Vote Dustin for All-Fenway Team

From the Woodland Record:

Dustin Pedroia of Woodland is among six candidates for the All-Fenway Team who played second base for the Boston Red Sox. The team selection is part of the 100th anniversary celebration for Fenway Park. Here are the six players nominated:

Mike Andrews (566 games, .268 batting average, 47 homeruns, 209 runs batted in)
Marty Barrett (929 G,.276 AVG, 17 HR, 311 RBI)
Bobby Doerr (1865 G,.288 AVG, 223 HR, 1247 RBI)
Pete Runnels (732 G, .320 AVG,29 HR, 249 RBI)
Dustin Pedroia (715 G, .305 AVG, 75 HR, 344 RBI)
Jerry Remy (710 G, .286 AVG, 2 HR, 211 RBI)

Dustin, who was the American League's MVP in 2008 and three-time All-Star, has a long list of awards. Here is a snapshot of his professional career:

Read more at WoodlandRecord.com

Dustin is confident about the new Red Sox season

From "Pedroia confident everything will come together" by Ian Browne of MLB.com:

Dustin Pedroia [of Woodland] is the type of player who will create motivation just to maintain that edge he loves playing with. This spring, there is no need to manufacture anything -- not with the Red Sox coming off the worst September collapse in baseball history.

Even if Pedroia is one of precious few Boston players who actually had a strong finish to the season, he takes everything that happens to his team personally.

Read the article at RedSox.com.

Arbor Day celebrations include TreeCircus stop in Davis

From the Woodland Record:

TreeCircus, a group of arborists, environmentalists and entertainers will ride from Sacramento to Santa Rosa in celebration of Arbor Day and Mr. Luther Burbank. As part of the celebration, the group will stop in Davis, CA at the Nash Memorial Grove in Central Park (at approximately 11am).

In coordination with the City of Davis and Tree Davis, a non-profit group dedicated to enhancing and expanding the City’s urban forest, TreeCircus will plant a tree in the Nash Memorial Grove in Central Park. All are invited to join the celebration, learn about the importance and value of our urban forest and to get inspired to grow the urban forest in your own backyard.

The March 8th Davis stop will be part of a 10-day performance tour in the Sacramento/Bay Area, celebrating 100+ years of Arbor Day in California.

Read more at WoodlandRecord.com

YoloArts and Yolo County artists recognized by National Endowment for the Arts

From the Davis Enterprise:

Artists have long been drawn to the beauty of rural western Yolo County, but sometimes capturing that beauty meant risking life and limb.

Yolo County Supervisor Duane Chamberlain, who represents the sweeping, largely rural 5th District, recalls frequently seeing painters set up on the side of the road bordering his alfalfa fields.

Read the rest at DavisEnterprise.com.

Despite budget problems because of borrowing, city wants internal loans from Measure E to cover deficits

From the Woodland Record:

The following is the staff report for the February 21 City of Woodland budget study session:

Report in Brief – On January 10, 2012, the City Council received a presentation regarding the City’s fiscal situation and projected budgetary situation for a ten year period. This presentation highlighted several areas with the City’s finances that require attention and direction.

Staff is seeking direction from the Council on several topics including the use of Measure E Revenue and on-going project programming through the Measure E Spending Plan and the Capital Improvement Program (CIP).

Background – On January 10, 2012, the City Council received a presentation providing ten year financial projections for all City funds. This presentation highlighted several areas that will require special attention and development of strategies to alleviate large and chronic deficits and provide operating reserves consistent with the City’s Budget and Fiscal Policies. On February 7, 2012 Council discussed the general fund, redevelopment fund dissolution, development related issues including the General Plan, and budget documents. Staff is now looking for guidance concerning Measure E and our Capital Improvement Program.

