KFBK Morning Newscast - 06-19-14

KFBK

Sacramento Makes List of Dangerous Cities for Pedestrians

KFBK - Pedestrian deaths are going up in the U.S. and Sacramento made the list of the 25 most deadly cities for those walking around.

Data collected from 2003 to 2012 showed more than 47,000 people were killed while walking around cities. That is 16 times the number of people who died in natural disasters in the same 10 years.

And the new report shows that in the past few years those numbers have risen, with Sacramento coming in at number 23 on the danger index. Stephanie Seskin with the National Complete Streets Coalition says re-designing problem streets could possibly reduce pedestrian deaths. 

"If we can make sure the money we have for transportation investment is going toward improving things for people who are walking, and biking, and taking transit as well as driving, that will go the furthest in making sure we're bringing down that number of fatalities," she said. 

Sacramento Makes List of Dangerous Cities for Pedestrians - 1 by JamesRojas

Children 15 years and younger are considered a higher risk of being injured or killed while walking the streets. 

Riverside is the only other city in California on the list -- coming in at No. 14. Florida leads the rest of the country with four cities making up the top five. 

City Council Approves New Downtown Arena

At its meeting Tuesday night, the city council voted 7-2 in favor of the the $477 million arena we've heard so much about.

Councilmembers Fong and McCarty voted against the arena deal.

The council voted on an agreement that commits $255 million in public money to the $477 million arena project at the  Downtown Plaza, most of that money will be backed by city parking revenue.

The financial terms, along with development and design agreements and the project's environmental review were all approved.

With the "go ahead," the Downtown Plaza could see the wrecking ball as early as this week.

"We have work to do, so the process will begin as soon as we possibly can," Kings President Chris Granger said.

Mayor Kevin Johnson and Kings Owner Vivek Ranadive have a news conference planned following the council meeting tonight. In anticipation of tonight's vote, a giant party was thrown -- a rally at city hall starting at 2:30, with live streaming of the council meeting at 6 p.m. on giant screens.

City Council Approves New Downtown Arena - 2 by JamesRojas

This was not your usual council meeting, you needed a ticket just to get inside the chambers and the meeting lasted past 10:30 p.m. Not everyone was in favor of the new arena. At least two community groups were raising their concerns prior to the meeting.

Eye on Sacramento, an activist group, issued a statement that claims the voters of Sacramento have been denied their Constitutional rights to vote on Sacramento's issuance of $300 million dollars worth of bonds to fund the arena project.

City Council Approves New Downtown Arena - 3 by JamesRojas

Also, the College/Glen Neighborhood Association is requesting that 50 percent of all net parking revenue generated by the new arena be generated to ambulance, fire and police services and that a minimum of 500 affordable community seats be set aside for all public arena events.  

Man Accused of Hitting Two Firefighters with Car, Driving Away

KFBK - Two firefighters were injured in the Antelope area early this morning when a driver struck them with his car and fled the scene.

Firefighters were responding to a call at Watt Avenue and Elverta Road of a man passed out inside his car with the engine still running.

Sgt. Lisa Bowman with the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department says when firefighters approached the car, that's when the suspect woke up.  "He put the vehicle into reverse and took the firefighters with him as he backed through the parking lot at a high rate of speed until he hit a tree," Bowman said. 

The suspect, Leontiy Kapakly, then fled the scene -- leaving the first responders injured.

A good description of the car was given and deputies began searching. Then they received a call from a homeowner on Ort Way. 

"The homeowner had no idea who was in the car, who owned the car, why the car was in his driveway. So a search of the backyard -- the K-9 found him," Bowman said. 

Man Accused of Hitting Two Firefighters with Car, Driving Away - 2 by JamesRojas

The 23-year-old suspect was taken into custody and police are trying to figure out if he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol. 

Man Found Guilty For Deadly Carmichael Hit And Run Crash

KFBK - A man has been found guilty of a 2012 hit-and-run crash in Carmichael that killed one person, injured another and left four dogs dead.

The incident happened the evening of July 16, 2012 when Harrison Long-Randall was walking with his girlfriend, Gemily West, and their four dogs.

A car traveling at a high rate of speed crashed into them. A Sacramento Superior Court jury this afternoon found 32-year-old Paul Walden guilty.

