|
|
|
|
|
| | Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | | 31 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 1 | 2 | 3 | | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
|
 Wednesday, August 03, 2005
This week we ask an important question in the wake of the city of Modesto wasting time attempting to restrict and increase the cost of outside dining. We need to encourage restaurant owners to open new places, that bring new customers, that supply tax dollars, that revitalize downtowns and so on and so on? Do you think that the City of Modesto should be restricting restaurants that have outside dining? If the outdoor cafes meet code, we should have more of them? What do you think?
Plastic Bags vs Fast Food. Litter? Mostly plastic bags? I don’t think so. If you are one of the people that volunteer to clean up litter in Modesto on a regular basis, then you know that Fast Food wrappers, cups, lids, burger boxes are the most common litter item. What do you think that we should do? These are coming from the drive through windows all over town. Is there a solution? Can we stop this? At least from the grocery store, you can get a blue bag instead. What do you think?
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Here it is on a Sunday morning and Downtown is cleaner that it was Friday afternoon. What happened? X Fest came and went. 15,000 people 38 bands and a whole lot of fun in our own downtown. There was so much variety, lots of people who never go downtown were there and Modesto make one more step forward in being known for music, arts and entertainment. We can and should be the most culturally rich city in the central valley. It does not happen by itself, we have to keep pushing. What was your favorite stage? What did you enjoy the most? Did you have a good time? Post your comments here in ModestoView Buzz sections.
Saturday, July 23, 2005
This is always such a fun day. It is great to see 13,000 or so people all out to have a good time and hear some great music. Between this, American Graffiti, the MAMA Awards our art and creative culture, we are really starting to make a difference and become the cultural capitol of the central valley. We can do it and be the most creative city. Will you go to x fest? Will you take pictures? Post them in the X Fest website when you get done.
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Be sure to visit all the options undfer "Configuration" in the Admin Menu Bar above. There are 16 themes to choose from, and you can also create your own.
Saturday, July 16, 2005
I always hate leaving Paris. Everytime, I drag my feet, one more cafe. Everytime I get back to Modesto and intend on making changes in our house, life, community and all of that stuff based on what I experience. I hope to do the same this time. An extra pause here and there to enjoy, more music in public spaces, more sitting at the outdoor patios with friends, more friends over in the evening for wine or coffee. What do you do different after you travel?
Au revoir
Friday, July 15, 2005
It is one of those great days. Lance is in the yellow jersey here in France, the entire nation is celebrating and Americans are welcome in this city (sort of French language helps even more) and best of all, live in Modesto it is the 5th installment of MoBand. MoBand is a very Parisian kind of thing and it goes like this. Beautiful city park, great local live music, blankets on the ground, wonderful food, great friends and last but certainly not least, a good bottle of wine. I am sad to be missing it tonight. It is fun to be in any place, celebrating independence, liberation or any other form of freedom of the people and even more fun to be doing it with a million people surrounding you. So see, it is all relative, 3,000 people in a park in Modesto is a very good thing. This is why Paris recharges my batteries and keeps me returning year after year.
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
Now that we have a new budget, it so so very important that you make your thoughts know about the issues. There were only one or two citizens that showed up for the budget workshops. This is probably due to the fact that these meetings are total agony to sit though and many of them are held during the day. But nevertheless, you need to stick up for the local programs that are important, like Local TV, Litter Clean Up, Security, Roads and more jobs. Please email the council with your thoughts and ideas and let them know that you are watching and that you care.
See what it happening in city government and post your own comments at www.modestoview.com/opinion
So they found that the barium in the fill dirt in the new Highway 132 / Kansas Interchange dirt was non-threatening. Well, what a surprise. The former FMC plant was on “ Barium Rd ” and fill dirt like this was used all over Modesto and all up and down the valley. Barium is naturally occurring to some degree and if it is Barium Sulfate, it is non soluble and poses no threat. Plus, this will all be paved over for a freeway so what are we waiting for? We need to get our freeways and roads fixed.
