PaperSac

The Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce has details on how to help victims of the Angora Fire:

 “The Locals for Locals Angora Fire Fund was set up immediately to assist those impacted by the fire. Donors can go to US Bank or mail their donation to Locals for Locals Angora Fire Fund at PO Box 17640, South Lake Tahoe, CA 96151. This fund is unrelated to Chamber finances and a separate board of local community leaders will coordinate distribution of these funds with a focus on helping people fill in needs not met by immediate disaster relief agency funds with all monies staying local.

The Red Cross has indicated that there are already more than sufficient donations of food, toiletries, and clothing at the various locations which were set up as drop spots. If you know of someone in need of these sorts of items please direct them to one of the locations listed on the website with the Sierra Recovery Center at 1137 Emerald Bay Road being the central location. 

Businesses wanting to do a percentage of their sales donation can contact Jana Ney Walker at 530.544.6119 to participate in the Tahoe Businesses Who Care Program.”

photo credit: Rickc (via flickr)

Russ Solomon founded Tower Records 66 years ago and last weekend opened a new store in Sacramento, California: R5 Records and Video.   He’s not selling Rap or Pop music, though.  (The Target store a block away has that market segment locked up)  The new store is focused on jazz, blues, and more eclectic music.  About half the store is music, the other videos on DVD.  No vinyl either. 

 The Sac Bee’s been following this story for a while as well.

R5’s niche play could pay off for neighborhood shoppers impulse buys in video, and pull in music fans of the genres R5 will cater too.  The absence of pop and rap music is telling in the new environment of iTunes and big-box stores.

Graswich blogged about R5 this week too.

Modeshift.org has an excellent article about the ongoing high-speed rail debate in California.

 “California Democrats have elevated building their state’s proposed high speed rail network to the top of their legislative priorities, according to the San Francisco Bay Guardian. The Daily Kos, one of the most read blogs in the country, noted the swirl of attention that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger stirred with his proposal to cut $2.5 million in state funding to the California High Speed Rail Authority, the agency overseeing the system’s planning.”

 @modeshift.org

Sacramento needs a river crossing that is not a freeway.  However there is much debate as to where to put it.  Two current options are Broadway and Sutterville.  Of course plenty of residents are against a bridge in those areas citing traffic concerns.  With the two-way road modifications in Land Park / Curtis Park beginning this month, focus is shifting back to the bridge. 

 -picture credit: Beancounter on Flick’r 

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20070512 Land Park Ski & Sports

Originally uploaded by tspauld

Closed for the summer?

“This morning on my way into downtown I spotted the Microsoft live “street view” truck. I only had time to grab one picture before my exit onto J street. Its a cameraphone pic so its not great but you can see the cameras on top of the truck and the Microsoft Live logos on the back. I did not catch the name of the company out on the prowl for them either.”

from: Jalopnik.com 

You have new Picture Mail!

Originally uploaded by TheRedMonkey
Here’s a photo that TheRedMonkey captured of the MS Live Streetview van driving in Sacramento.

The city of Sacramento will begin converting the one-way stretch of 21st Street and Freeport Boulevard to two-way in an effort to reduce the amount of commuters using the roads.

The idea is that if commuters are not using these roads, it will be a safer place for bikes and locals to use at slower speeds. Of course this means that there will be more traffic jams on these roads during rush hour and left turns will not be an option.

Here’s the information from the City of Sacramento’s Transportation Department:

Construction will probably run into September - October. I wonder how this is going to affect local businesses in the construction area. Taylor’s Market, the dry cleaners near the RT station, etc…

Not to be outdone by the two whales in the delta last month, an alligator was captured in the Sacramento Delta today.  Hopefully the media won’t try to run too far with this story.

Here’s something that’s not often noticed or seen at the Sacramento Airport. On the Skyway between the large parking structure and Terminal A is a beautiful, creatively designed “Flying Carpet”. The carpet depicts an aerial view of the Sacramento River.

It was designed by Seyed Alavi, a California based artist. Additional pictures and information about Seyed’s work can be found here.