West Sacramento
News-Ledger Wednesday, October 14, 2015 Page 1
NEWS-LEDGER Entire Contents Copyright News-Ledger 2015
USPS 388-320
52nd Year No. 07
Serving the West Sacramento Region Since 1964
Local Scene
See what’s going on. Calendar on page 11
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Comics & Puzzles
Page 5
POLICE LOG
See page 10
Traffic Amnesty Program offers hope to thousands of Californians
Shown here is ultra marathoner Karen Bennett with her husband, also an ultra runner, Nattu Natraj. They were married earlier this year and celebrated with long run, a 100-mile event from Squaw Valley to Auburn.
Meet West Sacramento ultra-marathoner Karen Bennett By Monica Stark editor@news-ledger.com Ultra-marathoner Karen Bennett of West Sacramento has a lofty goal- to be the second person ever (the first female ever) to complete the Grand Kona Slam of running. The typical Grand Slam of running is to run the following four 100-mile trail races in one summer: Old Dominion, Western States, Leadville and Wasatch. Each is considered progressively more difficult, and each offers its own tricks and treats, according to Runners World Magazine. But the Grand Kona Slam includes the aforementioned events with Hawaiian Ironman Triathlon World Championships added in for good measure. Only one other person, Paul Terranova of Texas, completed that informal event in
2012. “There is only one other person who has completed the Grand Slam and Kona in the same year -- This is the Kona Slam. I want to be the second person, and I fully intend to give it my all when the next opportunity arrives,” Karen said. Karen was on pace to complete her goal this year before an injury during Wasatch took hold this year. Karen completed the first three races in the Grand Slam Series and at mile 10 of Wasatch, she fell into a hole and fractured her Distal Fibula. “I did not know it at the time as we thought it was a bad sprain and I could work it out. Three miles later, I was picked up by some people riding their ATV on the road and they insisted I walk no further. I had a pretty
bad hobble. So of 400 miles, I did 313, ugh.” “When I fell at Wasatch I went down hard and in a lot of pain. A very loud scream accompanied this as well. I was running this with my friend Ernie Floyd. When he heard me scream, he ran down the hill to help rescue me. Many runners helped assist me, gave me tape to wrap my ankle, gave me Ibuprofen, and biofreeze. “Ernie and his son helped me get back on my feet and work it out. Again, we thought it was a bad sprain. Ernie stayed with me for about two miles as we got to the top of the climb. It took us over two hours to do those two miles. “I begged him to go on as this would be his 10th Wasatch finish and that is what he was striving to attain. He finally left me and I kept on as I was hobbling down
the mountain for three miles to the aid station. A mile into my lonely painful journey, three ATV came up and stopped to see if I was ok. This was the moment reality was hitting me and I fell into tears. They persisted with kindness to take me down the mountain, so I got a ride down. My dream was crushed, my year ended with a slam as I came to realize my ankle was not good. “My husband was to pace me at night but since I did not finish he was able to pace Ernie. I took Nattu to Brighton Lodge where we waited for Ernie to arrive. When he did he was ready to quit, but with food and force on our part Nattu and Ernie departed. Ernie did finish his 10th Wasatch and received a ring for this 1,000 See Runner, page 4
Jazz doing fine in West Sacramento By Julia McMichael West Sacramento has a long vibrant tradition of jazz. For many years, the Sacramento Traditional Jazz Society was located on Del Monte Avenue as was Tower Records. The El Rancho Hotel (now the Dharma Realm) and the Jazzyblues Cafe are a part of West Sacramento’s jazz history. But jazz lives on at River City High School under the care of an amazing teacher, Felicia Greenwood Weatherly. Felicia knew she wanted to be a musician when she was in seventh grade. Felicia fell in love with jazz when she was 15 and was attending her first Jazz Jubilee with her parents. At that festival, she found a flier for the jazz camp and she applied. She soon took up the clarinet and became a student at the jazz education program run by the STJS. She played in their ensemble, The New Traditionalists and attended their summer jazz camp at Sly Park. The summer jazz camp divided the students into bands and paired them up with master jazz players who coached their bands and provided specific instrument instruction. As the Camp Director, Bill Dendle says, “younger musicians are exposed to people who have played for a long time and can encourage them.” The emphasis is on music performance. Felicia returned to the jazz camp each summer, then became a counselor and finally a head counselor. She graduated to the adult camp and happily returned to the camp with her family. Dendle says, “It is a paradigm that music jazz campers go into music education. Those who go through the camp bring music to their schools.” When asked why students are drawn to traditional jazz, Dendle responds,
The current Sea-Monkeys “it has some of the elements of rock ’n roll such as a strong rhythmic center. They also can play without the constraints of something being written down. They don’t have to be a virtuoso.” When asked about Felicia, Dendle said “music plays a huge role in her life.” After graduating from California State University, Sacramento, Felicia did have job offers, but she was interested in River City High School. The school now has four fulltime music teachers, 60 marching band students, 26 jazz band students, 32 orchestra, 14 advanced ensemble, 40 in choir, two gui-
tar groups and two piano groups. The music program also features electronic music, drum lines, an award winning wind ensemble, symphonic band and a jazz combo. When Felicia began the program, River City High School had one band and two choirs. Her one demand for taking the job was that there be a jazz band added to the curriculum. The jazz band became the Syncopating Sea Monkeys, one of the few traditional high school jazz bands in the country. The Sea Monkeys See Jazz, page 9
Long seen as a rite of passage for teenagers, a driver’s license represents far more than that to most Californians. A valid driver’s license is a vital link to employment, independence and long-term individual and family stability. For those with unpaid traffic and non-traffic infraction tickets, however, insurmountable court fines have led to the loss of the privilege to drive, leaving little realistic hope of ever climbing out of the abyss. Thanks to a new law, hope has been restored. October 1, 2015, marked the kick-off of Governor Jerry Brown’s statewide traffic amnesty program. The purpose of the traffic amnesty program is to provide relief in the form of reduced fines and release of associated driver’s license suspensions to qualified individuals who have found themselves in default on court-ordered debt. Any persons eligible to have a driver’s license, including undocumented individuals eligible under AB 60, are entitled to participate in the program if threshold eligibility requirements are met. General eligibility requirements for the traffic amnesty program in Yolo County include: the initial due date for payment on the debt must have been on or before January 1, 2013; no payments have been made after September 30, 2015; no restitution is owed to a victim on any case within Yolo County; and no non-traffic misdemeanor or felony warrants may be outstanding within Yolo County. Qualified persons may expect outstanding fines and bail to be reduced by either 50% or 80% and to set up a reasonable payment plan for the remaining debt. For those that do not qualify for debt reduction, a payment plan for outstanding debt may still be developed, resulting in the immediate release of a driver’s license hold. “Every day I see Yolo County residents struggle to overcome barriers like lack of transportation and the often related barrier of unemployment,” said Yolo County Public Defender Tracie Olson. “It’s not that as drivers they pose a public safety risk, it’s just that they can’t afford to pay off their court ordered debt. I hope everyone who is eligible will take advantage of this opportunity.” The program costs $50, excluding the Department of Motor Vehicles fee of $55 to reinstate a driver’s license. Participation forms may be found on the Yolo County Superior Court website (www.yolo.courts.ca.gov/) and will be processed by the Court’s Traffic Division located at 1000 Main Street in Woodland.