Discussion – The majority of the City’s capital program is funded through a combination of development impact fees, Measure E and utility user fees. These revenue sources have been significantly impacted by the collapse of the housing market and subsequent economic recession. The City relies upon revenues generated by continued development activity to make annual payments on debt issued between 2002 and 2007. For the past two years the City has not generated enough development fee revenues to cover these debt service costs and based upon current projections of development activity, the City will continue to be deficient in revenues to meet future debt service needs. We have relied on internal borrowing so far in hopes of a more timely economic recovery.

Read more at WoodlandRecord.com.

Davis Chamber of Commerce hires new director, staffing changes planned

From the Woodland Record:

The Davis Chamber of Commerce is proud to announce that after a two-month search and selection process, Kemble K. Pope has been tapped to lead the Chamber as Executive Director. Pope has been a Davis resident for 10 years and active in the Davis Chamber since 2007.

Pope’s academic background is in the field of environmental policy, land use and communications which he studied at Vanderbilt University, Columbia University’s Biosphere2 Center and UC Davis Extension. His professional background combines experience in business development, communications, event planning, community organizing and voter advocacy. Since 2005, Pope has owned and operated The Centaur Group, a full-service business consulting firm that focuses its talents and industry connections on public & government relations, communications strategy and deployment, project facilitation and business development. With this new commitment to the Chamber of Commerce, Pope will wind down all of his consulting activities in Davis.

Read more at WoodlandRecord.com.

Harris submits notice for a 'renaissance ordinance' for historic downtown improvements

From the Woodland Record:

As the Woodland Chamber of Commerce embarks on a band-aid approach to marketing (changing the slogan of the "City of Trees"), community activist Bobby Harris has submitted a "renaissance ordinance" with specific solutions for a revitalized historic downtown.

Both the City of Woodland (and its redevelopment agency) and the chamber have neglected community input on ways to improve the historic downtown business district over the past few years. Most pronounced in this neglect by the city was the recent downtown multiplex debacle and the hasty distribution of redevelopment money after the pot sat unused for years. Outside of monthly cocktail parties and the Christmas parade, the chamber has ignored any strategy to assist historic downtown businesses with economic development and marketing. The chamber moved a successful chile cooking event to the fairgrounds from Freeman Park, a slap in the face to downtown businesses.

The chamber also backed the city's (i.e. Pimentel, Davies and Dote's) desire to enable Sacramento developer Paul Petrovich to build a multiplex at Third and Main. The multiplex project, which includes a plan to demolish the 101 year-old Electric Garage building, was chosen over the State Theatre Renovation and Expansion project - to the dismay of over a thousand supporters that included the Historic Woodland Downtown Business Association. The Petrovich project is now dormant, with no communication between the city and the developers since December of 2010.

Harris conceived the "renaissance ordinance" because he feels the city has failed in keeping up-to-date with its Downtown Specific Plan, the city has not listened to community members, and the city has done little to create a pedestrian-friendly shopping and tourism environment. Yesterday Harris submitted his intention to circulate a petition to create a ballot measure that includes many ideas that resulted from a 2008 Woodland Journal survey of downtown business owners, property owners and residents.

Here is the notice submitted by Harris:

Read more at WoodlandRecord.com.

Yolo Sun: Pimentel/Davies/Dote Gateway II approval will meet court hearing date on April 12

Excerpts from the Yolo Sun article "Yolo Court to rule on challenge to city council approval of Petrovich’s Gateway 2 project — part two of a Yolo Sun investigative series:

Legal challenge in Yolo Superior Court by California Clean Energy Committee (CCEC) against Woodland City Council approval on September 20, 2011 of Paul Petrovich’s Gateway 2 commercial development project began the court briefing stage on February 7, 2012 after a two-week extension of time. The court has now set a hearing date of April 12 for CCEC’s request for issuance of a writ of mandate voiding this project approval and relevantly conditioning future City actions.

City of Woodland’s responding brief is due to be filed with the court at the end of February.

