New Hornet Political Association

Today, a new association for Sac State alums who are involved in the political and governmental world will be launched. Regardless of degree earned, all former Hornets are invited to professionally network, mentor students and have some fun. If you are interested, be at Cafeteria 15L at 5:30pm for the premiere of the Politics and Policy Alumni Chapter of the Sac State Alumni Association.

I spoke to one of the founders, Josh Rosa, who is one of the many people I was lucky to have in my cohort in the Masters of Public Policy and Administration Program. He told me that this organization is one step in a larger project to further establish Sac State as an academic center for California government.

Continue reading “New Hornet Political Association”

How to solve our wire theft problem

I’m curious as to why so many commenters seem to get where the solution lies in this Sac Bee article about wire thieves wreaking darkness on Sacramento streetlights.

In response to the crime wave, the city has taken the unusual step of creating a Police Department task force dedicated solely to investigating metal theft. Since starting its work a few weeks ago, that team of officers has focused on investigating suspects with a history of metal thievery and identifying crime hot spots in the city where patrol officers are told to keep a careful watch. The Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office has also dedicated a prosecutor to metal- theft cases.

That’s great that actions are being taken to prevent or stop the theft, but doesn’t the real problem lie in the ability to easily recycle this stuff?

Am I over simplifying this? Missing the obvious? Let me know.

Maloofs trying to sink the deal?

The big news yesterday was the latest snag in the arena deal, which came when the Maloofs suddenly read the non-binding term sheet we all had already stopped talking about weeks ago, and realized they were on the hook for some development funds. Today Tony Bizjak and Dale Kasler report that David Stern is planning to pick up part of the tab to make sure initial work can get done.

A pessimistic person would say that this is just the first line in the sand drawn by the Maloofs, and that if they resolve this issue it’ll just be something else down the road. I am trying not to be that guy. For instance, who says that one of the tenants of a building that will be owned by someone else should have to pay for infrastructure? Maybe there is a better deal that takes away some of those costs and puts a corresponding amount in profits back into the city’s bank account.

Continue reading “Maloofs trying to sink the deal?”

River Cat called up to majors

from MiLB.com

But it’s not a player. Announcer Johnny Doskow will be announcing some Oakland A’s games in place of Ken Korach, who is recovering from surgery, reports Sac Biz Journal.

Doskow is excited about the opportunity to announce games for a major league team. He said he “lost it” when he found out he might be asked to announce games for the A’s in Boston.

Go Johnny. Speaking of which, who’s up for some River Cats baseball?! I know I am. The season gets underway next week of course, with the home opener coming Friday the 13th against Reno. But before all that, the Cats will host the A’s on Saturday, after Oakland returns from the MLB exhibition series in Japan. It’s the first time in 5 years Raley Field has hosted major league baseball.

CAKE debuts video for “The Winter”

Earlier this week, CAKE debuted the video for “The Winter” which is comprised of entirely of footage shot by fans lip-syncing the song.

In a letter posted on their website, director Tracy Rowland explains the making of the video and how the footage was used or not used. I’d insert a quote from the letter, but it is an image and I’m too lazy to retype it here.

Have a view, it’s very well done. Always something creative coming out of the CAKE camp.

Is it Local If…..

I noticed two different menus last week from two different, unaffiliated dining establishments that listed different ingredients as “local,” (my use of quotation marks, it didn’t say “”local”” on the menu (meaning it didn’t say “local” with only one set of quotation marks, I added the second to refer to the fact that I was referring to the earlier non-existent quote of “”local”” that I had quoted before (and by using more than one set of quotation marks I’m in mo way saying that “””””””””local””””””””””” isn’t really local, because the whole point of the following post is to say that some things are local without trying and…. hell I don’t even know what I’m talking about anymore))) yet they were items I hadn’t ever thought of before as “local” because they’re only grown locally.  Confusing I know, here’s an example:

Last week I had a lovely dinner at The Press with my lovely lady and my sister and her husband. We had a great time and the food, like always, was fantastic. One thing stood out though. On the menu (or honestly it may have been in the description of the specials, we had already had cocktails after all and my memory’s a bit spotty) an item was described as containing “local” endive. Hmmm, I thought, is it really fair to call endive “local” if the only place it’s grown in the U.S. is Rio Vista?  I guess it is, technically. Rio Vista is right down the road. Endive is delicious. What’s the big deal? Continue reading “Is it Local If…..”

Two special Rubicon brews

When people ask me what local beer I like to drink, I always tell them that I love whatever our breweries are doing in small, seasonal batches. I dropped by Rubicon yesterday to see what they have brewing up, and Brewer Al Griffin filled me in on two beers that I am excited to try this week.

First, Hopsauce is returning soon! As if this monstrously hoppy Double IPA wasn’t enough, today they are tapping a special cask of Hopsauce. It is brewed with 880 lbs of all crisp pale malt in a 10 barrel batch, and an obscene amount of hops, mostly Summit and Columbus with some Chinook and a few others to round it out. The cask has also been dry hopped with 2oz of Falconers Flight. As Al says, “It is freaking awesome.”

On Saturday, Rubicon will be tapping a special pin (5 gallon cask) of Winter Wheat Wine that they made for Sacramento Beer Week, but it wasn’t ready yet. It has been aged on Hungarian oak cubes and dry hopped with some Centennial hops. Careful, this one is 11.5% abv. To celebrate St Patrick’s Day, they also have Moylans Ryan O’Sullivan’s Imperial Stout.

Sactown Royalty on Evans trade rumors

Want to kill public support for a big arena project? Start rumor you’re going to trade the team’s best player. Tom Ziller of Sactown Royalty posted an impassioned plea for sanity last night in the face of rumors to that effect being published by Sports Illustrated and former Bee writer Sam Amick.

Ziller takes apart the situation and calls for patience with Evans adjustment to his new role on the team. It’s a great read, as per usual with TZ, and it does make one frustrated with the Kings management. I know next to nothing about these things but it seems to me that a great way to show thanks to folks who put a lot on the line to craft an amazing deal for these owners would be to invest in the team’s future by signing a big free agent at the end of the season.

City has big plans for Power Balance site

Space Port Natomas: You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.

Today’s reporting in the Bee by Bizjak and Lillis has some dissection of the City’s stance on what to do about the current Power Balance Pavilion location once a proposed new downtown arena gets built.

Council member Ashby assures her constituents that reuse of the arena site after 2015 is “part of the deal.” But there is the little problem of the land being unsuitable for development due to flood risk. Gee, I wonder when City officials and landowners expect that moratorium to be lifted? Continue reading “City has big plans for Power Balance site”