VINTAGE BIRDS COME CALLING
“Last week I saw large military aircraft flying very low over the South Valley area. They were either large transport planes or may have even been B-52s. One was flying south and, last Wednesday, two were flying north. Have we become part of the Axis of Evil? Could you find out what they were?”
RED PHONE
The Red Phone called Moffett Field, the naval air station located in Sunnyvale, to find out if what you’ve been seeing has something to do with one of President Bush’s buzz words like “terror” or “freedom.” We found that there has been an increase in military aircraft traffic in the South Valley skies.
These aircraft are part of the Wings of Freedom Tour organized by The Collings Foundation, a non-profit educational foundation that creates living history events throughout the country. These activities include aviation-related events such as air shows and 30-minute flight experiences in vintage aircraft. According to The Collings Foundation’s marketing director, Hunter Chaney, this particular tour showcases a restored Consolidated B-24J Liberator, the North American B-25J Mitchell, and the Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress “Nine-O-Nine,” the companion of the B-24 in thousands of reconnaissance and World War II missions.
You’ve been seeing them because the tour has been moving its base of operations every few days and flying out of airfields including Moffett Naval Air Station and Monterey and Hollister airports. The tour moved to Sacramento skies on May 23.
GRAFFITI ON THE STREETS
“This sure is the season for foot and bicycle races in the South County area, as we start to see our public streets being painted by race promoters. Directional arrows, mileage markers, start and finish lines, you name it … in all my favorite colors.Â
“I am pretty sure that if I started painting, let’s say, basketball or volleyball court lines on the street in front of city hall or the police department, someone would promptly write me a ticket for vandalism.Â
“I would think that these organized events need some type of permission or permit from the city or the county in order to hold them in our area. So, who is it that gives these race officials the permission to paint our streets? Why can’t they use chalk, or put a person at these locations to point out which direction to go, or come back after the race and take a steel brush to the markings they illegally painted on our roadway?”
RED PHONE
Phyllis Dieter, municipal service assistant for the City of Morgan Hill, reminds the Red Phone that any organizer of an event that is planned to take place within Morgan Hill city limits needs to secure a special event permit. This permit needs to be applied for at least 60 days prior to the event and can be obtained either online at www.morgan-hill.ca.gov or it can be picked up at the Morgan Hill Community and Cultural Center, 17000 Monterey Road.
While inspecting the permit application, the Red Phone noted one of the many requirements is that event organizers must have a cleanup plan in place for during and after the event. If the Department of Public Works is called to clean up and remove litter, the event organizers will be billed for these services.
Dieter also stated that chalk, not paint, is to be used for any markings placed on the city’s roadways.
Residents wishing to report litter or cleanup that may be needed after an event should call Dieter at 782-0008, ext. 505. Please keep in mind that the city can only control the events that have the proper permits and happen within Morgan Hill city limits. By design, county events happen outside city limits in unincorporated areas and county permits are required for those events to take place. Concerns about these events should be brought to the attention of the Santa Clara County Roads and Airports Department at (408) 573-2400.
If you have a problem, a question, are worried about a specific situation or simply need to praise a job well done in our town, please pick up the phone, get on the Internet or snail mail any issue that needs the Red-Caped man’s attention.
Contact us at (408)
779-4106, ext. 206, or e-mail re******@*************es.com. Remember to leave a name and phone number when you call or e-mail. The Red Phone will not publish this information and will only use it for verification purposes.
