SCC wins grant to train people for green jobs
By Sarah Rohrs
Posted: 10/04/2009
FAIRFIELD -- Solano Community College students soon will be able to delve into environmental careers in green building and solar energy thanks to a $418,751 state grant awarded Friday.
The state awarded 34 recipients a total of $27 million in grants to jump start a green jobs training program called the California Clean Energy Workforce Training Program.
Under the first phase of the program, nearly 5,600 participants statewide will prepare for hands-on jobs, such as installing solar panels, maintaining electric vehicles, and researching fuel cell technologies, according to an announcement from Gov. Arnold Schwar-zenegger's office.
At Solano College, efforts will be aimed at assisting veterans and unemployed people by providing them an opportunity to begin training for careers in the clean building and clean
energy fields, college officials said.
"We are very pleased to have received this grant towards economic growth and increased employment in Solano County," SCC President Jowel Laguerre said.
The college's "Green Building Pre-Apprenticeship Training Partnership" program will provide classroom education and hands-on training in environmental literacy, green building fundamentals, retrofits and energy efficiency, and solar hot water and electricity installation and design.
The SCC classes begin in the spring semester.
Efforts to push renewable energy development, climate change reduction, clean transportation and green building are driving the state's "green job growth," Schwarzenegger said.
The Solano College grant was funded through a collaborative effort combining several sources of money from the following -- Energy Commission American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Workforce Investment Act, Assembly Bill 118 Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program funding.
The state has been able to leverage its funding for the program through public-private partnerships, according to the governor's office.
Contact staff writer Sarah Rohrs at srohrs@thnewsnet.com or (707) 553-6832.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Suisun's checkered history of hotels
Suisun's checkered history of hotels
By Barry Eberling | DAILY REPUBLIC | October 02, 2009
The Suisun Cycle Club, in a time before autos were known, poses in front of the Arlington Hotel in Suisun City. Photo by Courtesy Vacaville Heritage Council
SUISUN CITY - Leslie Chrisler had reason to regard the grand Arlington Hotel in 19th-century Suisun City as a haunted house of horrors.
He came to the darkened parlor of the hotel in March 1892 to borrow a bass viol, then lay the big fiddle down and groped around the room for some sheet music. To his shock, he turned and in the dim light perceived that the viol was slowly and quietly moving across the floor.
'His eyes bulged and every hair on his pompadoured dome stood erect, while the manly heart beneath his glossy shirt bosom beat a tattoo that was positively said to have been distinctly heard in the adjoining room,' reported the Solano Republican, predecessor to the Daily Republic.
He dashed out the door and slid down the bannister to escape. He only later learned the truth - he had disturbed two lovers and the woman had tried to creep out. She got her skirt caught on the viol tuning keys and, still hoping to avoid discovery, had kept moving stealthily along as she dragged the instrument behind.
Suisun City will soon have its first hotel in decades when the Hampton Inn and Suites opens, but hardly its first hotel ever. Main Street was a hotel hotbed back in the early 1900s, when the city had only about 600 residents. The Arlington, Union, Suisun, Annex, Plaza and Mayfield served visitors and locals alike - until the bulk of these buildings met fiery ends.
'The Arlington and Mayfield hotels were probably the classiest,' said local resident Guido Colla, who remembers the hotels from the 1930s until their demises.
Suisun City's old hotels as they appear in photographs look ready-made for black-and-white film noir movies such as the 'The Big Sleep,' the type in which the detective goes looking for a bad guy and ends up fleeing down a metal, outdoor fire escape. They certainly didn't have the sameness of many of today's cookie-cutter hotel chains.
Grandest of them all was the Arlington, a three-story building with a balcony, built in 1888 near the town plaza as a successor to the Roberts Hotel, which burned down. It had 80 rooms and late 19th-century rates of $2 a day and $40 a month, ready to serve visitors during the railroad era who arrived at Suisun City's train station.
'At one time, they had a fine, fancy restaurant there,' Colla said.
Local citizens also came to the Arlington for big happenings, such as a December 1902 telephone hookup with Potrero Hills ranches 12 miles away. The gap got bridged partly by using barbed wire fences for phone lines.
