Now that more people are venturing into downtown Vallejo for various events, the merchants there would like to see more of them actually visit their businesses.
So was born the Downtown Summer Sweeps, a promotion blanketing the city with the news that a big-screen TV and other prizes are up for grabs for those who shop in downtown Vallejo, said Tina Fowler, chairperson of the Vallejo Chamber of Commerce's Downtown Merchant Committee.
New promotion seeks to entice people to shop downtown VallejoTwo people were in custody early Monday after Vallejo police spotted them in a car reported stolen about an hour earlier, Vallejo Police Department Lt. Kent Tribble said.
"At about 5:12 a.m. Monday, officers saw two people in a car that had been reported car-jacked an hour earlier in town, parked in the 500 block of Tennessee Street, and detained the people inside that car," Tribble said.
Pair who allegedly car-jacked a vehicle in Vallejo were arrested about an hour laterA parking attendant was robbed at gunpoint by a man in a car on Sunday, a Vallejo Police Department spokesman said.
"At about 3:45 p.m. Sunday, a suspect pulled up in a white four-door sedan to the entrance of Blue Rock Springs Park, pointed a black shotgun at the cashier and demanded money," Lt.
Vallejo parking attendant robbed by shotgun-armed driverThe Bay Area's 511 traffic information system is now available in Spanish, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) announced Monday.
The addition of a fully-interactive Spanish language voice recognition and response system to the Bay Area's 511 phone system allows Spanish-speaking drivers, carpoolers and transit riders to access all the options that have been used more than 80 million times by English-speaking callers, officials said.
Bay Area's 511 travel information phone service now available in SpanishAn American Canyon man believed to have robbed a Sonoma bank last week was reportedly arrested Friday, according to the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office.
Mohammad Juma Kharufeh, 38, was booked into the Sonoma County main jail on suspicion of felony robbery and felony burglary related to last week's holdup at Rabobank on Maple Street in Sonoma.
American Canyon man arrested for bank robberyNAPA COUNTY >> The rehabilitation and repaving of Lincoln Avenue at State Route 29 in Napa requires over night closures starting Aug. 6, California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) officials announces.
Caltrans is working closely with the City of Napa in this endeavor, they said.
The work is scheduled during five consecutive nights starting Aug.
Lincoln Avenue in Napa has overnight ramp closuresAMERICAN CANYON >> An apartment development in the works for years was granted what City Council members said they hope is its last permit extension and members were updated on talks between city officials and the United States Postal Service at Tuesday's special meeting.
The meeting was held in lieu of the regular Aug.
New chance for decade-old American Canyon apartment projectWith the departure Tuesday of The Cape Borda (AK 5058) from the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet, the last of the National Defense Reserve Fleet non-retention vessels will have left the area, Department of Transportation officials said.
The ship, which is scheduled for dry-docking at Mare Island Dry Dock, brings to 57 the total number of ships that have departed the fleet site since October 2009, when the Maritime Administration initiated an effort to improve the surrounding environment and clean up the Fleet, officials said.
Last mothball fleet vessel leaves Suisun BayNAPA >> A Napa man faces life in prison for molesting a child, Napa County District Attorney Allison Haley announced Tuesday.
After a week-long jury trial, on July 21, Jimmie Leonne Mallette, 68, was convicted of all charged counts by a Napa County jury, according to the announcement. Mallette was found guilty of three counts of oral copulation with a child under 10 years of age, two counts of lewd and lascivious conduct with a child under 14 years of age, and one count of continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14 years of age.
Napa man faces life in prison for child molestingA short-term solution to the troubled condition of the Mare Island Cemetery might be in the works, if a proposal reaches the Department of Defense by the end of September, according to a retired Navy Captain who has taken on the matter. But, ongoing maintenance of the west's oldest Naval cemetery remains in question, U.
Possible movement in effort to save Mare Island CemeteryAt a special city council meeting Tuesday, council members will consider extending the design permit for the troubled Village at Vintage Ranch project by six months.
The meeting will also feature an update on what's being done to solve the city's post office problems, among other agenda items, some held over from the last meeting.
