Drayage Brokersin Sacramento, CA

SACRAMENTO, Calif. —

THAI, an acronym for The House of Authentic Ingredients, is temporarily closed after Sacramento County officials found cockroaches and other major health code violations, according to reports from the Sacramento County Environmental Management Department.

“We’re aware, and we’re fixing it,” THAI co-owner Ann Devahasdin said on Wednesday. “I want to give our confidence to our customers that we’ll do everything we can and we hope that they give us a chance to prove ourselves and come back to dine with us with confidence.”

KCRA 3 News obtained documents from the Environmental Management Department, one of those a Sept. 13 document that detailed the infestation, noting the vermin were found in multiple parts of the restaurant. The report prompted an immediate closure.

Documentation also notes inspectors have been back five times since the initial inspection but that cockroaches were still being found even on Wednesday.

According to a spokesperson for the Environmental Management Department, the infestation was the primary reason for the closure. Ken Casparis, who spoke on behalf of the department, said about 1% of about 14,000 yearly restaurant inspections result in a closure.

“We have a pretty high pass rate,” Casparis said. “The Environmental Management Department does work with restaurants to get them into compliance. Unfortunately, until restaurants do fall into compliance, they won’t be able to reopen.”

Documentation shows prior to Sept. 13, inspectors reviewed conditions at THAI in April. While corrective actions are noted, no major infractions are listed, and cockroaches are not stated to have been observed.

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“I want to say my sincere apology that we did not keep it up,” Devahasdin said.

The team is focused on cleaning, reorganizing materials and replacing what they can, Devahasdin said. She also mentioned a pest control company has come to treat the cockroaches “aggressively," but that this obstacle will take time to overcome.

“We are trying to do everything as fast as we can and make sure that it's stopped,” she said. “I hope that we can continue to serve the community.”

The restaurant is prohibited from food sales or preparation until facility the facility passes a reinspection and is approved to open by the Environmental Management Department (EMD).

Victory at last.

For five Sacramento-area high school football teams, weeks of relentless hot work in practice and the weight room paid off Friday beyond the theme of team growth. As long as there is a scoreboard at games, winning will remain the objective.

The five teams who broke through and 16 more area clubs seeking that first triumph have faced a rash of injuries, low roster numbers, inexperience, bad luck and good competition.

El Dorado was a playoff team last season, graduated a host of stars and replaced them with youngsters. The Cougars of Placerville start just four seniors.

“The guys are working hard every day,” said El Dorado coach Kevin Placek, who speaks for all teams that have struggled early. “We are having to modify some things we do in practice because we’re practicing with 20 or 21 guys. We see the improvement each week. We talk every week about getting on the field and fighting for four quarters. I tell the guys each week that growing pains hurt, but we are working and building something more than just this year.”

A closer look at the Breakthrough 5:

The Cougars beat Woodland 39-13 at home, pleasing Placek and the staff to the point that they hustled to downtown Placerville to the Bell Tower for the customary ringing of that old chime for every point scored, a grand way to cap homecoming night. The reverberating bell ringing didn’t start until just before midnight because of an 8 p.m. kickoff and homecoming festivities, but no one filed any complaints.

Sage Pittman passed for 198 yards with touchdown strikes to Jesse Morales-Beas, Jayden Ferreira and Jeremy Kimber. Tyler Villa rushed 18 times for 148 yards and two scores. Ferreira also had six quarterback hurries on defense, and Kimber and Morales-Beas each had interceptions.

El Dorado opened the season with a 35-21 loss to Ponderosa and agonized over a last-play 25-22 loss at East Nicolaus before topping Woodland. The Cougars have a bye Friday before opening Sierra Valley Conference play at Liberty Ranch in Galt on Sept. 29.

The Wildcats of the Elk Grove Unified School District see only one number these days: The 1-0 mark in the Delta League after opening league play with a 6-0 win over Davis. The losses were to Woodcreek (which is 4-0), Laguna Creek (3-2 with two last-play or last-second losses), Tokay of Lodi (3-2) and Lodi (2-2), meaning tough losses to good teams.

