A Race Full of Meaning
SACRAMENTO REGION, CA (MPG) – The annual Fab 40’s 5K Run keeps growing year after year. The event, sponsored by East Lawn Memorial Park, saw well over 1,000 runners appear on Saturday morning, July 27th in the perfect weather for a race around the 40’s.
Proceeds from the huge fundraising event go to support the Alzheimer’s Association of Northern California. Families from all over the area come together to support the cause and to honor their loved ones who have passed from the dreaded disease.
This annual event would not be possible without the volunteer support of the entire staff from East Lawn and the dozens of sponsors who help make the day a big success.
The race is managed each year by Rich Hannah and the great team from CapitalRoadRace.com. Big Jim Hall from KHITS 101.5 announces each year, getting 99.9% of the names correct as he announces them as they cross the finish line. It is a total team effort from everyone involved, with the feeling of cooperation, love and support permeating the experience for the participants.
For more information or to find support see alz.org/norcal.
To join in next year see Fab40s5k.com.
SACRAMENTO COUNTY, CA (MPG) - This year’s National Night Out (NNO) is Tuesday, August 6. NNO is a once-a-year opportunity for citizens, members of public safety, neighborhood watch groups, civic associations, businesses, community organizations and local officials to come together in solidarity and celebrate safe neighborhoods.
Across the nation, neighborhoods gather on the first Tuesday in August to host block parties, festivals, parades, cookouts and other community events with safety demos, seminars, youth events, visits from emergency personnel and exhibits. These events are planned and executed by neighborhood citizens, associations and those who care about the safety of their community.
Dozens of events are happening in neighborhoods across Sacramento County, including:
Supervisor Phil Serna’s 5th Annual South Oak Park/Fruitridge Pocket Neighborhood National Night Out & Community Celebration at Jack Davis Park (16th Ave between 43rd and 44th streets).
The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office will appear at several community events around the County. Check with your neighborhood association or local neighborhood Facebook page for details.
Neighborhood NNO parties have a wide range of family-friendly activities, including barbeques, ice cream socials and pool parties. Not only is NNO a fun night for all, it also heightens awareness about crime prevention and generates community support and participation in local anti-crime efforts.
Knowing your neighbors, local business owners and first responders is an important part of community safety. Combat isolation and crime – meet your neighbors!
SACRAMENTO, CA (MPG) - The Counties Exhibit has been a long time feature at the California State Fair. Each county enters the competition by building a display to showcase how their county is unique and entice fairgoers to explore the area outside of the Fair. This year, the theme was "Picture Yourself In..." and counties were tasked to incorporate a selfie design into the display. Best of Show went to San Joaquin County. The complete list of winners can be found below.
County exhibits are judged by score card in the following categories: video/written presentation, use of special effects or agricultural presentation, creative use of materials, design & craftsmanship, marketing presentation, and interactive use of theme.
NON-PROFESSIONAL BUILD DIVISION
- First Place - Sierra County
PROFESSIONAL BUILD DIVISION
- First Place - San Joaquin County
- Second Place - Yolo County
- Third Place - Stanislaus County
- Honorable Mention - Solano County & Mendocino County
SPECIAL AWARDS
- Best Professional Built County Collaboration - Stanislaus County
- Best Non-Professional Built County Collaboration - Sierra County
- Best Social Media - San Joaquin County
- Best Agriculture Presentation - Yolo County
- Best Craftsmanship & Design - Mendocino County
- Best Marketing Presentation - Yolo County
- Best Use of Special Effects, Animation or Technology - Humboldt County
- Best Use of Theme - Stanislaus County
- Best Video/Written Presentation - Solano County
- Best Visitor Experience - Sierra County
- Manager's Award - Mono County
- Best of Show - San Joaquin County
ABOUT THE CALIFORNIA STATE FAIR
The California State Fair is an international award-winning fair, receiving top honors at the International Association of Fairs and Expositions out of more than 1,100 fairs world-wide. The California State Fair is dedicated as a place to celebrate the best the state has to offer in agriculture, technology and the diversity of its people, traditions and trends that shape the Golden State's future. We invite you to join us for the 166th California State Fair, July 12 - 28, 2019.