Special American Canyon City Council meeting TuesdayA badly damaged Big Sur bridge is being made safer by a Vallejo-based company, firm officials announced.
Work for the replacement of the damaged Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge in Big Sur, was done by Mare Island's XKT Engineering, Inc., company controller, Tiffany Mathison said. "The girders are fabricated in our Mare Island shop and shipped to the job site," she said.
Vallejo firm makes steel girders to repair demolished Big Sur spanBeth Kranda was named Solano County Transit (SolTrans) Executive Director effective Aug. 28, by the agency's Board of Directors, it was announced.
Kranda succeeds Mona Babauta who left in April for a position with Golden Gate Transit, and follows a nationwide search.
"We are extremely pleased to have found a new executive director with the knowledge of transit operations and funding issues of Ms.
Kranda named SolTrans' new executive directorAn American Canyon man was taken into custody on Sunday for making drunken threats, Police Chief Tracey Stuart said.
At about 1 p.m. on July 23, officers responded to the 100 block of Gisela Drive following reports of a fight, she said. Officers were told that John Moore, 53, was intoxicated and had struck family members, threatened them with a knife and threatened to blow up the house, Stuart said.
American Canyon man arrested for threatening to blow up his houseUnemployment in Solano and Napa counties rose nearly a full percentage point in June compared to May, according to the latest state figures, released Friday.
The unemployment rate in Solano County was 5.1 percent in June, up from a revised 4.3 percent in May, below the year-ago estimate of 5.
Unemployment up in Solano, Napa counties in JuneA sunset, maybe. Or, perhaps flowers.
That decision - figuring out what to paint with just two reds and a yellow to work with - will be left up to the entrants in the American Canyon Arts Foundation's art contest.
Organizers are calling this their first ever Pygmalion Art Contest, not because it has anything to do with the "phenomenon whereby higher expectations lead to an increase in performance" - the concept upon which the film "My Fair Lady" was based - but because Pygmalion is the name of the company the paints came from, foundation president Mark Joseph said.
Challenging art contest in American CanyonOfficials broke ground Thursday on a project that will offer affordable housing and important services to seniors and veterans in American Canyon.
Valley View Senior Homes on Theresa Avenue will have "a high level of amenities, partnered with on-site social services for older adults with modest financial means," a news release said.
Groundbreaking held for affordable senior/vet housing in American CanyonA Vallejo man was arrested on suspicion of a number of crimes, after a Benicia Police Department officer found him apparently riffling through a car in the 1700 block of Park Road, a department spokeswoman said.
"A car with its contents strewn about around it, including its seats, raised our officer's concern yesterday morning as he was patrolling," at about 11:30 a.
Vallejo man arrested in Benicia on number of crimesDwayne Zehr of Vallejo said he calls his new free-spirited coffee house "Bean. Organic Coffee," - at 419 Georgia Street, where Nathan's Conscious Cup once was - after his dog, "because she looks like a little black bean."
The New York native said he was a Nathan's customer and knew the locals needed it replaced when it closed, and though the timing wasn't ideal for him, Zehr said he heard opportunity knocking and answered the door.
Bean, a new coffee house, opens on Georgia Street downtown VallejoA Vallejo native is among 28 students nationwide to share part of more than $300,000 in scholarships being distributed by Youth on Course, that organization's officials announced this week.
Sofia Cruz, who plans to study biology at University of California at Berkeley, was awarded $10,000 over four years - $4,000 from the Tony and Lary Lynn Muller YOC Scholarship and $6,000 from the Linda Rindt YOC Scholarship, officials said.
Vallejo student wins golf-related national scholarshipLots of people associate Vallejo with crime, lousy schools and bankruptcy. No news there.
But many others think of the waterfront, the art scene, and the city's diversity - the very elements that Visit Vallejo's Mike Browne says the city's "brand" will be built around.
On Tuesday, a Research and Strategy Presentation by the Nashville firm hired to "brand" Vallejo was held.
Vallejo branding effort moves forwardAMERICAN CANYON >> The city's new, streamlined and less expensive process for building or creating an in-law apartment on one's property was adopted with a few tweaks at Tuesday's city council meeting.
