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Funeral in Elk Grove Thursday for deputy
Found: 2 Days 13 Hours 4 Minutes ago
Sacramento Bee - A funeral service for the Sacramento County Sheriff's deputy killed in a motorcycle accident last week has been scheduled for Thursday morning in Elk Grove....
Burning restricted throughout Sacramento County today
Found: 2 Days 15 Hours 42 Minutes ago
Sacramento Bee - Today marks the first day residential burning is off limits to many Sacramento County residents.A Stage 1, or "no burn unless exempt," status has been declared for the county, limiting residential burning to homes with EPA-certified fireplace inserts or stoves or pellet stoves, according to the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District's Web site.First-time violators will be fined $50 or be required to attend compliance school. Fines for subsequent violations are higher.The air district restricts or prohibits wood burning in the county when particulate matter pollution is forecast to be unhealthy. The "Check Before You Burn" program covers unincorporated Sacramento County and the cities of Citrus Heights, Elk Grove, Folsom, Galt, Isleton, Rancho Cordova and Sacramento.There are four stages in the program: all burning prohibited, no burn unless exempt, burning discouraged and burn cleanly.Residents of Yolo and Solano counties also are being asked to not use wood burning stoves or fireplaces today. The Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District runs the voluntary "Don't Light Tonight" program for the two counties. For more information, go to http://www.ysaqmd.org/burn-DLT.php.For more information about the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District's program or burn status, go to www.sparetheair.com....
Folsom Cordova's English learners work to build vocabulary
Found: 2 Days 23 Hours 48 Minutes ago
Sacramento Bee -
Sina Chau-Pech works with fifth-grader Karina Kushnir, an immigrant from Ukraine, during language lessons at Rancho Cordova Elementary School. Folsom Cordova Unified has a goal of teaching English learners 1,000 common words this year, introducing 28 a week.
Fourth-grader Nataliya Tsytovych is attentive in teacher Tammy Davis' class as Sina Chau-Pech presents an English vocabulary lesson. Pictures are used in drills that present words' meanings and usage.William Shakespeare is said to have had a vocabulary of over 29,000 words that helped him write 37 plays and more than 150 sonnets.By the end of this school year, 10-year-old Karina Kushnir, an immigrant from Ukraine, hopes to master 1,000 English words that will help her make it through school.Students like Karina are being immersed in English through a "threshold vocabulary" program offered by the Folsom Cordova Unified School District.By mastering a list of 1,000 key words – at 28 words a week – the program is designed to help English learners and children from limited-language homes build an academic vocabulary and catch up with native speakers.The 1,000 words comprise at least 75 percent of any written material at any grade level, district officials said.Already, Karina, in her second year in the program at Rancho Cordova Elementary, has a favorite word: "perserverance." It aptly describes the hard work she needs to develop a vocabulary that last week included the new words "hope," "life," "past," "free," and "although."The vocabulary program "takes you through high school and beyond," said Jon Wallace, Folsom Cordova's director of state and federal programs.Sina Chau-Pech has been teaching 11 years in the district's newcomer program, which is designed for new students whose primary language isn't English. Born in Cambodia, he understands the challenges that English learners face."I moved to France when I was 11 years old and learned French by cutting out pictures of words," Chau-Pech said.He's applied that technique to the threshold vocabulary program – matching new words with images from sources like Microsoft clip art.Folsom Cordova's program utilizes a list of 2,000 words selected to best serve English learners.The original list was published in 1953 by Michael West, an English language teacher and researcher. A revised version that ranks words in order of frequency was created in 1995 and is the basis of Folsom Cordova's vocabulary program.Chau-Pech whittled the list to 1,000 words – a better fit for a yearlong school schedule.Tammy Davis is in her third year teaching a newcomer class at Rancho Cordova Elementary, where her students are from Mexico, Vietnam, Ukraine, Russia and Moldova."We use a lot of visual aides to ease them into the classroom," she said. After one or two years in the newcomer program, students return to neighborhood schools.Davis encourages students to take their vocabulary lessons home and share them with parents who may be taking English-language classes."I've seen huge positive results," she said of the program.Students progress from learning individual words to writing sentences and paragraphsDuring Davis' class last week, Chau-Pech utilized a SMART Board – an interactive white board connected to a computer – to teach a lesson.He used this five-step process for each new word: Look at the word with a picture; listen to the teacher; say the word; spell the word; and, use the word in a sentence."Hope" was one of the words. An illustration of a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow accompanied it.Chau-Pech asked students to use the word in a sentence."I hope I can read this book," one girl said.Chau-Pech said the 1,000-word list is the start of an academic vocabulary. "These are words they'll see when they read," he said. "We don't want to teach words they use everyday."As a result, the list leaves out words like "TV" and "dude."For students at Rancho Cordova Elementary, learning new words isn't limited to newcomer class. It's reinforced throughout the day.P.E. teachers, for example, are provided with the same weekly word list and incorporate it into their classes.Karina Kushnir said she's used her vocabulary words while playing soccer."Give me the ball," she said with a smile....
