School assault rifle threat, cruising and a crushed park bench in Modesto
It’s tempting to question how a resource teacher in Modesto could wait a month to tell the principal that a 14-year-old boy with mental illness had threatened to shoot up his junior high school with an assault rifle, and to criticize the principal for stalling another six months before telling police.
The Uvalde massacre claiming the lives of 19 pupils and two teachers horrified the nation, renewed calls for gun control and put us all on edge. When something that terrible was threatened here in Modesto, were school officials derelict by apparently not immediately confronting the threat with every available resource?
Probably. But maybe not. Fairness demands we remember that the local threat happened in October, long before the Uvalde tragedy on May 24 heightened everyone’s awareness. And we should know that detectives trained in checking out threats did not believe this one was credible.
Whether the school district should make it easier for the student’s distraught mother to have him treated at a secure residential program in Utah, as she demands — apparently on the taxpayers’ dime — is another matter entirely.
Publicly shaming school officials, as she did in a Modesto City Schools board meeting and at the Modesto City Council, sometimes is needed to put slow-acting bureaucracy in motion. So the mother did her job, made easier in the wake of Uvalde, and now it’s time to let district experts do theirs.
Bring back cruising
It was encouraging to see that the Modesto City Council is open to some sort of legal cruising, after a 32-year ban.
A crowd spent nearly two hours Tuesday explaining to the council how cruising is an important Latino low riding tradition, and a few in the audience reminded the council of Modesto’s American Graffiti custom classics heritage. Kudos to those who see an opportunity to meld both cultures in safe, family friendly fun.
Councilman Chris Ricci is right: fixing problems caused by a few by banning all cruising, as former council members did in 1990, was heavy-handed overkill, when less drastic solutions might have been found with a little effort. Or a lot.
Now the challenge is finding the right way to reintroduce cruising, whether by permit or on certain holidays or nights and on certain streets. That could take time, and will take work.
Low riders and hot rodders alike: Stay engaged. Keep reaching out. Make it happen.
Is this seat taken?
Good thing no one was sitting on the wrought-iron bench dedicated to the memory of former Modesto Mayor Carol Whiteside when it was crushed by a falling oak tree late Saturday or early Sunday, in Modesto’s beloved Graceada Park.
The huge and heavy tree was removed Monday. Crews saved a memorial plaque reading, “Carol Whiteside, 1942-2021; Visionary, Mayor and Valley Advocate” and it will take its place on a new bench under order, according to the city’s Parks, Recreation & Neighborhoods department.
The first bench lasted less than eight months, but the memory of a smart, tough, dedicated leader — and a goodhearted, decent person — lives on.
Go get ‘em, Madam Mayor
Turlock Mayor Amy Bublak, a retired Modesto police officer, won two track and field gold medals for her age group (55-59 — she’s 57) over the weekend at the U.S. Police and Fire Olympics in San Diego, one each for javelin and shot put.
With 4,800 athletes competing in 50 events, Bublak’s accomplishment at the big meet is noteworthy.
She couldn’t get her council to approve a city budget this week (the 2-2 tie vote should be resolved once all members are present), but she sure can hurl a big spear.