Meanwhile, a moratorium on cell towers was extended while officials wait to find out what the state does on the issue.
New in-law apartment rules adopted in American CanyonLegislation by Senator Bill Dodd aimed at bolstering funds for Napa County's farm worker housing centers was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown this week, Dodd's office announced.
Authored by Senator Dodd (D-Napa) and coauthored by Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters), the new law allows grape growers to increase their self-assessment fee to help bolster funds for farm worker housing, the announcement notes.
Brown signs Dodd's Napa farm worker housing funding billThe anti-nuclear movement is alive and kicking, something obvious to anyone who happened to be at the Vallejo Yacht Club on Friday when the Golden Rule made a stopover here.
The Golden Rule Peace Boat, arriving on Thursday, was here as part of a 2017 campaign, its crew members said.
"It was great," project manager Helen Jaccard said.
Anti-nuke ship and crew welcomed in VallejoYou are unlikely to have ever heard a Ranger Station described as "cute" before, but that's precisely the reaction many have had to the Mare Island-based U.S. Forest Service's newest addition, set to make its debut on July 23.
The agency's newest Ranger Station, which is completely different from any other in the National Forest System, will be introduced to the public during the Obtainium Cup Rally, officials say.
Cute, clever mobile ranger station added to Vallejo-based U.S. Forest Service, to launch SundayWith so much concern and confusion over access to health care, clinics like Action Health Clinics partnering with Safeway supermarkets could provide some much needed clarity.
Officials from both companies are looking at their partnership at the Safeway in Vallejo's Glen Cove area as a step in the right direction.
Virtual docs, real nurses staff new clinic at Vallejo's Glen Cove Safeway storeTwo Vallejo men were arrested in Benicia on Sunday after a local realtor caught them leaving a "staged" home for sale, Benicia Police Department officials said.
Benicia is among many Bay Area cities experiencing burglaries of staged homes for sale, and police said they're pleased to announce the arrested two suspects for this type of crime.
Vallejo men arrested after allegedy breaking into "staged" Benicia homeSolano-Napa Habitat for Humanity was named the 2017 Nonprofit of the Year by state Sen. Bill Dodd, his office announced.
Representatives of the home building organization were hosted on the Floor of the California State Senate by Sen. Dodd and were joined by other nonprofit leaders from Senate districts across the state that were also honored at the 2017 California Nonprofits Day event.
Solano-Napa Habitat for Humanity named nonprofit of the year for 2017The departure of the Cape Breton, a National Defense Reserve Fleet non-retention vessel, from the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet in Benicia on Tuesday, leaves only one ship left there, officials said.
The Cape Brenton (AK 5056) is scheduled to head Tuesday for dry-docking at Mare Island Dry Dock, bringing the total to 56 ships that have left the fleet site since October 2009, when the Obama administration announced an effort to improve the surrounding environment and clean up the Fleet.
And then there was one -- down to one ship in Reserve Fleet as one heads to Mare IslandAMERICAN CANYON >> City officials have involved Rep. Mike Thompson in their efforts to solve the city's vexing mail theft problems and it's desire for a bigger post office. A presentation on the results of a recent meeting on those matters is scheduled for Tuesday's City Council meeting.
A pay raise for the Fire Protection District Chief and Assistant Chief are also on the agenda for the meeting, set for 6:30 p.
Postal problems and pay raises on American Canyon City Council meeting agendaThere appears to be a method to American Canyon resident Sherry Prewitt's madness, motivating her to fly around at 100 mph to set up a Mad Hatter tea party in the heart of downtown Vallejo.
The VCAT filmaker is creating an Alice-in-Wonderland-themed, kid-friendly space during downtown Vallejo's 2nd Friday ArtWalk - providing entertainment for the younger set and respite for their parents.
Alice and her Wonderland friends offer tea time at Vallejo 2nd Friday ArtWalkFor all its positive attributes, one thing that has been in short supply in American Canyon is affordable senior housing. A solution to that problem is set to break ground next week.
