By John Flynn
Roadside assistance
Three Caltrans workers—James Anderson, Kenneth Myers and Rodney Walker—have been given the Governor’s State Employee Silver Medal of Valor Award for spontaneous heroics. On January 29 of last year, Anderson leaped into a fast-flowing icy river to save a woman trapped in a pickup truck that rolled off the road and landed upside down in the water, according to a Caltrans press release. Myers held Anderson’s belt, preventing him from slipping into a culvert pipe. And Walker got the woman out of the water and carried her up a steep embankment. Real heroes don’t wear capes. They wear fluorescent orange vests.
+3
Gold standard
Since 1975, the Crocker Art Museum has been accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, an honor given to only about 3 percent of our nation’s museums. On May 26, it was re-accredited. To prevent cost from deterring guests, the museum paired with Western Health Advantage to make pay-what-you-wish admission on every third Sunday of the month, a program utilized by more than 16,000 people last year. Scorekeeper recommends a leisurely walk-through to all Sacramento residents and visitors—well, except for that wing filled with bowls. You can pick up the pace there.
+16,000
Own horn tootin’
At the recent California News Publishers Association awards, SN&R took home its second-straight General Excellence award, first place for stories by Janelle Bitker and Dave Kempa, and six other awards. The Sacramento Bee took home 17 awards. As one of the state’s generally excellent publications, SN&R congratulates our scrappy little-brother of a daily paper for getting some well-deserved recognition.
+9
Poison medicine
Between 2009 and 2011, Johnson & Johnson produced nine products—including Tylenol, Motrin and Benadryl—that failed quality control tests for, among other things, containing “unwanted particulates and bacteria.” On May 26, Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced that California will receive $2.3 million out of the $33 million settlement for this grievous infraction that put children’s lives in danger. Profit motivations in pharmaceuticals are not good for your health.
-2.3 million
Montana slamma
The day before a special House of Representatives election in Montana, Republican candidate Greg Gianforte “body-slammed” and punched a Guardian reporter for asking about his support of the Republicans’ American Health Care Bill, which will throw an estimated 23 million people off their coverage by 2026. Despite this assault—and Gianforte’s positions such as pooh-poohing retirement because Moses built the ark when he was “600” years old—he won the seat. Free slogan for his next campaign: “Work until you die … or else.”
-600
