Sacramento Public Library Seeks Local Authors for Upcoming Author Fair
Sacramento Public Library seeks 45 local authors to showcase their work at its upcoming local author fair being held at Central Library on Sunday, Aug. 27. The fair, which will be the third of its kind at the Library, is being provided to allow local authors the opportunity to present their new work to avid readers.
Forty-five authors will be selected to participate in the fair by a committee of Library staff. Books must have been published within the past 18 months. The deadline to apply is Monday, July 10. The application can be found at www.saclibrary.org.
This year’s fair will feature award-winning author Reyna Grande as the keynote speaker. Grande recently released The Distance Between Us, a memoir about her life before and after illegally emigrating from Mexico to the United States.
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) thanks customers for their conservation efforts as it came close to breaking an all-time record for electricity use on Thursday, June 22.
While PG&E expected to reach record electricity use, an afternoon and evening sea breeze in the Bay Area provided relief to some of the heat risk and electric demands.
The heat wave drove up energy demand close to levels not seen since 2006 – especially due to air conditioner use to combat the heat. PG&E was ready for the high energy usage and ensured the company had enough energy supply, including renewables like solar energy, to meet the needs of their customers. Once the sun sets and renewables are less abundant on the grid, customer conservation efforts between 4 and 7 p.m. become even more critical.
Since the heat wave first began during the afternoon of Friday, June 16, PG&E has restored approximately 379,000 customers, activated 19 local emergency centers and deployed about 5,100 field employees who supported power restoration during the heat wave. PG&E employees continue to work to restore service for the remaining customers who have experienced heat wave-related outages.
Customer demand for energy during the heat wave on Thursday, June 22 reached its highest point at 20,754 megawatts (MWs). The energy company’s all-time system peak load was on July 25, 2006, when customer demand for electricity hit 22,468 MWs. The California Independent System Operator (ISO), which manages the state’s energy grid, said peak usage across California was 42,000 MWs.
PG&E reminds customers that small behavioral changes can make a big difference in reducing demand on the power grid during periods of extreme heat while helping customers to stay comfortable.
For tips on how to save this summer, visit www.pge.com/summer.
Railroad Museum is Now a Smithsonian Affiliate
California State Parks and the California State Railroad Museum & Foundation are proud to announce the California State Railroad Museum is now officially recognized as a Smithsonian Affiliate.
“We are delighted to officially begin our Affiliate partnership with the California State Railroad Museum, an organization which has previously worked alongside the Smithsonian in scholarship and historic preservation,” said Myriam Springuel, Interim Director, Smithsonian Affiliations. “The story of railroading is very much the story of building the foundation of the United States and we are proud to partner with this museum which tells this national story from its beginnings in California. The collections, scholarship and expertise of the Smithsonian will be well matched by those at the California State Railroad Museum; we expect both organizations to benefit a great deal from this collaborative relationship.”
Located in Old Sacramento State Historic Park, the Railroad Museum joins a network of 216 organizations throughout the nation that are committed to serving the public through educational outreach, artifact loans, traveling exhibitions and collaborative research with the Smithsonian. Smithsonian Affiliations help to build a bridge between the local experiences available in individual communities with the national heritage preserved and displayed at the Smithsonian.
“We are proud that the Railroad Museum is now an official Smithsonian Affiliate,” said Ty Smith, Museum Director for the California State Railroad Museum. “Aligning the Railroad Museum with the Smithsonian Institution will help us further our mission of connecting people to California's railroad heritage. This partnership is both intellectual and material and will advance our ability to create a world-class experience to each and every guest who visits the California State Railroad Museums and Old Sacramento State Historic Park.”
Widely recognized as North America’s most prestigious rail museum, the California State Railroad Museum showcases more than 150 years of railroad history in 225,000 square feet of space. Each year, approximately 600,000 guests from all over the world visit the Railroad Museum, to see and experience the immaculately restored full-scale locomotives and railroad cars, impressive toy train collection, interactive and ever-changing exhibits, and much more.
“We look forward to networking and working collaboratively with other Smithsonian Affiliates to further our collective goals to educate, interpret and engage the public with the unique and memorable experiences we have to offer,” said Cheryl Marcell, President & CEO of the California State Railroad Museum Foundation.”
