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MORE STAR QUALITY AT LA BONTE’S — Mr. Gilbert Ortega, right, is shown with lovely Judi LaBonte and his very able attorney, Patrick R. Little, as he arrived at the legendary Lou LaBonte’s restaurant the other noon for a lunch in his honor that was hosted by — who else? — mouthpiece Little, who says he’s proud to number Gilbert among his star clients. Gilbert did not pedal his bicycle to LaBonte’s, opting instead to ride along with lawyer Little. Judi was glad to see Gilbert in one piece after his latest bike-car collision. She recalled that her late mother, the beautiful Frances LaBonte, frequently remarked that in his younger years Gilbert looked like a cross between Fernando Lamas and Ricardo Montalban and was considered a hot commodity by the young ladies of the village. In any case, Gilbert had one heckuva a good time at the Little lunch...Mention of Lou LaBonte’s prompts me to report that on or about December 10th — early next week — there’ll be a grand opening of the Wine Rack store on the premises of the old LaBonte’s deli next to the restaurant. The new establishment will feature the retail sale of wines from some of the area’s top vintners: Vina Castellano, Mt. Vernon, the Green Family and Dono dal Cielo Vineyard. And if you plunk down $5 to help with the overhead, you’ll be treated to samples of the swell vintages.
* * * POLITICAL PALAVER — Obviously relying on advice from his handlers,
rookie Assemblyman Ted Gaines has declined the $3,100 salary increase
granted state lawmakers by the governor’s special pay commission. This
means that Ted will have to make do on his old salary of $113,100 —
plus the thousands he pulls down in "per diem" pay while the
Legislature is in session — and I’m sure he will. Refusing a pay raise
in martyr-like style is always good fluff for politicians, especially
the ones who’ll be on the next primary election ballot. At this point
we still don’t know if Ted will go for a second two-year term in the
Assembly or abandon his legislative seat and run for the Republican
nomination in the 4th Congressional District. I’m still betting that
he’ll take the former option and stay in the Assembly, where he’s got
one of the safest seats in the lower house. I’ve opined often that he
doesn’t have the moxie to run against incumbent Congressman John
Doolittle, who’s already campaigning hard for a 10th term despite the
ongoing FBI investigation of his and his wife Julie’s dealings with
Jack Abramoff, the crooked lobbyist now doing hard time in a federal
pen. From where I sit, if the feds haven’t got JTD by now, they’ll
never get him and, by everything that’s right, he should be allowed to
have a rematch with Democratic challenger Charlie Brown next November.
As for Eric Egland, the self-styled intelligence expert who’s already
campaigning for the GOP congressional nomination, JTD will make
mincemeat of him in a June showdown even without the help of Gordon
Hinkle, his latest communications chief and senior field hand.
Apparently believing that something bad will soon befall JTD, Hinkle
wrangled himself a Schwarzenegger appointment as a deputy press
secretary for the State Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
(the prison system) at $87,000 per year, a bit less than the dough he
was pulling down with the congressman. Hinkle, a Roseville resident and
city planning commissioner, says he’s still rooting for his old boss’s
reelection. Come to think of it, there’ve been enough key Doolittle
staff departures in the past year to field a basketball team, which is
an apt observation since Hinkle and fellers like Buck Robinson and
Brian Jensen are quite tall...Back to the Ted Gaines picture for a
moment. If — and that’s a big IF — Gaines does scrap his Assembly seat
for a try for Congress, radio talk show host Eric Hogue, one of the
gents who launched the Recall Gray Davis campaign a few years ago, is
on tap to succeed him. Hogue, now known as the "contingent" Assembly
candidate, held a fundraiser in Roseville the other night and,
according to ace GOP blogger Aaron Park, pulled down "five figures,"
which could mean anything from $10K on up. One hundred folks attended
the event. If Gaines stays in the Assembly, Eric will return the money. * * * ROUNDABOUT — Congratulations to local lassie Janice Forbes, the
founding publisher of Sierra Heritage magazine and still the publisher
of the Sentinel, on being named Placer Conservator of 2007 by the
Placer Land Trust. She’ll be saluted at the PLT’s March 1st dinner at
The Ridge...Yipes! The ARD just got socked with a $15,000 traffic
mitigation fee because of the tennis courts it’s adding at North
Auburn’s Regional Park. A heavy hit, to be sure, so heavy that it
sounds like highway robbery...There’ll be a regular meeting of the
Auburn City Council this coming Monday the 10th, starting at 6 p.m.
(and as of this writing I have no idea of the agenda’s contents) and a
special council session next Thursday the 13th, also at 6 p.m., for the
installation of Keith Nesbitt as mayor and Bridget Powers as vice
mayor. Judge Charlie Wachob, who was Auburn’s city attorney before
Governor Schwarzenegger dubbed him a jurist two years ago, will do the
swearing-in honors. I presume that a coffee-and-cake reception will
follow in the Rose Room...Dorcas Kokila, a real doll, wig-wags that
AARP’s Auburn chapter will hold its Christmas party on Friday, December
21, starting at 11:30 a.m. in the Elks Lodge on Pine Street. There’ll
be the installation of officers and music by Jo Spivak (any relation to
trumpeter/bandleader Charlie Spivak of my halcyon days?). The tariff is
$10 and please call Laverne Baker at (530) 889-0882 and tell her you’ll
be there with bells on...Speaking of installation rites, the Placer
County Bar Association’s new officers will be sworn in at the
organization’s annual dinner and roll call on January 25th at The
Ridge. Bet that Levin, the one-name lawyer who works for the 3rd
District Court of Appeal, will replace Maureen Ohlsson Rodarte as
president and that Ed Jones will move up to veep. Elen Pass Brandt is
in line for treasurer’s duties, Gregory Fayard will be secretary, and
Donna Cushman and Larry Ring will be directors-at-large...Lincoln
lawyer Therese Adams and her classy husband Mark donated the wine —
from their Rancho Roble Vineyards — that was dispensed at this past
Tuesday’s PCBA holiday party and judges’ reception in the Arts Building
in Downtown Auburn. Bully for Therese (a Presentation Academy girl —
and so is Gina Garbolino!) and Mark for their generosity. Hats off to
onetime Placer football scatback Ty Conners on making sergeant with the
sheriff’s department, and hail and farewell to recently retired county
veterans Alora Lipsmeyer, Bill Combs, Alan Loeffler and blushing
bridegroom Bud Bautista.
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