Latest news with #WalnutGrove
New York Times
23-07-2025
- General
- New York Times
Dozens of Peacocks and Peahens Disappear From Remote California Hotel
There were always some guests at the Ryde Hotel just as important as the paying customers: the resident peacocks and peahens. Until, that is, most of them disappeared, quite possibly stolen. There had been roughly 40 peafowl running around the vicinity of the Ryde in Walnut Grove, Calif., a small town in the Sacramento River Delta. A hardcore group that stayed close to the hotel numbered about 15. All but four have disappeared. 'A guest over the weekend said he had seen two guys putting a peacock in a crate and driving away,' said Rafe Goorwitch, an event coordinator and the unofficial peacock wrangler at the hotel. 'That's when we made the discovery we were down so many.' Hotel ownership had brought in a mated pair of Indian blue peafowl 15 years ago. Many generations later, their progeny had the run of the place and became a signature of the hotel. 'The public has embraced them,' Mr. Goorwitch said. 'We hang peacock pictures around the hotel.' Two of the birds were named: the second senior male was Pancho, and 'the senior chief peacock,' as Mr. Goorwitch put it, was Alibaba, called Baba for short. 'He was an atypical peafowl,' Mr. Goorwitch explained. 'Peacocks are known to be aloof; he would come right up to you. He came into the dining room and ballroom, hung out in the rafters. He was not skittish like most peafowl. He just had this attitude. He was just charming.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Al Arabiya
23-07-2025
- Al Arabiya
Dozens of peacocks and peahens go missing from Northern California hotel
WALNUT GROVE, Calif. (AP) – Dozens of peacocks and peahens known for wandering the grounds of a historic Art Deco hotel in the Sacramento Delta are missing, and the hotel staff said Tuesday they believe the birds were stolen. After a customer at the Ryde Hotel mentioned Sunday seeing two men grabbing one of the birds and putting it inside a cage on the bed of a pickup truck, the staff did a count and realized only four of their exotic birds remained, David Nielsen, the hotel's general manager, said. 'We're not sure why anyone would do anything like this, but the staff is absolutely heartbroken,' Nielsen said. Authorities are investigating the case as a property crime. The male birds are valued at $2,000 each and the peahens at $1,000 each, said Sgt. Amar Gandhi, a spokesperson at the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office. He didn't share any additional information. The owner purchased five of the birds to wander the grounds 14 years ago. They reproduced to the point that they became a signature of the hotel, Nielsen said. Peacocks are common in Art Nouveau design. Staff fed them leftovers of fillet mignon, prime rib, and salmon, and over time the birds became tamer. They got used to people, and the employees began seeing them as pets, even naming some of them. Rafe Goorwitch, the hotel's catering coordinator, said he fed a group of about 15 peafowls twice every day. He named the biggest one Alibaba–Baba for short–because he would walk through the hotel like he owned the place. 'I joked with the owner that we worked for Baba because he would walk through the dinner rooms, the ballrooms, and the garden with this attitude that he was the boss,' Goorwitch said. Peacocks tend to be aloof, but Baba became like a dog, he said. Since the news about the missing birds became public, people have been calling the hotel with tips and possible sightings, including reports of neighbors with new peacock pets, Nielsen said. Hotel staff are hoping the birds are found and returned home. For now, the hotel has added better and more surveillance cameras, and there are plans to add more fencing. 'They really meant a lot to us,' Nielsen said.
CBS News
17-06-2025
- Automotive
- CBS News
Sacramento may donate fire engine to Walnut Grove's volunteer fire district
WALNUT GROVE — The Sacramento City Council will decide Tuesday whether or not to approve donating one of the city's surplus fire engines to Walnut Grove's all-volunteer fire district. The Walnut Grove Fire Protection District has been fighting fires with its Engine 495 for about 35 years, longer than Warren Teteak has been a volunteer there. "We have a lot of responsibilities and not a lot of money," said Teteak. Teteak said they have a yearly budget of about $400,000. A new engine costs around $300,000, so getting it donated is a game-changer that could save property and lives. Sacramento Fire says it has a surplus of fire engines and has already replaced the 2008 Type Three Wildland Fire Engine that it plans to donate to its neighbor in the delta. "It's going to be able to carry four passengers," Teteak said. "It's going to have a larger water capacity. It's going to have a pump that doesn't leak." Sacramento Fire said the engine it is donating still has life left in it, especially for a small department that may not use it as much, simply because there are fewer calls. "The fire departments out here really need all the resources they can get," said Travis Sansing, who lives in Thornton. Sansing was one of many Delta residents who were excited about the fire engine upgrade. "I have my boat in the community and the restaurant burned down about a year and a half ago and if we have more fire trucks to respond, the more the better," said Julie Pearson, who has a boat in Isleton. Engine 495's service in Walnut Grove may be at its end, but it does not mean it's done helping other communities. "It could be transported over the border to a small volunteer department in Mexico, and they'd be as happy getting this as we are getting from Sac City," said Teteak. Teteak said that in the past, Sacramento Fire also donated one of its boats, which has been super helpful in their operations. Teteak said Walnut Grove is anticipating the donation to be approved and the new engine to be delivered by the end of the month.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Walton County teen graduates after beating rare, aggressive cancer