For more information about the California State Railroad Museum & Foundation, please call 916-323-9280 or visit www.californiarailroad.museum/.
The Center for Jobs and the Economy recently released its full analysis of the May employment data.
In the State Employment Growth Rankings, California dropped to 3rd place behind Florida and Texas Between May 2016 and May 2017, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data shows the total number of employed in California increased by 250,000 (seasonally adjusted), or 13.4% of the total net employment gains in this period for the United States. California dropped to 3rd place behind Florida (which has a civilian working age population only 55% as large as California’s) at 409,600 and Texas (68% as large) at 254,800.
Measured by percentage change in employment over the year, California dropped to 33rd highest. Adjusted for population, California dropped to 35th.
The report shows California’s Labor Force Participation Rate at its lowest level since 1976. California’s participation rate (seasonally adjusted) in May declined to 62.0%, while the US rate dropped only 0.2 point to 62.7%. Improvement in the unemployment rate at both the California and national levels came from these contractions in the labor force numbers.
The seasonally adjusted California participation rate in May was at its lowest level since 1976. The unadjusted rate was at its second lowest level since 1976. In the recent May Budget Revision, the Governor again pointed to the increasing share of lower wage jobs as one of the prime causes of slowing state revenues growth.
“The level of wages has been revised downward, and cash receipts have been significantly below forecast.” - Gov. Jerry Brown.
Brown continues to not take responsibility for the many lost high paying jobs leaving California for better business climates in other states. California ranks last in the United States for being pro-business. Over one-third of jobs growth over the past 12 months has been in the low wage industries.
For additional information and data about the California economy visit www.centerforjobs.org.
Source: Centerforjobs.org
Divine Love: the Answer to Universal Health
International Speaker to Address Effective Health Care Through Prayer
Jose de Dios Mata, of Elsa Illinois, will give a free lecture to the public in Carmichael on Thursday, June 29 at 7:30 p.m. The talk is titled “Divine Love: The Answer to Universal Health” and is sponsored by First Church of Christ, Scientist, Carmichael, as a gift to the community and will be given in the church edifice at 4949 Kenneth Ave., Carmichael, During the talk free parking and child care are included.
This lecture is about the power of God as divine Love and the direct influence for good it can have on lives individually and collectively when spiritually understood. It explores the Biblical basis of God as divine Love whose law Christ Jesus taught and practiced in his healing and teaching ministry. It brings out the relevance of his command “to love your neighbor as yourself” and the worldwide healing impact this can have.
The ideas in this lecture make clear the importance of loving from the standpoint of God, Love, as our source and each of us as God’s tenderly cared for children. Praying from this standpoint heals disease, saves us from wrong thinking and acting, and awakens us to the reality that our lives are safe in the law of Love. How powerful divine Love is to answer every problem we might be facing. This lecture includes experiences of healing that resulted from prayer and a deeper understanding of God as divine Love based on the teachings of Christian Science.
The speaker, José de Dios Mata, is originally from Spain, but has been living in the United States for a number of years. As a teenager, he felt a special interest in music and decided to study guitar, with an emphasis on flamenco. This led him to form his own group and perform in various venues.
Later, he worked for the government for a decade, the last five years of which were spent as a special agent in the Intelligence Services. In his personal life, he faced an enormous challenge in early 1979. A relative’s sudden illness, for which the doctors could find no cure, as well as his own almost complete loss of hearing due to a congenital lesion, which he was told would require immediate surgery or result in total deafness - and he could not continue in his position at work until he had surgery - forced him to seek a solution to these difficulties. He chose not to have surgery. After trying a series of different alternatives, in December of that year José de Dios was introduced to Christian Science by a doctor, his guitar student, who knew of his reluctance towards conventional medicine and encouraged him to explore this system of spiritual healing. Both situations were quickly and completely healed solely through reading the textbook of this religion, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.
He soon realized that the spiritual understanding he had just achieved enabled him to heal others. After several years of proving the practical effect of these teachings in the healing of illness and other inharmonious situations of day-to-day life, he gave up his career in 1986 and decided to move to the United States to enter the public practice of Christian Science as his only profession. His desire to teach others how to practice spiritual healing led him to take Christian Science Normal Class in 2009,in Boston, in order to become an authorized Christian Science teacher in Spain.
