Mayor Kevin Johnson called for city government reform, the launching of a green initiative, increased public safety and moving forward with the arena project at his second State of the City address Thursday. “The state of the city is in our hands,” Johnson told the members of the Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce. “The key is not about getting hit, it’s about getting up again.” Johnson discussed the hits the city has recently taken, including an increase to 13 percent unemployment from about 5 percent just a couple years ago, high crime rates and lackluster business performance, but he emphasized the need to be optimistic. “This is our time, Sacramento,” Johnson said. He high

I got some photos from my front yard in Roseville, but houses and trees blocked a lot of the lightning bolts. Great shots. According to KCRA, there were as many as 1,550 strikes in an hour while the storm was over Chico, and 1,400+ an hour while it was over Sacramento. Even my dog was fascinated by it. He stared out the front window for an hour, wagging his tail.

The autorickshaws I saw in India were pretty cool, and I still regret not riding in one.

Great photos. You capture the action very well.

On a related note, the City of Lincoln's fire department gave up their cost of living raises, their merit raises and their deferred comp (employer match to retirement fund) until 2011. They then took an additional 5 percent pay cut. I'm not advocating or railing against that, just stating facts.

I'd be interested to know where those figures were obtained. Several years back, the Bee ran a column saying the average fire captain for the Sacramento County (now Metro) Fire made $80k/year. My father, a captain with the department, was surprised to hear about that, and given to wonder where all his extra money went, as his salary wasn't even CLOSE to that number.