It worked. Joseph Hoyt of the Hasting Ranch said 'hello' into his phone and his voice came over loud and clear in the Arlington. Hoyt lost sleep to the new contraption, though, since his city friends talked to him until midnight.
Hotels could be home to some rough sorts. H.F. Webber in May 1905 got arrested on an assault-with-a-deadly weapon charge. He asked Constable Downing if he could go into the Suisun Hotel to change his clothes and Downing agreed to wait on the sidewalk for Webber's promised return. The lawman eventually had to go into the hotel and haul Webber out of the attic.
They could also be lively places, such as the day in 1882 when a boy tried to drive a bull on the town's dirt streets. The animal went into the Roberts Hotel side door, wandered down a hallway and went out the front door.
And hotels could be dangerous. In September 1892, a young man from San Francisco came to the Arlington and got ready for bed.
'Probably his confusion of mind on finding gas in a country hotel accounts for his turning on the gas again after he had turned it out,' the Republican speculated.
He fortunately left the window open because of the warm night. The night clerk smelled the fumes and woke him up in time.
The hotels could even be risque and more than risque. Colla remembers the reputation of the Suisun Hotel.
See the complete story at the Daily Republic online.
By Barry Eberling | DAILY REPUBLIC | October 02, 2009
The Suisun Cycle Club, in a time before autos were known, poses in front of the Arlington Hotel in Suisun City. Photo by Courtesy Vacaville Heritage Council
SUISUN CITY - Leslie Chrisler had reason to regard the grand Arlington Hotel in 19th-century Suisun City as a haunted house of horrors.
He came to the darkened parlor of the hotel in March 1892 to borrow a bass viol, then lay the big fiddle down and groped around the room for some sheet music. To his shock, he turned and in the dim light perceived that the viol was slowly and quietly moving across the floor.
'His eyes bulged and every hair on his pompadoured dome stood erect, while the manly heart beneath his glossy shirt bosom beat a tattoo that was positively said to have been distinctly heard in the adjoining room,' reported the Solano Republican, predecessor to the Daily Republic.
He dashed out the door and slid down the bannister to escape. He only later learned the truth - he had disturbed two lovers and the woman had tried to creep out. She got her skirt caught on the viol tuning keys and, still hoping to avoid discovery, had kept moving stealthily along as she dragged the instrument behind.
Suisun City will soon have its first hotel in decades when the Hampton Inn and Suites opens, but hardly its first hotel ever. Main Street was a hotel hotbed back in the early 1900s, when the city had only about 600 residents. The Arlington, Union, Suisun, Annex, Plaza and Mayfield served visitors and locals alike - until the bulk of these buildings met fiery ends.
'The Arlington and Mayfield hotels were probably the classiest,' said local resident Guido Colla, who remembers the hotels from the 1930s until their demises.
Suisun City's old hotels as they appear in photographs look ready-made for black-and-white film noir movies such as the 'The Big Sleep,' the type in which the detective goes looking for a bad guy and ends up fleeing down a metal, outdoor fire escape. They certainly didn't have the sameness of many of today's cookie-cutter hotel chains.
Grandest of them all was the Arlington, a three-story building with a balcony, built in 1888 near the town plaza as a successor to the Roberts Hotel, which burned down. It had 80 rooms and late 19th-century rates of $2 a day and $40 a month, ready to serve visitors during the railroad era who arrived at Suisun City's train station.
'At one time, they had a fine, fancy restaurant there,' Colla said.
Local citizens also came to the Arlington for big happenings, such as a December 1902 telephone hookup with Potrero Hills ranches 12 miles away. The gap got bridged partly by using barbed wire fences for phone lines.
It worked. Joseph Hoyt of the Hasting Ranch said 'hello' into his phone and his voice came over loud and clear in the Arlington. Hoyt lost sleep to the new contraption, though, since his city friends talked to him until midnight.
Hotels could be home to some rough sorts. H.F. Webber in May 1905 got arrested on an assault-with-a-deadly weapon charge. He asked Constable Downing if he could go into the Suisun Hotel to change his clothes and Downing agreed to wait on the sidewalk for Webber's promised return. The lawman eventually had to go into the hotel and haul Webber out of the attic.
They could also be lively places, such as the day in 1882 when a boy tried to drive a bull on the town's dirt streets. The animal went into the Roberts Hotel side door, wandered down a hallway and went out the front door.
