Today marked the 5th anniversary of the Innocence Lost National Initiative, which fights the sexual exploitation of children. To mark the occasion, the FBI conducted a five-day sting titled Operation Cross Country in 16 cities across the country that resulted in the arrests of 356 individuals engaged in sexual trafficking of minors and the recovery of 21 children.

In Sacramento, four children were recovered and two adults were arrested.

Congrats to the Sacramento FBI office and Sacramento Police Department for saving these four lives.

(I love scooping the Bee.)

An interesting front page piece in the Bee today contrasting KJ’s view of crime in our fair city with Comrade Fargo’s. And I think it dispels any myths out there about the Bee’s balance on KJ vs Fargo.

To hear Kevin Johnson tell it, Sacramento is a violent place.

But to hear Heather Fargo tell it: Which city is Sacramento again? Oh right. And you say I’m the whatchacallit? Mayor?

Fargo initially questioned Johnson’s [crime] figures. But she now says Police Chief Rick Braziel has confirmed they are correct.

Continue reading “Bee on KJ vs Fargo on crime” »

Since everyone seems to be itching for their bribe…. er.. economic stimulus check, I figured I would offer this bit of consumer protection.

The California Franchise Tax Board is warning taxpayers of two scams involving the tax board and identity theft. The first scam involves an e-mail “phishing” for taxpayer data. The e-mail masquerades as offering to check the status of your state income tax refund. Scams of this nature attempt to lure people into revealing personal and financial information, such as Social Security, bank account or credit card numbers, which may be used to steal that taxpayer’s identify. The second scam involves a phony letter informing the taxpayer his or her tax return may be audited. The letter refers the taxpayer to a fake FTB address in Georgia. Both the e-mail and the letter contain misspellings and grammatical errors.

Taxpayers who receive such a notice should contact FTB at 800.852.5711.

Crime is up? Wha?Are you sure.
Because like, I thought it wasn’t.

Via Joe Sacramento (hey Joe, whaddya know!), don’t miss Daniel Weintraub’s piece from earlier this week about Mayor Heather Fargo’s dangerously out-of-it reactions to being confronted with the city’s crime rates, which I have blogged about here often. So often I’m not going to bother to provide links.

“My sense is that we are tracking at about the same pace as other cities,” says Fargo when asked her explanation for Sacramento’s soaring crime rate. The numbers are staggering — Sacramento has close to the worst crime rate in the state, and the rate has risen 50%… fifty percent!! … during Fargo’s term.

Continue reading “Fargo out of it on city’s out of control crime rate” »

The questions about Kevin Johnson’s past just keep on coming. The SacBee reports on a federal investigation into St. Hope’s suspected misuse of grant money for the AmeriCorps program and of reports of KJ’s inappropriate behavior towards two teenagers.

From 2004-2007, St. Hope received more than $800,000 for their Hood Corps program aimed at leadership development among inner city youth. Last year, federal funding was terminated because half of the youth involved had dropped out. The program is also supposed to be non-religious and completely voluntary, yet former members report that they were required to study the Bible, attend church, and receive communion. Many participants also had trouble with the mandatory “boot camp” style physical fitness training, another activity forbidden by the funding guidelines. Participants were also allegedly required to perform activities outside of the program’s scope, including campaigning for Sacramento City School Board candidates, a major violation of campaign rules and electoral ethics.

If these allegations turn out to be true, they will be a major blow to KJ’s mayoral campaign, as they show that he cannot even manage a simple government grant within the specified rules. And if he cannot do that, how much success will he have with an entire city?

French authorities in Bordeaux are now confirming that the death of John McCrea of the band Cake was no accident, but a gang-style slaying over disputed pastry turf.

Earlier today, the SacRag broke the story of McCrea’s death and the injury of fellow band member Vince DiFiore. We have received word that the French have classified this crime as a murder and are still in search of the suspect. DiFiore has been reported in stable condition but has undergone surgery to remove a vibraslap from his chest that impaled him with monster truck force. Other band members were not injured in the incident, although guitarist Xan McCurdy reports that shortly after the accident, some underage girls stole his beer.

A police sketch of the suspect (pictured above) has been leaked exclusively to the SacRag. French authorities have not gone public with this investigation as they do not want to panic the extensive and influential pastry industry that rules organized crime syndicates throughout the country. Police report to be using bloodhounds to track his distinctive and delicious scent.

from News10 story

Parents down in Elk Grove must be so relieved that nothing tragic happened this week when a fourth-grader brought a loaded gun to Charles Mack Elementary School. Some parents in particular, like the parents of Devon and Donovan Smith (pictured at right) who apparently “held bullets” for the kid with the gun.

“They were wrong for not telling anybody” the boys’ mother, Tabatha Weitnauer, says, before going ahead and bringing up that the boys have been diagnosed with ADHD. Perhaps they were also wrong for carrying ammunition to their elementary school. Not to be outdone, the father of the boy who brought the gun released a zinger of a written statement…

Continue reading “What, me feel responsible?” »

“GOB, please report to the security desk.”

Bob Shallit reports in today’s business section of The Bee that the Arden Fair Mall security team members are now using Segway (nee “Ginger”) scooters to monitor the goings-on, both inside and outside of the mall.  If only they had these back in ‘06.

No word yet on if each scooter will play a continuous loop of this Segway anthem.

Cbs13.com reports that people looking for sex is a growing problem in Citrus Heights. These “cruisers” are targeting local parks, ducking into bathrooms and bushes to get their shwerve on.

It’s not just the restrooms. Citrus Heights Lieutenant Jeff MacKanin says that people will use the bushes to perform sexual acts, raising concerns not only because families use the park, but also for the spread of disease. “We can teach citizens to be our eyes for us,” says Lt. MacKanin. “We can teach them to log information, [especially] citizens who work well with police.”

Log information? Oh, this can’t miss. I can see it now…”Male suspect places female suspect on top of stainless steel toilet…female suspect asks male suspect to place an “ass gasket” down first to prevent the spread of disease…male suspect searches for said protective device…“

From News10.net:

A Roseville 12-year-old can consider himself lucky — he’ll only face DUI and hit-and-run charges for his alleged drunken driving spree last weekend that had Rocklin Police relieved things didn’t end much worse…The boy allegedly showed signs of being drunk and was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol, hit and run and driving without a driver’s license.

Two notes of interest, however (well, other than a drunk 12 year old driving a car on public streets of course)…

Continue reading “At least he didn’t drive into a house” »