The groundbreaking for the Valley View Senior Homes project, set for Thursday in an event open to the public, "presents a special opportunity to build a senior community in American Canyon that offers a high level of amenities, partnered with on-site social services for older adults with modest financial means," city officials said in a press release.
Groundbreaking for American Canyon's first affordable senior/vet housing project next weekA teenager was critically injured Thursday when he was hit by a truck while on a bicycle ride with his father, who also was injured in the crash, Vallejo Police Department officials said.
The incident happened at about 8:45 p.m., when Vallejo police officers responded to a report of a major injury collision on Columbus Parkway south of Georgia Street involving a bicycle and a car, police said.
Vallejo boy badly injured by car during bike ride with dad ThursdayVallejo's California State University Maritime Academy, which draws students from around the country and the globe, is often new students' first extended period away from home, which can be daunting - especially in an unfamiliar city.
So officials of the 88-year-old school, launched its Cadet-Community Connection in 2013, matching volunteer hosts with incoming freshman cadets, to provide a local connection.
Cal Maritime seeks local families to connect with new studentsAMERICAN CANYON > > A postal big rig overturned early Thursday morning near American Canyon, scattering mail over Highway 29 and impeding traffic for hours.
According to the California Highway Patrol, the crash was reported at 4:30 a.m. at Highway 29 and Tower Road. The driver reportedly suffered minor injuries.
Big rig overturns near Highway 29 near American Canyon, causing major backupThe Vallejo-based U.S. Forest Service is among five federal agencies recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for improving efficiency, saving resources and reducing costs at their Bay Area federal facilities as part of the Federal Green Challenge (FGC), EPA officials announced.
The Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Energy, the Department of Labor, and the Presidio Trust were also recognized.
Vallejo agency among those honored for going greenThe fate of the Napa/Solano area's Berryessa Snow Mountain is very much up in the air, as Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke released a statement notifying the public that the formal comment period for national monuments under review - including Berryessa - ended on July 10.
More than 1.2 million comments were received on Regulations.
Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument's fate in Interior Secretary's handsRon Pease says he sleeps under a tarp near the Vallejo waterfront and has been, since being locked out of his residence three years ago.
One of the few respites the 55-year-old Vallejo native gets from his life on the streets is found at the#xa0;Vallejo Together Support Services Center, a small structure near the First Baptist Church on Sonoma Boulevard.
Volunteer opportunity in Vallejo offers free training SaturdayTim Garrido of Vacaville said the world changed when his son was diagnosed with cancer at age 4.
Co-founding a local support group for "cancer parents" has helped, he said.
"My son Joshua was diagnosed with leukemia in 2009," Garrido said. "He's in remission and doing well at age 12."
There are few things that can put more stress on a family than a child with a life-threatening illness, the law enforcement officer said.
Cancer kids support group awards first-ever survivor scholarshipAn American Canyon man was hospitalized with major injuries after the motorcycle he was riding was hit by a car in Napa County on Monday, Napa County California Highway patrol spokesman Marc Renspurger said.
It happened at about 8 a.m. northbound Highway 29 north of Highway 12, Renspurger said.
American Canyon man badly injured in motorcycle crash MondayA Vallejo man was arrested on a slew of charges Tuesday, after he returned to shop at the mini-mart he'd robbed hours earlier, a Vallejo Police Department spokesman said.
"At about 2:22 a.m. (Tuesday) at 1300 Sonoma Boulevard - that's the Exxon station, a male clerk was working when a suspect came in and walked up to the security window, which has a sliding drawer," Lt.
Vallejo battery, robbery suspect returns to scene of crime to shop, is recognized, arrestedRobert Dacquel of Vallejo said he took up running last year, and then realized that wasn't enough. He needed to be running for something.
So, the 61-year-old married father of three grown children, is collecting per-mile pledges for his upcoming marathon runs, with the funds going to benefit Vallejo's Faith Food Fridays.
Vallejo man runs for faithVallejo native Lorraine Osuna DeGroat says she believes to her core that nearly 50 years ago she narrowly escaped an encounter with the infamous, never captured, Zodiac killer, who murdered her childhood friend and helped crystallize her life's direction.
