December 3, 2004

LETTERS2theEDITOR

Resident takes white noise problem in own hands

Editor,
In September or October of 2003 a noise could be heard in my neighborhood 24/7. It was a constant drone or as my husband said “birds chirping—all day and all night.” To my ears they would have been crazed birds!

Along with the drone, every so often a high-pitched screech could be heard. This went on until last week, 24 hours a day. I’m sure I wasn’t the only person in the neighborhood that was bothered by this, but apparently I was the only one to complain about it.

It did take me a year to finally take some action. On Sept. 14, I wrote the Evergreen Times asking if someone there could investigate this noise. I was steered to Dave Cortese’s office, which did contact the local Code Enforcement (C.E.) Department.

I was contacted by the Code Enforcement office and Dennis Castro went over to the Albertson’s Center [on White and Aborn Roads] during the day and did hear something, but wasn’t quite sure what it was. He said he’d get back to me on what he found.

A few weeks passed and I didn’t hear anything, so I called, then wrote the Code Enforcement guy but didn’t get a return call/message. I also wrote back to Dave Cortese’s office and the Evergreen Times. I wasn’t sure what to do next.

Within an hour of writing Cortese’s office, I got an e-mail from Kerynn Gianotti in the District 8 office saying she had contacted Code Enforcement (CE) and they would be getting in touch. That same day I did get a call from CE and a time was set for the following Friday to check out the noise. The time was set for 5 a.m., as the early mornings were when the drone was very noticeable.

Within two days I received a call from a manager at Albertson’s grocery store saying he found out where the noise was coming from, a generator on the roof. He did say it was loud and he could understand how it would get on my nerves (and sleep).

As of last Tuesday the constant drone has stopped. It was fixed; how, I don’t know. As for the screech, I was told parts were on order to replace old parts, and hopefully that would take care of the screech.

Albertson’s manger, Dan Murphy, was very nice and sorry that the store was causing sleepless nights and adding to daytime noise levels. He said had he known sooner, it would have been taken care of.

All in all, this took about two months to solve the white noise problem. I’m so happy it could, and was taken care of with not much trouble on Albertson’s part. The days are back to hearing the birds in the trees (of course the traffic sounds are there, but that can’t be helped) and the nights are back to some peace. Thank you all.

Joanne Banuelos
Fallen Oak Court
Evergreen resident for 18 years

Editor’s note:
If you have a code complaint, multiple housing complaint, or yard waste complaint, call San Jose’s Code Enforcement: (408) 277-4528. For abandoned vehicles, call: (408) 277-5305.

Take this great nation back from the right-wing radicals

Editor,
Once again, ultra-conservative Republicans such as Caroline Isaacs are lying again, such as in your Nov. 20 – Dec. 3 issue [of the Evergreen Times]. Although her sources seem reliable, she simply cannot READ. Ms. Isaacs claims George Bush increased funding for educational programs such as No Child Left Behind by $11 billion. Actually, Mr. Bush increased funding by that amount in the latest budget, yet he still had a net under-funding of $27 billion.

Under the so-called “Bush doctrine,” which includes the USA Patriot Act, the FBI can access library, medical and other records of one’s personal life. To me, this is totally obstructing people’s rights of privacy, even if it is to seize wicked terrorists.

Also, how many terrorists have been caught under the Patriot Act? Zero. In fact, the ones who have been incarcerated are innocent people who happened to check out an anti-Bush book out of the library.

Another false statement made by Ms. Isaacs was her proclaiming George Bush had gained jobs over the last four years. Mr. Bush himself has even admitted America has had a net loss of jobs; however, he claims the economy is improving.

This number, 1.7 million jobs, is the amount America has gained from 2003 to 2004, not the last four years. Once again, Ms. Isaacs has shown she cannot READ properly. I would recommend an eye exam with all the tax money she saved in the previous four years.

George Bush’s “Coalition of the Willing” is one of the saddest groups of nations I have ever seen. Let’s count the number of countries giving a solid number of troops to Iraq, two, the U.S. and U.K. Two!

Those other 30 countries include Azerbaijan, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Nicaragua, Palau and Uzbekistan. Additional countries that actually have armies, contain populations strongly against the war, such as Japan, Spain and Turkey. In fact, the U.K. only had 9 percent of their populace in favor of the war.
When writing about weapons of mass destruction, Ms. Isaacs was extremely misleading. First of all, what do John Kerry, Bill Clinton, Al Gore and the U.N. have to do with Iraq’s unfound WMDs?

She is simply trying to shield mistakes George Bush made during the Iraqi campaign. Anyway, Iraq was never a true threat to America. Mr. Bush should have focused on countries such as North Korea and Iran who, unlike Iraq, already have WMDs.

George Bush had his eye fixed on Iraq since Inauguration Day because Saddam once tried to assassinate his father; thus, losing support from key allies. This is simply not the correct method to run American foreign policy.

If Chaboya Middle School represented America, John Kerry would have overwhelmingly been elected President, 71 percent – 29 percent. Unfortunately, America is full of ultra-conservatives like Caroline Isaacs. Take this great nation back from the right-wing radicals. How? Take part in events run by any progressive organization to defeat the Republicans in 2008.

Kevin Liao
Student,
Chaboya Middle School

Thank you

Editor,
Thank you again for writing such a beautiful story on our family. We are grateful to be able to touch other people with the story of such a rare illness that Samuel went through and to be able to share the miraculous recovery that Samuel is making!

Teresa Welton
Mother of Samuel Welton
Penhurst Place

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