Sentinel Top Stories

Is Costco tug-of-war over? Auburn City Hall reviewing wholesaler’s application

Wednesday, 16 July 2008

The vacant lot across from the movie theater on Nevada Street may be the future home of Costco after all if Auburn city planners approve the application for the wholesaler.

Recent months have found Costco eyeing a different site near Canal Street along the Highway 49 corridor that was once approved to house a new WalMart, which would have landed them outside city limits. But now Costco has reportedly filed an application with the city, meaning the county may have lost their “tug-of-war” with Auburn.

When word spread that Costco was considering the old WalMart site, Auburn Community Development Director Wil Wong noted that no applications had been filed with the city at the time, so any discussions regarding the company and its future were between private parties.

Costco filed a preliminary Environmental Impact Report with the County’s Planning Department on June 28. Staff comments regarding the report were due July 10.

Calls to the city’s Community Development Department were not returned as of press time. An application with the city still needs to go through all the regular reviews before going to the Planning Commission.

Auburn approves $12.8k for marketing plan, another $2k for ‘shop local’ group

Wednesday, 16 July 2008

In two unanimous votes, the Auburn City Council approved nearly $15,000 in funding for regional advertising and to provide seed money for a “shop local” group at their meeting Monday night.

The Economic Development Commission sought, and received, $8,000 for TV ads, $3,000 for radio spots and $1,800 for the design of a visitors guide brochure.

Economic Development Commission members Monti Reynolds and Harvey Roper, along with City Manager Bob Richardson, made the presentation to the City Council.

Letters to the Editor - July 16, 2008

Wednesday, 16 July 2008

Dear Editor, Recently, we lost someone who was more than a friend. His life was filled with love, humor and community service. His name was Wayne Foote.

Most people assumed we were competitors in our business, but we were more like associates. We sold flowers to help people celebrate, mourn and just to make people smile. Every Wednesday morning for 35 years, we would leave Auburn at 2 a.m. to drive to San Francisco to buy our product. We coexisted in the same market environment because we had our own “niches.” We shared product and we cared about the community in which we live. We had the best of times until mass marketing and big business came to Auburn. We survived the change like many businesses can by working together during tough times.

Friendship transcends difficulties and competition. I ask you to remember Wayne in this way.

Each day put a smile on someone’s face, as he did. It will probably bounce back.

Jeff and Jeannie Bryan, Former owners, Bryan’s Florist

Letters to the Editor - July 9, 2008

Friday, 11 July 2008

Hanley got it wrong

I couldn’t help but shake my head at Kevin Hanley’s confused and sensationalist column titled “City-State of Crack & Sanctimony.” I think before Kevin comments on issues he should become informed. He found it astonishing that the Netherlands is banning cigarette smoking in public places, but not banning marijuana smoking.

The truth is that marijuana smoking has only been allowed in specific “coffee shops.” Has he ever visited there to know what he is talking about? The fact that they want to keep public places free of second hand smoke is a good thing. You’ll still have to visit a “coffee shop” to get second-hand marijuana smoke.

The condemnation of San Francisco as a “sanctuary city” could be said about dozens of other cities across the U.S. There are also four states with sanctuary laws: Alaska, Oregon, Montana and New Mexico as well as the District of Columbia.

Most of the laws came into effect in the 1980s as the result of churches taking in refugees not recognized by the federal government as refugees. That is what happened in San Francisco. Many churches were taking in refugees from El Salvador and Guatemala. The original law said that the city would not spend its resources on immigration issues, but it would not interfere with federal immigration officials once an illegal has been arrested for a crime. The fact that San Francisco has been sending minors back to their home country does not seem to be so horrible. They are still legally children and getting them off the streets and back to their country seems logical to me. Do we want to spend more money holding them in our Juvenile Court system and then prosecuting them and eventually sending them back to their country anyway? Now that makes me shake my head.

Jill Foley Meadow Vista

Tevis Cup Ride canceled

Friday, 11 July 2008

For the first time in its 54 years, the July 19 Tevis Cup Ride has been canceled. Citing poor air quality and safety concerns due to fires, organizers opted to cancel the ride on Wednesday.

"It was a difficult decision," wrote Tom Christofk, Western States Trail Foundation president. "But after in-depth discussion today with the U.S. Forest Service, we have decided that any level of risk was not appropriate. The Forest Service has graciously offered us some options for re-routing around the now-closed Foresthill Road, but with that factor, coupled with current air quality issues and the on-going fire situation, we opted to make the conservative decision of canceling the ride. Protecting the safety and health of the horses and people involved with this historic event takes precedence over everything else."

Further updates regarding this decision will be posted on the Tevis website at www.teviscup.org.

Last month’s Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run was canceled for the same reasons. According to CalFire, full containment of the American River Complex Fires isn’t expected until Oct. 1. As of Wednesday morning, the fires were 20 percent contained.

State Theater marquee lighting party is Hollywood themed

Friday, 11 July 2008

The new marquee at the State Theater in Auburn is already being used to promote the street party in honor of the sign lighting this Friday.

