Bob Tanaka has a long personal history with the Boy Scouts. Now the father of a 13-year-old, Tanaka serves as a scoutmaster for his son’s troop in Sacramento. But Tanaka, 47, brings plenty of experience to his scoutmaster duties: He earned the prestigious title of Eagle Scout during his own days with the Boy Scouts. “Scouting meant a lot to me as a youth,” Tanaka said, “and I appreciate the opportunity to serve again as an adult.” Tanaka said he volunteers around 30 hours per week with Troop 50, which meets at the Buddhist Church of Sacramento at Riverside Boulevard and Broadway. “I grew up in this program in the late ’70s and early ’80s,” Tanaka said, adding that scouting is a “lifeti

The agency that manages retirement benefits for Sacramento County employees provided in-depth information about retirees’ finances to The Sacramento Bee earlier this week after a lengthy court battle. The Sacramento County Employees’ Retirement System released information about retirees on June 13, Richard Stensrud, the chief executive officer of SCERS said Wednesday. Joyce Terhaar, executive editor of the Bee, confirmed in an interview Thursday that the newspaper received retiree information from SCERS after suing for it in 2010.“In general, it should have been available from the beginning,” Terhaar said, referring to the data SCERS submitted. The Bee, which joined with the First Amend

Thirty-five police jobs were saved from proposed layoffs after the Sacramento Police Department received a waiver on a federal grant that funds officer positions, spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong confirmed late Tuesday night. The number of proposed layoffs in the 2011/2012 budget for Sacramento police officers has dropped from 81 to 46. The City Council will vote next week on proposed budget cuts that include layoffs of cops and other Police Department staffers. Council members were weighing whether to lay off 81 police officers, but the grant waiver means they will decide whether to lay off 46 officers. The council will also choose whether to lay off 68 civilian police department staffers – th

The nation’s top environmental official, Lisa Jackson, expressed her view in Sacramento on Monday that federal and state environmental regulations can help create demand for green businesses and technologies. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Jackson spoke about environmental regulation and green jobs to an audience of more than 250 people at the Cal/EPA building downtown. She was the latest in a string of high-profile speakers brought into town to speak on behalf of “Greenwise,” Mayor Kevin Johnson’s environmental initiative. Contrary to the views of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which argues that businesses are stymied by many environmental regulations, Jackson said that re

The Sacramento City Council’s tentative decision last week to make major cuts to public safety brings police and firefighter jobs into the spotlight. Six City Council members said they intend to raise the number of brownouts or alternating closures of fire services from two to four. While the city has no plans to lay off firefighters, the public debate over possible cuts to public safety begs the question: How much do firefighters in the city get paid? How do their benefits work? The brownouts may be part of the final budget the City Council is expected to approve on June 21. The city is facing a $39 million deficit. The Sacramento Press published a guide to police officers’ pay and be