'Twas the eve before Hallows

By the Gatekeeper of Dead Cat Alley
© MMIV

'Twas the eve before Hallows, and all through the home
Not a monster was stirring, not even a gnome.
The jack-o-lanterns were set on the doorstep with care,
In hopes that trick-or-treaters soon would be there;

The children were dressed in their halloween threads,
While visions of Gummi Bears danced in their heads.
And mummy in her wrappings, and I in my cape,
Were fixing our costumes with wire and tape.

Read the rest at WoodlandRecord.com... if you dare.

Happy Halloween to downtown Woodland from Galaxy Theatres

On October 7 the Buena Vista Elementary School's fifth-graders took a field trip to Galaxy Tulare to paint windows, take an educational projection tour and to experience a trailer with D-Box motion technology. Courtesy photo.

From the Woodland Record:

As the merchants in the historic downtown Woodland prepare for Halloween festivities today and this evening, there is another downtowner who has sent some halloween greetings to the Woodland Record. This downtowner is Frank Rimkus of Galaxy Theatres who is the theater operator of the winning State Theatre Renovation and Expansion proposal that was submitted in response to the city's RFP for a downtown multiplex.

On May 5 the City of Woodland's Redevelopment Agency issued a Request for Proposals for the development of a multiplex at one of two historic downtown locations. Two proposals were submitted, one by Sacramento developer Paul Petrovich with Cinema West as the operator and the other by Woodland developer Ron Caceres. Rimkus is a partner in Caceres' team that will renovate the historic State Theatre and build an adjacent state-of-the-art multiplex, complete with a proprietary, award-winning sound system and 3-D technology.

This week Petrovich and Cinema West dropped out of the selection process leaving the State Theatre Renovation and Expansion proposal as the sole downtown multiplex project.

Read more at WoodlandRecord.com.

Multiplex: Citizen writes "Our city leaders have failed us"

From the Woodland Record - Letter to the Editor:

It is so sad to see this [multiplex] process come to such an end. By pulling out of the process, and pursuing a "different direction," Petrovich and Cinema West have just elevated the process to the next level of contentiousness and rigor. IF the plans are to build at the site of the "Electric Garage," a contributing building to our historic district, they will inevitably run into stiff opposition to their CEQA EIR.

However, in the end I feel most disappointed in our City Council, Redevelopment Agency and our community leadership. It is just befuddling to me that they didn't have the resolve or commitment to follow their own timeline as outlined in the RDA RFP.

Read more at WoodlandRecord.com.

Coming soon: 12-screen downtown movie theater

Some bloggers on this site are "astounded" or "amazed" that I write articles according to my perspective. They feel I do not provide balance, something the Daily Democrat does(?). The link below will take you to a Democrat article called "Coming soon: 12-screen downtown movie theater" written by Geoff Johnson. For starters, first you can see Johnson's request for information to provide such balance... but I left Ron Caceres' statement intact so Woodland Journal readers can see what was left out of the article:

On Oct 27, 2010, at 1:57 PM, Geoff Johnson wrote:

Ron,

You're likely aware that there have been some developments with Paul Petrovich's theater proposal. Naturally, we're doing a story on the subject, and I was hoping you or someone affiliated with Friends of the State Theater would be able to comment.

If you could please call or e-mail me in the next hour or two, I feel we would have more balanced, more informative story for tomorrow's edition.

Thank you for your time and patience.

Geoff Johnson
Staff Writer
gjohnson@dailydemocrat.com

Hi Geoff,

I just got your email. I am familiar with the new development with Paul Petrovich's proposal. My goal is and has been to save and enhance the State Theatre with our proposed project. I responded to the City's RFP for a downtown multiplex and have worked hard to bring the best operator and best project I could to Woodland. I hope the redevelopment agency will continue with the RFP, pick a developer and move forward with a project. We are not asking for anything other than a chance to work with the City on the next step, since there is no financial obligation by the City in allowing us to proceed. We will still need to go through the approval process. The RDA should honor the RFP as it was set up to facilitate redevelopment projects and eliminate blight. Our project accomplishes both of those goals.

Ron Caceres

Coming soon: 12-screen downtown movie theater

A Main Street multiplex running against the State Theatre for Woodland redevelopment funds has taken itself out of the race but not out of the city.

