Newest articles on The Sacramento Press

Keeping it local on L Street

2012-02-04T05:14:41Z

Wednesday was ladies’ night at the Goodies and Glam event, hosted by Face it Salon, Spa & Boutique on 18th and L streets. Patrons were invited to taste wine from Revolution Wines and cake and cookies from TreyBCakes. They shopped, got their makeup done and even scored a quick facelift.

Owner Sherie Scalzi, 30, said this was the first event that was broadcast to the public, and that they will continue to have monthly events.

Face it Boutique, which opened seven months ago, houses designs from local artists and students like jeweler Caroline Hearn from the International Academy of Design and Technology in Sacramento.

“I have really, really loved working with local designers, so we try to get a lot of local people here,” Scalzi said. “We work with people at events and at our store to help everybody’s business, so it’s fun.”

Scalzi opened Face It Salon on 19th and L streets two years ago, just around the corner from where the boutique is now. She started carrying her friend’s Me and D clothing line, and when the boutique outgrew the space, she opened a store that now caters to both men and women.

Scalzi, who grew up in Sacramento, studied aesthetics at Citrus Heights Beauty College so she could take care of her acne.

“I had major scarring on my face, my chest and my back,” Scalzi said, “so I went for my own personal needs and desires. That grew into my business, which grew into permanent makeup and massage and waxing.”

After her grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer, Scalzi learned how to apply permanent makeup so she could help.

“She went to have her eyebrows done at a permanent makeup studio,” Scalzi said, “and they messed her up. So I ended up going to school for permanent cosmetics to correct her eyebrows.”

Scazli worked in local salons for 11 years and said she finally opened her own because she was fed up with the lack of customer service.

“I pride myself that my staff makes me feel really comfortable from the moment they walk in,” Scalzi said. “It just kind of stems from that. I finally felt like I had learned all the do’s and don’ts and went out on my own.”

Customer Serena Kirk has visited the full-service salon for two years and she said she comes back for the customer service and all that they offer.

“Their staff is just really friendly,” Kirk said, “and I trust that they will make me look good.”

For Scalzi, it is more than the returning clientele that keeps her motivated. She said that she wants to prove to her family that all this hard work was worth it, and she wants her three children to know they can also achieve their dreams.

“I want them to have and be and do whatever they want,” Scalzi said. “I don’t ever want them to do something that they don’t love. I can honestly say I love what I do.”

To find out more about Face It, visit the website.

Sacramento Ballet's Cinderella

2012-02-04T04:06:51Z

Sacramento Ballet’s in-studio previews for “Cinderella” sold out, and these performances created a delightful show for children and adults. The in-studio performances were held at the Sacramento Ballet Studios on Thursday and Friday.

The preview shows gave guests an opportunity to see an up-close and personal view of the wonderful talent the Sacramento Ballet has to offer. This unique perspective allows viewers to appreciate the effort that goes into each movement.

On Thursday afternoon, artistic director Ron Cunningham welcomed ballet enthusiasts to the event held at their studio at 1631 K St. Cunningham introduced several of the dancers performing in “Cinderella.”

Richard Smith and Rex Wheeler are cast in the roles of Cinderella’s ugly stepsisters, giving them a comic role. Their dance moves brought laughter from the audience at various points. They were also dressed in costume for the performance, while most of the rest of the cast wore casual ballet outfits.

Cunningham noted that his version of “Cinderella,” originally created in 1976 for the Boston Ballet, has been seen by audiences around the world. A Chinese national TV station also televised the ballet to over 30 million viewers.

“Cinderella” is divided into three acts. Act 1 begins with Cinderella, played by Alexandra Cunningham, working hard performing unending chores. The ungraceful stepsisters try outfits for the royal ball, and later a dance master attempts to teach them dance moves and social graces.

As the stepsisters attempt to dance, a viewer cannot help but notice how much effort it takes to move and dance like someone who does not know how to dance. The stepsisters’ moves are made to look clumsy and funny, and their whimsical facial expressions are very comical and are sure to delight the audience at the Sacramento Community Center.

Act 2 takes place at the royal ball as guests await the arrival of the prince. The court jester, played by Christopher B. Nachtrab, entertains the royal guests. Dancers gracefully waltz around which again shows their classically trained adagio moves and balance. Their fluid movements hypnotize the audience.

When Cinderella arrives at the royal ball, guests are impressed by her natural grace and beauty. Once the prince, played by Stefan Calka, arrives and sees Cinderella, the two instantly fall in love.

Calka’s performance is physically demanding, and his moves are classic and elegant. During one of his solo dances, Calka’s glissade movements used the whole studio floor, as he danced to impress Cinderella, but the whole audience was impressed by his fluid dancing.

Cinderella continues to dance with her new love as time seems to have stood still. The beauty of ballet transcends on the ballet studio, making this fairytale come to life in front of the audience.

Soon the clock strikes midnight. As Cinderella races home, the second intermission arrives.

We all know the story of “Cinderella,” but the Sacramento Ballet brings music, dance and love to the studio and will do the same at the Community Center. Cunningham’s choreography is a joy to watch. This will be a love story for ballet enthusiasts of all ages.

“Cinderella” will play at the Sacramento Community Center Theater from Feb. 9 to 12, with two shows on Feb. 11.

Del Paso Boulevard to get a makeover this summer

2012-02-04T02:52:45Z

The Del Paso Boulevard corridor between Globe and Baxter avenues will be getting a makeover this summer in a $1.5 million dollar streetscape project set to begin in May.

The project will include safety improvements at intersections and new on-street parking to the 1000-block of Del Paso Boulevard, according to city Department of Transportation Assistant Engineer Matthew Johns.

The city received federal community development grant funds in 2009 to construct streetscape improvements between Arden Way and State Route 160.

Before construction could begin, the project had to go through various stages of planning, design and environmental review. The project got the final go-ahead from the City Council Tuesday.

Johns said the project includes removing and replacing sections of curb and sidewalk, enlarging the wells surrounding trees along the boulevard and adding an irrigation system to promote growth of the trees.

“One day it’ll have something of a shade canopy from those trees, similar to what you see in Midtown,” Johns said Friday.

The street improvements will also address safety needs along that corridor, Johns said.

There will be a new traffic signal system at the intersection of Southgate Road, Colfax Street and Del Paso Boulevard, on the corner in front of the Sacramento News & Review building at 1124 Del Paso Boulevard.

Currently, there are stop signs at the side streets (Southgate and Colfax) and a marked crosswalk, but Johns said the improvements will include a traffic light and pedestrian controls at the crosswalk.

“Pedestrians will be able to cross when traffic is completely stopped instead of trying to judge when it’s clear,” Johns said. “It will make the intersection safer and hopefully will prevent accidents.”

Fran Barker, a member of the Del Paso Heights Improvement Association and a longtime community advocate, said that the planned improvement project will be a benefit to the area.

“We definitely appreciate whatever improvements can be made to our environment,” Barker said Friday. “Especially safety improvements.”

Barker said that, over her more than 50 years of advocating for her Del Paso Heights neighbors, she has watched many improvement projects go in – but not the ones she feels are most important.

“Beautification seems to come before safety,” Barker said.

One concern for Barker is the lack of lights on the smaller residential streets that tend to get very dark, making it difficult for people to navigate the streets at night.

“With the crime rate where it is, safety is so important,” Barker said. “We should have streetlights. That’s elementary, Dr. Watson.”

Additional streetlights are part of the upcoming project, Johns said, although they will not be installed on the smaller residential streets. They will be put in along the southern end of the corridor, nearing State Route 160.

The project is expected to take nearly four months to complete, Johns said.

Melissa Corker is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

Comeback kids pull one out, Kings turn back Blazers 95-92

2012-02-04T02:01:42Z

Since Keith Smart took over coaching duties last month, the Kings have had very little practice time and never had everyone on the roster available for a game.

Things changed this week when the Kings were able to get more time in between games to work on their new game plans. Add that to a healthy Marcus Thornton returning to the lineup and, wham-o!, a team with real possibilities has emerged.

After being down at the half by nine and being throttled by LaMarcus Aldridge the entire time (19 points on 9-of-11 shooting with five rebounds), Smart changed up his formula in guarding the Blazers standout forward which led to a terrific third quarter as the Kings held on the beat the pesky Portland Trailblazers 95-92 on Thursday evening at Power Balance Pavilion.

The Kings came out hustling, but some dumb fouls on the defensive end turned into easy points for the Blazers.

DeMarcus Cousins looked good early but got into foul trouble quickly and didn’t play most of the first quarter.

Aldridge has a great jump shot from inside the circle and put his skills on display early in this one. It didn’t matter who was matched up defensively against him. The way Portland was moving the ball around the court kept Kings players constantly chasing the ball, and Aldridge found himself more open than not for most of the half.

The lone bright spot in the first half for the home team was the ice-cold-as-of-late John Salmons. Salmons had 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting that included two three-point bombs.

The wheels almost fell off in the second quarter as a bad mix of players had several defensive breakdowns. With J.J. Hickson, Isaiah Thomas, Travis Outlaw, Thornton and Chuck Hayes on the floor, it seemed that there wasn’t enough leadership or offensive firepower to keep up with Portland.

Smart noticed in time and stopped the bleeding by putting Cousins, Tyreke Evans and Jason Thompson back in the game with about 6:40 left in the second. Down by nine, that adjustment was enough to get Sacramento within three, until several Kings misses let the Blazers get the nine-point lead back before the buzzer.

The Kings scored six straight points as Evans and Cousins came out aggressive to open the third, until Cousins picked up two quick fouls that sent him to the pine early again.

With Cousins on the bench, it was time for Thompson to step up, and he did.

Thompson is having his best year to date and is a real force inside now for the Kings. Thompson finished with 13 points and 12 boards and was very active on the defensive end.

Thompson is fully aware of his improved play but doesn’t see it as a surprise. The way he tells it, if he didn’t have four different coaches in his four campaigns, things may be a little different for the man from Rider.

“It’s tough,” Thompson said after the contest. “Four different systems, and every coach wanted something differently out of me. For me, to keep my head and always staying ready for the future and being positive, then things can work out well.”

Good for J.T.! When you break it down, he’s been the most consistent player so far this season.

Once Evans slammed a ball home to tie the game at 63-63 late in the third, you could feel the momentum change. It seems that every time you just give the hometown faithful some hope, they jump out of their collective seats to show their support.

Thursday was no different.

The fans, who sat on their hands until this point, went crazy when Portland called a timeout to collect themselves.

When Salmons open the final stanza with a three, the fans stayed in the game the rest of the way.

Like the fans, Salmons has been waiting for his game to come around. Thursday, he had his best game of the season.

“It definitely feels good to hit shots,” he said. “When you’re not hitting shots like you’re supposed to, you get frustrated. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t frustrated. You just have to stick with it, keep going and try to continue to believe and keep working hard.”

The final moments saw rookie guard Isaiah Thomas get a jaw-dropping block and the Blazers miss two game-tying three-pointers.

Thornton had 20 in his return from a deep thigh contusion and said it’s hard to sit on the bench when you want to contribute so badly.

“It was very, very frustrating knowing I couldn’t get out there and help my team do anything,” he said. “It made me realize that me without basketball, I’m basically dead. Basketball is my life and has been my life since I was little, so I was just so happy to be out there with my teammates.”

KINGS NOTES: Evans had another solid all-around game with 18 points, five boards, five assists . . . Jimmer Fredette, Francisco Garcia and Donte Greene all had DNP-CDs (did not play - coach’s decision) . . . Chuck Hayes said he’s still being careful with his shoulder as any type of collision could dislocate it again . . . Former King Gerald Wallace was held in check and had only eight points and three boards.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF:

Darren Hall Photography.net

The Artist

2012-02-03T21:15:35Z

If you’re going to remove the sound from a film, you’d better do it right. Not being able to hear what people are saying is very odd and kind of disconcerting, especially for a modern audience. Luckily for The Artist, there is a way to make it work, and work fantastically at that.

The Artist opens during the late 1920’s, at the height of our star, silent film actor George Valentin’s (Jean Dujardin) career. He’s a loveable guy, instantly showing his charisma at a premier (evoking some shenanigans from Singin’ in the Rain) for one of his movies. After the premier he bumps into Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo) a beautiful young dancer who soon falls in love with him. Unfortunately for George, his world is quickly turned upside down by the advent of sound in the motion picture industry. As he struggles and begins to lose his near perfect life, Peppy’s film career takes off. George must then find a way to put his life back together. But don’t worry it’s not as depressing as that sounds...

Like I said it’s not easy to sit through a whole movie with no sound but the phenomenal soundtrack by Ludovic Bource more than makes up for it. It’s wonderfully upbeat, like the music you hear when you walk down Main Street in Disneyland. It’s also jazzy at times, and quite bombastic at times. If it wins best soundtrack at the Oscars I won’t be surprised.

And while the soundtrack is wonderful, the actors are what sell the movie at the end of the day. Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo are incredibly charismatic as they smile, wink, and dance their way through the movie. I completely fell in love with Bérénice Bejo after watching this film. She has such a beautiful smile and wonderfully expressive eyes. She also evokes a sense of eternal joy and fun that permeates every scene she is in.

Dujardin looks like he’s the illegitimate love baby of Hank Azaria and Gene Kelly; and that’s a good thing. He, like his costar, has a great smile and is fantastic at delivering emotions through simple glances and looks. He’s also serious about his career as George, his hubris and his belief that “talkies” are not a serious form of art is communicated brilliantly by Dujardin.

Michel Hazanavicius’s direction is brilliant too. He uses a variety of intriguing shots throughout the film while also evoking the feel of an old silent movie. I especially liked a wide shot he used of an interesting set featuring staircases. Peppy leaves the scene going up the stairs to the next level (just as her career is beginning), while George walks down the stairs to a lower level (just as his career is beginning to die). How often do you see things like that in Pirates of the Caribbean or Transformers? Never.

It’s a rare thing to see a director who can tell a story so well using only the visual aspect of filmmaking when so many rely on expository dialogue too often. “We’re gonna to do this thing next because it will mean that that thing is happening because of this!” Show me! Don’t tell me.

Having seen The Artist I understand why it’s been nominated for so many awards. It’s a beautiful film that evokes the essence of the silent film era while also celebrating the magic of film as a whole. And despite being a silent film, the sheer charm of the leads and the fantastic soundtrack will win you over. 4 out of 5 stars.

Editor's note: "The Artist" is playing at various local cinemas, including Tower Theatre.

Keller Group signs on as Powerhouse Science Center partner

2012-02-03T17:25:11Z

The Powerhouse Science Center in Sacramento announced that Keller Group Office Environments has joined the campaign to build the premier science learning center serving Northern California.

As a founding partner, Keller Group Office Environments joins other regional leaders and organizations in a cooperative effort to support the development of this vital new community asset.

Located on the scenic banks of the Sacramento River, the Powerhouse Science Center will function as a model for 21st century experiential STEM education (science, math, technology, engineering, space) and environmental stewardship. The design will be an exemplary “green” building that serves as an environmental teaching lab.

“We are honored to be a partner on such an incredible project benefiting not only Sacramento but the greater state and national communities,” Keller Group president Dianne Keller said.

Keller Group joins the regional effort to create a home for a high-tech, hands-on science museum for the Sacramento region that will immerse children in science, technology, engineering and math. The center will play a key role in inspiring young people to become the future engineers and scientists that California and our nation desperately need.

“We are extremely pleased to welcome aboard Keller Group Office Environments as one of our founding partners,” Powerhouse interim executive director Michele Wong said. “The Keller Group shares our goal of transforming a historic Sacramento landmark into a cutting edge educational center, featuring a museum, planetarium, restaurant and conference center.”

Supporters of the center include business and civic leaders, clubs and organizations, individuals, and the city of Sacramento. Mayor Kevin Johnson recognizes this project as a top priority for Sacramento’s future.

The facility will serve as a public forum, showcasing the latest scientific discoveries in a venue accessible to the entire family. The center will highlight the scientific achievements of the Sacramento region, the latest developments in medical science and technology and the fundamentals of resource conservation. It will also be a field trip destination for pre-kindergarten to 12th grade students from throughout the region.

The center, which will cost an estimated $50 million, has nearly completed its pre-construction phase. The 60-year-old Discovery Museum Science & Space Center on Auburn Boulevard is scheduled to move from its current location and become the Powerhouse Science Center in 2014.

For more information on the Powerhouse Science Center, including how to become a Founding Partner, visit www.powerhousesciencecenter.org, email info@PowerhouseScienceCenter.org, or contact Beth Callahan, Director of Marketing and Community Relations, at 916 853-0343.

Disclosure: Jeffrey Weidel is a Vice President of Halldin Public Relations in Roseville.

Bike theft, Its flourishing and prospering in Sacramento

2012-02-03T15:40:53Z

They come into the bike shop with eyes darting from corner to corner. You can actually feel their fading hope that at any moment the stolen bike that gave them so much pleasure or secured them a swift passage to their livelihood will miracuosly show up. Then without a hello or how are you, the tragic mental record of loss unfolds. With their face quivering they often confess of the ommision of forgetting to lock up their trusty steed.The carelessness and absent mindedness is afterall a part of modern day life.

If the loss makes them just plain mad the next reaction is to get another bike to make up for the loss but this time its going to be invisible to the common bike thief. the uglification insues as the pain of loss is too great. In hopes to fool the thieves, one often camouflages their next steed by buying a black bike with low grade components or plastering it with so many loud angry stickers that the idea of stripping off all that vinyl would waste the bike theives time and delay the next hijacking of someone elses prized steed.

I dont have the figures of bike theft in Sacramento as they are not attainable. You see 9 out of 10 people never file a police report. Perhaps it is just apathy or a hope if they just forget the loss quickly the pain and aching will go away. But I do know the figures from my shop and I will tell you they can reach as many as 5 in a day. My passion is to get people on a bike and to eliminate car trips from the city streets and replace them with happy trips via the bicycle. That said you can understand how this crime collectively takes a serious toll on not just me but all of us who see Sacramento a better place to live when bicycling becomes a common way of life.

This week alone 2 people I know had 4 and 3 bikes taken at the same time out of back yards and garages. We may have a very organized effort here in strip mining Sacramento of its biking way of life.

As a community we must get tireless about locking up our bikes with not 1 but 2 locks, a cable AND a Ulock of quality. Here is a good article on how to lock up to keep bike thieves moving on to the uneducated fellows "at risk" bike.

http://www.sfbike.org/?theft_locking

It is the hope of this writer to create a tight knit community that puts the bike thief into his own apathy until he gets the help he needs to contribute on a positive level.

Disclosure: yes! I shamelessly sell bicycle locks at Edible Pedal Bike shop and delivery.

Film Review: Big Miracle

2012-02-03T07:41:41Z

Big Miracle
Directed by Ken Kwapis

One film this week has noteworthy political content and the most surprising thing is which film it is. From a casual distance, “Big Miracle” looks like a very generic animal rescue story, essentially “Free Willy” x2.5, as assorted people try to help two adults and one juvenile whale escape from behind an ice barrier in the Beaufort Sea. It’s based on a true story of an event that captured national attention in 1988, and the film makes use of news footage from that period, with every major network anchor commenting on the situation as it unfolds.

It also embellishes the story with various formulaic characters and circumstances, including a love story, a somewhat precocious local boy, and an evil “big oil” tycoon. The basic storytelling is no less unsubtle than the recent “The Muppets,” for example. However, what’s surprising, and where the movie manages to shine on some level, are the moments during which several of the major players’ motivations are explored.

It would have been very easy to show involvement from the White House as being a matter of national pride or jingoism, especially in a movie aimed mostly at kids, but it’s described as much more of a compromise of conflicting interests. This was the end of the Reagan administration and we’re given staff who want to send Reagan out with an episode that might help cover for a bad environmental record, while also boosting (the senior) Bush’s election chances, but only if it won’t go bad and cause an even larger stain on the legacy. Similarly, we’re shown conflicts involving the use of a Russian icebreaker ship (in reality there were two) and standoffs between the political interests and Greenpeace (as embodied by an activist played by Drew Barrymore).

Another episode depicts the oil company boss (Ted Danson) being manipulated by his wife into realizing that he can appear friendly to the environment in a way that will probably make it easier to rape it later. It’s a retrospective, narrative example of ‘greenwashing’ a company’s image at a point in time that’s almost as early as the phrase was coined.

This might actually be a good movie for kids, not just as predictable entertainment, but as a way of educating them about how the media and various political interests operate. We see rival television outlets and personalities more interested in ratings than the story, and clear conflicts between local and wider cultural perspectives, along with the other interests already outlined. The film also delivers little after-the-fact nuggets, like the quadrupling of Greenpeace's membership following the incident.

As a story, it offers relatively little that hasn’t been done multiple times before, although this time there might be a little nostalgia for those parents who remember the story. But as a surprisingly nuanced examination of questionable motives, especially for a children’s movie, it exceeds expectations.

Film Review: The Woman in Black

2012-02-03T07:36:20Z

The Woman in Black
Directed by James Watkins

Daniel Radcliffe has made nine theatrical movies in the last decade and eight of them have been episodes in the “Harry Potter” saga. So it’s hardly surprising that when he first appears onscreen in “The Woman in Black,” you find yourself expecting his Hogwarts sidekicks to show up, or a wand to appear in his hand (not helped by an early train journey). But that slight disorientation passes and he turns in a fairly solid performance as the young father who has been sent by his London firm to settle the paperwork of a dead woman who lived in a fabulously spooky house on the far side of a remote tidal causeway.

Outside of the “Potter” films, he’s proved himself to be a versatile performer, probably more lauded on stage than on the big screen, but also willing to throw himself into almost anything as demonstrated in a recent “Saturday Night Live” (including playing the part of Casey Anthony’s yorkie). In interviews, he has described “The Woman in Black” as simply being the best script he'd read at the time he chose to get involved. And it’s a very interesting project, not just for a prospective lead actor, his fans, and genre aficionados, but also for filmmakers and those who are intrigued by the way films are made.

This is a creepy film.

I’m not an easily scared person but there was no shortage of squeals and jumpiness among the audience at the press screening. Which is only to be expected from a film about disappearing children and a haunted house. But what’s noteworthy is how that level of creepiness is achieved. There are virtually no elaborate special effects – it’s almost exclusively an outcome of camera angles, makeup, and timing. This is a $17m production that, in the hands of a different production team could very easily have cost two or three times as much, without being any better at establishing an atmosphere. And that also makes it a good pick for Radcliffe, who gets to headline a film that doesn’t require him to stray far from his comfort zone, and which won’t need to measure success in hundreds of millions of dollars.

