The Whales head back to the ocean

Thank goodness the whales have finally headed back and are almost clear of the San Pablo Bay. If you're one of the thousands of people who flocked to the delta to harass the whales, I hope you can ask yourself honestly "Was it necessary?" Was Discovery Channel not good enough? These poor whales got lost and while we'll never know, probably stayed lost due to human intervention. Noise, boats, pollution, even porta-potties could have stalled the whales' return to the open ocean.

Those of you who ran out there dragging your kids in tow, are you the same ones that bought organic foods, canvas bags and environmentally friendly lightbulbs because Oprah said so? I'm fairly certain that driving your gas-guzzling SUV out to the unpaved delta roads, was not what she had in mind for conservation. I was appalled at the amount of trash, the greed-grubbing entrepreneurs who made is easy with water and snack sales, the security and manpower required to contain the crowd.

Worse, it appears that local news seems to have forgotten we're in the middle of a war. While I like a happy story now and then, the obsession with the whales has somehow overpowered the reason of the news directors. Do more than about 50 Americans know we are in talks with Iran?

Natomas School Board, are you nuts?

Dear Natomas Unified School Board:

Have you lost your minds? Did all that "no child left behind" stuff confuse you so badly that paying $24 million for land you don't need seemed like a good plan? Perhaps there is campaign cash falling into pockets that we won't know about for weeks or months to come. Perhaps there is a recall heading your way. We're tired of failing schools, failing students, security concerns and a board that can't count it's own cash. See you at the polls.
Sincerely,
Concerned Natomas resident


For those of you just catching up, the Natomas Unified School Board just purchased farmland for $24.7 million based on a hypothetical appraisal of land value. The lawyer on the deal double ended the purchase, representing the district and the seller (who happens to be Tsakopoulos). Somehow none of this information ended up in front of the school board before it made the decision to purchase the land at the outrageous price of 3 times the going rate for land in the immediate area. The appraiser instead, used numbers based on the land being annexed into the city, which is not on the long or short-range plan. Basically, he made the whole thing up. Nice work.- how do I get that job?

Dr. Ferrar, you are the superintendent of the district and supposed to be the one asking questions. How did you not realize that the lawyer and law firm on both sides were the same? Did it somehow sneak by you on the paperwork? Did you not have district employees do their own due diligence before signing off on the deal? What is going on over at that huge district office that a land deal somehow didn't get checked and double-checked?

This is not the first time the district has suffered a major oops. The district continues to state that enrollment is "falling" in the area. In numerous rumors throughout teachers and those "in the know" in the district, this is simply a spin to leave out the fact that the enrollment projections were miscalculated in the first place. A portion of the active-adult community of Heritage Park is in the Natomas Unified boundaries. No children are allowed to reside in these houses and therefore, there are no students. However, rumors persist that the district didn't count this in the enrollment projections and is now short about 2500 students. Many believe this is the reason for the delay in Heron Elementary opening, as well as the lack of need for this new land.

What a mess. Thank you to the Bee for picking up the story and realizing that the Natomas Unified board has some serious questions to answer. They'd better move fast, elections are coming soon.

Things to do in and around town this weekend

The weather is heating up and finally looking like spring. It'll only last about 5 days if Sacramento weather follows true to form so you have one weekend to get out and do something!

Some highlights of fun family events around town:

*My personal favorite- The Capital City Caper fundraiser for FamiliesFirst! Our pirate themed team will be Lootin' for Charrrrity, so if you see us around town try not to laugh hysterically!

*Saturday, May 19th in Old Sac- celebrate the opening of Pirates of the Caribbean III from 12pm to 4pm with treasure hunts, a costumed Jack Sparrow and more, courtesy of Stage Nine.

*All weekend- Fairytale Town hosts the Annual Puppet Festival by Puppet Art Theatre, good for anyone under 8 or so...

* Raging Waters makes its debut at CalExpo in the old Waterworld location. Get out and hit the slides before the summer crowd takes over.

* Oh yeah, and if your kids didn't drag you last weekend, Day with Thomas is wrapping up in Woodland.

Get out Sacramento and enjoy the weather!

Wayward Whales in West Sac

Two humpback whales have wandered up the delta to the Port of Sacramento in a repeat of the Humphrey the Humpback story of 1984 when Humphrey got lost in the same waters. Vets and scientists are gathering to try to figure out the mystery and help the lost mom and calf get back to the ocean. Unfortunately, both whales are showing signs of injury, probably from a run-in with a boat propeller. Because May is the beginning of feeding season, both whales are running low on reserve blubber and need food pretty fast to be able to survive. Hopefully the scientists will be able to get them back to saltwater quickly.

Now gets to the puzzling part... several hundred people (some reports say 800) have been lining the banks of the levies, bridges and riverbanks to see the whales. If you were a wayward humpback whale, would the screaming of schoolchildren encourage you to head on down the river toward the ocean? I hope the scientists can turn their underwater mics up and play the humpback song louder than the crowds. In the meantime, give the whales and scientists some room!

All dedicated moms go to Thomas

This weekend is Day Out with Thomas and while you won't catch me within a 10 mile radius, all moms who truly love their little boys will be in Woodland this weekend. My son thankfully, really couldn't care less about Thomas. I'll be having a normal, happy Mother's Day celebration, avoiding the screaming crying children who just want one more train set.

If you're a mom who is still looking for something to do this weekend, it's not too late to spoil your little ones and hit the Sacramento River Train. When it's all said and done, have a glass of wine and give yourself a pat on the back for all of your hard work this year.

The end of an era

For as long as I can remember, Crystal Creamery has been a Sacramento staple. I'm not that old, but my family has been in Sacramento practically forever. Crystal was founded here in 1901 and has been owned and operated by the Hansen family since 1921. That's a long, long time for a family business to resist being snatched up- 86 years to be exact. Crystal has been sold to HP Hood LLC.

We'll be sad to see Crystal go. The status of the 500 employees is still unknown. The impact of the sale will be felt for a while in town, in ways many may not know. Many local stores opened or stayed open through low-interest loans from Crystal and other incentives to carry Crystal products. Many local dairies sell their milk directly to Crystal, reducing transportation, shipping and processing costs. On lighter notes, Crystal stood up for Sacramento when those horrid Lakers made "cow town" comments by creating yourcowtown.com and going along with the joke.

HP Hood has many of the same principles, including rBST hormone free milk and longstanding history in their community. But their community is New England, a far cry from Sacramento. In addition, Hood has made a name for themselves by purchasing franchising rights to major brand names like LACTAID, Stoneyfield Farms and Coffee-Mate. Not exactly a home-grown, local dairy.

Thanks Hansen family for your longstanding contributions to the community. We can only hope that Hood will be as good to Sacramento as Crystal.

Ewwwww a stinky flower!

Every couple of years this story about the corpse flower being in bloom makes the news. And every couple of years I wonder, why the heck anyone would want to smell a flower that smells like a dead corpse? I must be missing the wonderful experience. There has to be something I don't understand... It's not even a beautiful blossom, in fact it's quite hideous, phallic and just plain weird.

That being said, UC Davis is home to one of the relatively rare corpse flowers. If you'd like to see it in bloom or get a whiff, head down there quick. The bloom only stays open 2 to 5 days.

Once you've smelled it, please email me and enlighten me!