July 1999

Deputy Tammy Drew
 

Salida Under Seige
It was a 12 hour standoff with police, but they finally got all their men. It began just afternoon with a take-over robbery at the Cal-Fed bank at Oakdale and Orangeburg in Modesto. 5 well armed black male adults fled with an undisclosed amount of money in a stolen brown Caddilac El Dorado. Police were nearby when the call came in and engaged the suspects in a vehicle chase through North East Modesto. The chase ended up in a wild ride through a Salida Neighborhood, crashing into the side of a fenced yard. During the chase 3 suspects jumped out of the vehicle in the Beyer High School area of Modesto, some becoming injured as the driver sped away. The chase continued while police focused on the suspects who jumped out. The driver and another suspect still in the vehicle crashed through a couple back yards in the Sun Ridge West sub-division of Salida. The vehicle crashed into the side of another yard and the suspects fled on foot. One suspect fled into a nearby home but was quickly taken into custody, meanwhile the other was still at large. During the afternoon, two command posts were set up, searching for two possible suspects. One at large in the Beyer High area and one in the Salida Sun Ridge West area. The first break in the manhunt was just after 9pm when a suspect was apprehended at the Del Taco on Sylvan Avenue in Modesto. A tip to the police led them to taking in the 4th of 5 suspects in custody. The final suspect in Salida was finally taken into custody at midnight.
 

Meanwhile, the Salida M.A.C. Meeting went on as scheduled admist the chaos of the evening, here are some notes from what was discussed.
News from the July 8, 1999 Salida M.A.C. Meeting
There were three council members on hand at the meeting, one arriving a bit late due to prior commitments. Officer Green from the CHP was there to give us an update on the Salida crime and traffic situation. He reported there have been a few more accidents lately and that he's been working traffic enforcement pretty hard around high-risk traffic areas througout town. CHP has also been working with the Salida Fire Department for a Bike Registration program. What this does is records a serial number that is affixed to the bike for identification if the bike is lost or stolen. So far only about a dozen kids in Salida have taken advantage of this program. It's only $2 and you can get more information by contacting the Fire Dept. or CHP.
Speaking of Fire Department, Cheif Brubaker commended Salida residents for having a very un-eventful Fourth of July. There were only 2 calls for the Fire Department for the 4th. One was a grass fire off Hammet and the other was a vehicle accident. Over all so far this year calls are up about 12% and Chief predicts about 1200 calls to come in this year. A Station 3 is still in the plan, depending on how some plans work out for the expansion of Salida. They are hoping Station 3 will be on Murphy's and a Station 4 is being considered for the future out in the Hart Rd. area. Offices in the Salida F.D. will be returning to their original use of being dormatories and we will soon have some staff actually at the Fire Station around the clock. The Chief also spoke about weed abatement and said that really they can't do much about it. There is a lot of red tape and burocracy that one has to go through to get any action on lots with overgrowth, but the only thing the F.D. can do is submit a report to the County Fire Warden, and then the County tries to track down the owner. This process can take as short as a couple weeks to several months, even years.

 The report from the County Department of Public Works was that a speed bump petition has been circulating in the Covert area.

 The council elected Lana Moore 12 year veteran of the council to be the new Secretary following Gail Adams resignation. A motion to create a Regional Sports Park Stakeholders Committee was approved as well as a special informative meeting to be held for the community in regards to the South Salida project issue. Time, date and location of that meeting is to be announced.

 One other note of interest, if you are new to the Salida area, be sure to license your pet with the County within at least a month of moving into Stanislaus County. Animal Control does routine neighborhood sweeps checking on dog license compliance.

June 1999

Latest News from the June Salida M.A.C.  Meeting
Sheriff's Report:
A report from the community officers included the announcement of the new community officers finishing their Community Policing training. They reported a house in the 4800 block of Finney was found with stolen property. Much of which can't be properly identified due to poor identification on the items.  They are working on identifying problematic homes that see repeat high risk activity. They reported a low crime rate over the last couple of months with vehicle burglary and theft down abotu 50%. Most of the problems lately have been juvenile related due to schools being out for the summer. A new community bulletin board and a street sign at the Sheriff's substation.The Sheriff's department also announced a program they will start at the begining of school is a school safety program that will address school threats such as bombs, terrorism,etc.

