The Wake-Up Call: Celebrity Dancers, Budget Veto

The Strauss Festival is one of those uniquely Elk Grovian happenings that thoroughly intrigues us. Where else can you find an entire event dedicated to the Viennese waltz...on an island, no less? We're already impatient for the end of July to arrive, but in the meantime, ticketholders to tonight's Strauss Festival gala can get a sneak preview of all the excitement. At last week's city council meeting, someone teased Mayor Steven Detrick, who will be performing in the gala's celebrity dance contest, about having two left feet. We'll let you be the judge when we report back from the gala later this weekend.

In the Patch:

Besides the dance contest, the glitzy shindig will include a waltz demonstration, live and silent auctions, and hors d'oeuvres from local restaurants. Reservations were due June 13; call 916-714-2527 for more information.

Police to hold sobriety checkpoint Saturday. Elk Grove PD will be looking for impaired and unlicensed drivers from 8:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. As always, it's anyone's guess where they'll set up their barricades.

Outside the Patch:

Gov. Jerry Brown vetoes budget passed by state legislature. The Guv said the budget, passed by Democrats on a majority vote, wasn't really balanced. He's got his own strategy: gather enough Republican votes to place tax increases before voters in the fall, and extend them temporarily in the meantime. The Sacramento Bee has the details.