Tarmo Hannula: Heavy rain, laced with hail and strong gusts, whipped through the Pajaro Valley before noon Thursday. A friend called me to say he was in the middle of a heavy snow shower on Highway 17 near the summit. Thunderstorm activity could come later in the day. The snow level is expected to drop to 2,500 feet.
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No one won the lottery Powerball in Wednesday’s drawing. The jackpot now stands around $321 million. The next drawing is Saturday evening.
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Scientists are saying the Antarctic ice coast is starting to crumble due to mass amounts of melting ice. If the entire body of ice were to melt, scientists say ocean sea levels around the world could go up about 10 feet.
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The stage is set for the third impeachment in U.S. history. Today at noon seven elected impeachment managers read articles of impeachment against President Trump. Next, 100 senators will swear in to provide justice in the matter and Chief Justice John Roberts will be sworn in to preside. Trump continues to say he did not do anything wrong, calling the impeachment a hoax, a sham, a lie, a falsehood, a witch hunt, a scam, a travesty, an embarrassment and on and on.
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Work continues on the new Laundromat, Laundry Day, on the corner of Brennan Street and East Lake Avenue. The remodeling project has gone on for more than a year and has spilled from the parking lot into surrounding streets for months. Brennan Street has been closed altogether, on and off, over the past several months. Right now there are about 14 large sheets of steel covering open trenches on East Lake and Brennan. Sidewalks wrapping around the business remain closed. Huge open trenches punctuate the parking lot and mounds of soil are present. The owner, Dai Truong, said his business will be inside the former Union Bank, 35 East Lake and is 6,800 square feet. The business will feature self-service or drop off laundry “where we wash, dry and fold/hang,” Truong said, for pick up later.
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METRO Diary, my ongoing account of traveling on our local bus system: Twice in recent weeks I took the METRO Highway 17 commuter over Highway 17 to San Jose. From downtown Santa Cruz it takes one hour to get to the Diridon Station. On Jan. 5 I got off at Diridon with my camera and walked the streets of downtown San Jose for more than three hours, stacking up a bunch of street photos of people, businesses, old architecture and so on. The METRO service was perfect. Punctual, swift, and comfortable. Additionally, there was no traffic for me to have to scramble with, no gas money, parking, insurance or getting lost. I hope to repeat this trip again in the future, being that it was so stress free. Since I’m 65, a one-way ticket is $3.50, which I buy as I’m boarding. Under 65 is $7.
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Quote of the day: “I hate cameras. They are so much more sure than I am about everything.” — John Steinbeck
