🌱Sac Waste Fee Increase + Neighborly Hero + Sac's Dry January

Jeri Karges
Updated ·5 min read

Happy Thursday, neighbors! Here's everything you need to know going on locallytoday.

First, today's weather:

Fog in the a.m.; mostly sunny. High: 60 Low: 34.

Here are the top stories today in Sacramento:

  1. The Sacramento City Council Tuesday unanimously approved raising solid waste disposal fees by $3.83 a month for each of the next three years, largely to pay for a new state requirement that cities collect and compost food waste from customers. Other driving factors behind the total monthly increase of $11.49 by 2023/24 include the growing amount of household waste city residents are producing, especially during the pandemic, as well as labor cost increases and higher waste processing fees. (Sacramento City Express)

  2. An elderly man said he was stuck inside his home during a garage fire Monday afternoon, as the flames inched closer and closer to him. Luckily, help was right next door. Harold Kaler, 92, told KCRA 3 he was sitting in his electric reclining chair in a room right next to the garage in his home near Winding Oak Drive and Madison Avenue when a fire caused the power to go out, so Harold had no electricity to prop the chair back up. “I would have just sat there. I couldn’t get out of the chair,” Harold said. Luckily, a familiar face stepped in to help. Harold’s next door neighbor Erik Bean grabbed a fire extinguisher and ran over to help his neighbor out. Bean is now being lauded for his quick action. Sacramento Metro Fire said they still have not determined the cause of the fire. (KION)

  3. December brought ample rain to the area and many communities were sitting well above average for the season to start January. However, January began and will likely mostly end dry. So far, Sacramento has seen 0.05 inches of rain for the month. If Sacramento ends dry, it will log the second driest January on record. Only 2017 was drier with 0.01 inches for the entire month. (ABC10)

  4. California’s on-again, off-again plan to allow earlier potential prison releases for certain repeat offenders was off again Tuesday, pending an appeal by more than half of California’s 58 district attorneys. Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Judith Craddick reinstated a temporary restraining order that was lifted last week by another judge. The order again temporarily prevents corrections officials from increasing good conduct credits for offenders with serious and violent criminal histories under the state’s “three strikes” law. Sacramento Superior Court Judge Shama Mesiwala ruled last week that the prosecutors lacked legal standing to challenge the regulations. Craddick renewed the stay to give prosecutors time to appeal Mesiwala’s ruling to California’s 3rd District Court of Appeals, and to give that court time to act. (CBS Sacramento)

  5. Just over 15% of Sacramento County's population has tested positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic began. Since the rise of omicron variant cases caused record highs, that trend appears to now be on a downward slope. As of Monday, 62,000 new infections were reported, and the state's positivity rate is at 20.4%, a small decrease compared to recent weeks. (KCRA3)

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Today in Sacramento:

  • Interested in learning how to write an artist bio? The Artist Bio Workshop presented by The Verge Center for the Arts will help. Note: The Zoom “class” link will be sent via email with registration confirmation. (6:00 PM)

  • From eclectic Latin rhythms to Irish folk music, the Crocker’s Global Rhythms music series will take you on an auditory journey around the world with Global Rhythms: The Shawn Thwaites Rebel Quartet. (6:30 PM)

  • The Center for Fathers and Families will host the "I Can Do It" Motivational Fatherhood virtual Seminar. (7:30 PM)

  • Tella Novella is an improvised soap opera with a twist. Two improvisers act out the drama while two more provide dialogue from off-stage at the Comedy Spot in Sacramento. (8:00 PM)

From my notebook:

  • Due to the late-season leaf drop, the City of Sacramento’s Recycling and Solid Waste Division has extended its street yard-waste collection into early February. Feb. 7 is the final day that residents can put piles in the street to be picked up by the Claw. (Sacramento City Express)

  • “Honoring Our Heritage: The Impact of Executive Order 9066 on the Japanese Americans” is running through March at the Rocklin History Museum. The collection of artifacts is on loan from two Placer County Japanese American families forced to live in internment camps during World War II. (Gold Country Media)

  • Diva Rita Orsolini (Bartolai), of the Auburn area, celebrated her 100th birthday with family on Sunday, Jan. 23. Happy Birthday Diva! (Gold Country Media)

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You're all caught up for today. See you all tomorrow for another update!

— Jeri Karges

About me: Jeri Karges has been living in and loving the Sacramento region for over 30 years. Her passion is finding new and unique ways to enjoy the city and surrounding areas. On weekends, you can find her pestering her friends to sample the restaurant that doesn't have silverware, or try their hand at throwing an axe. Jeri also enjoys writing about retirement planning at https://rockinretirement.subst...

This article originally appeared on the Sacramento Patch