Category: News

Age ain’t nuthin but a number

Well it’s certainly been a while, hasn’t it?

Sacramento police are looking for a 14-year-old boy who they say slammed his car into a home in south Sacramento and then took off.

Oh, but that’s not the best part:

A woman who was in the car stayed at the scene and, according to officers, said alcohol may have played a role in the crash.

The owner of the house that was hit said she believes the woman in the car is her neighbor and the boy’s mother.

So, boy’s mother is a passenger in a car driven by her drunk minor son, who crashes said mother-containing-car into a house in Sacramento and then flees.

What’s that saying again? Oh yeah.  Stay classy, Sacramento.

‘Tis the season

It just wouldn’t be the holidays without a heaping helping of disheartening crime in Sacramento. While PS3 mayhem is so last week, never fear as we’ve had our first Salvation Army robbery.

Sacramento police are still looking for a group of teens who robbed a Salvation Army bell ringer at knife point during the noon hour Friday outside a grocery store.

That’s noon, people, as in post meridiem. I think that is what is really shocking about crime these days. There really is no safe time to be out and about…however, Continue reading “‘Tis the season”

YEEEEHAAAWWWWW!!!

Hide your women, horses and cattle.  The Cattlemen are a-comin’, partners!

SACRAMENTO — The California Cattlemen’s Association and California CattleWomen’s Association will be holding their 90th Annual Convention at the DoubleTree Hotel and Convention Center in Sacramento from Nov. 15 — 17.  

This year’s convention features two major fundraising functions — a kickoff dinner and auction for the Livestock Memorial Research Fund, and Protecting Our State’s Stewards, Economy and Environment committees. The fundraisers will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 15.

In addition, the Allied Industries group will be hosting a wine and cheese social prior to the convention kickoff and will follow up with their bingo night on Thursday, Nov. 16.

Proceeds from the function will go towards the Allied Industries Scholarship Program, which last year paid out over $11,000 to California college students. 

Clean-up and deodorizing will continue through the weekend.  If you get cornered by one of these varmints, here’s a primer on Cattleman small talk.  Ask them about the foreign trade of beef, or if California should allow the slaughter of horses for food.  You’ll be in for quite a treat.

 

Are there any other kind?

Snark is not always fun and games. Sometimes the camera must be turned on the less savory parts of life. For example, the Bee’s coverage of the man currently being sought for several assaults on women contains a sidebar about other serial offenders that includes their media nicknames, like Anthony Ray Starks, nicknamed “Cowardly.” You know, unlike the courageous men who typically commit this particular crime.

New crime mapping tool on KCRA

KCRA's Crime Tracker - Mike Teselle reports
Mike Teselle reports

KCRA rolled out its Crime Tracker tool just in time for Halloween this year, and RonTopofIt just pointed it out to me this morning. It is a mashup of Google’s ubiquitous mapping service, and it works way better than the SacPD’s Crime Mapping tool, although I’m sure the SacPD’s offering is more inclusive and updated faster. One thing I have always loved about the SacPD’s tool is the ability to search by neighborhoods, not just Zip codes — this link, for example, shows you residential, auto, and business burglaries in the Ben Ali neighborhood (which is apparently a microhood between El Camino and Marconi on the West side of the Capital City, who knew). To get a similar map on KCRA I had to use an address, 1941 Iris Ave, and I get all of the crime hits (including Invasion of Privacy). But the ease of searching by Zip, intersection, or “Landmarks” on the KCRA site makes it worth a look.

Creepy dystopian news of the day

I’m really conflicted about this. There are very few organizations, local or otherwise, whose missions I respect more than Kevin Johnson’s St. HOPE. But the educational org’s newest project has me a little weirded out:

Imagine taking your child to a preschool that could scan each little brain, take blood samples, administer psychological tests or do genetic testing to help decide which teaching techniques best suit each youngster.

I don’t know, I mean it’s a little derivative…I think there was a newer episode of Twilight Zone like that… Oh wait, you’re not describing a horrifying dystopian future setting for a sci-fi movie, that’s an actual plan for a school.

Continue reading “Creepy dystopian news of the day”

With 0% Precincts Reporting, SacRag reports…

…that John Doolittle will win his seat.

Yes, we are that damn good.  We know how to read the signs, the indicators, and the will of the people.  And the intentions incompetence of election administrators:

 AP) SACRAMENTO After receiving dozens of complaints, Sacramento County election officials said Monday they will send letters to 40,000 absentee voters telling them to check their ballots for errors.

By Monday evening — a week after absentee ballots were mailed — more than 50 people had called to report ballots that were flawed or incomplete, officials said. Most of those reporting errors said they received two of the same ballot cards instead of two different double-sided cards…

As a result, the county asked its mailing firm, Admail West, to take extra precautions to avoid errors.

Admail West officials said Monday that the latest problem was with the printer and not their company

Democracy.  Done Right.

MySpace Bush-basher now world famous

In case you missed it, the McClatchy high freshman who made local headlines last week for being questioned by the secret service for her anti-Bush MySpace group is now making headlines all over the world. I’d like to admit ashamedly that my post on The Sac Rag received slightly less than the 120,000 hits the Bee’s original article received.
Continue reading “MySpace Bush-basher now world famous”

MySpace and the Secret Service

Did you all read the front page Bee story today on the McClatchy High freshman, Julia Wilson, who was questioned by the secret service without her parents present because she wrote “Kill Bush” on her MySpace page?

Sure, that sounds outrageous, but apparently state law does not require parental notification when law enforcement officials want to question a student during school hours. And actually, the mother was notified when the agents knocked on her door, but she “asked the agents to come back in an hour,” apparently mistaking Federal agents with the Fuller Brush Man.
Continue reading “MySpace and the Secret Service”