With its opening court brief, CCEC (through its attorney, Eugene Wilson) alleges in comprehensive detail an astonishing array of blatant violations of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) by City of Woodland, ranging from: basic conflicts between the project and Woodland General Plan (strangely ignored by the City) and bogus project mitigation schemes, to fatally flawed analyses of legally required project alternatives and environmental impacts of the project, plus unaddressed farmland conversion issues.

According to CCEC’s brief, there exist perhaps as many as a dozen separate legal grounds for the court striking down Gateway 2, which also expose several quite curious actions of City of Woodland / Woodland City Council within its process of project approval. Plus, the brief features quotes of both Councilmember Bill Marble and Paul Petrovich.

Read more excerpts at WoodlandRecord.com before jumping to YoloSun.wordpress.com.

Woodland Chamber of Commerce: "City of Trees doesn't tell anyone about our community"

From the Woodland Record:

The Woodland Chamber of Commerce has decided to rebrand Woodland, but the organization thinks its slogan (rooted since 1861 when Gertrude Freeman named the town) is not good enough. Long ineffectual in offering the historic downtown businesses any kind of marketing (aside from backing the Petrovich multiplex that is now dormant), it really shouldn't be a surprise that the chamber intends to ignore the 151 year history of the "City of Trees."

Excerpt from "The Western Shore Gazetteer and Commercial Directory, Yolo County" by C.P. Sprague and H. Atwell, 1870:

"Woodland, The county seat, is situated in Cache Creek Township, fifteen miles west and siz and one-half miles north of Sacramento. By the road, as now laid out, the distance is rated at eighteen miles to Washington. The town lies three miles south of Cache Creek, the nearest point being at Nelson's bridge. Where the town now stands, and immediately surrounding it, was once a beautiful grove of oaks, from which the town derives its name. A few of the trees are still standing, but by far the larger portion have fallen before the army of occupation, the advance guard of which seems to be wood-choppers. This grove, which was the most prominent feature of the place and its chief beauty in its younger days, has given place to dwellings, stores and other belongings of a thriving town; yet enough remains to enable the town to hold her name rightfully, without subjecting herself to the charge of having appropriated a name that did not correspond with the surroundings."

Excerpt from Daily Democrat article "Woodland chamber plans forum to review community's image" by Elizabeth Kalfsbeek, February 14, 2012

"We're looking for residents, community members, business owners and anyone interested in sharing ideas about the community," said Kristy Wright, Woodland Chamber CEO. "Hopefully down the road this will lead to a new slogan or motto for Woodland that better describes us than 'City of Trees.'"

The moniker "doesn't really tell anyone about our community," or what Woodland has to offer, Wright said.

Read the rest at WoodlandRecord.com.

Former Woodland RDA manager resigns as City of Modesto consultant amidst turmoil

From the Woodland Record:

Cynthia Shallit, former City of Woodland Redevelopment Agency (RDA) manager has resigned as the City of Modesto's Neighborhood Stability Program (NSP) consultant. Shallit and her partner, another former City of Woodland planner Jamie McCleod, worked only eight weeks of their $214,000 contract that was supposed to run through March. The consulting group pocketed $75,000 for what Shallit suggested was work completed.

According to a Modesto Bee article: "We mutually agreed my work was completed," said Shallit, who joined the city staff eight weeks ago. "We had gone there to evaluate the NSP program and make recommendations, and we did that."

Shallit, who managed the Woodland RDA's downtown multiplex selection debacle, resigned amidst turmoil within Modesto's NSP and the Stanislaus Community Assistance Project (SCAP). SCAP and its directors have been subject of reports of "fishy financial deals, questionable spending, firings, resignations, break-ins, federal investigations, FBI searches and virtually nonstop allegations, denials and flip-flops."

Get links to Modesto Bee articles.

Enterprise: Judge signs Topete’s death warrant

From the Davis Enterprise:

After two failed bids for a new trial and a denied plea for mercy, convicted cop killer Marco Topete today is expected to get the sentence his jury wanted — a trip to death row at San Quentin State Prison.

Read the entire article at DavisEnterprise.com.