DeGroat was 16 when her friend and Hogan High School classmate Betty Lou Jensen, also 16, was shot and killed, along with her boyfriend David Faraday, 17, on the night of Dec.
Vallejo native convinced she encountered the Zodiac, lived to tell the taleThere were some Solano and Napa County victims of a man recently arrested for running a fire inspection scam, and some of them may not be aware of it, the Napa County District Attorney's office announced.
Napa County District Attorney Allison Haley issued warnings some time back about a fire inspection scam being seen in Napa County, and advised residents to watch for invoices being sent to local businesses from a company called Red Mountain Security and Fire Protection or RMS (previously doing business as RMZ Fire Safety), according to the announcement.
Solano, Napa residents, businesses, possible scam victimsSolano County's nonprofit organizations stand to benefit from a "generous bequest" made to the Solano Community Foundation, agency officials announced.
"As a beneficiary of the Hinrichs Family Trust, Solano Community Foundation is delighted to announce that (it has) received a generous bequest of slightly more than $160,500 for general operating support," according to the announcement.
Solano County nonprofits could benefit from large donationA Napa woman and her husband were charged with crimes related to a fatal hit and run last month, Napa County District Attorney Allison Haley announced today:
On July 5, the Napa County District Attorney's Office filed a felony complaint charging Hang Thuy Ha
with Hit and Run Resulting in Death, for her involvement in a June 29, crash near the intersection of Redwood Road and Solano Avenue in Napa.
Napa woman charged with hit and run in deadly crashA San Pablo man was in custody Thursday after police alegedly caught him burglarizing a vehicle parked in an American Canyon hotel parking lot, American Canyon Police Chief Tracey Stuart said.
"At about 1:35 a.m., an employee of the Fairfield Inn & Suites (in American Canyon) reported seeing a man try to enter three vehicles and then leave northbound on State Route 29, in a blue sedan," Stuart said.
San Pablo man arrested for breaking into vehicles in American Canyon hotel parking lotsJoin the Arbor Day Foundation in July and ten trees will be planted in a national forest, foundation officials announced.
"Forests across America are a prized natural resource, and anyone can help plant trees in these vital areas by joining the Arbor Day Foundation this month," the announcement reads.
A $10 donation will get trees planted in devestated U.S. forestsA big-rig crash on Highway 29 in American Canyon Thursday morning left a mess to clean up but injured no one, Police Chief Tracey Stuart said.
Just after 9 a.m., a truck/trailer was headed northbound on Highway 29, when just north of Paoli Loop Road, the driver drifted into the center median, overcorrected and crossed to the east shoulder, causing the trailer to leave the roadway and tip over, she said.
Solo big-rig crash snarles traffic on Highway 29 from American Canyon to Vallejo on ThursdayIt is not your grandmother's mobile home - not by a long shot.
Rick Holliday's Factory_OS facility on Mare Island, having recently closed a deal on the historic Building 680 - the Nimitz Avenue "industrial cathedral" vacated by Blu Homes - makes pre-fabricated dwellings, like they do, but that's pretty much where the similarity ends, he said.
Mare Island -- ground zero for housing construction industry sea change?Since Vallejo is in California, and California was No. 1 in the country for State Farm theft claims in 2015, that company offers some anti-theft tips for summer vacationers.
"While December and January are top months for home theft due to the delivery of Christmas and holiday packages, July is also a top month for home theft because so many people are away from home on vacation, leaving their home unmonitored," company officials said.
Home burglaries skyrocket in summer -- here are some prevention tipsMotorists should prepare for overnight construction and lane restrictions through the summer on segments of State Highway 160 in the Delta region's South Sacramento County, Caltrans announced.
Construction crews will be working seven days a week from West Sherman Island Road to State Highway 12 through July 31, they said.
Caltrans working on State Highway 160, expect delaysFor only the second time in its nearly 30-year history, Visit Vallejo's business offices are moving out of the Ferry Building and into a space downtown, executive director Mike Browne said.
