An afternoon on the golf course is one of the most relaxing things in the world. The smell of the grass, the birds chirping and a quiet stroll through a landscaped course can be a beautiful experience. Or it can be if you’re good at golf, anyway. For most of the people who play golf for “fun,” it ends up being a terribly frustrating experience, chock full of humiliation and less-than-appropriate language. 

St. Francis High School’s Ashley Noda and Briana Mao and former McClatchy High School’s Taryn Yee have probably never experienced such consternation on the links as the rest of us, for they are among the very best in the world at what they do. And on Labor Day weekend they will travel to Pebble Beach to put their skills to the test – again.

Noda, 16, was just three years old when she took her first hacks. She received a set of lefty clubs for Christmas that year and was hooked immediately. She demanded of herself that she spend up to three hours a day at the driving range until her hands were raw and blistered. When she was eight years old she began to lap the competition, and at the time the competition was all boys. By the time she turned 12, Ashley was playing 18-hole tourneys – and winning them too.

Mao, 17, waited a little longer to get started. She was the ripe old age of six when she began her career.

“I never thought of it like I had talent (for golf),” Mao said. This coming from someone who qualified for a tournament across the country in Georgia at the age of six. She, too, got bigger and stronger and before long she was winning more tournaments than she knew what to do with.

Yee, 18, was a competitive tennis player before exchanging her racket for a three-iron. She didn’t start taking golf seriously until she was 10. She chose to play golf because it let her spend more time with her father. But as it turned out, she was a natural. With her parents working many hours, the Little Linkers program was something for Taryn to do with her time. It wasn’t long before she started dominating too.

Eventually all three girls joined the First Tee program. The First Tee of Greater Sacramento has a tour for boys and girls between the ages of 12 to18 called the Junior Tour. In 2009, the three girls applied for entry into a Champions Tour event to be played at Pebble Beach called the Home Care & Hospice First Tee Open. Juniors ages 15-18 from across the country applied. Participants were chosen based on “playing ability and comprehension of the life skills and core lessons learned through involvement with The First Tee,” according to a press release from The First Tee.

All three of the girls made the cut. They spent a week down at Pebble Beach soaking it all in and playing before a national audience. Pebble Beach is one of the most famous courses in the world, so naturally the immediate reactions were ones of awe and goose bump-inducing wonder for the three youngsters.

Mao recalled her reaction on the Tuesday morning before the event when she played her first practice round.

“Oh my gosh, I’m about to play Pebble Beach,” Mao said.

“It was amazing,” recalled Yee of her first impression of the course. “It never entered my mind that I would one day play Pebble Beach.”

“It is such a magical place,” said Noda. “It’s so different being on the course as opposed to watching on TV. It was a breathtaking experience.”

Each junior golfer was paired with an amateur golfer and a professional from the Champions Tour (formerly the Senior PGA Tour) for the three day event. Noda was paired with Isao Aoki; Yee with Jim Thorpe and Mao with Mark O’Meara. They got to meet a number of the world’s most famous golfers such as Hale Irwin, Tom Kite and Peter Jacobsen.

The girls became friends with the golfers throughout the week. They talked about golf, family and everything in between. O’Meara even spent some time during a practice round to help Mao with her bunker play.

“Ever since then I have had no trouble with bunker shots,” she said.

One year later, the threesome is ready to go out and do it again. This year, 245 juniors from across the country applied for the event. Altogether, 74 boys and girls were chosen. Once again, the names Noda, Mao and Yee will adorn the scoreboard at Pebble Beach.

“I’m really excited,” said Mao. “Ashley and I have been talking all week about how we can’t believe we get to go to Pebble Beach again. I can’t even concentrate on school right now.”

The girls, who have gotten to know each other over the past several years as opponents and friends, are ready for the challenge once more. Who knows if the views will be as majestic and dumbfounding this time around, but regardless of outcome, these three likely won’t hook a dozen balls into the Pacific like the rest of us would.

The Home Care & Hospice First Tee Open, which takes place Sept. 3-5, will be televised nationally on the Golf Channel.

benn@valcomnews.com

Soil Born Farms’ newest urban agricultural project, a farm stand featuring seasonal, local and organic fruits and vegetables has been a welcome addition to the East Sacramento neighborhood.