And hotels could be dangerous. In September 1892, a young man from San Francisco came to the Arlington and got ready for bed.
'Probably his confusion of mind on finding gas in a country hotel accounts for his turning on the gas again after he had turned it out,' the Republican speculated.
He fortunately left the window open because of the warm night. The night clerk smelled the fumes and woke him up in time.
The hotels could even be risque and more than risque. Colla remembers the reputation of the Suisun Hotel.
See the complete story at the Daily Republic online.
College wins green jobs funding
College wins green jobs funding
By Reporter Staff
Posted: 10/03/2009
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger Friday announced 34 recipients of $27 million in grants to jump-start the California Clean Energy Workforce Training Program -- including more than $400,000 for a Solano Community College program.
The CEWTP is the largest state-sponsored green jobs training program in the nation. Under the first phase of the program, anticipated to train 5,600 participants, workers will be prepared for hands-on jobs, such as installing solar panels and maintaining electric vehicles to computer programming and researching fuel cell technologies, to help develop the state's low-carbon, clean energy economy of tomorrow.
"California's goals in renewable energy development, climate change reduction, clean transportation and green building are driving green job growth -- and these funds are pivotal to building a workforce to meet that demand," Schwarzenegger said in a press release announcing the grants. "This program represents the kind of innovative thinking needed to steer our economy toward a greener future while targeting the unemployed, underemployed and new workforce members at a time when we must do everything possible to help Californians return to work."
Program participants will receive a variety of green-related degrees and certificates such as certified green building professional, home energy rater, certified photovoltaic installer, water/energy auditor, and weatherization specialist/auditor.
A total of 34 grantees throughout California were chosen to receive program funding through a competitive process. They anticipate training 5,600 participants for clean jobs in weatherization and building retrofit construction, solar installation, green plumbing and energy auditing among others.
The collaborative effort combines funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act from the State Energy Program, Workforce Investment Act Governor's Discretionary 15 percent portion of the federal Workforce Investment Act, Assembly Bill 118 Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program plus public-private partnership matching funds.
In the case of Solano Community College, a green building and clean energy pre-apprenticeship training program will get a total of $418,751 including $165,505 from the governors 15 percent portion of the federal Workforce Investment Act and $253,246 in state energy program funding.
By Reporter Staff
Posted: 10/03/2009
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger Friday announced 34 recipients of $27 million in grants to jump-start the California Clean Energy Workforce Training Program -- including more than $400,000 for a Solano Community College program.
The CEWTP is the largest state-sponsored green jobs training program in the nation. Under the first phase of the program, anticipated to train 5,600 participants, workers will be prepared for hands-on jobs, such as installing solar panels and maintaining electric vehicles to computer programming and researching fuel cell technologies, to help develop the state's low-carbon, clean energy economy of tomorrow.
"California's goals in renewable energy development, climate change reduction, clean transportation and green building are driving green job growth -- and these funds are pivotal to building a workforce to meet that demand," Schwarzenegger said in a press release announcing the grants. "This program represents the kind of innovative thinking needed to steer our economy toward a greener future while targeting the unemployed, underemployed and new workforce members at a time when we must do everything possible to help Californians return to work."
Program participants will receive a variety of green-related degrees and certificates such as certified green building professional, home energy rater, certified photovoltaic installer, water/energy auditor, and weatherization specialist/auditor.
A total of 34 grantees throughout California were chosen to receive program funding through a competitive process. They anticipate training 5,600 participants for clean jobs in weatherization and building retrofit construction, solar installation, green plumbing and energy auditing among others.
The collaborative effort combines funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act from the State Energy Program, Workforce Investment Act Governor's Discretionary 15 percent portion of the federal Workforce Investment Act, Assembly Bill 118 Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program plus public-private partnership matching funds.
In the case of Solano Community College, a green building and clean energy pre-apprenticeship training program will get a total of $418,751 including $165,505 from the governors 15 percent portion of the federal Workforce Investment Act and $253,246 in state energy program funding.
Travis unit wins award for service
Travis unit wins award for service
Published by The Reporter
Posted: 10/04/2009
The 349th Air Mobility Wing has earned the 2009 Airlift/Tanker Association Outstanding Air Force Reserve Command Unit Award for exemplary service.
