West Sacramento
News-Ledger Wednesday, November 11, 2015 Page 1
NEWS-LEDGER Entire Contents Copyright News-Ledger 2015
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52nd Year No. 11
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Local Scene
See what’s going on. Calendar on page 9
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Comics & Puzzles
Page 6
POLICE LOG
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The Rise of Urban Farms Volunteer Day at Lake Washington Farm
By Bia Riaz bia@news-ledger.com The City of West Sacramento, an urban center situated in the midst of Yolo County’s rich rural farm traditions and home to farms such as Peabody Ranch and Vierra Family Farm, is seeing a surge in small urban farms. You might be wondering, why does West Sacramento need small urban farms? Wouldn’t we just visit the larger farms? The Center for Land Based Learning’s West Sacramento Urban Farm Program addresses that exact question by bringing agricultural education, support for new farmers and resources to areas of West Sacramento described as food deserts. Urban farms replace vacant lots, remove urban blight and increase
Photos courtesy of Blair Kelly.
access to fresh fruits and vegetables. “The idea of an urban farm is to be surrounded by the people, in the action; feeding neighbors in need,” said Mary Kimball, Executive Director, Center for Land
Based Learning. Across form the Southport Town Center, lies a 3.3-acre site known as Lake Washington Farm. It’s one of four sites procured by the Center for Land Based Learning,
and converted to use as part of the West Sacramento Urban Farm Program. It is home to three local farmers; each with approximately an acre of land: (1) Fred Blum of Flowerstone Farm, (2)
Glen Baldwin of 6 O’Clock Farms; and (3) Tommy Yang of Zen Farms. On Oct. 16, in celebration of World Food Day, Lake Washington Farm welcomed about 100 volunteers, for Bayer Crop
The West Sacramento Police Department wants to meet you! By Bia Riaz bia@news-ledger.com On Tuesday evening, it was a dark cold night when I braved the winding South River levee road. I then carefully made my way through Dave’s Pumpkin Patch at Vierra Farms to catch the tail end of the West Sacramento Police Department’s Community Meeting; held at the beautiful Bridgeway Lakes Boathouse. As the officers were wrapping up the meeting, Senior Lead Officer Ryan Lukins was gracious enough to spend a few minutes with me. The meeting, on Tuesday, Nov. 2, was attended by more than 50 residents of West Sacramento. It was an open format without any specific agenda. Chief Tom McDonald, of the West Sacramento Police Department, had invited the community to meet members of the Police Department for an informal gathering and an opportunity to engage in conversation. People had an opportunity to ask questions and share their concerns on a wide variety of topics. In general, people expressed concerns about a recent uptick in theft for that area. As the Senior Lead Officer for the Southport beat of West Sacramento, officer Lukins addressed the issues and provided
his direct contact information for follow-up and further assistance. The officers also discussed crime prevention tips and shared information about the police department’s efforts to directly address the incidences of theft; including the presence of police officers on bicycles, as well as patrol cars; assigned to rotating 24-7 shifts patrolling the neighborhoods. Additionally, the police department has assigned trained police volunteers on bicycles to monitor the neighborhoods during daylight hours. I followed up with Sergeant Roger Kinney for additional details. The community meetings rotate every two to three months in the three Police Department beats: (1)Bryte-Broderick, (2)West Capital Corridor, and (3)Southport. The Senior Lead Officer for each beat locates a venue and announcements are posted on a variety of social media platforms such as the police department’s Facebook and Twitter pages. The meetings are also posted the city of West Sacramento’s website. I inquired about reaching out to people who may not have access to computers or smartphones, the elderly, or communities with special needs. “We work closely with BBCAN (The Bryte and Broderick
Community Action Network) to get the information posted at libraries, community centers and senior centers. They even design and develop the fliers for the events to help spread the word,” Kinney said. According to Kinney, a large number of attendees heard about the meeting through social media pages. The rest of the attendees learned about the meeting through information shared via an application (APP) known as Nextdoor. Approximately 49,000 users from West Sacramento currently use and share information on the Nextdoor APP. Our neighboring Sacramento Police Department currently uses it to disseminate information. The West Sacramento Police Department is also considering creating a page on the Nextdoor APP. The police department currently maintains an active presence online through Facebook, Twitter and other smartphone apps connected to the city of West Sacramento. These platforms allow people to access police department services quickly and stay informed. People currently have the ability to follow police department tweets, send anonymous tips, submit feedback, and ask questions. While these forms of commu-
Photos courtesy of the West Sacramento Police Department
nication may be convenient for non-emergency situations, people are reminded to always dial 9-11 in emergency and active situations. The police department has a mission to communicate effectively with the community. In Kinney’s observation, the meetings have helped develop stronger connections with the community and have been an effective way to educate and assist residents with specific concerns and aid with crime prevention. Just within the last seven days prior to the writing of this article, Kinney reported a marked decrease in reports of crime. On Thursday, Nov. 19, Senior Lead Officer Estrada, will be hosting a morning event, Coffee See Police, page 3
Science’s Annual Urban Farm Work Day. Bayer’s Research and Development Center moved to West Sacramento two years ago from Davis and See Urban farm, page 3
Sunday morning stabbing leaves two victims, and one in custody At about 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, Doon Saeturn, 26, of Woodland ventured to West Sacramento and stabbed two residents outside a house on Walnut Street. While still under investigation, police are certain they detained the right person, as Saeturn returned to the house later that day around 4:30 p.m. The stabbing is still under investigation and the two victims, both related to each other (and the only occupants of the house) are being treated for stabbing wounds to their heads, torsos, shoulders, and necks. “They were stabbed several times,” stated Sgt. Roger Kinney of the West Sacramento Police Department. Asked about the history of the house, Kinney said detectives are currently obtaining that information and trying to figure out a motive. “I don’t think this is super random, but we’re trying to find out the relation. Detectives are interviewing the victims and the family of the victims. They interviewed the suspect,” he said