The County of Placer lived up to its word this week and contributed $5.6 million toward the acquisition of the historic Waddle Ranch in Martis Valley north of Lake Tahoe.

The 1,481-acre ranch property is being purchased by the Trust for Public Land and the Truckee Donner Land Trust for a reported $23.5 million. The owner is the family that controls the Hyatt Hotel chain.

Meeting at the Ringside Gym in Newcastle in early September, current Miss Auburn Casey Schlittenhart, left, was responsible for the choreography of a dance routine to be featured in this Saturday’s pageant. Photo by Don Chaddock.

This Saturday evening at the DeWitt Theater, two young ladies will be crowned the new Miss Auburn and Teen Miss Auburn.

Celia McAdam, right, executive director of the Placer County Transportation Planning Agency, chatted with taxpayers watchdog Dan Sokol after briefing the Auburn City Council on a proposal to increase the sales tax by a half-cent. Sokol is a member of the funding feasibility committee studying methods of raising needed transportation funds.

One of these days (or nights) the Auburn City Council — and the councils of Placer County’s four other incorporated cities — will be asked to back the idea of allowing county voters to pass or reject a proposed half-cent sales tax increase to pay for transportation improvements over a 30-year period.

Here's a quick look at what's happening this week in the foothills ...

Auburn Home Show is this weekend

The fall Auburn Home Show will be held Friday, Sept. 28 through Sunday, Sept. 30 at the Gold Country Fairgrounds in Auburn. Featuring more than 1,000 exhibits, the Home Show costs $6 for general admission and $1 for children under 12. Children 5 and under are free. The event runs from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday. For more information, call 530-887-3616 or visit www.auburnhomeshows.com.

The 13-year-old stepdaughter of Robert Trussell found him beaten to death in a pool of blood in his bed in one of the most brutal killings ever in Placer County.

She went screaming from her rural Roseville home to a neighbor who called authorities.

Trussell’s assailant was believed to have used a claw hammer to strike him in the head, neck and shoulder more than 25 times as he slept naked in his bed in a single family house on Billy Mitchell Drive north of Roseville.  Detectives said the majority of he wounds were on the left side of the victim and were focused on the head, cheek, throat and upper left shoulder.

Directors of the Placer County Water Agency have set November 15 at 2 p.m. for a public hearing on proposed water rate and charge increases in PCWA Zone 1, which includes the Auburn area and other communities.

Mailed notification of the hearing was sent this week to all Zone 1 customers and/or property owners.

Auburn police are beginning to sound like a broken record when they talk about the case involving Francisco Evangelista, 19, the suspect in the August 27 gun scare at Placer High School.

“There’s nothing we can report at this time, the investigation is continuing,” declared APD Lt. Scott Burns again this week.

Evangelista is due in court late this week for arraignment on a felony charge of possessing a firearm on school grounds. His lawyer, Tim Woodall, is expected to request that Evangelista’s $500,000 bail be lowered.

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More than 100 employers will be in Auburn October 11 to particpate in a job fair at the Gold Country Fairgrounds from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The job fair is hosted by the County of Placer and the Business Advantage Network. Co-sponsors include Placer County Office of Economic Development, Auburn Chamber of Commerce, Gold Country Media and the Workforce Investment Board. For more information, contact Cindy Burris at 530-889-4090.