Month: July 2008

Sac Bee to publish county salaries?

I have learned that The Bee has filed a Public Records Act for “2007 base salary and overtime records, including employee name, department, and job title” for all employees of Sacramento County. Apparently the Bee is planning to compile a database and release all the information on its website, as it did earlier this year for State of CA workers.

This raises all the same issues as that project, concerning workers’ privacy, safety, and the public benefit of this level of public records releasing by the Bee. Continue reading “Sac Bee to publish county salaries?”

SACOG nabs impressive front page ink in WSJ

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”

Winelympics!

Doooooo Dooooooo Da Dum Dum Dum Dum

That is the sound of me singing the Olympic Hymn after several glasses of fine California wine. You, dear reader, may get to hear this masterpiece in person if you join me at the Winelympics at the Old Sugar Mill in Clarksburg this weekend.

In a clear attempt to make this a classy event, organizers decided not to name it the Wine-Olympics, which evokes an image of Bum Fights and probably skirts a copyright law or two.

The Winelympics is a fund raiser for the Make-a-Wish Foundation and will feature competitors from local wineries and other organizations. Events include the Waiter’s Relay, Barrel Rolling and both corking and uncorking contests. Doors open at 11 AM with an admission fee of $10 per day with three events held on both Saturday and Sunday between Noon and 5 pm. The six wineries at the Old Sugar Mill will be pouring.

If you wish to field a team of three (or more!) there is still time to register. Your friendly neighborhood Stickie will be joining the good folks at Revolution Wines to bring home the gold to Midtown.

Restaurant Revival Opportunity

There once was restaurant, mythical in its place on the Sacramento foodscape. It was a place where a man, woman, and child could go on a Friday night, eat prime rib, clam chowder, and drink cocktails by the bucket load. It was a place that shaped my childhood, my life, the lives of all Sacramentans, hell, the lives of all Americans. That place was the Palomino Room.

Located just off Watt Avenue on El Camino Boulevard, the Palomino Room was a treasure, a throwback, a repository of food, ambiance, and camaraderie from a different age. And now, it can live again.

The restaurant space that once was the PR, is now available for lease. For the last several years, it has been a horrid example of what happens when fusion cuisine goes wrong. That’s right, the “steak and sushi buffet.” But now, those days are past, and the space is once again available to be put right by some enterprising restaurateur. That’s right, you Paul Flemming, you Randy Selland, you Randy Paragary, you Virgas. It’s time to do your civic duty and restore the Palomino to all its vinyl boothed glory. The Paly’ needs to live again. You can make it so.

Happy 4th of July, everyone!

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.

HodnÄ› Å¡tÄ›stí, Lisa and Todd!

The Sacramento News and Review reports today that SacBee writers Lisa Heyamoto and Todd Milbourn will be packing up their lives and moving to Prague. The pair claims that they are following their desires to live in Europe, but we at the SacRag know the truth… The SacBee staff refuses to accept our generous offer for a pub quiz rematch as they are afraid of another trouncing, and are opting to flee the continent to save face. We think you are cowards, but wish you the best, regardless.

Don’t forget to Czech out this Web site (Ha, get it? So clever!)

SAMMIES nominees out and about

Tonight at 5:00pm on Public Access Channel 17’s live public affairs show LiveWire! catch 2008 SAMMIES pop nominee The Ancient Sons. What you’ll like about The Ancient Sons is their melancholy Syd Barrett sound — this is not your typical ’60s throwback band. Expect a review of the Son’s debut album “The Dark Gospel” on this site soon…

Continue reading “SAMMIES nominees out and about”