A Georgia teen who was diagnosed with cancer during her senior year of high school is celebrating a momentous milestone this week. Aubrey Barnett, 17, graduated from Walnut Grove High School in Loganville on May 20, just five months after finishing chemotherapy and ringing the celebration bell at The Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. Walnut Grove Principal Lindsey Allen praised Aubrey's resilience and achievement in a statement to 'Good Morning America.' 'Aubrey Barnett's strength, courage, and uplifting spirit have inspired our entire school community,' Allen said. 'Her victory over cancer while continuing to excel as a student is a powerful reminder of what determination and hope can accomplish. We are very proud of her!' [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Aubrey told 'GMA' she first noticed a lump on her neck last summer but never thought it would turn out to be cancer. At the time, she was leading a busy life, running cross country and track, cheering for her school and working, as well as embarking on her final year in high school. On Sept. 16, 2024, Aubrey received a life-changing diagnosis and learned she had Burkitt lymphoma, a rare and aggressive non-Hodgkin B-cell lymphoma that can cause rapid tumor growth in the head, neck, central nervous system and other areas of the body, according to StatPearls, an online library published in the National Library of Medicine, and the National Organization for Rare Disorders. 'I didn't really believe it,' Aubrey said. 'I was just living a normal life. I was like, there's no way I have cancer. I'm fine. And then when they told me, I was like, 'Are y'all serious?' Like, I didn't really know what to feel.' Chancey Barnett, Aubrey's mom, said it was 'heart-wrenching' to hear her daughter had cancer. 'It went from an unnoticeable little lump to the size of her jaw. And so, it was obviously something,' Barnett said. 'It was just heart-wrenching to hear when they told us what it was. But just looking at her, I knew that it was going to be fine, because she's such a fighter, and she's so strong. I knew she'd be OK.' MORE GRADUATION STORIES: Rain didn't stop Emory graduates from celebrating special day Commencement speaker donates $100K during Morris Brown College ceremony Perfect attendance! Westlake High School graduate never missed a day of school For three months, Aubrey underwent intensive chemotherapy, an aggressive treatment that included injections into the spinal cord, which caused her to have mouth sores and lose all of her hair. 'She had mouth sores so bad that she couldn't open her mouth because they were around her mouth, throughout her mouth, and down her esophagus,' Barnett explained. 'It was hard for her to eat, it was hard for her to talk, it was hard for her to do anything.' Despite the difficult treatment, Aubrey never gave up, and her fellow classmates even voted her to be their homecoming queen while she was in the hospital. Aubrey is now in remission and plans on attending Emmanuel University in the fall, where she will continue running cross country and track. She said she plans to major in exercise science to become a pediatric physical therapist. Chancey Barnett said her daughter's cancer fight has changed everything for her and her family, but it's also proof of Aubrey's unshakeable will and strength. 'It was just a never-ending up-and-down battle. But she made it through all of it,' the mom of three said. 'When she says she's going to do something, she does it.' For Aubrey, her message to anyone facing a challenge is to look for the positive whenever possible. 'Whatever you're going through, you can get through it if your mindset is right,' she said. 'I feel like that's the biggest thing is to have a good mindset, because if you just think about all the negatives, you're never going to be able to get through it. So you just need to think about the positives and that everything happens for a reason.' [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
22-05-2025
- Health
17-year-old graduates high school after beating cancer
A Georgia teen who was diagnosed with cancer during her senior year of high school is celebrating a momentous milestone this week. Aubrey Barnett, 17, graduated from Walnut Grove High School in Loganville on May 20, just five months after finishing chemotherapy and ringing the celebration bell at The Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. Walnut Grove Principal Lindsey Allen praised Aubrey's resilience and achievement in a statement to "Good Morning America." "Aubrey Barnett's strength, courage, and uplifting spirit have inspired our entire school community," Allen said. "Her victory over cancer while continuing to excel as a student is a powerful reminder of what determination and hope can accomplish. We are very proud of her!" Aubrey told "GMA" she first noticed a lump on her neck last summer but never thought it would turn out to be cancer. At the time, she was leading a busy life, running cross country and track, cheering for her school and working, as well as embarking on her final year in high school. On Sept. 16, 2024, Aubrey received a life-changing diagnosis and learned she had Burkitt lymphoma, a rare and aggressive non-Hodgkin B-cell lymphoma that can cause rapid tumor growth in the head, neck, central nervous system and other areas of the body, according to StatPearls, an online library published in the National Library of Medicine, and the National Organization for Rare Disorders. "I didn't really believe it," Aubrey said. "I was just living a normal life. I was like, there's no way I have cancer. I'm fine. And then when they told me, I was like, 'Are y'all serious?' Like, I didn't really know what to feel." Chancey Barnett, Aubrey's mom, said it was "heart-wrenching" to hear her daughter had cancer. "It went from an unnoticeable little lump to the size of her jaw. And so, it was obviously something," Barnett said. "It was just heart-wrenching to hear when they told us what it was. But just looking at her, I knew that it was going to be fine, because she's such a fighter, and she's so strong. I knew she'd be OK." For three months, Aubrey underwent intensive chemotherapy, an aggressive treatment that included injections into the spinal cord, which caused her to have mouth sores and lose all of her hair. "She had mouth sores so bad that she couldn't open her mouth because they were around her mouth, throughout her mouth, and down her esophagus," Barnett explained. "It was hard for her to eat, it was hard for her to talk, it was hard for her to do anything." Despite the difficult treatment, Aubrey never gave up, and her fellow classmates even voted her to be their homecoming queen while she was in the hospital. Aubrey is now in remission and plans on attending Emmanuel University in the fall, where she will continue running cross country and track. She said she plans to major in exercise science to become a pediatric physical therapist. Chancey Barnett said her daughter's cancer fight has changed everything for her and her family, but it's also proof of Aubrey's unshakeable will and strength. "It was just a never-ending up-and-down battle. But she made it through all of it," the mom of three said. "When she says she's going to do something, she does it." For Aubrey, her message to anyone facing a challenge is to look for the positive whenever possible. "Whatever you're going through, you can get through it if your mindset is right," she said. "I feel like that's the biggest thing is to have a good mindset, because if you just think about all the negatives, you're never going to be able to get through it. So you just need to think about the positives and that everything happens for a reason."