That’s not to say it doesn’t have any problems – it does. You can’t afford to think for more than a moment about almost any of the plot details. And much of the logic appears to have been sucked into the marshes on either side of that tidal causeway I mentioned earlier. It’s a brief film at 95 minutes and it doesn’t pause to explain very much: It’s not a complicated story but we’re never told how or why Radcliffe’s character decides what to do or, for example, why residents of the local village never seem to ponder the possibility of moving away despite it clearly being the worst possible location in which to raise a family.

But for the right audience, none of that will matter. It’s creepy and it stars Harry Potter…err, Daniel Radcliffe.

Richard Roeper Talks Film

2012-02-03T07:07:49Z

People enjoyed musings about the movie business from the Chicago native and Sun-Times columnist Richard Roeper Wednesday night at the Community Center Theater for the fourth installment of the Sacramento Speaker Series.

He said people often come up to him at parties and say, “I want your job. You get to watch movies all day then talk about them.” What they mean is, “Any idiot can do you job.”

After annually reviewing 250 films, many run together, he said. However, the last movie he saw in a theater was the classic 1946 masterpiece “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

“Great movies really didn’t have a life beyond the theater or TV,” he said. Today you can find movies three months later on DVD or Blu-Ray. Films that did well from the 40s and 50s are classics because they were played a lot on TV, like “Gone with the Wind” and “The Wizard of Oz.”

When “Star Wars” first came out in the ’70s it took 12 days for the first review to come out.

“The culture was different then,” he said. “There wasn’t as much blockbuster journalism.”

The surge of interest in the filmmaking process has come in the last 15 years or so with the rise of the Internet. These days film speculation and hype is expected weeks or months before a movie is released in theaters and studios know by the first Friday of opening weekend if the film with be a flop or not.

Kelly Brothers from KCRA moderated the question-and-answer portion of the talk.

With the 84th Annual Academy Awards at the end of Febrary at least 10 people wanted to know, “Who are your picks for this year’s Oscars?”

He responded:
• Actor in a supporting role: Christopher Plummer, “Beginner”
• Actress in a supporting role: Melissa McCarthy, “Bridesmaids”
• Actor in a leading role: Jean Dujardin, “The Artist”
• Actress in a leading role: Viola Davis, “The Help”

Roeper addressed that Sacramento has been home to filmmakers like director Joe Carnahan — “He is so skilled that he gets in his own way... He should mute it down.” — and Greta Gerwig — “She’s quirky enough that she can crossover from independents to blockbusters and back easily.”

What about the writer Nicholas Sparks?

“Why does he put those people through so much?”

And who is a breakout young actor?

Elizabeth Olsen, the younger sister of the twins Mary-Kate and Ashley, is “the real deal.”

Finally, what is Roeper’s favorite movie of all time?

“The Godfather.” But if it’s late at night and he is channel surfing, “Goodfellas” will suffice.

Disclosure: Join the film production scene in Sacramento by attending or participating in any number of film festivals in the area. Sacramento International Film Festival and A Place Called Sacramento are only a few that come to mind.

Bagatelos may take on McCarty for District 6 council seat

2012-02-03T05:20:22Z

When it comes to talking about how to run a city, local developer and City Council District 6 candidate Jon Bagatelos is all business.

Bagatelos, co-owner of Bagatelos Architectural Glass Systems and Bagatelos Development, LLC, was recruited to join the City Council race by business, community and public safety groups who are “tired of the way things are going with the city,” Bagatelos, 44, said Wednesday.

Bagatelos has not officially filed notice of his candidacy, but said he expects to select a campaign manager within the next couple of weeks. He will be running against incumbent Kevin McCarty for the City Council District 6 seat.

One of the main reasons he decided to consider the council seat, he said, is McCarty’s position on charter reform – more commonly referred to as “strong mayor.”

“I’m disappointed that he won’t vote to put it on the ballot,” Bagatelos said. “I would say he’s wrong on some of his positions, especially the strong mayor issue.”

Bagatelos said he supports a strong mayor system of government – not because of any loyalty to Mayor Kevin Johnson – but because he wants an accountable city council.

“I’m for (strong mayor) because the executive should have his authority, and the council – the legislative body – should have its authority,” Bagatelos said. “The city should not be run by an unelected city manager. That’s not accountability.”

Bagatelos has a self-described “one-track mind” about Sacramento that hinges on creating a business-friendly environment to create jobs and boost the local economy.

“We’ve dug a hole, and we have a lot of city services that we take for granted but we can’t afford,” Bagatelos said. “It’s going to take time to build the revenue to pay for those things. That’s just the truth of it.”

That’s not to say he’s against social services, Bagatelos was quick to point out – but he believes spending decisions need to be made carefully.

“The people on (the City) Council think money grows on trees and – they’re the government – they think they can spend what they don’t have,” Bagatelos said. “I don’t believe in that. If that makes me a radical, well, OK.”

The key to providing services such as transportation and utilities and homeless programs, Bagatelos said, is fostering an environment where companies want to come to Sacramento – and bring employment opportunities with them.

“That creates jobs for people who pay taxes, and taxes provide revenue for those needed services,” he said.

If the key to providing city services is tax-producing businesses, then the key to drawing them to the city, Bagatelos said, is the proposed entertainment and sports complex.

“The arena is a major opportunity. It will create jobs for the city,” Bagatelos said. “To have (the arena) happen would be instrumental to the growth of this city.”

Bagatelos has been criticized in the media and by some in McCarty’s camp for not living in the district – questioning both his eligibility for the race and his commitment to the district.

He and his family currently live in East Sacramento, but they also own a home in Campus Commons which was drawn into council District 6 through the recent redisticting process.

“I own a house in the district, my business is in the district, and over the years we’ve employed hundreds – if not thousands – of people,” Bagatelos said.

“If the biggest complaint against me is where I live, that’s not much of a complaint,” he added.

Mark Friedman, president of Fulcrum Group development company, worked alongside Bagatelos as co-chair of Johnson’s finance committee when Johnson ran for his mayoral seat in 2008.

“(Bagatelos) is deeply engaged in local politics and has been (politically) active for many years,” Friedman said Thursday.

“He’s focused on building the economy and creating jobs,” Friedman said. “If the economy doesn’t improve, then his district doesn’t improve – no district will.”

Friedman said he will be an “enthusiastic” supporter of Bagatelos’ campaign because he feels Bagatelos will bring a “fresh, business-friendly perspective” to the City Council.

The upcoming City Council election will not be Bagatelos’ first foray into the political arena: In 2002, he unsuccessfully ran for the 8th Assembly District seat shortly after starting Bagatelos Development, LLC, with his brothers, Chris and Nick Bagatelos.

When McCarty spoke with The Sacramento Press Sept. 26 about his intention to run for re-election, he said that he welcomes a challenge in the upcoming race.

“Elections are supposed to be about democracy,” McCarty said in the interview, “that means choosing the best candidate in a competitive race.”

McCarty’s campaign consultant, Andrew Acosta, said Wednesday that McCarty has been fighting for his district since he was first elected in 2004 and will continue his work for the people he represents – despite any challengers for his seat.

“If the mayor’s (political) machine intends to run someone against (McCarty),” Acosta said, “then we’ll have a campaign and we’ll discuss the issues.”

Bagatelos said his campaign will be based on asking people, “Do you think things are getting done right in the city? If not, vote for me.”

“It’s really that simple,” he said.

Melissa Corker is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

Punch Line Teaching Us to Laugh at Ourselves

2012-02-03T05:12:22Z

“Laugh at yourself first before anyone else can.”

Sure, those words were written over five decades ago by gossip columnist Elsa Maxwell, but they still ring true in every comedy club today.

The ten talented comedians who performed at the Punch Line Comedy Club Wednesday night showed how self-depreciation can be one of the most entertaining elements of the show.

Stand-up comedians are notorious for having the gift of somehow making all things taboo sound hilarious, and there certainly was no shortage of racial insults and sexual innuendos directed at each other as well as the audience members. A few of them poked fun at a friendly couple sitting up front who shared that they had been dating for 43 years. The comedians used the fact that they have never been married (and just about everything else they said) as goofy improvisational material.

Many of the performers were African-American and were having a great time referencing racial stereotypes as they celebrated the beginning of Black History Month.

Tristan Johnson talked about growing up in a rough gang neighborhood and referred to himself as "hoodie-two-shoes."

The very animated Andre Bailey took the stage afterward and focused more of his jokes on cigarettes and weed. He sent out a humorous plea for the audience to pray for him in his endeavor to quit smoking marijuana and mentioned one of his recent conversations with God. "Father, as soon as you stop growing it, I quit!"

Eight more witty and vulgar men (including host Lance Woods) and women took the stage to share odd pieces of their lives that most, if not all, patrons in the room found hysterical.

The show included everything from Daniel Humberger taking pride in what he called ”high-brow toilet humor: poop jokes that make you think" and his ideas for chloroform towelettes, to Gina Ritter sharing her recent dating and sexual adventures and her disdain for large mustaches.

"I would rather give CPR to a dead ferret than kiss someone with a Tom Selleck mustache," she giggled.

Each and every comedian had something clever and unique to add to the show. Steve Danner, the only little person at the event, said he could beat Black History Month with December, which is the official month for little people as well as breast cancer awareness.

"What puts more smiles on peoples' faces than dwarves and boobies?" he asked.

With every jab they made at each other and themselves, they seemed to also promote a sense of mutual respect and admiration.

Seems that laughing at oneself makes everyone laugh right along with you.

United Nations warns Kevin Johnson of possible human rights violations

2012-02-03T02:51:13Z

An appointee to the United Nations Human Rights Council has issued a four-page memo warning Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson that local officials could be violating the human rights of the homeless people living within the city. In the January 23rd dated letter, Catarina De Albuquerque, the Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation for the United Nations human right council, says that the current policy of evicting the homeless from their “tent cities” and denying the homeless with safe access to clean water is, in effect, prohibited discrimination based on their economic and social status.

Albuquerque reminded Johnson in her letter that the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation is a protected freedom pursuant to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, an agreement which the US Government signed on October 5th, 1977. The United States also publicly declared that it was “proud to take the significant step of joining consensus” towards endorsing water and sanitation as a human right in September of 2010.

Albuquerque visited with the homeless in Sacramento back in 2011, and witnessed firsthand the difficulties they face within their community as they grapple to evacuate their bowels and bladders in a manner which does not rob them of their human dignity. Albuquerque met a homeless man named “Tim” who was responsible in his camp to collect bags full of human waste, some as heavy as 230 pounds, and haul them on his bicycle to a public restroom for disposal. Tim said he did this for his community, especially for the women, so that they did not foul the area in which they called home.

Albuquerque also lamented Johnson slogan of “a city that works for everyone”, and stressed that if that dream is to become a reality one day, the promotion of the human rights of homeless people should become an integral part of the city’s policies.

In September of 2011, Mayor Johnson missed a council meeting as he attended a sustainable energy forum at the United Nations in New York City. He sat with several business leaders, prime ministers, former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and others during the conference.

Rumors have been flying that the Huffington Post has been working on a scathing report on the homeless situation in Sacramento.

You can read the entire Human Rights memo by clicking here.

SARTA Program Honors Sacramento Region’s Best Medical Technology Innovations

2012-02-03T02:00:28Z

SARTA MedStart is now seeking nominations for the third annual Claire Pomeroy Awards for Innovation in Medical Technology. The awards recognize individuals in the Sacramento region whose innovative and high-impact inventions, products or designs have transformed some important aspect of the practice of medicine or the delivery of health-care services by improving efficiency, safety, efficacy or accessibility.

“The Sacramento region is establishing itself as a national leader in medical technology innovation and development,” said Meg Arnold, chief executive officer of SARTA. “This awards program recognizes not just individual company achievements but also the invaluable role that Dr. Pomeroy has played in so dramatically supporting and advancing this increasingly important sector of our regional economy. The awards send a strong signal that SARTA and the region’s business community value innovation and are ready to help.”

MedStart created the awards to recognize and celebrate successful innovators in our region. The Award is named for Claire Pomeroy, Chief Executive Officer, UC Davis Health System, Vice Chancellor, Human Health Sciences and Dean, School of Medicine, University of California, Davis. Pomeroy is a highly regarded health-care leader and enthusiastic and inspirational supporter of high-tech research and its translation through commercialization into daily use in medicine and health care.

“I’m proud to be involved with MedStart’s efforts to develop a thriving medical technology industry in the Sacramento region,” said Pomeroy. “Through the award program we hope to encourage others to become catalysts in transforming medicine and health through innovative technologies.”

The 2011 Pomeroy Award winner was Dr. Richard Wampler for his work on the hemopump and HVAD Heart Assist Device. 2010 award winners were Philip H. Coelho, BioArchive System by Thermogenesis; Edward A. Smeloff, Smeloff-Cutter Heart Valve; Warren D. Smith, PK Factor for assessing consciousness of patients under anesthesia; and Richard K. Wertz, Autoscan Automated Microbiology Diagnostic System.

“There are a growing number of successful medical technology innovations being created in our region,” said Cary Adams, chair of MedStart. “By highlighting these dedicated individuals and their creative innovations through the Claire Pomeroy Awards, we’re encouraging further economic development in our region, and greater opportunity for our talented area workforce. We’re highlighting for everyone that these successes can and do occur here repeatedly.”

To be considered for the awards, the nominee’s invention or product must be in commercial use or approved use by the medical industry. The awards committee may take into account benefits generated for SARTA’s nine-county region, which includes the Counties of Butte, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Solano, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba. Other award criteria include:

• Brilliance or ingenuity in solving problems and designing solutions
• Impact on the lives of patients
• Size of the populations affected
• Extent of the impact in its market
• Impact on the institutions and processes of care delivery
• Economic impact on the health-care system

Self-nominations or nominations of a colleague for the award are invited. The nominee’s name, the nominator’s name, the device or product name and a brief description as to why it meets the criteria should be sent to awards@sarta.org by Friday, April 6, 2012, at 11:59 p.m. The entire nomination may not exceed two and one half pages. Downloadable nomination forms are available through the SARTA MedStart web site.

The award committee consists of Dr. Pomeroy; Mr. Cary Adams, founder and CEO, Proximal Ventures and MedStart chair; Professor Kyriacos Athanasiou, distinguished professor and chair, Department of Biomedical Engineering at UC Davis; Mr. Don Chigazola, Director of Western Region Facility Operations for Medtronic; Dean Emir Macari, dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science at California State University, Sacramento; Mr. John Maroney, managing member, Delphi Ventures; Mr. Robert Medearis, Founder and Chairman Emeritus, Silicon Valley Bank; Dr. John Mesic, chief medical officer, Sutter Health, Sacramento Sierra Region; Dr. Christian Renaudin, managing partner and CEO of The MarkeTech Group; and Professor Warren Smith, Electrical & Electronic Engineering Department, California State University, Sacramento.

For information on the Claire Pomeroy Awards, Med Tech Showcase or MedStart, visit www.medstart.org. Winners will be notified by April 27, 2012 and honored at the Sacramento Med Tech Showcase on June 5, 2012 at the Woodlake Hotel..

Disclosure: Laura Good is Director, Programs and Operations at SARTA.

Local man part of inspiration for 'Red Tails'

2012-02-03T01:43:23Z

Cuba Gooding Jr. might grab the spotlight in the new film “Red Tails,” about African-American fighter pilots in World War II, but one of the men behind the character Gooding plays* was a pilot with Sacramento ties.

George Roberts served as the operations officer in the 99th Pursuit Squadron in World War II, and he was one of the first five graduates out of the group that would later be known as the Tuskegee Airmen.

Roberts came to Sacramento with his wife, Edith, in the 1960s, where he worked for Wells Fargo. Though he died in the 1980s, Edith, 92, still lives in the area, and she proudly visits local schools and civic groups to educate them on the history of pilots.

“It was a different time back then,” she said Wednesday. “The government had actually done a study after World War I to determine if black people were capable of leading men in combat.”

Battling deep-seeded institutional racism, the young cadets training to be fighter pilots at an airfield in Tuskegee, Ala., wore their uniforms with pride and dreamed of the day they would take to the skies to fight the enemy, Edith Roberts said.

The “washing out” rate was high, with only five of the 13 in George Roberts’ class graduating, and those who graduated continued to train.

George and Edith Roberts married the day he graduated from pilot training, March 7, 1942. George then moved off the airbase to live with Edith, but that wasn’t easy, either.

“There were no places for blacks to rent houses, so we had to stay in a house with another local black family,” she said.

The 99th Pursuit Squadron was put on alert in January 1943, and none of the men were allowed to leave the base, since the order to ship out could come at any moment. But those orders didn’t come until April.

“They stayed on alert there forever,” Edith Roberts said. “The Army didn’t know what to do with them because they were black, and they were fighter pilots.”

George Roberts missed the birth of his first child since he couldn’t leave the base, and it wasn’t until a brief trip home in 1944 that he was reunited with his family.

When the Tuskegee Airmen did eventually get the call to go fight the Germans, they arrived in Morocco, in North Africa, where British Royal Air Force pilots trained them further on combat techniques.

Occasional letters home and stories in African-American publications were the only communications Edith Roberts and the other families of the African-American fliers got.

The Army – at the time, there was no U.S. Air Force, just the U.S. Army Air Corps – was reluctant to send the pilots into combat, and it took top squadron officers appealing to Congress to get the men into action.

“They had terrible equipment,” Edith Roberts said, mentioning that the squadron flew the outdated P-40 Warhawk plane made famous by the Flying Tigers several years earlier. “When they got their new planes – the P-51 Mustangs – well, they loved those planes more than they loved their wives.”

Edith Roberts said that the airmen were being tested – with many in the Army hierarchy looking for an excuse to can the program and take the pilots out of action because of their race.

To counter that, the men had strict orders to stay with the bombers they were assigned to escort and not go chasing German fighters across the skies, leaving the bomber formations open to attack.

At the time, American bombers flew daylight raids on strategic targets, dropping explosives on munitions plants, oil refineries and other targets essential to the German war effort.

The British, by contrast, flew at night, preferring to bomb entire cities and use the darkness to hide from enemy fighters. For the Americans flying in the day, raids could be disastrous if the Germans could shoot down the bombers without American fighters flying close for protection.

Every bomber shot down meant its crew of 10 Americans didn’t return to base.

“One of The Tuskegee Airmen’s claims to fame is that they never lost a bomber they were escorting to enemy fighters,” Edith Roberts said.

She added that the film, “Red Tails,” has a scene in which bomber crews see the 99th Pursuit Squadron’s red-painted tails and nose cones. The crews are surprised to see that the fighter pilots are African Americans.

It was after the other fliers began to respect the African-American pilots that their stories started appearing in Life Magazine and other prominent publications.

“The film is good,” Edith Roberts said. “It takes some liberties, but overall they did a good job with it.”

She was invited to the home of George Lucas, who bankrolled the film, and spent a weekend with some of the other people who lived through the time to help the young actors understand what it was like.

“They asked us all sorts of questions, and we spent a lot of time with them,” she said.

Edith Roberts said she was happy to talk to the actors and share the story, and that February – Black History Month – is always a busy time for her. Part of her collection of newspaper clippings is on temporary display at the California Museum, 1020 O St. The rest, she said, she needs to keep as she goes to schools and other functions to share the story.

“When I tell kids today about segregation and the racism we lived through, most of them are shocked,” she said. “It’s good that they’re shocked, because they’re not living it. But we lived it, and it’s important to tell them about it so they know how things were.”

“Red Tails” is currently in theaters. For more information on the film, visit the website by clicking here.

For more information on the Tuskegee Airmen, click here.

*Gooding's character is named Major Emanuelle Stance, the same name as an African American soldier who was awarded the Medal of Honor in the late 1800s, according to the National Park Service.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell.

Wilco shakes up Mondavi Center with flawless rock show

2012-02-03T00:14:09Z

Just moments after Wilco’s enigmatic guitarist Nels Cline had peeled the paint off the walls inside UC Davis' Mondavi Center with a little psychedelic freakout on "Impossible Germany," front man Jeff Tweedy pulled out the line of the night:

"You know, something just occurred to me - the guy yelling 'Free Bird!' might help explain the pepper spray incident."

Ohhh, too soon?

Tweedy asked that too, amidst the smattering of "ohhh's" and groans that were peppered (zing!) in with the laughter and the applause - although there seemed to be a resounding agreement that a little aerosol Tabasco to the face would be an appropriate response for a guy who apparently still thinks it's cool or funny to yell "Free Bird!" at a rock concert.

For a band with its roots in Chicago to quip about Pepper-gate, it was a bit of an unfortunate reminder that, at least for now, that's what Davis is going to have to be known for in wider circles. But if Mondavi Center keeps holding shows like the two hours of sheer rock and roll bliss that Wilco hammered out on Wednesday night, Davis might just earn itself a reputation as a concert destination, and not as the place where Occupy went horribly wrong.

There is no doubt that it was "the place to be" on this particular night. Everyone was running into someone they knew in a building that many in the room had likely never been to before. I even ran into Spence from Bay Area up-and-comers The Stone Foxes (and by “ran into” I mean fanboy-ed in the merch line).

Though an absolutely stunning and acoustically pristine hall, Mondavi Center was not conceived specifically for this kind of thing. It’s a concert hall. Rock shows don't typically have ushers in ties, they don't have flickering lights in the lobby to notify that the show is about to start, and they definitely don't have a recorded voice on the loudspeaker reminding you to turn off your cell phones right before opener White Denim took the stage right at 8 p.m. for a sneaky-awesome set of experimental psych pop.

Even the applause after each of White Denim's songs had that "concert hall" sound to it - no yelps, just clapping, like we had just heard a movement of Mahler's Fifth performed by the Hipster Symphony Orchestra.

"The Question" was lingering so heavy in the air you could cut it with safety scissors, even as Wilco was strolling onto the stage precisely at 9 p.m.:

Do we stand, or do we have to sit?

After some collective hesitation, the immediate answer was "stand!" That lasted about 30 seconds, until Tweedy & Co. surprisingly opted to start the show with the intensely beautiful but very mellow 12-minute ballad "One Sunday Morning (Song for Jane Smiley's Boyfriend)." That tune is, unequivocally, a sit-down song.

Owned.

There was no immediate cue to stand again even as Wilco completed an opening trifecta of tunes from 2011’s delicious “The Whole Love,” with the chunky, Radiohead-ish rumble of “The Art of Almost” and skippy pop ballad “I Might.”