Located in front of the library at McKinley Park, the stand is open on Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. According to Carolyn Reuman of Soil Born Farms, the stand has been a popular addition to the East Sac and Midtown neighborhoods, offering a variety of fresh produce. You can sign up for Soil Born’s weekly e-newsletter that will update you on what they are selling that week. You can sign up at http://www.soilborn.org/produce_stands.html

Soilborn is looking for more volunteers to help run the stand and distribute fliers. Shifts for working the stand are generally 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. To find out more about these volunteer opportunities, contact creuman@soilborn.org. Proceeds from the farm stand are used to subsidize food prices for others in our community who need assistance.

Walk or ride your bike to the park this summer and support small farms, local growers and a project that promotes healthy lifestyles and a sustainable community. Cash and EBT cards are accepted.

(Information provided by the office of  Sacramento City Councilmember Steve Cohn.)

 

*THIS INFORMATION BASED ON SEMI-OFFICIAL RETURNS REPORTED BY THE SACRAMENTO COUNTY REGISTRAR OF VOTERS.

 

 

Since 1992, no incumbent Sacramento City Councilmember has lost a re-election bid; on Tuesday night, that all changed.

 

The June 8 Primary Election was a defining moment in politics statewide: for the first time, the California Republican Party was running not one, but two women for statewide office, with Meg Whitman as the party’s gubernatorial nominee and Carly Fiorina as the GOP pick to run against Barbara Boxer in the U.S. senate race. Adding to this historic development was the local result – Sacramento City Councilmembers Ray Tretheway, from Natomas’ District 1, and Robbie Waters, representing Pocket-Greenhaven’s District 7, have apparently lost in their race to serve another four years at City Hall. It’s been 18 years since such an upset has occurred in Sacramento City politics.

 

According to semi-official results released June 9 at 1:48 a.m. by the Sacramento County Registrar of Voters, both incumbents lost to political newcomers, Tretheway falling to Natomas grassroots campaigner Angelique Ashby, and Robbie Waters being edged out by Ryan Chin and Darrell Fong. Tretheway, who claims he was a target because he would not support Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson’s strong-mayor initiative, had been recently seen by political watchdogs as very vulnerable, especially as Ashby scored a number of major endorsements and political allies (Johnson being one of them). Waters, who ran twice unopposed (most recently in 2006), faced a tough fight of his own, desperately trying to fend off two candidates that were as equally funded and organized.

 

 

The District 7 Race

According to the semi-official results, Chin was the big winner Tuesday night, taking in 38.45 percent of the vote; Fong came in second with 31.41 percent; Waters, the four-term incumbent and only Republican on the City Council, garnered 27.44 percent; and college student Diedre Hobart came in a distant fourth place. With no candidate earning a clear majority, the results set up a likely run-off election this November between the first- and second-place winners, Chin and Fong, respectively.

 

Waters, who has served on the City Council since 1994 and raised more money and spent more money in this election than any other City Council candidate, was fighting a determined battle in his re-election bid. Challengers Chin, a strategic communications officer with Sacramento State, and Fong, a retired Sacramento Police captain, seized early on to the anti-incumbent sentiment sweeping the U.S.

 

In their first public debate held last spring, the District 7 challengers came out swinging, saying that Waters was out of touch with the current needs of the district. Waters, for his part, pointed to a number of recent accomplishments, such as the building of a new library; however, the library issue had turned into a slight political misstep among some Pocket voters as the new building was named after Waters. Some screamed impropriety; Waters and his supporters have said the councilmember simply followed the wishes of library volunteers.

 

Also dampening Waters’ re-election momentum was news that his son, Dan, had been allegedly involved in a city scandal involving building permits in Natomas, an area off-limits to new construction due to persistent flood concerns. Although the councilman had no direct connection to the permit mess, Waters nonetheless appeared in a number of news reports discussing the situation and deflecting character attacks.

 

In a special interview prior to the election with Valley Community Newspaper reporter Celia Green, Waters had said that he hoped to serve one more four-year term and then retire from city politics. That retirement, it seems, will come early.

 

 

The District 3 Race

Although the Pocket-Greenhaven community saw quite the political upset, the District 3 race was anything but; Councilmember Steve Cohn, Midtown and East Sacramento’s longtime representative on the City Council, will remain in office for another term. The incumbent had faced a strong challenge from East Sacramento Chamber of Commerce President Chris Little and Midtown business owner Shawn Eldredge, but the incumbent persevered, winning his bid for a fifth term as the District 3 representative.

 

Cohn, who will now be one of Sacramento’s longest-serving councilmembers, garnered 53.95 of the vote, winning a clear majority and avoiding a run-off election in November. Little and Eldredge scored 37.73 percent and 5.52 percent, respectively, while candidate Jeff Rainforth garnered the remaining votes.