As I was sorting old newspapers, I wondered why a piece of driftwood got half the front page and back page of the paper? There are people volunteering, innovating, contributing, creating, thinking, caring and doing out there that are far more worthy of coverage. What do you think? Post your thoughts. www.modestoview.com/culture
If you wanted an example of how totally awful corporate TV is, then you should have seen the abysmal coverage of Live 8. This truly noble act created by Bob Geldoff was covered by the same lousy “VJs” that continually talked about the act “on the stage behind me” and then blathered on and on to each other, fans in the crowd and non-stop advertising, while the music was marginalized….. just like MTV. Thank goodness for the uncluttered live feeds on AOL.com and XM radio. How could a TV channel so innovative be such junk now? And worst of all was an annoying MTVJ talking over the Pink Floyd reunion. This is a glaring example of why we need local TV with local content and local innovation. You can help by becoming a supporter of Channel M. Have any comments about this? Post them in the buzzblog . Did you vote in the poll??
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Stupid thing of the week? When is a tie not a tie? This is a perfect example of stupid people in charge and making stupid decisions because they have a little power. (this is not a local story) You know these kind of people, your worst nightmare. Here is a guy who wears a bolo tie (note that the word tie is in the name?) to graduation that requires a tie and he is denied a diploma because it is deemed by stupid staffers to not be a tie? (hold your head in your hands now please) Comment here.
How cool is it that we are finally taking the world wide fame and history of being the home of the movie American Graffiti. This is a positive thing that we can get our hands around. Think of all the other places in the world that are famous because a movie was filmed there, let alone a movie that was revolutionary, critically acclaimed about life in Modesto. We need to keep this going and build on this kind of fame. Thumbs up to all of this.
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Don’t cry for Tower Park. I rode my bike past Tower Park at 17th and G Streets on Saturday morning and many other mornings. Litter everywhere, boxes on the tables, personal belongings all over the place. The people that use this park do not take care of it, they do not clean up, the people that are helping do not clean up and it is sad. I think that there would be a lot more support to the issues of the homeless if there were some responsibility. People who use the parks and the street should clean up, the businesses in downtown should always make sure it is clean in front of their business. Are we too harsh? Too lenient? Do you care? What do you think?
As we go into the final hours of the city of Modesto budget negotiation, ModestoView voters have indicated that it is time for some revenue increase as well as spending cuts. Since housing prices have nearly doubled, shouldn’t there be a HUGE increase in the property tax? HUGE increase on Sales Tax and other growth related revenue? We need to keep our services, our police and other things functioning.
As we go into the week of graduations and celebrations, it is really sad that physically disabled special-ed kids do not get to share in the graduation walk, even if they pass the Constitution test. Yes, they advance to 9th grade, but no graduation. What do you think about this? Goofy technicality or bad policy?
States rights? Whatever happened to this? Is medical marijuana set back or is this now just the beginning? Will Modesto spend time on this or focus on other really important issues?
Saturday, June 04, 2005
The Budget. Well, there are two ways to look at it. 1) you can cut cut cut or 2) You can find a way to increase revenue and reduce the need for services by encouraging volunteerism. Maybe it is a blend. We should be receiving more sales tax and more property tax than we had thought. I don’t think that the Modesto government forecasted for 50% property value increases, if they did….. hmmm. The budget goes for approval and those of you that work for a living that could not attend all-day long sessions that take the patience of a paid government employee, your only hope is to email or call in your thoughts to the city council before they take action on June 7th.
Monday, May 09, 2005
274,000 jobs were created in April. But the most disturbing fact is that 6,000 were lost in manufacturing. Isn’t a strong economy built around making something? Is the USA becoming a middleman? 58,000 new jobs in recreation and leisure, 47,000 in construction and 25,000 new jobs in Health Care. Who is making the flat screen TVs, the IPODs, the Gap Chinos, the Hybrid Cars? At least here in Modesto we grow and make food. We will keep our leadership position in food? You have to wonder. Have a comment?
Thursday, May 05, 2005
The professional homeless really need to be addressed. Hatch Road @ 99, I St. @ 5th, Scenic @ Oakdale, Claus @ Yosemite and the list goes on and on. I would gladly pay some money if the people on the corner cleaned up their area where they stand. I would actually encourage it. If someone wants to keep the 5th and 6th Street area litter free, then I am all for a contribution of food or otherwise. But one guy today on the Hatch off ramp, standing with fast food bags all over the ground stood there with his sign asking for a handout, but won’t give back. What to you think?
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
You always want to know the real scoop to things and repeating hearsay is one of the worst things you can do. Here it is Monday, and there is no real way, other than to drive out to the School District office to find the actual wording of the new proposed MSC school dress code. Getting information to the people that need it is a thing that the educational world and the government world need to do better. The agendas are rarely or never posted at the Stan Union website or the Sylvan School site. MCS usually gets the agenda up on the day of the meeting, hopefully they will get this posted the week before so people can plan to go to the meetings. We want them to get better so more people will get involved. What do you think about all this?