Franklin head coach Joseph McCray knew it would take time to get the Wildcats going again, as did assistant coach Cary Trzcinski, who was delighted in watching his senior son do a little bit of everything against Davis. Jojo Trzcinski rushed for a game-high 55 yards, had four catches from Colin Schroeder for 30 yards, made seven tackles, including two sacks, and returned a blocked field goal 85 yards for the game’s only score. He earned his ice bath.

Franklin visits 1-4 Sheldon on Friday.

Under first-year coach and McClatchy alum Tracy Mitchell, the Lions were motivated to beat Kennedy, their chief rival since 1968, and they did so with a 34-18 win in a Metro League opener.

Zayvion Brown had a touchdown pass, rushed 52 yards and had a score. Samuel Hernandez-Hartman rushed 18 times for 146 yards and a score. Cesar Romero rushed for two scores and Zion Breedlove had seven tackles.

The Lions didn’t just win a game. They scored their first points after suffering losses of 43-0 to Rio Americano (5-0), 44-0 to Rosemont (4-1) and 55-0 to Nevada Union (3-2).

McClatchy earned a week off with a Friday bye before hosting River City at Hughes Stadium on Sept. 29.

The Mustangs have been ranked all season by The Bee, and have been ranked pretty much every week for years as one of the region’s powerhouse programs.

Coach T.J. Ewing schedules tough to prepare for the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs, which explains the 0-3 start with losses to Bee No. 1 Folsom (35-0) and Bay Area powers Saint Francis of Mountain View (28-21) and Pittsburg (10-7).

Unbeaten at 22-0 in the Metro League since entering the league before the 2018 season, Monterey Trail beat fellow Elk Grove Unified School District member Laguna Creek 41-35 in double overtime as Vontrelle Waffer rushed for 159 yards and three touchdowns. D’Adrien Sanders went for 90 yards and two rushing scores. Arik Phillips had 103 all-purpose yards, Donte Jacobs had 17 tackles and Davon Chism returned a fumble 76 yards for a score.

The Mustangs have a bye this week. They will visit Burbank on Sept. 29.

On the eve of the season, first-year coach Donald James said this was a work in progress, but his 24-man roster would compete as they continued to learn the game and what it takes to achieve.

The Vikings opened with losses of 35-22 to Golden Sierra, 28-6 to Riverbank, 40-0 to Mira Loma and 44-0 to Valley Christian of Roseville, teams Valley would never schedule in decades past when it was a regional power.

But struggling teams schedule those in a similar predicament of trying to find their footing. In beating Western Sierra Academy of Rocklin 28-0, Timothy Dorsey had two rushing touchdowns and two two-point conversions. Also, Carmine Bermudez had a 9-yard touchdown to Joshua Brown and a 2-yard scoring run, and the defense celebrated a shutout.

Valley has a bye this week. The Vikings will open Greater Sacramento League play at home at Cosumnes River College against Johnson on Sept. 29.

Those looking for their first victory as we rank them in order of strength:

Placer (0-4)

The Hillmen have started slow before and bounced back to win league championships.

Antelope (0-5)

A misleading 0-5 with losses to Bee-ranked teams Whitney, Elk Grove, Granite Bay and Roseville.

Capital Christian (0-4)

A powerhouse for years, the Cougars are a young team finding their way amid injuries.

Sacramento (0-5)

With 17 starters back, the Dragons have competed in most games and are due.

River Valley (0-5)

The right coach is in place in Alex Gomes-Coelho, and the Falcons of Yuba City have improved a ton.

Lincoln (0-5)

Veteran coach Allen Berg isn’t about to quit, and neither are the Zebras.

Dixon (0-4)

Rams coach Wes Besseghini has led 11 playoff teams. Down cycles happen.

Woodland (0-5)

The Wolves were a nine-win team in 2021, and coach Javier Marin knows their time will come again.

Oakmont (0-5)

First-year coach Jake Messina has turned programs around before; the effort is there.

Cordova (0-4)

First-year coach JP Dolliver has coached playoff teams before; the offense is improving.

Kennedy (0-5)

First-year coach Dante Bush knew this was an uphill climb, and he does have some players.

