In Case of An Emergency

YEAR-ROUND WORK KEY TO SMUD RESPONSE

Winter weather is coming, and SMUD stands ready to meet the challenge.

Making sure the power is there when you need it is a year-round priority for SMUD maintenance crews. Each year they patrol and inspect all of SMUD's nearly 9,800 miles of distribution lines and 500 miles of high-voltage transmission lines to spot and correct potential problems before they can happen. Preventive maintenance is performed constantly on lines, poles, substations and transformers to ensure high levels of system reliability.

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ARE YOU READY WITH YOUR STORM-PREPARATION KIT?

First things first: If power lines fall, stay away. Call 911 or SMUD's outage line at 1-888-456-SMUD (7683).

Be prepared for winter storms. Locate your electric service panel and learn how to operate the main breaker. Prepare an emergency kit, with:

• Flashlight
• Batteries
• Matches
• Bottled water
• Wind-up clock
• Manual can opener
• Battery-operated radio

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FREE CLASSES HELP LIGHT UP LIVES SMUD regularly offers free classes in its Customer Service Center, 6301 S St., to help customers get the most from their energy dollar. Advance sign-up is required. To register, go to SMUD.org/etc or call (916) 732-6738. Here are the upcoming free classes. More Online

JOIN SMUD'S CARBON OFFSET PROGRAM We all need to take individual and collective actions to reduce our impact on the environment. Our daily activities produce carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that is harmful to the environment. Now, through SMUD's Carbon Offset program, you have the opportunity to reduce the effect of those things you just can't change. For $10 per month (which is added to your SMUD bill), you can offset the average Sacramento footprint and support the development of innovative local emission reduction projects. The cost includes participation in SMUD's Greenergy® program which will provide your electricity from renewable energy sources. Preserving a healthy, sustainable environment depends on the responsible choices we make today. Join SMUD's Carbon Offset program and help build a cleaner, healthier tomorrow! More Online

Black churches celebrate Obama's inauguration

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President Barack Obama bows his head in prayer during today's Inauguration. Help us grow the team by inviting your family and friends to join.

By JESSE J. HOLLAND, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON – Long a shield and sword for African-American progress, black churches around the nation celebrated with praise, songs and jubilation Tuesday as Barack Obama was inaugurated the nation's first black president.

"We live in a time where God has moved history," said Rev. J. Michael Little, who opened the doors of the historic Friendship Baptist Church near the U.S. Capitol so people could watch Obama take his oath of office on a large-screen television.

The African-American church has been an anchor in black Americans' lives in the United States since the late 1700s, a place weary slaves would go for comfort and fiery abolitionists and civil rights activists would call for change.

Across the country, black churches opened their doors for early morning praise and fellowship in celebration of Obama's victory and then turned on televisions to watch him take the oath of office. READ and SEE MORE

• Obama's success as president hinges on more than race

Inauguration hits and misses

Slip-up moment

Obama and Chief Justice Roberts share a flub, while Michelle's dress wows.

» Speech a success

• Watch the full speech
• Obama's somber tone
• Images from parade

Pre-Inauguration Celebration

Listen to BlogTalkRadio

With only a few days left until the first African-American President is sworn into office, host Toyi Ward and guest Spike Spillberg ponder, "What's the New Black?"

Martin Luther King Jr. March & Celebration - Monday - January 19, 2009

Martin Luther King Jr. March & Celebration

MLK365

January 19, 2009 - Monday

The march is a living embodiment of King’s vision with all people— across age, race, or political lines—joining together in an inspirational fellowship to mark their support. READ Details

You Are Invited to Pray for and Attend the MLK Celebration 2009

"We're Better together"
Mlk Celebration - 10 Days of Prayer - (January 8-17)

Once again it is the pleasure of the Church in Sacramento, California, to inform you that many church leaders city-wide have come together in an attempt to plan and prepare for the upcoming Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration to take place Sunday evening, January 18 at Capital Christian Center. On behalf of all of the pastors and church leaders that have taken part in the initial preparations, we would be honored to have you and your congregation attend this celebration at 5:30 pm. Thank you for your prayer covering for this event!

The theme for the celebration is “We Are Better Together.” At this year’s celebration in honor of Dr. King, Tynisha Mims, the 2006 recipient of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholarship award, will share the journey of her final year while attending William Jessup University.

William Jessup University will continue in partnership with the MLK Scholarship Committee as we seek to expand this scholarship opportunity for multiple students in the Sacramento region. The hope is that between all of the churches in this region, we will raise $10,000 a year towards the scholarship for some of Sacramento’s brightest and most gifted young people in the region. We are asking all pastors to receive a second offering between now and January 18, 2009. This will insure our participation in the education for future generations. Please bring the offering with you on January 18 to the celebration.