David Corkill of Cinema West confirmed Wednesday his company will purchase land at Third and Main streets and use it to develop a 12-screen digital multiplex without using city funds.

The multiplex is scaled down from an earlier proposal by developer Paul Petrovich to build not only the theater but also an accompanying plaza.

Read the rest before the Democrat takes it down.

Petrovich pulls out of multiplex process, leaves Cinema West holding the bag

From the Woodland Record:

October 25,2010

The Honorable Artemio Pimentel and Woodland City Council Members
City of Woodland
300 First Street
Woodland, CA 95695

Re: RFP Process

Dear Mayor and City Council Members,

Based upon recent events, I am electing to withdraw from the RFP process to build a theater at Main and Third Streets. The issue has become too contentious and I do not wish to put the City Council in a position of having to choose between the more viable project, versus the one that has created so much emotion at the State Theater site.

Read the rest at WoodlandRecord.com.

Support PHS PTA with Apple Hill pie orders

Holiday pie sale - Pies are fresh from Apple Hill’s Boa Vista Orchards and delivered by Pioneer High School PTA

Order ready-to-bake pies for the holidays, freshly made by Boa Vista Orchards. Choose ten-inch apple,blackberry and unsweetened apple pies or apple dumplings. Download order form from the school Web site at PHS.wjusd.org or a pick up a form at the PHS office. Pies and/or dumplings will be delivered packaged and frozen on November 19.

In this time of severe budget cuts, please help support education. This is Pioneer PTA’s only fundraiser. All proceeds directly benefit programs and materials needed at PHS via teacher mini-grants.

Last date to order pies is Friday, October 29. Thank you!

Top local talent featured at Tunes For Trees benefit

Funds raised to aid heritage oak tree at Gibson House Museum

From the Woodland Record:

Woodland is noted for its exceptional music programs, native oaks, shady streets, and rich heritage. People can enjoy and celebrate all of these treasures and more by attending the third annual Tunes for Trees benefit concert at the Woodland Opera House on Saturday evening, October 23, at 7 pm.

The Yolo County Historical Museum is joining forces with the Woodland Tree Foundation to present an exciting evening of music performed by top local musicians of all ages that will appeal to a broad audience. Local wines and other refreshments will be served at intermission. Net proceeds from the fund raiser will be used to help save the heritage oak tree at the Gibson House Museum and to plant more trees in and around Woodland.

The concert will feature a diverse group of talented local musicians with broad appeal to all ages. Local bands to perform include the Pioneer High Jazz Band, the Dropped Roses with special guest, Derek Brooker, and Waiting for Bruce, featuring the standout guitar playing and singing of long-time Yolo County resident, Bill Scholer.

Read more at WoodlandRecord.com.

RFP basics elude RDA foursome

From the Woodland Record:

It's elementary: The perplexing paradigm favors Petrovich

One, two, three, four, five - once I caught a fish alive

An accounting took place during the October 5 Woodland City Council meeting and it was evident that three of the five council members want the downtown multiplex decision to be made sooner rather than later. And clearly the great number of State Theatre Renovation and Expansion supporters who showed up that evening influenced that majority of council to turn the tide against the delays that favor the competing Third and Main multiplex proposal.

That evening, the two developers who responded to the May 5 Request for Proposals for a downtown multiplex - Woodlander Ron Caceres for the State Theatre project and Sacramentan Paul Petrovich for the Third and Main project - made their pitches for their respective proposals. Three council members gave city staff the direction to get the selection process done - Martie Dote, Bill Marble and Jeff Monroe. Two council members made it clear that they would rather the redevelopment agency take their time in making a decision - Art Pimentel and Skip Davies. Davies acquiesced and suggested a timeline.

But what about that shift in momentum? City manager Mark Deven remains selective in his understanding of the majority directive as a Davies-only request for another 60-day delay. And so the puzzle begins.

Read much more at WoodlandRecord.com.

