Divers are searching Lake Natoma late Friday for a man believed to have drowned near the CSUS Aquatic Center off Hazel Avenue.
Capt. Bryan Thomson of the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District said a group of young men were at the lake about 8:10 p.m. when one man swam out to retrieve a ball in the channel. He began having difficulties and another member of the group tried to come to his aid as he went under water, but was unable to rescue him.
Bicyclists racing along the American River bike trail in Sacramento will soon risk speeding tickets for exceeding the 15 mph speed limit.
Sacramento County has been issuing warnings this month to cyclists caught on a speed detector going 20 to 25 mph.
Soon, they will face a $50 fine for the first offense and $100 for a second citation.
Ranger Sgt. Randy Lewis stood along the bike trail Friday afternoon with an infrared speed detector, calling out speeds to cyclists as they passed.
“Going 23, slow it down!” he shouted.
Lewis said the 28-mile bike trail, from Hazel Avenue to Discovery Park, is used by a wide variety of people including kids, joggers, and people walking dogs.
“It’s not a raceway, it’s a parkway,” Lewis said.
More at KCRA.com >>>
The Sacramento region’s flood-control infrastructure got a fresh infusion of cash Tuesday, with the announcement of about $115 million in federal money for projects for Folsom Dam, the American River watershed and south Sacramento.
Under the money, part of the allocation for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 2013 fiscal year work plan, the bulk, $98.8 million, will be spent on building an auxiliary spillway for Folsom Dam. Other projects include $2 million to raise the dam and $700,000 to improve flood protection around creeks and streams in south Sacramento County.
Though the funding also includes $13.5 million for American River watershed work, including design to support levees in Natomas and elsewhere, the region still has a bit longer wait for money to finish work on the Natomas basin, where a building moratorium over potential flood issues remains in place.
More at BizJournals.com >>>
It’s 8 a.m. on a June Saturday, and the American River Parkway is already getting crowded.
Runners Katie Tibbetts and Heather Kobza head onto the asphalt trail at Hazel Avenue, heads swiveling to watch for cyclists. Nearby, sweat-drenched Katri Kehraevuo of Citrus Heights steers her bike into the fish hatchery lot following an early-morning ride timed to beat the crowds. Farther down the trail, Heather Raitt of Carmichael sticks carefully to the shoulder as she pushes a stroller carrying her daughter Chloe, 3, on a duck-viewing expedition.
Life on the parkway has hit peak season. Sacramento County park rangers call it the “hot zone,” when portions of the region’s flowing 32-mile recreation artery can clog.
There are no solid data on how many people are flocking to Sacramento’s most popular recreation area. but many users say the numbers have risen noticeably in the past few years, prompting complaints that the parkway’s narrow trail – a 12-foot ribbon of pavement with a shoulder that varies – has become overcrowded to the point of being dangerous.
New leaders in the Sacramento County parks department agree, and have launched a series of crackdowns on some of the parkway’s most problematic activities.
This month, county rangers announced that they will, for the first time, cite some cyclists for going faster than the posted 15 mile-per-hour limit. Their focus will be on groups of riders that speed through certain crowded areas.
Officials also recently launched daily raids on homeless camps. They have begun issuing citations for off-leash dog walkers, and plan a series of restrictions on the large commercial running groups that have showed up on the trail in recent years.
“We’re talking about physics here, really,” said Chief Ranger Stan Lumsden. “The more people using the trail, the more conflict.”
Sacramento County handles the section of the parkway from Discovery Park to Hazel Avenue. The portion past Lake Natoma and Folsom Lake is managed by the state.
For the most part, parkway users follow a simple code of conduct that keeps the trail safe. Runners, walkers and stroller pushers have the right to use the paved path, but etiquette calls for them to stick to the left side and not run two abreast on the pavement. Runners in groups are encouraged to shout “bike up” as a warning when cyclists approach.
Cyclists are asked to switch to single file when other users are around, and county signs posted along the trail instruct them to call out, “On your left,” when passing other riders.
Yet on summer weekends, with families, dog walkers, rafters and others crossing the trail, the friendly shouts of hello can give way to angry cries of “watch out!”
“It’s a nightmare out there,” said cyclist Gail Hart.
Hart, who got knocked out in a high-speed bike crash involving another cyclist a few years ago, says she stops and tells others what they are doing wrong. It’s led to shouting matches.
Other users say they find the trail pleasurable and relaxing, even on summer weekends. They just have to be on good behavior and general alert.
Tibbetts says she follows etiquette by running on the left side of the trail so she can see cyclists coming toward her. She slides onto the crushed granite shoulder to give riders more room whenever possible.
“But it’s been scary when they don’t follow in single file,” she said.
As campers straighten up tents, gather firewood and rest after a day of activity, nature responds with the calming of wildlife and the quickly darkening sky.
But not all goes black in the night at Camp Pollock. The ambient glow looming like a spirit summoned by the night’s campfire tales is from downtown Sacramento, a mere two miles away.