CHP Report:
The biggest complaint has been traffic problems at Covert, Salida Blvd., and Broadway. The major traffic problems have been in school zones. The CHP has started a school safety program with putting crossing guards to help students cross and drivers are not paying attention to speed, stops, etc.

Central Salida Revitalization Committee:
Cathy Kirby reported on a downtown property survey/tax assessment being put together for later this summer. The next meeting for the CSRC is July 6th 5:30pm at the Sheriff's substation.

County Dept. Of Public Works:
A new program is being introduced into the schools. A Committee will be making presentations to county classes about the consequences of stealing street signs and grafitti.

No New Post Office
It was announced that the status of the search for expansion of the Salida Post Office and possible move has been terminated. The plans were tabled due to lack of budget from the Postal Service.

Other News
The Salida Safety Fair plans are coming along. A new addition to the annual event will be a parade and participation is encouraged. If you would like to be involved in the parade, please contact the Salida M.A.C.. This years Safety Fair will be held on Oct. 16th.  The CHP is looking for "victims" (simulated) for one of thier presentations at the Safety Fair. They area looking for kids who want to be made up and used as victims in demonstrations.

No Increase in Assessment Tax for Salida Lighting District
A letter from the Stanislaus County office of Auditor-Controller was sent out to Salida property owners who fall into the Salida Lighting District. A previous letter was sent out  alerting owners that there would be an increase, the newest announcement stated that for the fiscal year of 1999/2000 they will not be requesting an increase on the assessment above the rate in effect for last year and a ballot proceedure will not be required at this time.

Voters Approve Measure B
An overwhelming 81% of voters wanted to keep the Stanislaus County Libraries business as usual. The measure was to continue an earlier tax which allowed for the libraries to increase their previously cut back hours, and offer more programs and resources.
Article in the Modesto Bee 6-10-98

May 1999

Looking for some information about the proposed South Salida Project?
Check out this article dated May 13, 1999 from the Modesto Bee.

Election Day is Coming Soon!
No presidential candidates campaigning in this race, but this election is just as important. In March of 1995 voters in Stanislaus County approved a measure that allowed for a 1/8 cent sales tax that would support funding for the County's library system. Well, that funding runs out June 30th, and Measure B, will extend that tax allowing the library services to continue without any cutbacks. Be looking in your mailbox for your voters ballot and don't forget to Vote June 8th!
 

M.A.C. Board Update
It's with regret that the M.A.C. accepted the resignation in Feburary of Jim HJall, and in March that of Gail Adams. Both Jim and Gail served Salida for several years, and both held the office of Secretary. Both will remain active in community events. The Board of Supervisors appointed Elvia Jimenez to the seat vacated by Jim Hall. Please help us to welcom Elvia to the M.A.C. No replacement for Gail's seat has yet been appointed, although action by the Board is expected before the next M.A.C. meeting. If you have any questions you can contact Tom Burns at 544-8053.
 

CSRC Lights Up Salida
The Central Salida Revitalization Committee is pleased to announce that we  have connected to the correct people at the County and MID and are working to replace poorly lit and non-functioning street lights.  If you know of a street light that is out or doesn't give off enough light, please e-mail me (Cathykirby@aol.com) or come to our next meeting on 6/1/99 at 5:30 p.m. at the Sheriff's substation on Broadway.
 

April 1999

Lots of activity going on in the Toomes Rd./Kiernan area. Toomes is now a dirt road with a sewer line going in to facilitate the new neighborhood going in at Maximillian and Toomes. Toomes road is closed to thru traffic from Kiernan to Maximillian.
Also in that same area, the apartment complex on Jeppson is reportedly having some burglary problems. Some cars have been broken into in that area lately.

The Salida M.A.C. meeting was held at the Sisk School Multi Purpose room this month in conjunction with a presentation of the Stanislaus County Auditor-Controllers office in regards to the Salida Lighting District.  Salida M.A.C. Secretary Gail Adams announced her resignation from the council.

Crime Report:
DUI's were down last month, and a meth lab bust that was a coordinated strike with CHP and local law agencies.
CHP is handing out a lot of tickets in the Covert area, so people need to stop at stopsigns and slow down!
The Helmet Safety program has been in place here in Salida for a year now. A warning will be given once, then it's a $25 dollar fine.