Sacramento, CA

Against all odds, the missing Dominguez family was blessed with their own Christmas miracle when they were found alive and well yesterday afternoon. They had been missing since Sunday when they got lost looking for the perfect Christmas tree. Many people believed that they would not be found alive as the mountains saw a ton of snowfall over the past couple of day. Somehow, by some miracle they managed to survive with only mild hypothermia.

The family didn’t have any food or water and no survival skills. Yet somehow they managed to live through their ordeal anyway. They apparently camped out in a concrete tunnel underneath a mountian road. They wrote the word “Help” in the snow and a helicopter pilot–who wasn’t even supposed to fly because of the weather–found the father waving his hands in the air next to it. Anyway, I won’t go into more details, but you can read them yourself in today’s Sacramento Bee.

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who prayed for their safe return. Few people believed that they would be found safe and sound–yet somehow it still happened. It just goes to show you how much can be accomplished with the power of prayer. In any case, because of this little miracle, this is certain to be the best Christmas the Dominguez family will ever have!!

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On Sunday afternoon, Frederick Dominguez and his three children–Christopher, Alexis, and Joshua–disappeared in the mountains near Inskip where they were looking for a Christmas tree. None of them were prepared for a long trip out in the snow. In fact, they were only wearing T-Shirts, jeans, light jackets, and sneakers.

They certainly weren’t prepared for the snow storms that have been hitting the area over the past couple of days. As of now, rescue teams are hoping that they managed to find someplace to hide out during the storm–like one of the many cabins that dot the area. However, tehre has been no trace of them so far and Madde Watts of the Butte County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Team said that “The elevation ranges from 4,000 to 6000. It’s been really cold up there. The weather has moved in, the terrain is difficult. It’s desperate, all right.”

In any case, their future isn’t looking too good right now so I would entreat anyone who believes to pray for their safe return. It would be such an immense tragedy for their mother to lose her entire family so close to Christmas–especially over a Christmas tree. Frankly, I think there have been quite enough tragedies this year already…

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Is it just me or is Roseville full of the most random crimminals ever? First there was the Golf-Ball Thief earlier this year, and now we have little old ladies robbing banks. Normally, I’m as conservative and hard ass as they come, but this just screams to the world that our elderly community isn’t being as well-cared for as it should be. I mean really how many little old ladies do you know that rob banks?

When I saw her picture it made me think of my own grandmother who doesn’t yet qualify for her social security benefits because she’s only sixty-four. She also very unhealthy and has to take a plethora of medications just to avoid having more strokes. Due to these stroeks, she is blind in one eye and colorblind in the other. However, there aren’t many options to help her out with the medications that she needs just to live. One of her pills is $100 for just one pill!! She is so poor that she and her husband can’t even buy each other Christmas gifts this year. They’re basically lucky to just scrape by enough to keep on living.

You just know that the poor woman who robbed that bank did it because she is in a similar situation. Witneses even said that she was shaking and it looked like she was debating whether to do it or not. In my opinion, she doesn’t sound at all like a career criminal. It sounds like she is just a desperate woman in a desperate situation. However, if you’re enough of a scrooge to give her up, police are asking that “Anyone with information about the robbery can call the FBI in Sacramento at (916) 481-9110, the Sacramento Sheriff’s Department at (916) 874-5115, Crime Alert at (916) 443-HELP, or the Roseville Police Department at (916) 774-5000.” Frankly, I hope she gets away with it…

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The Westfield Downtown Plaza Ice Rink has been open sicne November 1st and I didn’t even know it. This makes me sad to think of how many times I could have been out there already. It’s the only outdoor ice skating rink in Sacramento and it’s pretty much the single most awesome thing that you can do in these parts during the winter. Granted, the rink isn’t the greatest I’ve ever skated at and the employees can be a bit horrible, but there’s just something magical about skating under the open night sky that is just unimaginably incredible to those who’ve never done it before. It’s even one of those things that just gets better and better every time you do it.

