Minor leagues experiment with ‘robo-umps’ B1
Get set for St. Paddy’s Day with corned beef recipes B4
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DAILYREPUBLIC.COM | Well said. Well read.
Marijuana biz permits back before council
Covid economy update, downtown farmers market plan on agenda Todd R. Hansen
There are five applicants for the two retail permits. The two potential FAIRFIELD — The vendors that scored the City Council is expected highest in the application Tuesday to grant prelim- steps were Responsiinary approval for two ble & Compliant Retail cannabis retail permits Fairfield LLC, which proand one manufacposes a location of turer's permit. 180 Serrano, Suite The public A, and East of hearing on the Eden North Bay retail permits LLC, which prowas carr ied poses a location at over from the 1740 Travis Blvd. March 2 meeting. The other There are five applicants finalists for are Element the two permits. CHATWIN 7 Fairfield LLC There is only (2320 Courage one applicant for the man- Drive); FWC Inc. ufacturer's permit, 3Bros. (150 Alaska Ave.); and Fairfield, which plans to Authentic Fairfield LLC locate the business at (2470 Martin Road). 2445 S. Watney Way if it gets the permit. See Council, Page A8 THANSEN@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET
Robinson Kuntz/Daily Republic photos
Items from the Vacaville landmark Nut Tree are on display in the Vacaville Museum’s new exhibit.
Roaring back
Vacaville Museum revives Nut Tree history Amy Maginnis-Honey
AMAGINNIS@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET
VACAVILLE — Babe Ruth was still at bat. The first dishwasher surfaced. And the Nut Tree was born. The Power family started a roadside fruit stand in July 1921 that would become one of California’s favorite road stops and put Solano County on the map for travelers all over the country. Luminaries such as President Ronald Reagan, President Richard Nixon, Queen Elizabeth, Bing Crosby and even Bozo the Clown made the Nut Tree part of their holiday plans. Vacaville Museum Curator Heidi Casebolt began two years ago with planning the exhibit to honor the landmark. “Nut Tree Centennial: 100 Years of Food, Family and Fun,” has more than 1,000 artifacts. The Nut Tree had a significant impact on the culture and economic development of Solano County, and on the entire state. It was at one point the third-largest employer in Solano County. Nut Tree stories have come in from around the country, and from Canada, too. “I spoke to a young woman from Texas whose fiancé is Vacaville born and shared his Nut Tree memorial. She called to buy a Nut Tree cookbook to surprise him with a Nut Tree meal for his birthday,” said Joanie Erickson, executive director of the museum. Casebolt and Erickson got several clues into the Nut Tree while prepar-
The Vacaville Museum’s new exhibit celebrates the centennial of the Nut Tree. Pictured at right are some of the original place settings and chairs from the restaurant. ing the exhibit. “I learned about how far back with the Power family the branding idea went – before Don Birrell – they just didn’t call it that,” Casebolt said. “Design was a major consideration from their early days, and they wanted a visit to the Nut Tree to be both comforting and unique.” Birrell was the Nut Tree’s design director from 1950 until his retirement in 1990. He died in 2006. The Nut Tree was the launching place for many now-famous Northern California artists and designers. Artists such as Wayne Thiebaud and midcentury modern furniture designers Ray and Charles Eames sold their work at the Nut Tree store. Casebolt also noted how nimble the Nut Tree staff was and quickly related to trends. When the Nut Tree opened, the
drive between the Bay Area and Sacramento could top four hours, and car air conditioning was years away. Drivers were looking for a longer stop to cool off and relax before continuing their journey. Later, as cars and roads improved, many travelers wanted a quicker stop, and the Coffee Tree was designed to get customers back on the road in about 30 minutes. Nut Tree served fresh food grown on the family’s property and imported pineapple from Hawaii, which was quite the extravagance in the 1960s and 1970s. Other food innovations, such as the mixing of hot and cold foods on the same plate, and a focus on presentation were the roots of what is now known as California cuisine. Erickson and Casebolt both See Nut Tree, Page A8
Catalytic converter thefts spike in California Los Angeles Times Terrence McNally didn’t notice anything unusual when he got into his Toyota Prius one morning last December. Then he started the engine. “It sounded like I had a Harley-Davidson in the back seat,” said the 72-year-old Long Beach resident. McNally was among a growing number of victims of stolen cata-
lytic converters. Every car comes equipped with the device, which is made with precious metals that transform the vehicle’s toxic emissions into harmless vapors like carbon dioxide. The parts have become an unusual windfall for thieves, who can make hundreds of dollars selling them to auto parts suppliers or scrapyards. Catalytic converters can See Thefts, Page A8
Los Angeles’ federal deals give leniency to polluters Los Angeles Times In 2015, federal prosecutors in Los Angeles made a deal with the CEO of one of Southern California’s most dangerous industrial facilities, a battery recycling plant that had contaminated thousands of nearby homes with lead dust. Exide Technologies agreed to demolish its plant in Vernon and pay $50 million to cover the costs of decontaminating the site and cleaning up the mainly workingclass Latino enclaves it had polluted. In return, prosecutors spared the company and its executives from
Review reveals complicated results criminal charges. Neighbors cheered the plant’s closure. But five years later, Exide declared bankruptcy and a federal judge allowed it to abandon the contaminated facility. The building still stands today. The cleanup is unfinished and being financed by California taxpayers. Prosecutors and state environmental regulators disagree over whether the company violated its deal, but the dispute is academic – there’s no company left to prosecute. Federal prosecutors’
deal with Exide was so remarkable that an EPA official hopped on a plane to California to try to stop it. Agreements not to charge companies that promise to make amends are rare in the world of environmental crime, where prosecutors who can’t make a persuasive criminal case can pursue corporate polluters in civil court. But in Los Angeles – where prosecutors cover a region of heavy industry hubs, the nation’s busiest port complex and historically harmful levels of air
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pollution – the Exide case was not an outlier. According to a Los Angeles Times review of environmental criminal cases brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, prosecutors there have made more such deals with corporations accused of violating environmental laws than in any of the 93 other such offices in the country. Companies in these cases weren’t required to plead guilty; they weren’t See Polluters, Page A8
WEATHER
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Slight chance of showers. Complete five-day forecast on B8.
Al Seib/Los Angeles Times/TNS file photo (2020)
Portions of the Exide Technologies, a former lead-acid battery recycling plant, are wrapped in scaffolding and white plastic in Vernon, Oct. 6, 2020. HOW TO REACH US Breaking news updates at
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