 

 

The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Race

A bruising primary election will likely turn into a bruising general election: candidates Scott Jones and Jim Cooper, both captains with the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department, did not win a clear majority of votes and will now face one another again in the November General Election.

 

In what has been one of Sacramento’s most hotly contested races, Jones and Cooper threw mud, hurled accusations, and laid charges of political impropriety and professional misconduct. The race has also come to represent a battle between two law enforcement legacies, as Cooper, endorsed by former Sheriff Lou Blanas, and Jones, endorsed by outgoing Sheriff John McGinness, attacked one another for their political connections as much as their administrative philosophies.

 

Jones came out on top in Tuesday’s race, but not by much, taking in 46.17 percent of the vote; Cooper came in second and garnered 41.37 percent of the vote; a third candidate, Bret Daniels, drew the remaining votes.

 

Sacramento County voters can expect the war of words to continue into the fall. The 2010 General Election is Nov. 2.

 

 

Sacramento Area Race Results listed as “semi-official” by the Sacramento County Registrar of Voters (winners listed in CAPS, % of vote listed in parentheses, incumbents listed as necessary):

Sacramento City Council, District 1

ANGELIQUE ASHBY (50.98%)

Ray Tretheway, incumbent (41.55%)

Efren M. Guttierrez (7.36%)

Write-in (.12%)

 

Sacramento City Council, District 3

STEVE COHN, incumbent (53.95%)

Chris Little (37.73%)

Shawn Eldredge (5.52%)

Jeff Rainforth (2.69%)

Write-in (.11%)

 

Sacramento City Council, District 5

JAY SCHENIRER* (47.04%)

Patrick Kennedy (34.32%)

Henry Harry (6.41%)

Terrence Johnson (6.04%)

Leticia Hilbert (6.00%)

Write-in (.19%)

*(As no candidate won a clear majority of 50-percent-plus-1-vote, Schenirer will likely face Kennedy in a run-off election in November, according to semi-official results)

 

Sacramento City Council, District 7

RYAN CHIN* (38.45%)

Darrell Fong (31.41%)

Robbie Waters, incumbent (27.44%)

Diedre Hobart (2.67%)

Write-in (.04%)

*(As no candidate won a clear majority of 50-percent-plus-1-vote, Chin will likely face Fong in a run-off election in November, according to semi-official results)

 

Sacramento County Board Of Supervisors, District 1

PHIL SERNA (71.60%)

Keith Weber (28.15%)

Write-in (.25%)

 

Sacramento County Board Of Supervisors, District 2

JIMMIE YEE, incumbent (78.05%)

Raymond Kemp (21.73%)

Write-in (.22%)

 

Sacramento County Board Of Supervisors, District 5

DON NOTTOLI, incumbent (70.01%)

Lovie Kirkland (29.75%)

Write-in (.24%)

 

Sacramento County Assessor

KATHLEEN E. KELLEHER (63.98%)

David A. Benson (21.60%)

Margaret Pennington (14.28%)

Write-in (.14%)

 

Sacramento County District Attorney

JAN SCULLY, incumbent (79.39%)

Julius M. Engel (20.44%)

Write-in (.14%)

 

Sacramento County Sheriff

SCOTT JONES* (46.17%)

Jim Cooper (41.37%)

Bret Daniels (11.77%)

Write-in (.70%)

*(As no candidate won a clear majority of 50-percent-plus-1-vote, Jones will face Cooper in a run-off election in November, according to semi-official results)

 

 

For complete Sacramento County election results, visit http://sacresults.e-cers.com/default.aspx. For information on statewide races and ballot measures, visit www.sos.ca.gov.

 

E-mail Ryan Rose at ryanrose@valcomnews.com.

The Sacramento Zoo’s Sumatran tiger cub, born on Thursday, March 18, needs a name. The Zoo is requesting the help of the community to choose a name fitting for this adorable cub. Her name will be announced when she goes out on exhibit for the first time in June (date will be announced in early June).

The following list of names and their meaning can be voted on at www.saczoo.com:

• Shamrock – Born the day after St. Patty’s Day, this little cub is sure to be a lucky charm.

• Selamat – It has multiple meanings in Indonesian: congratulations, safe and survivor. The Sumatran tiger is an endangered species and the birth of this girl is a safeguard for the survival of the species.

• Malia – Malia Obama, the daughter of President Barack Obama, talks to her father weekly about what he is doing to save her favorite animals, the endangered tigers.