SacRT’s Henry Li Honored as Best Public Transportation CEO
SACRAMENTO COUNTY, CA (MPG) - Henry Li, Sacramento Regional Transit District’s (SacRT) General Manager/CEO, received the 2019 Outstanding Public Transportation Manager Award from the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). This prestigious and highly competitive award, described by APTA as the equivalent of an Oscar award to the industry, is presented to a manager who has made outstanding contributions to the advancement of public transportation in North America.
APTA is the leading force in advancing public transportation entities providing bus, rail, subway, ferry and paratransit services throughout North America. “Li is a visionary and transformational leader who is well deserving of this award, which is given to the best public transit CEO in North America. His leadership at SacRT has created phenomenal results not only in the quality of service, but also in the restoration of positive financial ratings, increase in ridership, implementation of innovations, and the rebuilding of public trust. It takes a true leader with a focused vison to achieve the impressive results seen in his three year term at SacRT,” said APTA President and CEO Paul P. Skoutelas. “On behalf of the 1,500 member organizations of APTA, I congratulate him.”
Li’s selection is a testament to his vision, dedication and leadership to take SacRT to the next level as a world-class transit agency. He implemented historic improvements over the last three years as GM/CEO, including ridership growth for SacRT, as our industry is still struggling with downward trends. He is highly praised by the Sacramento community and the industry for implementing a solid and comprehensive transformation of SacRT in record speed.
Li has proved to be a powerful change agent, overseeing a massive transformation to a solid culture of “Customers First and Business Optimization,” and dramatically improving key aspects of organizational performance, including safety, security, cleanliness, fiscal health, rail system modernization, service reliability, customer satisfaction and ridership improvements.
“I am truly humbled and grateful to receive this honor, but this is genuinely about the community and our commitment to improving mobility in our region,” said Li. “It is through the leadership and support from the Board, the hard work and dedication of our employees and the collaboration and support from riders, community stakeholders and advocates that we have been able to achieve transformational successes.”
Some of Li’s major accomplishments include:
Developed industry best in class safety and security performance as demonstrated by receiving the Gold Standard Award, the highest recognition given to a transit agency, from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). SacRT achieved a remarkable score of 98% in all 17 security and emergency preparedness categories and now has one of the lowest crime rate in the industry;
Jump-started a comprehensive rail system modernization and expansion initiative, which includes investing in new low-floor rail vehicles, revitalizing aging infrastructure, implementing new technologies to improve reliability and safety, modernizing stations and expanding the system;
Challenged the traditional governmental operations to function more like a business-oriented enterprise by implementing transformative improvement initiatives; dramatically turning around a negative financial situation to achieve a cost avoidance of $75 million; addressing a decade long trend of depleted reserves by building a $20 million and growing reserve fund; and pioneering a transit oriented development program leading to thousands of new housing units within a short proximity of transit;
Developed an inspirational vision and top-notch leadership team to pursue excellence on all fronts with strong transparency and accountability. Fostered a strong regional collaboration that led to annexation and/or unification of peer transit systems within the greater six-county Sacramento region to promote customer-friendly and integrated mobility solutions for regional economic growth, traffic congestion mitigation, and air quality and environmental improvement;
Actively pursued forward-thinking and innovative solutions to improve the customers experience, such as on-demand microtransit, mobile apps, micro-mobility options, an electric and autonomous vehicles; developing the framework for future Mobility as a Service (MaaS) to create industry best practices;
Re-imagined and optimized SacRT’s bus network, which has not been updated in 30 years. Dubbed as SacRT Forward, the redesigned bus routes, to be launched in September, feature more frequent and direct service, seven days a week and more late night service.
“Henry hit the ground running and has been a difference-maker in improving the safety of our transit system and expanding the suite of mobility options for Sacramentans of all ages and abilities,” said Congresswoman Doris Matsui, U.S. Representative for the Sacramento Region. “Henry’s commitment to safety, accessibility, and innovation are positioning SacRT for a bright future, and I congratulate him on this well-deserved and prestigious award.”
“By emphasizing clean, safe and convenient, relentlessly pursuing business optimization and putting the customers first, he has won over the hearts and minds of the community,” said SacRT Board Chair and Sacramento County Supervisor Patrick Kennedy.
