Morning Dispatches – “Turn, Jimmy, Turn!”

Just pecking out a few lines before things begin in earnest here in the 24/680, in the trenches armed with the morning latte and thinking about what newsgathering was like before the age of smart phones and Dick Tracy wrist radios.

The NEWS24/680 Sopwith is in the hanger for repairs so we’re hugging the ground this morning, listening to the readership and gathering information by way of the the neighborhood jungle drums.

Here’s a dispatch from “Matt,” from Monday night, sent at 23:30 hours 24/680 Time: “A youthful appearing driver failed to make the left turn from Moraga Way onto North bound Moraga Road and knocked down the stoplight. MPD was on the scene, perhaps doing a field sobriety test. A young man and a young woman were sitting on the median. Didn’t look like injuries. Now if J in the B was open, perhaps the driver could have stopped for a snack instead!”

We were aware of this crash and a few more like it last night. No injuries except to the stoplight Matt mentioned, and maybe to the driver’s record and pride, but Matt’s note raised another interesting side note: along with neighborhood interest in errant motorists, our readership is positively fascinated by fast food news.

A short yarn about the closure of the Moraga Jack in the Box went nuts last week, gathering thousands of views from (we guess, pick one…) mourning-interested-reminiscing readers sorry to see Jack go.

If we had the time and inclination we’d design and build Moraga’s latest board game: “Fast Food Fight,” in which the object of the game is to guess which fast food establishment is landing where or which one will push another off its allotted space.

And no, dang it, we have no hard insight into who’s going to take over the JIB footprint though, yes, we are aware of the work being done to the interior and parking lot. Sheesh.

Second after the “Who’s Replacing Jack in the Box” issue is the “What’s that Siren?” question we get so often here:

Example A

My daughter lives in walnut creek. She is stating there is something happening there. (Police) seem to be looking for someone. She thinks it may be related to a shooting in San Francisco? Any news?

Ed: We were able to pin this one down and carried a story yesterday about a search for two car burglars. So, thanks for the tip!

Example B

Do you know what’s going on in downtown WC? Numerous police officers and dogs running down Civic and Locust.

Ed: This one proved to be a little more difficult to run down though there were a number of incidents reported on the day in question.

Example C

I hear sirens, whatz going on?

Ed: Uhhh…. help us out. As in real estate, Location, Location, Location is everything.

And lastly this morning we make note of a sad passing uncovered by this site because it is technically out of our area but human and deserving nevertheless. The county coroner is requesting public assistance in trying to identify a person killed by a hit and run driver at about 2:09 a.m. on July 24, on southbound Highway 242 near Olivera Road.

A woman, 50-60 years old with dark hair with some greying, 5’,5”, about 143 pounds, was found at the scene. Deputies are trying to identify her and hope that her one possession, a knitted red/grey pouch necklace containing a single clear crystal – may jog someone’s memory.

Anyone with any information on the identity of the person is asked to contact the Coroner’s Division at (925) 313-2850.

Keep in touch.

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