Another early morning vehicle arson in Woodland

See January 3 Fox40News video and story about two vehicle fires.

From the Woodland Record:

On Tuesday, March 27, at approximately 1:39 am, Woodland Police Officers were dispatched along with Woodland Firefighters to an arson vehicle fire at 228 Hays Street in Woodland.

Officers arrived moments later and observed a white Dodge pickup truck with flames coming from the front left portion of the truck. The vehicle was parked on the street in front of 228 Hays Street.

Read more at WoodlandRecord.com.

Will council continue State Theatre project with blinders?

From the Woodland Record:

On Sunday afternoon, March 25, a small busload of senior citizens from Roseville enjoyed "South Pacific" at the nearly-full historic Woodland Opera House – a California State Park and Historical Landmark #851. They watched a magnificent performance by Catherine Nickerson who played Ensign Nellie Forbush. She is a Sacramento City College theater student and a graduate of Sheldon High School in Elk Grove. The stage crew of the production included Shelley Cohen, a UC Davis Dramatic Art student.

Isn't it wonderful that the community's own Woodland Opera House is a regional draw for people who are interested in experiencing the theater as it was intended to be experienced when it first opened in 1896?

If you agree, then you might also agree that the Woodland City Council of 2012 could learn a few lessons from the efforts of the townspeople of 1971. That year a modest group of forward-thinking citizens had the vision of restoring the Opera House to its original use. The theater was shuttered for 58 years, from 1913 to 1971 when breaths of its former life began again. In 1989, the Woodland Opera House restoration was finally complete... and the people of this region have continued to appreciate what is essentially a living museum. The building thrives in its historically-accurate condition, although it is also used as a learning facility for youth programs, for social gatherings and for ghost tours. It functions for all those things but first, and foremost, tourists and theater-goers can actually experience the Opera House for the purpose it was built.

Just last week, on March 20, city council approved the purchase of the State Theatre, a movie house that opened in 1937.

Read more at WoodlandRecord.com.

Image: Title added to the City of Woodland's plan to make much of the State Theatre into a storage facility. Drawing by Bill McCandless found at the Woodland Opera House Web site.

Woodlander Stephen Peyton works out for Patriots, Bills, Browns

From the BrownBears.com article "Brown football players work out for NFL scouts at Bears' Pro Day:"

Four Brown football seniors, along with players from URI and Bryant, worked out for several NFL scouts at Brown's Annual Pro Day. Among the NFL teams represented were New England, Buffalo and Cleveland.

Participating in a variety of agility and strength drills for the Bears were quarterback Kyle Newhall-Caballero '11.5, wide receiver Alex Tounkara-Kone '11.5, free safety Steve Peyton '12 and linebacker Brett Wyman '12.

Peyton, an All-Ivy free safety, weighed in at 226 pounds and posted the top performance of the day on the 225 bench test, hitting 25 repetitions. He also ran in the 4.6 range in the 40.

Read the entire article at BrownBears.com.

Image: Courtesy photo

What in the hell has happened to the City of Woodland?

City of Woodland in dire staits after eight years of fiscal mismanagement

From the Woodland Record:

Budget discussions tonight during the Woodland city council meeting will illuminate the result of almost a decade of ineffectiveness in local government. City staff will present best-case and worst-case scenarios... bad and worse. Their solution to the problem will be to borrow from the already mismanaged Measure E sales tax revenue.

As you watch the council meeting online tonight at the city's Web site, remember that Art Pimentel began his term in 2004, Skip Davies and Bill Marble began their terms in 2006, and Martie Dote began her current term in 2008 (having served previously from 2000 to 2004). The newest councilman is Tom Stallard who was just recently appointed to fill a vacancy made by Jeff Monroe.

Here are highlights of the staff's proposed department reductions in the 2012-13 city budget:

Read more at WoodlandRecord.com.

Friends of the State Theatre notified of city's intent to purchase building

From the Woodland Record:

Editor's note: Below is a letter sent to the Friends of the State Theatre in response to another letter sent to them urging support for the City of Woodland's purchase of the historic State Theatre. The Friends of the State Theatre was formed specifically to support Ron Caceres' State Theatre Renovation and Expansion project that would have ensured an historically-accurate restoration of the building.

Letter to Friends of the State Theatre:

Last night you may have received an email expressing excited(!) support for the City of Woodland’s intent to purchase the historic State Theatre. Please be cautious about supporting the city’s ownership of the building. Although the intent is clear that the city wants to replace the Measure D-approved Opera House annex with the State Theatre (without the staff report specifically mentioning it) you should understand that the purchase cannot legally guarantee that the Opera House will be the recipient of the building.

You should also know that the city’s plan for the State Theatre “rehabilitation” includes the obliteration of the historic auditorium (see the plans at the Woodland Record Web site). All seating in the lower auditorium will be removed and the floor will be leveled to accommodate a generic black box theatre. Also, the loge area will be used as STORAGE. The proposed remodeling presented by the city is not consistent with the historically-correct renovations supported by the Friends of the State Theatre. The State Theatre should not be used as a simple shell of a building. A generic black box and storage space are better served elsewhere… like in the Opera House annex that voters already approved with the Measure E advisory (Measure D).

Consider the following:

Read more at WoodlandRecord.com.

Image: Title added to the City of Woodland's plan to make much of the State Theatre into a storage facility. Drawing by Bill McCandless found at the Woodland Opera House Web site.

