Looking behind the scenes: E-mail scam puts columnist in London

Using the notebook pages to write "thank you's" while converting my money into Euros.... In case you don't understand that opening line, then you are among the minuscule group of about 20 folks who didn't receive a bogus e-mail from me wailing that I was stuck in London, and needed a mere thousand bucks or so to get home. What happened is that some miscreant hacked into my e-mail (a la Sarah Palin), changed my password so I couldn't access the page, then went through a lengthy list of addresses and sent the phony missives. I would have alerted you folks earlier to the scam, but I was about three grand ahead when — I mean, being computerus illeteratum, I had no idea of how to halt the overseas racket. The local constabulary was sympathetic but of little help, other than to ask me about possible suspects. The way the wealth was being spread around, I immediately thought Barack Obama was behind it, but he already has more ready cash than God. It was comforting to know that my real friends would never respond to a plea from England. Had the cry for help emanated from Calabria or downtown Palermo, that would have been another matter. Auburn Recreation District's Scott Holbrook immediately pledged $1.98 to help me home, but I told him it would be wiser to use that money to buy flight insurance for the Boys & Girls Club. Yahoo, which handled my e-mail account, was about as helpful as Gavin Newsom as a wedding planner. Eventually, I had Yahoo trash my old account, which also meant destroying countless files and former columns. Of course, those files were important only to myself and the Pulitzer Committee, but I digress. Suffice to say, my new e-mail address is jimruffalo@yahoo.com... Expansion plans: Despite recent announcements that Target was canceling expansion plans for at least 10 stores (two of those in the Sacramento area), it's still a "go" for the North Auburn store. Gerry Haas, an associate planner for the county, says the so-called Target expansion will center upon the store's current garden center, adding at least 7,500 square feet there, with an eventual addition of more than 42,000 square feet to both the north and south sides. Haas says a large chunk of the expansion will be devoted to storage, and added that many stores in the North Auburn area are reporting exceptional dollars-per-square footage sales "despite the current economic downturn." And we learn Target won't be the only construction in that area. Mike Wells, also of the county Planning Department, confirms that the proposed Auburn Creekside Center is very close to the Environmental Impact Report stage. "We're finalizing details now and when that's done, the consultant will begin the administrative draft (of the EIR)," Wells said.That site is identified as being just north of Target, and calls for 92,000 feet of space in five buildings. We're told that there will also be more than four acres dedicated as riparian open space (for the reservoir footprint). The original request called for 321 parking spaces, but Wells said he didn't know if that figure would remain constant. Wells added that the project will also involve extending Education Street across the creek, and connecting it with a roundabout that will flow traffic to and from an extension to Quartz Drive. "Outcumbent": Proving that elections nowadays may not be kind to incumbents, the Lake of the Pines Homeowners Association just completed its elections, but decided not to grace incumbent president Brigitte Crawford with enough votes to allow her to retain her seat. Because there were already two seats expiring, and three vacant due to resignations, a record five seats were open. LOPlanders tried to put together a vote earlier this summer, but it failed for lack of a quorum. That ho-hum attitude may have been due to Crawford being a one-person search committee for candidates, and then coming up herself as being the only one ready to assume any of the, then, three vacant seats. Derrald Pick was the top vote getter this time with 823, followed by Roger L. Davis (754), Tom Schuyler (707), former board president Chuck Lautrup (676), and Dave Gove (648). Gove's term will expire next June, but in an obvious display of community spirit, fellow board members elected him president. For the record, Crawford finished dead last among the eight candidates with 415 votes. and that lack of support may have had something to do with the recent letting go of a very popular — and very productive — golf pro. Of course, the recent announcement of yet another hike in the dues, along with some other ill-timed expenditures such as the redecoration of the general manager's office, may also have played a part in Crawford's political demise. Jim Ruffalo's column runs weekly in the Journal. He can be reached at jmruffalo@yahoo.com, or post a comment at auburnjournal.com.