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Saturday, Mar. 07, 2009

March 7 in Merced history

March 7, 1959

RUNAWAY KOKO ROMPS THROUGH TIOGA OFFICE:

"I was scared out of my wits," confessed Mrs. Cecile Caywood, desk clerk at the Tioga Hotel.

But like a good telephone operator, she stayed with her long distance call Thursday while Koko, the runaway monkey, romped through the office.

He was having the time of his life, having already led police on a chase from 18th and O streets.

Hot on his trail was poundmaster Ernie Salmon, wielding a noose and wire, which had seen much dog and cat service but had never been needed for a monkey capture.

Amidst confusion and chaos, employees managed to bottle Koko up in a storeroom, where he fell easy prey to Salmon's noose.

Although the prisoner was uncommunicative, police ascertained that he ripped his way out of a screened back porch at 806 West 18th St.

He is the property of Wayne Packard, a vacuum cleaner salesman, who took him in as a down payment from a customer in Atwater about 10 days ago.

Salmon said it will cost Packard an $11 fee plus $1 a day board to get his monkey back, and he has five days to claim it.

In the meantime, an attempt will be made to keep Koko at the Applegate Park Zoo with the city's two spider monkeys.

"March 7, 1979

RUSTLERS NOT JUST FOOTNOTE TO HISTORY:

Cattle rustling would seem to be associated with the days of cowboys and ranching in the Old West, but it's a modern day crime still plaguing local farmers, the Merced County Sheriff's Department warns.

In February alone, 41 calves were stolen in seven separate thefts, compared to an average of one theft a month, statistics show. Most of the thefts have occurred around Hilmar, Stevinson, Atwater and Winton, Merced County Sheriff Jess Bowling notes.

Bowling is at a loss to explain the sudden jump, and admits the key question might well be why there aren't more thefts.

"There's very little risk and a very high profit," he says.

The stolen calves averaged about $200 apiece, with a net cash loss of $8,000 to the farmers in February alone.

Cattle rustling would appear to be a thief's dream, says Mike Rainwater, the department's crime prevention officer. Security for cattle is lax, the pastures are isolated and young calves are easy to cart away.

Perhaps the biggest problem is the "location where they're kept," Rainwater notes. "Usually they're kept in fields, not near the residence."

In addition, it's "so hard to keep track of them (calves)." In one case, at least several days elapsed before the owner was even aware any calves were missing, Rainwater points out.

And due to the size of most fields, "security on them is very lax." Just about anyone has easy access into a field, Rainwater adds.

The prime target of rustlers is the 30-to-60-day-old calf, he says. The young calf is small, light and can even be moved by car. In fact, two men were arrested recently while carrying two calves in the trunk of their car.

March 7, 1984

WORK ON COUNTY 911 NUMBER FALLS BEHIND:

Work on a new telephone system that would consolidate all emergency calls in the county into one dispatch center is lagging behind schedule.

Merced County supervisors today are expected to consider hiring a communications director to speed up conversion to a state-mandated 911 emergency telephone system and may discuss some of the bugs not yet worked out of the plans.

The director is needed by May to help the county locate experts to help design the system, said Gordon Gibbs, deputy public works director. This would bring a communications director on board eight months earlier than anticipated.