Editor is quite a guy, according to him

Recently the editor of a local newspaper reported that he intended to speak at a middle school career day. He wrote:

"...if all goes well I'll be imparting the 'wisdom' of some 32 years of my professional life as journalist, reporter, editor, photographer, paginator, business manager, bookkeeper, psychologist, published author, martinet, counselor, disciplinarian, and operations manager."

"And that list doesn't include the expertise developed in regional planning, civics, judicial administration, the Constitution (both U.S. and California), criminal, civil and communications law; weapons training, biology, sociology, botany, agronomy, anatomy, cybernetics, astrophysics, geology, and plumbing and roof repairs."

An expert in planning? In weapons training? Agronomy? Cybernetics? Wow. At least he didn't list education. He believed he would be asked by 13 and 14 year-olds if he "get[s] the babes."

The topper... he said "I'm also humble."

Read it here (while it's posted), and note the mention of ethics and fairness as it may apply to the upcoming election season.

City resumes ugly politics with State Theatre purchase

$275,000 price tag part of $1.8 million gift to Woodland Opera House

Half of auditorium will be demolished for black box, the other half used for storage

From the Woodland Record:

Despite the claim of City of Woodland attorney Andrew Morris that the future of the State Theatre is uncertain, there is little doubt that this city council intends to gift the historic structure to the Woodland Opera House. If that gift is fulfilled, it will ultimately result in the obliteration of the 900-seat auditorium... that would include the conversion of loge seating into a storage facility.

The Opera House Web site describes the plan that contradicts the real restoration envisioned by the Friends of the State Theatre who fruitlessly urged this council to approve the State Theatre Renovation and Expansion project. Those thousand supporters explicitly let the council know that they wanted an historically-accurate movie-house as part of an adjacent state-of-the-art multiplex. The Opera House plan, however, will obliterate the historical integrity of the building by parceling the large auditorium and will use the original retail spaces as dance studios.

Read more at WoodlandRecord.com.

Image: Staff did not reveal in the March 20 staff report that the city intends to gift the State Theatre to the Woodland Opera House. The plan will obliterate the auditorium to the chagrin of Friends of the State Theatre who wanted an historically-accurate restoration. Plans by Bill McCandless found at WOHTheatre.org.

State revenues below governor's projections

From the Woodland Record:

State Controller John Chiang yesterday released his monthly report covering California's cash balance, receipts and disbursements in February, showing monthly revenues came in $146.3 million below (-3.2 percent) the latest projections contained in the Governor's proposed 2012-13 Budget. That shortfall was likely caused by a large increase in early tax refunds going out during the month of February.

Read more at WoodlandRecord.com.

KCRA Playbook: Congratulations, Pioneer is selected

From KCRA to Pioneer High School:

Your school’s upcoming [Pioneer] girls softball game against River Valley (March 30) has been selected to be in the KCRA 3 High School Playbook Featured Game poll.

The poll is currently live on the website and will be active until March 23, 2012 at 5 pm. During this voting period, you can log on to KCRA.com/highschoolplaybook to cast your vote. Staff, student body, and parents may also vote! For every photo that is uploaded to KCRA.com/ulocal under your school’s category, your school will receive a bonus five votes. We encourage you to upload sports photos or photos showcasing school spirit.

Read more at WoodlandRecord.com.

Yolo Sun: Pimentel, Davies and Dote approved Gateway II while knowing about Petrovich subversions and extortions

Excerpts from the Yolo Sun article "Petrovich extorted city by holding Hoblit hostage, retaliated by halting projects:"

Yolo Sun has obtained documents demonstrating a stark situation of civic extortion involving the local Hoblit Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep dealership — instigated by Paul Petrovich and tolerated by Woodland City Council, a majority of which recently (September 2011) approved Petrovich’s Gateway 2 project, currently the subject of legal action in Yolo County Superior Court, challenging the City’s compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act.

Circumstances surrounding these stunning documents make crystal clear that Petrovich has since October, 2010, retaliated against city requests for his compliance with terms of the development agreement for the Gateway Center, by halting all of his development activities — except his Gateway 2 project — (for example, the multiplex cinema project at Main and Third to Fourth Streets, which upended civic plans to renovate and expand State Theatre) — and by threatening to force Dave Hoblit’s motor-vehicle dealership to pay the costs of some of these municipal requests.

Read more at WoodlandRecord.com.

Woodland Poly will have music program in fall, music stars from Tesla and Big & Rich will visit school

Troy Luccketta of Tesla will speak to Woodland Poly students about achieving their dreams and will discuss how their life goals have led to their personal and professional success. Courtesy photo.

From the Woodland Record:

Get ready to roll out the red carpet. Award-winning rock and country music stars will be making special guest appearances at Woodland Poly, a new charter high school with an emphasis on career education.

Professional musicians Big Kenny of Big & Rich and Troy Luccketta of Tesla will speak to students about achieving their dreams and will discuss how their life goals have led to their personal and professional success.

“While we have all been big fans of Big Kenny and Troy, it’s an honor to know that they’re also big fans of our school and our students. A part of believing your dreams can come true is hearing from the people who have worked so hard to reach their goals. We are incredibly grateful to have musicians of this caliber share their tips for success with our students,” said Steve Marks, Jr., Woodland Poly Executive Director.

Read more at WoodlandRecord.com.