Region's cities regroup for more savings, budget cuts
Found: 3 Days 41 Minutes ago
Sacramento Bee - As city budget officials throughout the region sat down last spring to prepare their spending plans, the subprime mortgage crisis was spreading and the future looked bleak.So most used what they thought were conservative estimates when projecting how much money their cities would have to spend this year.If only.The ever-widening financial meltdown is making even conservative budget projections seem wildly optimistic. As a result, area officials already are brainstorming ways to save even more money and looking ahead to cuts that could come shortly after the new year."There is no community that is sitting back, immune to what is going on right now," said Kerry Miller, Folsom's city manager. "There may be some program areas we need to cut back or eliminate."Depending on the numbers, Miller said, he could see the city "engaging in almost a new budget process."Rancho Cordova's sales tax projections were likely about 4 percent too high. Citrus Heights officials expect sales tax to come in 6 percent less than last year. And, in Folsom – where staff projected sales tax revenue would remain flat – city officials now anticipate as much as 10 percent less, a shortfall of $2 million.Lagging sales tax receipts are particularly troubling for municipalities, which rely heavily on such revenue to fund services such as law enforcement and community development. About 22 percent of Rancho Cordova's general fund revenue comes from sales tax, compared with 36 percent in Citrus Heights and 30 percent in Folsom.Cities' finance staffs are busy planning for a future that is far from certain as market volatility continues and the state looks to plug its own multibillion-dollar budget shortfall."You don't know what the state is going to turn to, to balance the budget," Miller said.A month ago, Rancho Cordova officials asked all city employees to share cost-saving ideas, said Donna Silva, that city's finance director. The city received hundreds of suggestions, and staffers are reviewing them to see what's feasible.Ideas include selling advertising on the city's Web site and increasing the rental of city property for meetings, weddings and even funerals.In an effort to control costs, Folsom has a freeze on hiring and discretionary spending, Miller said. But even that won't be enough to close the budget shortfall, which could be as much as $5 million for the current year if the city were to do nothing.Folsom city staff should have recommendations for the board regarding budget adjustments after the first of the year, he added.One of the big questions municipalities will face is how much they should use reserve funds to cover shortfalls rather than making cuts.The answer will depend in part on how much a city had saved for tough times.Both Citrus Heights and Rancho Cordova have sizable reserves.Because they contract out services and have smaller work forces than older cities, their budget officials don't foresee layoffs and might not have to make deep program cuts.Folsom started the year with undesignated reserves equal to about 13 percent of annual general fund expenditures.Citrus Heights had more than a year's worth of general fund expenditures in both restricted and unrestricted reserves.Whatever the cities do to weather the economic storm, residents are sure to feel the effect, said Eva Spiegel, spokeswoman for the League of California Cities."These things have a real and immediate impact on people," Spiegel said. A recent, albeit extreme, example she pointed to is Vallejo, which cut law enforcement after filing for bankruptcy reorganization. That city has already seen an increase in crime as a result, she said."Cities are having to make real tough choices that are devastating to the residents that rely on them," Spiegel said.Miller, Folsom's city manager, saw the economic turmoil after California revamped its property tax system in the late 1970s, after the Persian Gulf War of the early 1990s, and post-9/11."Those all pale in comparison to what we're dealing with right now," Miller said.And his advice for people hoping to ease the cities' budget woes?"Shop local. Now's the time to buy cars," he said....
