State Sen. Tom McClintock, center, on Tuesday announced he would run for the 4th Congressional District seat. Supporters standing behind him are, from left, Auburn City Councilman Kevin Hanley, Yuba County Supervisor Dan Logue, former Congressional candidate Eric Egland and Nevada County Supervisor Sue Horne. Photo by Don Chaddock.
With one announcement on Tuesday on the steps of the historic Placer County Courthouse in Auburn, the field of Republican candidates for the 4th Congressional District race narrowed.
Rico Oller and Eric Egland dropped out of the race with the latter throwing his support behind newly announced candidate Tom McClintock.
McClintock is currently a state senator representing the 19th District which comprises portions of Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.
The 4th Congressional District seat is being vacated by Rep. John T. Doolittle.
The winner of the Republican nomination in the June Primary election will most likely face Democrat Charlie Brown, a retired US Air Force lieutenant colonel, who narrowly lost to Doolittle in 2006.
McClintock’s main opponent to secure the GOP nomination for the seat is Sacramento resident Doug Ose, the former congressman for District 3. Theodore Terbolizard, a Cedar Ridge resident, is still running.
Tasting Room Manager Francine Parr, left, samples wine with customer Patti Gurney of Roseville. The Wine Rack is located next to Lou La Bonte’s Restaurant on upper Lincoln Way in the Bowman area.
For Auburn native Tina Wilkins, wine is something of a family tradition. A mother of two, Wilkins is now the shop host at The Wine Rack on Lincoln Way in the Bowman area and a partner in Viña Castellano winery.
Wilkins graduated from Placer High School in 1984 and grew up on the family ranch, which is now the winery.
“My grandmother made 200 gallons of wine every year as most European immigrants did,” she said. “So I grew up drinking wine.”
She moved away from Auburn for a dozen years, but when she returned, her father had an idea. “He always wanted to do an olive orchard or vineyard, so I took the bait and started taking small vintner classes at UC Davis,” she said. “I took those classes to specifically see if we could grow the Spanish varietal Tempranillo.”
The Auburn School Park Preserve project is nearing completion. Workers are seen here finishing the stage area last week. The city expects to open the park in May. Photo by Don Chaddock.
Auburn’s School Park Preserve is nearing completion, according to City Manager Robert Richardson, and should be ready for public use some time in May.
Offering flood control through the daylighted creek as well as an amphitheater which can be used for small-venue public performances, the park has been called the “jewel of Auburn.”
“There are 14 financial partners that came together to make this project a reality,” Richardson said. “The city contributed $500,000 and all necessary staffing to construct the park.”
A benefit to the restoration of the creek, which used to be buried underground, is flood control.
“There
is a flood gate at the bottom of the park that can reduce or eliminate
the flow of all water into Old Town during times of peak flows to
assist with flood control in Old Town Auburn,” Richardson said.
Auburn Vice Mayor Mike Holmes said the daylighted creek served its purpose during the powerful January storms.
The City of Auburn’s redevelopment plans for Downtown and a portion of Old Town were discussed in depth at last Friday’s Auburn Chamber of Commerce Power Breakfast held at the Holiday Inn.
The kick-off of the first phase of redevelopment, dubbed “Streetscape,” will happen in May when Project Auburn, a community volunteer effort, will renovate the facade of the State Theater Building on Lincoln Way in Downtown. The city’s part of the “Streetscape” project gets under way in August with the focus stretching from Oakwood to Linden. This first phase will include a plaza, featuring an outdoor dining area, in Central Square located at High Street and Lincoln.
“Our goal of the ‘Streetscape’ is to keep people in town and get people from out of town to come here,” said City Council member Bridget Powers.
For a small town, Auburn has a lot to offer art lovers. From a full symphony to a countywide arts group, Auburn is becoming a hub of cultural activity for the foothills.
Founded in 1983, PlacerArts is a nonprofit organization devoted to promoting arts and humanities in Placer County.
Celebrating its 25th year, the organization puts on the annual Auburn Art Walk, popular Jazz at 808 series featuring musician Jimmy Robinson, Autumn Art Studios Tour, Library Garden Summer Series, AGROArt Competition, Starry Starry Night fundraiser, the Arties, after-school programs and more.
A few years ago, Auburn Recreation District was fodder for headlines and news stories focusing on a controversial chief and a splintered board of directors. Now, with new District Administrator Kahl Muscott at the helm and a board working together, ARD has been out of the negative spotlight.
Muscott said ARD has been focusing on more mundane tasks such as infrastructure improvements, which don’t get the attention of reporters.
As a 60-year property owner in Placer County, I am for the first time protesting a rate increased proposed by the Nevada Irrigation District. This increase seems way out of line to me and very ill timed. The increases are approximately 6.5 percent per year for the next five years, amounting to 32.5 percent.
Perhaps it is time to take a good look at how the NID spends our money. This can be stopped; however it will take a majority of NID water users sending in their letters of protest. Please join me in doing this before the Feb. 27 deadline.
The local California Highway Patrol office received a grant for more than $200,000 to help crack down on impaired drivers in the Placer County area.
The grant comes from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
CHP personnel will be deployed on an overtime basis with the mission of apprehending impaired drivers, according to a press release. In addition to enforcing DUI laws, officers will also enforce all other traffic safety laws such as speeding, unsafe passing, and occupant restraint violations.
Placer County officials have received word the series of storms that tore through the area in early January didn’t do enough damage to qualify for federal assistance.
During the severe storms, numerous residential and commercial buildings in Placer County were damaged. The Placer County Office of Emergency Services contacted cities and special districts within the county and collected information on damages.
Totals were compiled and submitted to the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, which collected damage information from all California counties.
Had the damage triggered a federal presidential disaster declaration, federal assistance would have become available through the Individual Assistance program for homeowners and through the Small Business Administration Disaster Loan Program for commercial buildings.
The abduction and murder of Mary Lloyd 23 years ago still remains an unsolvable mystery to homicide detectives and a lasting horrible memory to Lloyd’s family.
The disappearance of the popular woman also sent a chill through the community that reverberated for months. The finding of her body near Applegate also revived the tragedy, shaking the soul and heart of the community once again.
Police detectives remain baffled about the case, and never were able to positively identify a suspect. They theorize that the kidnapping and murder suspect may have died in a western prison or fled the country.
The abduction and murder of Mary Lloyd 23 years ago still remains an unsolvable mystery to homicide detectives and a lasting horrible memory to Lloyd’s family.