Yolo Sun rips into suspicious nature of Downtown Specific Plan

From the Yolo Sun opinion "Movieplex Muddle Displays Disordered, Subverted Downtown Planning Goals, Glaring Conflicts:"

Examination of Woodland’s Downtown Specific Plan (DSP), originated in 1993 and last amended in 2003, reveals a clear pattern of shunning key policy goals and opportunities and fostering glaring contradictions and conflicts, not to mention a stupendous squandering of municipal resources, through the City’s attempt to locate a movie theater complex according to desires of Paul Petrovich (- Petrovich Imperils Historic State Theatre Project & Hoblit: “I Want To Keep My Woodland Dealership — But Petrovich Has A Gun To My Head!” -).

Amazing inadequacies and suspicious misinformation underlie DSP amendments in 2003, which gave rise to the curious idea of demolishing an inconvenient yet historical obstacle, Electric Garage, and erecting an unqualified rival to anticipated State Theatre renovation and expansion.

“Priority” Status For Petrovich’s “[Theatre] Square”

Perhaps foremost among a series of severe yet disregarded problems inherent with a flatly contradictory shifting of civic “priority” in the 2003 DSP — is a strange vacuum of information and analyses regarding obviously presumed and understood impacts of locating a huge new cinema development at the other end of downtown from the historic (1937), Art Deco styled State Theatre.

It even appears that some information related to this subject within the 2003 DSP is: purposefully misleading, absent any proper basis of analytical and empirical support in this document and/or is clearly erroneous.

Read the rest at YoloSun.wordpress.com.

Man killed on Hwy 113 after release from county jail - felony hit and run

From the CHP, Yolo County Sheriff and KCRA:

A man died in a hit-and-run crash in Woodland, the California Highway Patrol said. The wreck occurred at about 3 am Friday [October 15] along Highway 113 near Gibson Road.

The CHP said the man [Herbert Lee Stout, age 74, a transient from West Sacramento] was walking along the road when he was struck and killed by a vehicle.

The victim was carrying paperwork showing he had just been released from jail in Yolo County.

See the TV report at KCRA.com.

Screen print from KCRA.com.

Hit and run driver ignores one stop sign, runs over another

From the Woodland Record:

About 1:15 am Saturday morning, October 16, a male driving a white "Toyota-like" four-door sedan was unable to negotiate one stop sign and subsequently plowed into another at the corner of Pendegast and Cleveland Streets. A witness saw the vehicle and the driver, with at least one female passenger, speed away eastbound on Pendegast from the front lawn of a residence.

At least six neighbors heard the crash and the one witness managed to go outside in time to see the vehicle and occupants flee the scene. Because of darkness a the time, it was not known that there was damage to the sign located at the southeast corner of the intersection - intended to stop northbound cars on Pendegast.

Read more at WoodlandRecord.com.

Petrovich theater operator sinks to new low - makes plea to Galaxy to stop State project

From the Woodland Record:

On May 10 Dave Corkill - owner of Cinema West - sent an email to the Woodland Record that insinuated Paul Petrovich's Third and Main multiplex was a done deal. The letter came just five days after the City of Woodland Redevelopment Agency issued a Request for Proposals for a downtown multiplex. Although it is unclear to which article Corkill referred - there were many previous articles about the issue - he started his letter like this: "Your story about the Woodland Cinema Complex and Paul Petrovich are a joke. I've been working with Mr. Petrovich on the theatre complex at 3rd and Main for over 5 years now."

Sacramento developer Petrovich submitted a proposal in response to the RFP, as did Woodland developer Ron Caceres.

Corkill went on in the email: "No resident of Woodland should be made to incorrectly understand that somehow the business owners in the core of Downtown Woodland would prefer that the State Theatre be remodeled instead of having a new complex where there are other businesses and parking. We closely looked at the State alternative and rejected it as unfeasible."

Read more at WoodlandRecord.com.

Keys and Breeze - Friday night

Upcoming concert at the Woodland Opera House: "La Inspiración Latina" sponsored by YoloArts

The flute and piano duo "Keys and Breeze" comprised of Alice Lenaghan (flute) and Jana Olvera (piano) will be presenting "La Inspiración Latina," a concert of Latin and Latin-inspired music at the Woodland Opera House on Friday, October 15, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. The performance is part of the YoloArts Musical Tour sponsored by the Yolo County Arts Council, which is presenting nine local concerts featuring a variety of musical ensembles and styles through July 2011. Admission (general seating) is $10 in advance and $12 at the door on the night of the performance, and can be purchased at the YoloArts office (120 W. Main St. Suite B), by phone (530 406-4844) or online at http://www.yoloarts.org/.

