Tag: Economy

KCRA, where the non-news comes first

KCRA reported over the weekend that the economic downturn has hurt River Cats ticket sales. “It’s considerably decreased” says Chad Collins, Director of Ticket Sales. “I hope this isn’t an indication of what the rest of the season is going to be,” says Group Events Executive Marie Maita.

Think again. Those quotes are in the story, but they’re actually just courtesy of local residents waiting in line to buy tickets, “reporting” on their memory of what the line was like last year. Seriously. Continue reading “KCRA, where the non-news comes first”

Tales from dancing on laps

This lap dance story is rich:

When Helen Hart tried to jump start business at her house by putting up a sign for adult tap dancing classes, the 79-year-old grandma started fielding calls for adult lap dancing services.

“I get maybe three to 17 [calls] a week,” Helen said. “I’m nearly 80, so age does mean something. Can you imagine a man coming to the door and I open the door and I go, ‘Yeah?’ He goes, ‘Oh, never mind.'”

It’s made even richer by Helen’s sense of humor…

This lap dance story is not so rich:

Sacramento’s Sheriff’s Department is calling for a ban on lap dancing, but only for two adult bars the county has been battling for years over zoning issues…”The physical nature of the lap dance creates an unsavory element, if you will. I mean, it attracts an unsavory element that leads to prostitution, loitering around these businesses,” counters Sgt. Tim Curran, spokesman for the Sacramento Sheriff’s Department…”There’s no hands touching the customers or customers touching the girls, not at all,” said Mull. He also said in a time of high unemployment and fewer dollars flowing into government coffers, the lap dance ban makes no sense. If the bars have to close down, he said 130 jobs will be lost.

I don’t think the hands touching thing is what concerns people here…but, I could be wrong. You could always just invite the unsavory element to your house for a Pole Dance party!

Oprahbucks

Good news! … sort of … maybe … Cbs13.com & sacbee.com report that two Sacramento homeless programs have been flooded with donations since they were featured on Oprah Winfrey’s show last week (yes, last week, I know this story is old news, not trying to scoop here, and stop looking at me like that).

CBS13 also profiled St. John’s Shelter shortly before the story ran on the Oprah show. John’s Shelter for women and children is filled to capacity, thanks to the economy. Executive Director Michele Steeb says the shelter turned away 25 women and children a day in 2007, but that number jumped to 80 in 2008 and is now 130 per day in 2009.

“Thanks to the economy“. Nice.

And from the Oprah article:

Tent cities are illegal in Sacramento, but Lisa says that may change soon. “So many people are seeking out shelter because all of the homeless shelters are filled beyond capacity, that they’re actually thinking about legalizing tent communities, and the city is actually thinking about providing services,” she says. “Surprisingly, the community has been extremely sympathetic because so many people in Sacramento have gone into foreclosure. … The shelters say that people have actually been donating more because the attitude is ‘I’d rather spend money so that people can have shelter than buy new material stuff.'”

If you are actually interested in learning more, watch the video of Lisa visiting Tent City.

25 Random Things…(State Budget Edition)

Those of you who are down with the book of faces will know what this article is about from the Santa Barbara Independent newspaper.

Playing off Facebook’s “25 Things About Me” meme [I’ll save you the trouble: “a cultural unit (an idea or value or pattern of behavior) that is passed from one person to another by non-genetic means (as by imitation)”].

A few favorites…

3) The Assembly and Senate both passed 34 separate pieces of legislation to enact the budget.

4) These included five separate ballot measures that require voter approval in a May 19 special election; if any is defeated, the budget deal unravels.

12) Governor Terminator, who drove Gray Davis from office by bashing him for hiking the Vehicle License Fee for car registration, last week doubled the VLF to balance the budget.

20) At least three separate ballot initiatives are in the works to get rid of the two-thirds vote requirement for passing a budget.

Which ones do you find especially noteworthy?