The rink is conveniently located next to the K Street Mall so you can even stop by on a break from your holiday shopping at a mall that isn’t as overly crowded as Arden Fair is every year! During holiday hours, they are open everyday from 10AM to 10PM with the hours varying a little bit before December 10th and after December 30th. It is also incredibly cheap at only $6.00 per person for two hours of skating, plus a $2.00 rental fee if you don’t have your own skates. I have heard a lot of people complain about the availability of skates before so be advised taht you might want to bring your own if you have them. Also be advised that they only accept cash–weird I know given that we live in the age of credit. Anyway, go out and have a lot of fun. just don’t end up like this poor lady…

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Lately, the city has been exerting extensive effort towards rennovating these historic areas of Downtown with mixed results. I have noticed that when they fail it is usually because of lack of community involvement and awareness. They try to keep the people in the dark and then everything ends up being one giant f**k up. Thankfully, they seem to have taken a much different approach to rennovating one of the most historic areas of Downtown Sacramento.

One of the things that Sacramento is most known for is its history as a railroad town. In particular, it is the birthplace of the Central Pacific Railroad’s contributions to the Transcontinental Railroad. For years, the area surrounding the downtown railyards has fallen into disuse and succumbed to the same sort of degeneration that sadly so often happens in big cities. However, it was recently decided to extend the city’s efforts to clean up the downtown area to include the railyard. Furthermore, plans for reviatlization include the addition of a main thoroughfare for shops and boutiques which will bring business to the area and hopefully keep it clean for years to come.

The best part though is that the developer, Thomas Enterprises, is letting the community become a part of the project in a way that is creative and fun. They are holding a contest to name the streets that will run through the area. They will be looking for names that “represent the character of the Sacramento region and reflect our historic past” while also creating “a fresh, contemporary feel” to fully embody what Sacramento has become–a place of yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Of course, some people will be upset because there is no monetary prize for “winning.” However, I think that you get something much better from entering the contest–a chance to be a part of living history. You get to truly be a part of Sacramento itself and I don’t think anyone could argue for a better gift than that!

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Today (as I’m sure you are all aware) is Black Friday, otherwise known as the year’s biggest catastrophe for shopper’s wallets and a giant salve for merchants everywhere. Fortunately, I had to work at my real world job today so *alas* there shall be no shopping for me. However, if you’re not like Candy Hollowell over at Tulsa, OK or myself then I’m sure you’re already out and about instead of reading this. However, when you get back it’s still something you should know about as it’s likely to continue through the holiday season.

Anyway, this morning I heard on KCRA that Arden Fair Mall has greatly improved upon its security system. They have employed more security guards and, more importantly, also done some major technological overhauls to the previously existing system. The single biggest improvement is an increase from 19 security cameras to 128. Furthermore, many of these new cameras can rotate and zoom in close enough to read specific license plates. I am so exstatic about this taht it’s really not even funny! FINALLY they are doing something to deter thiefs who target holiday shoppers!!! All I can say is taht it’s about time!

Regardless of the improvements made, I would still advise you to be cautious when shopping at any big mall this season. The local paper where my parents live published some great tips that I thought I’d pass along.

1) Ladies, don’t carry around a big bulky purse. They are attractive to purse-snatchers as they know they can hold all sorts of goodies. Instead, just bring along a small handbag or carry a couple of cards in your pcket instead. Also, if you are carrying a purse be sure to wear it with the strap diagonally across your chest. It makes it more difficult to grab.

2)NEVER leave merchandise in the front seats of your car where people can see them. This is just asking for trouble. Instead, make sure that you put them in your trunk so that they won’t become a homing beacon fro crooks. Also, (and I’d never heard this before!) it’s better if you are willing to park your car somewhere else when you drop off a load of purchases. In theory, this deters anyone who is staking out your vehicle because they wil assume that you are leaving the mall and returning home.

3)Do not park far away from the mall doors if you will be out late at night. If you have to park in these areas, check periodically to see if you can move your car before it gets dark outside.

4)Many malls have secuirty guards who will walk you to your car if you are out alone after dark. Take advantage of them!

Feel free to add more if you know of any so we can pass them around and insure that everyone has a safe and happy shopping season!

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So, I was reading the Sacramento Bee this morning, and I think I can honestly say I won’t be the only person thouroughly ticked off by what I read.