But they weren’t Trying to Break Your Heart by playing just new stuff all night, digging into their catalog from way back, to their masterpiece “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot” and up through the self-titled album, with an continual array of images being broadcast onto a sprawling tapestry of what looked like ghosts made out of tissue by third-graders as a Halloween project. (Hmm, a ghost is born?).

With a band that sports a catalog as extensive as Wilco’s, there will inevitably be allegiances on all ends of the spectrum at any show. You’ll have people that only got into them from “Sky Blue Sky,” and those who will claim to have seen them play in an ice cream parlor in Chicago with only seven other people there, no electricity, and before Jeff Tweedy was even born. Oh, and Coldplay opened the show, too.

Wherever your particular allegiances lie, the newer songs from “The Whole Love” shone intensely bright at this performance. It can be argued that many Wilco fans like Wilco for the slower country-tinged acoustic balladry – and really the only two such songs of the night were “Sunday” and the stirring “Black Moon,” both from “Whole Love.”

That said, the entirety of the show was pure bliss, with Mondavi’s razor-sharp acoustics allowing a razor-sharp group of musicians to sound as good as you’ll ever hear them for what had to have been the most intense two hours in the venue’s history.

It was about an hour and a half in, just after the jazzy number “Capitol City,” before Tweedy proclaimed that “it’s going to be weird to play this song with you all sitting down.”

Floodgates: Opened. “Heavy Metal Drummer:” Killer.

The “other” line of the night came when Tweedy congratulated an audience member down front for “having the most pens in your pocket I’ve ever seen at a rock show.” The fan, who went by “Ramon,” happily handed one of his pens to Tweedy from the front of the stage.

Keeping it visible in his back pocket, and at times victoriously brandishing it like a sword, Tweedy promised to thank the fan in case he ended up writing a song with it – because “I feel like there’s a song in this pen.”

The pen is mightier than the FreeBird.

-------------

Up next for Mondavi Center is Florence + the Machine on April 18 and The Shins on April 23, as the venue continues to get more looks for rock shows from Another Planet Entertainment. Might such gleaming rock and roll nights, like Wednesday night with Wilco, become more of the norm…?

Wilco's Mondavi Center Setlist - February 1, 2012:

One Sunday Morning
Art Of Almost
I Might
I Am Trying To Break Your Heart
One Wing
You Are My Face
Laminated Cat (electric arrangement)
Black Moon
Side With The Seeds
Born Alone
On and On and On
Impossible Germany
Capitol City
Handshake Drugs
Heavy Metal Drummer
I'm The Man Who Loves You
Box Full Of Letters
War On War
Dawned On Me
A Shot in the Arm
..
Whole Love
California Stars
The Late Greats
Standing O
I'm A Wheel

SFBFS Volunteer Spotlight - February 2012

2012-02-02T22:25:48Z

Emma Makdessi did not want the typical 9 to 5 job after college. Likewise, Tara Branson felt indecision about the path she would take after graduation. But both Makdessi and Branson knew that they wanted to travel, make connections and have meaningful experiences. Their paths would converge when both Makdessi and Branson joined the National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC), a full time, team based AmeriCorps program for men and women ages 18 to 24.

For the past four months Makdessi, Branson and the nine other individuals who make up NCCC's Green 1 team would share in the joys and challenges of working and serving local families, and ultimately become incorporated into Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services' (SFBFS) volunteer corps.

The team members worked within programs at both of SFBFS' facilities in Oak Park and North Sacramento and had the opportunity to help with SFBFS' major holiday events including the Turkey Drive, Turkey Distribution and Run to Feed the Hungry.green1

Green 1 Team Leader, Mike Kamen, sums up his experience at SFBFS as one of being in a state of constant learning and surprise. "During my service at SFBFS, I have learned that while Sacramento has significant needs concerning poverty, hunger and homelessness, people also have a very strong desire to perform service and to help their fellow man."

Most of the team members were impressed by the incredible numbers of community members giving and receiving throughout the annual holiday events. At both the Turkey Drive and Run to Feed the Hungry, the team was amazed with the outpouring of community support. "The community feel at the Run to Feed the Hungry is pretty obvious," Justin Slay said, commenting on the event that drew 26,844 participants. "Just the scale was amazing and even the dedication, I mean, it was raining!"

Scottie Grimes echoed the team's sentiment when recalling the line that stretched almost a mile long to McClatchy Park the morning of the Turkey Distribution. "There were lots of questions from people in line. 'Will there be enough? Will you run out?' It was heart wrenching, but nice to reassure them that there will be enough," Grimes said.

It was not just the large events that made a lasting impression on the team but also the everyday operations at SFBFS. "It's the really small moments that are memorable," said Makdessi, reflecting on interacting with clients at weekly food distributions, "I remember a woman standing next to me laughing...People forget we're all human. We have ups, downs, but we can all laugh and smile."

For Green 1, who has moved on to their next service site in San Diego, the feeling that they have leaving SFBFS is one of family and community, not only among themselves, but among the staff and the many clients they served.

If you are interested in volunteering your time to help someone in need in our community, click here for more information.

Disclosure: This article was written by Jessy Wei, an Americorps VISTA member at Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services.

Local Non-Profit Continues Mission of Funding Diagnostic Testing for Women Facing Breast Cancer

2012-02-02T19:51:03Z

With Susan G. Komen facing a landslide of criticism for withdrawal of funding to Planned Parenthood, one Sacramento non-profit, Albie Aware Breast Cancer Foundation continues to support women in a 10 county area of Northern California through their fund raising efforts.

“For the last seven years, Albie Aware has served women possibly facing breast cancer by raising money to fill a need…a gap, if you will, in our health care system. Simply put, standard tests may not detect breast cancer and prescribing more thorough expensive diagnostic tests such as PETscans is not medical protocol, not covered by insurance, and too often cost prohibitive to many patients,” said Founder Doug Carson.

Sadly, this very scenario was played out in 2002, resulting in the untimely death of Albie Carson, the late wife of Doug Carson and the namesake of our Foundation. A PET Scan could have detected her cancer earliy enough for treatment that could have saved her life.

In 2005, Albie Aware was established in response to this unacceptable situation that faces families every day in our community.

Our mission is to raise money to help women and men in our community who are facing a potential diagnosis of breast cancer so they can be AWARE of their health status and options that are available. At our core, we want all women in this situation to be tested.

“Your mother, your sister, your daughter, your best friend... and their children. Who Cares? …..Albie Aware.

Albieaware.org

Disclosure: Steve LaRosa is Media Director for Albie Aware Breast Cancer Foundation

Using Social Media for Genealogy

2012-02-02T19:34:47Z

Social media such as Facebook and Twitter can be a wealth of information for the family historian. Oftentimes the information discovered using these new tools is not available in standard research repositories, such as archives and courthouses, or on websites. Learn more at the Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society program on Wednesday, March 14, 2012. Guest speaker Lorenzo Cuesta will provide examples of great finds others have made using social media for genealogical research and provide step-by step instructions to get you started with Facebook and Twitter. Free, visitors welcome. 7 p.m. - 8:30 p.m., Citrus Heights Community Clubhouse 6921 Sylvan Road, Citrus Heights. Contact Sandi Benward 916-412-3511. More about Root Cellar on our website or our blog.

Disclosure: I have been a member of Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society for four years. Currently, I serve as the Publicity Chairperson and member of the Technology Committee. Want to start our family tree? Contact me at rootcellarsgs@gmail.com.

A Step in the Right Direction- El Dorado County reaffirms its commitment to Trails and Trains

2012-02-02T17:29:07Z

El Dorado County Supervisors held firm to a 2011 decision to support the Shingle Plan Compromise at a County Board meeting on January 24, 2012. The plan divides use of the Sacramento Placerville Transportation Corridor (SPTC) into two distinct segments. The area from Shingle Springs up to Diamond Springs has been allotted for the development of a heritage railroad. From Shingle Springs down to the Western El Dorado County line, development will focus on establishing a community trail that will serve local residents and connect to Folsom, thereby expanding our regional trail system.

Trail and train supporters have been at odds for years over use of the SPTC, but the Supervisor's recent decision will bring a rapid reality to the dreams of both trail and train enthusiasts. "Friends of El Dorado Trail are excited that County Supervisors have supported the Shingle Plan with a second majority vote. We look forward to the new joint use section of the SPTC, and are very pleased that the Train Groups will finally have a home and track to call their own," says President Mike Kenison.

El Dorado County and Folsom train volunteers will be working together to bring the historic "big trains" to the more than eight miles of track from Shingle Springs to Missouri Flat Road, and trail volunteers will continue to open the "Trail Priority Section" from Shingle Springs down to Folsom for all users. "Community members are eager to make the important connection to Folsom and on to the American River Parkway, and volunteers are planning workdays and events to get out and build something great for El Dorado County and the Greater Sacramento Region," adds Kenison.

About Friends of El Dorado Trail: Friends of El Dorado Trail is a group of local trail supporters who work cooperatively with the city and county to advocate, publicize and strategize on behalf of the trail.

About the El Dorado Trail: The El Dorado Trail is a multimodal transportation corridor planned to extend the entire length of El Dorado County from the western county line to the Lake Tahoe Basin. Some segments are already completed with Class I Bike Paths; other segments are currently in development, open for use as a natural trail, or are proposed for improvement.

Disclosure: Jessica Bean is a member of Friends of the El Dorado Trail.

The Sacramento Itty Bitty Dog Group

2012-02-02T07:44:18Z

Sunday is a special day for members of the Sacramento Itty Bitty Dog group – it’s when the “Itty Bitty” dogs come out to play at Carmichael Canine Corral.

One hundred eighty dogs and their owners make up the group which started in May 2008. The group meets about twice a month at the park for an afternoon of play.

To be considered “Itty Bitty,” dogs must be 12 pounds or smaller. Organizer of the group, Joan Lutz, said most of the dogs are rescue dogs.

It’s not just the dogs who enjoy the socialization, though, the owners enjoy spending afternoons discussing anything dog-related: nutrition, product recalls, doggy fashion and dog-sitting. It’s not uncommon to see a doggy manicure (owners clipping nails) during a meetup.

The Itty Bitty Dog Group started when four women – Sus Brown, Jeni Vogt, Sherrie Alpers and Christine Golden – decided to start a no-charge group to socialize their dogs.

Lutz said she seeks out and approves new members through Meetup.com (http://toydog.meetup.com/97/). Besides socializing at the dog park, dogs and owners attend potluck dinners, fundraisers and annual dog events such as Woofstock, Petapalooza and Doggy Dash.

While the dogs either decide to sit upon their owners’ laps, kick up dust or get their sniffs and exercise in.

The Carmichael Canine Corral is the most visited dog park in all of Sacramento, according to Lutz, and the park is in need of renovation.

The Itty Bitty Dog Group group, with the help of photographer Micheal Hall, put together its first annual calendar to raise money for the cause. The calendar is a collection of portraits of the “Itty Bitty” dogs and their owners. All the proceeds go to raise money for the renovation of the dog park.

Some of the renovations needed include a new ground cover, permanent seating and benches for dog owners, higher fences and a separate sally port to separate smaller dogs and larger dogs, Lutz said.

Anyone can purchase a calendar, donate, or memorialize a beloved companion by having a personalized brick laid at the park. For more information, click here www.carmichaeldogpark.com

McKinley Park Rose Garden: Getting closer to completion

2012-02-02T02:35:21Z

The long-awaited renovations at the McKinley Park Rose Garden are nearing completion, and the garden is expected to be open by April – just in time for spring weddings in the park.

“The process feels like it’s taken forever,” University of California Master Gardner Ellie Longanecker said Wednesday.

The rose garden was scheduled to be closed from September to mid-February for renovations, including a new irrigation system, accessible walkways, planter curbs, new signs and handicap-accessible parking spaces near the garden entrance.

The work has been extended until the end of March or early April, Longanecker said, because of problems with the new irrigation system that created delays in completing other work, including more plantings.

Longanecker, a rose specialist and one of the many volunteer coordinators responsible for much of the recent work on the garden, said the project has been on the neighborhood’s radar for a long time.

“We initially brought a proposal to the city for this work to get stared in 2009,” Longanecker said. “For three years it’s been one step forward, two steps back.”

Once the work got under way in September, however, it’s been full steam ahead for city workers and volunteers, she said.

Since 2009, more than 400 new rose bushes have been planted in the garden on the southeast side of McKinley Park.

Thanks to a generous donor, Longanecker said, an additional 465 new rose bushes were recently given to add to the garden.

A “plant-a-thon” to get those additional bushes in the ground was originally planned for Saturday, but it has been postponed. A new date has not been set yet.

Longanecker said the planting day was postponed because the city needs to put in new sod around the planting beds, and it would be easier to get that job out of the way first.

It is also important to make sure the new water system is fully up and running before putting in new plants, she added.

“I’m glad it’s finally coming together,” Longanecker said. “It has taken a very strong volunteer effort.”

Longanecker said volunteer workers – including groups of Americorps volunteers, a Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department work crew and many neighbors and residents – put in about 1,500 hours of labor working on the garden in the last four weeks alone.

“That’s spading, weeding, pruning and wheelbarrowing in 100 yards of topsoil to spread throughout the garden,” Longanecker said. “(It’s) not easy work at all.”

The effort to refurbish the McKinley Park Rose Garden has been supported by donations including money, gifts of roses and numerous donations of tools and materials.

“It seems to be going well,” East Sacramento resident and garden volunteer Lisa Schmidt said Tuesday. “There’s a lot more to putting in roses than people think.”

Schmidt said that, despite the long wait and all the work that has been necessary, it will be worth it to see the result when the first roses bloom.

“It’ll be like brand new – irrigation, beds, plants, everything,” City Councilman Steve Cohn said Wednesday.

The garden’s new irrigation system will use water more efficiently, Cohn said, and the planter curbs will make the beds easier to maintain.

“The beautiful thing is, we’ve kept the original design (of the garden),” Cohn said. “It’ll really ‘pop’ once spring hits.”

Cohn said that the city didn’t put in the investment it should have in the rose garden over the years.

“Over time, the roses started to lose their vibrancy,” Cohn said. “They were looking sad, really.”

Now, Cohn said, the rose garden will have “new life” and will be more enjoyable for visitors – especially the many couples who have their weddings in the garden each year.

“I’m excited about it,” Cohn said. “We want to save it for future generations and enhance the appearance for everyone who comes to see it for years to come.”

Cohn said a ribbon-cutting and grand opening will be planned when the rose garden is finished, but a specific date has not been set.

Melissa Corker is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

Sacramento job search website to expand nationally

2012-02-02T01:27:50Z

Local job search engine Sacjobs.com is expanding despite the economy and job sites such as Craigslist and Monster, and it launched Sackjobs.com Jan. 2, with plans to expand nationally.

“We’ve got about 1,200 local listings right now, and then our next step is to focus on the Bay Area and Southern California, so we’re going to take our thrust from Sacramento and hopefully by next year take over the West Coast,” said Sackjobs.com owner Ian Coltoff, a 40-year-old Sacramentan.

The site launched in 1999 as Sacjobs.com as an homage to Sacramento, and Coulter said he added the K to appeal to a national audience, with the tagline “Your next career choice is in the bag.”

And to be clear – typing “Sacjobs.com” and “Sackjobs.com” will take job seekers to the same place.

Coltoff said he thinks the site fills a niche in job search engine options by providing as much information to job seekers as possible, not inundating them with advertisements and adding a function that will allow job seekers to comment on postings.

The startup saw initial success in 1999 by charging less than other job search websites to post advertisements, and it brought in more than $30,000 in the first month, Coltoff said.

When Craigslist became popular, it cut deeply into the business, and Coltoff said he had to innovate to stay relevant.

“We’re providing a service,” he said. “You have to keep innovating and coming up with new ideas, and I don’t think Craigslist is innovating. It looks pretty much the same, and sometimes it’s hard to tell what company is posting about a job, or even if it’s a scam.”

Before starting Sacjobs.com, Coltoff ran a roommate referral service that proved successful, and he attributed the same type of innovation to that success that he said he hopes will carry Sackjobs.com forward.

“We let people post on whether they did drugs, their sexual orientation, their cleanliness and those sorts of things,” he said. “That wasn’t something you’d see in The (Sacramento) Bee, or anywhere else.”

After that came Campus Cash, which started as a coupon book for colleges, but employment advertisements generated the most money, and he decided to make an online job search site focused locally.

At the time, he didn’t know what an email was, and he said he is still not exactly tech-savvy.

“I am an idea guy,” he said with a laugh. “I have ideas, and I don’t wait a lot of time to figure out all the details. I just get going. When I need help with something, I find someone who knows how to make it work.”

Coltoff said he is currently in talks with investors to generate funding that will allow him to move forward faster, and a redesigned website is scheduled to roll out next week.

Andrew “Drewski” Blaskovich, owner of Drewski’s Hot Rod Kitchen and one of the people behind The Republic Featuring Drewski’s – a sports bar and restaurant set to open Friday at 908 15th St. – said he found Sacjobs.com to be the best resource for finding help at the new restaurant.

“Three of my guys I hired – chefs for my kitchen – I hired them off Sacjobs.com,” Blaskovich said Tuesday. “It seems like I got more attraction off of there because it’s local. Craigslist is good, but Sacjobs is more personable.”

Coltoff said he hopes that employers find that to be the case as the website expands.

“I like doing this,” he said. “It sounds cliché, but I like providing the service and helping people. It’s rewarding, and it really feels great.”

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell.

Sac State's 10th Annual Production of The Vagina Monologues to be held Feb 9

2012-02-02T00:52:39Z

Sacramento State’s University Union UNIQUE Programs, Student Health & Counseling Services, and Active Minds are pleased to announce The Vagina Monologues at the Sacramento State University Union Ballroom at 7:30 pm on Thursday, February 9, 2012.

Eve Ensler, a playwright and feminist, wrote The Vagina Monologues. The monologues are a compilation of Ensler’s interviews with hundreds of women on their views and experiences of sex, relationships, and violence and cover issues of intimacy, vulnerability, and sexual self-discovery. Sac State’s production will include only student actresses reciting the dialogues. The Vagina Monologues are part of V-Day, a global activist movement to end violence against women and girls.

The monologues are performed nationwide only during the months of February and March and the proceeds typically go to programs that work to end violence against women and girls. The proceeds from this 10th annual Sac State stage production will go to two organizations- My Sister’s House and the SHARE Institute. My Sister’s House is an organization that addresses the needs of Asian and Pacific Islander women and children impacted by domestic violence. The SHARE Institute’s mission is to establish collaborative relationships that foster the well-being and empowerment of individuals, organizations, and communities.

The Vagina Monologues will be performed at Sacramento State’s University Union Ballroom on Thursday, February 9 at 7:30 pm. Admission is $5 for Sac State students and $10 for the general public, available at Tickets.com or the Sac State Box Office.

For more information, please visit www.SacStateUNIQUE.com or call (916) 278-6997.

Disclosure: Zenia LaPorte is the Programs Advisor for UNIQUE Programs

Experience Sacramento Museum Day this Saturday

2012-02-02T00:17:59Z

Want to check out some of Sacramento’s wonderful museums but have not yet had the time or budget to do so? Mark your calendars for this Saturday and head out to the 14th Annual Sacramento Museum Day.

A record 28 museums are participating this year, including newcomers the Center for Contemporary Art and the Sacramento Children’s Museum. 26 participating museums are offering free admission all day (10am-5pm; last admission at 4pm), and the Sacramento Zoo and Fairytale Town are offering half-price admission in order to offset parking control and security costs.

Sacramento has a wide variety of Museums featuring everything from art, science, and history to children’s exhibits, wildlife, and more.

If you’re having a difficult time narrowing down the options, take these suggestions into consideration:

In order to have sufficient time at each spot, it is recommended to visit no more than two or three Museums for the day
Many of the Museums are within walking distance of one another so, if you plan accordingly, you can park only once and still make your way to two or three spots. Check out the map.
If you will be taking your car, be sure to read over the Parking Suggestions to make sure your day goes smoothly and you avoid any tickets or fines.
If you don’t want to drive, but don’t live within walking distance, consider taking Regional Transit! A great way to avoid the hassle of parking on a crowded day.
Keep in mind that Sacramento Museum Day is a very popular event and that, due to safety reasons, some museums need to limit the number of admissions.
Consider attending Museums that are less well known to avoid crowds at some of the more popular spots (such as the Sacramento Zoo, Railroad Museum, and Fairytale Town) and to check out something you may not otherwise have gone to see!

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Find more detail on this event along with many more at Sacramento365.com, the year-round source for Sacramento events.

Disclosure: Rachael Lankford is the Managing Calendar Editor for Sacramento365.com, the year-round source for Sacramento events.

"Forbidden Broadway" + Cosmo Cabaret Cast = Hiliarity

2012-02-02T00:17:23Z

Cosmopolitan Cabaret opened with the September 2008 to September 2009 run of “Forever Plaid,” which remains the biggest success as a show. “Forbidden Broadway,” which opened Friday night, may just rival “Plaid.”

There are lots of similarities. Both have talented creators, lots of hysterically funny scenes, songs, costuming, props and more.

"Forbidden Broadway" creator and continuing writer, Garrard Alessandrini, aims his sharp pen at mostly easy targets but in incredibly funny ways. You may never have seen “Annie,” “Les Miserables” or “Lion King,” but are still very aware of them and lots of other Broadway shows through popular culture.

Both have four very talented actors, who understand and are so good at delivering the material. There are two men in “Forbidden Broadway,” Mark Ginsburg and Jerry Lee, and two women, Jessica Reiner-Harris and Melissa Wolfklain, all credited as “cast.”

New York transplant Ginsburg, debuting with California Musical Theatre and the Cosmo Cabaret does a Jean Valjean performed by an actor overtaxed by the wrong key among the many roles for which he received long ovations.

Lee, who has been doing great things (“In Trousers,” “Musical of Musicals...,” “They’re Playing our Song”) since his return to his hometown after graduating from Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts a couple of years ago.

I started to say “New to Sacramento,” but Reiner-Harris is a hometown actor who has been quite busy acting, it’s just that she has been acting elsewhere. Her daring-to-take-on-the-diva Streisand is one of the priceless moments in the production. Reiner-Harris is one of those great discoveries for her home town theater scene.

Back for a third time at Cosmo Cabaret is Wolfklain (“A Grand Night for Singing,” “Suds”). The lights will go up on Wolfklain as Annie, an over-the-hill Annie, and the audience begins to chuckle at just the first sight of her character. They end in fits of laughter by the end of the song. Wolfklain definitely charms with her third Cosmo Cabaret production.