The wing is the first winner of this newly created unit-level award, announced Maj. Gen. Martin Mazick, vice commander, Air Force Reserve Command.
The award recognizes the unique contributions of citizen airmen from the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve Command.
According to the citation, "superb leadership, management and participation within the 349th AMW directly led to outstanding contributions to the Airlift/Tanker mission. In addition to superb total force contributions, the 349th AMW excelled at personnel enhancement and readiness, community support and overall readiness while balancing competing demands on our citizen airmen."
Air Mobility Command, sponsor of the award, will recognize the 349th AMW at the upcoming award ceremony in Nashville.
Published by The Reporter
Posted: 10/04/2009
The 349th Air Mobility Wing has earned the 2009 Airlift/Tanker Association Outstanding Air Force Reserve Command Unit Award for exemplary service.
The wing is the first winner of this newly created unit-level award, announced Maj. Gen. Martin Mazick, vice commander, Air Force Reserve Command.
The award recognizes the unique contributions of citizen airmen from the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve Command.
According to the citation, "superb leadership, management and participation within the 349th AMW directly led to outstanding contributions to the Airlift/Tanker mission. In addition to superb total force contributions, the 349th AMW excelled at personnel enhancement and readiness, community support and overall readiness while balancing competing demands on our citizen airmen."
Air Mobility Command, sponsor of the award, will recognize the 349th AMW at the upcoming award ceremony in Nashville.
Procedure a first for Solano
Procedure a first for Solano
By Melissa Murphy
Posted: 10/05/2009
Dr. Gurinder Dhillon an interventional cardiologist at NorthBay Medical Center prepares for a cardiac procedure in the hospital's state-of-the-art cardiac catheterization lab on Tuesday, September 29, 2009 in Fairfield, California. (Joel Rosenbaum/jrosenbaum@thereporter.com)
Recovering at her home in Vacaville, Betty Smith recently underwent a new heart procedure, the first of its kind in Solano County.
Alleviating an 80-percent block in her coronary artery found in the back of her heart, years have been added to Smith's life, according to the medical team at NorthBay Medical Center that successfully opened the blockage.
The Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) was first available in August and the medical team has already seen 20 scheduled cases. It could see some 800 cases each year.
Dr. Gurinder Dhillon, medical director of interventional cardiology, was able to repair Smith's artery.
"She should feel an instant change," Dhillon said. "It's a 95 percent chance that that part of her heart will be fixed forever."
Smith, 77, a retired cardiac nurse of 40 years who has a history of heart issues, had a stent put in place in 1998 in a different state and in a different part of her heart.
"They gave me a DVD of the procedure," she said of the surgery she had on Tuesday. "It's quite different than they used to do it many years ago."
Patients undergoing the PCI procedure generally doze off into a light sleep. The moderate sedation helps the patients have a relatively low anxiety level, but awake enough to talk to the doctors if needed, explained registered nurse Jolene Scherner during Smith's surgery.
What prompted the diagnostic part of the surgery was Smith's abnormal stress test results.
Dhillon reached Smith's heart through an artery in her left groin. Through that vein he was able to slide a catheter filled with dye to see the blood flow in her heart. An X-ray showed the part of Smith's heart that was blocked.
Instead of patching her up and sending Smith on her way to a different hospital to take care of the blockage, Dhillon was able to place a stent in the artery right there.
The stent, an expandable steel mesh tube no longer than the end of a pinkie finger, was deployed
by a small plastic balloon. Sticking to the wall of the artery, the plaque was pushed out of the way by the stent and blood was able to flow through smoothly.
Only spending one night in the hospital, Smith was able to return home the next day.
Dhillon said the PCI technology is always changing for the betterment of the patients.
"It's very innovative," he said. "It's a renaissance time for us."
Before, a patient in Solano County would only be able to go to the hospital for diagnostic care in regard to the heart and then have to travel to a different hospital for anything that needed to be fixed.
However, with NorthBay's new cardiovascular surgery program along with PCI, patients can stay close to home.
"This is great for Solano County," Smith said. "They're able to fix a lot of problems and eliminate a lot of traveling. It's great to have amazing doctors right here."