In regards to the order of service, the Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration choirs will provide music for the evening, and Dr. Cynthia James will be our keynote speaker. On the day of the event we are asking all pastors to meet at 5:00 pm in the Parlour for a time of fellowship and prayer. Refreshments will be served.

At our next planning meeting we will finalize all promotional material, including radio spots and all local TV affiliates involved. Two weeks prior to the event we will blitz the airwaves. Your attendance is welcome and desired. The meeting will be Thursday January 8, 2009 at Capital Christian Center at 7:30 am in the Board room. Please pray about joining us in this event and invite your congregation to participate in this year’s celebration, not only to honor Dr. King, but to pray for America and the direction God is taking our country. If you have any comments, questions, or concerns, please call 856-5690 ext. 224.

On behalf of the MLK Jr. Celebration Committee:

Pastor Sherwood Carthen
Senior Pastor, Bayside of South Sacramento
Pastor Samuel Gordon
Community Resources,
Capital Christian Center
http://mlkjrday.net/

Community • Unity • Empowerment
“We’re Better Together!”

Congo conflict won't stop doctor, wife from helping

By Chelsea Phua
cphua@sacbee.com - Boxes and bags of medical supplies fill the office of Dr. Phil Dirksen at Kaiser Permanente Sacramento Medical Center in anticipation of the trip that he and his wife, Zana, take to Congo every year. Despite the conflict raging in the African nation, the Dirksens plan a spring visit.

Inside a cavernous warehouse at an airport in eastern Congo, Dr. Phil Dirksen, his wife and two young children watched helplessly as customs officials ripped open their luggage and scattered their belongings.

When they tried to return the doctor's bronchoscope to its case, the officers crushed it.

They did not know the doctor and his family had arrived that July in 1981 to help the people of Congo – then known as Zaire. They could not know that for the next three decades, Dirksen would treat hundreds of rape victims, train hundreds of local doctors and thousands of nurses.

And back then, those customs officials did not know they themselves would become Dirksen's patients.

Now, they wait eagerly to welcome the 64-year-old doctor and his 62-year-old wife, Zana, when they arrive for their annual trips to work in Congo's hospitals.

Congolese call the jovial doctor with snowy hair, thick mustache and a roaring laugh "Muganga (Doctor) Philippe" and "Le Maitre (The Teacher)." His soft-spoken wife is "Madame Zana."

"Oh, it's the red carpet treatment now," Dirksen said jokingly last week, sitting in an examination room at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, Sacramento, where he works as a general surgeon.

His office was cramped with stacks of boxes of syringes, gloves and other medical equipment marked for shipment to Congo. READ MORE

MLK Jr. Celebration Choir Practice Invitation

... see you there - January 18, 2009, 5:30 pm, Capital Christian Center
MLK JR. CELEBRATION
2225 19th St. Ste C
Sacramento, CA 95818
916-441-6228
mlkjrday.blogspot.com

Dear Worship Pastor/Director,

You're invited to be a part of a very meaningful time with the Sacramento church community. Please accept this as a formal invitation to you, your worship team and choir to participate in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Workshop Mass Choir (Sunday Service), with guest directors, the Porter Brothers (Pastors of Genesis Church) and in partnership with the Sacramento Metropolitan Choir (directed by Dorothy Love-Thornton). Come learn new music and meet new people from all over the city.

Sunday, January 18, 2009, 5:30 pm is the annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Service to be held at Capital Christian Center located at 9470 Micron Ave Sacramento, CA 95827 (Hwy 50 and Bradshaw). This is an ecumenical service involving many community churches and leaders of Sacramento. It's a time to remember the contribution that Dr. King made to our country as a minister of the gospel, as well as time to recognize that Christ has gifted each of us to make a difference in our world.

Below is the Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Mass Choir rehearsal schedule to participate in Sunday's service:

• Saturday, Jan. 10th, 10 am -- Noon at Capital Christian Center (Worship Center)
• Friday, Jan. 16th, 7 -- 9 pm at Capital Christian Center (Choir Room: S-4)
• Dress Rehearsal, Saturday, Jan. 17th, 10 am -- 1 pm at Capital Christian Center (Worship Center)
  
  

Please let me know that you will be able to participate by December 1, 2008. Simply e-mail me at darmishat@marshillfamily.com or call 916-374-8448. You can access the recordings and lyrics of the music we will be singing at http://www.myspace.com/mlkworshipchoir . It's that easy!

I really look forward to working with you and getting to know your ministry better.

I hope to hear from you soon,

Rev. Darmisha Taylor
MLK Music Director and
Pastor of Worship and Creatives Arts,
Mars Hill Church
916-374-8448
darmishat@marshillfamily.com

P.S. Check out our link at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3dIU1G7X7I
and see highlights from last year!

*On behalf of the 2009 MLK Jr. Celebration Committee, Sacramento, CA
Co-Chairman Pastor Sherwood Carthen and Pastor Samuel Gordon

Community * Unity * Empowerment
"We're better together"