In a “West Side Story” spoof, Reiner-Harris and Wolfklain do Chita Rivera and Rita Moreno as dueling stage version Anita verses film version Anita which had both the characters and the audience yelling AYE! AYE! AYE!

Musical director Graham Sobelman (“Graham-A-Rama”) brings out great musical performances and also performs the lively piano score.

The characters would not be complete without the very character-defining costume creation for each character by Alvin Colt, working with the hair, wig and makeup designs of Christine Conklin.

Colt, who had an astounding career in costume design starting in the 1940’s, has spent 15 years designing for “Forbidden Broadway,” receiving a Drama Desk award in 2005 while in his late eighties. The pictures speak for themselves in regard to Colt’s designs.

The same thing can be said for Conklin’s hair wig, and makeup design. This is also her third production at Cosmo (“Suds,” “Bingo”), while also designing for Music Circus (“Camelot,” “Oliver!” and “I Do! I Do!”).

With all those costumes and costume changes someone is needed to keep them in order and get the actors changed - often in record time - and that would be Gabriella Nance as costume coordinator and head dresser. Nance costumed “Plaid” as well.

Three long-time Cosmo Cabaret associates complete the experience of “Forbidden Broadway.” Michael Peters has created a minimal budget-friendly single set, yet it fits so well with the whole humor of the look of an Off-Broadway production. His design is assisted by fellow longtime Cosmo Cabaret associate Sally Slocum’s lighting. Robert Sereno continues to engineer the great sound of Cosmo Cabaret productions.

Pulling all this together is director William Selby. Sacramento Press contributor Barry Wisdom has an excellent interview with Selby in his preview of “Forbidden Broadway.”

“Forbidden” has something else in common with “Plaid” in that both have several creative folks that have long histories with their respective productions. Selby has been an award winning actor, assistant director and now director, of numerous productions of “Forbidden.” His sense of timing, especially critical with this humor, is great.

With “Forbidden Broadway,” everything - the songs, music, costuming and acting - is geared to make the audience laugh. The Cosmopolitan Cabaret production of the Off-Broadway phenomenon hits on all levels and should become a Sacramento phenomenon.

Reiner-Harris says it all in her bio.

“(She) wants to thank the ridiculously fun cast and crew for making her laugh until she cries and snorts.”

With opening night’s audience giving loud ovations for scene after scene, I would say the audience felt the same way.

“Forbidden Broadway” Cosmopolitan Cabaret California Musical Theatre
Through March 18th, 2012
Information and Tickets

Pet of the Week- Noah

2012-02-01T23:44:46Z

Sweet little Noah!

This four-year-old Jack Russell Terrier mix is a bundle of energy but also a lot of fun! He is perfectly content playing fetch, and will gladly bring the ball back to you if you want to keep playing! He is affectionate and a big people lover. Noah also gets along with other dogs. If he sounds like he might be a good match for your family, come pay him a visit today!

Everyday Law: New Bullying Laws in California

2012-02-01T22:50:10Z

Bullying has been in the news a lot lately, particularly when something tragic happens to the child being tormented. Students, parents, and educators are wondering what laws are available to help prevent bullying and what can be done to stop it. A bully is defined as “a blustering, quarrelsome, overbearing person who habitually badgers and intimidates smaller or weaker people”.

California already has several laws in place to protect children from being bullied, including the California Safe Place to Learn Act located in the California Education Code §234(b) which ensures “local educational agencies continue to work to reduce discrimination, harassment, violence, intimidation, and bullying”. The current laws will be strengthened by two new laws aimed to further prevent bullying in schools.

Previously, the California Education Code §§ 32261, 32265, 32270, and 48900 defined bullying of pupils to include bullying committed by means of an electronic act, and authorizes school officials to suspend or recommend for expulsion pupils who engage in bullying. Assembly Bill 746 Ch. 72, which took effect January 1, 2012, amended §32261, to include social networking sites. The code now states “bullying, including bullying committed personally or by means of an electronic act, which includes the posting of messages on a social network Internet Website…”. Common Sense Media has developed helpful tips for parents to help combat cyber bullying.

Another new law, Assembly Bill 9 Ch. 723, sometimes referred to as Seth’s Law is set to go into effect July 1, 2012. Seth’s Law strengthens existing policies in California schools by requiring that all schools have an anti-bullying policy and more importantly, the law enacts a timeline that school officials must follow when investigating student claims of bullying.

The California Department of Education has created Frequently Asked Questions, that provide information for educators, students, families, and community safety partners who wish to educate themselves and others about effective measures to prevent bullying and respond to it. They have also created sample policies that your institution can use to implement a no bullying policy.

For more information on this and other “Everyday Law” subjects, visit the Sacramento County Public Law Library, “Providing Free Public Access to Legal Information for over 100 years.”

By Robyn M. Moltzen, Public Services Librarian

Poor Man's Whiskey and Achilles Wheel in Auburn Saturday!

2012-02-01T22:14:08Z

When Sacramento's own Sean Lehe (Isabella, Five Eyed Hand, The Coalition) joined San Francisco's Poor Man's Whiskey it elevated the already extremely popular band to a whole new level. Poor Man's Whiskey recently performed their Dark Side of the Moonshine to a sold out crowd at the Fillmore, yet This Saturday February 4th you can see then in the intimate and funky setting of the Auburn Event Center - and for only $15.00!

I encourage all to search out this band, especially on You Tube! Here is what the critics say: "Emerging from the San Francisco bay area music scene this quintet has developed a sound that is eclectic and engaging. PMW has been winning over national audiences with their upbeat performances, zany stage antics, and infectious songs. While seamlessly integrating acoustic and electric instruments the band weaves tales of everyday life, inviting the audience to become a part of each show." "Poor Man's Whiskey plays High Octane Hootenanny music…Dance, laugh, sing." Check them out - I know you will soon become a fan!

In addition to Poor Man's Whiskey, Achilles Wheel will be opening & celebrating the release of their first CD "VIII Hours”. Achilles Wheel is an all-star band, made up of some of the regions finest, including Jonny "Mojo" Flores (Sacramento Blues Review, Dead Ahead, Rusty Buckets), Paul Kamm (Buck Love & the Humperheads, Paul Kamm & Eleanore MacDonald++). Come early as they will start as soon as the room fills.

And the "room" is part of the fun. Keep Smilin' Promotions shows at The Auburn Event Center & Dance-a-torium is one of the areas best experiences in live music around. Get up close with the low stage right in your face. Dance on the regions biggest wood dance floor, and let your eyes wander at the unique decorations and lighting as only the Auburn Event Center can Provide!
This is an all ages event (ID Required for Bar) - Tickets are available all over including all Dimple Records or online at http://pmw.eventbrite.com - for more info please visit www.keepsmilinpromotions.com

Support Local Music, if you don't it will go away & in the mean time... Keep Smilin' - Scott

Disclosure: I am the CEO and Purveyor of Fun for Keep Smilin' Promotions

Drexel MBA student begins prestigious Valley Vision Fellowship; Will help craft “Next Economy” strategy

2012-02-01T20:20:30Z

Sally Phonthachack wants to some day run her own nonprofit organization and be a mentor to young people. The daughter of Laotian parents who immigrated to the United States when she was an infant, Phonthachack is currently working toward her master’s degree and helping a Sacramento nonprofit organization, believing these two endeavors will help provide a springboard toward her goal.

This month Phonthachack began working full time in a fellowship position with Valley Vision while she continues to pursue her master’s in business administration at Drexel University’s Center for Graduate Studies in Sacramento. In her new position, Phonthachack will assist senior Valley Vision staff in crafting the Valley Vision’s “Next Economy,” a highly visible, strategic regional effort aimed at accelerating jobs and new investment in the Greater Sacramento area.

“We had an overwhelming number of highly qualified candidates apply for the Next Economy Fellow position,” said Bill Mueller, CEO of Valley Vision and a member of the Next Economy management team. “In a field of great candidates, Sally was the clear front runner. She has the work experience, skill set and the community connections to make this vital regional initiative a success. And being a Drexel MBA student made Sally stand out all the more.”

Phonthachack has overcome extraordinary life circumstances on her way to becoming an involved and accomplished community leader. Her family of six escaped from their war-torn homeland of Laos and eventually wound up in Sacramento. Despite numerous obstacles for her family and herself, Phonthachack graduated from Grant High School, earned a two-year degree at American River College, and later became the first in her family to obtain a bachelor’s degree by attending California State University, Sacramento. She earned her B.S. in Business Administration with a Marketing concentration in 2009.

Phonthachack has a long record of community involvement which includes serving as a board member for the North Sacramento Chamber of Commerce, participating in the Leadership and Advocacy training with the South East-Asian Action Resource Center, and acting Team Lead for the Sacramento Asian-Pacific Chamber of Commerce Catalyst Leadership Program. She was also a committee member for the International Lao New Year’s Festival and the annual Lao Education Conference, and also served as a community liaison while working at SMUD.

Currently, she is one of three co-chairs for the Hmong Mien Lao Community Action Network, representing the Lao community. Phonthachack was the winner of the Sacramento Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce Catalyst Scholarship at Drexel University, which provides $20,000 in tuition on any graduate degree at Drexel’s Center in Sacramento.

“I enjoy the collaborative work environment at Valley Vision. Working with a core group of very dedicated leaders in Sacramento’s nonprofit sector is a plus,” said Phonthachack. “I’m a huge believer in nonprofits and what they can do for the community. This is an exciting opportunity for me. I will be learning about what’s in store for Sacramento and discover how I can help strengthen our communities.”

The Drexel University scholarship reduced the financial obstacles in obtaining her graduate degree and will give Phonthachack the innovative management tools and knowledge to move forward as a community leader.

“Drexel is an institution that encourages and invests in experiential work for our students,” said Dr. Sandra Kirschenmann, Associate Vice Provost of Drexel University and Executive Director for the university’s Center for Graduate Studies. “Sally will have a whole team of educators behind her as she embarks on this great experience at Valley Vision. Drexel is committed to being very involved with our community as we build educational programs here in the Greater Sacramento region.”

Drexel’s Graduate Center opened in January of 2009 and offers programs focused on the heart of Greater Sacramento’s growth and economic development initiatives including business, human resource development, higher education and public health. Classes fit with the students’ working and are a blend of in class and online pedagogies. Drexel offers extensive financial aid programs for students, including special scholarship funds for Sacramento students.

For more information on Drexel's graduate programs in California, visit www.drexel.edu/sacramento or call (888) 389-3781 or (916) 325-4600.

Disclosure: Disclosure: Jeffrey Weidel is a Vice President of Halldin Public Relations in Roseville.

Juvenile Seeks to Rein in CPS Abuses through Legislation

2012-02-01T20:13:24Z

Now that Eric Smith, (not real name) a 17-year-old foster child, has been declared a dependent of the court, he is on a mission to change the laws that regulate CPS. “No one should have to go through what I did,” he said, citing his nine months in CPS custody last year. “They treated me like I was a villain, instead of a victim. Why? Because they can.” Eric wants to see that stop.

Just shy of 18, Eric is not yet able to fully tell his story. But that is not stopping him from writing letters to political officials and child welfare groups, recounting his experiences and proposing legislative changes. And what he can tell of his story, he does.

On April 1 2011, an emergency CPS social worker was dispatched to Eric’s high school to meet with him. CPS had received a phone call citing concern of emotional abuse in his home.

It was not the first call to CPS as court records would later show. But it was the first call to claim concern that Eric, who had attempted suicide before, might again attempt to take his life. A little-known provision in Welfare and Institution Code 300(c) allows the court to take jurisdiction if a child is suffering serious emotional damage.

The social worker who interviewed Eric that Friday afternoon promised him he would not need to return home. “She said she had a safety plan for me. But first she wanted to meet me at my house to talk with my mom.”

The social worker got to the house first. Eric arrived minutes later but retreated into a hallway at the sound of laughter. The social worker had discovered what Eric knew she would. It was what had kept him from confiding in others for 16 years. Eric’s mother was herself a former CPS social worker. Eric knew he wouldn’t stand a chance of getting the help he needed.

The two women gossiped like school chums, about coworkers, about supervisors, but mostly about Eric. “I knew he was lying,” he heard the social worker say to his mother.

Not less than an hour after arriving at the house, the social worker packed up her bags and closed the case. Before leaving, she placed a phone call. “Is Eric Smith at your house?” she said after identifying herself. “If he is, you need to return him immediately. There is no abuse in this home.”

Eric, crouching in the hallway, bolted.

It would be nine months before Eric would hear the words he’d doubted ever hearing, delivered at the final court hearing: “There is clear and convincing evidence of severe emotional abuse in this home.”

Eric’s story takes twists and turns to outrage even the most cynical. It’s a story he plans to tell in full one day. What he can reveal now is that the initial emergency social worker was removed from his case, a second was assigned and removed, and then a third and a fourth.

“All four social workers assigned to me over the past eight months put me through hours of crude and offensive questioning, consistently siding with my mother,” Eric said.

The second social worker was assigned after Eric bolted from his house. He had sought shelter with a friend until CPS could be notified. Unwilling to relinquish control to CPS, Eric’s mother allowed the second social worker to “voluntarily” place Eric in the Sacramento Children’s Receiving Home. On his second day in the home, his mother cut off all contact with his friends, his therapist, and his adult brother, claiming they had “brainwashed” her son. It was nine months before CPS would allow him contact with them again.

“CPS did not listen to me or believe me. They tried to put words in my mouth. They twisted facts. They tried to convince me of things that were not true and persuade me out of things that were true.”

Mike Johnson (not real name) was one of those social workers. Johnson reviewed the case and questioned Eric repeatedly. “He sat me down and said, ‘I am telling you, you never heard the words “there is no abuse in this home’ that afternoon. Do you understand?’”

“He wanted to cover for the social worker. He tried to tell me that I did not witness what I had seen with my own eyes and heard with my own ears.”

Johnson further told Eric that no court had ever taken jurisdiction under Welfare and Institution Code 300(c) and to expect to be sent back home. Emotional abuse could not be proved. It was his word against his mother’s. He was a teenage boy. She was a former CPS social worker and foster mother.

Thus began weeks of relentless interrogation. Johnson, as well as each new social worker, continued to side with his mother, accusing him of fabricating his story. When Eric asked them to interview his friends and other family members to corroborate his story, the social workers refused, saying juvenile cases are confidential to protect the privacy of the minor. Anyway, CPS added, they are not parties to the case.

“They told me I was lying,” Eric said. “They told me I was having a sexual affair with my friend’s mother. That she was having an affair with my therapist. They told me that my therapist was a quack. That I was not suicidal. If I was being abused, where were the scars? They believed everything my mother said. And they refused to talk to anyone else.”

Eric was put on 24/7 suicide watch for six months and told that “if I tried to run away or contact my therapist or friends, I would be placed in another city in a group home.” Johnson threatened the friend’s family with restraining orders if they so much as tried to contact Eric.

Meanwhile, the boy’s mother was being investigated on a separate matter. Her two-year-old foster child was removed, and she was charged with felony abuse of an adult dependent—her severely disabled adoptive daughter. Still, CPS hammered Eric with accusations. They recommended to the juvenile court that the case be closed and Eric be sent home.

Eric considered appealing to the State Foster Care Ombudsman until he learned that the ombudsman would go directly to the offending social worker to disclose the nature of the complaint as well as the identity of the child. It was a case of the fox guarding the hen house.

After six months in temporary placement—chosen by his mother—Eric finally received court permission to his petition to be placed in a foster home. Eric had been through dozens of hearings and still his case hung in the balance. Still CPS insisted there was no abuse in his home.

In early October, Eric’s foster father received a panicked phone call from the high school principal, followed by several calls from CPS. The police were looking for him. Eric’s French teacher had assigned a ten-minute free writing exercise and become alarmed at what she’d read:

The system has failed me. I have been denied the love, influence, and support from those who mean the most to me. Why? The simple answer is because they can. I am being punished by the very institutions put in place to help me....They say I am in ‘Protective Custody’ (that’s a laugh). I am the only one fighting for me.... No doubt in anyone’s minds why CPS will go to every length to protect one of their own.... I am going to escape. Come and watch the fireworks.

In November, the Juvenile Court declared Eric’s home unsafe to return to, bringing the CPS ordeal to an end.

“I felt trapped in a system meant to help me. Not only was I harassed, disbelieved, and mistreated by CPS, but I was denied access to the people I loved and needed the most. The laws meant to protect me, protected CPS.”

According to the attorney who worked on Eric’s case, “CPS works within a cloak of governmental immunity. Without a change in legislation, what’s hidden in the dark will stay in the dark.”

“Social workers need special training to recognize emotional abuse under WIC 300(c),” Eric said. “CPS put me through hell, and there was nothing I could do.”

With a rueful smile, he added, “I am nameless and faceless now. But in nine months, I will be 18. I will have a face. And I will be able to tell the whole story.”

I Have a Website and a Facebook Page, Am I a "Social Business"?

2012-02-01T19:51:15Z

We’re all aware of social media and the impact it has had on how we market our service or product and value to customers. The ability to deliver real-time marketing messages, at low or no cost via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social platforms has enticed businesses to embrace social technology for a large percentage of their outreach endeavors, and has changed the entire marketing and advertising landscape.

Today, most businesses have done the work to embrace and brand themselves via social media. As a result of this shift, savvy companies are applying their social media technology and experience to streamline many of their internal programs and optimize organizational transparency. This evolution is what is known as Social Business. The Social Media Examiner reports “Social business is not a trend; it’s a forced evolution. A social business deals with the internal transformation of an organization and addresses key factors such as organizational dynamics, culture, internal communications, governance, training, employee activation and much more.”

“Organizations need to get smarter, acquire new technologies, intelligence, talent and motivation to become more open and transparent. They need to create processes and establish governance models that protect the organization, yet empower their employees.”

By investing in and applying social media to the business structure, internal and customer communications are eased, and equally important, visible by key departments within the organization. Employees are enabled to chat freely and quickly with each other, management, and key departments. Customer and product issues are responded to and resolved immediately before they become problematic. Marketing and Development teams gain valuable insight from internal teams and customers.

The ultimate result of adapting social business technology is cost savings. A social business sees impressive reductions in time to market, greater product development success, increased productivity, as well as improved customer and employee satisfaction.

How can your business streamline communications and processes utilizing social networking technology? What communities can you activate to become raving fans of your products or services? What do you need to know to become a social business?

C7group is proud to present the 2012 Business Thought Leadership Webcast Series featuring foremost experts with leading perspectives about the social tools, technology and changing workflow in business today. Registration is FREE.

2012 BUSINESS THOUGHT LEADERSHIP WEBCAST SERIES FEATURED PRESENTERS (AS OF FEB 1, 2012):

Jason Falls, Founder, Social Media Explorer
February 7, 2012 – 10:00 a.m. PST
Moving the Needle: Using Social Media to Advance Your Business
Jason Falls will discuss developing a strategic plan for social media, case studies of companies using social media for business purposes and tying the “conversation” with the “conversion”.

Euan Semple, Director, Voice and euansemple.com
Thursday, February 23 – 3:00 p.m. PST
The New “Business as Usual”
Euan Semple will talk about about driving business by leveraging social media to change culture, re-design workflow and grow profit.

Halelly Azulay, CEO, TalentGrow
Tuesday, March 6 – 9:00 a.m. PST
Social Learning and Employee Development
Halelly Azulay will discuss the realities of employee development, leveraging social networking and media for learner-driven, learner-generated learning

Jon Ferrara, CEO, Nimble
Wednesday, March 21 – 10:00 a.m. PST
Social Media and Sales Relationships
Jon Ferrara will offer tips about how to work as an effective team by tracking and managing contacts, prospects, and activities. Specifically, how to maximize marketing impact, make more revenue in less time and the benefits of unified communication.

You can Register at www.learnsocialbusiness.com.

Do you have thoughts or questions you’d like our featured presenters to answer? Let us know on Facebook or Twitter @C7group!

You can also email learn@c7group.com if you have a request or recommendation for thought leaders that should be a part of the 2012 Business Thought Leadership Webcast Series.

Disclosure: I am a marketing consultant for C7 Group.

The 32nd Annual Sweetheart Run is Sunday, February 12!

2012-02-01T19:22:03Z

The 32st Annual Sweetheart Run is taking place Sunday, February 12 beginning at 10 a.m. All motorcycle enthusiasts and Veterans supporters are welcome to meet at C & E Auburn V-Twin Inc., located at 12015 Shale Ridge Road in Auburn. The free event is designed to kick off the riding season with a twist. Each participant and members of the community are encouraged to bring a homemade Valentine’s Day Card or sign one on site.

“Each year, we promote riding and camaraderie by hosting the Sweetheart Run,” said Emma Lujan of C & E Auburn V-Twin. “It is kind of a rite of passage of winter. Our purpose in doing this event is to get riders and the community out on their motorcycles to have the time of their lives with other riders… In response to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Colfax VFW Ladies Auxiliary #2003 request, we are adding a philanthropical spin to the event by requesting everyone to write on a Valentine’s Day Card!” exclaimed Lujan. “Cards will go to Veterans.”

Valentines from the event will go to Veterans at the Reno VA Hospital, Mather VA Hospital, Auburn VA Clinic and will be included in packages being mailed to active duty service members in Afghanistan.

Many of these local men and women have served in World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf War and current Iraq/Afghanistan wars. They represent every race, color and creed. C & E Auburn V-twin Inc. is a local business that frequently responds to needs within the community and is committed to supporting Veterans.

“Americans can never repay these valiant Vets for the sacrifices they have made, but we can do something to cheer them up and let them know that they have not been forgotten,” said Lujan. “We support ALL veterans and want everyone to be creative; there is satisfaction that comes from doing for others! So come hungry, come early and most important come to CELEBRATE and support our Veterans.”

Originally, the Sweetheart Run began with just seven riders. Last year there were over 2,000 registered. Today the event is for the entire area to get together, celebrate riding and make positive community contributions to Veterans.

"So get your BAD self out on your Scoot and let’s ride," said Lujan.

Extended weather forecasts currently predict highs in the sixties, close to 70 degrees. Estimates for last year’s event were approximately 2,000 riders. 1998 was the largest to date with 2,500 people. Ride pins will be available the day of the event for $10 and throughout the day there will be incredible giveaways.

Check in is at 10 a.m. at the Shale Ridge location. Award winning “Bam Dazy BBQ” will be serving gourmet coffee, breakfast and barbeque. Bam Dazy will be ready for you to feast!