“Henry is a champion of innovative mobility solutions,” City of Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg said. "From on-demand microtransit to partnering with TNC's and micro-mobility providers, SacRT is at the forefront of the integrated transit solutions that is fueling our economy and creating the smart city of the future," he finalized.
Assemblyman Cooley is Pleased with Yosemite Historic Landmark Names Settlement
RANCHO CORDOVA, CA (MPG) - Assemblyman Ken Cooley (D-Rancho Cordova) released the following statement after news broke that a lawsuit settlement will permit Yosemite National Park to resume using its historic landmark names.
“I am very pleased to hear the news that historic Yosemite names like the Ahwahnee Hotel, Curry Village and the Wawona Hotel have been rightfully restored. In 2016, after learning that the former Yosemite concessionaire had outrageously claimed ownership of treasured Yosemite names, I authored the California Heritage Protection Act (AB 2249) with my colleagues Adam Gray and Frank Bigelow to change the law and make certain a private company could never trademark an historic state park landmark.
“Our parks showcase the beauty and incredible history of California, and should always serve the interests of the people.”
Source: Office of Assemblyman Ken Cooley
CARMICHAEL, CA (MPG) - On October 13, 2016, Cameron Kambiz Razavi pled to two county code violations of permitting substandard dwelling units, and permitting junk and rubbish to accumulate at the Twin Gardens Apartments (Case #16MI010801).
As part of the plea agreement, Razavi was ordered to pay $15,000 to the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Public Safety & Community Improvement Fund for investment in the community. The District Attorney’s Office announced that $11,000 of those funds will be distributed to the Carmichael Parks Foundation. The Foundation will use these funds to provide scholarships for children to participate in day camps, sports programs and meals.
Razavi was also ordered to do community service, correct all building and code violations, require his management staff to complete Rental Housing Association courses, and correct all of the code violations at his other apartment complex, Belfort Arms Apartments. The progress of the agreement was to be monitored every 90 days by the Court.
DA Anne Marie Schubert states, “This plea agreement is another example of how we are able to work both in the courtroom and in the community to prevent crime, hold offenders accountable and reduce the opportunity gap. I am proud of the work our Community Prosecution Unit is doing to protect quality of life in neighborhoods while creating a positive impact on the community through investments in local nonprofits.”
The case was initially brought to the attention of the District Attorney’s Office by Sacramento County Code Enforcement and other county agencies. When it was discovered that tenants were living in apartments without a permanent heat source, the County relocated the tenants due to the cold weather. A number of additional code violations were found and remained uncorrected for several months. Many children lived in the apartment complex. Sacramento County Code Enforcement and the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Problem-Oriented Police (POP) team investigated this case and were instrumental in the successful prosecution.
After repeated court appearances where Razavi failed to show proof that he corrected the violations, the Honorable Kevin McCormick ordered him to serve 20 days in jail. Mr. Razavi’s case continues to be monitored by the Court to ensure he complies with his conditions of probation. If conditions of probation are not followed, he faces more jail time.
Time to Put His Feet Up for Good
CARMICHAEL, CA (MPG) – A long-time Carmichael storefront will be closing soon. Coffman’s furniture, which was opened in 2006 by Dave Coffman, has decided to put their feet up for good.
Citing the every-growing difficulties of running a small business in the State of California and the County of Sacramento, Dave says a small town furniture store, even in a good location, just can’t keep up with some of larger big box stores or online sales in today’s furniture market. “The point and click generation has changed things, and not necessarily for the better.”
Dave has seen a lot in his 33 years in the furniture business. He started with another company in 1986. He ran most of the Oak Stores in Northern California for about 20 years.
When he opened Coffman’s Furniture he stood by local manufacturers, primarily selling locally made products, much of which was designed and manufactured in Sacramento. He has sold only USA manufactured sofas for many years.
Health issues have also had something to do with the recent decision. Although he’s one of the nicer guys you would ever meet, he’s “not as young as he used to be” and has chosen to take better care of his body as he eases into retirement.
“I’ve got to sell it all off, down to the bare walls” he says. His aim is to close by the end of August. He has many quality items left. If you need something for the home and you want to help someone local, Dave says no reasonable offer will be refused. He is usually closed Sundays and Mondays, but you can reach him at 916-482-9663. The address is 6443 Fair Oaks Blvd. in Carmichael.
Good luck Dave. Thank you for all you’ve done for the community!