Lately around town, everytime I’ve gone into a store, I’ve heard the smooth song stylings of Michael McDonald raining down over the PA system. It’s like, he’s following me everywhere I go. It’s getting kind of spooky.
Is this a variation of the “Phil Collins Effect“? Or is McDonald just that popular?
There are enough A’s and Giants fans in Sacramento that they can be considered fair game for a post, right? That question was purely rhetorical. Here’s what prompted me to bring my beloved Gigantes de beisbol into the mix: In this offseason, after the failed experiment bringing 40 year old Moises Alou into the outfield with 42 year old Barry Bonds (no, I didn’t check), it would have been a mildly amusing joke to wonder aloud, “what’s next, bring in like Steve Finley or something?” Well… You gotta be freakin kidding me.
You’ll remember from a few months ago, this little controversy:
Because California law prohibits punishing police officers over the number of citations issued, Fairfield Police Chief Bill Gresham has denied the department uses any ticket quotas. John White, who retired as a sergeant four years ago, disputes this claim saying that those who didn’t issue enough tickets were labeled “red” and punished while those who wrote a large number of tickets were labeled “green” and rewarded. The city of 100,000 earns $494,000 from traffic fines and $62,000 from parking tickets each year.
There may be something to this, Sacramento. Let me tell you my story…
Continue reading “I fought the law…”
An unnamed correspondent sent me the following instant-messaging conversation.
Sac_Chick: i called the old sac vistiors center
to ask about that store
river_city_dude: was i right?
Sac_Chick: i said i'm looking for a store there that
sells russian dolls
Sac_Chick: and she's like what?
Sac_Chick: what?
Sac_Chick: it sells what?
A drug raid in Grass Valley on Tuesday turned up not just the expected smokable marijuana drug (I think the city council there mandates that you “grow your own”) but also a brand new drug the authorities had never heard of!
What they discovered was “2C-I,” a synthetic hallucinogen much like the drug LSD.
According to Sgt. Bill Evans of the Nevada County Sheriff’s Department, investigators at first thought they had found methamphetamine. The suspect told them it was 2C-I, and that he had found it on the Internet.
The internet, eh? They should shut that thing down.
In the Arden/Arcade ‘hood, residents, tired of having to shuttle downtown to eat at a high-priced chain steakhouse located in a mall, are abuzz with the arrival of their very own high-end chain steakhouse located in a mall. Ruth’s Chris (or is it Ruth Chris’? (or Ruth’s Chris’ (or maybe Ruth’s Kris (which is the way you would describe some lesbian who is a friend of yours but you happen to know a lot of lesbians named Kris so you have to describe her by who she’s dating which would, of course, be Ruth, like, “Not Kris Kelly! Kris Stephenson, you know, Ruth’s Kris!)))) is open and ready for business in the old home of Mace’s in the Pavilions shopping centre. As people flock to this nationally proven commodity, might I point out a little gem tucked away in the bejeweled embrace of the Pavilions, a gem that has grown a little duller since Vlade left the capital city, L’Image.
Continue reading “L’Image”
The headline of this story on CBS/UPN about the pending execution of Clarence Ray Allen, the oldest inmate on death row, is worth pointing out:
A.G.’s Office: Oldest Inmate Should Be Executed
If the attorney general continues this trend, this does not bode well for the next-oldest inmate, especially if he’s only in jail for a night after getting a little too tipsy and punching his brother-in-law at a Christmas party. Execute the sum’bitch! is apparently what Bill Lockyer would say.
Perhaps this stuff is happening about 21 years too late. But, about the time we hear that any of our phones could be wiretapped without any legal accountability, we hear about the interrogation of a 16-year-old by the FBI in Elk Grove, over the doodle of “PLO” on his notebook.
When I was in school, so many years ago, kids wrote all kinds of things on their books – be it “Corey Hart” in the middle of a heart, or a tribute to Satan. School officials dealt with stuff as they saw fit and didn’t need to call the FBI on them.
But, the implications of this situation are somewhat worrisome. I can understand if people consider the PLO as a terrorist organization. They are obviously controversial to many, though much is a matter of perspective. However, a kid of Palestinian descent shouldn’t get harrassed by the feds just because he expresses allegiance to the organization that is internationally recognized to represent the Palestinian people. Interesting that no school official sat him down to hear his views, or that no notification was made to his parents.
Just call the FBI on the kid. That’ll set him straight, right? The school administrators at Elk Grove High and Calvine High Schools need to answer some important questions about their roles and motivations in all of this.
Did you see the smackdown Gov. Schwarzenegger handed to the city council of his hometown of Graz? Local politicians in the Austrian city were planning to remove Arnold’s name from the city’s soccer stadium in protest of his refusal to grant clemency to executed multiple murderer Stanley “Tookie” Williams. (Austrians caring about the execution of minorities, now that’s progress baby!)
Well, if you’ve seen any of his movies, you know Arnold isn’t one to take that kind of whiny crap sitting down. So, just like his T-800 cyborg death machine character from “Terminator” would do, he fired off a letter {PDF} demanding that his name be removed from the stadium immediately and promising legal action to ensure that outcome. He then totally sent back the ring they gave him in a special ceremony in 1999. Instead of being all like, no Arnold, baby, you are our soulmate, you can’t dump me at Christmas, Graz appears to be taking this one right in the pooper. Nice work, Governor!
So the Elk Grove Police is issuing yellow warnings to folks who leave their cars susceptible to burglary. An idea they received at a conference from a town in Texas that experienced an 85 percent drop in burglaries after issuing the tickets. 85 percent you say? Hmmm.
The officers write out a yellow ticket-type warning and place it on the windshield. If the vehicle is unlocked, officers put it on the dash and lock the car.
A few thoughts I have about this. Let me know if I’m off base.
Did this town in Texas also publicize the warnings on the local news? Because I’m wondering if the police are not making the job easier for would be burglars by identifying the at risk vehicles for them by placing a yellow ticket on their windshield.
What if I don’t want my car locked for me? Maybe I left my keys in the car hidden for my friend who is going to borrow it for a few hours while I shop and now I am locked out of my car and have to call AAA? And my buddy is horribly pissed off and can’t make his court appearance? What if, you know?
All snark aside, do try to take heed from this article and protect yourself as best you can so that you don’t receive a yellow card and/or have your car burglarized. Believe me, it can happen to you.
The Sac Rag 