Feral Cats Project Seeks Volunteers and Community Support to Curb the Feral Cat Population
Unwanted feral/stray cats are everywhere and the proverbial “kitten-season” is in full-swing. In an effort to help these newborn kittens, people often put them in a box and rush them to the local shelter. Too often the outcome for these kittens isn’t what the well-intentioned person expected. So how can you change this outcome? Spay/Neuter of stray, feral, and abandoned cats will prevent hundreds of litters of kittens, literally thousands of cats yearly, from being born in areas where they are not wanted and struggle to survive on their own.
Sacramento Feral Resources (SacFerals) recently introduced the Feral Cats Project.
The focus of the Project is to recruit volunteers and involve residents county-wide to help humanely curb the feral cat population in Sacramento County through a Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program. We are looking for the best ways to reach residents in communities throughout the County.
Feral cats are a neighborhood issue that can have good resolution when working together to TNR. In fact, Sacramento County supports TNR - not euthanasia, starvation, or relocation (which is illegal) of feral cats. The good news is that there are low-cost and free spay/neuter clinics available.
Residents who want to help improve the feral cat situation can learn more about the Project, feral cats, TNR, feral colony assistance, and other volunteer opportunities at monthly Free Feral Cats Workshops. Workshops open to the general public. Meetings are held at 5605 Marconi Ave in Carmichael. The Workshop Schedule, class descriptions, and sign-up information is available online: www.sacferals.com.
Why establish a Feral Cats Project? In 2013 SacFerals introduced a public website to offer resources and assistance to anyone with feral cat issues. Over time, traffic to the website as well as requests for help have substantially increased. During the past two years, SacFerals has received reports of more than 9,000 feral/stray cats. The need for assistance has out-paced the current volunteer staff.
With an estimated 98,000 – 220,000 feral cats in Sacramento County, as the saying goes, “It takes a village” to make a huge dent in reducing the number of litters born in the County every year and to ultimately control and reduce the community feral cat population in Sacramento County.
Women's Veterans Event Honors Many Who Served
Dedication to our nation was on display at a recent event held to support women veterans of the United States Armed Services. A very impressive group of women who have served our country came together at the gathering and celebration, hosted by American River Brewing Company.
The Women Veterans Alliance, created to support female veterans who have specific needs separate from male veterans, has as their mission is to impact and empower the lives of women veterans. They are the only group focused on directly impacting the quality of life of women veterans.
Attending the event on Friday, June 2nd to recognize the honorees were Congressman Ami Bera and Assemblyman Ken Cooley. Dave Mathis, co-owner of American River Brewing Company has become a big supporter of the group.
During the presentations, each of the veterans took to the microphone and announced their branch of the military and their term of service. It was truly impressive to hear each of their individual commitments, with some still engaged.
American River Bank was the major sponsor for this event. Be sure to tell them “Thank You” when you visit one of their local branches. Food was provided by Culinerdy Cruzer.
To get more information about the Women Veterans Alliance go to www.WomenVeteransAlliance.org.
“We believe strongly in supporting our veterans, and especially our women veterans. They all gave so much for us. It is time for us to stand up and do more for them” said Dave Mathis, co-owner of American River Brewing Company.
American River Brewing is located at 11151 Trade Center Drive, just off Sunrise Blvd. in Rancho Cordova.
Democrats Deny Funding for Critical Levee Repairs Needed after Oroville Dam Spillway Failure
Despite the support of a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers, businesses and local agencies, legislative Democrats in Sacramento rejected funding to repair the state's water infrastructure that was severely damaged as a result of the failure of the Oroville Dam spillway.
Senator Jim Nielsen (R-Tehama) and Assemblyman James Gallagher (R-Yuba City) led an alliance to obtain money in the state budget to repair California's critical levees in Northern California, which are used by the State Water Project to deliver water to the Central Valley and Southern California.
“The failure to prioritize our state's infrastructure is incomprehensible,” said Senator Jim Nielsen. “Millions of Californians depend on water that passes through these critical water conveyance systems.”
Senator Nielsen added, “Our request would have provided for an investment in the state’s water infrastructure, which would protect lives, preserve property and save the state billions of dollars in emergency repairs.”
