Two more SacBee tidbits

One, the cover story of the Scene section today is about a new News10 show in the works that promises to create controversy by blending news content with advertising. Of course, if you’re reading SacRag today you’re probably thinking, like I am, This is different from other local news how exactly?

Two, there is a mountain lion on the prowl in River Park. Yikes. At least River Parkians can take the high ground of the levee. Although, since that’s probably where this guy came from, maybe that’s just what he wants them to do?

Cali-what now?

Graswich has a great tidbit today from one of his readers…

Jacquelin Siegel wonders why the California State Fair is embracing all things Hawaiian, from Hawaiian shirts to Hawaiian surf legends. “That is really sending the wrong message,” Jacquelin said. Fair officials say they tried to limit the Hawaiian references. On the bright side, the fair isn’t embracing all things Texan.

Genius. Can’t wait to avoid that crap. But what’s up with the Texas dig, Bob? I heard it’s unwise to mess.

Because two weeks just wasn’t long enough

Please allow me to switch gears for a moment and do away with this WNV chatter. Who wants to talk California State Fair? According to our dear friends at News10.net this year’s fair has been extended another week! That’s 3, count them, 3 weeks to savor your favorite deep fried chocolate treat, to try out that great utility knife that can simply cut through anything, and to enjoy your favorite band of yesteryear. While I could go on and on about this “celebration of all things Californian” let me leave you this excerpt (also from the News10.net article):

    “Parking is $7, though carpools of four or more are $6.“

That’s right, our beloved environmentally friendly, always pushing the envelope, never to be outdone, city (could be a state order, I’ll admit) is offering a whopping dollar discount for loading up your SUV with your friends and family and heading out to the fair! Now that’s something to celebrate!

Urban construction projects

My Urban Vista blogs about major construction projects in downtown/midtown. I’d like to springboard off this helpful list and ask my readers, preferably (like me) completely uneducated about urban planning to comment on this post with more suggestions for major construction projects.

I’ll get the ball rolling: slash and burn J Street from 9th to 11th and replace it with a Borders.

Spilling Over With Excitement

YEAH! I’m thrilled to be a new member of the Sac-rag family. Hopefully I’ll be able to contribute my cock-eyed slant to the local eats scene, informing, entertaining and whetting the appetites of the public. Be forewarned though, if your restaurant offers gift cards, has a predominantly English speaking workforce or is owned by Randy Paragary you probably already get your knob slobbered enough by Sacramento magazine and its bastard children. We’re on the lookout for the overlooked, downtrodden and truly delicious. Color me excited.

They report…you assume and move on

Another example of why you must do your own due diligence when forming opinions and doing research. Taken from News10 this morning:

    Butte County Man Dies of West Nile Virus

“Wow!” you might say, “this is getting out of hand, people are dying left and right.” However, read on a few lines and you find:

    The man who died was suffering from a chronic disease in addition to West Nile.

Now I am not saying this man did or didn’t die of the WNV, but “chronic disease” does sort of mean, well, “Lasting for a long period of time or marked by frequent recurrence, as certain diseases: chronic colitis.”

Keep your green in the right lane

John at Uneasy Rhetoric has some ballsy comments re hybrid cars in the carpool lane.

And SacRagger RonTopofIt just shared with me this quote about gas prices in a News10.net story:

Many are feeling the pain in the pocket. “In my van it’s like every two days 45 bucks to fill it up,” lamented Mary Chicas of Plumas Lakes. “It’s like so crazy.”

Let’s do the math: let’s say she gets 13 miles to the gallon and her tank is 16.5 gallons (using that $2.72 and her $45, and 9th grade Algebra). I think Mary’s real problem is that she’s driving over 100 miles a day. She must commute to Dixon. That’s like so crazy!

This Won’t End Nicely

Graswich reports that Jennifer Smith got demoted by News10.

This is one of many MANY changes for News10. They are hiring for a multitude of positions. Moving an icon like Smith is just another domino in what looks to be a massive overhaul.

Smith will land on her feet, perhaps with one of the other two stations (Fox40 doesn’t count, nor will it likely ever). But this is a damn curious move, and one that will most likely leave News10 with egg on their face.

Gotta get them skeeters, eh?

With all this talk of Sacramento’s mosquito killers, it’s interesting to note some similarities in how people were warned about mass spraying of pesticides to combat WNV in other jurisdictions.

In Canada, there’s a fight brewing in the province of Manitoba, where local citizens also were given very little warning about the spraying of Malathion (another mosquitocide) over residential neighborhoods (or as we say in Canada, nehbourhoods). While doctors up north have voiced their concerns, the push for large scale fogging is continuing.

It seems the modus operandi of “vector control” people is to give citizens little warning before spraying their property, pets and plants with bug poison.

Ah, the perils of democracy.