Category: News

I want to buy a gun today

The sale of firearms locally is on the rise because of the budget.

“People are coming in and saying, ‘I want to buy a gun today,'” Barrett said. “We’re specifically seeing people say, ‘I want it because I’m not going to be able to get the protection that I need from the sheriff’s department.'”

This can’t miss. Luckily, folks will not be able to conceal these weapons …

Faced with the potential loss of more than 200 deputies due to budget cuts, McGinness said earlier this month that he may consider issuing more concealed weapons permits.

So, we have this going for us. From the comments area:

People have to be able to protect themselves and their families!!! Yes, case studies are proven about when honest, law abiding citizens are armed and ready that crime does go down.

I wonder if case studies would also prove that if folks installed a soft serve ice cream machine in their kitchen obesity would go down.

Because of the budget …

Have you noticed how everyone’s favorite new crutch phrase is “because of the budget” to justify/explain away everything that is going wrong in our state? It only recently surpassed “due to the recent economic downturn” and totally leap-frogged “and the worst has yet to come” to reach the top spot.

The best example I’ve seen lately is from this article about the potential for public urination in our city and county parks with the closure of restrooms.

“We’re going to have heavy cuts to our park staff and our park maintenance and also to our recreation,” Combs said. “We’ll be closing community centers and pools and children’s programs. All the decisions are difficult. We regret this, but right now that’s what we’re forced to do because of the budget.”

In case you heard about this story and thought, hey, what the heck, I think I will relieve myself in the rose garden at McKinley Park, you better think again. The Sacramento police are on to you:

Sacramento police Sgt. Norm Leong said park visitors will simply have to plan ahead if the bathrooms are closed. Anyone caught going to the bathroom in parks may be cited, he added.

Right, as long as nothing happens to the number of police officers patrolling these areas we should be safe from public pee’rs.

Seriously, who takes Arnie seriously?

KRXQ is under fire again for Sacramento’s #1 morning radio show and their wacky antics. The titular Rob Williams & Arnie States of the Rob, Arnie and Dawn Show have drawn nationwide scorn for their hateful comments towards gender dysphoric children and blaming of the transgendered for America’s descent down a slippery slope of zoophilia and bestiality. Arnie is additionally targeted for comments approving of violence against boys wearing high-heeled shoes, and for his thoughts on beating his theoretical high-heeled wearing gay child, if he were to have one.

In case you have never met the trio on 98 Rock, they star as self-caricatures on a radio/comedy show with three hyper-opinionated friends. Think Seinfeld in Cowtown. Arnie plays the fat, dumb, loser, hick. Rob plays the successful capitalist genius. Dawn plays the crazy, loudmouthed, overly-emotional woman. Each show features voyeuristic details of their lives, which helps keep their loyal audience. Regular listeners get to be in on a lot of jokes, like Dawn’s therapeutic vacations, Arnie’s tiny penis, and Rob’s snobbish tastes.

The show makes jokes and provides commentary on retarded children, fat people, gay men, nerds, people with chronic diseases, single mothers, lesbians, people from every foreign country, liberals, illegal immigrants, women, child molesters, environmentalists, and dumb people. They were fined $55,000 in 2004 for “graphic and detailed discussions of various methods that men may employ to disgrace, degrade and humiliate women before, during and after sexual intercourse,” according to the FCC.
Continue reading “Seriously, who takes Arnie seriously?”

An issue that gets no props

A press release from the Elk Grove Police Department came across my desktop today:

ELK GROVE, CA – Earlier today, Elk Grove Police Officer Ali Khalil was arrested by agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and served with a complaint alleging several felonies associated with mortgage-related financial transactions. None of the allegations were related to Officer Khalil’s official duties as an Elk Grove police officer. Officer Khalil, age 29, has been a member of the Elk Grove Police Department since 2006. Officer Khalil has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation, which is standard practice when an officer has been charged with a crime.

We obviously have no details at this point about the nature of the charges or the crime, but the role of mortgage predators brokers in the housing industry has played a huge factor in our economic meltdown. Some brokers were above board but many others were not. These unscrupulous individuals played a significant role in suckering banks and borrowers into bad mortgages. Many of these old brokers are now setting up shop as refinancing experts and mortgage assistance houses (word of advice: do your own research and deal with your lendor directly). They basically splashed everyone with mud and are now offering to take people to the cleaners.

Eyebrowraisingly, it seems police officers are not immune from felonies arising out of the housing industry (though this not to say that he is charged with crimes that he did while on duty – we don’t know). Also, this officer was charged by the FBI but the EG PD still has to do their own internal investigation, during which time the accused is still on paid leave (not that there’s anything wrong with that).