On February 7, the Oroville Dam spillway failed causing nearly 200,000 people and their pets to be evacuated. In addition, water system levees suffered significant damage that may prevent them from functioning properly in the next high-water event unless emergency repairs are completed this year.
The $100 million funding request was also supported by Senators Bill Dodd (D-Napa), Cathleen Galgiani (D-Stockton), Dr. Richard Pan (D-Sacramento) and the following organizations: Central Valley Flood Control Association; Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency; Northern California Water Association; Metropolitan Water District of Southern California; Western Growers; California Farm Bureau Federation; Yuba Flood Control District; Yuba City; Operating Engineers Local 3.
Senator Jim Nielsen represents the Fourth Senate District, which includes all or portions of Butte, Colusa, Glenn, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Tehama and Yuba Counties. To contact Senator Nielsen, call him at (916) 651-4004, or via email at senator.nielsen@senate.ca.gov.
Join Team Hope Walk
Genetic Disaster or Uncertainty in Your Genes - Huntington’s Disease?
Individually, they battled ALS, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s. They all lost. ALS beat baseball great Lou Gehrig; Parkinson’s knocked down Muhammad Ali; Alzheimer’s erased rock music legend AC/DC founder Malcolm Young; and Huntington’s disease silenced Singer/Songwriter Woody Guthrie.
Called ‘the cruelest disease’ Huntington’s is like having ALS, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s at the same time. Imagine! And many are unaware the HD is in their family history.
Neurological degeneration becomes the life of people impacted by the genetic disaster called Huntington’s disease or HD. Caused by a genetic mismatch many won’t know they carry within their makeup.
Local families are uniting to provide help for today and hope for tomorrow at the Team Hope Walk, William Land Park Saturday, June 24, 2017. The ninth annual walk in this beautiful setting helps raise awareness of HD, support for local families and funds for ongoing research to find treatment and a cure.
Often unknown before symptoms, Therese Crucher-Marin of Auburn and Dawn Doster of Fair Oaks have lived with Huntingon’s disease dedicating their lives to helping others understand the fate, learn about testing and help support local families thru the HDSA Sacramento Chapter. They are just two regional families talking about how Huntington’s changed their lives.
To learn more about HD, visit the chapter Website at http://northernca.hdsa.org/.
Registration costs are: Adults $25, Children $10. You receive a T- shirt when you register online. You can get information, register or donate at Sacramento, CA Team Hope Walk at https://hdsa.donordrive.com.
Gibson Ranch Management to Stay Under Ose
The County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a management contract for former Congressman Doug Ose to continue overseeing Gibson Ranch, ending months of negotiations over the fate of the 325-acre nature preserve.
Ose said Tuesday he is very pleased with the board’s decision, which essentially gives his company, GRP 211, LLC (GRP) a year-to-year contract to manage the park. The agreement will stay in place for four years and carry an option for annual extensions of up to four additional one-year terms, with a 90-day notification to terminate.
The new agreement with Ose shifts a significant portion of operational costs to the county, a win for Ose, who was granted a five-year renewable lease to manage the park in 2011, but announced plans earlier this year to pull out unless the county could renegotiate an agreement to offset what he said was amounting to out-of-pocket losses of roughly $20,000 a month due to rising labor costs.
Under the terms of the agreement, the county will take over roughly $110,500 in annual operating costs for Gibson Ranch, including an estimated $53,000 for utilities, including sewer and water quality certification; between $5,000 and $7,000 to maintain and repair the wells on the property, and provide Ose with a $50,000 annual contribution toward reimbursements for capital improvements and deferred maintenance.
An original request by Ose to raise additional revenue through a hike in the park’s entry fee from $5 to $8 was not something the entire board would support. The hike was removed from Ose’s proposal and the entry fee will not be raised, Ose said.
County Supervisor Sue Frost, who was among those opposing the entry fee hike, called the agreement a “rare win for everyone involved.”
“The county gets to have a jewel of a park for a smaller price than everything comparable in the county, and the residents of the community get to continue enjoying the park for the same fee as they are used to paying,” Frost said. “I’m extremely pleased with how this worked out.”
The new agreement also calls for the county to install an automatic pay station in the park, which could net the county additional revenue of between $7,000 and $10,000 annually.