The ride begins at noon. Riders will go to the historic Georgetown Hotel and then a barbeque with music at the Coloma Club. The route for the ride from C & E Auburn V-Twin is right onto Highway 49, right on Dry Creek Road to the Bowman frontage road, left under the freeway, right on Lincoln Way, left at Foresthill Road, right onto Old Foresthill Road and left on Scenic Highway 49.

After the road trip, riders will gather for lunch, music, prizes and fun. For more information, stop by C & E Auburn V-Twin at 12015 Shale Ridge Road, Auburn, call (530) 885-5556 or visit www.auburnvtwin.com.

Body Fit Challenge Offers People a Chance to Shed Pounds

2012-02-01T19:14:15Z

California Family Fitness (CFF) today announced that its’ next Body Fit Challenge (BFC) will begin Saturday, February 25, and interested individuals are encouraged to sign-up. The BFC is an eight-week long group training program, in which the participants are coached by a trainer through twice weekly group workout sessions, and educated on exercise habits, nutrition and lifestyle changes.

“The Body Fit Challenge has been a great success for our members since it first started three years ago,” said Randy Karr, president of California Family Fitness. “Throughout the duration of the BFC, participants have shed more than 35,000 pounds. We are very proud of the BFC, and are thrilled to be a part of such a life-changing program for so many people.”

At the end of the eight week program, prizes are awarded to the participants who lose the highest percentage of body weight at each CFF club, as well as the top male and female participants company-wide.

“I was hesitant at first to try the Body Fit Challenge because I was insecure about my ability to life weights. But, I decided to give it a try and I’m so glad I did,” said Liz Ramirez, CFF member and BFC participant. “My experience was amazing, and my trainer was phenomenal. She was positive, encouraging and motivated me to try harder every day. In eight short weeks I lost 36 pounds, and I feel better than I have ever felt before in my life.”

To find out more about California Family Fitness’ upcoming Body Fit Challenge, please click here. Both members and non-members are welcome to participate in this program.

Disclosure: Justin Dyke is a public relations professional representing California Family Fitness.

Ask the Trainer: Getting a dog? Have a plan!

2012-02-01T13:33:42Z

Q: My husband and I think we’re ready to get a family dog. We want to adopt from a shelter or rescue and we have two young kids. Any advice?

A: The decision to adopt a dog, if given the consideration due, is a weighty one. It sounds like you’ve done the due diligence – an honest appraisal of the time, money and energy required to properly care for and train your dog – and you’re ready to roll. Great! Now what?

First, thank you for taking the socially responsible (and extremely gratifying!) route of saving a dog from a shelter or rescue organization. Before you begin your search, do some soul searching and a gut check with the following in mind:

Accept and embrace who’s really going to be in charge.

Before you’ve even laid eyes on a potential new dog, plan on spending a few weeks (and a few bucks) preparing your home and your human pack for the arrival of its newest member. Doggy will need a place to sleep, eat, hang out, potty and play, along with regular walks and exercise. Now is the time to create the chore list and assign doggy tasks to family members.

Speaking of chores…

As trainers, we work with a lot of families who adopt or purchase dogs as gifts for children. While we love the spirit of the gesture, we offer a note of caution: just assume that at the end of the day, the adults will be left holding the poop bag, so to speak.

Kids can help with certain things, like preparing a dog’s bed or exercise pen, or offering calm and constructive playtime. However, feeding, walking and consistent potty breaks should be handled primarily by the “pack leaders” of the family, at least in the first few weeks of the dog’s arrival. If you’re adopting a puppy, count on the grownups doing most of the work for the first few months. This leadership and structure will create a routine that will put your dog at ease and help keep family drama to a minimum.

Be realistic about what type of dog.

Before you become a regular on Petfinder.com and start making regular trips to the shelters, do a realistic appraisal of what physical and behavioral characteristics would best suit a dog to your family and your lifestyle.

Energy level: Energy level is arguably the most important thing to consider when selecting a dog. High energy levels – due to physical needs, or excited, anxious or dominant temperament – usually translate into a high exercise requirement. Breed type can be (but is not always) an indicator of energy levels, so do your research.

If you’re a high-energy, physically active person, a working-breed or working-breed mix might be a great dog for you. Pick a Lab-mix because you love to run and play and swim, or a Beagle-blend because you have lots of property this scent hound can explore (and not-too-close neighbors who won’t be affected by a Beagle’s excited barking).

If your family is more low-key, and physical exercise (other than a leash walk – all dogs need leash walks) is not a regular part of your life, choose a dog from a non-sporting or non-working breed category.

Bottom line, do your research! As trainers, the most common problem we see is simply a mismatch between dogs and their owners; well-meaning individuals who have selected the wrong dog for their family and lifestyle.

Exercise requirement: Unfortunately it is easy to underestimate a dog’s exercise requirement. It’s not always as simple as big dog = more exercise, little dog = less exercise. In fact, if you’re talking terriers, the opposite is usually true. Oftentimes well-meaning owners don’t realize that their dog’s undesirable and destructive behaviors (inappropriate chewing, excessive barking and rambunctious house or leash manners) are largely a result of pent-up energy.

For example, a young Lab-mix will require off-leash playtime in addition to one or two leash walks a day. A Mastiff-mix might be perfectly happy with one nice long walk, but she might need extra time learning how to socialize with doggy friends. Doing research about breeds and asking a lot of questions of shelter staff or a professional trainer are the smartest things you can do when assessing how much exercise you should plan on giving your dog. Don’t be surprised if a treadmill is mentioned…treadmills are great for supplementing a dog’s exercise requirements and most any dog can be taught to walk on a treadmill. Start looking for a used one if you don’t already own a treadmill (if my own neighborhood is any evidence, there’s bound to be one or two serving as clothes racks or collecting dust in your neighbors’ garages).

In the meantime, download for free “Bringing Home Your New Dog: A Little Bit about Everything You Need to Know”.

Disclosure: My experienced colleague and owner of The Local Bark, Kristin Minnie, and I help dogs and their owners with a variety of obedience and behavior problems.

Local Man Fired for Feeding Cats

2012-02-01T08:01:05Z

Larry Ottoviani officially lost his job after seven years with the 7Up Bottling Company for doing the one thing that helped him counteract the anxiety in his personal life.

That one thing was feeding hungry cats.

“I love cats and don’t like to see them go hungry,” Ottoviania said. “When I’m feeding cats I can forget everything else for awhile.”

Ottoviani had been warned several times by his supervisor not to feed the cats. The official termination notice dated Jan. 4, 2012, stated that Ottoviani violated his “last chance agreement not to feed the cats on company time and/or company property.”

While Ottoviani does not deny feeding cats, he denied doing so during company time and on company property.

What was it that Ottoviani felt a need to momentarily forget about, even if it meant risking his job?

He is the father of a dependent adult child with severe physical disabilities and has also been coping with the effects of a debilitating illness afflicting his wife.

During the past year, his wife’s condition required several hospital visits as well as some extended stays. And after a tumor had been found on Ottoviani’s right kidney it required the surgical removal of that kidney.

Fortunately, job-related medical insurance covered most of the costs. Since the loss of his job, Ottoviani says he doesn’t know what he’s going to do. Even with COBRA, a health benefit provision that provides temporary continuation of health coverage at group rates, Ottoviania admits “I don’t know how I’m going to afford to pay the $400 monthly premiums.”

The 7 Up Bottling Company, a subdivision of the Dr. Pepper/Snapple Group with headquarters in Plano, Texas is a beverage production facility governed by the U. S. Food and Drug Administration.

According to company spokesperson Jason Genthner, “The FDA states that we must ensure that the grounds around the food plant under the control of the operator shall be kept in a condition that will protect against the contamination of food. Over the years we have seen an increased presence of feral cats on our property.”

Ottoviani believes that if it weren’t for him, at least in part, there would be far more cats on and around company premises.

In 2008, two local animal advocates, Linda Silva and Nicole Hutchinson, discovered Ottoviani feeding cats. When they saw how many cats there were, they immediately began working with Ottoviani on what is commonly referred to as TNR --Trap/Neuter/Return.

Alley Cat Allies, a national advocacy organization dedicated to the protection and humane treatment of cats maintains a website that identifies TNR as the humane, effective approach for feral cats. Feral cats are humanely trapped, spayed or neutered, vaccinated, and ear tipped (the universal symbol of a neutered and vaccinated cat), and then returned to their outdoor home.

The organization states that another aspect of TNR is that kittens and other cats that can be socialized are not returned but instead adopted into homes. These procedures stabilize colonies of cats since altered cats no longer produce kittens.

Hutchinson enlisted volunteers from the Sacramento Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA) to sweep and clean up shards of broken glass in an unused area adjacent to the 7Up Bottling Company before launching an aggressive trapping program.

Hutchinson said that between August 2008 and December 2009, 71 cats were trapped and brought to the Sacramento SPCA which runs low-cost feral cat clinics on the first and third Sundays of every month.

The costs for altering the cats were paid by donations from the volunteers and from and grant funds. Ottoviani took home some of the tame cats and kittens, later finding homes for them. He kept the ones he couldn’t find homes for.

In 2006, there was a similar cat feeding incident involving a farmhand employed at the Cornell University Animal Science Teaching and Research Center in ~~Hartford, CT~~ Harford, N.Y..

John Beck was fired for feeding cats on the premises according to a story posted on the Best Friend Animal Sanctuary Network webpage. Beck filed a 20 million dollar lawsuit against Cornell University, which then filed a motion to have the lawsuit thrown out.

Beck admitted that his lawsuit was a long shot and that it was filed “for the principle of the thing.”

“How do you fire somebody for feeding cats?” Beck asked.

Ottoviani still believes he did the right thing. “I acted according to my conscience”, he said.

Linda Silva agrees. “Larry didn’t just feed the cats”, she said, “He went beyond the call of duty and took responsible action. It’s unfortunate that this would lead to the loss of his job.”

Editor's note: Corrections have been made to this article after publishing.

The American Dream?

2012-02-01T07:12:14Z

Free enterprise is the basis of the American Dream but what happens when there isn’t a large enough demand?

Sukhwinder Aujla owns KMM Cab Company, the second largest taxi company in Sacramento, and has been driving for ten years.

“Sacramento isn’t that busy. There’s not very many local customers. Our business depends very much on cab fare from the Convention Center.”

Fredrick Pleines Jr. owns Yellow Cab Co. of Sacramento, the oldest taxi company in Sacramento, and has a different view.

“Our bread and butter is shorter runs,” Pleines continues, “We try to operate leaner and meaner.” Typical fares might include someone who needs to get home from a dental appointment or has a daily commute to work from home.

A cab driver in West Sacramento who wishes to remain anonymous has been working in Sacramento for 22 years. “I don’t waste my time downtown… It’s too crazy. That’s why I do the airport.”

In 2010 the US Census put the city population of Sacramento at 466,488 while last year 452 taxi vehicle permits were issued from the city. This means there is currently about one taxi for every 950 people.

Last May the Law and Legislation Committee recommended limiting taxi permits by issuing a moratorium on new vehicle permits to the City Council.

“You see five taxis on one side of the street waiting and ten on the other,” This from the West Sacramento driver again.

A large part of the issue surrounds where a customer needs to go. Here’s an example: a person stays downtown at the Citizen Hotel and needs to get to the Capitol Building in the morning. The driver, however, may have been waiting in queue for two hours for their turn.

The ensuing exchange ends up leaving both parties unhappy with the service and the exorbitant price of the fare.

Yellow Cab has had a central dispatch system in one form or another since 1917.

“Well over half of the companies don’t have a central dispatch system,” Pleines again. “The rest rely on taxi stands.” Yellow Cab replaced the check stand model with two-way radio technology in 1946.

So what’s the best solution for the city? Is it legislating even higher regulation or is there a better solution?

Whatever the solution, the mantra "innovate or die" comes to mind.

Disclosure: After only a few years as a cab driver in Chicago, Illinois, my grandfather changed careers.

American Heart Association's Start Training 2012

2012-02-01T07:04:33Z

The American Heart Association (AHA) held its 2012 Start Training Team Kickoff on Saturday at the California Family Fitness Center in Folsom. The event included health screenings, nutritional and health information as well as a series of mentor and inspirational speeches.

This year’s run/walk half marathon will be held at the American River Parkway on April 28. Participants are required to raise a minimum of $500 through writing letters, email campaigns and personal fundraising websites.

The goal for this campaign is $100,000. By the kickoff meeting, a little over $6,000 had already been pledged.

Start Training is a team training program for AHA half marathon participants of all levels and abilities. The meeting gave people who attended a chance to meet the AHA, mentors and coaches, and culminated in a one-mile walk/run with the AHA team.

The team takes walkers and runners from the first step to the finish line of a marathon or half marathon event. Weekly group training meetings are scheduled to help participants raise funds for the AHA and the American Stroke Association. Mentor meet-ups are scheduled to be held at McKinley Park on Tuesdays. Practices are also conducted and led by experienced mentors.

Justin Carlino talks about his involvement as AHA mentor.

Team mentor Justin Carlino shared his story of living in a house with a long, steep driveway, which he and his wife walked every day. One day, he had to stop because of a shortness of breath. His doctor referred him to a local cardiologist, who diagnosed him with dilated cardiomyopathy, meaning his heart had continued to grow without subsequent growth of heart muscle.

“There were three possible causes: pregnancy, alcoholism, or poison,” Carlino said. “I’m a male who hardly drank alcohol except for an occasional glass of wine.”

After a few years, Carlino was referred to a Stanford Hospital cardiologist for further treatment. Treatment continued for 13 years.

Carlino had a pacemaker installed and was then put on the heart transplant list. Feeling horrible during a holiday, he called the cardiologist and was advised to come in the next day. His blood pressure at the time was 70 over 50, and he was immediately sent to the hospital. Two days later, a heart was available. After five hours of surgery, Carlino had a new heart.

At the time, the hospital had a transplant age cut-off at 70 but made an exception for this case. Carlino, at 73, became the oldest heart transplant recipient in Stanford’s history. Today there is no age limit for transplants at Stanford.

Carlino soon became a volunteer for the California Transplant Donor Network. It wasn’t until recently, at a presentation at the EMT training facility in Stockton, that he learned his pre-transplant condition was classified 1-A, which meant that at the time he had approximately two weeks to live without the transplant.

He now has a patch installed in his chest to correct a venal hernia, eye lenses after laser surgery for cataract removal, has had laser surgery to correct a prostate problem, surgery on his left hand to correct carpel tunnel syndrome, two lower back surgeries and surgery on his right elbow. He says the only original body parts he has are his legs and feet.

Seven and a half years after transplant, Carlino walks rapidly every day. His goal in supporting the AHA was to walk a half marathon.

“I got to the point of walking five miles a day, every day, and I’ve been doing that as soon as I was able to after the heart transplant,” he said. “So that put me in shape for this half marathon. I’ve never done something like that before.”

His strategy for that half marathon was to intentionally start last, at 567th place, to see how many walkers he could pass. He easily passed the first walker who was on crutches, and at the end of the race he had improved his standing by 318 places. His pace of 16.5 minutes per mile was a new record. This year’s goal is to beat that record.

“At the finish line, somebody tapped me on the shoulder,” he said. “I turned, and they gave me a medal. They also gave me a bottle of water, and I turned forward again and the legs said, ‘OK, are you happy we did it,’ then – boom! – I fell forward on my face.”

“I think the real reason I did it is because I had it in my mind,” he said. “I set my mind to it, and I didn’t veer. No rest stops, fluids were given to me during the walk. No potty stops. I just kept going.”

Pam Clements shares her inspirational story.

Stroke survivor Pam Clements also shared her story at the kickoff.

“One Saturday, six years ago, I was very happy,” she said. “I had saved my money and I was going shoe shopping. While I was shopping, and I had some shoes in my hand, something happened. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, I got this severe, sudden headache. I got really dizzy, and when I got dizzy I got scared, but I did not know what was happening to me.”

She sat down and believed she was going to die.

“I did not know the warning signs to a stroke,” she said, listing sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arms, or legs, confusion, trouble speaking or understanding, trouble seeing from one or both eyes, trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination, and severe headaches with no known cause. “If you’re having a stroke, you do not need to have all five of those symptoms. I did not have all five of them. I did not get confused, because I never put those shoes down.”

Two months later, a similar thing happened.

“I remember this day so vividly because I was so happy that day,” she said. “I was so happy, and I looked over at my husband and my little yorkie, and I said, ‘God, thank you for giving me such an awesome husband.’ And then moments later that same thing happened again.”

Clements’ husband took her to the emergency room immediately. At the time of the stroke, she was 48 years old, but she said there’s no age limit for a stroke.

“Just imagine waking up one day feeling good and then seconds later your whole life changes,” she said. “When this happened to me, I couldn’t get out of bed by myself, I couldn’t go to the bathroom, I couldn’t walk. I had to learn everything all over again.”

Mentors in AHA half marathon volunteer to help with training and encoruagement.

Each mentor had encouraging words for participants and was a good example of different ages and abilities and how the AHA had become part of their lives.

Participants and guests were then told what donations can do for the community.

“The reason we raise money for AHA is threefold; educate, spread the message you need to be aware of and tell friends and family,” said Erin Harris. Raising awareness and money for research are primary goals. Harris noted that the University of California, Davis had received $900,000 from AHA for research.

“The AHA has funded 12 Nobel Prize Winners for their work directly related to heart and strokes. This is huge and our passion is to make sure that this enthusiasm continues, to make sure we as a community not only know that we need to get health care but that we also have the tools to do that,” said Harris.

Harris said that $50,000 can fund a doctoral student for an entire year and reaching the goal of $100,000, “We can fund two of those just through this fundraising program, so that’s our goal.”

The presentation also included a game where questions were asked and someone in the crowd received a prize for answering correctly. The question of how to reach their goal was discussed during the game. Celia Cortez held a board with the top “5 Ways to Fundraise.” These five ways to raise funding included letter writing, online fundraising, matching gifts, social media and rummage sales.

Coach Raymond Martinez stated that participants were doing something fantastic not only for themselves but were also raising awareness and motivating others.

“We’re all in this together building to participate in that first half marathon,” said Martinez. “We’re going to make it fun for you. We can all go out and run a half marathon today but it just might take us forever. This program will allow us to participate safely and take our time building up to it so that when that day comes it’s more fun, it’s safer, we’re reducing our risk of injury and we’re going to have a good time on that day.”

Martinez said that as participants train it’s important to know that you do your best and stick to it. Participants were encouraged to have fun. He also introduced Daryl Parker, a professor of Exercise Physiology at California State University, Sacramento.

Parker is an exercise physiologist who works at Mercy General Hospital and is also a professor at CSUS. Parker indicated that he loves to come to this type of meeting and listen to speakers and mentors. Parker shared that their speeches motivate him as well. He spoke about the kinds of things people should expect during their training period.

Not all expectations are good, noted Parker. His presentation covered several key items participants of the half marathon should expect.

Parker explained that realistic expectations should be set in order to succeed.

“I have to bring research data otherwise people won’t believe me when I talk. Exercise is good, right? That’s what we came. Chronic exercise is good for you and research backs this. Regular exercise is good for the body. Don’t expect too much too fast as this takes time,” he said. “Keep showing up and success will follow, don’t expect too much too fast.”

Good and bad things follow exercise. Parker suggested setting a threshold and doing exercise. He compared it to a prescription and taking certain doses. A minimum dose should be taken to burn calories and suggested that it could be achieved by taking four to six hourly walks four to six times a week. Another dose could be done by running. You can burn more calories by running three times a week for 20 to 30 minutes. Parker indicated that these doses also serve as disease management.

The training introduction covered many topics and all of the speakers were inspirational. Volunteers at the event helped things go smoothly and they were all more than willing to answer any questions. Mercy General was thanked for their participation and for being a big supporter of the program.

After all the speeches were done, participants were able to do a one mile run/walk to complete the team kickoff meeting. Several runners completed the run quickly, and walkers were able to chat about their experience at the kickoff and talk about their training programs and goals for the April 28 half marathon.

Mid-year city budget update

2012-02-01T06:12:16Z

The city is spending more than it is bringing in, and even though that’s normal for this time of the year, officials need to make changes to keep spending under control and keep the budget on target.

According to the mid-year budget report presented to the City Council Tuesday, expenditures are at 50 percent of projections, and revenues are at 36 percent – about 14 percent less than anticipated.

This is typical for this point in the fiscal year, Finance Director Leyne Milstein told council members Tuesday – but adjustment is still necessary.

“Without these recommendations, we will not be able to balance our budget,” Milstein said.

It’s not all bad news, though.

The 2010-11 fiscal year ended with an unexpected $5.1 million surplus – largely due to savings from cutting back on expenses in a variety of city departments during the year, according to a city staff report.

That $5.1 million will be used to address a variety of budget needs including:

* $1.2 million to backfill General Fund revenue shortfalls;
* $1 million to the Police Department to cover a holiday pay budget shortfall
* $715,000 for unbudgeted utilities in the Department of Parks & Recreation
* $285,000 for payouts related to contracting out golf maintenance operations
* $750,000 for deferred maintenance projects at city-owned facilities

Another $3 million – left over from capital improvement projects that have been funded and completed ahead of schedule – will go into the General Fund Economic Uncertainty Reserve, bringing that “rainy day fund” balance to $20.7 million.

“Putting money into the reserve is wise, I think,” City Councilman Jay Schenirer said.

Staff also recommended adjustments – both up and down – to citywide revenues to keep the city budget balanced through the end of the fiscal year, including:

* $3.6 million reduction in property tax revenues, due to a greater-than-expected decline in property tax values
* $2.8 million increase in sales and use tax budget, due to a fourth consecutive quarter of sales tax growth

One adjustment to projected revenues comes from the closure of medical marijuana dispensaries in the city.

With eight of 33 dispensaries in the city now closed, business operating tax revenue from the dispensaries – initially estimated in the city budget as $1 million – will be reduced by $250,000 to $750,000.

The actual reduction amount will depend on how many more dispensaries close before the end of the fiscal year, June 30.

The City Council began the budget process for the 2012/13 fiscal year with a workshop Jan. 24. The city manager will present his proposed budget for the coming fiscal year on May 1.

The Sacramento Press discussed the first quarter budget report HERE.

Melissa Corker is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

Editorial Note: A spelling correction was made to this story after it was published.

Meet the Candidates for District 4

2012-02-01T06:04:46Z

City Council representative for District 4, Rob Fong, will not be running for re-election. With no incumbent running, the race has attracted four candidates who may be unfamiliar to Sacramentans.