Dhillon agreed.
"It used to be a double procedure," he said. "They would have to do the diagnostic test and then start the whole process again at a different location. Time-wise, this is cost effective."
Terri Bartoli, clinical coordinator for the department of Heart and Vascular Interventional Services/Cardiac Cath Lab, is pleased with the new program.
"With advanced technology, experienced cardiologists and highly-trained staff, NorthBay is profoundly changing the way heart-attack patients are treated here in Solano County," she said in a press release. "Furthermore, we'll save more lives and reduce the long-term effects of heart disease in our communities, keeping advanced medicine with compassionate care close to home."
NorthBay isn't stopping there. They also just opened a nationally accredited Chest Pain Center and are looking at opening a stroke center and an emergency coronary angioplasty center for people who are having heart attacks.
"Things are really dynamic here," said Diana Sullivan, director of Cardiovascular Service Line for NorthBay. "There is a need in Solano County."
In April, NorthBay debuted its $4.6 million surgical suit and began scheduling open-heart procedures. The PCIs are now performed in the center's $3.6 million Cardiac Catheterization Lab.
Dhillon and Dr. Cyrus Mancherje have completed all of the requirements to perform interventional procedures at NorthBay Medical Center and five others are in the process of completing the requirements.
By Melissa Murphy
Posted: 10/05/2009
Dr. Gurinder Dhillon an interventional cardiologist at NorthBay Medical Center prepares for a cardiac procedure in the hospital's state-of-the-art cardiac catheterization lab on Tuesday, September 29, 2009 in Fairfield, California. (Joel Rosenbaum/jrosenbaum@thereporter.com)
Recovering at her home in Vacaville, Betty Smith recently underwent a new heart procedure, the first of its kind in Solano County.
Alleviating an 80-percent block in her coronary artery found in the back of her heart, years have been added to Smith's life, according to the medical team at NorthBay Medical Center that successfully opened the blockage.
The Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) was first available in August and the medical team has already seen 20 scheduled cases. It could see some 800 cases each year.
Dr. Gurinder Dhillon, medical director of interventional cardiology, was able to repair Smith's artery.
"She should feel an instant change," Dhillon said. "It's a 95 percent chance that that part of her heart will be fixed forever."
Smith, 77, a retired cardiac nurse of 40 years who has a history of heart issues, had a stent put in place in 1998 in a different state and in a different part of her heart.
"They gave me a DVD of the procedure," she said of the surgery she had on Tuesday. "It's quite different than they used to do it many years ago."
Patients undergoing the PCI procedure generally doze off into a light sleep. The moderate sedation helps the patients have a relatively low anxiety level, but awake enough to talk to the doctors if needed, explained registered nurse Jolene Scherner during Smith's surgery.
What prompted the diagnostic part of the surgery was Smith's abnormal stress test results.
Dhillon reached Smith's heart through an artery in her left groin. Through that vein he was able to slide a catheter filled with dye to see the blood flow in her heart. An X-ray showed the part of Smith's heart that was blocked.
Instead of patching her up and sending Smith on her way to a different hospital to take care of the blockage, Dhillon was able to place a stent in the artery right there.
The stent, an expandable steel mesh tube no longer than the end of a pinkie finger, was deployed
by a small plastic balloon. Sticking to the wall of the artery, the plaque was pushed out of the way by the stent and blood was able to flow through smoothly.
Only spending one night in the hospital, Smith was able to return home the next day.
Dhillon said the PCI technology is always changing for the betterment of the patients.
"It's very innovative," he said. "It's a renaissance time for us."
Before, a patient in Solano County would only be able to go to the hospital for diagnostic care in regard to the heart and then have to travel to a different hospital for anything that needed to be fixed.
However, with NorthBay's new cardiovascular surgery program along with PCI, patients can stay close to home.
"This is great for Solano County," Smith said. "They're able to fix a lot of problems and eliminate a lot of traveling. It's great to have amazing doctors right here."
Dhillon agreed.
"It used to be a double procedure," he said. "They would have to do the diagnostic test and then start the whole process again at a different location. Time-wise, this is cost effective."
Terri Bartoli, clinical coordinator for the department of Heart and Vascular Interventional Services/Cardiac Cath Lab, is pleased with the new program.
