Dan Streetman is accustomed to giving orders – on marketing and other business issues – for a Sacramento financial planning company.
Within weeks, he'll be giving orders for the U.S. Army, most likely in Iraq or Afghanistan. Streetman, the chief operating officer at Hanson McClain Advisors, has been called up for reserve duty as an infantry officer.
Starting Oct. 19, the West Point grad will spend three weeks in "mobilization" training in South Carolina to ensure he can still "walk, talk, chew gum and fire a rifle," he says.
The eight-year Army veteran says "the odds are pretty high" he'll be deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan.
Streetman, 40, a married father of two, says he was stunned to get called up for active duty as an "individual-ready reservist," a category that typically doesn't get tapped. "It's the last thing I expected to happen," says Streetman, who will be deployed for 400 days.
It's frustrating leaving work at a time when his company is rapidly expanding, he says. But Streetman knows his skills and experience are needed.
Leaving his family and heading to a war zone is even more worrisome, he acknowledges. "You have to be concerned," says Streetman, but his focus will be on "doing the best job I can, providing good leadership and accomplishing our mission."
What slowdown?
A limping economy isn't worrying the local owners of the Crepeville restaurant chain.
They've just signed a lease to open their fifth restaurant – this one a Burgers and Brew – at the former Wonder Bread bakery/warehouse at 14th and R streets in downtown Sacramento.
"Business really hasn't slowed down for us," says co-owner Derar Zawaydeh, who contends higher-priced eateries are hardest hit by a downturn.
His "moderate-priced" restaurants may actually benefit, he says. "People still want to go out. They're just looking for better values."
Zawaydeh and Philippe Masoud, his brother and business partner, opened a Burgers and Brew in downtown Davis a year ago.
"It's packed all the time ... hopefully we can replicate that here," says Zawaydeh, who is self-financing his expansion.
As in Davis, the Sacramento outlet will offer half-pound burgers made with Niman Ranch beef, along with 12 beers on tap, 40 more in bottles and 30 wine selections. The new restaurant – expected to open in March – will have a fireplace, an indoor fountain and lots of exposed brick.
"It's not your typical burger dive," the owner says of his new cafe, part of a D&S Development project that includes 12 upstairs loft condos. Also atypical: It will stay open until 4 a.m. Thursday through Saturday and midnight the rest of the week.
Ready to rumble
Sacramento entertainment attorney Scott Hervey is about to get another reality TV credit on his résumé.
He was production counsel for "Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling," which debuts Oct. 18 on the Country Music Television network.
The show has 10 celebs go through training and then compete in "choreographed" wrestling matches before a studio audience, says Hervey, who's worked on several other reality shows.
The celebs – including former hoopster Dennis Rodman, actor Danny Bonaduce, ex-Playboy playmate Nikki Ziering and pop singer Tiffany – are judged only on their mastery of wrestling moves.
Hervey, who spent a couple of weeks on the L.A. set this summer, is not revealing who won the competition, of course. But he does say there were some injuries, despite the scripted fighting.
"It's not acting," says the attorney for Sacramento's Weintraub Genshlea Chediak law firm, "when you get hit in the head with a chair or somebody body-slams you."
Reach Bob Shallit at (916) 321-1049. Back columns: www.sacbee.com/shallit.