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
The Modesto City Council has limited the access by Kids Day (The Salvation Army and the Modesto Bee joint special edition newspaper project to raise money for kid services) volunteers from the intersection. It was like the goodl ol days selling newspapers on the corners. But, in the name os safety, these volunteers will not be able to peddle around the intersections anymore. As a former volunteer, it was indeed true that you had to enter out into traffic to deliver a newspaper, but this helped raise a lot of money for a good cause. What do you think? Do you think the volunteers should be allowed to sell the papers car to car or should they be limited to only 11 area pull outs in town.
Ok Ok, let’s see. We are having a hard time with the budget and are having a hard time doing all of the things that make a kid smart, but we are going to start doing subjective clothing checks. How does this work? Do we suspend? What will happen to test scores? How low is too low? Does Abercrombie or Talbots set the standard? What is free speech? Parents need to make sure that kids are dressed right so the schools do not have to be a culture police at the same time. And Flip Flops, those should be OK. A ban on the crack of the behind is ok, but flip flops should be allowed. The Modesto City Schools Board will be meeting on April 18th. Please email your school board members and comment on this subject.
Sunday, April 10, 2005
Neat team volunteers are out there all volunteering to help keep Modesto clean. On my particular corner at Scenic and Oakdale, I guess it means that we have to do our own mowing and landscape too. It looks alot better now, but the city needs to do its part to help keep the city clean. It is economic importance to keep our city clean.
The Team formerly known as Modesto A’s opened in Modesto on the 7th. Sure T-shirt sales are up, but it would have been nice to start the season without the double entendres, it wasn’t necessary. Maybe they will win soon and bring some pride to Modesto Baseball. . KHOP 95.1 radio was on site and the jokes kept coming. I will tip a cold one and hope that we all just get used to it. What do you think?
Thursday, March 24, 2005
It would be nice that if the city is going to cut some services like wading pools in some of the neighborhood parks, they would come up with something better than "we will replace the pools with grass and bushes" Woo Hooo what a bonus! Don't you think that there is somehing between bushes and a pool? How about a basketball court like the cool back to back round one at Creekside Park. How about a volley ball place or even a exercise course center? I'll bet the neighbors would even help raise some dough for a basketball court that does not require watering or mowing. Since the ciy council voted to eliminate the pools and they have to tear it up anyway, might as well replace it with some function. What do you think?
Monday, March 21, 2005
It is with this that we want to discuss downtown parking. It is so cool to be able to park in one spot and hit happy hour, a nice dinner, a film or show, some comedy, late night coffee a concert and park in one place. A little walk between courses is a very good thing. We need to get in the habit of this and quit demanding to park directly in front of the place that we are going. We need to expand our thinking about how for we will walk from a parking place. 2 blocks? No big deal. Comment on this.
I am conflicted. The Modesto Nuts are here to stay, but if a group of local investors can buy the team, maybe the name will be changed, but I love going to local ball games and don’t want to miss some great family time, but I do not want to reward the people that created the name Nuts. What to do? Are you as conflicted as I am? Is there anything we can do or de we just suck it up and go to the ball game? What do you think? Are you going to opening day? Post your comments in our Blog?
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
What is happening at Rock 96.7? Rock era over? Did I hear that right? An inside source tells me to be sure to tune in on Friday afternoon to get the scoop. New format? Oldies? Hip Hop? Americana? AAA? County? All bets are off so you will have to listen for yourself. In the meantime, it is a pretty fun eclectic mix of old, new, 80s, stadium rock and more. Whatever it is, local info and connections will be important. What do you think it will be?
What do you think we need to name as the biggest litter clean up priority? Is it 5th and 6th Street? Is is the edge of Briggsmore? Is it 8th street? What is your litter peave? Post it here so that we can pass this on to the City of Modesto so we can get an action plan going.
With the tragic destruction of Modesto High, Modesto must continue the zero tolerance of Gang Activity. If someone choose to dress like a gang member, then they are waiting for or looking for problems and it should not be tolerated in Modesto. We must take back our streets. It is not about ethnic profiling, it is about gang profiling and there is a difference. Post your comments about Gang Activity in our buzz Blog.
