Author: Stickie

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.

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!)

Operation Cross Country

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.)

Ugly Flyer Tries to Fool Naive Voters

Ah, what kind of election would it be if we didn’t have last-minute desperation from candidates with too much money in their campaign chests?

The SacBee reports today on a mailer sent out by a group called Democratic Voters Choice with the catchy slogan, “Make it Emphatic, Vote Straight Democratic!” The only problem is that this group has been sending out virtually identical flyers for almost 20 years to trick Democrats into voting for GOP candidates in non-partisan local races. Local candidates Susan Peters, who is VERY Republican, and Kevin Johnson, who I will very kindly refer to as an “idealistically conflicted Democrat”, are both endorsed and are both listed in the fine print as the folks who paid for this deceptive flyer.

Kudos to the Bee for being on top of this story. The flyer is included for your enjoyment after the jump.

Continue reading “Ugly Flyer Tries to Fool Naive Voters”

Are Political Ads in the Online Bee Fair?

Since I read the Bee online, I have noticed a trend that makes me a bit uncomfortable. The Bee imbeds political advertising in political articles.

Of course, this is smart targeting of voters. People who read articles about the election are more interested in politics than those who don’t. No brainer.

My problem is when the advertising is sold to candidates about whom the articles are written.

Take a look at an article today here. It reports on the debate between the Republican primary candidates for the 4th Congressional District, which will be won by either Tom McClintock or Doug Ose. While reading the article, the reader gets to listen to and watch series of advertisements for McClintock who is (of course) slamming his opponent, Ose. Readers have to turn off the ad if they do not want to watch it or mute it if they do not want to listen to it. Even if they do so, a big “McClintock for Congress” remains on the page.

Continue reading “Are Political Ads in the Online Bee Fair?”

The Unforeseen

On Thursday, Save Our Sandhill Cranes (SOS Cranes) is presenting the Sacramento premiere of a fantastic looking documentary The Unforeseen, which received raves at last year’s Sundance Film Festival and won the “Truer Than Fiction” Independent Spirit Award for 2008. unforeseen poster

The film includes a wine, cheese and strawberry reception at 5:30 with the film beginning at 6:30. Tickets are $25, only $10 for students!!

The Unforeseen
Sierra II Community Center Theater – 2791 24th Street
Thursday, May 29 – 5:30pm

Free ‘Survive I-5 Commuter Pass’

During the I-5 construction project, the Regional Parks Department is offering at no charge a commuter pass to allow commuters to park at Discovery Park or another American River Parkway facility, to cycle or skate to work in downtown Sacramento. The pass will be valid Monday-Friday, and includes all County park facilities along the Parkway (excludes Hagan Park). The Fix I-5 project is scheduled to begin on May 30 and expected to last until early July.

Continue reading “Free ‘Survive I-5 Commuter Pass’”

Franchise Tax Board warns of two online scams

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.

Vote for the Worst!

Fox 40 reported this weekend on the Web site Vote for the Worst, which is arguably the #1 fan site there is for American Idol. Since 2004, Sacramento resident Sean Fromer has run this site which aims to embrace those deliciously bad contestants and keep them on the show as long as possible. For big AI fans, this is the place to go for the snarkiest commentary and breaking AI news.

View the report here