News10.net reports that an all-women facility of the California Family Fitness chain of gymnasiums will be forced to open its doors to men due to threat of litigation.

California Family Fitness operates 14 other gyms for both men and women, but kept its Howe Avenue location single-sex because it grew out of a nearby women’s health club known as Living Well Lady purchased by the company in 1997.

The company said it has also modified seven other locations that had separate workout areas for men and women.

I tell you what, these are wacky times we live in. Curves anyone?

Today is Sacramento’s first “Stage 1 - No Burn” residential wood burning restriction. This means that “…burning is prohibited when air quality is forecast to be 36-40 micrograms per cubic meter unless EPA certified fireplace inserts or stoves, or pellet stoves are used. First time violations will result in a $50 fine or a requirement to attend compliance school, fines for subsequent violations will be higher.”

The funny thing about this policy is that the Spare The Air site states “Sacramento County Only” as the area affected by this law. But, when you scroll down a bit you find this detail:

Check Before You Burn is in effect in Sacramento County and its cities: Citrus Heights, Elk Grove, Folsom, Galt, Isleton, Rancho Cordova, and Sacramento.

Does “Sacramento” mean anyone with a Sacramento, CA mailing address? Folks who are normally under the City umbrella can burn away? I checked the FAQ document and still couldn’t find anything concrete. Granted, I am not the brightest bulb so if I am missing this important detail, please comment.

As a follow up to my recent pieces about the battle over tree cutting in University Park, that neighborhood’s homeowners association board has a scheduled meeting tonight. The tree controversy will be discussed at the meeting, but no voting will take place. In fact, California civil code prevents the board from discussing or taking actions on items not on the published agenda, which puts the previous vote to remove the trees (cited in my Sept. 29th post) onto shaky legal ground as it was not on the agenda for that meeting:

• PDF: University Park Homes Board of Directors Meeting Agenda, September 24, 2008

Continue reading “University Park HOA agrees to delay tree cutting” »

When times get tough and the future seems in doubt, always remember two things:

1. Things are never as bad as they seem nor are they ever as good as they seem.
2. The daily limit of squirrels during squirrel season is FOUR, hear that? FOUR.

You may now return to your watching of the Palin/Clinton video…

With the Fair underway, the Sacramento Bee reminds us that there will be a sobriety checkpoint in Elk Grove tonight. Wait, the Fair is in Sacramento, right? Where lots of folks will be drinking? Ok, cool, Elk Grove it is.

The enforcement is part of the statewide “Avoid” campaign funded by the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Interesting slogan. At any rate, if you follow the link on the Bee story (oh, wait, it’s broken, posted on the 13th, too) you will learn more about the program.

The overall goal of the awareness campaign is to let drivers know about the countywide increased enforcement periods and warn drivers that the only way to “AVOID” the county’s law enforcement officers is to drive sober.

Ah, there it is. I get it now. A press release reminds us that party hosts and families must limit drinks to their guests, and to not serve more than one or two over several hours. Stickie, can you hear me?

Be safe out there.

Admit it, you’ve looked somebody up…

From the “I don’t wanna go off on a rant here” files we learn today that Sacramento County prosecutors will not file any criminal charges against radio staff in the water-drinking death of a Rancho Cordova mother of three (read Runnergirl’s comment).

“Any reasonable person wouldn’t have concluded that she was seriously ill or in danger of dying,” said district attorney’s spokeswoman Lana Wyant. “There were no red flags.”

Uh, uh, really? The Sac Bee article goes on to cite facts to the contrary (saving me the trouble). My hunch is (and you legal eagles out there can help me out) that this is cost saving move to the County and the taxpayers. Thus allowing the civil case to move forward and the real fireworks to begin.

As much as I am behind personal accountability I just can’t come to terms with the footage of the DJs flippantly dismissing the callers who tried to warn of the dangers of such a contest.

Today is the second annual Queer Youth Advocacy Day at the State Capitol.  Representatives from the more than 600 Gay Student Alliances (which are at 45% of public high schools), and other youth under the age of 24, are meeting in Sacramento to lobby for Senate Bill 777 (Kuehl).  This bill will standardize the anti-discrimination policies in all schools receiving public funds to give all students equal protection from harassment, bullying and discrimination.

The students attended a lobbying training at the Crest Theater before meeting with legislators this afternoon.  A handful of protesters were on hand to inform the youth than they were sinners, but were scared off by the inclement weather (maybe God was trying to tell them something about tolerance, loving thy neighbor, and casting the first stone).

Continue reading “Fabulous!” »

The Sacramento Bee reports today that the California State University faculty has voted to strike. Statewide, 82% of the more than 11,000 members of the California Faculty Association voted, with 94% of them authorizing the strike. Tensions have centered upon the lack of a contract and extreme disparity in the salaries of various faculty members. A possible strike will take the form of a rolling walkout, with individual campuses striking for two days at a time.

Here at home, the faculty of Sac State met as a body for the first time in 30 years. Among the budget discussions, a vote of no confidence in University President Alex Gonzalez was proposed. As next week is Spring Break, the vote will not occur until the next Faculty Senate meeting on April 5.

News10.net reports that California is moving to ban the use of trans fats in restaurant menu items.

The bill is being challenged by restaurant owners across California who worry the trans fat ban will force them to use more expensive alternative oils that could change the flavor of their food for the worse.

Why is it that I can hear sac-eats’ stomach grumbling now as it ponders a world without artery clogging, heart attack creating, yet oh so creamy industrially created as a side effect of partial hydrogenation of plant oils - a process developed in the early 1900s and first commercialized as Crisco in 1911, trans fatty acids?

“It’s going to be a big fight,” said Terri Mead, manager of Sacramento’s Pancake Circus Restaurant. “We don’t want them telling us what we can and can’t use in the restaurant.”

You tell’em Terri (a nay sayer from the Pancake Circus? Get out…). We don’t want those health freaks telling us what to do. Next thing you know we’ll have the government telling us that we have to maintain a certain level of “cleanliness” and “freshness” in order to “pass” a random “inspection” or face being “shut down”.

As someone who just threw back 3 or 8 zero trans fats per serving Tagalongs, let me just say that I don’t miss the trans fats at all.  And if it is good enough for our Girl Scouts of the USA, it’s good enough for me.