The party’s over, and I’m already late

This town moves pretty fast… local sports enthusiast Heckasac beat me to the punch on…Sunday’s Sacbee end-of-season report cards on the Kings (what was in the blogwater Monday morning, Sacto?). Sam Amick’s grading system seems horribly skewed toward performance in the playoffs, ignoring the 82 games that got the team there. For example, Wells… didn’t he miss, like 30 games? Miller gets a C, and Bibby gets a B? I just have to ask, what’s up with that, Sacramento?

Gas prices be damned

According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, “For Car Thieves, the West is Best” :

For 2005 the ten metropolitan statistical areas with the highest vehicle theft rates are:

1. Modesto, CA
2. Las Vegas/Paradise, NV
3. Stockton, CA
4. Phoenix/Mesa/Scottsdale, AZ
5. Visalia/Porterville, CA
6. Seattle/Tacoma/Bellevue, WA
7. Sacramento/Arden-Arcade/Roseville, CA
8. San Diego/Carlsbad/San Marcos, CA
9. Fresno, CA
10. Yakima, WA

Read it and weep, San Diego and Fresno. You got nothing on us when it comes to car thefts. Now, while Sacramento ranked #7 in the country, we’re actually #4 among California cities, which means we moved up one position on the list compared to last year.

We done good Sacramento. Give yourselves a hand. We’ll catch those Stockton suckaz yet.

Because you didn’t have enough to worry about

Gas prices are sky high. The housing market is declining, bursting, or whatever it is that means bad. Global politics are as unstable as ever. We got mudslides, floods, West Nile, and coming soon, Bird Flu! At least we’ve hit rock bottom right? Wait just one minute, friends. That’s right, cbs13.com reports that a local mail carrier has admitted to stealing 200 debit cards.

Viengkeo Vicky Pathammavong filled in on various Sacramento-area routes. The 28 fraud counts in her federal indictment accused her of making purchases ranging from $1,000 to more than $16,000 on the stolen cards.

As someone that has suffered through the failed delivery of mail by “fill ins” in my neighborhood, let me say that this just sucks.

I think it is time to investigate the hiring practices of the USPS. I’ve been told that the reason the “fill ins” wear civilian clothes (and by “civilian” I mean baggy jeans, baggy nfl jersey, ball cap turned to the side, and chin strap beard) is due to a probationary period where they must prove themselves for 90 days before being supplied with the familiar uniform and pepper spray (and I guess by “prove themselves” they mean not steal mail). So I’m expected to just let anyone onto my property and into my mailbox as long a they are carrying a bag with envelopes in it? Because if you’re wearing the short shorts, black socks, and pith helmet, you’re good with me!

Right Awn! Friday: Don’t call it a comeback…

rightawn.jpg

The fair citizens of Sacramento are not without their heros. God knows we certainly have our villains. But, what makes a hero special?

With raised fist, it’s those people who have the burning desire to fan the flames of justice and goodwill that we try to salute each week, here at Right Awn! Friday. And Sacramento, this week, one of our heros has returned…
Continue reading “Right Awn! Friday: Don’t call it a comeback…”

Food Rumors

Here’s a few things I’ve heard in the past week regarding the local food scene:

1) Most of you may have already heard this, but for those of you that haven’t: Ernesto’s, currently at S and 16th, will be moving to the space currently occupied by Andiamo on 33rd and Folsom. No news as to what will become of the 16th and S site. Andiamo will be closing and not relocating, so get while the getting’s good.

2) Hukilau will be closing its doors and the owners will be changing the space to an informal Italian themed restaurant (think Paesano’s Jr.) that will cater heavily to the Capitol area lunch crowd by offering plenty of gran ‘n go options.

3) The band “Daisy Spot” was recently seen shooting a man in Reno just to watch him die.

4) The Albertson’s supermarket located on the corner of Fair Oaks and Munroe in the Loehman’s shopping center still has the longest and slowest moving check out lines in town. Just in case you were wondering.

It’s hard out there for a pimp my ride

89 Honda Prelude

Dig the Wheel of Fortune “before and after” title? Bonus points if you immediately thought of that when you read it. And by “bonus points” I mean you admit to being a nerd like me who would even think of making such a reference.

Not much to this one, folks. A simple reminder why you all work so hard everyday, braving the traffic, the smog, the high gas prices, only to go home and do it again tomorrow. So that you never wind up being this guy.

Life reflects snark at the immigration walk-out

Yesterday, RonTopofIt and I joked that an alternate “evil” version of The Sac Rag might lament the fact that the Rag’s favorite taqueria, La Fiesta, would be closed in deference to the massive protest/walk-out. Well, if any of you enjoyed yourselves some “24” last night and stuck around for the Fox 40 newscast, you may have caught Joe Orlando’s reporting on the day’s events, which included as a jokey closing remark that the protests had hit too close to home because his own favorite taqueria, La Favorita was closed for the day. 😦

On a side note, CoolDMZ would like to give a big thumbs up to El Novillero on Franklin Blvd for making their own way in the world. Owner Jose Davalos decided to stay open yesterday against the wishes of nameless thugs who tried to intimidate his staff over the phone:

“The callers were trying to intimidate us into closing. When my son and other employees said that yes, we would be open, the callers said that was bad.”

El Novillero’s employees, most of Mexican descent, didn’t want Monday off, Davalos said.

“They wanted to work,” he said. “That’s why they came to this country.”

Direct Deposit

Here we go again, Sacramento. We’ve been up to our old tricks:

Several people were injured when a car smashed into a credit union office in Sacramento this afternoon.

The incident happened at the Golden 1 Credit Union on College Town Drive near US-50 and Howe Avenue. According to the Sacramento Police Officer Tod Barnes, the driver of the car, an 85-year-old man mistakenly stepped on the gas pedal when backing out of a parking spot and his Volvo lurched forward into the outside ATM vestibule. The car struck a woman waiting to use the ATM.

That’s right Sacto. We just crashed another building! But wait a minute…
Continue reading “Direct Deposit”