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PICTURE THIS – In this week’s snapshot we have Celtic harpist George Leverett, who was performing at the Cultural Days festival at Sierra College with his wife Anwyn. I’ve known the Leveretts, who now reside in O’Brien, Oregon, since my days as a weekend reporter at the Merced Sun-Star more than a dozen years ago. They were also playing tunes at High Hill Ranch at Apple Hill (just outside of Placerville) over the weekend and will be there again on Nov. 3rd and 4th. (Stop by their booth and tell them the Chaddocks said “howdy.”) Speaking of the Cultural Days celebration, perfect weather blessed the event last Wednesday and Thursday. College instructor (and Auburn resident) Joe Medeiros, one of the key organizers, booked some splendid entertainment. Belly dancers (I’m a sucker for those), Celtic musicians, African drummers and plenty of others graced the amphitheater stage. I also spotted Dawntrix Kerry at her PachaMama’s booth (the health-food restaurant is located inside the Gold Country Mall in Downtown Auburn) selling wraps and handing out flyers.
MEDDLERS MESSAGE – With local columnist Jim Ruffalo temporarily out of
commission (recovering from a stroke), I’ve been attending the weekly
Auburn Chamber Forum, commonly known as Meddlers. Who are the
mysterious Meddlers? A quick glance around the room reveals many
familiar names. Former Auburn Mayor Cheryl Maki, retired District 3
County Supervisor Harriett White, architect Ron Lichau, man about town
Casey Conway, Monroe DeJarnett, City Council members Bob Snyder and
Kevin Hanley, George Remaley, former Auburn Mayor Bud Pisarek, Tom
Dwelle, George Coe, Michael Otten and the gavel-wielding head Meddler
himself, Rich Johnson (plus about another 15 or 20 folks). What do they
discuss? Two weeks ago, Mike Holmes reminded everyone that KAHI AM 950,
which is celebrating 50 years on the air, was not the first radio
station in Auburn. KDIA was the first and Mr. Holmes recalled an issue
with the Federal Communications Commission that caused the station to
lose its license. He also informed the group that the City of Auburn
had reached an agreement with the Auburn Police officers and sergeants
to provide a cost of living increase in addition to another pay raise
(totaling about 7 percent annually). “It’s a substantial increase that
should help keep officers from seeking employment elsewhere,” he said.
District 3 Supervisor Jim Holmes, Mike’s younger brother, usually
presents the county update, but Jim was up at Tahoe with the rest of
the Board of Supervisors that day. The guest speaker was John Wallace,
chairman of the non-profit Placer County Sheriffs Council, ably
assisted by Assistant Sheriff Devon Bell. The organization works with
the Sheriffs Dept. to identify areas in need of help. They purchased
the “Offenders Watch” software utilized by the department’s website to
inform residents of the proximity of registered sex offenders. They
also shelled out for nifty honor guard uniforms, ballistic shields and
pepper-ball guns. Next, the group would like to purchase Tasers (also
known as “non-lethal” stun guns), for the deputies, which leads us to
our next topic. NON-LETHAL? – Placer County Assistant Sheriff Devon Bell is slightly
envious of the Auburn Police Department. He points out that the APD
recently received a donation of $5,000 from the Masons to purchase four
stun guns, but with more than 200 sworn officers in the Sheriff’s
Department, they need help on a larger scale. Tasers seem to be the hot
new thing lately, even in the news. Tasers have come under fire for
leaning more toward the “lethal” side of the “non-lethal” scale. “There
is no documented death in the country tied directly to a Taser,” Bell
said, acknowledging the controversy. The issue isn’t really the 50,000
volts that deputies shoot through a suspect’s body, but the tendency of
deputies to over-use the device. “We can’t control the inappropriate
decisions made by officers, but hopefully with training we can avoid
those kinds of situations,” he said. Those situations include five
deaths between 2000 and 2004 in which medical examiners listed the stun
gun as a “factor” in the causes of death. More than 100 other deaths
have been “linked” to the device, but were not considered the direct
cause. James Borden, an inmate in Indiana who was high on drugs, was
stunned six times and dropped over dead. David Glowczenski, of Long
Island, was stunned nine times and – you guessed it – dropped over
dead. The difference is that Glowczenski wasn’t on drugs – he was
suffering a mental breakdown and officers were trying to subdue him for
his own good. AROUND TOWN – Daryl “The Magician” Easton, after speaking to the Auburn
Daybreak Rotary Club on Halloween, was heading to Brazil. ... Auburn’s
Bob Butera recently returned from a two-week vacation to Connecticut.
“The fall color was marvelous,” he said. ... Local architect Michael
Kent Murphy has been tapped to work on designs for the Open Door Café
building on Lincoln Way. Plans are still under wraps, but the partners
behind the project – husband-and-wife team Marcello and Sarah
Sanders-Nolivo – are excited about the possibilities. They aren’t ready
to go public with their ideas just yet, but I can say that their
concept would make a great addition to Auburn. ... In the “good deed”
department, I hear Jan Haldeman (of Haldeman Homes) is traveling to
Cambodia for a few weeks beginning Nov. 11 to help those folks who are
on hard times (much as he does regularly for residents in Placer
County). ... Marsha McAnulty, an Auburn resident, has returned to
Auburn’s business community after a brief stint in Lincoln. McAnulty
joined Washington Mutual some time back and was working in their
Lincoln branch, but I’m told she’s now back in Auburn at the company’s
Highway 49 location. Before joining the WaMu crew, she was with Granite
Community Bank. ... I hear the good folks at Community 1st Bank donated
some moolah to the Auburn Community Cancer Endowment Fund following a
golf tournament held at Auburn Country Club on Wednesday of last week.
While I couldn’t attend, I’m told it was a swell affair. For photos of
the event, see page A2. Don Chaddock is the executive editor of the Sentinel. His column,
“Biscuits and Gravy,” publishes every Friday. He may be reached at
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
or by calling 530-823-2463.
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