Elk Grove News Podcasts

  For hardcore NFL fans, tomorrow’s Super Bowl between the Pats and Rams is like Christmas morning. Football fanatics probably know there are only four teams who have never appeared in the Super Bowl. The cocktail recipe is here.   

In this edition of Elk Grove News Podcast, we discuss one of the most misunderstood - especially as practiced by members of the Elk Grove City Council - regular items on their meeting agendas. An item that was supposed to inform the public has evolved into a perversion of the original intent.  Elk Grove resident and longtime city council observer, Lynn Wheat joins the conversation. Wheat expl...

 By Dan Schmitt | The United States is one of the few developed nations on earth that does not provide some form of universal, single-payer health care.  For clarification purposes, when referring to health care, the term universal means that all people within a country have coverage. The term Single-payer usually means that the federal government pays for everyone’s health care, with fu...

 In the last several days, city hall tax collectors and mall mavens in Elk Grove received crushing news – the Outlet Collection at Elk Grove will never open. Not to worry though - help is on the way! 

   In less than one month, plans for the demolition of two shopping centers in Elk Grove have been announced. The first is the Stonelake Landings for the proposed $750 million for profit hospital on the city’s west side The second is the demolition of the unfinished Outlet Collection, also known as the Ghost Mall. With the Ghost Malls demise, questions from residents of the Stonelake nei...

   At the January  2019 Elk Grove City Council meeting, the city’s economic development director Darrell Doan made claims that make  Dr. Evil’s assertion that his father invented the question mark plausible.

By Dan Schmitt    Numerous polls, just before the 2018 midterm election, showed that the number 1 issue on voters’ minds was access to affordable, quality health care. Actually, for more than a half-century, access to good health care has been elusive for many Americans. One might say it’s been a case of the “Haves and the Have-Nots.”  The “Health Care Haves” are the wealthy who hav...

Is the Elk Grove City hall payroll getting fat? A casual examination of recent events and job listings would say yes. 

 As we enter 2019, there will be scads of stories that will develop during the year. However, there are a few stories that have developed this year and before, that will continue into 2019. The outcome of these ongoing stories will have the most influence in shaping the future of Elk Grove, California.  

 The Christmas holiday season is the favorite time of year for many people. After all, if we have learned only one thing from Christmas movies on Hallmark or Lifetime, it's that wishes do come true at this time of year.   From Elk Grove News . 

By Dan Schmitt No season is quite like Christmas for welling up memories. And no Christmas season is more indelibly locked into my memory than the one that occurred back in 1958. I grew up the third of seven kids in the small central Wisconsin town of Schofield. My parents were products of the Great Depression and World War II and disciplined differently. Six of the seven Schmitt kids were boys, a...

On Wednesday, December 12, at the request of public works director Bob Murdock, the Elk Grove City Council approved additional funding of $1.4 million to cover cost overruns on the civic center aquatics facility.

Latest episode of Elk Grove News

By Dan Schmitt I suppose my journey began one afternoon during Christmas break in 1964 when I was 16. One of the few activities my friends and I did indoors during the cold, snowy north-central Wisconsin winters was play basketball. We were at the YMCA in my hometown when “THEY” arrived and put a dent in my sheltered existence.

Like many people, I had the good opportunity to shake the hand of an American President. In my case, it was the recently departed George H. W. Bush. To be clear when I met the 41st American President he was not yet in office. In fact, it was at the point when he was coming to widespread attention national attention.

On Wednesday November 28, the Elk Grove City council held a workshop meeting to discuss the advent of the latest advancement in cell phone technology, so-called 5 G. During the four-hour session, testimony was heard on the implications of the new technology from legal, public works, public health, technological, and economic development perspectives.

Over the next few weeks elected officials will be taking their oaths for office. Now is a good as time as to remind these officials their first priority is to represent, and, as needed, aid constituents. Along these lines two people recently told us why they voted for Congressman Ami Bera and State senator Richard Pan.

By Dan Schmitt Some years ago in the town of Elk Grove there lived a very unhappy young man named Joseph. Joseph had been afforded all the blessings and opportunities bestowed upon him and most other young people residing in Elk Grove. But still, he was so very unhappy and pined to anyone who would lend an ear that there had to be more to life than what he had so far experienced.

Thanksgiving is that time of year where people meet, argue politics with that crazy brother-in-law or Uncle, watch the Detroit Lions get their heads handed to them - again, and if there is any time left, give thanks for what matters the most.

In elections, there are metaphorical winners and losers, and the recent one in Elk Grove was no exception. So who was the biggest loser in this Elk Grove election?

What do all of the Elk Grove City Council and mayoral candidates have in common with Richard Nixon during his second run in 1968 for the President of the United States?

In a few days, one of our favorite celebrations will be upon us, Halloween. What isn’t there to like about carving a jack-o-lantern, and having kids come to your door shouting Trick or Treat? Over the last few years, however, there has been a full-frontal assault on this beloved holiday.

In this edition we have a discussion with Elk Grove City Council member Stephanie Nguyen who is seeking the District 4 seat in this Novembers election. A discussion with challenger Orlando Fuentes was posted in a previous podcast.

This two-part series features talks with 2018 Elk Grove District 4 city council candidates Orlando Fuentes and Stephanie Nguyen. The interviews are being posted based on a drawing conducted by Nguyen. Today the session with Fuentes is posted, and tomorrow the discussion with Nguyen will be available.

Who says the Halloween season is just for kids? With the campaign season collides with the Halloween season as it does every two year, you know the adults will be doing more tricks than just soaping windows.