At the end of August, news broke through that the city was planning on cutting several major bus routes and significantly shortening others. These plans are still going to go through in January of 2008. All along, they have been telling the public that the cuts are being forced upon them because ridership is down. They have told us over and over that they just don’t have the money to keep up with these routes–which just so happen to run in poorer neighborhoods in Sacramento.

However, they now magically have enough money to add a new light rail track that is going to cost $46,000,000!!! The new track runs from Eigth and K Streets to the Downtown Amtrak and is the most expensive light rail track in Sacramento. Furthermore, costs were never expected to be that high in the first place! In this morning’s edition of the Bee, officials try to play it off as something that was beyond their control:

Transit officials say they were naive about the difficulties of digging up downtown streets for a rail line. They set an aggressive construction schedule they never came close to meeting. The project took 30 months, more than twice what was expected.

It was slowed by discoveries of unmapped underground utilities that had to be moved, numerous unearthings of American Indian artifacts, intense spring rains in 2006 and a late-hour demand by federal judges that the line be rerouted farther from their courthouse.

I can’t believe how irresponsible this is!!! To waste so much money and then to try to gloss it over as an act of God is completely uncalled for. The worst part is that they know that!!! This morning, an RT Board Member–David Sander–even admitted, “These are taxpayer dollars, and it is extremely important we invest them as wisely as we can…Cost over-runs are a sign we are not doing the best we can managing projects.” All I can say to that is no s**t Sherlock! I mean really, who do these people think they are fooling? Do they honestly think we are stupid enough to buy this crap?

The Chief of Transportation even had the audacity to say, “I’m getting an education in how complex it is”! Well, frankly, we don’t give a damn about your education Mr. Zlotkowski. We DO care that you have succeeded in wasting millions of dollars on a project when you claim to be unable to pay to keep existing lines open!! You can argue all you want about these lines being necessary, but no one believes it. We still don’t have routes to Natomas–or even the airport for that matter. I seriously doubt there are any other major cities in the country that have airports but no way to get to them. It’s a ridiculous example of how easily officials in this area manage to get away with wasting our tax dollars. They have no problem with spending money on outrageous things like stakeouts for golf ball thieves and rail lines they will never complete, but they can’t seem to be bothered with any of the numerous severe issues this city faces everyday. All I can say is disgusting, disgusting, disgusting!!!!

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Okay, so I’m pretty sure that a fair number of you are already sick and tired of hearing me rant and rave about breed discrimination, but I just couldn’t help myself this time because the proposition seems so innocuous. It even sounds really intriguing to those of us–like myself–who are nerdy enough to be totally turned on by things like the Human Genome Project. It’s funny, but it never really dawned on me that such areas of science could potentially be used for nefarious purposes.

Then, I discovered the following ad whilst browsing on craigslist this morning:

Its a DNA Swab-a-thon!!! An exciting new product that uses DNA to pinpoint the breed-mix of a mutt will be demonstrated during a weekend “DNA swab-a-thon” Nov 2-4, 2007.

Representatives from the Canine Heritage™ Breed Test will be on-hand at eight PETCO stores in the Sacramento area to answer questions about the test. Kits will be available for purchase($10 off the internet price!) and representatives will be there to swab your pooch and process the paperwork. The only thing left to do is to wait for the results in the mail!

Quick and painless, the Canine Heritage™ Breed Test is a step forward in DNA technology yet remains very simple to administer. It requires only a simple cheek swab that is mailed to the lab in Davis, CA, with results coming back to the pet-owner in about 4 weeks. The current test can identify 38 breeds which represent about 75% of the most common registered domestic breeds.

Now, I’ll be the first to admit that this seems like a harmless bit of fun. You know, you and your boyfriend have always argued over whether Fido is secretly part lab or part golden retriever. Now, you can finally settle the argument once and for all. However, right after that thought came a second one–this could help to further facilitate breed discrimination in America. Just imagine the possibilities. It will be much easier to determine if a dog is a member of a bully breed or not. This in turn will make it much easier for landlords to dictate which dogs can live on their properties and which ones can’t. It will set in motion a chain of events that–I predict anyway–will eventually lead to the eradication of bully breeds.