Formerly called the Vallejo Convention & Visitors Bureau, Visit Vallejo's business operations are moving to Buck Kamphausen's downtown World Classics Event Center, on Sonoma and York streets, while the visitors center part of the operation will remain at the Ferry Building, Browne said.
Visit Vallejo business offices moving downtown, so Ferry Building tap room can expandJoshua Heap of England was just 18 in 1889, when he was killed while serving in the United States Navy, and buried on Mare Island.
Family member Helen Payne stumbled upon his story while researching her genealogy and contacted the Times-Herald with it after reading about the efforts of Capt.
Relative of young Brit killed in U.S. service buried on Mare Island, hopes maintenance efforts succeedWhat's going on around here for Independence Day?
In Vallejo:
. The Mad Hatter July 4 Celebration at the Waterfront starts at 11 a.m. with a parade including giant puppets, floats, classic cars and the Vallejo Admirals baseball team traveling a mile and a quarter from Tennessee Street to the Ferry Building at the foot of Georgia Street.
The Fourth of July in Vallejo, Benicia and American CanyonThree Suisun City men were in custody early Sunday after trying to burglarize cars in American Canyon, Police Chief Tracey Stuart said.
A call came in to American Canyon police dispatch at about 3 a.m. Sunday from "an alert resident" who called to report three men in the "Canyon Creek" neighborhood trying car doors, Stuart said.
Three Suisun men arrested for trying to burgle American Canoun carsOne store failed the test when members of the Benicia Police Department's Investigations Unit conducted a minor decoy alcohol sales operation at various locations throughout Benicia on June 30, officials announced.
An anonymous minor decoy was sent to try and buy alcohol products in Benicia, to see which establishments are in compliance with laws prohibiting such sales to minors.
One store fails Benicia alcohol compliance testAAA officials don't want to see American drivers lose their freedom on Independence Day, so, they're offering anyone who's had too much to drink during their Fourth of July celebrations, a free tow home.
"The only flashing lights you'll want to see this#xa0;Fourth of July#xa0;are the fireworks in the sky - not in your rearview mirror," AAA Northern California spokesman Mike Blasky said.
Tipsy Tow offered free to drunk July 4 partiers, AAA announcedA driver was hospitalized and a potential natural gas situation resolved after a car plowed into a Vallejo house on Saturday, a consultant to the Vallejo Fire Department said.
At about 3:30 p.m. Vallejo firefighters responded to a report of a vehicle collision into a home in the 400 block of Holly Street," William Tweedy said.
Vehicle into house, gas meter, in Vallejo on SaturdayTwo men - one from Oakland and one from San Pablo - were hospitalized after what appeared to be a shoot-out at a Vallejo gas station early Sunday, Vallejo Police Department Lt. Kent Tribble said Monday.
"At about 2 a.m., officers were dispatched to reports of several people shooting at each other at the Exxon Gas Station in the 1300 block of Sonoma Boulevard," Tribble said.
Two out-of-town men in critical condition after apparent shoot-out in Vallejo early SundayA Vallejo man was in the hospital with a gunshot wound after police followed a blood trail to an abandoned house inhabited by squatters on Sunday, Vallejo Police Lt. Kent Tribble said Monday.
In the second report of shooting in about 19 hours, Vallejo police responded to the 700 block of Porter Street following calls saying someone had been shot, he said.
Second shooting in less than 24 hours in Vallejo lands resident in hospitalThere is no lack of options in and around Vallejo to celebrate Independence Day this year.
Events are planned in Benicia, American Canyon and Vallejo that should provide something for just about everybody.
The area festivities start in Benicia at 6:30 p.m. Monday, with its annual Torchlight Parade, which proceeds the length of First Street, and includes dancers, floats, clowns and entertainment, according to the city's website.
Plenty to do in Vallejo, Benicia, American Canyon on the 4th of JulySkyler Roberts is no Forrest Gump.
For one thing, the 20-year-old former Vallejo resident is anything but slow-witted. And, while the fictional Gump ran for three years, two months, 14 days and 16 hours, the real live Roberts has been walking across the United States for about 10 months, starting in Toronto, Canada on Aug.
Former Vallejo Scout on epic stroll through United States