• Jingga – It means orange in Indonesian. The little tiger cub already has a full coat of orange and black striped fur. Did you know that no two tigers have an identical stripe pattern?

• Lina – for Lina Fat, the matriarch of the Fat family in Sacramento, whose philanthropy has greatly served the Sacramento community.

 

Zoo saddened by loss of Geoffrey’s Cat

Sacramento Zoo reports the death of the oldest Geoffrey’s cat in captivity; Sabrina was 24 years old. Already coping with arthritis and cataracts, veterinarians detected a cancer in her jaw in March. Due to her advanced age, she did not receive aggressive treatment for the cancer but was medicated to keep her comfortable. Keepers and veterinarians monitored Sabrina closely, but it was only a matter of time before the progressive disease took its toll. Her condition worsened quickly and after thoughtful discussion between animal care, zoo administrators and veterinary staff, the decision was made to euthanize Sabrina to prevent her from suffering.

“She was a great animal and she was a part of our zoo family for so long,” Harrison Edell, zoo curator said. “It has been especially hard for staff members who have worked with this particular cat for so many years to see her health deteriorate, and we feel confident in our decision to euthanize her before she suffered.” he said.

Many Sacramento Zoo visitors have enjoyed seeing Sabrina over the years, and she will be missed.

 

About the Sacramento Zoo

Open since 1927, the Sacramento Zoo is home to over 450 native, rare and endangered animals and is one of over 200 accredited institutions of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Located near the corner of Land Park Drive and Sutterville Road in William Land Park, the zoo is wholly managed by the non-profit Sacramento Zoological Society. This Sacramento treasure inspires conservation awareness through education and recreation. Open daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., general admission is $11; children ages 3-12 are $7.00 and two and under are admitted free. Parking is free throughout the park or ride Regional Transit bus No. 6. For information, call 808-5888 or visit www.saczoo.com.

In a stunning – and somewhat unbelievable move – Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson has agreed to sell the Sacramento Kings basketball team in an effort to raise money to build a new Kings arena at the railyards north of downtown.

The move was announced April 1 at Sacramento City Hall in front of a crowd of shocked city residents.

“I promised the city and the voters when I was elected that I would bring a new arena to downtown, and I plan on delivering on that promise,” Johnson said. “Previous mayors have tried to build a new arena, but they were always held back by a lack of funds.”

For a number of years, the city has attempted (and failed) to craft a deal to build a new sports and entertainment complex for the Sacramento Kings. The Kings’ current home, Arco Arena off Interstate 80, is one of the most dilapidated sports venues in the NBA. Although officials with the state of California and the city have negotiated with the NBA and local developers to build an arena at the abandoned downtown railyards, talks recently began to stall and it seemed as if the Kings might be moved to a town more hospitable to building a world-class sports center. Now, Johnson said, the city doesn’t have to worry about whether or not the Kings would be moving away.

“Now we know they’re going for sure,” the mayor said. “And that fact really eases my mind.”

Johnson said that the decision to sell the Kings was a difficult choice, but he was able to convince the Kings’ owners, the Maloof family, when he explained that it was likely the only way the city would be able to provide the team a new arena. The mayor said the Maloofs were originally lukewarm to the idea, but were ultimately on board when he explained the logic behind the decision.

“I said, ‘Joe, Gavin, other Maloofs, the Sacramento Kings team is our city’s most valuable asset besides the Tower Bridge – and we can’t sell the Tower Bridge because it is bolted to the ground.’ The Maloofs immediately understood,” Johnson said.

Although the Maloofs are behind the deal now, they had earlier proposed another plan to generate revenue to support arena construction.

“We had offered to buy the name of the city from Mayor Johnson,” Gavin Maloof said. “We figured we pay, like, a million bucks for the naming rights to Sacramento. I suggested we call the city ‘The Capital brought to you by the Maloofs,’ but Joe said we should call the city ‘Kings.’ I agreed.”

Fortunately, according to star Kings player Tyreke Evans, that proposal was rejected by Johnson.

“I mean come on, we would have been the ‘Kings’ Kings.’ That is the dumbest thing I ever heard,” Evans said.

Johnson said he and the Maloofs put the team up for sale on eBay last week. After a bidding match by the cities of Seattle and San Jose, the New York borough of Queens was named the winner of the online auction, paying a little over $30 million to move the Kings to the East Coast.

Evans said he is excited by the move and plans to work hard to build fans at his new home. He is also satisfied that the new name of the team will be slightly less embarrassing than the “Kings’ Kings”

“Yeah, we are going to be the Kings of Queens,” said Evans, shaking his head. “Wow.”