"With advanced technology, experienced cardiologists and highly-trained staff, NorthBay is profoundly changing the way heart-attack patients are treated here in Solano County," she said in a press release. "Furthermore, we'll save more lives and reduce the long-term effects of heart disease in our communities, keeping advanced medicine with compassionate care close to home."
NorthBay isn't stopping there. They also just opened a nationally accredited Chest Pain Center and are looking at opening a stroke center and an emergency coronary angioplasty center for people who are having heart attacks.
"Things are really dynamic here," said Diana Sullivan, director of Cardiovascular Service Line for NorthBay. "There is a need in Solano County."
In April, NorthBay debuted its $4.6 million surgical suit and began scheduling open-heart procedures. The PCIs are now performed in the center's $3.6 million Cardiac Catheterization Lab.
Dhillon and Dr. Cyrus Mancherje have completed all of the requirements to perform interventional procedures at NorthBay Medical Center and five others are in the process of completing the requirements.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Benicia hopes for a boost from new Holiday Inn
Benicia hopes for a boost from new Holiday Inn
By Tony Burchyns
Posted: 10/01/2009
The Holiday Inn Express on E. Fifth Street is Benicia is set to open in November. (Chris Riley/Times-Herald)
BENICIA -- The tourism push here continues with a Holiday Inn Express set to open next month as the city prepares to hire a marketing consultant, city officials and the hotel developer said this week.
The 48-room hotel on East Fifth Street is nearing completion after about 18 months of construction that was interrupted by funding-related work stoppages, developer Hiten Suraj of San Mateo-based Suraj Investment Group LLC said.
"It's been a long time coming," Suraj said of the 2004-approved project. "The hotel industry has been affected severely with this downturn in the economy."
The franchise hotel -- Benicia's first since Best Western opened in 1988 -- will generate an estimated $84,000 in annual hotel taxes, City Manager Jim Erickson said. There's also a requirement for the project to sustain 10 full-time jobs, Economic Development Manager Amalia Lorentz added.
With the city poised to hire a tourism-marketing firm later this month, Erickson called the hotel's impending arrival "great news."
"From a tourism standpoint, (it will provide) additional places for people to stay," Erickson said.
The city has allocated $280,000 for a 20-month marketing contract that has attracted competing bids. The City Council may award the contract later this month.
Like the Best Western on East Second Street, the Holiday Inn Express -- which also will be close to Interstate 780 -- will offer wireless Internet access and a breakfast area for guests. Other features will include flat screen TVs in all rooms and conference facilities. Rooms will range from $89 to $119 a night, the developer said.
"We are targeting every niche in the market ... leisure, corporate, as well as the industrial workforce," the Suraj said.
The project is one of three being built near East Fifth Street and I-780: A medical office and Big-O Tires store also are under construction.
"It's part of the improvements in the east part of the city," Erickson said.
The hotel's address will be 1375 East Fifth St., near N Street. It will have two floors, reaching a height of 40 feet. Semi-underground parking will be included. Final design approval was granted five years ago, and the developer since has taken his time with all aspects of the project, Benicia planner Damon Golubics said.
Contact staff writer Tony Burchyns at tburchyns@thnewsnet.com or call (707) 553-6831.
By Tony Burchyns
Posted: 10/01/2009
The Holiday Inn Express on E. Fifth Street is Benicia is set to open in November. (Chris Riley/Times-Herald)
BENICIA -- The tourism push here continues with a Holiday Inn Express set to open next month as the city prepares to hire a marketing consultant, city officials and the hotel developer said this week.
The 48-room hotel on East Fifth Street is nearing completion after about 18 months of construction that was interrupted by funding-related work stoppages, developer Hiten Suraj of San Mateo-based Suraj Investment Group LLC said.
"It's been a long time coming," Suraj said of the 2004-approved project. "The hotel industry has been affected severely with this downturn in the economy."
The franchise hotel -- Benicia's first since Best Western opened in 1988 -- will generate an estimated $84,000 in annual hotel taxes, City Manager Jim Erickson said. There's also a requirement for the project to sustain 10 full-time jobs, Economic Development Manager Amalia Lorentz added.
With the city poised to hire a tourism-marketing firm later this month, Erickson called the hotel's impending arrival "great news."