Florin (0-5)

Veteran coach Dan Davis is all class, an example of how to handle defeat with learning lessons.

Esparto (0-4)

Coach Chris Carr led a nine-win playoff team in 2022 and has been hammered by team injuries.

Vacaville Christian (0-4)

Coach Manny Tarango has led playoff teams before, and cycles happen.

Western Sierra (0-4)

Coach Otis Washington hasn’t lost his love for his players. It takes time.

San Juan (0-4)

Coach David Castillo hangs in there because his team hangs in there. San Juan will host Western Sierra on Friday, so barring a tie, one of these teams will pick up its first win.

This story was originally published September 20, 2023, 5:00 AM.

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Joe Davidson has covered sports for The Sacramento Bee since 1988: preps, colleges, Kings and features. He is a 14-time award winner from the California Prep Sports Writer Association. In 2021, he was honored with the CIF Distinguished Service award. He is a member of the California Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Davidson participated in football and track in Oregon, his legend never growing.

The 2023 Minor League Baseball season is nearly over, but two of the eight San Francisco Giants MiLB affiliates are still kicking. Let’s check in on them.

Link to the 2023 McCovey Chronicles Community Prospect List (CPL)

All listed positions are the positions played in that game.

News

Not much news this time of year, but the Giants made some moves on Wednesday that impact the farm. At the MLB level, veteran RHP Alex Cobb and rookie RHP Keaton Winn (No. 16 CPL) were placed on the 15-Day IL, effectively ending their regular seasons. Getting called up were LHP Kyle Harrison (No. 1 CPL) and RHP Sean Hjelle (No. 30 CPL).

Harrison was surprisingly optioned last week, though I suspected this was the plan all along — to have him replace an injured player and have his next start be in the Majors. Gabe Kapler said that Harrison had a highly-encouraging bullpen session on Monday that featured some mechanical tweaks and increased velocity. Regardless of what happens for the rest of the fast-sinking season, Harrison showing out against the Dodgers in the next few days would certainly give us something to smile about through the offseason.

AAA Sacramento (65-79)

Sacramento River Cats lost to the Salt Lake Bees (Angels) 7-6 (10 innings)Box score

A tale of 2 games, as the River Cats were cruising with a 6-1 lead before a rain delay. When the teams converged after the rain subsided, they played significantly differently.

Only 1 player had a standout day for the River Cats, as third baseman David Villar hit 2-3 with 2 walks and a truly majestic home run.

David hits the ball Vi-far pic.twitter.com/Vk8hGyMWx8

— Sacramento River Cats (@RiverCats) September 20, 2023

It’s been a very disappointing year for Villar who, a year after winning Pacific Coast League MVP honors and finishing the season with a strong stint in the Majors, has had just an .862 OPS and a 107 wRC+ in AAA, with a very tough go of it in San Francisco. But he’s ending the year on quite a high note: in his last 10 games, the righty is hitting 11-40 with 3 homers, 2 doubles, and 7 walks, albeit with 16 strikeouts. He fits squarely in the “what’s gonna happen to him this offseason?” bucket.

Not many other offensive games of note. Catcher Jakson Reetz hit 1-3 with 2 walks, and first baseman Yoshi Tsutsugo singled and walked in his Sacramento debut. A 31 year old with MLB experience, Tsutsugo was signed a few weeks ago to a Minor League contract and hit fairly well in AA Richmond before getting a very late season promotion.

Yoshi Tsutsugo gets a hit in his first AB as a River Cat! pic.twitter.com/39PMEDupHn

— Sacramento River Cats (@RiverCats) September 20, 2023

The MLB-adjacent players had the type of performance that you expect players to have in the final week of the season when they’re realizing they probably won’t see the Majors again this year. That’s editorializing, as they all play hard and I have no doubt wanted to have good games, but sometimes the story is written regardless of the characters’ intent.

Left fielder Heliot Ramos (No. 12 CPL) had an OK game, hitting 1-3 with a walk, as did right fielder Brett Wisely (No. 33 CPL), who hit 0-2 but drew 2 walks. Struggles elsewhere, though, as shortstop Casey Schmitt (No. 3 CPL) hit 0-4 with a walk in his Sacramento return, Marco Luciano (No. 2 CPL) hit 0-5 with 2 strikeouts (but played second base!), and center fielder/right fielder Wade Meckler (No. 42 CPL) hit 0-4 with a strikeout.

