, but I didn't just blow them off!  People who try that end up paying much more, and their lives take a drastic turn for the worse!

I beat paying for most of my tickets by getting them legally dismissed, but it wasn't easy.  My method takes a little extra effort and some luck.--with no guarantees.

Before I share it with you, the best way to avoid paying for tickets is not to get them at all!  That's accomplished by driving safely, obeying all laws, and observing the speed limit. However, should you manage to get one or two, as happens to the best of us, take care of them on time!

When I was a teenager, I missed the payment deadline by two days, and the judge slapped me with a failure to appear which doubled the fine.  Then he warned me that if it happened again, I'd be in for grave trouble...with a capital G!!  It never happened again.

I will now share my method, using the most recent ticket:   I was on a courier run for 'Streetwise Special Delivery', driving medical equipment from San Jose, California to a surgeon's residence in Redding, California....and my boss rented me a fast, six-cylinder Chevy Impala to cover the 670-mile trip.

I made the delivery by 10:15pm, and immediately headed back, stopping just once for coffee.  The drive was smooth, wide-open and a little speedy at times, as the rental car was more powerful than I was used to. I really had to watch the speedometer, which slipped past 80mph a few times.

By 2:30am I was southbound on Hwy 680, just crossing the Dublin 580 interchange in Pleasanton, when the red lights flashed  behind me. A CHP officer pulled me over at Stoneridge Avenue, and gave me a speeding ticket for going 81mph. When I checked the speedometer it read 74mph, but the cop maintained I had already slowed down a bit. This happened on June 8th, 2009.

Here is what I did to beat this.  When the citation arrived by mail, I called the court to request an extension. Most grant you 30 extra days.(some may offer more)  This bought me an extra 60-days. A week prior to that deadline, I called back and scheduled a walk-in appointment in order to schedule a court date to fight the ticket.

I then drove to Pleasanton, waited in line for 20-minutes, sat in court for another 30-minutes, and plead not guilty.  At the clerk's window I asked for the latest court date possible, and was happily appointed February 25th, 2010, almost nine-months after I first got the ticket!

This is the key to success! Extend, extend, extend--but don't miss the court date!  With any luck, so much time will have passed that the citing officer transfers out, or blows off court because it's his day off.  Maybe this is his sleep time, which often happens with graveyard citations. Also, CHP officers do not get paid to appear in court, unless its during their normal work shift. The same goes for city police and sheriff officers.

Plus, if he does show up, what can you lose?  You'll probably end up paying, but the judge may actually reduce the fine. If not, you'll just be granted another 60-days to pay.(or some other payment arrangement)

On February 25th of last month, I walked into a courtroom filled with people and CHP officers, but not mine!   CASE DISMISSED!  The same thing happened long ago with two other tickets that I had legitimate beefs with.  However, neither officer showed, and both tickets were dismissed as well. The other ticket happened down the street where I live, and the San Jose Police officer did appear,  however, the judge ruled he'd set-up an un-authorized speed trap, and threw my case out!

Am I just lucky or what?  Remember now, in each case I extended, extended, extended--to the limit of the law, and my patience seemed to pay off!  I must have saved more than $1000 in fines, and some pretty high insurance premiums over the years, simply because I  figured a way to, at least, improve the odds of beating a traffic ticket!

I won't get cocky though, after all I drive for a living.  It's my job to get things delivered safely!  NO MORE TICKETS FOR ME!

Walking out of court that day, I also managed to chat with CHP motorcycle traffic officer about some interesting traffic facts. He told me they receive no money from traffic fines, and the CHP have no set quotas for issuing tickets.  He also told me that 3 or 4 of every ten drivers display bad attitudes when getting stopped. It makes a big difference!  "The rest are cool, and save lots of money", he said.

He gave an example where he pulled a guy over going 92mph, however,  the driver was so pleasant that he only wrote him for doing 74mph. "Had that same guy cussed me out or gave me trouble, I could have arrested him for reckless driving...which is a huge fine and 3 points on his record",he said..

So remember, drive safely, avoid getting tickets, be nice to cops if you do, and fight them all in court by using my "extend" method.  You just may save yourself some hefty fines, high insurance premiums, and that dreaded 8-hour driving class!


Thanks, and be safe out on the road,

Sincerely,  PeteCam4

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Bay Bridge Accident

Image via Wikipedia

How soon before the San Francisco Bay Bridge re-opens?  More importantly, will the fix hold for good this time? 

High winds Tuesday night caused a steel cross-beam and two tie rods to snap off and fall to the upper deck, damaging three cars and injuring one person.  The three steel pieces were part of an emergency repair made just seven weeks ago during a planned Labor Day expansion project. 

An un-forseen crack in a structural beam then,  forced that repair... and threatened a possible major delay in the bridge's re-opening. However, the crack was repaired, and thus,  swiftly allowed the bridge to re-open...nearly on schedule!

After Tuesday's accident, which caused enormous commute problems throughout the entire North and East Bay Area, Caltrans refused to predict when the Bay Bridge would re-open, though the lead contractor predicted the new repair woud be complete sometime today.

Under intense public scrutiny--and now the eyes of the Federal Highway Administration, Caltrans blames high winds and traffic vibration for Tuesday's accident, claiming the repair design was a first-of-its-kind innovation, done on a type of cracked beam never before seen.

"Wind is something that should have been accounted for in that design," Caltrans spokesman Bart Ney said Wednesday. "We've identified fatigue as a factor, and our new design should address that." 

Still, there are skeptics who believe the initial brace design was an inadequate fix for a 73-year old bridge. UC-Berkeley engineering professor Abolhassan Astaneh-Asi said, "They rushed this repair over Labor Day, and now they refuse to acknowledge that it's an incorrect design."

Caltrans officials defended their brace design, claiming they are making vast improvements this time in order to provide additional protection. Meanwhile, Thursday's commute could set new traffic records as drivers crawl along adjacent highways and bridges, and pack into Bart train stations...all hoping that their sacrifices will lead to a FULLY fixed Bay Bridge--once and for all!

One final question. Who is going to pay for the three smashed autos damaged on the bridge, and the medical bills for the woman who was injured?  (Just wondering!) 

Thanks, and see you on the other side of the bridge.

PeteCam4

"Best Wishes"--PTCJr

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