Issue: December 01, 2011
Greetings SN&R readers,
Experts have expressed deepening concerns about the health risks of using flame retardants in furniture -- including children's car seats and portable cribs. But that didn't stop the chemical industry from spending $23.2 million over the past five years to lobby California officials and, among other things, urge "no" votes on bills that seek to regulate these chemicals. In this week's feature, SN&R presents the results of a five-month investigation by independent media group Environmental Health News.
In news, the Ford Motor Company, who manufactures everyone's favorite cop car, the Crown Victoria, has discontinued the ride, and the nation's last-remaining police interceptors rest in a downtown Sacramento dealership lot. Nick Miller
has the scoop. Also this week: Hugh Biggar looks at hopes for WIC surviving this year's Congressional budget cuts, and Raheem F. Hosseini explores who will review police-shooting and force incidents now that the district attorney's office has bailed out.
An excerpt from this week's Ira "This American Life" Glass interview: Cosmo Garvin: "So at the Grass Valley event, are you going to be getting blackout drunk on stage?" NPR's Glass: "If those are the customs of the Sacramento and Grass Valley area, I will abide by the local customs." Read more in this week's arts feature.
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Is it safe?
A five-month investigation reveals an infusion of chemical-industry cash into the California’s Legislature.
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Top spenders
The chemical industry spends big money to lobby California legislators on flame-retardant bills.
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Sacramento County cops: Straight shooters
Independent review of officer-involved shootings scarce in Sacramento County, even before the district attorney’s withdrawal.
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The last cop car
Sacramento’s Downtown Ford dealership swoops up hundreds of soon-to-be-extinct Crown Victorias.
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Poor nutrition
WIC, the vital program for moms and kids, is under siege.
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For UCD activists
A toast to the students of UC Davis who attended the “pepper spray” rally.
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Occupy KFC
Group protests KFC’s environmentally unfriendly packaging.
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Letters for December 1, 2011
Love, hate, indifference—readers express their opinions, sometimes about each other.
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An education
Joey’s advice on how to stop the jealousy and learn to love the outcome.
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Finding common ground
How could I give a shout-out to Bank of America given the role of big banks in our country’s financial meltdown?
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Dressed like a king
Samuel Parkinson’s original designs for Kings Tribe Clothing reflect Sacramento’s urban cityscapes.
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Special ‘Mexicans are racist’ edicion
The Mexican discusses a shared connection with the Irish.
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UC Davis, Penn State … the FBI?
What connection does UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi have to the FBI and how wide will the Kings open their wallets for the abbreviated season?
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Holiday’s three Rs
This season, how about celebrating by recycling, reducing and reusing?
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Editorial Cartoon
This week’s cartoon from the mind of John Kloss.
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A fistful of kittens
Rachel didn’t think she had room for more cats, but sometimes, the physics of space, it seems, is relative.
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Art of Glass
Ira Glass discusses The Simpsons, drunken stage antics and the future of public radio.
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Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
SN&R reviews a new production by UC Davis Department of Theatre and Dance.
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A cold winter’s tale
B Street offers a wintry classic in David Pierini’s adaptation of The Snow Queen.
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Singed feathers
Phoenix, Ariz., is the least-sustainable city in the United States, if not the world. But there’s hope.
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New rule: Read this
He’s just a comedian, but gosh, he’s right an awful lot of the time.
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What a girl wants
Jaclyn Friedman asks the right questions to help women figure out what we want from sex.
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Three pairs
Graham-A-Rama brings B.O.O.B.S. to the Cosmopolitan Cabaret. Get your mind out of the gutter; they’re a vocal trio.
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Mecca for beer
SN&R’s writer makes the pilgrimage to the Russian River Brewing Company.
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Holidays on high
A gift guide for that special someone in your life.
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Passions, directed
Resurrection Theatre wants to love its shows—and they want you to love them, too.
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Brussels sprouts, for the win
Maranello Restaurant channels Italy with pork, peppers and other killer veggies.
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Punkin chunkin’
Suggestions for using those pumpkins—and other varieties of squash—for something other than pie.
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Cookie exchange
It’s time to start trading holiday goodies, so warm up your oven.
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Time to roast ’em, open fire or not
After a long hiatus, locally grown chestnuts are beginning to reappear in the markets.
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RIP Pencil
Check out a quirky movie about vegan ideals without being preached to in Year of the Dog.
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Show me, the holidays
An overview of December’s most promising live-music shows in Sacramento.
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Like clockwork
Martin Scorsese gives us a golden, 3-D look at the early world of film—in addition to a great children’s story.
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Melancholia
Lars von Trier shows us just how isolating an apocalypse can be.
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