The program will feature music for solo piano and solo flute by Mexican composers Manuel Ponce and Carlos Chávez, Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona, Argentinian composer Astor Piazolla, and Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos. Latin-inspired music for flute and piano by American and British composers will include selections from Gabriela Frank’s Sueños de Chambi, (inspired by photographs by famed Peruvian photographer Martin Chambi), Sonata Latino by Mike Mower, and "Charanga" by Michael Colquhoun. The performers will share background information about each piece as a way of helping the audience to understand and connect with the music being performed.

Read more at WoodlandRecord.com

A reader's thousand words about downtown redevelopment

"Another quality urban infill project by Petrovich Development Company." Photo provided by a Woodland Record reader.

Hoblit: “I want to keep my Woodland dealership, but Petrovich has a gun to my head!”

From the Yolo Sun:

A fascinating and important new civic drama has suddenly erupted alongside the already intriguing saga of where and how to best locate a key feature of Woodland’s downtown area: a movie-theater complex.

Machinations of recent downtown developmental dynamics have placed in dire jeopardy a stable pillar of community business.

“I’m not going to operate here at this location past December,” announces Dave Hoblit, an owner of the Hoblit auto dealership, for many years a solid fixture of downtown Woodland in the historical building once occupied by Electric Garage on Main Street and Third to Fourth Street.

Electric Garage into movie multiplex?

The Electric Garage Building was purchased several years ago for about $260,000 (according to Hoblit) by Sacramento-based developer Paul Petrovich with an expectation of soon demolishing it and developing this site into a theater complex, on the basis of a 2003 amendment to the original (1993) Downtown Specific Plan (DSP) designating that specific site for such a use by reason of its arguable proximity to a potential parking structure that has never materialized.

Read the rest at YoloSun.wordpress.com.

Atascadero (pop. 28,452) looks forward to the magic of Galaxy Theatres

The citizens of Woodland were snubbed the other night during the Woodland City Council meeting. Frank Rimkus - CEO of Galaxy Theatres and partner in the proposed State Theatre Renovation and Expansion - was cut short during his presentation about the multiplex project. Rimkus flew in from the Los Angeles area to attend the meeting. Galaxy is expected to contribute $2 to $3 million to the project and has agreed to at least a 15-year lease with five five-year options.

The clip above demonstrates how Galaxy Theatres has performed according to the needs of Atascadero (pop. 28,452), a community even smaller than Woodland.

Visit GalaxyTheatres.com - scroll down to see the video of Frank Rimkus accepting the Catalyst Award.

"Galaxy Theatres wins the First Catalyst Award" By Nick Dager

As the motion picture exhibition industry enters the second decade of adopting digital technology, we at Digital Cinema Report created the Catalyst Award to honor the exhibitor who best demonstrates the full capability, flexibility and promise of digital cinema. Our overwhelming choice as the Award’s first winner is Galaxy Theatres.

Message to staff: Get it done

From the Woodland Record:

The tide of Petrovich development may be subsiding if last night's Woodland City Council meeting is any indication. Three council members - Martie Dote, Bill Marble and Jeff Monroe - directed city manager Mark Deven to expedite the Redevelopment Agency's downtown multiplex project. Monroe took the bull by the horns and was ready to make the decision between Paul Petrovich and Ron Caceres last night. Both submitted proposals for a multiplex on June 10 in response to the RDA's Request of Proposals issued in May.

The developers were given the opportunity to freely highlight their proposals before the RDA/council, except for Frank Rimkus - CEO of Galaxy Theatres and part of Caceres' development team - who was cut short by councilman Art Pimentel who imposed the three-minute rule. Rimkus flew in from southern California to help describe the State Theatre Renovation and Expansion plan.

And it was Pimentel who echoed the sentiments expressed by Petrovich, much beyond his own three-minute rule, to allow city staff to take as much time as they needed to make a recommendation. After hearing the three council members who wanted to hurry the process along, Pimentel succumbed to the suggestion of councilman Skip Davis who said staff should be allowed sixty days to wrap it up.