We already have issues where states and cities can ban dog owners from having pit bulls. Authorities in those areas can go into peoples’ homes and sieze their dogs for no reason except for their breed. (How they can do this and then wonder why people are willing to support people like Michael Vick is beyond me–but that’s a whole other issue that Susan Mead at My Friendly Pets and I have both already covered so I’ll say no more on it for now!) The dogs are not dangerous and have done nothing wrong. However, these dogs then go on to be euthanized merely for existing. Until now, owners have been able to hide under the cover of declaring their four-legged friends to be mutts. The government could not murder them unless the owners admitted that they were pure bred dogs–or if the animal really had attacked someone. I personally know of at least thirty dogs who have been spared because of this little convenient glitch. However, now the authorities will eventually have the power to demand owners to give them a sample of the dog’s blood so that it can be tested.

This disgusts me because of the complacency with which it is likely to be carried out. No one really seems to notice the nefarious hidden implications that it could have for humanity as well. How much longer will it be before UC Davis sets up medical tests to determine a person’s lineage? Those curious about their heritage will flock to labs around the world like lambs to the slughter. Never mind that somewhere out there, the next fascist tyrant will be biding his time and waiting to exterminate various ethnic groups on a whim. I predict it will be much worse than what Hitler managed to accomplish too. After all, he only had Star of David patches and the word of other people. The next despot will have DNA evidence to back up his personal vendetta–evidence made all the worse because it will have been given willingly! i can’t believe how foolish science can be sometimes–never stopping to even consider the future consequences of their actions! Or perhaps I should instead be chiding the everyday average Joes–after all, WE are the ones who are going along with it without a second thought…

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A woman was waiting for the bus Monday morning on the corner of San Juan and Truxel Road when she was approached by a teenager with an infant. The girl reportedly asked the woman if she could hold the child while she prepared a bottle for him. When the woman agreed and took the baby, the teenager took off running. Police took the child to UC Davis Medical Center and he is supposedly in good health. They are currently looking for the mother. The Sacramento Bee describes her as “white, 5-foot-3, with a small build and strawberry blonde hair.” Eye witnesses say she looks to be about 16 years old. Anyone with information pertaining to her whereabouts or identity is urged to come forward to the police at 916-443-HELP. Charges may be brought against her, but at the moment they are only looking to talk to her.

It’s terrible that this type of thing is still happening in California. After all, the state legally allows mothers to drop unwanted children off at any hospital within three days of the child’s birth with no questions asked. We obviously need to further educate our youth on teen pregnancy and the options that are available to them since–hopefully–this girl didn’t know that this option was available to her…

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Yesterday, the Elk Grove police department broke up yet another marijuana network in what is supposed to be the perfect suburban family neighborhood. They raided over twenty homes and confiscated 6100 mairjuana plants, 10 cars, and $200,000 in cash. They estimate that the plants could be capable of producing $24 million dollars worth of marijuana. In addition to the high qauntity of production, police also expressed concern that the people growing the plants are becoming more educated and finding crafty ways to elude detection. For instance, most of the homes raided were the perfect image of suburban bliss. They had well-manicured lawns and furnished living rooms, appearing for all intents and purposes to be the perfect neighbors.

I found this to be extremely sickening and disturbing. People move to suburban areas in order to give their families a better life. They seek to get away from the high crime rates of larger cities and now here it is at their doors–a veritable wolf in sheep’s clothing. Finding out that your neighborhood is full of drug dealers is sure fire way to shred even the hope for safety and security. The worst part though is that it allows them to become commonplace and almost even acceptable in the eyes of the public. The message that it is normal and alright for dealers to reside alongside families also equates to the message that perhaps doing drugs really isn’t all that bad. In particular, it sends mixed messages to our children–ultimately effecting whether or not they will choose to use drugs in their own lives. Frankly, this is the last thing that they need when there are already enough confusing messages coming from various research labs–such as UC San Diego–which argue that marijuana does not harm brain cells. Some experiments are even geared towards “proving” that marijuana actually HELPS GROW NEW BRAIN CELLS!!!