In the interest of learning about these candidates, a questionnaire was sent to them asking for a brief (less than 100 words) response to a list of topics. The list of topics included items which have been frequently discussed by the District 4 communities or at council meetings. Topics included river crossings, city budget, marijuana dispensaries, strong mayor, leaf piles, arena funding and other city policies.

The goal is to give readers a brief introduction to candidate positions at this early stage in the campaign. Thanks to the candidates for their time and responses, and to Casey Kirk at Sacramento Press for assistance in reaching them. Three of the candidates (Joe Yee, Terry Schanz and Steve Hansen) responded. Phyllis Newton declined to respond, stating she had time constraints preventing her from doing so.

RIVER CROSSINGS AND BRIDGES

Steve Hansen : The people of Sacramento and West Sacramento will need additional options for crossing the river, but these should be done in a way that respect neighborhoods and offer the opportunity to restore areas in need.
Terry Schanz : Determining the location and capacity of a bridge or bridges over the Sacramento or American Rivers should be part of a larger citywide and regional transportation and development plan. Bridge locations should be neighborhood friendly and offer multiple transportation options. As a region, we should encourage interconnectivity using various modes of transportation including vehicles, buses, rail, light rail, bicycles and pedestrian modes of transportation.
Joe Yee : The “Sacramento River Crossing Alternatives Study Report (2011)” finds a need for two new crossings on the Sacramento River north and south of the I Street Bridge. The recent action by the City Council recognizing that any bridge must be “Neighborhood Friendly” provides a loose criterion that defines the size and scope of a future bridge. Though the need for two bridges may be justified, much work remains to determine the location of the bridges and the vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian needs that will be served by a bridge. Subsequent to the 2011 Report, the City Council authorized a Feasibility Study which would include preliminary engineering studies, a more detailed alternative locations analysis and environmental reviews for compliance with CEQA and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The preliminary engineering studies would identify footprint locations, right-of-way issues, the connectivity of a new bridge to existing streets and bicycle and pedestrian paths, movable or fixed bridge alternatives and anticipated traffic demand. Because a new bridge will materially impact neighborhoods such as Southside Park, City and Regional Staff must continue to utilize placement and design criteria that considers existing neighborhoods. Funding for the Feasibility Study has not been identified. Funding for a bridge has not been identified.

CITY BUDGET (i.e. deficits, revenues, expenses)

Steve Hansen : Our city doesn't compete well in the region, which has led to the shrinking of our sales tax base and property tax base. We need to attract and retain good jobs to grow our economy, which is my primary goal. Further, recent City Auditor reports suggest that we can find savings by enforcing existing policies and procedures and improving revenue collection.
Terry Schanz : The City’s ability to provide basic services (police, fire, water, utilities, parks, transportation infrastructure) is under extreme pressure due to projected deficits, the continued housing crisis and a struggling overall economy. During these difficult times it is important that we prioritize core public safety services and work creatively to find ways to maintain basic services that our community deserves. Sustainable in-fill development and other economic development goals that will create jobs for Sacramentans and revenue for the City are important. But we will not be able to reach those goals if we fail to provide core services that residents of Sacramento pay for and rely upon now.
Joe Yee : The City budget is expected to have a short-fall of approximately $25,000,000 over the next two years. Public safety is a high priority. However, the City must still strive to be a full service city providing services and amenities that are critical to the quality of life in Sacramento. Quality of life is directly influences the recruitment, retention and expansion of businesses and job creation. The City must balance its income and expenses and make prudent investments for its future just like any family and business.

MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES

Steve Hansen : State law allows for the use of marijuana for medical purposes. The city has worked to strike a thoughtful balance between these businesses and neighborhoods. I support the Council's efforts to mitigate the impact of the businesses while allowing for safe access to medically necessary treatments.
Terry Schanz : I respect a person’s right to privacy and their right to seek and obtain safe, legal access to any medicine determined necessary by their healthcare provider. Ultimately, the U.S. Supreme Court will need to determine if the federal prohibition of marijuana violates the U.S. Constitution and a state’s ability to regulate medical marijuana.
Joe Yee : The activities of marijuana dispensaries are the subject of court reviews. Therefore, status of current City regulations governing the operation of marijuana dispensaries cannot be determined until the legal process is concluded.

STRONG MAYOR AND CITY CHARTER

Steve Hansen : Changing the city charter is no small undertaking. As a community, we have a duty to be thoughtful and deliberate in making changes to our system of governance. I don’t think our current system of city government is causing the City Hall to be dysfunctional. I believe it’s our inability to work with each other. If there is one thing I seek achieve while serving on the council, it is to be known as someone who worked with everybody and stayed focused on addressing the needs of the city and the district.
Terry Schanz : Given the immediate fiscal challenges facing the City, a strong mayor governance system with an increased executive bureaucracy will not solve the Sacramento’s current fiscal challenges. The Mayor and Council should work collaboratively to address the immediate needs of our City, not be distracted by a proposal that will have no impact helping to balance the City’s budget. I would encourage a more transparent public participation process so that citizens can make an informed decision on such a critical issue as changing the City’s charter.
Joe Yee : As presented to the City Council on January 17, 2012, I do not support the Checks and Balance Act of 2012. I have a number of significant concerns that would need to be addressed before I can begin to consider supporting the proposal. As directed by the Mayor and City Council on January 17, the City Attorney is to present a revised Checks and Balance Act addressing the Council concerns. I look forward to reviewing that version so that I can make an informed decision to support or not. When the Checks and Balance Act is revised to include important specificity, I would support a public vote on the Act. The other action taken by the Mayor and City Council on January 17 was to direct the City Attorney to identify a process and schedule for the review of the City Charter. It is my understanding that the process would include a public vote to authorize a Charter review. If authorized, a companion ballot measure would ask voters to select members of the City Charter Commission. The Commission would act independently of the Mayor and City Council in making recommendations to revise the City Charter. I believe that the Charter Commission revisions would then be approved (or not) by a public vote. Because the City Charter has remained relatively unchanged for 90 years, I would support ballot measures to authorize a Charter review and to establish a Charter Commission.

GREEN WASTE (i.e. street pile pick-up vs. containerized pick-up)

Steve Hansen : I am talking to residents to see how we can best reconcile various needs – disposing of green waste, keeping our storm drains unclogged, preserving the quality of our roads, and providing safe passage for cyclists. I believe that we can find cost-effective and efficient ways to manage green waste while accommodating the needs of residents who do battle with lots of leaves during the winter months.
Terry Schanz : Containerized pick-up has been a transition for residents, but the City has done a good job of educating and informing residents of their options for disposing of green waste and ensuring that street pick up continues during peak periods of the year. Especially in neighborhoods with limited on-street parking, containerized green waste has allowed residents to dispose of green waste efficiently and increased on-street parking capacity.
Joe Yee : The current system allowing two options (containerized pick-up with seasonal street pick-up or year-round street pick-up) is difficult to manage and not an efficient use of City funds particularly in this current economic condition. In order to prioritize the expend City funds for critical public safety and public services/amenities, I would support a change to containerized pick-up with seasonal street pick-up provided the seasonal pick-up provides for frequent and reliable pick-up during in the fall and spring.

ARENA AND PUBLIC FUNDING

Steve Hansen : A downtown arena would be a great asset to our community and has the potential to be a catalyst for reviving Downtown Plaza and creating in-fill development in the railyards. While the current arena is antiquated, we must ensure that any deal is responsible to the needs of the community during these difficult budget times.
Terry Schanz : I support the development of an entertainment and sports complex in the rail yards as part of a larger development plan for downtown. The plan should encourage the use of transit, interconnectivity to the riverfront and Old Sacramento, respect historic neighborhoods and prioritize in-fill, mixed use sustainable development models. The complex should also be a catalyst not just to create good paying jobs for Sacramentans, but to continue Sacramento’s efforts to prioritize a sustainable growth plan for the future. Private investment should be the primary financing method for an entertainment complex. At a time of dire fiscal challenges facing the City, I am concerned that monetizing public assets for a private business venture may harm, not help the City’s ability to provide core services that resident pay for and rely upon.
Joe Yee : I support the construction of a new entertainment and sports complex in the Rail Yards without public funds. Our City funds must be used to support public safety (police officers, firefighters), libraries, community centers, parks, water, sewer and storm drain systems and other services and amenities that are critical to the quality of life in Sacramento as well as business growth and job creation.

REDEVELOPMENT STRATEGY (areas, funding)

Steve Hansen : Now that redevelopment as we know it has been eliminated, we must be creative in finding ways to address blight and spur economic development in Sacramento. Fortunately, the city as a whole is not reliant on redevelopment funds. In the downtown redevelopment area, we will still have limited resources to address blight in the J/K/L corridor. We should target our efforts on infrastructure improvements and on mitigating high impact fees for small businesses. Finally, the city needs to be more innovative about how attract and grow investment capital in the Central City.
Terry Schanz : I have participated in early discussions at the state level to look at an infill, transit-oriented sustainable development model as a possible new path for a more targeted redevelopment system. The integration of affordable housing should remain a component of any new redevelopment plan. Any new redevelopment financing model will need to not harm the state’s General Fund or divert public resources to local schools. While the fiscal structure will ultimately be negotiated at a state level, incentivizing infill, transit-oriented, sustainable development will be an excellent tool to help create jobs and encourage smart growth principles in the 4th District.
Joe Yee : I believe that redevelop funds can help restore blighted areas, encourage transit oriented businesses and residential development and facilitate infill development. Redevelop funding is an important tool to achieving the goals of the City 2030 General Plan. According to recent court rulings, the State has the authority to dissolve redevelopment agencies and has done so. I support pending State legislation that would restore redevelopment agencies.

PUBLIC UNIONS

Steve Hansen : Our city's employees have done more with less while keeping us safe and tending to our aging infrastructure. I support the rights of workers to organize for adequate pay and working conditions. We live in a time of diminishing resources, and I believe in shared sacrifice to close the budget deficit responsibly. We need to remain focused on the core mission of protecting the public's health, safety and welfare.
Terry Schanz : Public unions provide workers with an important voice and are partners in helping the City provide efficient and effective services to residents. I fully respect the collective bargaining process and believe it is an effective and appropriate way to negotiate wage and benefit agreements between the City and its eligible employees.
Joe Yee : Do I support public unions? I support the rights of public and private sector worker to organize into unions.

FIREARMS

Steve Hansen : Gun ownership is a constitutionally protected right, but gun violence is a persistent challenge to our urban tranquility. I support efforts to keep illegal guns off our streets and out of the hands of criminals.
Terry Schanz : I respect an individual’s ability to legally possess firearms consistent with state and federal law.
Joe Yee : Do I support gun control? I support the right of individual to own firearms and the government’s ability to prohibit the sale of firearms to criminals and to exercise reasonable controls on the sales of ammunition.

CITY CODES / PERMIITS

Steve Hansen : A full analysis needs to be conducted of the requirements placed on small business to see if these requirements impose more of a burden than a benefit. In any instance where the burden is greater than the benefit, the City should reasonably consider eliminating or changing these requirements. In addition, we need to find ways to track code violations through the use of a 311 smart phone application so that we can use our limited resources to target significant nuisances to protect and preserve quality of life for the city’s residents.
Terry Schanz : The City has and can continue to be more efficient in processing permits. The increased use of technology should be explored as a way to improve the efficient processing and review of permit requests.
Joe Yee : Often, neither businesses nor home owners have not worked with City Codes and are not familiar with the City Permit process. With that in mind, the City should provide guidance for the permit application, approval and issuance process. As a Councilmember, my staff and I would also be available to provide assistance.

No turning back: Redevelopment transition begins

2012-02-01T05:45:11Z

The City Council unanimously agreed Tuesday to take over responsibilities for the non-housing functions of the city’s former redevelopment agency – but chose not to take over its housing assets and project management functions.

The city – as “successor agency” to the now-defunct Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency – will be responsible for winding down more than $787 million of outstanding obligations over the remaining life of prior redevelopment projects, which varies by project from a few years to nearly three decades.

The city Housing Authority will take over the housing assets and functions – including $81.7 million in assets and managing $80.6 million in outstanding loans receivable.

The Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency will provide administrative and staffing services for projects currently managed by SHRA during a transition period that extends to June 30.

“This is very complicated, and it’s not going to be an easy process,” SHRA Executive Director La Shelle Dozier, told council members Tuesday.

Melissa Corker is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

Corti Keeps Tradition of Balsamic Vinegar Alive

2012-02-01T04:04:25Z

Darrell Corti, owner of Sacramento’s beloved Corti Brothers, is an old fashioned and trusted shopkeeper. He is an expert in the production and history of the food and beverages he sells in his artisanal grocery and ensures that his staff is well trained to carry that knowledge to the customer.

Corti handpicks the majority of his specialty products in his extensive travels and during biweekly wine tastings. He also utilizes his relationships with local artisans.

Sebastian Bariani, co-owner of Bariani Olive Oil, is an artisan producer in Sacramento who has known Corti for 19 years.

"We have a long relationship with Mr. Corti. Corti Brothers was the first retailer to buy our olive oil," said Bariani, "he was an influential factor for us to keep producing. We could not wish for a better friend to represent my family's olive oil."

Corti is not just any local shopkeeper. Rick Mindermann, store director and personal assistant to Corti, explained that Corti is world renowned for his contributions to the food world. Such accomplishments include the introduction of Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale (Traditional Balsamic Vinegar) to the United States.

Corti was able to find a producer in the late 70’s after selling Mr. Mossimo Violi, a collector of rare spirits, a prescription bottle of prohibition era whiskey. Massimo turned out to be a hobbyist and maker of traditional Balsamic Vinegar and Corti began importing the Violi family vinegar in 1982.

The type of balsamic vinegar that the majority of Americans buy today began emerging on the market in the mid to late 1970's and is known as industrial balsamic vinegar. This vinegar is made by combining grape must (crushed grapes), wine vinegar and often times, sugar. Although these vinegars have a purpose in the modern American kitchen, they are all an imitation of true balsamic vinegar.

Traditional balsamic vinegar has been produced since ancient civilizations. It is remarkably different from industrial vinegar and is identified by its thick syrupy density, caramel flavor and balance of sweet and sharp acidity.

Today the product is made largely by hobbyists under strict monitoring by the Consortium of Producers of Traditional Balsamic Vinegar. The product is made in only two geographical regions - Modena and Reggio Emilia, according to the Consortium’s website.

Due to the intensity and long production time required to make traditional balsamic vinegar, an estimated equivalent of between 2,482 and 2,758 wine bottles are distributed each year in 3.5 oz. bottles, according to Mindermann. These bottles sell for anywhere from $100 to $500 and beyond.

The vinegar is made by boiling down grape must to about 50 percent of the original bulk. It is then aged in a series of barrels constructed from a variety of woods. At the end of each one-year cycle, the emerging vinegar has reduced, and a portion is distributed to the next consecutive barrel until a small amount is removed from the final barrel after a minimum of 12 years, the minimum time of production for certification.

On the production of the vinegar, Mindermann notes, “The most important age is the age of the barrels. It is a blending of old and new material, imparting flavor to the product that is passing through.”

The final vinegar is bottled in consortium owned glass so that the product is protected from fraud. When consumers buy the vinegar in these bottles with the certification seal, they know it is the real product.

By educating the consumer and selling this precious elixir, Corti Brothers has played a pivotal role in the protection of this product and many others, earning Corti the Cavaliere Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana by the Italian Government in 1992, the Italian version of knighthood.

The vital factor in the protection from fraud for both the consumer and the product is having a shopkeeper like Corti making the delivery. Not only do many consumers trust the verification of the products, there are opportunities to experience alternative trusted products without the high cost.

The Violi family also makes three vinegars named "Paseone," which is constructed in the traditional manner. It is not certified, but there is a clear option to trust that the product is a close sibling to the certified version that they produce because Corti himself has personally inspected the manner of production and the barrels themselves.

“We are shopkeepers; we want to teach if our customers are interested in learning... A shopkeeper knows the realm of his business. It is something that has kept us in business for a long time,” said Mindermann.

After tasting the 12 year vinegar made by the Violi family, it is abundantly clear that it is a unique privilege to have this knowledge in our city.

Below is the complete interview with Rick Mindermann.

Click here for audio.

Disclosure: Jillena Hernandez is the author behind Eat Well, Live Free (www.eatwelllivefree.com) a Sacramento based vegetarian food blog.

Women fight breast cancer - and win. Dr. Ernie Bodai shares his thoughts.

2012-02-01T04:03:13Z

If you think breast cancer is all around you – be it a diagnosis, or a friend, neighbor, or loved one who has been diagnosed, you would be right. If it seems like women are developing breast cancer at a younger age than ever, you would be right about that, too.

According to the American Cancer Society, 2011 saw over 13,000 women under the age of 40, who were diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States. One thousand, one hundred and sixty of them lost their battle with the disease. When women under the age of 50 were included, the number jumped to over 65,000, with more than 5,000 women succumbing. Nationwide, a total of over 280,000 women were diagnosed with new breast cancer cases, and almost 40,000 women died.

According to Dr. Ernie Bodai, director of Kaiser’s Sacramento Breast Health Center, and former chief or surgery, it’s true that women are getting the disease at a younger age than ever.

“In the last five or six years I’ve noticed a shift to younger women. By that, I mean pre-menopausal women. Women who are even in their 30s,” Bodai said. “We don’t really know if it’s more hormones and food additives that are increasing the risk. We do know that girls are starting their periods at younger ages, and women are entering menopause at older ages. We know there is a correlation between more menstrual cycles and breast cancer.”

The American Cancer Society adds that factors such as delayed childbirth, and having fewer children, as well as climbing rates of obesity and menopausal hormone use may be factors as well.

But as sinister as this all sounds, there is cause for hope. Women are fighting breast cancer every day – and winning.
In 2007 Alena Kesti, a then 22 year old woman, petite and sporting a crown of shorn honey-blond hair, discovered a lump in her breast. She simply assumed she had a swollen lymph node, and didn’t do anything about it. It took her then boyfriend’s mother’s diagnosis with breast cancer, for Kesti to take action and call her doctor.

“My nurse practitioner was very insistent that I go to Mercy San Juan and get a biopsy,” the Granite Bay resident said. “I was 23 by this time, and had had the lump for at least six months. By the time I went to see the surgeon, he already had paperwork for me to sign for a mastectomy. It’s a very hard thing for me to stand here and say, ‘yes, I have one breast, and the other one is a prosthetic.’”

While Kesti’s case is unusual, her full recovery is not. According to Dr. Bodai, women’s breast cancer survival rate for Stage 1 cancer is 95 percent or more.

“More women are surviving than in the past; they are enjoying a longer life, and a better quality of life than 15 or 20 years ago,” he said.

Cancer survivor, Rita O’Bear, wasn’t expecting a breast cancer diagnosis when she found a lump almost 23 years ago. At only 43 years old, the new grandmother discovered her lump; a mass that was high on her chest, almost outside of the breast area, when she was carrying her grandson.

“His hand was pressing on my chest, and it kept hurting,” the Citrus Heights resident said. “I went to the gynecologist, and she wanted me to see a surgeon.”

O’Bear was sent to Dr. Bodai, who advised her to go off caffeine and chocolate, then be re-checked in a month or two.

“I went back and had a biopsy – I certainly didn’t expect it to be cancer. When you’re that age, you think, ‘not me’. I didn’t know anyone who had cancer – I think women hid it back then,” O’Bear said. “I got the phone call. I was scared. I was numb. You think ‘this just can’t be true’. You start wondering what you are going to be around for. Am I going to see my daughter get married? Will my daughter ever have children? I would go and visit people, but I couldn’t stay in any one place for long. I went shopping the night before I had surgery. I didn’t know what else to do.”

Kesti and O’Bear both opted for chemotherapy, followed by tamoxifen, a treatment that wreaked hormonal havoc with both women, and caused early-onset menopause.

While chemo and tamoxifen are therapies that have been around for decades, Dr. Bodai is excited about the latest research in cancer treatment.

“We have new, targeted therapies using nanotechnology,” Bodai explained. “We will be able to attach nano tubes with both chemo and amino acid, which tricks tumors.”

Bodai explained that the tumors, in essence, “open up” expecting food, but instead get zapped with chemotherapy.
“It kills the tumor from within, so you won’t suffer the side effects of chemo,” he said.

Bodai is also encouraged by the TAILORx Breast Cancer Trial, which will help doctors determine if women need chemotherapy or not.
“One third of women don’t actually need chemotherapy,” Bodai said. “This genetic analysis will allow us to spare some women from chemo treatments.”

Bodai said that money raised from the U.S. Postal Service’s Breast Cancer Awareness Stamp, which Bodai spearheaded, generating $82,000,000 for research, has funded the TAILORx Study, and nanotechnology research, as well.

But in spite of all the high-tech strides in breast cancer, it always comes back to the women.

“Get a mammogram, starting at age 40, or if you have family history of breast cancer, get a baseline mammogram at 35,” Bodai advised.

Though the U.S. Preventable Task Force recently recommended mammograms start at age 50, Bodai strongly disagrees.

“That’s absolutely irresponsible,” he said. “One in five women who get breast cancer are younger than that. If you take a 40 year old woman, and don’t find her cancer for five or ten years, that makes a huge difference in her prognosis. People who work in the trenches know this is true.”

Bodai said there are a few things women can do to maintain healthy breasts.

“Do a monthly self exam, and have a clinical exam every year. Start getting mammograms at age 40, and exercise and diet to try and maintain a healthy body mass index. Some things are within your control, and are free. Take a walk for 30 minutes several days a week. Eat colorful vegetables for the antioxidant benefits.”

Bodai suggests if a woman finds anything suspicious during her monthly breast check, she should go through one menstrual cycle and see if anything has changed. If the lump is still there, she should make an appointment with her doctor.

“If your lump is rock hard, and fixed, meaning it doesn’t move, make an appointment right away,” he said.

Disclosure: Rita O'Bear, one of the breast cancer survivors in the story, is the writer's mother. I'm so thankful that my mother did, in fact, survive to see her kids get married and to enjoy her grandchildren.

Sacramento House of Ill Repute

2012-02-01T03:59:19Z

As a paranormal investigator aka the Demon Warrior, I have a tendency to pay attention to houses. When I look at an old Sacramento Gothic home, I sometimes wonder if the house is haunted or if there is some residual energy of past events that reside inside the walls of these homes. The best time I have to look at houses is when I am walking my Jack Russell Terrier Pika and my Corky named Hi-Pee.

