Sacramento Blogs

CalTrans has rated thirteen Sacramento area bridges as structurally deficient and in need of varying levels of repairs, according to a recent state report.

Department of Transportation labeled only one bridge in the four-county region as functionally obsolete.

• Sacramento County — A south connector under crossing of Interstate 5 and five bridges along Highway 160. Those bridges include over the American River in Sacramento, the Sacramento River in Isleton and Paintersville, and over Steamboat Slough and Three Mile Slough.
• Placer County — Highway 174 at the Colfax overhead crossing and two bridges along Interstate 80, at the Cape Horn and Long Ravine under crossings.
• El Dorado County — Highway 50 crossing at the Echo Summit Sidehill Viaduct.
• Yolo County — Highway 113 over the Sacramento River at Knights Landing and the Highway 116 bridge at Taylor Creek.

CalTrans says the bridges are not at risk of collapsing but are at the top of the list for repairs.

ExpressJet Airlines will start flights connecting Bakersfield and Sacramento in Septermber 2007, expanding its service from Sacramento International Airport.

The Houston based airline, which started flying to Sacramento earlier this year, will now offer a 7:37 p.m. daily flight from Sacramento to Bakersfield, and a 7 a.m. daily flight from Bakersfield to Sacramento starting September  9th.

Sacramento newspaper publisher The McClatchy Co. (publisher of the Sacramento Bee) has revised its second-quarter earnings to reflect the increased costs of ending a dispute over a newspaper publishing arrangement in Seattle, trimming its net income by six cents a share.

Last month, the Sacramento based McClatchy had issued preliminary earnings numbers of $39,200,000 from continuing operations, or 48 cents per share, but said at that time that the actual figure would have to await a final decision on how to account for a settlement in the Seattle Times dispute.

Merchants and property owners in Midtown Sacramento have voted to create a business improvement district that will levy a tax on property to finance safety, marketing and infrastructure improvements.

The Midtown Business Association conducted a petition drive collecting signatures  from property owners who will pay at least fifty percent of the assessment in the new improvement district and then captured enough votes from merchants and property owners in balloting conducted by mail.

Folsom Lake Bank completed its first quarter of operations with a loss of $481,598, which was anticipated.

The new Folsom Lake Bank opened April 2 on Folsom’s historic Sutter Street. The bank ended the quarter with assets of $19.6 million. The loss was attributed to start up costs.

Dallas-based Brinker International Inc. has dedided to sell its Romano’s Macaroni Grill restaurant chain after same-store revenue fell flat during the company’s fiscal year ending June 27, 2007.  Romano’s Macaroni Grill has 40 outlets in California and four in the Greater Sacramento area. The local restaurants are in the Arden-Arcade area of Sacramento County, Elk Grove, Folsom and Roseville.

Brinker has owned, operated or franchised about 1,800 restaurants, including Chili’s Grill & Bar (1,220 stores), Romano’s Macaroni Grill (230 stores), On The Border Mexican Grill and Cantina (158 stores) and Maggiano’s Little Italy (41 stores).

Sacramento hotel room rates and occupancy are heading upward .

The average hotel room rates reached $107.48 in June, up 3.8 percent from $103.56 the year earlier.

Occupancy in June was 79.2 percent, up from 77.6 percent the year earlier, according to research by PKF Consulting.

Business education degree programs offered by the University of Phoenix, which operates college campuses in Sacramento, Rancho Cordova, Elk Grove, Fairfield, and Roseville, have received full accreditation from the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs.

The programs receiving accreditation include:

associate of arts in business,

associate of arts in accounting,

bachelor of science in business,

master’s degree programs in business administration and management,

executive master’s degree program in business administration,

doctorates in management and business administration.

Mortgage rates dropped slightly again this week on low job creation and high unemployment according to  Freddie Mac.

The leading mortgage lender said 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.59 percent this week, down from 6.68 last week. Last year, 30-year FRMs averaged 6.55 percent.

Bank of America has created a new mortgage program, the ” Neighborhood Champions Protected Mortgage”, exclusively for police officers, firefighters, teachers and medical workers.

The insurance program will repay up to $300,000 on an outstanding mortgage balance in the event of permanent paralysis, accidental death or dismemberment.

Borrowers will receive coverage regardless of health status.