Prosecutors said he was high on heroin at the time of the accident. Long-Randall's leg was severed and he died at a hospital a few days later. All four dogs were also killed. The defense attorney claims Walden was sober and just dozed off during the accident. 

Man Found Guilty For Deadly Carmichael Hit And Run Crash - 2 by JamesRojas

Remains Found Underneath Isleton Casino Are Human

KFBK - Bones found underneath an old hotel and casino in Isleton has been confirmed to be human. Now the coroner's office is looking to see if there was any foul play involved.

Crews were digging inside the Del Rio Hotel, built in 1949, when one of the workers came across the remains. The bones were found three feet below the hotel's concrete foundation. So now the Sacramento County coroner's office is looking at the remains and trying to estimate the age of the bones, how long they may have been down there, and if it was a homicide. If they suspect there is any foul play then the investigation will be turned over to detectives. 

Before the hotel was constructed, it used to be a casino that had been known to have been raided by the Sheriff's Department. So people living nearby, talking to various news agencies, are hypothesizing on how or why the bones were there.

Right now it's unclear if any of the possible illegal activity at the casino has a connection to the remains.  

Elderly Mom Helps Chase Away Robbers on Mother's Day

KFBK - A Stockton mom showed just how amazing mothers can be, and it was just a coincidence that it happened to be on Mother's Day.

A woman had just returned home from shopping on Mother's Day on the 3100 block of Stefano Way in Stockton when two suspects approached her and tried stealing her shopping bag. 

After she resisted, one of the men ripped off a gold chain from around her neck. Stockton Police Officer Joe Silva says that's when the woman's elderly mother came running out. "At that point, the victims elderly mother saw what happened and chased after the suspect, yelling for help."

Mothers Day Robbery - W1 by JamesRojas

When the two black males got into their white four-door car, one fired a gun into the air then both fled the scene.

Officer Silva says "This is probably not how this family planned on spending Mother's Day, but we all got to remember that all moms, doesn't matter how old they are, always have that instinct in them, that when they see something happen to one of their children, they're gonna go out and protect them."

The men got away but no one was hurt during the incident. If anyone has any information on this robbery, you're asked to call the Stockton Police Department.

U.S. High School Grad Rate Tops 80%

KFBK - For the fourth year in a row, California's high school graduation rate continues to climb.
Eighty-point-two percent of students that started the 2009-2010 school year graduated with their class in 2013. This matches the national average. Sacramento County is also showing good numbers compared to last year. Graduates increased by two-point-four percent sitting at 79-percent.

California's State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson says - more career education in schools is playing a big role.  'Whether hey're going into healthcare academies and career pathways, whether they're going into computer sciences or construction, they see the relevancy of their education so we're investing hundreds of millions of dollars into career education - and it's paying off. Students are staying in school - they're motivated."

U.S. High School Grad Rate Tops 80% - 1 by JamesRojas

The graduation rate for African-Americans and Hispanics increased the fastest.
For more information, visit the California Department of Education's online stats report.

Sacramento Concerts in the Park kicks off Friday

KFBK - Don't have anything to do on Fridays? Well how about enjoying some music in the park.

The 23rd annual season of Concerts in the Park officially kicks off this Friday - at the Cesar Chavez Plaza in Downtown Sacramento. This year's lineup showcases some of Sacramento's well-known musical acts as well as some new favorites.

Annie Stuckert is the events director for the Downtown Sacramento Partnership. 'It's actually a great family atmosphere. We had lots of families come out last year with blankets. You can bring out your own picnic dinners, Mom and Dad can enjoy a nice cold one while their kids enjoy some foods from our vendors,' says Stuckert.

Concerts are every Friday night until July 25th from 5 to 9 p.m. and are located at 10th and J Street in the Cesar Chavez Plaza Park. The bands kicking off the start of Concerts in the Park include the Idea-team, Rock and Ryhme and The Nickel Slots.

Click here for the full schedule.

Fix 50 Construction Crews Will Work Rain or Shine

Construction crews on the Fix 50 Project will be working rain or shine today, and luckily, it shouldn't have a big impact on construction.

There are certain things that crews wont be able to get done if it continues to stay wet in the area.

"One thing that we will probably wind up slowing down on is inserting the dowels, because there is an epoxy that they have to go into and it has to be completely dry. So any kind of rain will slow probably the progress on that," Dennis Keaton with Caltrans said. 