While some Sacramento residents know of Camp Pollock’s 11 acres along the north bank of the lower American River, and former Scouts tell stories of childhood nights camping on its grounds, others cringe at the idea of pitching tents in an area with a reputation for homeless encampments and vagrant activity.
The public is invited to meetings next week to learn about two new levee repair projects along the American River.
The first meeting will be held Tuesday concerning a plan by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to build a seepage cutoff wall 3,300 feet long in the levee on the north bank of the American River, just east of the Natomas East Main Drainage Canal, near Del Paso Road. The meeting is from 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday at the American River Flood Control District office, 165 Commerce Circle in Sacramento.
The second project involves widening, realigning and strengthening more than 1,300 feet of levee along the north bank of the American River near William Pond Park. This meeting is Thursday from 4 to 6 p.m. at the American River Parkway Foundation office, 5700 Arden Way, in Carmichael.
More at Sacbee.com >>>
Cyclists who zip along the American River Parkway faster than the 15 mph speed limit may find their free-wheeling ways costing them $50.
Starting as early as this weekend, Sacramento County rangers will be lying in wait – a LiDAR speed gun in one hand, a citation book in the other – to clock, warn and eventually cite cyclists who treat the crowded trail as a racetrack.
“If cyclists want to open it up, they really need to go out on the roadway,” County Regional Parks Chief Ranger Stan Lumsden said. “This is a multiuse trail with pedestrians, dogs, horses, strollers and joggers.”
Cyclists have long been allowed to ride faster than the posted limit, often doing it safely. But as the parkway has gotten crowded, Lumsden said, rangers have noted more speed-related crashes, including some serious head-on collisions.
Lumsden said parkway groups and users complain about unsafe riders, especially clusters of cyclists hitting speeds of 30 mph.
“People say it’s a long time coming,” Lumsden said. He acknowledged the effort will be controversial. “Yeah, but everything we do is.”
The citations will be issued under the county park code. They will not be reported to the Department of Motor Vehicles, and will not affect a cyclist’s driver’s license standing or car insurance, Lumsden said.
It’s not yet summer, but it’s not too early for extreme summer heat.
Record-high temperatures, peaking at 105 degrees, are expected to hit the Sacramento region today and Saturday.
At least until the Delta breeze kicks in Sunday across the Valley, when the thermometer may plunge below 90 degrees, health officials advise that this is not the time to sip alcoholic cocktails under the sun. That will only further dehydrate you amid the withering heat.
And state fire officials suggest that you not even think about barbecuing outdoors or mowing that dry grass in the Sierra foothills. They warn that two days of dry, scorching weather, followed by threats of lightning strikes Sunday, means elevated danger for wildfires.
“In this kind of weather, even a smoldering look can cause a fire,” said Janet Upton, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
National Weather Service officials are predicting temperatures in Sacramento will hit 102 today – tying a record from 1883. The heat is expected to reach 105 on Saturday, burning past the high of 103 recorded in 1973.
Weather officials were originally predicting even hotter conditions before determining that a cooling breeze could slip in between competing high and low pressure systems. That would allow high temperatures to drop back down to a comparatively chilly 89 degrees Sunday.
Until then, “there is just going to be a lot of hot air coming in,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Drew Pearson. “It’s unusual to be this hot, this early.”
While the Sacramento region is certainly used to its summer swelters, Dr. Peter Hull, emergency medical director for the Sutter Roseville Medical Center, is putting out warnings early this year on coping with heat.
“Doing everything possible to avoid being out in the heat is the first priority,” said Hull. He added that “the young, the very old, the sick and the obese” should take particular care to drink plenty of fluids and stay in the air-conditioned indoors – whether it’s at home or in a chilled shopping mall or theater.
He warned of signs of heat exhaustion. It may start with cramping. In severe cases, vomiting, diarrhea or disorientation may mean someone needs medical attention and should call 911.
Nine out of 12 intersection stop signs on portions of the American River bike trail will be taken out to allow runners and bicyclists the right of way.
The intersections will go from four-way stops to two-way stops with vehicles required to give right of way to bike riders, runners and walkers. Stan Lumsden, Sacramento County chief ranger, said the traffic flow change is about safety.
“We have more bicycle traffic through the parkway than vehicles and it makes sense to give the bikes the right of way,” said Lumsden in a county press release. “On the safety side, bikes can roll through the intersection allowing cyclists to keep up their momentum and avoid rear-end collisions.”
More at SacBee.com >>>
According to the Trust for Public Land’s Parkscore index, Sacramento tied for third in a rating of the nation’s top park systems with Minneapolis taking top honors.
New York came in second and joining Sacramento in the number three spot is Boston and San Francisco.
Three factors comprise the ratings: park access, which measures the percentage of residents within a half-mile walk of a park; park size, which is based on the community’s median park size and percentage of total city area dedicated to parks; and a category that combines number of playgrounds per 10,000 residents and per capita park spending.
The report’s profile of cities mentions Land Park (most visited) and the American River Parkway (largest) in Sacramento.