Road Closures
Murphy Road will be closed to Maple Avenue April 3-7 from 9am to 3pm as Caltrans repairs the cracked sealing. Drivers should expect up to 10-minute delays.
Supervisors Support Library Bond
Santa Clara County Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to support Proposition 81, a $600 million state bond to fund library construction projects. The Gilroy library is one of the facilities slated to receive funding if the bond passes in June.
“The new bond is a great way for the state to partner with local governments to provide new library buildings in under-served communities,” Supervisor Don Gage said.
The Santa Clara County Library serves more than 400,000 residents of Campbell, Cupertino, Gilroy, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Milpitas, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill, Saratoga and the unincorporated portions of the county.
Abalone Season Opens
The red abalone season opens April 1 in waters north of San Francisco Bay and continues through June 30. A second season will run from Aug. 1 to Nov. 30.
Abalone divers play an important role in managing California’s abalone fishery, said Ian Taniguchi, a marine biologist with the California Department of Fish and Game.
“The entire management strategy, surveys and punch card information allows us to keep tabs on the health of abalone populations so that we can provide this resource to Californians well into the future,” Taniguchi said.
There are a number of restrictions on abalone hunting in the fishery, which is the only one in the state and a key element in California’s plan to preserve the species. For additional information, visit www.dfg.ca.gov/ mrd/abalone.html and www.dfg.ca .gov/mrd/armp/ index.html.
Senator Urges Re-Evaluation of Perch Goal
Following a new perchlorate health standard in Massachusetts, State Sen. Nell Soto, D-San Bernardino, is urging state scientists to lower the health goal in California.
“I advise you to reconsider the public health goal for perchlorate immediately,” Soto wrote to the Office of Health Hazard Assessment. “Failure to do so would continue to put the public at risk.”
Earlier this month, Massachusetts health officials set a perchlorate health standard of 2 parts per billion, for the contaminant known to interfere with thyroid activity. California’s public health goal is 6 ppb. Soto has also introduced legislation, SB 187, that would force a re-evaluation of the health standard.
Assemblyman John Laird, D- Santa Cruz, who authored a similar letter last year, voiced support for Soto.
“I share with Sen. Soto the belief that a re-evaluation is needed and I continue to support efforts to convince OEHHA to review [the health goal] for perchlorate of 6 ppb as new information becomes available,” Laird said.
Housing Authority Waiting List Opens
The Housing Authority will open its waiting list for a five-day period, from April 24 – 28. The waiting list will only be open for these days. Application forms can be downloaded from www.hacsc.org only beginning April 16 and must be mailed in.
The applications must be postmarked with the dates of April 24, 25, 26, 27 or 28. However, applications mailed on April 28 will not necessarily be placed at the end of the list, as Housing Authority computers randomly select the order in which applications will be placed on the waiting list.
The Housing Authority states more instructions will become available in the local newspaper during the week of April 17.