Hollywood is big in the foothills these days as the Auburn Black and White Ball (slated for Aug. 16) and this Friday’s State Theatre marquee lighting street party chose Tinsel Town as their central themes.

Bill Kirby, when speaking to the Downtown Business Association recently, said that since the marquee lighting party is on Friday, July 11, a month before the Black and White Ball, it could be considered a dress rehearsal.

The street party kicks off at 6:30 p.m. and admission is free.

The marquee and vertical sign were installed over the last few weeks as part of Project Auburn and the effort to restore the historic building at 985 Lincoln Way in Auburn.

The designs for the marquee and vertical sign were pulled from the city archives from 1937 and used to create the new signage.

The event will also feature a costume party, no-host bar, live music, dancing, searchlights and some surprises that organizers are keeping under wraps until the big night this Friday.

Virgil Traynor will be preparing tri-tip for sandwiches while four wineries are slated to offer wine tasting. The street will be closed in front of the building for the duration of the party.

Placer High Class of ’63 to gather

Friday, 11 July 2008

Aug. 8-10 Placer High School class of 1963 is planning a three-day celebration, Aug. 8, 9 and 10. The 45th reunion will begin with a no-host gathering Friday, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Auburn Elks Lodge on Pine Street.

The Elks Lodge on Pine Street in Auburn will also be the setting for the festivities Saturday night. The social part of the evening will begin at 5:30 p.m. and a buffet-style dinner will be served at 7 p.m. followed by a program and dancing.

On Saturday at noon, there will be a golf tournament at Black Oak Golf Course.

The reunion will conclude with a family picnic at noon on Sunday at Auburn’s Recreation Park on Recreation Drive.

The cost for the three-day bash is $50 per person (excluding golf participation). For more information, call Sherri Morris Schackner at.

Notes From the Trail - Trail follows dusty tracks of stagecoach route

Friday, 11 July 2008

A creek and small waterfall are a pleasant surprise along the Stagecoach Trail in Auburn. Photo by Don Chaddock.

After a few weeks of inactivity mandated by poor air quality, it was so great to see clear skies again. The news stations still advised viewers to stay indoors, but cabin fever was overtaking me and I longed for the feel of dirt under my soles. Making up my mind to ignore the experts, I set out at 11 a.m, (later than usual). I loaded the backpack with three liters of water, trail mix, a granola bar, a trail map and the trusty trail guide.

This day found me on the historic Stagecoach Trail, with the trailhead located behind a gate at the end of Russell Road in Auburn. There is a small parking lot near the trail entrance. A couple, carrying dumbbells, were preparing to walk their two dogs, no leashes in sight. I made my way past them, and the sign indicating that dogs needed to be on a leash, to get started. There is an empty information kiosk on the left of the wide, well-graded trail.

Oak trees provide ample shade and the trail gradually descends through blackberry brambles and more trees. There isn’t much of a long-distance view of the canyon to be seen from this early stretch.

Common Sense - Solar, Sensitivity and the Sheiks

Friday, 11 July 2008

In order to improve our quality of life on a number of fronts, elected leaders and citizens need perspective and the ability to adjust long-held policies to move the ball forward. Fundamental principles should be preserved. But entrenched interest groups and ideological activists who demand “my way or the highway” can sometimes destroy incremental progress. A compromise is appropriate when it leads to incremental progress toward the greater good.

One can see this dynamic at work in efforts to provide new clean, renewable and dependable energy sources in California. “There’s enough solar potential in the whole southwest of the U.S. to equal the power of all the oil in Saudi Arabia,” David Hawkins with the California Independent Systems Operator told Wall Street Journal reporters for the article “You Can’t Get There from Here,” (June 30, 2008). According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Energy, the Mojave Desert has as much as or more potential for the siting of solar power plants than any other region in the country. The Mojave Desert can, at 7,500 watt hours per square meter per day, receive more than twice the solar energy that other parts of the country receive. According to the California State Auditor in their report “Solar Energy” (January 2008), “solar power offers an attractive approach to help meet the demand for electricity because its period of greatest availability roughly coincides with California’s peak-demand time.”

Time for a Change at Rocklin’s City Hall

Friday, 11 July 2008

Guest column by Duane Wilson

Local elections are important. In terms of the impact on the lives of real people – everyday folks like you and me – they are often far more important than the glamorous national elections.

Four years ago a group of local citizens organized and ran a slate of candidates for city council who supported “smart growth.” The incumbents, riding a flood of developer money, narrowly defeated the locally supported candidates. The result was more sprawl in housing, a continued emphasis on automobile travel and numerous strip malls (most are more than half empty – make your own tally of the vacancies in Rocklin’s retail centers to verify). This despite recommendations by the Sacramento Area Council on Governments (SACOG) urging local communities to incorporate planning that emphasizes clustering places where people live close to businesses where they can work and stores were they can shop. The information was there but it required leadership, commitment and action by local government – features sorely lacking in Rocklin. Today, we still have a barren city core, as well as a glut of for sale and bank-owned suburban homes.

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