Watch the Kids on Halloween

Suisun City residents are encouraged to show extra caution when driving through City streets on Friday night as our children celebrate Halloween.

Two great ways to celebrate the annual trick-or-treat holiday are

• The 57th Annual Suisun City Costume Parade and Contest. Sign-up starting at 4 p.m. for the parade and judging at Driftwood and Main Street then enjoy the festive 5 p.m. trip down Main Street to Harbor Plaza for awards and candy. This free family tradition is great for all ages!
• The Solano College Theatre is putting on "Spooktacular" - a terrific haunted house inside the historic Lawler House at 718 Main Street, between the Harbor Theater and Harbor Square. The haunted house runs 5-6:30 p.m. as a G-rated family event, and 7-10 p.m as PG-13 fun for the thrill-seekers. $5 admission, $2 if you come in costume.

Follow these tips for a safe Halloween:

• Try to use face-makeup rather than masks to allow for maximum vision
• Drive more slowly, particularly on residential streets, watching for children running into traffic or acting erractically
• Provide children who are trick-or-treating with lightweight flashlights to navigate darkened streets
• Don't use candles in displays of dried season material
• Avoid long or flowing costumes that could pose a tripping hazard
  

Hollywood Came to Suisun City on Wednesday

A production company filming a portion of an episode of the ABC reality-based series "Wife Swap" came to Suisun City on Wednesday to shoot with the Suisun City Fire Department.

The crew was in town for several hours before they headed off to other parts of the Bay Area to continue their work.

Now before you start asking all your friends and neighbors if they were involved: None of the principals involved in the episode were from Suisun City.

The crew phoned Fire Chief Mike O'Brien late Tuesday asking if the Fire Department would put one of the show's participants through the paces. With the opportunity to put Suisun City on a nationally televised entertainment show - and the requisite high level conversations - he quickly said, "Yes."

Chief O'Brien, Captain Greg Bounds and Lt. Greg Renucci put them through the paces of putting on 45 lbs. of fire gear at the firehouse before taking them to the Waterfront District to practice handling a live fire hose with 125-pounds of pressurized water pouring from the nozzle. We even paused by the recently painted water tower for general shots of the fire truck rolling by.

We have no idea yet when the episode will air or how much of the Suisun City footage will survive the editing process. We'll be sure to keep you posted when we find out because we're sure everyone is going to want to see this!

But at least for a few hours today, Hollywood was right here in Suisun City and we did our best to make sure we offered a good close-up.

The Daily Republic wrote a story. See it at www.dailyrepublic.com

Suisun City Marina Dredging Approved

The silt and mud collected in the Suisun City Marina over the past 6 years will be sucked out in a dredging project that is expected to start Nov. 17.

The Suisun City Council unanimously awarded the $1.3 million project to Roy G. Garren Construction of Roseburg, Oregon, the lowest of three bidders who showed interest in the Suisun City job. The bid came in more than $300,000 lower than the engineer's estimate for the work.

The City Council met in a special meeting Tuesday to consider the contract because of the short window set by state and federal environmental regulators as to when dredging in the environmentally sensitive Suisun Slough can be conducted. Regulators limit any dredge work to the fall months to avoid peak spawning seasons for various species that make their home in the Suisun Marsh.

Improving the marina and keeping it suitable for a wide variety of boats is essential to the economic health of the Waterfront District, and the viability of the Solano Yacht Club, which routinely draws fellow boaters from across the Bay Area to Suisun City.

"It is a critcal asset that is more important than ever as we work hard to attract new restaurants and businesses to Harbor Square, solict new ventures to four remaining waterfront sites, and market to visitors to come and stay at our soon-to-be-opened waterfront hotel - all occuring during more than challenging economic times," said Recreation and Community Services Director Mick Jessop.

The dredging project will involve two dredgers working seven days a week for 18 hours each day to move 120,600 cubic yards of siltation from the marina to Pierce Island. The project includes the Marina Village marina area for which homeowners pay an annual assessment.