If you want to dig deep for some silver linings there, Luciano — who has been swinging and missing at seemingly every off-speed pitch since returning from the IL — had just 3 swing-throughs on the day, all on fastballs. And Ramos’ single was 110.9 mph of the bat. I’ll save you my spiel about how maybe the Giants should be a little less stubborn about the mold of player they like and embrace people who hit the ball hard.

Onto the pitching.

RHP Joe Ross got the start, pitching in his 2nd game since joining Sacramento. It was a delightful outing, as he gave up just 3 hits in 3 scoreless innings, albeit with just 1 strikeout. A 6-year MLB veteran who grew up in the Bay Area, Ross was signed over the offseason with the Giants knowing he’d miss most of the year. He made 5 rehab appearances, and has now pitched twice for Sacramento. He could definitely factor into the team’s plans in 2024.

Another nice outing by RHP Nick Avila, who tossed 2 scoreless innings with 1 hit, 1 walk, and 2 strikeouts. After a slowish start to the season, Avila has really settled in lately. Over the last 2 months, the 26 year old has made 20 appearances and pitched 25 innings, allowing 21 hits, 8 walks, 5 runs, and 4 earned runs, with 20 strikeouts. That’s dropped his ERA to 3.04, though his FIP sits at 4.99. I’m not sure how much weight to give FIP in the Minors, and an ERA flirting with the 2s in the PCL is damn impressive.

The Giants left Avila unprotected from the Rule 5 Draft last year and he was selected, but returned. What will happen this year?

A shocking event occurred in this game: LHP Erik Miller gave up hits and runs! 1 hit and 2 runs, specifically, to go with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts in 1.1 innings. Bad outings happen, so rather than focus on what Miller did on Tuesday, let’s focus on why it stood out so much: Miller had gone 10 consecutive appearances without allowing a hit, and in his last 16 outings he’d allowed a grand total of 1 hit and 0 runs. Those numbers are absurd anywhere, but especially in the PCL, where runs are handed out as party favors to all who show up.

Shake it off, Erik. I’m presuming he’ll be protected from the Rule 5 Draft and play a big role in the Majors next year.

AA Richmond (playoffs!)

Richmond Flying Squirrels lost to the Erie SeaWolves (Tigers) 5-0Box score

The Flying Squirrels ended the regular season by taking 4 out of 6 games from the SeaWolves, then turned around and got crushed by them in the first game of the playoffs. Oops.

The offense had 0 walks on the day, and their only life came on singles by center fielder Shane Matheny and designated hitter Sean Roby. When you have as many errors as baserunners, you’re usually not going to win the baseball game you’re competing in.

The pitching was OK. RHP Carson Seymour (No. 28 CPL) continued to show off his revived strikeout stuff, K’ing 5 batters in 3.1 innings. He gave up just 3 singles and 2 walks in that time, but thanks to errors that resulted in 4 runs, though just 1 earned.

Carson Seymour strikes out the side to get us rolling tonight pic.twitter.com/MThiQWyMpI

— Richmond Flying Squirrels (@GoSquirrels) September 19, 2023

After struggling mightily with strikeouts to start the year, Seymour ended the season back to his bat-whiffing ways, and, more importantly, finished the regular season with a 3.99 ERA and a 3.45 FIP. Will he begin 2024 in AAA? Regardless of the answer to that question, he’s a player to watch next year.

Seymour, who started the game, was a 2021 draft pick by the Mets. So was LHP Nick Zwack (No. 39 CPL), who ended the game. It was a tough year for Zwack, but at least he’s ending things on a high note. Primarily a starter/bulk innings pitcher, Zwack moved to a single inning relief role in this contest and struck out 2 batters in a scoreless inning, allowing just a walk. Take this with an “I just mentioned he’s usually a bulk innings pitcher” sized grain of salt, but it was Zwack’s first outing without allowing a run since his first game of the year back on April 8.