Rainy Fix 50 - W1 by JamesRojas

However crews will still have other things to do, like laying down steel and construction under the highway. Even though the past couple days have not really seen bad traffic, Keaton says this is just the beginning, "so don't be overconfident." 

Read more: http://www.kfbk.com/articles/kfbk-news-461777/fix-50-construction-crews-will-work-12289232#ixzz2zvFGphJI

Roseville Police Create Online Archive of Stolen Goods

The Roseville Police Department is going online to try to reunite stolen property to its rightful owners.

The department launched an online property room where people can go and see if their stolen items have been recovered.

Roseville PD's Property and Evidence Supervisor Scott Koll says not only is this helpful for people who were robbed or burglarized, but it also might help detectives catch who did stole the items. 

"If they call us and say, 'That's my bicycle,' that helps us link up where we believe where the suspect was and it helps us draw the whole investigation together," Koll said.

Roseville Stolen Property Website - 1 by JamesRojas

Items on the website include everything from bicycles and computers to jewelry and power tools.

Neither the city of Sacramento or Sacramento County has a website like this, so people will have to do it the old fashioned way by filing a report to see if it matches any items recovered. 

New Mobile Medical Clinic Launching Tomorrow

Starting Tuesday, a new mobile medical clinic is hitting the road, aimed at helping those in need. 

Elica Health Centers is launching their first mobile clinic that will be deployed to underserved neighborhoods in the Sacramento area.

CEO Elizabeth Cassin says the Health on Wheels clinic contains two fully functional examination rooms that will help those who can't afford or have access to healthcare. 'Banks, churches, or wherever the need is - we'd like to think that we will reach the most excluded population and overcoming their access to care,' Cassin says. 

The custom made mobile clinic is the result of a partnership with the San Juan Unified School District, whose students will also benefit from medical checkups.

Health on Wheels - 1 by JamesRojas

Lawmakers Push for Higher Penalties For Illegally Grown Pot

[04-15-14]

State lawmakers were successful in getting higher penalties for those who grow marijuana illegally.

Congressman Mike Thompson and Jared Huffman are just a few of the lawmakers who are happy with the U.S. Sentencing Commission for raising the penalties for those who illegally grow pot that effects the environment and property. Thompson says it's the high-level offenders that threaten lives, and destroy wildlife and public lands.

The amended guidelines for higher penalties will be sent to Congress and reviewed for six months and will officially take effect November first. 

Lawmakers Push for Higher Penalties For Illegally Grown Pot -2 by JamesRojas

Modesto Police Investigating Stabbing Involving Adolescent Girls

KFBK - A girls sleepover during the weekend turned violent when a 13-year-old girl attacked her sister and friend.

Modesto Police say a 13-year-old girl stabbed two other girls, then herself early Saturday morning. The girls were taken to a nearby hospital and listed in critical condition. Officers arrived at the home on the 26-hundred block of E. Orangeburg Avenue around 1 AM after getting reports of multiple stabbing victims. Police found two 13-year-old girls and an 11-year old injured. A motive for the stabbings have not been released. 

13-Year-Old Girl stabs friend and sister during sleepover 1 by JamesRojas

STUDY: Popularity Can Cause More Bullying

KFBK - A new study out of UC Davis offers a different perspective on schoolyard bullying.



In contrast to the stereotype of wallflowers as the target, UC Davis Sociology Professor Robert Faris says teenage students who are relatively popular are now classified as the invisible victims of school-based aggression.

The study, which looked at more than 4,000 North Carolina teens, found that while socially marginalized students are often picked on, a single bullying event may be more psychologically damaging for popular students, who feel they have much more to lose socially.

Faris wants to remind students not to take popularity in school so seriously.

Popular Bullying - W2 - by JamesRojas

Water Beads Mistaken for Sprinkles Leading to Hospitalizations

KFBK - There is a product that helps the life of your plants, but it can be very dangerous to people who eat them. When dry, water beads look very similar to edible sprinkles. However, once they absorb water they expand 100 to 1,000 times their original size.