They’ve obviously never met any of the plethora of potheads I encountered while attending the University of the Pacific in Stockton. My friend’s college boyfriend smoked so much weed that to this day he cannot function in society. He can’t hold an intelligent conversation–or any conversation that requires more than a yes or no answer for that matter. He can’t hold down a job because he either fails the drug tests or screws up at work because he’s too high to take anything seriously. He’s only 25 and he already has a slew of drug charges and convictions. He just recently violated parole and is likely on his way back to prison and all he can say do is giggle and say, “I sure showed The Man.” Sadly, he isn’t the exception to the rule either. I have also known a number of people who were willing to engage in prostitution in order to earn money to buy marijuana.

I don’t know, maybe I’m just so opposed to it because I’ve never tried it. (At least that’s what people constantly try to convince me of.) I admittedly can’t even begin to fathom the attraction of smoking away your intelligence and acting like an idiot. However, that doesn’t make it any less sad that when you search for marijuana images online all you find are jokes and rainbow covered pot leaves declaring that it should be legalized. Perhaps they’re right on that count though. At least then it could be regulated and taken out of the neighborhoods where our children go to school and play. It would certainly eliminate the need to arrest 14 people while little kids are getting off the school bus across the street and having their innocence and naiveté permanently ripped from them. What do you think?…

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Since I know there are very few people in Sacramento who subsrcibe to the TriValley Herald, I thought I’d share a story with you that I read in there today. Stefani Ruland of Carmichael was arrested in January for identity theft. Prosecutors in Pleasanton have recently added additional counts bringing the grand total to seventeen felony charges. She is being charged with eleven counts of identity theft, three counts of possession of stolen property, and three counts of burglary. At the time of her arrest, officers found a large quantity of merchandise from Nordstrom at Stoneridge Mall in Pleasanton that had been purchased using someone else’s credit card. She was also in possession of twenty fake driver’s licenses with her photograph on them and five authentic licenses that she had not yet altered.

The most astonishing part to me though is that she was on probation at the time of her arrest. What was she convicted of you ask? Well, that would be none other than…IDENTITY THEFT CRIMES!!! It made me so angry to read that. It brings me back to all of the tirades I’ve been on lately about our criminal justice system. I really don’t want to start that again though–since it’s likely to sound like a broken record anyway. Suffice to say that something needs to be done because this is crystal clear evidence that slapping someone on the wrist with admonitions to “never do it again” simply isn’t working. All I’ll say for now is that we need to take a much more firm stance with ALL criminals if we are ever to win the war on crime. If you do want to read a further explanation, check out one of my earlier posts on either Michael Vick or Gregg Michael Pistochini. Anyway, have a great day and don’t do anything to earn yourself five seconds of fame in the local police blotter!

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Okay, so call me crazy but I’ve always really liked Whoopi Goldberg. I looked up to her as a little girl because she is such a strong and independent woman. However, her public defense of Michael Vick on The View has left me so disgusted with her that I can’t even think straight. How dare she defend him and pass off his dogfighting as no big deal?! How dare she give him an excuse that some clever defense lawyer will be quick to jump on in court?! So what if “‘where he comes from in the south’” dogfighting isn’t that unusual.” So what if “there are certain things that are indicative to certain parts of the country.” The fact of the matter remains that they are still wrong regardless of how you look at them. I found it particularly disturbing that an African-American woman would make those comments as well. After all, there are certain other things that are also indicative of the south. By her own logic, she has just made racism and hate crimes acceptable because “they aren’t that unsual.”

Justice is not gray; there is a strict line that cannot be crossed. It doesn’t matter if you know better or not. It doesn’t matter if you are raised to think that something is acceptable. If you are breaking the law, then you should be punished. Furthermore, this goes double for celebrities and sports stars. They are automatically in a position to be idolized by children everywhere. Thus, by the very nature of their careers it is their responsibility to be model citizens. When they break the law they MUST be punished for it because otherwise it sends a terrible message to America’s children that they are either above the law or the law itself is somehow unjust. Society cannot continue if it is continually undermining itself by letting celebrities off the hook. Those who advocate leniency are effectively also advocating anarchy. Thus, I urge you to boycott The View until such a time as they either remove Whoopi from her post or she makes a formal and sincere apology for her insensitive and illogical remarks!

