If it is election season, then it must be groundbreaking or grand opening season.
Did you note the timing of the formal ceremony to celebrate the improvements on Highway 84 from Interstate 580 to Concannon Boulevard—the Tuesday before today's election? No surprise, the incumbent politicians like to remind voters that some of the taxpayers' money actually builds things.
As nice as the improvements between Concannon and the freeway are, they amount to shifting congestion further south when Highway 84 narrows to one lane in each direction. Money to move ahead with additional improvements is part of the Measure BB package on today's ballot that would double the sales tax for transportation to 1 cent and make it essentially permanent with a 30-year sunset.
Incidentally, we have relatives that live in that area of Livermore served by Concannon. Twice on Sundays afternoons, I have made the mistake of taking Highway 84 and found traffic stopped as the lanes narrow to one. Going across Livermore on Murdell Avenue would have saved some time. I can only image what it is like on a commute morning.
Good news from the Pleasanton Police Dept. which announced that it has partnered with the Dublin San Ramon Services District to provide a drop-off bin for pharmaceuticals in its lobby.
Prior to this, the closest drop-off points were in San Ramon and Danville. I know, because battling a very persistent infection in my middle finger, I went through several partial courses of antibiotics.
In one case, I returned a partial bottle to the Kaiser Pharmacy and was informed that they could not take them back and I would have to use another way to dispose of the drugs. Their brochure led me to the Danville Police Station where I could conveniently drop off the drugs during business hours after repackaging them into a plastic baggie. The 24/7 approach in Pleasanton will be even more convenient for residents.
Clearing out your medicine cabinet of partially used prescription is highly recommended because abuse of prescription drugs by young people has increased dramatically. Often, for teen-agers, the first ones come from old prescriptions that are readily available.
The disposal method has changed from simply dumping them down the toilet as research has shown the drugs can be detrimental to fish and other marine wildlife.
Congratulations to the San Francisco Giants on their third World Series title in five years. I was struck by pre-parade stories that estimated as many as one million people could descend on downtown San Francisco by the celebration.
Given that the population of the nine Bay Area counties is about 7 million, that's a stunning number of folks joining the party to salute the Giants. The Giants are the original Major League Baseball franchise in the Bay Area and had teased the fans on a number of occasions in the playoffs before breaking through in 2010.
The Giants party got me to thinking—if the 49ers break through this year and win the Super Bowl, will the party be in San Francisco or Santa Clara?