Divorce Rates involving a child with a disability, just a myth?
Found: 3 Days 9 Hours 3 Minutes ago
Roseville Rocklin Daily - Over the last year, I've been attending graduate school and looking at research on the effect a child with a disability has on marital and family stability. From it, I've learned that many nonprofit organizations have been reporting divorce rates ranging from...
Services for deputy killed in crash are Thursday
Found: 3 Days 12 Hours 14 Minutes ago
Sacramento Bee -
Larry Canfield, 43, was a 13-year veteran of the Sheriff's Department.A memorial service will be held Thursday for Sacramento County Sheriff's Deputy Larry Canfield.Canfield, 43, died last Wednesday in a motorcycle accident while on duty in Rancho Cordova.The service will be at 10 a.m. at the First Baptist Church of Elk Grove, 8939 E. Stockton Blvd., Elk Grove. That will be followed by a processional to the Galt Arno Cemetery, 14180 Joy Drive, Galt, according to the sheriff's department.A public viewing will be from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday at East Lawn Elk Grove Memorial Park, 9189 E. Stockton Blvd., Elk Grove.Canfield was a 13-year veteran of the sheriff's department and son of a retired sheriff's sergeant. He is survived by his wife, Michelle, and sons Tyler, 12, and Bryce, 10.A trust fund has been set up to assist Canfield's family.Donations can be sent to: Sacramento County Deputy Sheriffs' Association, Larry Canfield Memorial Fund, c/o Exchange Bank, 1420 Rocky Ridge Drive, Suite 190, Roseville, CA 95661. The account number for the fund is 1205001934....
Fish and Game commission hearing on deer herds
Found: 4 Days 16 Hours 5 Minutes ago
Roseville Rocklin Daily - At the Placer County Fish and Game Commission?s regular monthly meeting on Wed., Nov. 19, 2008, the California Department of Fish and Game will make a presentation about the health of Placer...
Killer sentenced to 75-years-to-life
Found: 4 Days 22 Hours 44 Minutes ago
Sacramento Bee - A 29-year-old Sacramento murderer learned today that he'll probably be spending the rest of his life in prison....
Are attacks on Mormon sites hate crimes?
Found: 4 Days 22 Hours 58 Minutes ago
Sacramento Bee - Federal officials have launched a preliminary inquiry into whether recent acts of vandalism against Mormon temples and meeting houses are hate crimes, a department spokesman said Friday."We are looking into whether these acts are intimidating people into not going into houses of worship," said Juan Becerra, of the Salt Lake City FBI. "The right to worship is a basic civil right."The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints actively supported the passage of Proposition 8, the ballot initiative that banned same-sex marriage in California.Since the Nov. 4 election, seven houses of worship in Utah have been vandalized, according to Becerra.Thursday, envelopes filled with a white powdery substance were delivered to two Mormon temples, one in the Los Angeles area and one in Salt Lake City. Preliminary results showed the substance was not toxic.Sacramento church officials have stepped up security at the Mormon temple in Rancho Cordova. Ten church buildings in the region have been vandalized since the election, said Lisa West, spokeswoman for the church in the Sacramento area. "That's more than we usually get in an entire year."...
Deputy killed in Rancho Cordova motorcycle wreck
Found: 5 Days 9 Hours 10 Minutes ago
Record Searchlight - The death of a Sacramento County sheriff's deputy is being keenly felt here in the north state.Deputy Lawrence Canfield, 43, who was killed Wednesday in a traffic wreck in Rancho Cordova, was a familiar face at the Big Bike Weekend celebrations in Redding.
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