But then I didn't have to tell you that. Each morning at 5:00 a.m. I go through that intersection on my way to my radio job downtown. Or rather, STOP at that intersection. And wait ... And wait ... Due to the new construction, the sensors at the traffic signals have been turned off and switched to timers, which means that we early morning motorists have to wait through the whole rotating cycle, even though there is rarely another car on the road. A pain in one respect, but on the other hand it forces me to get up earlier and not rely on a lead foot to get me to the office on time.

Speaking of the construction in that area, it's causing a real inconvenience for the good folks at Green Beans World Cafe on the corner. A large chunk of their parking lot is cordoned off or torn up, and that's hurting business. Do the owners a favor: if you can navigate the maze, stop in for a little something. Good coffee, free wi-fi, and a friendly staff that takes the construction mess with good humor.

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It wasn't as bad as the New Year's storm a few years back, but it was still pretty darned inconvenient.

I went in to work Friday morning as usual, only to find that the power at the office was out. My co-workers were in a partying mood -- who wouldn't be happy to get out of work? -- but I was behind in my daily slog and in no mood to share in the revelry. So I took off for Pure Grain Bakery in Vacaville where I could get a cup of coffee and an Internet connection.

Of course with the servers at work down, I still couldn't get anything done because I couldn't log on remotely. (Sigh). Then my wife called with the news that the power was out at our house. I invited her to join me -- it's been months since we had breakfast together during the week. That was nice, but when we went home a few hours later, the power was still out. So we sat in the near darkness, trying to read by candlelight, until we dozed off.

We weren't able to sleep for long because the house was getting colder by the hour. Even wearing socks and my warmest slippers plus a blanket over my feet, my toes were freezing.

Now five hours into the outrage, my wife says I should call PG&E. Naw, I said, I'm sure the neighbors have already called. Then we flashed on the same thought -- What if all the neighbors were thinking the same thing? A quick call to the power company brought a recorded message. "We are aware of the outage in your area," it said. "There is no estimated time of restoral." Restoral? Is that even a word?

Another quck call to my brother and his wife, who we were going to have over for dinner that night. With no working stove or oven, that wasn't gonna happen.

Finally the cold got the best of us and we headed over to my in-laws ,where they had nice things like heat and TV and lights. After a tasty dinner and a movie, we headed back home ... to a dark house.

Long story short, we had "restoral" at 11:05 p.m. -- 14 hours after the power went out.

Don't mean to complain, and I know that many people had it worse than us. So how was YOUR weekend?


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“So, what are you trying to do with this website?” It’s a question I get all the time from people who discover Your Hometown News. Some have friends who turn them on to the site while others stumble onto it when surfing for local news. But always the question is the same.

The answer is simple, the effort much more complicated. I started this website because I believe strongly that local news and information is what people need to make the most important decisions about their daily lives. Where to school their kids, what church to go to, what businesses to spend their money on, what recreational activities are best for their health and well being – these are all matters of great importance to most folks.

And yet, in today’s world of big government, big business, formula stores and cookie-cutter retailers, the needs of the local resident seem to be getting lost. Even that venerable institution of local information and opinion – the small town newspaper – has been swallowed up by a corporate giant whose commitment to the community is measured only in advertising dollars and circulation figures. News “content” is generated by fewer and fewer writers whose work is “shared” among all the corporate properties and regurgitated into each “local” paper. And you thought only milk was homogenized.

So what is Your Hometown News doing to change this? First off, we are committed to running strictly local news and information from our coverage area only: Vacaville, Davis, Winters, Woodland and Dixon. We’ll keep our ears and eyes open and when there’s news to report, we’ll do our best to get it out to you. And you’ll need to give us some time. We’re still new at this, but our commitment won’t fade.

And most of all, we want to make sure that we get the news that is important to the community. That’s where you come in. If you have local information that needs to be put out there: business news, civic affairs, crimes, fires, births, deaths, school plays, volunteer opportunities, baseball games, traffic accidents, church socials, charity events, whatever …

WE WANT TO KNOW ABOUT IT. Just send it to:

Your Hometown News
www.yhtn.net
560 Laramie Way
Vacaville, CA 95688
Fax 707-455-7878
Email: editor@yhtn.net

Thanks for checking out our site. Keep coming back, and we’ll make this thing work.

Dave Paris, editor

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This is the first in a series of entries in my "Editor's Blog". I will use this forum to share my thoughts on local news and events, and others are invited to respond with their own thoughts. The hope is that we can spur an unfiltered community dialogue about the issues that affect us all on a daily basis, right here in our hometown.

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