This week we wonder; Do you think that Tommy Lasorda knew that he was speaking at a Modesto Nuts dinner when he signed up? It was probably the A’s when he said he would do it. Kind of funny huh? What do you think about this?
Monday, March 14, 2005
Most of the people that say that there isn’t enough medical research to support medicinal use and therefore don’t support it are the same people that oppose government approved testing to learn the truth. Huh? Ignorance is not beautiful. We need to open our eyes that this has a place in our medical field and to quit using stereotypes about the potential mis-use. Look at the mis-use of Oxycontin and the neighborhood drug trade of vicodin. We need to learn what it does, we need to approve the use based on testing and make this a mainstream option for patients. What do you think?
Monday, March 07, 2005
Taco trucks are cool. Not to be confused with the roachcoaches that pull up in front of a warehouse, but these have character. What is your favorite Taco Truck? Do you love them or hate them? Do you totally jones for a carne asada burrito at 12:30 in the morning on 8th St. What is your favorite dish and what do you eat over and over and over. These have a place in our community along with the real restaurants like El Faro, La Parilla, El Rosal, etc. I want chips now! What do you think?
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
Do you have a Modesto favorite? Is it Grandaddy? Megan Slankard? Transport? Auto Select? D.A.R.Y.L., Angst? Anteria? El Olio Wolof? Valley Jazz Collective? Eric Benson? There are so many to choose from and so mnay different genres of music. Do you have a fave? IS there someone up and coming that needs some exposure? Tell us about them and get the word out.
In county (StanCog) news: The Highway 132 East project has been hijacked. 219 and the self inflicted traffic wound of a Pelendale Interchange have mysteriously replaced 132 East as the priority regional project. Are we trying to bring quality jobs to Modesto or help export our food or are we pacifying the home builders and retail landlords? There was little or no request for comment and even members of the PIP team that helped plan this are in the dark. See council agenda item #25 below. Meanwhile the Yosemite/D Street roundabout gets forgotten.
This is the first year that I have been following high school sports and I am an amateur spectator and have a lot to learn. It would be cool if the Bee and the TV news gave more coverage to the high school JV games or at least some of the key highlights and a couple of pics. There is so much more going on than just the varsity match-ups even though it was cool to see Modesto High come out on top. Maybe I did not know where to look if it was covered. There was a great season this year. Ceres and Davis went head to head in a nail-biter with Davis winning the MMC championship by one, yes, one point. That was some incredible Basketball. Just think what the varsity teams will be like. But now it is track and field so we move on. Do you have a comment about this? Post it here in the Buzz Blog.
Say What?
George Miller,(D- Concord) says Agriculture is important, but it is not our economic future. We need to take pause and think about these words. Food is our future. You can make a TV, video games, or pair of sneakers anywhere, but there are few places in the world that can grow food and we are one of them. We can not lose our food independence and be dependent on China or South America like we are for TVs and Computers. What do you think about this? Post your comment in our BuzzBlog.
Saturday, February 12, 2005
From the sounds of Pete Townsend shouting that he wanted his MTV in 1981, we need to make the same kind of noise for our own Modesto TV. We should not be some neglacted market that is handled by Sacramento or worse yet some corporate headquarters in Texas or New York. We need our own local news, our own local shows and we need features that make our city proud. More importantly, we need our share of the cable franchise fees that fund the Public portion of local access TV. Funds will not be available unless we have a complete plan for local TV programming and operations. Modesto is forming a non-prifit to run it and you can be a part of this. What do you think? What do you want? What does Modesto need. Speak up and demand your M-TV. We want Modesto TV.
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
I have one less preset on my radio now. 1360 AM, the station of my youth has been deleted. Local content is the only thing keeping my fingers off of the XM Satellite Radio switch. If I want syndicated services, there are so many options that are tailored to my own listening habits. We need local news, dialog, discussion and more outlets to help get the word and divergent opinions out there. Make sure that you support and listen to TV, Radio and News that is driven by local content.
The US General Services Agency has declared the Downtown Post Office at 12 and I Sts. "surplus...and available for disposal." Any ideas for use out there?
Dennis V. Jackman
Sunday, January 16, 2005
We have a huge chance to
make J Street One Way. Imagine if you will, being able to park and select
businesses on both sides of the street. Have three lanes of traffic, diagonal
parking, traffic calming intersections.
Here is how it will go:
Down McHenry, Needham, or Downey
and then one way down J street
with the ability to park on both sides all the way down to J street. 3 lanes of traffic with
diagonal parking on each side. At the end of J, either turn right or left.