UPDATE: Budget passes, gas tax cut

Yay budget. I’m not sure what you commenters were looking at, but I was ahead of all other news outlets in calling the delays. Did you think the delays were from my not having the right info? 🙂

I’m a little confused as to why there was so much discussion about getting constitutional amendments on the ballot. Since when does getting a proposal on the ballot require almost crashing the system? Isn’t it conventional wisdom by now that part of the reason we’re in such trouble now is that it is too easy to get initiatives on the ballot? It seems like the three budget-reform amendments would have been a lock with or without Maldonado’s vote. I bet if you polled average folks most people think legislators already don’t get paid if they are 100 days late on one of their most important work tasks, almost resulting in the crumbling of one of the world’s largest economies. Now the Democrats are in the odd position of appearing to need to be convinced that they shouldn’t.

I’m also confused as to why Federal stimulus dollars (“Obamabucks” — I’ve just coined that) were added to the mix so late in the game. Were they going to give back some of it? Were they planning to divert the money to something that wasn’t part of the budget? I’m sure somebody can explain. This whole thing has been so disheartening that I must admit I haven’t been following it as closely as I could have.

Becoming Detroit(s)

I found some time to catch up on the latest news regarding the California budget crisis. If ever there was a reason to tag a post in the “ugh.” files…

Both legislative houses were pondering 27 hastily drafted bills that cover state budgets for two fiscal years: the current one that ends June 30 and the next one that begins July 1.

Should the words “hastily” and “budget” ever be used the in the same sentence?

In the Senate, the debate included cliff-hanging metaphors and disparaging references to Detroit.

“California is on the edge of a financial cliff, and some would say we’re just about over the cliff, hanging on by our fingernails,” Steinberg said. “We are running out of cash, and the situation is getting worse.”

But state Sen. Tony Strickland, R-Moorpark, said that if the package were approved, Feb. 14, 2009, would be remembered as “the Valentine’s massacre on California taxpayers.”

“If we pass this budget,” he said, “Los Angeles and San Francisco will become the Detroit(s) of the West.”

You sports fans will recall the incident with the Kings and the Pistons from 2005. Damn you, Karma.

Continue reading “Becoming Detroit(s)”

The New Word in Restaurant Criticism: FLAVER

In our last post, reader Moe brought up an issue that isn’t frequently addressed in restaurant critique, affordability. Too often, we comment on our eating experiences as if cost is no concern, while for many diners, cost is the primary concern. In these economically trying times, we want to spend our dining dollars wisely.  Part of that is simply seeking out cheaper dining alternatives, but perhaps a wiser way to look at the issue is through the prism of value. It shouldn’t be just about finding lower cost food, it should also be about finding food that is actually worth what we’re paying for it. If we’re going to spend $60 or $100 on dinner for two, then it better be worth $60 or $100. Continue reading “The New Word in Restaurant Criticism: FLAVER”

Don’t worry, your ice cream is safe

Jack GallagherYou should have seen my face when I read the headline on CBS13.com, “Famous Crystal Company Goes Bust.” Don’t worry, it’s just about the Waterford company, based in London. I’m not accustomed to getting my U.K. financial news from the home page of my local news website.

Crystal milk products are of course now produced by Foster Farms, and you may continue to enjoy their delicious and affordable milk products at your local greengrocer.

Only happy when it rains

Please to allow me to continue the rant I started before Christmas.

So the results of a survey about the employment outlook for 2009 in Sacramento were released on Wednesday. Check out the headlines from the Google News feed:

Super…Great…Grand. Did I mention that we get it? No one is saying that these are the days, but come on. Report different.

Continue reading “Only happy when it rains”

Bee tuition piece focuses on woes at Country Day

The Bee’s Robert Faturechi reports today that area private schools are seeing increased requests for financial aid:

At Country Day – where tuition costs as much as $17,300 a year – administrators are already taking steps to buy cheaper school supplies, save energy and reduce gas consumption in school vehicles.

I can’t help feeling that Faturechi was playing for an unsympathetic audience reaction by mostly highlighting Country Day School and Jesuit High School (my alma mater) in his report about area families having trouble paying for private school. That’s the only explanation I can find for his relegating Cristo Rey High School to the bottom of his piece. Cristo Rey exclusively targets low income students, who pay for their education by working at local businesses. Some of those businesses are having to pull their support for Cristo Rey, Faturechi reports, which is hurting the school’s bottom line.