Somewhere in Sacramento, I came upon a home that looked suspicious. Not that it looked suspicious as if the home was haunted, but it looked suspicious as if the house has something to hide. Something possibly atrocious that is being committed in this beautiful 2 story home.

As I surveyed the house, I noticed numerous video cameras stationed outside of the home. There was 2 big signs that said that there was a bad axx dog on duty. I stared at this house and wondered why they would have these blatant signs posted? It was obvious there must have been a bad axx dog in the backyard, because the way he barked and growled, he sounded ferocious.

I always wondered about this house, then one day I decided to walk my dogs near the house again and to my surprise I saw ‘police line’ tape everywhere and the fence was completely torn down in the backyard. Something happened at this house and I got on the Internet to see what may have occurred by typing in the address. To my surprise I discovered that the occupants were cultivating marijuana in this home and selling it. Well, that is not extremely atrocious behavior, but I thought to myself how stupid they are to advertise the way they did by letting the neighbors know that they owned a bad axx dog and that they keep surveillance of their property with video cameras. This was a tell tale sign that they were up to no good. Normal neighbors don’t put up a bunch of video cameras outside of their home and put up signs around their property that they owned a bad axx dog.

With the video cameras and signs, it was a strong indication that something was not right with this home and of course Sacramento’s Finest found out what was truly going on inside. Sometimes criminals just don’t get it, instead of being incognito, they flaunt their bad behavior to the public. The signs are now down, the video cameras are gone and now it looks like a regular home in Sacramento. Good riddance to the bad neighbors.

Disclosure: Author: Paul Dale Roberts

Super Bowl hot spots in Sacramento

2012-02-01T03:40:48Z

For football fans still suffering from the San Francisco 49ers’ devastating loss to the New York Giants in the NFC Championship game, the Super Bowl may have lost some of its sparkle. But with Sacramento’s great bar scene, one can’t help but be drawn to the festivities.

The Giants face the New England Patriots in Sunday’s game, a rematch of the Super Bowl game four years ago in which the Giants ended the Patriots’ perfect season. The Sacramento Press found these spots to celebrate – or drown your sorrows.

BarWest Burgers & Wings
2724 J St.
476-4550
19 flatscreen televisions, one 10-foot projection screen

At BarWest, the festivities start at 9 a.m. with an eating contest. The brave can take on the “Hot Mess,” a concoction that General Manager Ryan Pierini said has only been conquered once before.

Contestants have 30 minutes to finish the plate – English muffins piled with six eggs, six slices of bacon, six sausage links and country potatoes, covered in Hollandaise sauce. Participants must sign up with the bar by Saturday.

Winners do not have to pay for their food, and they will receive a gift certificate. Anyone who attempts the feat, Pierini said, will receive a consolation prize – a “Super Bowl shot” of their choice.

“We hope to make this an annual tradition,” Pierini said.

Bud Light and Coors Light Girls will be on hand, passing out “bar bucks” good for $1 off beer.

Ink Eats and Drinks
2730 N St.
456-2800
Four televisions

If beer isn’t your thing, perhaps Ink Eats and Drinks will draw you in. The restaurant and bar is running margarita specials on Sunday as part of a promotion with Jose Cuervo Platino tequila.

The Platino Girls will be on site from 3 - 5 p.m., said Jocelyn McGregor, marketing and promotions manager for Ink Eats and Drinks.

In addition to $3 appetizer plates, various fruit-flavored margaritas will be available for $5, and a Jose Cuervo Tradicional “touchdown shot” for $3. For $6, patrons can have a Pabst Blue Ribbon with a shot of Jose Cuervo Tradicional, McGregor said.

Monkey Bar
2730 Capitol Ave.
442-8490
Two televisions

Get started early with Monkey Bar’s happy hour special, ending at 2 p.m. A bottomless mimosa for $10 and Absolut Bloody Marys for $5 are available, and various drink specials will be available throughout the game, Manager Stacey Stell said.

The Depot Video Bar
2001 K St.
441-6823
34 televisions

The Depot Video Bar may have the best shot at a great view for the game with 34 televisions. Each one will show the game, said employee Tim Shaw.

The bar will run happy hour specials throughout the day, including $1 draft domestic beers and $3 pitchers of Miller, Shaw said. Pizza and peanuts will also be on hand.

Streets of London
1804 J St.
498-1388
Three televisions, including a big screen behind the bar

The typical happy hour fare will be offered during the game at Streets of London, Manager Brooke Tachibana said. Customers can enjoy a 20-ounce beer for $4 or get a pitcher for $11. Well cocktails are available for $3.50.

R15
1431 R St.
930-9191
14 televisions

If football alone isn’t enough, R15 will have the Budweiser Girls on hand to give out T-shirts and hats, said Manager Chris Randone.

“We’re going to have some beer,” Randone said. “The game will be shown on every single one of our TVs.”

R15 will also offer its usual bar appetizers, including pizzas, sliders and quesadillas.

Alley Katz
2019 O St.
442-2682
Seven televisions

Starting at noon, Alley Katz will offer happy hour pricing for patrons. Bartender Jon Alford said to arrive early for the best shot at staking out a spot. The bar has seven booths, and extra cocktail tables will be brought in to accommodate the Super Bowl crowd.

“We’ll have our $30 beer towers,” Alford said. “They are a yard tall and have their own taps – kind of fun if you have a group.”

Alley Katz has more than 200 different beers available, as well as a full bar and a variety of appetizers and sandwiches available for under $12.

The Golden Bear
2326 K St.
441-2242
One television

Many northern Californians had hoped to see a local team playing on Sunday, but San Francisco 49ers fans still have a place to watch the game.

“What we’re really hoping to offer is a safe haven for disappointed 49ers fans,” said co-owner Kimio Bazett, a lifelong fan. He added that a surprise drink special will be available for anyone who comes in wearing 49ers gear.

The Golden Bear’s football fare will be a general, all-American barbecue party, Bazett said.

“Our chefs are whipping up something crazy,” Bazett said, and added that they’ll offer $1 off Miller High Life, to keep with the American beer theme.

Where will you watch the game, and which team do you want to see take the win?

Making the Impossible Possible

2012-02-01T03:14:26Z

In the Mayor’s “State of the City” address he focused on two important and interconnected areas: jobs and education. The Mayor also spoke about making the impossible possible, a message that resonates with many citizens today. With unemployment at record highs (8.5% in the U.S., 11.3% in California and 11.1% in Sacramento) and prevalent low academic performance in the U.S. (compared internationally) and in California (compared to other states), the impossibility of the “American dream” is all too real for far too many people today. Still, all hope is not lost. There is a sense of urgency sweeping the nation and jobs and education are two very hot topics swirling in the media. There is a feeling that the will of the people is present; they simply need to know what to do to help usher in the change we all know is needed.

What is still lacking and hindering progress is a shared belief that education is the underlying issue of our economic woes.

In 2011, American manufacturing could not fill 600,000 skilled positions due to a lack of qualified candidates . Among a national sample of 1,123 executives, 67% experienced a moderate to severe shortage of qualified workers and 56% anticipate the shortage to increase over the next three to five years. These executives complained that the education system is not producing workers with the basic skills they need. A 2011 talent shortage survey of diverse companies across the globe cited the evermore specific skill sets employers are looking for and their frustration with finding people with both the technical competencies and business knowledge needed to be successful . Employers in the U.S. reported a 38 percentage point increase (from 14% to 52%) in difficulty filling jobs and 73% of all employers cited a lack of experience, skills or knowledge as the reason for this difficulty.

In the midst of economic crisis and record unemployment, many jobs are available. These jobs have the potential to fuel families’ personal economies which we know fuels spending, home ownership, and the like. So, what’s the disconnect?

Education is the missing connection and underlies the structural unemployment we are facing. While we have many people looking for jobs, the jobs that are open require skills our citizens don’t have. This is referred to as the middle-skill gap – skills in science, technology, math and engineering that will fuel our increasingly technological and global society are sorely lacking. It is estimated that the number of jobs for Californians with postsecondary education will grow 50% faster than jobs for high school drop outs between 2008 and 2018. By 2018, 60% of California jobs will require an education beyond high school and by 2025, there is a predicted workforce shortage of 1 million college graduates . Here in Sacramento, 57% of health care employers reported difficulty in finding registered nurses and 78% cannot fill medical imaging positions. Sacramento employers in the energy efficiency field, a booming field in the area as noted by Mayor Johnson, reported difficulty hiring workers in eight critical areas to clean energy.

There is a shortage of qualified employees, not just a lack of jobs.

Our education system is at the heart of this crisis. The U.S. ranks 15th in reading, 23rd in science, 31st in math, and 26th in overall educational quality among 65 countries . California is below average in academic performance compared to other states and schools in the Sacramento region boast similarly poor results with only half of the students being proficient in any subject . Those who make it to college are often still undereducated. Over 70% of California community college students required remediation in math and Englishiv. Similar results are seen in our state’s CSUs. With these types of results, achieving the American dream is becoming increasingly impossible – more a fantasy than a dream.

Amidst these bleak statistics, there are places to look for solutions. A recent Global Public Square special on CNN entitled “Restoring the American Dream: Fixing Education” profiled South Korea and Finland as two diverse examples of nations with very high student performance using very different approaches. South Korea relies heavily on testing and students spend an immense amount of time studying, in school and after school. Finland is a complete contrast spending less time in school with no standardized testing, but focusing instead on creativity and critical thinking. Both nations rank among the top three in reading, math and science. The special goes on to ask American industrialists what we can learn from South Korea and Finland and what is needed to transform public education in the U.S. The common message among the presenters and the common denominator between South Korea and Finland was teacher effectiveness. Among these commentators – national presidents, industry tycoons, and education reformers – there was agreement that effective teaching is a key ingredient in a strong educational system. In Finland it is more competitive to get into a teacher education program than medical school. Their teacher education system is rigorous and systematic, with layers of professional development and requirements for proof of ability to effectively shape young minds. By contrast, in the U.S. almost half of our teachers graduate in the bottom third of their college graduating class .

Two research reports were released this January on this very topic, one by the National Bureau of Economic Research and the other by The Education Trust–West (ETW). Both reports discussed the ways in which teacher effectiveness can be reasonably assessed and the impact a teacher can have on their students’ life outcomes. The economists found that students assigned to a more effective teacher were more likely to attend college, earn higher salaries, live in better neighborhoods, save more for retirement, and were less likely to become teenage parents. They also report that an increase in teacher effectiveness (replacing the bottom 5% of teachers) would add $250,000 of lifetime earnings per classroom into our economy. Researchers at The Education Trust–West found that effective teaching greatly impacts student learning, with an effective teacher adding half a year more learning in English-language arts (ELA) and four months more learning in math for their students. The ETW also reports that low-income students and students of color are systematically less likely to be taught by an effective teacher and more highly impacted by quality-blind layoffs. It is clear why we have such persistent achievement gaps.

These are not the first reports of their kind. There have been others before them discussing the importance of teacher effectiveness as well as other topics in education reform like fiscal responsibility and parent choice. Clear sets of solutions have been proposed. So, we are again left asking, what is the disconnect? Why do we not act on some of these suggestions and try something radically different?

You are the missing connection.

Your outcry is what we are missing – the voice of the people standing up and demanding a different course of action. In a democratic society, systems are transformed by the will of the people. No one can pretend to have the answer. There is no one magic bullet that will alter the course of education in this country. But we do know more of the same is not the answer. That is, after all, the definition of insanity. Democracy requires an educated citizenry. Our economy demands a quality education based in the future of science and technology we are all heading towards. Your future necessitates our children are prepared to run our nation, our state, and frankly, your affairs. Systems cannot reform themselves. You must require them to change, to become better, to meet your needs.

STAND UP for education Sacramento! With our state legislators in our backyard, what better place to begin than here. We can fix education. We can restore the American dream. Let us lead the way for the rest of the state to follow in making the impossible possible.

Sources:

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for November 2011; presented on Google.com
“Boiling point: The Skills Gap in U.S. Manufacturing” sponsored by Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute
The “2011 Talent Shortage Survey Results” sponsored by the Manpower Group, surveying nearly 40,000 employers across 39 countries and territories.
“Can California Compete?: Reducing the Skills Gap and Creating a skilled workforce through Linked Learning” sponsored by America’s Edge
http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/
http://dq.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/
A special edition of Fareed Zakaria’s GPS program, Restoring the American Dream: Fixing Education (November 6, 2011)

Disclosure: Aisha Lowe is Deputy Director of STAND UP, a local non-profit working to inform and mobilize the community for education reform, working to ensure every child in Sacramento has the opportunity to attend an excellent public school.

Local Hero Dies at 88

2012-02-01T02:37:51Z

We typically define a hero as someone who has accomplished extraordinary feats: saving lives, curing a disease, a star athlete or other legend. But what of the everyday heroes? The ones who inspire us, who love us, who teach us the kind of person we want to be. The person we look up to at five years old, our faces upturned, eyes shining bright. The quiet heroes.

Anthony (Tony) Ivanovich was born in Sacramento in January 1923 and left this world just this last October. Tony would have been 89 this month, just one year away from his dream of celebrating his 90th birthday aboard a private train car. Tony volunteered at the Sacramento Railroad Museum for 30 years, sharing his passion of trains with all who came through the Museum’s doors.

Tony also suffered from polio since the age of two, a disease that left him without the use of his legs. He used braces and crutches to get around; for the last ten years of his life, he was left confined to a wheelchair. But Tony never let his disease dictate who he would become. With the support of his mother, Francis Sapunar Ivanovich, and later his wife, Mildred Ivanovich, Tony defied every stereotype of his time. Labeled severely handicapped by society of the time, Tony wasn’t allowed to attend school with the “normal” children. With his mother by his side, Tony fought to attend and graduate from Sacramento High School (1942), ignoring the labels put on him and proving that a handicap is not an indication of a person’s intelligence or abilities.

As one of Tony’s ten grandchildren, I grew up completely in awe of my grandfather. I thought for so long, desperately trying to think of some incredible memory of my grandfather, one that would evoke tears, laughter, and describe perfectly the amazing man my grandfather was. And I couldn’t think of a single memory. Not because Grandpa wasn’t amazing, but because all of my memories of him are more a feeling than anything else. I remember countless holidays with the entire family, Grandpa always at the center of it, always with his camera in hand, documenting our many happy and indescribable times together. When I think of Grandpa, I think of family. I think of love. I feel family. I feel love. And to me, that is more powerful than any single memory or event could ever be.

Tony Ivanovich was an inspiration to all who knew him, and especially to his family. He never allowed himself to be put in a box, to be stereotyped in any way. We all learned that from Grandpa; that is his legacy to us, to this world, to all who had the privilege to know him. But we didn’t learn it from him telling us. We learned it by watching his example, the way he chose to live his life. What made Tony Ivanovich such an inspiration was that he didn’t think of himself as an inspiration. He was just a man; a man who wanted to be treated just like everyone else. Who never wanted special treatment. Who never thought of himself as different. We can all learn from his humility. He never tried to be great. He tried to be himself. And that is what made him great. That is why he was able to touch so many lives, and truly change the lives he touched. If you never try, how will you ever discover your own self worth? Grandpa taught us worth by being himself. By never giving up. By defying every odd and breaking every rule of his time. He taught us all to be headstrong, to never give up, and live not just to break, but shatter the rules. Tony Ivanovich will always live on, in each of the lives he touched.

And I finally thought of a memory, one buried so deep it took a few days for my brain to bring it up to the surface. I remember going on a class field trip to the Railroad Museum as a kid. When we got there, I was shocked to see Grandpa acting as our guide. Every single chance I got, I was right in front of that crowd of rowdy kids, hanging on Grandpa’s every word, beaming with the chance to be near him, to hear him speak so beautifully of his passion, of trains. I made sure every kid in my class knew that was MY grandpa. And it wasn’t because he had crutches, or was different. I never thought of Grandpa as handicapped in any way. I wanted them to know because I loved him so much, and I was so in awe of him. He was my hero and I wanted him to be everyone’s hero. Later, after the field trip, Grandpa commented that every time he turned around at the museum, I was right there, looking up at him. I think he was touched by it, even though he would never say it. Tony was a man of few words, but you could hear it in his voice. You could hear it in both our voices. Grandpa and I shared so much love. He shared so much love with his entire family. His family was his life. And he will always be a part of ours. I will always be that little girl, looking up at MY grandpa, with such awe.

There should be a hole in my heart that can never be filled. But there’s not. Because Tony left us all with so much love. Though my heart aches with the loss of someone I loved more than words can describe, I cry not in misery, but in bittersweet joy. My heart is overflowing with love, for Grandpa, from Grandpa, and with the love of the incredible family Tony and Millie Ivanovich have built. I sometimes wonder what I did right to deserve to be a part of this loving family, but I thank God every day for it. And I know Tony did, too. God truly blessed all who knew him, with the opportunity to know, and to love, a quiet hero.

Co-op eyes new grocery store location

2012-02-01T01:45:33Z

The Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op is looking at the possibility of moving its store from the current site at 1900 Alhambra Blvd. to a larger location with more than double the parking at the block that borders R, S, 28th and 29th streets ~~24th and S streets~~ .

Members will vote on the potential move toward the end of March or early April, and if approved, the new store could open in 2014, said Wendy Hoyt, an urban planer who works for the new site’s developer, Separovich/Domich Real Estate Development. Ravel Rasmussen Properties is also part of the development team.

Co-op General Manager Paul Cultrera said Tuesday that the proposed move would be advantageous for a number of reasons.

“Our current site is too small, the retail space is cramped and parking is inadequate,” he said. “I’ve been talking about this for a number of years.”

He added that the co-op board and management began seriously looking for a new site about two and a half years ago, and they wanted it to be close to the current store and have more parking.

“Parking is a major complaint we get from our customers,” Cultrera said. “We have 56 spaces for about 2,800 customers coming in every day.”

If approved, the new site will include 61 parking spaces in front of the store and another 55 on the ground floor of a four-story parking garage. Currently, the site is a parking lot, and for the building to be constructed, will need to be moved, as they are used by state workers. The other three floors of the garage would be for them, but open to co-op shoppers on nights and weekends.

The store itself will be able to carry more products, and Cultrera said more space would be added to adequately stock them, though not likely bring in entirely new product lines.

“We certainly could expand the produce market,” he said. “We’d like to feature more local farmers.”

Other areas for expansion include the cheese department and, most notably, the meat department, which was added about five or six years ago.

“The deli is also very busy, and when it was laid out 14 years ago, it was doing $20,000 per week in sales. Now it’s doing about $50,000,” Cultrera said, adding that all the deli products are produced in a small kitchen behind the deli area, and a larger one is needed to keep up with demand.

Another asset to the proposed new space would be consolidating the co-op’s five buildings into one, allowing management offices, administrative departments, the learning center and the grocery store to all be together.

Hoyt said the administrative portion would be on a second-floor mezzanine, and the overall retail space would – under the current preliminary plans – grow about 38 percent from 16,000 square feet to 22,000 square feet. The total building will be about 40,000 square feet.

The developers are planning to spend approximately $15 million up front, and the co-op will spend an additional $6 million on improvements such as refrigeration units, and will then sign a long-term lease for the building, Hoyt said.

~~The total project cost is estimated to be about $15 million, Hoyt said, meaning it will have to be approved by the co-op’s membership.~~

Since the money needed to be borrowed is more than the company’s net worth, co-op members will need to OK it with a simple majority.

Cultrera said that members – who are also owners – will vote on a ballot that will be sent out to the entire membership.

Hoyt said informational meetings will be held with the members and the neighbors starting in March.

The move will not be the first for the co-op, which had its first major store on Freeport Boulevard and moved to the current location in the late 1980s. A second store opened in Elk Grove in 2005, but it shut down in early 2007.

If the membership approves the move to the new site, Cultrera said, the building will be done as sustainably as possibly, but it is not likely that the co-op will seek certification by Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).

“Everyone knows the standards, and we want to build it to meet the standards, but the certification is $70,000 or $80,000,” he said.

The former Elk Grove store was built to be energy efficient, and the electric bills were about 50 percent less per cubic foot than the current co-op site, Cultrera said.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell.

Editorial Note: Corrections were made to this story after it was published. The incorrect information was struck out and the correct information added.

LivingSocial shuts down 'Adventures' in Sacramento

2012-02-01T01:34:26Z

The daily deal company LivingSocial decided last week to stop offering its “Adventures” program in Sacramento and an unspecified number of other markets, but company officials stressed that the daily deals and other programs will not be leaving the Sacramento area.

“Adventures are curated activities that you do with friends around you, like a day where you go tubing on the mountain and then have a beer tasting afterward,” LivingSocial spokesman Brendan Lewis said Tuesday.

He said a few dozen markets across the country offered “Adventures,” and it was in the Sacramento area for approximately one year.

“Daily deals will continue to be there,” he said. “Families, At Home and Escapes will be there as well. We remain committed to Sacramento.”

The final local event in the program is a skydiving event scheduled for this weekend.

The scaling back was “during the ordinary course of business staffing decisions,” Lewis wrote in an email, and he said that two full-time employees staffed the “Adventures” department in Sacramento, bolstered by a number of part-time employees.

“Those employees were released,” he said. “I’m not sure the number of part-time employees, but for us, it’s two full-time, which is a very small percentage of our total workforce.”

The company, based in Washington, D.C., launched about two and a half years ago and employs 5,000 people worldwide, according to Lewis.

One of the employees laid off was part-time Experience Coordinator Drew Garrison, who told The Sacramento Press Tuesday that he and other staff were notified of the decision via a conference call Thursday afternoon.

“There really wasn’t any warning, but I don’t think there’s ever a good time to tell people they lost their jobs,” he said, adding that about 15 part-time employees worked for the Sacramento LivingSocial Adventures department.

“They said we all did a great job, and there was great customer feedback, but the possibility for future profitability just wasn’t there,” he added.

Garrison said LivingSocial closed 17 of the 28 “Adventures” departments across the country.

“Sacramento gets knocked a lot for not being a profitable market, and you hear that with the Kings stuff going on, but they cut places like Dallas, too, and that’s a huge market,” he said.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell.

Blood and Thrills and Chills, Oh My! - The Sacramento Horror Scene Through A Friend Of The Genre

2012-01-31T23:17:47Z

Blood and Thrills and Chills, Oh My! - The Sacramento Horror Scene Through A Friend Of The Genre

Adhorroration [ad-horror-ey-shun] – noun

1.A fervent and devoted love of horror.
2.The act of paying honor and homage to horror.
3.The only term to describe my personal love for horror, thanks to the Sacramento
Horror scene.