The mayor said the $30 million should arrive sometime next week.

“I asked for cash,” Johnson said. “I’ve been burnt on eBay before.”

The mayor hopes construction on the new arena could start as soon as January of next year.

“The new arena is going to be great,” Johnson said as he finished his press conference. “Oh, and by the way Sacramento, promise kept.”

 

If you’ve made it this far through the story and haven’t yet realized that it is a fake, let me wish you a happy April Fools Day! Please send the inevitable complaints to ryanrose@valcomnews.com. Special thanks to Mayor Kevin Johnson and the rest for being such good sports.

The economic forecast for the Sacramento region is better than that of 2009 but it is still precarious, and job losses are expected to continue at least through most of 2010 according to the Sacramento Business Review.

The bi-annual Review, published by Sanjay Varshney, dean of Sacramento State’s College of Business Administration and Jason Bell of the CFA Society of Sacramento, is an independent review and forecast that focuses specifically on the economy of Sacramento.

“Although economists have already declared the official end of the national recession, we believe that the Sacramento region will lag behind the rest of the country in emerging from the recession,” Varshney says.

The Review, now in its second year, has hit the mark in its previous economic forecasts including a prediction in early 2009 that Sacramento’s unemployment rate would approach 13 percent by the end of that year.

“The unemployment rate for the Sacramento region has steadily climbed to 12.4 percent (as of November 2009) with a loss of nearly 83,000 wage and salary jobs since June 2007 and a loss of 43,800 jobs over the last 12 months,” Varshney says. 

The dean says Sacramento has likely already seen the worst of the job losses and believes the regional economy is starting to show early signs of recovering.  The bad news, he says, is that the recovery, particularly as it relates to the employment picture, will likely be very gradual over the next two years.

 ”We forecast that the unemployment rate in the Sacramento region will reach 13.5 percent in early 2010 with an improvement in the employment picture unlikely until later in the year,” he says. ”Even then, we expect the unemployment rate in the region to remain elevated through 2012.”

The Review also reports on emerging trends and forecasts in the areas of capital markets including the stock market, corporate performance, and real estate that includes housing.

 ”While virtually all of Sacramento’s banks have thus far survived the residential mortgage crisis, some may not be so fortunate in 2010 now that problems have migrated toward commercial real estate loans,” he says. “We continue to see formidable headwinds to the local economic and employment recovery, including moderate growth expectations, tight credit, excess capacity and consumers still looking to deleverage and rebuild wealth.” 

The new issue of the Review is available online at http://www.sacbusinessreview.com. A printed version will be available at the College of Business Administration.

For more information on the College of Business Administration, visit www.cba.csus.edu or call  (916) 278-6578 . Information on the CFA Society is available at www.cfass.org.

A very strong jet stream is making its way across the Pacific and will result in a transition to wetter and windier weather across Northern California. An extended period of much needed significant precipitation is expected to develop Jan. 17 and continue through next week.

A relatively weak weather system will move into the coastal mountains the evening of Jan. 15 and spreads into the rest of interior Northern California on Saturday. That storm will possibly bringing some light precipitation. a stronger and wetter storm will move inland on Jan. 17 and continue until early Jan. 19. This system will bring significant rain to the valley and heavy snow with gusty winds to Northern Sierra Nevada Mountains and the mountains of Western Plumas County and Lassen Park. A winter storm watch is in effect for that area.

 There may be a brief lull the morning Jan. 19, followed by additional storms continuing with little break through the rest of the week. The strongest of these storms is expected to be on Jan. 20 and into the night.

Considerable rain in the valley and snow in the mountains is expected with these storms. Snow levels around 5,000 to 4,000 feet expected and may briefly go lower…extending into the upper foothills. Rainfall totals by the end of next week could reach 3 to 6 inches in the valley with higher amounts in the foothills. Depending on timing of systems and precipitation amounts, minor flooding concerns may develop during the latter part of next week. Significant snow is likely in the mountains with several feet of snow around the 5,000-foot elevation level. Also, the region can expect 10 feet or more over the higher Sierra Nevada by next Friday. There is also likely to be periods of strong winds – especially in the mountains. The combination of heavy snow and very windy conditions will impact travel into the high country – including the major passes.

Those with travel or outdoor plans late this weekend (Jan. 15-17) into next week (Jan 17-23)  should continue to check weather.gov/sacramento or NOAA weather radio for the latest weather information.

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