Frankly, I am completely appalled by ALL of the people who seem to think that what he did was acceptable. If you go on any website there are countless people who seem to think that what he has done is somehow excusable. There is even a site dedicated to saving Michael Vick! It is a vile and underhanded attempt to undermine all of the good that has recently been accomplished by animal rescue groups and the ASPCA. Sadly, they have been very successful at making pit bulls look evil and worthless in civilized society. In fact, many humane shelters will no longer keep pit bulls–or even dogs that may have pit bull blood. These shelters automatically euthanize them.

Thankfully, the Sacramento SPCA is not one of these. Their refusal to discrimintae against a dog solely based on breed makes me proud to live in Sacramento. They currently have seven different “bullies” available for adoption. If you are considering bringing a furry friend into your family I urge you to consider adopting one of these dogs. They are highly personable and wonderful with children. Plus, since they are rescue dogs you know that they are going to be very loving because they aren’t used to being treated with affection. My family has a rescued pit bull who has become the delight of the family over the last seven years. He sleeps with the kids, lets the babies play with his ears, shares his food with stray cats, and even lets the parrots beat him up without even batting an eye. He’s our 95 pound angel and we wouldn’t give him up for anything!…

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The recent approval of the new state budget eliminated $14 million in public transit funding. To complicate matters, the number of riders has been in decline the past couple of years and local sales tax revenue is down $2.6 million. As a result, Sacramento Regional Transit decided to eliminate four different bus routes and also to cut the number and frequency of stops on some of the other routes. Changes are scheduled to go into effect on January 6th, 2008. The four routes eliminated were routes 64, 91, 105, and 76. Route 64 serves downtown and Sacramento City College, running from Meadowview to 24th Street. Bus 91 is a Citrus Heights route that runs from the Sunrise Mall on Sunrise Blvd to Louis and Orlando. Route 105 serves the Madison area and runs from the Sunrise Mall to Watt Avenue and I-80. Number 76 mainly serves students traveling to and from Sacramento State and runs from American River and La Riviera to the light rail station at University and 65th. I can see this elimination to be particularly irritating to Sacramento State students as many of them live on La Riviera specifically because the bus runs past their apartments. They will still have the Hornet Express, but it is a much longer route and it will take them longer to get to school than it does on route 76.

If tihis wasn’t enough to irritate bus riders in Sacramento, they have also made significant cuts on other routes. For instance, they will no longer be providing Sunday service on 6, 28, 36, 61, or 62. This makes no sense whatsoever for route 6 in particular as it provides service to the Land Park area of town. Land Park is where Fairytale Town, the Sacramento Zoo, Funderland, and Tower Theater are all located. Considering that these are all big tourist spots, I think it’s ridiculous to cut service to them on the weekend when there are likely to be more tourists than there are during the week. It makes me wonder if any of those businesses are aware of this decision yet since they would have surely been against it! (Especially since route 61 to South Land Park was also cut on Sundays!) In addition, it is also one of the only routes that goes to the Pocket/ Greenhaven area of town. Do they not realize that people who live in these areas often need to work on Sundays too? On that note, I wonder if they bothered to inform Mather Airport or any of the businesses at Mather Field that they would be cutting Sunday service for route 28. How about students who pick up route 36 on Folsom to get to Sacramento State? How about all of the people who rely on the Freeport route 62 to get to work downtown on Sundays?

They are also cutting Saturday service on routes 9, 10, 18, and 36. Route 9 and route 10 both service the Carmichael area–apparently the city has decided that people in Carmichael don’t need to get to and from work on Saturdays. What are they supposed to do? Say, “Sorry Boss but I’m no longer able to come to work on Saturdays because it isn’t financially feasible to the city of Sacramento”?! Do they not realize that there are classes scheduled on Saturday mornings at American River College? I’m glad I don’t ride route 10 since my chemistry class is on Saturday mornings! It makes me wonder if they’re trying to get rid of all of the poor college students who rely on free transportation to get them to class. If you look at the cuts on route 18, you’ll see that this trend continues further throughout the bus cuts as well. Bus 18 serves people in Del Paso Heights–people who just so happen to be extremely poor. Many of them can barely pay their rent and now they’re expected to buy cars since they can’t rely on public transportation anymore?! The whole idea is completely ridiculous!

