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Monday Evening at MV MS Store
Last night Bill Gates showed up at the Microsoft Store in the Shops at Mission Viejo. He chatted with customers and signed a few autographs around 8:30 p.m. A Microsoft spokesperson told the Dispatch the whole Board of Directors of Microsoft accompanied Gates on the visit. A twitter user who was in the store at the time captured this photo.
Gates spends most of his time helping charity with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation rather than handling day-to-day operations of the corporation. He has been traveling extensively, and recently returned from a trip to Antartica with his ten-year-old son and two of the boy’s grandparents.
Bill is focusing on writing his thoughts about many subjects, from education to energy to agricultural technology.
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I agree with the Pothole point. There are multiple road issues being accelerated with this year’s rain. It has needed attention for many years and it is unacceptable that time is not being spent on this like we do when we are building and decorating. What good is this beautiful city if it is not maintained?
If the city is going to slow down traffic on Montanoso, please look at Via Viento as well. There are many near misses where it feeds into Montanoso from the neighborhood and high school.
But hey- here is an idea – why not ask our team of Motorcycle officers who are often sitting at “It’s a Grind” running Speed Traps? It seems humorous to try to catch anyone even up to speed with the congestion between La Paz and Oso! Perhaps they could just patrol Montanoso like they have on Jeronimo and up near Trabuco. We don’t dare even drive 41 mph there now after the last several years of them “calming” our traffic.
It would be a low cost, high revenue idea as long as they did not hide on a city sidewalk and scare our Senior Citizens half to death whilst they depart from Montanoso while making high speed u-turns out after a speeder.
Mary Calvert
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Unfortunately, these medians and out crops are not the solution to slowing the traffic down on Montanoso. They are dangerous as they do nothing but bring opposing vehicles into oncoming traffic. The medians are an increased danger because they block drivers line of sight, especially on a winding road like Montanoso. Moreover, the medians obstruct the sight of drivers adding to the increased danger of a potential head on collision. Additionally the medians present a further increase in danger due to their tendency to increase the speed of the drivers for some unknown reason.
Stop signs would make the traffic come to a complete stop therefore slowing the traffic down. I am yet to see a car not having to slow down if it has to stop. Obviously the city’s priority to keep Montanoso as a valued access road must give way to more serious solutions to the reducing speed and volume. This road is heavily traveled because it is a access road with no requirement to make a full stop. The weaving around medians only adds to the danger of a road that would be safe as-is if it were not for the excessive use by non residents.
The only solution short of a stop sign is to require that the road be reserved for residents only. These cut outs are not the answer for slowing the traffic on Montanoso. After all we have these medians now and the traffic is as fast as it has ever been. When I travel this road and go the speed limit I get honked at by travelers who are cutting through exceeding the speed limit. Having a police officer hiding in the trees would slow this traffic down once and for all. I can only imagine trying to back out into this street. What a nightmare for the homeowners who are entitled to back out from their driveways.
Jeannie Ultimo
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The Planning Commission is expected to approve traffic slowing measures for the northern portion of Montanoso Drive when it meets tonight (Mon 3/8). Traffic slowing measures were previously constructed for the southern section of Montanoso in response to concern from neighbors regarding high vehicular speeds, cut-through traffic, intersection sight distance visibility, pedestrian safety and golf-cart crossings.
At a December workshop neighbors expressed approval for the changes shown on the three maps below. They consist of four curb extensions and a median along Montanoso from Estanciero to Cerrito in conjunction with striping improvements and a curb extension between Serenata and the Recreation Center. The southern improvements were excluded from the original 2002 traffic calming plan due to budget constraints and due to controversy over the potential effectiveness of the costly construction on the northern section.
The Commission’s public meeting begins at 6:30 pm.
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A 27-year-old Mission Viejo woman with three prior DUI convictions was found guilty Friday on charges of murder and gross vehicular manslaughter in the death of a 55-year old man. Suzanne Amelia Carlson had blood alcohol of .22 and was driving the Infiniti automobile of Scott Turner, with Turner as a passenger, when the vehicle veered out of control shortly after midnight two years ago on the 91 Freeway.
The car crashed into a Fed Ex big rig truck before hitting a wall alongside the freeway. Suzanne crawled out of the sun roof, but Scott later died after being being extracted from the car.
Carlson will face sentencing on June 11 when she could receive from 15 years to life for the convictions.