Darlene Rodrigo is a mother of two and says this happened to her family when a relative mistakenly added them to cupcakes. 'We called the California Poison Control Center and that's when they told us - in California alone - this has happened multiple times,' Rodrigo says. Darlene says days after eating them, her daughter and son both began throwing up and had to be treated at the hospital. 

Lee Cantrell with the San Diego Division of Poison Control says some cases can get so bad, surgery is the only option. 'If it becomes an issue where they can't pass them and they have problems with their bowel system - that would be a surgical emergency,' Cantrell says.

Darlene's children did not need to resort to surgery, but says people need to be careful if these products are in their home because the packaging is similar to the ones edible sprinkles come in and also the warning label that the product comes in is much too small.

Water Beads Danger - W2 - by JamesRojas

Sacramento Gas Station Sells Winning PowerBall Ticket

KFBK - There's someone out there who just became a millionaire over the weekend.

A winning Powerball ticket worth more than $1 million was sold at an Arco AM-PM on the 2200 block of 16th Street on Saturday.

The California Lottery says the winner matched all five numbers: 54, 37, 34, 25 and 24, but missed the powerball number 29.

They're not saying whether the winner has come forward to claim their prize of nearly $1.3 million but the store where the ticket was sold gets a piece of the pie -- winning more than $6,000.

Another ticket sold in Riverside County also matched five numbers.

And since no one matched all the correct numbers -- that means Wednesday's Powerball draw will be worth an estimated $284 million. 

Sacramento Gas Station Sells Winning PowerBall Ticket - 2 by JamesRojas

Stockton Man Dead After Officer Involved Shooting

KFBK - A man in Stockton was shot and killed after apparently confronting officers with a bayonet.

A man in Stockton was shot and killed after apparently confronting officers with a bayonet.

The incident began Saturday night when Stockton Police officers responded to a domestic violence call to a house on the 1500 block of Carpenter Road. That's when officers heard a woman screaming.

"So our officers had to go inside the house, once we got inside the suspect saw us and drug the female into a back room and we had to force entry," Stockton Police Officer Joe Silva said. 

Silva says officers then detained 45-year-old parolee Donald Haynes. However, he fought with officers and managed to escape.

On Sunday morning, officers following up the incident saw Haynes in a vehicle, and that's when Silva says he came out with a 19.5-inch long bayonet. "Our officers are saying, "Drop the bayonet, drop the bayonet,' and the suspect did not. He continued to walk toward the officer, so the officer had to fire his weapon," Silva said.  

Haynes was shot once and died of his injury at a local hospital. No officers were injured in the incident. 

Stockton Man Dead After Officer Involved Shooting - 1 by JamesRojas

CVS Pharmacy To Ban Tobacco Products

LOS ANGELES (AP) — CVS Caremark is kicking the habit of selling tobacco products at its more than 7,600 drugstores nationwide as it focuses more on providing health care.

The nation’s second-largest drugstore chain said Wednesday that it will phase out cigarettes, cigars and chewing tobacco by Oct. 1, a move that will cost about $2 billion in annual revenue but won’t affect its 2014 earnings forecast. CVS Caremark leaders say removing tobacco will help them grow the company’s business of working with doctors, hospitals and other care providers to improve customers’ health.

CVS Caremark Corp. and other major drugstore chains have been adding clinics to their stores for several years now. Their pharmacists deliver flu shots and other immunizations, and those clinics also have been expanding the care they deliver. They now help people manage chronic illnesses like high blood pressure and diabetes. To read more click Here. 

CVS Tobacco Ban -1 by JamesRojas

Gov. Jerry Brown Aims to Reduce Classroom Sizes

KFBK - Overcrowded classrooms are a common thing for school's in California, but if Gov. Jerry Brown get's his way, we may see classrooms shrink a bit.

The governor's new school-funding plan looks to reduce the number of students in kindergarten through third grade. In the mandate, schools must reduce class sizes or face a 10 percent funding reduction. But according to the chief business officer for the Sacramento School Distict, Ken Forrest, the school district can't afford it.

Forrest says the district stands to lose $7.1 million for in-state pupil funding because of declining school enrollment for next year. 

The state's new school funding program sets the goal of 24 students per class and districts must reduce their class-size gap by 28 percent by next year. However, school districts can keep the larger class sizes if the teacher union agrees to it. 

Gov. Jerry Brown Aims to Reduce Classroom Sizes by JamesRojas