Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson has not been deterred by two court rulings that prevent his strong mayor initiative from being placed on the June ballot. His latest strategy is to ask the City Council to place a new strong mayor proposal on the ballot. But Johnson’s new plan, which he announced on his blog Monday afternoon, cannot include the existing strong mayor initiative. That's because Sacramento Superior Court Judge Loren McMaster struck down the initiative last month, saying it broke state law. Johnson's blog entry does not explain the components of his new proposal. He described his new plan as a "collaborative executive mayor reform package." Joaquin McPeek, Johnson's spokesman,

Popular rock band Jack's Mannequin is playing at Sacramento State Thursday. The concert is the fifth stop for the "Sing for Your Supper Tour," which also features rock bands Vedera and fun. fun. member Andrew Dost said the tour has been awesome so far. "It's been such a joy to play for people who are so accepting of new music," he said. "The bands are good. We have a tremendous amount of respect for Jack's Mannequin." Dost said fun. is on its second tour with Jack's Mannequin, which is enjoying the success of its second album, "The Glass Passenger." The album has sold over 200,000 copies since its release in September 2008. Jack's Mannequin formed as a side project of Andrew McMahon, t

Two thirty-somethings who grew up in Sacramento's restaurant scene are teaming up to open a French-influenced restaurant next month. Simon's Bar & Cafe co-owner Alan Chan is opening his second restaurant, Bistro Michel, at 1501 14th St. The bistro will be managed by Richard Macias, who's worked in restaurants all over Sacramento. The two became friends after Macias got a job bartending at Simon's. Chan, 36 and Macias, 35, plan to open a restaurant that is "simple and classy and not overbearing," offering primarily American food cooked with French techniques and priced for most people, Macias said. They got fired up about French food while in France a few years ago to celebrate a friend'

Imagine having the chance to see one of your favorite artists play a solo acoustic show walking distance from your apartment. Now, realize that day is Super Bowl Sunday. This was my predicament as I walked toward the Blue Lamp, 1400 Alhambra Blvd., to see Black Francis of the Pixies. Licking the buffalo wing sauce from my fingers after putting on a jacket over my "I Love New Orleans" shirt I walked inside. Inside Blue Lamp, the excitement was contagious. An estimated 60 people were anxiously waiting for the show to begin. Most were passing their time smoking cigarettes out front or drinking by the bar. Since I don't smoke, I went to the bar. With a beer in hand, I felt the show could beg

Sacramento Kings rookie swingman Omri Casspi will be a participant in H.O.R.S.E., presented by Geico at the NBA 2010 All-Star Weekend in Dallas on Saturday, according to a report by J.E. Skeets of Yahoo! Sports. The event is this Saturday at 4 p.m. on TNT. The report also indicates that last year's H.O.R.S.E. champion, Oklahoma City Thunder small forward Kevin Durant, and Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo will also compete for the title. Casspi has already been selected to the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam, where he will play for the rookie team along with rookie teammate Tyreke Evans. The game is this Friday at 6 p.m. on TNT. Evans will also compete in the Haier Shooting

Despite the fact that the Sacramento Kings (16-34) are slumping, its rookie guard, Tyreke Evans, has a bright weekend ahead of him during the 2010 NBA All-Star Weekend in Dallas, Texas. Evans, along with fellow rookie teammate Omri Casspi, will represent the Kings on the Rookies team in the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam at the American Airlines Arena, home of the Dallas Mavericks. The Rookie Challenge is a game where the league's best first-year players (Rookies) of this season compete against the best of the second-year players (Sophomores), who have won the past seven games. The game will be televised on TNT Friday at 6 p.m. Evans will also compete in the Haier Shooting Stars

Access Sacramento is hosting a 3 hour telethon on Friday February 26 in our TV Studio. We will be putting together crews to tape record three, one-hour programs that will then playback from 8:00 PM - 11:00 PM that same night. Produced in partnership with the "Buck-up or Shut Up!" event organized by the Sacramento Music Alliance, our combined efforts will ask local viewers to remember Haiti and ocntinue to donate. The devastating earthquake that killed so many and left so many more families homeless, will take many years to rebuild. Let's not forget them - Haitians of all ages still need our help. Sacramento musicians are joining together with Access Sacramento to bring this appeal to lo

The Sacramento Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce’s 17th Annual Installation Dinner was held Feb. 4th at the Sheraton in downtown Sacramento. Over 600 guests enjoyed passionate speeches by guest George Takei and 2010 SACC Honoree, West Sacramento Mayor, Christopher Cabaldon who focused on the power of strong leadership.   The SACC was honored to present the  2010 awardees: Kaiser Permanente (Corporate Steward Award); Fast Signs of Elk Grove (Small Business Award); Asian Resources (Vu Nguyen Heroism Award) and Megan Franks, Rancho Cordova Marriott (Ambassador of the Year). The SACC Installation Dinner is held each February and includes the installation of new Board Members of the Sacramento

While the Sacramento Kings try to figure out how to put up Ws, the Sacramento State womens basketball squad are turning heads with a 6 game winning streak a Sac State record. First year head coach Jamie Craighead has found the chemistry needed mid season to make a run for the playoffs with an uptempo offense and a swarming back court press that forces strings of turnovers for the opposing team. More than that her team seems to carry out her leadership without question. In return everyone can shoot!  Simple put this is real TEAM sports with everyone an offensive threat. Senior guard Ashley Garcia has won player of the week in the Big Sky conference with impressive stats with key assists a

An explosion ripped through a vacant Oak Park home early Sunday morning, completely destroying the house. Fortunately there were no injuries and no lives lost. The fire, with explosion was reported shortly after 2:00 A.M. Sacramento Firefighters were on scene in about three minutes. The fire was contained to a small portion of the house and surrounding trees, but the house was destroyed. Firefighters were able to search the home and they did not find any victims inside. Crews from Pacific Gas and Electric were on scene and they were unable to find any signs of a natural gas leak. The cause of the fire and explosion is currently under investigation by Sacramento Fire Department Investigato