In between the 2021 Mets draft picks was RHP Spencer Bivens, who gave up just 3 hits and 1 run in 4.2 innings, with 3 strikeouts. A sneaky good year for Bivens, who had a 3.69 ERA and a 3.51 FIP in Richmond, while sporting a 51.2% ground ball rate.

The Flying Squirrels now have their backs against the wall. They have today off before playing an elimination game on Thursday. If they lose that game, their season is over. If they win, they play again on Friday.

Home runs

AAA David Villar (16 in AAA, 21 total)

Wednesday schedule

Sacramento: @ the Salt Lake Bees, 5:35 p.m. PTRichmond: Off day

Reminder that Minor League games can now be watched on MLB TV.

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The Sacramento District Attorney's office is suing the City of Sacramento. The suit alleges that the city failed to enforce the law and allowed the homeless crisis to become a public nuisance.

Read the Continuing Coverage: D.A. Sues City Over Homeless

The lawsuit does not seek monetary damages, but rather it asks for injunctive relief -- meaning the DA wants the court to force the city to do what the DA is asking.

His demands include:

The DA also wants real-time data on shelter bed availability and an audit of where the millions spent on homelessness so far have gone.

CBS Sacramento has an interview scheduled with the Mayor next week. We're told he is currently out of the country. In response to the lawsuit, the city provided the following statement:

The City has attempted to work with the District Attorney multiple times in recent months, stating that collaboration is the best path forward. However, it sadly appears the DA would rather point fingers and cast blame than partner to achieve meaningful solutions for our community. The City looks forward to responding to the DA's claims in court."

In addition, here is a letter the City Attorney sent to the DA on Sept. 18: https://sacramentocityexpress.com/2023/09/19/city-attorney-responds-to-county-das-latest-letter-regarding-homelessness/

In a sit-down interview with the DA, CBS Sacramento asked the DA to respond to criticisms from the Mayor and the CIty Attorney, including that the lawsuit is politically motivated.

Watch our full interview with Sacramento District Attorney Thien Ho as he explains:

Read the District Attorney's full complaint here:

Stament porvided by Mayor Steinberg's office:

"No local government in the Sacramento region has done more to address the crisis on our streets: 1,200 new emergency beds, ordinances to protect sidewalks, schools and other sensitive sites; a legally binding partnership with the county; thousands of new affordable housing units-to name a few. The frustration that members of our community feel is absolutely justified. The Council has endorsed and is pressing for strong enforcement of our codes and the law. But the DA's lawsuit will not clear a single sidewalk nor get a single person off the streets. We are working day and night to enforce our laws and provide relief to our community while avoiding the futile trap of just moving people endlessly from one block to the next. Frankly, we have no time for the District Attorney's performative distraction from the hard work we all need to do together to solve this complex social problem plaguing urban centers throughout the state and nation. The city needs real partnership from the region's leaders, not politics and lawsuits. Let's just do the work"

Julie Watts

Julie Watts is a national-award-winning investigative reporter at CBS Sacramento. Her reports also air in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Julie is dedicated to holding the powerful accountable, getting answers, and digging deeper into issues that matter to you. She is also a News Anchor and Meteorologist (AMS) at CBS13.

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Suburban Rancho Cordova has become the epicenter of the office vacancy crisis in the Sacramento region.

The office vacancy rate in the suburban community was 31.8% as of June 30, far surpassing the overall 20.5% regional rate for the four county area of Sacramento, Yolo, El Dorado and Placer counties, shows data from brokerage firm Colliers.

Even downtown Sacramento, with its heavy concentration of state workers who have flexible remote or hybrid work arrangements, has a lower vacancy rate of 20.8%, more in line with the overall regional vacancy rate , the Colliers data show.

The Rancho Cordova market concentrated along Highway 50 was hard hit because many of the office buildings along the corridor housed medical and insurance firms whose employees could easily do their work remotely, said Bob Shanahan Sacramento area research director for Colliers.

“People across all industries and sectors are implementing more hybrid and remote work but especially in the insurance and health care fields where work and productivity can be tracked from a home office,” said Shanahan.