I, for one, would like to see a more aggressive effort by the state government to ban unscrupulous mortgage broker marriage. We need fewer of those people and the more we can do to stop them from procreating, the happier we’ll all be.

UPDATE 6/2: Further details available at the Bee. Thanks to the SacRag faithful for keeping me on my toes. Vigilance!

Stuffing the ballot box

The cars-crashing-into-buildings news story has long lost its snarkworthiness in these parts, but there’s something special about this one:

K.J.’s Campaign Headquarters Collapses, 2 Hurt

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – The building that housed Mayor Kevin Johnson’s 2008 campaign headquarters has partially collapsed following a violent crash this afternoon.

The building located on 2030 16th St., gave way at around 2:20 p.m. Tuesday after two vehicles ? a Volvo sedan and an ICEE delivery truck — collided, sending the truck into the building and apparently into critical supports.

Drivers of both vehicles suffered minor injuries.

The building was thought to be vacant, but rescue personnel have sent a search dog inside to check for possible victims.

Is something afoot? Have people just lost their minds with their 12th election in seven years?

Nah, it’s just Sac being Sac.

“1st-Grader Threatens To Shoot Classmate”

green gun
not this kid… or WAS IT???

KCRA reports:

A first-grader at a Sacramento school threatened to shoot a classmate over an argument, police said.

Authorities were called to Caroline Wenzel Elementary School at 6870 Greenhaven Drive at 11:45 a.m. Monday to assist school officials with an investigation, Officer Norm Leong said.

The 6-year-old’s father was contacted and advised of the threat. No arrests were made.

Investigation? No arrests made? You don’t say. I’m glad the principal, Judy Montgomery/Philip Moore according to SCUSD’s website, didn’t decide to go off book and handle this themselves. If this was my kid, I would be so livid that I would probably forget to scold him for being such a dingbat. Is that really the district’s policy when it comes to these things?

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Swine Flu in Sacramento County

{NOTE – This story contains out-of-date info about the number of cases in our area. For updated Sacramento-specific information, see the County’s DPH website.}

The first case of Swine Flu has been confirmed in the Sacramento area, so get ready for the en-sooey-ing panic.

Sorry.

To avoid unnecessary panic and worry, it is important to understand the facts behind the 2009 Swine bug. The strain(s) of the virus that have been popping up in the United States appears to be a milder version of the more lethal strains that have been found in other countries. Only one patient has required hospitalization, an elderly woman. Everyone else has gotten a nasty flu and recovered. This is the only the 8th case in California and the 40th in the US, so the chances of getting it appear to be quite slim. (Update: 3 positive cases in Fair Oaks, making a total of 10 CA cases as of 4/28)

This is not a deadly superbug. Let’s hope it stays that way.

It is also not spread by eating pigs. Please maintain your normal bacon consumption level.

Continue reading “Swine Flu in Sacramento County”

NorCal’s Newest Growth Industry, Chop-Shops

According to people who know stuff about things, we NorCal folks are a bit plagued by a rash of auto thefts. A recent study found the top ten cities in which your car is most likely to get stolen.

Good news: Sacramento wasn’t in the top ten.

Bad news: almost every surrounding city except Plymouth, was.

According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, Modesto has the highest rate of car thefts in any American city. Stockton comes in at #6. SF Bay area comes in at #7, and Fresno rounds out the list at #10. What can we take from these statistics? I say if you’re leaving Sacramento, take a train.

UPDATED: Media disconnect in the Tracy case

SEE UPDATE BELOW. Obviously we want the media to publicize Amber Alerts and report on murders. But there seems to be a disconnect between the media’s tendency to tout its own policies on not reporting certain details of crimes and its tendency to run for days with details of other crimes. What has happened in Tracy is completely devastating. When a story starts its life as an Amber Alert, but ends up being a story about a grisly murder, shouldn’t the media not want to have the victim’s face and name and the unspeakable details about what happened to her plastered all over the front page and sold as the top story?

Continue reading “UPDATED: Media disconnect in the Tracy case”

Raise high the bargain beam, carpenters

East Sacramento shoppers, rejoice at the photo The Game Guy just snapped:

Target raise the roof

Not sure what it means — according to the Target @ 65th Website, which I just discovered 10 seconds ago, the project is going in further down 65th, on the other side of US50. Perhaps the contractors are setting up shop behind the Dollar Tree in order to start hiring laborers? Also, do my words have the power to get cranes in motion?