Earlier, Chris Holt - one of the many public speakers in favor of the State project - called out Petrovich and Pimentel by warning council of delay tactics. Holt suggested that the ploy would intentionally drag the process out until the State plan could no longer be viable. Another public speaker, Kim Wirth - a member of the RDA advisory committee - took advantage of her three minutes to present council with a petition signed by downtown businesses in support of the State project. Jim Bohon, a member of the Historic Woodland Downtown Business Association, also reminded council that in June the association sent a letter in support of the State project. Out of all the audience members - who could not be contained by the council chambers - nobody spoke in favor of the Petrovich project slated for the historic Electric Garage site at Third and Main.

To be continued.

Letter calls on values of previous councils for preservation and redevelopment

From the Woodland Record:

Dear Councilmembers,

We are unable to attend the City Council meeting this evening due to a family illness. We wanted to share with the Council our support of the State theater project. We have read the staff report as well as all of the articles regarding this matter and believe the Council has an opportunity to continue the values adopted by the Councils before them to preserve and enhance historic treasures within our community and to enhance Downtown redevelopment.

In the late 1970’s members of the Woodland community sought Council support to preserve the historic neighborhoods by adopting a neighborhood preservation zone to limit the construction of small apartment buildings within the Woodland core. This resulted in a surge of renovation and upkeep within these residential neighborhoods which brought increase in home values and economic benefit to the City. At the time, there were concerns raised about the rezoning but the vision prevailed and we benefitted as a community from the Council’s action.

The same could be said about the Woodland Opera House, the removal of the SR 16 from Main Street and the renovation of the Woodland Hotel. Each of these projects resulted from the public interest and commitment to make changes and preserve Woodland history and renovate the downtown core. These projects have made a difference both economically and culturally for our community. They were hard fought projects which required the Council’s backing and the Redevelopment Agency support - both procedurally and financially. If the City Council/Redevelopment Agency in those eras had waited until there was enough financing and guarantees – these projects would not have happened.

Read more at WoodlandRecord.com.

Daily Democrat editor supports Petrovich, his own paper sponsors Friends of State Theatre

The following letter to the Daily Democrat editor was submitted in response to an editorial published in the newspaper on Sunday. The editorial, that is supportive of the Petrovich proposal for a multiplex at Third and Main - one building away from the Democrat office - is not posted on DailyDemocrat.com. Ironically, the Daily Democrat has been a sponsor of the Friends of the State Theatre since its kick-off meeting in June.

From the Woodland Record:

Daily Democrat Editor,

Your illogical and poorly reasoned arguments supporting the multiplex at Third and Main in your October 3 editorial compels me to write to set the record straight.

You state that “wistful thinking won’t put up the money for construction, nor fill theater seats” of the State Theatre multiplex. I assume you are cynically calling the Friends of the State Theatre (who are advocating for the State) “wistful” for supporting historic preservation, a goal of the city’s General Plan. Do you need reminding the money for the project is being invested by developer Ron Caceres and Galaxy Theatres, both with long, proven track records? These are capable business people with a serious and sensible financial plan (which the editor has not seen or read) not “wistful thinkers.”

You also state the “city doesn’t have an unlimited supply of funds” and that the State Theatre “could easily prove too much.” This unfounded argument was put to bed by your own reporter on the front page of the October 3 Daily Democrat, the same day of your editorial. According to the city manager, the architect the city hired to study the costs for the rehab of the State found Caceres’ costs to be “reasonably accurate.” The Redevelopment Agency, which has been asked to help support both theater proposals, is entirely separate from city finances and was established under state law to invest its funds in the greater downtown area to address blight. Does this change your way of thinking? You indicated if the city were “in better fiscal shape, we would most likely support a move to restore the State Theatre.” The city’s fiscal difficulties have no real relevance to this project.

Read more at WoodlandRecord.com.

Leanna is courageous and inspirational

From the Daily Democrat article "Woodland woman, with city's help, plants tree to memorialize herself" by James Noonan:

Nearly 80 people gathered in the northeast corner of John Ferns Park on Thursday afternoon, coming together to share memories, engage in prayer and celebrate the life of Leanna Elizalde.

Read the rest at DailyDemocrat.com.

Notice anything different about your sales receipt today?

How about 9% sales tax in Woodland, effective today.

Thanks to Measure V, you can expect to pay more at the check out stand. Maybe the revenue will be handled a bit differently than Measure E. We can only hope.