Right takes you back to K Street
to come up the other way. Left takes you to I street (now one way north*) and
back up through downtown.
G > One Way North (as it
is now)
H > One Way South (as it
is now)
I > One Way North
J > One Way South
K > One Way North (as it
is now)
L > One Way South (as it
is now)
Not that much change
involved. See how cool this could be? Easy to circle around if you missed
something (easier than now as left turns are easier and quick) more parking
and so many other options with pop out corner sidewalks and some decent
landscaping. Business would get more traffic as people could select either
side of the street as they go along. J would have diagonal parking increasing
the capacity for business parking. There would be fewer conflicting head to
head left turns, traffic would move smoother and I street and J Street become
the promenades that they deserve to be.
*I street becomes One way at
9th street
until 17th, just like L and K Streets are now
What about this???
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Who knows what this is or better yet, why is it still like
this? This is a major Modesto
mystery. How many of you know what the “Tyvek” house is? A
ModestoView T shirt for the first person that posts a response to this in our
Modesto Buzz Blog
Monday, January 10, 2005
Can you believe that for the price of the Presidential
Inauguration, we could fund the entire Kansas / 99 interchange or the entire
stretch of Highway 132 West to 580 or build a new high school or……….or……or……..
Saturday, January 08, 2005
A couple of years ago, we were in the midst of brilliant
planning for a new gateway business park at Kansas and 99. Now, 3,000 new homes later,
the business park is still on paper…. Or is it??? Does anyone know what
happened to the job creating and freeway frontage enhancing project? If jobs
are our number one priority, it sure doesn’t seem like it. Any help
here? We need it? - chrism
Wednesday, January 05, 2005
The Modesto Council wants proposals for unique space that
can be a showpiece for the future of Downtown and the corner of 11 and H street. Time for
something bold. There is only one open corner across from the new Gallo Center
and someone can make something great? We need housing, “business housing”,
not “affordable” housing. We need housing that will pave the way
for more housing in the downtown region. We need retail and we need parking. There
are ways to make this work. Look at the transit center developments in the bay
area for mixed use. If you have a plan, get it to the city council. Do you
have any ideas? Post them here and the council will see them. Show what great
thoughts you have.
Tuesday, January 04, 2005
Ever walk around downtown and think to your self how cool it
is that there are no major chain restaurants downtown. We have a ton of
variety, great quality, upscale, downscale and just about every type of food
you need. We need to make sure that we keep our restaurants filled and
active. In turn, we need to make sure that we set our expectations high so
that we get great service and great quality. We need a British Pub type place
downtown, maybe more Mexican, and maybe a good Steak House. What do you think
we need? Have you been downtown lately?
If you are like me, you have been on the Megan’s Law
webpage and have identified any of the potential sex offenders that may live in
your neighborhood. Makes you kind of sick to see all of the locations. Even
in Modesto and the surrounding area, be vigilant, know where your kids are and
make sure that your kids are armed with the proper info and attitude to stay
safe. www.meganslaw.ca.us
Monday, December 13, 2004
Is
it no wonder Village 1 has changed so much over the years? The
people are supposed to be aware of the changes but if you read the city council
agenda, the agenda items that request changes are total gibberish and make no
sense unless you have a planning degree. I am sure that the council sometimes
does not know what is on deck. Here is an example from this week’s
council agenda. Crystal clear eh? Notice the bottom one deletes commercial
from the mix. That is a big deal. Comments? So much for the village
neighborhood retail concept.
d.
Ordinance No. 3374-C.S. - an ordinance rezoning Village One property from
Specific Plan-Holding Zone, SP-H, to Specific Plan-Overlay Zone, SP-O, for
property located at the west side of Claus Road and north of Floyd Avenue.
(Precise Plan for Area No. 23 - Monterey Development Group)
· Motion approving final adoption recommended.
e. Ordinance No. 3375-C.S. - an ordinance amending the Precise Plan for
Area No. 24 of the Village One Specific Plan, to amend the Land Uses from
Commercial, Village Residential and Multi-Family Residential to Medium Density
Residential and Village Residential, Property located on the west side of Claus
Road and south of Floyd Avenue. (Monterey Development Group)
· Motion approving final adoption recommended.
City Attorney; Mike Milich, 577-5284
|
| |
| Sign In |
| |
| |
|
|
|
|