The “Reliable Sources” blog on The Washington Post is reporting that Mayor Kevin Johnson is engaged to be married to Michelle Rhee, the Washington, D.C. schools chancellor and former board member of KJ’s St. HOPE.
(hat tip: SNOG Blog and Sac For Tourists)
Spokesperson-for-hire Steve Maviglio, who for the last few months had been blogging on Sacramento Press, announced there today he will be leaving the Sac Press “for a while.” Why? Comment flaming. Don’t get him wrong, there are many good commenters, he says…
However, there are some, who typically hide behind screen names, that think name-calling and obscenities are effective ways to make their point. Unfortunately, Sacramento Press, in most instances, allows these comments.
He actually cites the Sac Bee as an example of moderation in the area of public comment. Read the whole thing here.
This year’s family destination for autumn revelry and pumpkin harvesting was Bastiao Farms Goblin Gardens, which is located on a family farm in North Natomas.
Goblin Gardens has a large pumpkin patch with some great looking pumpkins; a nice hay bale maze (super fun to run through in a crouch, so that it looks to you the way it does to a youngster); a big hay bale pyramid; a mini racetrack for toddler riding toys, which was a great touch; an inflatable giant slide; and lots of farm implements to climb on. They appeared to have a BBQ going and some sort of basic snack bar items, but we brought a picnic and ate out in the blazingly unseasonable midday sun.
This Independence Day weekend meant a visit to our good-weather holiday destination, Ancil Hoffman Park. This is one of my favorite spots in the whole area, and I don’t even play golf. Here are some of my photos from the occasion.
Bienick doing his best
Sasquatch impersonation
I know this is old news, but I couldn’t help but chuckle while watching the video of KCRA’s Dave Bienick chasing down Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson’s SUV yesterday.
A few minutes later, the SUV pulled away and went to the back of the building. KCRA 3 also went to the back of the building to wait.
At that point, the SUV drove away and went back to the front of the building. KCRA 3 followed, arriving just in time to see Johnson hop into the vehicle and ride away.
Bienick called for Johnson to stop, but he did not.
By the way, I’d love to “Watch live coverage of Mayor Kevin Johnson’s weekly news conference at City Hall, during which he will discuss a possible obstacle to Sacramento receiving federal stimulus money.” but how many flippin’ Firefox plugins do I need to get this stuff to work? Here’s the follow up story.
At any rate, well done, Dave.
Larry King continued his non-stop Obamamania tonight by replacing his entire LarryKingLive operation with African-American men. D.L. Hughley gave sporadic play by play from the Huffington Post party while Larry chatted about history with Mayor KJ, Seal, and Puffy P. Diddy Daddy. Puffy being interviewed cracks me up since he always looks like he has just been kicked in the nuts. The best question was when Larry turned to Puffy and asked, “Sean, does it seem like Obama has two balls and no strikes?” Thankfully, Larry quickly explained, like when Seacrest offered a high five to a blind guy on American Idol this week.
Mayor KJ talked about Obama’s charisma, his organizational skills in his campaign, and that the glass ceiling has now been shattered by “a guy with a funny name”. He scored points by not referring to himself as “Little Barack” on national television and had the best necktie of the night, but was not as compelling as Seal was in capturing the importance of this presidency on a global perspective.
Mayor Kevin Johnson plans to present a voter initiative to increase the power of the office of the mayor, the Biz Journal reports. The office would function as an executive one rather than simply another vote on the council. My hunch is that the voters will probably first want to see whether KJ can actually execute something other than sick dunks 15 years ago, but I suppose it will depend on how he sells it.
Not only does Roseville have the better mall, but they’ve now even taken Santa from Sacramento:
The jolly old one will attend holiday events in Roseville on Saturday – including that city’s annual parade – but Sacramento’s annual Santa Parade has been canceled.
The event, always run on the Thanksgiving weekend, has been called off for the first time in the event’s 26-year history, said parade organizer Laurie Hensley.
The decision to cancel the privately organized event was prompted when organizers came up $15,000 short for stages, sound equipment and cash prizes for parade participants, Hensley said.
Sorry Sacto kids, but it looks like your Christmas Eve milk and cookies will go uneaten this year. Santa is off to more lucrative pastures.
In Roseville, however, the Sylvia Besana Annual Holiday Parade is ready to roll at 10 a.m. Saturday.
It will begin at Riverside Avenue and Douglas Boulevard and Vernon Street, proceed along Vernon Street and end behind the Roseville Square shopping center.
Really, Roseville, have you no shame?
UPDATE 11-24-2008: Sac-Eats called it, the Sacto parade is back on after a hefty donation from Mayor-elect KJ. One wonders if Santa was being held as an innocent hostage in some kind of parade-financing dispute.
After being twice admonished by reader Brambles for not blogging the KJ appearance on Colbert (I think partly I blanked because it was supposed to be on tonight, and not on the 11th) I finally checked it out. Thank Jeebus for the online television. I myself have gone without cable for a few years now and mostly not had to look back, what with the plethora of online options, and the sublime unintentional comedy of “One Tree Hill.” Next week: a 1920s fantasy episode written by Chad Michael Murray. That is can’t miss TV right there. But I’m digressing…
Press release today from the Fargo campaign:
SACRAMENTO–Mayor Heather Fargo today released the following statement regarding the recent radio advertisements about Kevin Johnson having been investigated for misusing federal funds:
“Kevin Johnson was banned by the federal government from all access to federal grants and contracts after investigators said he misused AmeriCorps funds.
“My campaign material does not use this issue against Kevin Johnson; however, an independent committee has.
“In light of the Sacramento Bee story this morning, I hope the independent committee would stick to the facts in their advertising.
“Sacramentans can make their own judgment about federal authorities’ investigation into Kevin Johnson’s misuse of federal funds.â€Â
You got the point, right? She definitely does NOT want to remind people twice in about 200 words about the federal authorities investigation into Kevin Johnson’s misuse of federal funds. Don’t you dare imply that she does.
The Sac Rag 