"From a tourism standpoint, (it will provide) additional places for people to stay," Erickson said.
The city has allocated $280,000 for a 20-month marketing contract that has attracted competing bids. The City Council may award the contract later this month.
Like the Best Western on East Second Street, the Holiday Inn Express -- which also will be close to Interstate 780 -- will offer wireless Internet access and a breakfast area for guests. Other features will include flat screen TVs in all rooms and conference facilities. Rooms will range from $89 to $119 a night, the developer said.
"We are targeting every niche in the market ... leisure, corporate, as well as the industrial workforce," the Suraj said.
The project is one of three being built near East Fifth Street and I-780: A medical office and Big-O Tires store also are under construction.
"It's part of the improvements in the east part of the city," Erickson said.
The hotel's address will be 1375 East Fifth St., near N Street. It will have two floors, reaching a height of 40 feet. Semi-underground parking will be included. Final design approval was granted five years ago, and the developer since has taken his time with all aspects of the project, Benicia planner Damon Golubics said.
Contact staff writer Tony Burchyns at tburchyns@thnewsnet.com or call (707) 553-6831.
Official rails against state money grab
Official rails against state money grab
By Ben Antonius | Daily Republic | September 30, 2009
Martina Epinoza, 14, and her sister Anna, 17, left to right walk past Gordon's Music and Sound business in downtown Fairfield. Photo by Mike Greener
FAIRFIELD - State officials are 'detached' from the local consequences of their decisions, a speaker told members of the Solano Economic Development Corp. Wednesday.
John Shirey, executive director of the California Redevelopment Association, spoke to the crowd about more than $2 billion the state forcibly borrowed from communities to balance its own budget. He charged that state leaders view local governments as 'an ATM' and don't recognize the consequences of their actions.
'What's easier than having to cut your expenses or raise your revenue? Take the money from someone else,' he said. 'That's why John Dillinger robbed banks.'
Collecting the money was approved by AB 26 4X, one in a package of bills that aimed to resolve the state's long budget crisis. Shirey credited local state Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Davis, and local Assemblywoman Mariko Yamada, D-Davis, for being among the minority who voted against the bill.
State Sen. Pat Wiggins, D-Santa Rosa, and Assemblywoman Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, voted in favor of the bill.
The redevelopment association will sue the state over the money, Shirey said. It successfully sued over a similar, though smaller, situation in 2008. He said the association is also leaning toward supporting California Forward, one of several concurrent reform efforts.
Wolk also supports California Forward, and is the author of its first bill. The Legislature is often viewed as being resistant to reform attempts, but Wolk said there are people 'on both sides of the aisle' that want things to change.
See the complete story at the Daily Republic online.
By Ben Antonius | Daily Republic | September 30, 2009
Martina Epinoza, 14, and her sister Anna, 17, left to right walk past Gordon's Music and Sound business in downtown Fairfield. Photo by Mike Greener
FAIRFIELD - State officials are 'detached' from the local consequences of their decisions, a speaker told members of the Solano Economic Development Corp. Wednesday.
John Shirey, executive director of the California Redevelopment Association, spoke to the crowd about more than $2 billion the state forcibly borrowed from communities to balance its own budget. He charged that state leaders view local governments as 'an ATM' and don't recognize the consequences of their actions.
'What's easier than having to cut your expenses or raise your revenue? Take the money from someone else,' he said. 'That's why John Dillinger robbed banks.'
Collecting the money was approved by AB 26 4X, one in a package of bills that aimed to resolve the state's long budget crisis. Shirey credited local state Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Davis, and local Assemblywoman Mariko Yamada, D-Davis, for being among the minority who voted against the bill.
State Sen. Pat Wiggins, D-Santa Rosa, and Assemblywoman Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, voted in favor of the bill.
The redevelopment association will sue the state over the money, Shirey said. It successfully sued over a similar, though smaller, situation in 2008. He said the association is also leaning toward supporting California Forward, one of several concurrent reform efforts.
Wolk also supports California Forward, and is the author of its first bill. The Legislature is often viewed as being resistant to reform attempts, but Wolk said there are people 'on both sides of the aisle' that want things to change.
See the complete story at the Daily Republic online.
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