In addition, there will be further cuts as follows:

~ Route 50E will not come as frequently and thye have yet to announce how much they will be reducing it.
~ Freeport route 62 will only be running hourly.
~ Route 63 will now be servicing both 16th Street to the Meadowview light rail station and Sacramento City College to the Power Inn Road light rail station.
~ Route 83 will now only run from 14th Avenue to the Power Inn Road light rail station.
~ Route 21 will be causing mass confusion by having its route extended only at “certain times” whatever that’s supposed to mean…
~ Route 140 will only operate during peak times. They have defined this as every fifteen minutes for three hours in the morning and three hours in the evening. However, they have not bothered to tell us specifically when these three hour blocks will be.
~ Finally, route 143 will now only run on the weekends. Tourists want to be especially aware of this since it is currently the most convenient route for both Old Sacramento and the Convention Center.

I’m not trying to say the cuts weren’t needed–because it’s obvious that $16 million makes a huge difference. I just think that the public should have at least had a partial say in which routes to cut back on. They could have held a public hearing or something–maybe allowed us the option to increase the fare rates a little bit in exchange for getting to keep our bus routes to and from work.

The other thing that bothers me is that they are playing it off as being the sole fault of Governor Schwarzenegger. This is disgusting to me because it indicates one of two things. Perhaps the public transit officials are complete imbeciles with no working knowledge of the government–after all, they would have to be in order to say that the Governor is solely responsible for making all budget decisions. The alternative is even more sinister–they are simply trying to defame the Governor and the Republican Party in any way that they can. I’m not at all implying that everything the Republican Party does is good or right. However, I do know that it IS wrong to pass all of the blame to them when they are not the only ones in charge of running California! Furthermore, it is extremely evil to do so. After all, there are people in this country who have not had the requisite education to make their own informed decisions and opinions. They lack the ability to formulate their own educated thoughts and thus rely on others to do so for them. All too often, this means that they are brainwashed into believing whatever is popular instead of being given the means to decide for themselves–turned into little more than mindless voting zombies for whoever and wahtever the sun currently shines on. It is foul and underhanded in a way that makes me shudder to imagine what it means for our country in the long run…

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Yesterday when I was looking at information on SMUD, I happened to also notice on their page that they are considering a rate increase for 2008. I don’t about everyone else on here, but I happen to be poor so this kind of annoys me In any case, there’s going to be a public hearing on June 7th to discuss this with the citizens of Sacramento. To their credit, they have only had two increases in 17 years–a pretty amazing feat for an electric company!!! They further add that the 7% increase will be used towards replacing old equipment and meeting new state standards for solar power. They also say that it will still be 25% lower than the rates at PG&E. Custoemrs with concerns are invited to come to the hearing to find out more information about how the rate changes will effect them particularly and further details as to how the money will be spent. Questions should be directed to Alan Wilcox at 916-732-6222.

SMUD, PG&E, electric bill, electricity, public hearing, rate increase, Sacramento, utilities, power

There’s some construction going on at the corner of Howe and Hallmark lately that has been causing all kinds of problems for local businesses. I work at Best Western and the construction crew has been doing all kinds of damage to us in particular. They hit a power line or something the other day and of course the power was off for like six hours while SMUD was fixing it!!!! We had a conference meeting that day for the Department of Health Services and they were understandably unhappy to be holding their meeting in the dark without air conditioning. In addition, many guests did not want to check in without electricity. Then, two days ago they did something similar and knocked out our voicemail. The guest phones haven’t been working properly since and it took forever to get our voicemail back up and running. I know that many other businesses have also been affected including Outback Steakhouse, Verizon, Audio FX, and Saigon Bay. Anyway, I was curious to know if there’s a way to collect back the money that we all lost from their mistakes. I’d love to relay any advice to my manager…

SMUD, power surge, construction, construction complaints, electricity