One example is optical Insurance company, Vision Services Plan, which has moved out three of its five buildings on International and Quality drives, and has been attempting to sell them since late last year.

“A large segment of VSP’s workforce now works remotely,” states marketing material from brokerage firm CBRE, which is selling the buildings. The brokerage firm said the remaining VSP employees have been consolidated into the company’s other two buildings.

A VSP spokeswoman said in a statement that remote work is the preference of many employees.

“While we have moved to a largely remote workforce, productivity remains high and employees enjoy the flexibility it offers,” she said. “In addition remote work enables us an employer to have access to a much larger and more diverse talent pool when hiring.”

The VSP buildings, two that are two-story and one three-story, total 232,000 square feet and sit just south of Highway 50 on Zinfandel Drive.

The buildings, constructed in the late 1990s and early 2000s, are typical of many of the office facilities in Rancho Cordova.

Plenty of land for free parking, lower rents than downtown and access off a main artery between downtown and Roseville originally attracted tenants, said Shanahan.

He said the central location in the Sacramento region was a big sell.

Of course, Shanahan noted, that was before the pandemic charged the way people worked.

In the Rancho Cordova market, many of the jobs were back office jobs, such as claims processors. Once people got accustomed to the flexibility of working from home, the genie was out of the bottle, and it was hard to convince them to come back, brokerage firm officials said Will Austindirector of market analytics for the Sacramento region at the CoStar Group.

They say the proposition wasn’t entirely one way after companies realized they could save on office space.

Following the VSP move, three major companies left office space in Rancho Cordova earlier this year.

In the period between April and June of this year, health plan company Centene/HealthNet’s moved out of 10730-10734 International Drive, two buildings they leased in 2017 with almost 200,000 square feet of office space.

Meanwhile, Sutter Health moved out of 10470 Old Placerville Road, where it occupied almost 88,000 square feet

The companies didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Other office buildings in Rancho Cordova have large empty spaces. Even tenants that have remained have seen many of their employees involved in remote or hybrid work, Shanahan said.

Many office building owners are holding on to their Rancho Cordova properties even with buildings that are only partially filled, hoping for a rebound in several years, said Austin

He said the problem is that even if the market rebounds, many of the office buildings in Rancho Cordova are two-to-four story buildings that are dated because they were built more than two decades ago.

“They’re bland to look at, they’re boring, they look like concrete boxes,” said Austin.“It’s hard to get your employees to want to go to work if that’s where they’re going.”

Austin said one solution is to convert the buildings to housing but it may be too costly. He said the original design of the buildings, with limited bathrooms stacked on top of each other, and heating and air conditioning reconfirmations needed to serve different apartments, might be economically unfeasible.

Austin said his guess is that some buildings will remain empty or only slightly occupied while building owners hope for new demand in several years.

One investor in two Rancho Cordova office buildings took a major loss when he sold them earlier this year.

Cupertino-based investor Brent Lee sold 2868 Prospect Park Drive in the Highway 50 corridor for $12.65 million, about half of what he paid to acquire it in 2018.

The 165,000-square-foot building was 43% leased, according to Colliers.

The brokerage film also said Lee also sold 10901 Gold Center Drive this year, also in the Highway 50 corridor, for $10.1 million, a $8.27 million loss from a 2018 purchase.

The 115,000-square-foot building was only 15% occupied.

Neither Lee nor the acquirer, Burlingamebased Chavez Management Group responded to requests for comment.

The new owners of office buildings acquired for large discounts will have a major advantage over other office buildings owners in Rancho Cordova in that they will be able to afford to lure office tenants with substantial rent reductions, said Randy Getz,executive vice-president for the Sacramento region at brokerage firm CBRE.

Getz, whose firm is the sales agents for three buildings being sold by VSP said that there has been strong investor interest in one of the buildings and he was hopeful that the other two would be generating potential buyers.

He said he could not discuss whether the buildings, which he called the “finest in Sacramento”, would sell for a discounted price, because of the struggling office market.

“These buildings are going to be successful for someone who needs them,” said Getz “VSP doesn’t need them. VSP is doing fine with just the two buildings. People are working from home and VSP is in a position where they can diminish their overhead and stay highly profitable and productive.”