Burglar wakes men with spice rub, sausage attack

- The Associated Press
Published 4:05 pm PDT Sunday, September 7, 2008

Fresno County authorities have arrested a man they say broke into the home of two farmworkers, rubbed one with spices and whacked the other with a sausage before fleeing.

Fresno County sheriff’s Lt. Ian Burrimond says 22-year-old Antonio Vasquez of Fresno was found hiding in a nearby field wearing only a T-shirt, boxer shorts and socks.

Burrimond said Vasquez was arrested after deputies found a wallet containing his ID at the ransacked house just east of Fresno.

The victims told deputies they awoke Saturday morning to the stranger applying spices to one of them and striking the other with an 8-inch sausage.

Burrimond said money allegedly stolen in the burglary was recovered. The sausage was tossed away by the fleeing suspect and eaten by a dog.

Here’s an e-mail request you don’t see too often — this went to all volunteers on the Sacramento SPCA mailing list:

A woman called who is putting on a production of Annie. They would like to have two dogs (double casting) that weigh between 50-70 pounds and are a “Sandy” color (as this is the name of the dog!), but breed/mix doesn’t matter.

Continue reading “Leapin’ Lizards!” »

RunnerGirl is in training for both her “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” taping in New York AND a 100 miler (within days of each other — which gives her an iron-clad excuse if the 100 miler doesn’t work out as planned.) Throw in a demanding career and a nice dose of volunteer work, and RunnerGirl can get a little tense.

She is currently hooked on this season’s “Project Runway” and has taken on contestant Suede’s affectation of speaking in the third person. OK, it has already gotten old — I will stop. Someone tell Suede to do the same thing, please. And don’t think we’re NOT going to Mood fabrics while we’re in NYC. Holla at your boy. Make it work. Continue reading “Frequent Caller Bassil Works Out The Kinks” »

Spend less dough getting into the fair so you have more to spend on the fried dough inside! Here are some ways that the State Fair folks are saving you money this year:

Today is Tuesday, so that means all children 12 and younger get in for free, and those carnival rides will cost you just $1 each today. This applies to next Tuesday, too.

Today, August 19th, is First Responders Day, so all First Responders (in our out of uniform) with proper identification gain free admission. (OK, so I have a First Responder card from my CPR/AED/First Aid/Bloodborne Pathogens certification — would that get me in? They mean firefighters, paramedics, EMTs, and the like, right?) Continue reading “Enjoying the Fair for Less” »

Why is it that we can be out in public, hear a song we like, and purchase it instantly from our iPhone, but it still takes F-O-R-E-V-E-R to get a green light at certain intersections? I know of at least one awful light, perhaps the worst intersection ever: Sierra Boulevard and Howe Avenue.

The greater Sierra Boulevard area was the haven for many of my friends way back in our single days (including the more-than-a-friend sac-eats) so there have been countless hours lost while sitting on Sierra, waiting to turn left onto Howe. The poorly timed signal almost threw off the benefit of the location’s close proximity to our leisure activities like the bike trail, Thursday nights at Mace’s, and the formerly quintessential singles’ joint: the Lucky supermarket at Loehmann’s Plaza.

It’s practically more time conscious to drive east on Sierra, turn right on Fulton (no right turn on red, mind you), and go west on Fair Oaks, rather than wait for the left at Howe.

There have got to be other lights like this in the region, so do us all a favor and let us know the ones to avoid and any recommended alternative routes.

Not unlike the Ouroboros, frozen yogurt has become today’s version of smoothies, which were the then-updated version of frozen yogurt, which was the answer to hippie elixirs, which were the answer to the malteds, which were the answer to the original Coca Cola (with gen-u-ine narcotics.)

It’s the trite adage that “everything old is new again,” much like the kids who are wearing ’80s fashions (and shame on you for the adults who are — if you’re old enough to remember it from the first time, you’re too old to be wearing it now.)

Here’s what I know now about the local fro-yo joints:

Continue reading “Yogurt + Monkey = Awesome” »

A short road trip out to the Jackson Rancheria Casino & Hotel will, once again, giving us the opportunity to try out for a nationally syndicated game show.

Three weeks ago, a few of us tried out for Who Wants to be a Millionaire, and I received my postcard yesterday saying that I’m officially in the contestant pool.

Next Friday, the Jeopardy! Brain Bus will be pulling into town (at least this one won’t require a 4am wake up time!)

Who wants to go?

Last night, while waiting for Quiz Master Ken to grade the Streets of London Pub Quiz answer sheets, Stickie and I were chatting with Lisa and Todd.

I asked what final things they feel like they need to do before leaving town, and Lisa asked, “Oh, like our Sacramento Bucket List?” She referenced yet another breakfast at Tower Cafe and outing to The Trap, and they’d recently gone rafting on one of our region’s raging waterways. I suggested throwing out the first pitch at a Rivercats game or spending the night at Sutter’s Fort.

What would be on your Sacramento Bucket List? Beating The Bee at pub quiz? Hitting every single gallery on Second Saturday? Riding the log ride at the State Fair with Poppy? Breakfast at the Market Club?

The six-county regional planning agency has been collecting pats on the back for its Blueprint process for a few years now, but today’s front page treatment in the venerable Wall Street Journal all but smashes all previous accolades.

For those who don’t know what SACOG is, it oversees planning for the Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo, Yuba, Placer, and El Dorado county region. It’s not a federal, state, county, or city agency — it’s a joint powers authority, comprised of paid staff and a board of directors who are elected officials (city council and county supervisors) from throughout the region, with some jurisdictions having more votes depending on population. Continue reading “SACOG nabs impressive front page ink in WSJ” »

Regardless of your political leanings, you’ve got to admit that we’re fortunate to live in a place where we can all come together (sometimes anonymously) to discuss (often snarkily) the issues of the day — whether serious or silly, contentious or banal.

There are many societal ills that likely have the Founding Fathers rolling in their collective graves, and many modern Americans have had this mentality for some time, but things could be much worse.

So raise your beverage of choice, light up a safe & sane firecracker, and take at least one moment over this three day weekend to realize that you’re pretty darned lucky.