So last Tuesday on my main blog, Nerd Family Blog, I wrote about older kids moving back in with their parents and the parents bailing them out of their financial desperation. It was based on AP article that Dr. Helen had read. Well, that article was in the Fresno Bee yesterday (Sunday). Either I am really good or.... You draw your own conclusions.
So I got to out to lunch (without kids!) with a friend on Good Friday. Since we were doing some other things in North Fresno we decided to give Bentley's Bistro a shot. It was pretty good. The only real issue I had was environment regulation. It has a great patio area but the inside is just open to the patio. It was rather chilly that day in the shade so both my friend and I were a bit cold. I don't know if it is set up that way in the winter but in early spring it is still a bit risky.
The food was good and just a touch pricey (better than I expected). Lunch ranges between $9 and $26 (for a rib eye steak) and dinner is between $23 and $36 with a variety of steaks to choose from. I got Bentley's Turkey Club and my friend got the Ruben Sandwich. Both started with salads and they were fresh and crisp. The Turkey Club was quite large and very good. It was served on a fresh croissant and came with fries. I had half that day for lunch and 2 days later ate the rest and it was still good. The bacon was great and cooked perfectly. Since it was thick cut bacon it wasn't so crispy that it broke with your first bite. The tomato was one of the best I have had this year. I will be returning to their market to buy those. My friend really enjoyed her Ruben. She said that the rye bread was really great. The service was good. The waitress wasn't thrown at all by a special order and our sodas were always filled. She even took our plates away to box up our food.
I will be returning to Bentley's Bistro for the good food and great service!
Technorati Tags: Bentley's Bistro, Fresno Resturants
Maybe that is putting it a little strongly;). The Fresno Bee had an article in today's paper about how the city is going to deal with those who panhandle on medians. It appears that the City Council intends to make it illegal for people to panhandle on the medians.
Calhoun said he hopes that City Attorney James Sanchez will write an ordinance that gives police officers authority to ask people to leave median islands on city streets, and to cite those who don't.
Calhoun also said that citing drivers who give money to panhandlers would further discourage the practice.
Sanchez said he would look at ordinances in other cities and what exemptions they allow before drafting new rules for Fresno to consider. Sanchez will present his recommendations to the council within 60 days.
So now Stacy Johnson-Klein's lawyers have been awarded $2.5 million. There are some very interesting parts in the article in the Fresno Bee such as,
In a four-page ruling, Fresno County Superior Court Judge Donald S. Black said Johnson-Klein lawyers Warren Paboojian, Dan Siegel and Jason Bell should be paid a total of about $1.25 million. Black then doubled the amount, as permitted by law in cases that are particularly time-consuming and complicated.
Black paid particular attention to the importance that the law attaches to the concept of public value in justifying a multiplier. He said the law frowns on a multiplier for cases that lack such value.
I saw an ad that advertised a new location for the Meat Market. It is on Fowler and Shepherd. A much cooler development is that they now have Sunday hours! They are open 10am-5pm on Sundays!
So there was an article in the Fresno Bee yesterday on the canceled contract between the Blue Cross Healthy Families program and Valley Children's Hospital. I had a huge issue with the fact that the article was more than half way through before they mentioned that Blue Cross only canceled the Healthy Families and Medi-Cal programs, not the private insurance contracts.
The real crux of the issue is that everyone seems to feel that Valley Children's has done something wrong. This article (and other things I have seen) points out the fact that kids will have to get care from a lesser provider now. How is that Valley Children's fault? If they are so much better than any other provider perhaps they deserve compensation? Maybe all the fault lies with Blue Cross? They are other Healthy Family/Medi-Cal companies that Valley Children's does accept. Maybe the other companies realize the value of a hospital of Valley Children's stature.
I also look at this as a community issue. I value Valley Children's. I like knowing that a hospital with this expertise is available to my kids. It won't be if we demand they take substandard compensation. If they don't make enough money to stay open they will close or worse charge the rest of us twice as much. So maybe we should back the hospital in this case? And maybe The Bee and other media outlets should put out such biased reports. This is still a free market society, lets act like it.
Technorati Tags: Valley Children's Hospital, Healthy Families, Blue Cross, Fresno Bee
On March 29, 2008 Fresno City College will be holding a forum for candidates running for office. The forums will be held in the faculty dining room on campus. Candidates for City Council districts 2, 4, and 6 will speak from 10-11:45am. Then candidates for judicial race #10 will be speaking from 11:45 - noon. Candidates for mayor will speak from 12-1:45 pm. Then finally the candidates for Board of Supervisors Districts 2 and 5 will speak 1:40-2:55pm. If you need more details you can call 559-355-7040.