I've loved horror since I was a teenager (unless you count that peek at “Nightmare On Elm Street” that I was privy to as a child). Sure, I was enthralled with “Ghostbusters” when I was little, and even the nightmares couldn't dissuade me from watching it again. I wasn't allowed to watch scary movies as a kid, so I was actually a late bloomer when it comes to one of my greatest passions. My mom would buy me gifts here and there to tell me that even though she wasn't a fan, she knew horror made me happy. A Chucky doll here, a matchbox of a Camp Crystal Lake SUV with a small figure of Jason straddling it with a machete, ready to strike there... my mom's little way of telling me she didn't understand but she cared. Years went by and I would collect what I could on VHS and in toy form (I own a small treasure trove of Todd McFarlane's “Movie Maniacs” series), but I never went beyond that point. There really was nothing at the time I could move on to.

Fast forward to 2001. I moved from the east coast to Sacramento, and brought my horror memorabilia with me. My husband at the time wasn't a fan either, and I didn't have any friends, much less horror buddies I could geek out with over the genre. I kept to myself, watched my scary movies, played my scary video games, and wished for something more. The closest I ever got to taking action on my love of the genre was knowing Bruce Campbell was going to be in Sacramento signing his book “If Chins Could Kill” and attempting to go (I have yet to meet him). Little did I know, there was a world of horror awaiting me in the very city I had just begun to call home.

A former friend of mine discovered my passion for horror when she met me, and insisted on taking me to Trash Film Orgy. Affectionately known as TFO, Trash Film Orgy has existed since 2001, coincidentally the same year I had moved here. I still remember my first time... showing up with her and a small group to the beautiful Crest Theater and seeing all the people clad in black or in costumes themed on the presentation inside. It made me smile, and I didn't feel so shy. It was July 1st, 2006, and my first film was “Versus”. It was my first time in such a beautiful venue, and one that had so many unique things going on. I had never been somewhere where you could yell at the screen, see skits and horror hosts, and truly be yourself. I bought the movie I saw that night, both because I loved it and I wanted a tangible memory to commemorate my first time. I attended two Trash Til Dawn events there, as well as a few other shows before life took a front seat and my attendance a back seat. My horror happiness hit a low for a few years while things around me spiraled. My son and my horror were the only things keeping me happy, and with my horror being limited to books, movies and games, I felt a void.

Fast forward again through some incredibly tough times and a complete 180 degree turn in direction, and my love has not changed. Horror has sustained me, and anyone I can share it with I will, despite the strange looks that come with my telling someone how great it is. My boyfriend is not a fan of the genre either, but he encourages my passions and knows horror is a big part of me. Even though I was going alone and was genuinely afraid to do so, I mustered the courage to attend my very first Sacramento Horror Film Festival in 2009. My motivation? I originally discovered SHFF at The Colonial Theater through the fact that they were showing “Repo! The Genetic Opera” for the very first time, and I was hoping to meet Terrance Zdunich, Darren Smith, Alisa Burket and Andreja Punkris. What I found when I got there was nothing short of a miracle. I know it sounds corny, but hear me out. The fans were dressed in costumes, or just their own unique styles. The marquee was beautiful, and it made me feel like I was in another world. There was a garland draped over the box office, made of bloodstain-printed plastic surgeon's tools.

Inside and seated, I admired the old-fashioned look of The Colonial, and wondered what kind of things would go on when the lights went out. I was in the very middle of all of those seats with a poor camera, but I was determined to capture memories of my first Sac Horror Film Fest attendance. The movie came on the screen, and the thunder that erupted shook my core. It was everything. The electricity of the fans, the booming sound emitting from the speakers, the cheers, and the callbacks. There was even a flash mob that came on stage (later developing into the Sacramento Sweets shadow cast) during one of the movie scenes. Once I experienced SHFF, I couldn't get enough. It wasn't just “R!TGO” that I fell in love with, despite the fact I met all of the guests and got pictures with Darren Smith and Terrance Zdunich. I could see that the fun I had, and the feelings I experienced were due to the festival itself. I thought of the people that made something like this possible, and wondered how long I had been missing out. After the show, one of the people from the flash mob appearance on stage came up to me and greeted me warmly, then hugged me. I had no idea who he was at the time, but he made me feel like I belonged there. He and I are good friends to this day, and I attribute my comfort on that first night to him.

My passion for the genre grew, as did my compulsion to support the people that made these outlets possible. I attended the next two Sac Horror Film Festivals, spending as much time as I could in the darkened Colonial Theater, most of the attendance being from open to close each day. I attended every showing of Repo!, earning the title “Superfan”. One of my proudest things to show off is my tattoo with the original Sacramento Sweets (formerly Amber's Sweets) art as I spread the word. It's not just a logo inked, it's a symbol of one of the biggest changes in my life. I have befriended the Sacramento Sweets and Tim Meunier, as well as multiple hosts that have come to guide the shows and festivals down their twisted paths. I've spoken to and spread the word about these independent artists and filmmakers. I pass out fliers to the public with ghoulish glee, explaining that Halloween is not the only time horror can have its tributes.

Now, I must speak seriously. I cannot speak for TFO because I have not attended in a long time due to life conflicting. I can say, as a fan of Sacramento Horror Film Fest, and as a friend of those who run it... I'm truly disturbed to see the decrease in numbers of attendance to shows. Many people probably think that horror is still something more of a niche, but they are so very wrong. The passion I see every now and then for horror needs to be concentrated, and used to help support those who make it possible for Sacramento to be one of the best places in horror entertainment. Events like Sacramento Horror Film Fest show over a 100 independent films every year, and that means so much exposure for independent filmmakers and artists. Each year there are booths set up for artists, authors, vendors and the like to try and get the work out there for the public to see.
SHFF's motto is “Love Horror”, and I suggest attendance to the festival to anyone that even remotely mentions they like horror. One thing is always recognized, no matter the attendance numbers, and it is the idea that we are a family. No one looks at you as though you are an outcast because you cheer over cinematic and stage bloodshed. We can laugh at a killer's one-liners, splatter ourselves with fake blood, dress like Jack the Ripper, and drive a hearse without being made to feel as though we are mentally unfit to be amongst the public.

Independent entertainment is important in Sacramento, and horror is something that is treated with a loving and macabre hand here. We are strong, united, and want to extend the joys of the genre to those that have yet to experience it. There are so many people out there that, like me in my early Sacramento years, don't even know about the fun they could be having. We all have our opinions about the genre, and one person's favorite thing might be loathed another person's standards. It doesn't mean we don't count. If you love any form of the genre, you need to seek out the entertainment Sacramento has to offer. Come as you are, you costumed and painted wonders, and join the family. Come as you will, those who look so innocent your friends would never believe the grotesque makes you giggle. We come in all shapes and sizes, and horror in Sacramento does too.

I am a friend of the genre, and I want to see it thrive. Bring your friends, talk it up, and help Sacramento's horror scene stay alive. Attend the shows, crowd the theaters, and revel in the sensation that comes with being an accepted strangeling. I do, and I've never been happier. It doesn't have to be Halloween to celebrate the weird, scary, thrilling, chilling, and bloody world of horror in Sacramento. Horror is music, movies, stage plays, art, and so much more. Give horror a chance.

Www.Sacramentohorrorfilmfestival.com

www.trashfilmorgy.com

Disclosure: I am a friend of Sacramento Horror Film Festival Head Tim Meunier, and acquaintances with some of the people that participate in Trash Film Orgy and Sacramento Horror Film Festival. I am also friends with some of the independent artists involved.

Mayor: Responses to parking lessee search ‘promising’

2012-01-31T22:58:21Z

Mayor Kevin Johnson said 13 companies have expressed interest in leasing the city’s parking system for the next 50 years – a move he described as “promising” as the city looks to bring in $240 million to finance an arena through the process.

“(The responses) show a lot of interest. That is consistent with what we expected,” Mayor Kevin Johnson said Tuesday at his weekly press conference. “It is really encouraging.”

The 13 “letters of intent” arrived after the city sent more than 100 letters to parking operators across the nation in early January. The deadline for interested parties to respond was Monday.

The names of the interested companies will be released Thursday, Johnson said.

Although there is yet to be a completed term sheet outlining the conditions of a potential lease, Johnson said suggestions of parking rate increases could be a deal-breaker for the city.

“Some other cities (that leased their parking) have seen their parking rates go sky high, and that is just not acceptable for us,” he said.

Johnson wouldn’t speculate about how much a final contract might bring the city, but he said he believes the responses create a competitive environment where bidding will be pushed to the higher end of the estimated $180 million - $240 million range.

City staff and parking representatives will review the responses to verify qualifications and shorten the list of potential bidders, Johnson said. That “short list” should be ready for the City Council to consider by Feb. 14, he added.

Melissa Corker is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

The indelible soul of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band

2012-01-31T21:57:26Z

Ben Jaffe couldn’t quite remember the name of “that big record store” he visited the last time Preservation Hall Jazz Band visited Sacramento, rehearsing for the jazz ballet suite “Ma Maison,” performed at the Mondavi Center back in November.

He did remember that it was “right downtown,” and it occupied a large corner. Not hard to determine that we were discussing The Beat.

“When you walk into places like that, its like, ‘thank you, Lord!’” Jaffe emphatically proclaimed.

“You need human interaction - in society we’ve become more and more isolated,” he said, ruminating on the eternal feud between the comforting smell of a house of vinyl and the ever-increasing prominence of MP3s. “Even though you can have 10,000 friends, the internet promotes isolation - you need to have that human touch.

“That’s what Preservation Hall Jazz Band is, what we’re an example of.”

A proverbial calling card of New Orleans itself, the soul of Preservation Hall Jazz Band doesn’t just pre-date computers and the internet – it practically pre-dates electricity itself. That soul wasn’t even wobbled by the winds of one of the worst disasters in history.

“After (Hurricane) Katrina, it took a long time before we had power back in our city, but we had music before we had power; we had music before we even had water,” Jaffe recalled. “What struck me is how this couldn’t happen anywhere else. (Music) is so engrained in who we are that we’re sort of like the ultimate green city in a lot of ways. We all survived down there for so long without power, but we had our music.”

As much a history lesson as they are a dynamic performance ensemble, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band has been delivering slices of NOLA flavor around the country and around the world for the last half-century.

On the heels of their massive 50th anniversary celebration at Carnegie Hall in New York, Preservation Hall Jazz Band comes to Three Stages in Folsom (coincidentally lining up with the one-year anniversary of that venue’s opening) on Friday, February 3. Three Stages is located at 10 College Parkway (off East Bidwell on the Folsom Lake College campus) in Folsom. The show begins at 7:30 p.m. and tickets are $25-$49. Ticket information is available here.

Anyone who has been to New Orleans (and as a result has also probably been to Bourbon Street/French Quarter) probably knows that the ambience of Bourbon Street, while continually lively and unique, falls somewhere between Vegas, Disneyland, and a frat party that the cops should have busted up hours ago.

This reporter happens to much prefer Frenchmen Street. Musicians will roam the streets with trumpets in hand, jumping into the fray with whatever band happens to be playing at the club they mosey into. There is a pulse of pure concentrated, un-filtered and un-bejeweled passion for music raging through the streets of that town that is impossible to imagine anywhere else in the world.

To see Bourbon Street as it currently lives (especially after the city’s massive post-Katrina redevelopment), it can at times be hard for that very essence of the city to shine through, past the dense peppering of gift shops and street vendors, bushels of beads and Huge Ass Beers.

But that essence is as strong as ever (if not stronger), and it is headquartered on one of the busiest corners of Bourbon Street at the Preservation Hall, where its namesake Jazz Band makes its home (when they’re not on tour, that is).

There is no true brick and mortar home to jazz itself, but if there was "one place," Preservation Hall is where the musical history of New Orleans lives - and it is seemingly imperishable in the hands of the men and women who make music there.

“It’s a place where we actually get to entertain people in what is essentially our living room, and that is an amazing thing to do - to simply walk in without doing a sound check,” said Jaffe, PHJB creative director and son of band founders Allan and Sandra Jaffe. He became director virtually right out of college, a part of one of many unbroken bloodlines that still run through a band which has collaborated with everyone from Del McCoury to Lenny Kravitz to Mos Def.

An acoustic ensemble, Preservation Hall Jazz Band is able to bring the jazz history lesson (and the party) to virtually anywhere in the world, from Three Stages to the corner of 17th and J if they so desired.

“In New Orleans, we don’t overthink the word jazz - it applies more to sort of the way that we live and the way we experience music,” Jaffe said. “People have applied it to so many different genres of music - cool jazz, modern jazz, East Coast, West Coast - if jazz has done anything, it’s probably become too high-brow or too elitist, and it’s lost its connection to the common man.

“That’s something that I always focus on, the way it’s been preserved in New Orleans for over 100 years, and we still use it the same way. We still play jazz at our funerals and dance parties and carnival parades. We’re not regurgitating something that happened 100 years ago, we’re playing something we’re part of as a city. That’s just so unique to New Orleans.”

City Farm uses waste as an opportunity to grow

2012-01-31T21:39:14Z

The growing season is over.

In the California capital, dead autumn leaves lay heavy on the damp, manicured lawns of Sacramento City College as students learn that through death, something else will eat.

City Farm, Sacramento City College’s organic urban farm, concluded its first semester cultivating students into stewards of the land outside of Lillard Hall on Dec. 2 with an experiential learning experience—naturally recycling organic waste to create healthy, valuable, nutrient-rich compost for the next growing season.

“It's also called ecologically intelligent design,” says Robyn Waxman, City Farm faculty coordinator and graphic communication instructor. “Instead of taking, making and wasting, we are creating new and useful materials.”

According to a 2009 study by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. landfills account for 20 percent of the methane emission in the world—a potent green house gas 21 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide. Over 34 million tons of food waste goes to U.S. landfills annually—more than any other kind of waste. Only 2 percent is composted.

“The human waste problem is a reality we will have to face in our future,” says guest lecturer Derek Downey, co-founder of the Davis Farmers’ Market Zero Waste Program.

Downey grabs a piece of soil from one of the City Farm plots and looks at it closely as he breaks it apart with his fingers—it is dry, sandy and does not contain any life.

City Farm did not flourish as Waxman had hoped—swiss chard, brocolli and other leafy greens appear dwarfed.

“Even plants have better immune systems with compost,” says Downey, a UC Davis biological systems engineering graduate.
Compost is nature’s way to rejuvenate soil by decomposing organic matter (food waste and yard trimmings) into living soil providing colorful, delicious, micronutrient-rich food.

Waxman and Downey developed and distributed a seven-step pictorial guide to composting to over 20 City Farmers.

“Dead things equal food,” says Downey as he demonstrates layering branches and leaves to form the base of the pile—allowing air to circulate.

Waxman brought a container filled with compostable kitchen waste from her home to demonstrate suitable compost—egg shells, coffee grounds and vegetables.

A few students enquire on where to get worms to start a worm bin for at-home composting.

“I’ve got worms!” says Ryan Thalken, City Farm President, biology major and gardener.

According to Downey, worm poop produces more microbes and pasteurizes the soil. Worms love coffee grounds—a perfect ingredient for compost piles and gardens where worms reside. Downey recommends asking neighborhood cafes for their coffee grounds.

“It’s one way of taking responsibility for your community’s waste,” says Downey.

Waxman explains that classes would like to work together for a common goal or shared learning experience.

“While City Farm does have a club who act as the stewards of the space, City Farm is primarily a place for classes to experiment and test theory learned in the classroom,” says Waxman. “It's a multi-disciplinary, academic garden.”

The Science Math and Engineering Club are sharing the plant biology plot for a water-saving hydroponics experiment. Next semester, the art and chemistry class hopes to include a African history class studying the European indigo plantations to demonstrate making indigo dye for fabrics.

“People crave reconnecting with things that are real,” Waxman says.

Students shovel a thin layer of soil over the pile to prevent flies and odors before covering the pile with a tarp to retain heat and moisture.

With over 10 other classes and clubs waitlisted to use one of the four plots, Waxman feels very positively about City Farm’s potential growth with participatory learning and taking personal responsibility of our futures.

Several other lecture opportunities contributed to City Farm’s success. Secretary of Sustainability and plant biology major Michael Viscuso facilitated workshops on amending soil with natural fertilizers. California Food Literacy Center co-founder and ‘Awake at the Wisk’ blogger Amber Stott discussed natural pest control—more than 60 people attended.

“Most students don't realize how much power they wield,” says Waxman.

In October, City Farm students hosted a documentary film festival for National Food Day focusing on genetically modified food, fair labor practices and sustainable food production—over 100 attended.

“City Farm allows you to take it upon yourself to learn and make with it [the farm] what you want,” says Waxman.

By Monday afternoon following Friday’s composting party, Waxman had emailed City Farm students—per administration, the compost pile must be dismantled.

While clearing the pile, students discussed other ways to increase City Farm yields with compost.

A student passing by the deconstruction of the compost pile stops to ask if the compost pile would smell badly.

“It should smell like the forest floor—like the good stuff,” Waxman says smiling.

Disclosure: Matthew Blackburn is a journalism student at Sacramento City College

Stuck In The Middle

2012-01-31T21:15:09Z

Recently there have been many restaurants closing in Sacramento for different reasons, most due to the down economy. Somewhat new to the scene is Blue Prynt Restaurant and Bar located at 815 11th street in the downtown area of Sacramento. Blue Prynt occupies the space formerly known as Sofia, one of the culinary casualties of our area. While this restaurant has its own entrance it is unfortunately connected to a Best Western Motel.

Upon entering I was excited to see the grand transformation that had taken place. I noticed new paint, furniture and light fixtures. The carpets seemed the same but I could be mistaken. I don’t judge restaurants by how beautiful or tacky they look (not 100% anyway), I take into account food and service.

Upon peering over the menu I thought I might start with an appetizer but the section consisted of five items. I was looking at things like shrimp cocktail and calamari which honestly bored me to tears and frankly seems somewhat lazy. Don’t get me wrong, I like shrimp cocktail, I like calamari, but in order for items like these to stand out there has to be something with an essence of culinary creativity in the menu item description. Horseradish and cocktail sauce can only be so good.

Moving on to the entrees - things looked promising. Items like quail stuffed with a chorizo chicken mousse and king salmon with basmati and wild rice pilaf gave me hope. My guest and I both ended up ordering the special which was a steak sandwich with mushrooms and feta cheese. I asked our server Hannah if the kitchen was asking for temperatures for the steak. When she told me no temps were being taken I asked how the steak was cooked and was told it would be somewhere in the neighborhood of medium. When we got the sandwiches the mushroom and cheese went nicely with the steak but the meat was cooked to a disappointing medium well to well done.

I will go back and visit Blue Prynt again on a weekend for dinner to see how the experience is. If there is a significant difference complete with wow factor I will post an actual review of the restaurant. At this point what I see is a tremendous opportunity being missed by a restaurant which I feel has the potential to do great things.

As a place that moved into the space of a former restaurant which was somewhat dated I would think the owners at Blue Prynt would want to work hard to make people forget about what was there and died. I think Sacramento as a whole has too many restaurants in the realm of being just okay. With expendable income being limited these days for many people, dining out has become an amenity. Our community will only frequent eateries that leave a strong and positive impression. Whether the impact is made on the food or service side, it still needs to be there. Restaurants need to treat every day as if everything is at stake because quite frankly it is. Those who do not make their mark and stand out with an impressive and more importantly consistent product are doomed to fail. This is the part of my article where I cut it short. I could easily go on and describe everything not being done at Blue Prynt. The fact is I would just be reapeating myself and at some point be perceived as being unnessesarily cruel and anyone who has read my articles will tell you I am nothing if not fair.

Andy Soto

Of Music and Passion

2012-01-31T21:06:58Z

“After silence, that which comes closest to expressing the inexpressible is music.”
–Aldous Huxley

What does it take to start a company? Passion? Enthusiasm? Drive and determination? A killer idea? Music Moves Me™, (http://www.mmmlifestyle.com) has all that and more. Co-founders and Tower Records alumni Eric Jordan, Stephany Jordan and Eric Fowler brought their mutual love of music together to create a true music lifestyle brand. Music Moves Me™ celebrates our emotional, spiritual and physical connections to music. Whether you’re an accomplished musician, an amateur who plays for fun or a devoted listener, team MMM believes music makes the world a better place. They believe music speaks to us, for us and about us.

Music Moves Me™ is about the power of music to heal and inspire. It’s about that deep connection with an artist who says exactly what you feel exactly when you need to hear it. It’s about music’s ability to help you through a trying time and give you hope for the future. Stephany Jordan, a former Tower Records Vice President, chose the name in 2004, when she and husband Eric decided to purchase a camera and film a documentary about why music is so vitally important in the lives of so many people. The Jordans quickly realized they had something with enormous potential on their hands.

The time to launch their labor of love arrived last year when Eric Jordan suffered a massive stroke. Together, Eric and Stephany have learned first hand what music truly does to heal and inspire. Months of rehabilitation with music playing in the background have brought Eric back. “I have a deeper connection to music now. It’s like a friend who understands you, doesn’t judge you, and helps you sort things out when you are lost and confused,” says Eric. “Now, I play it every day just to celebrate life in general”. So with partner Eric Fowler, a music business veteran, Stephany and Eric set about creating a brand. The website, complete with online store and blog, was launched in August, 2011. Facebook fans and Twitter followers multiplied exponentially, indicating that the message was resonating.

Giving back is very important to the team, which is why Music Moves Me™ proudly supports the Joy of Music School (http://www.joyofmusicschool.org/index.php/history/,) a non-profit organization that provides free instruments and music lessons to children who cannot afford them. When asked, “why music?” Stephany defers to Tower Records founder Russ Solomon, who had this to say about his former employees’ project, “Music does move people, I don’t know how anyone gets through it without it…”

What’s next for Music Moves Me™? Continued work on the documentary, which currently includes footage with Dick Dale, Jan and Dean, Jim Fuller and Russ Solomon. Interviews with veteran musicians as well as those just getting started are in the works. Plans for an apparel and accessories line are underway, illustrating Stephany’s keen understanding of marketing a brand. That so much has been accomplished in just six months is impressive. But consider this: Eric, Stephany and Eric have day jobs. Much of the work for Music Moves Me™ happens after normal business hours. When asked why she would put in so many extra hours to start another business, Stephany replied, “Music is a symbol of so many good things, culture, creativity, and our connections to each other. Our efforts will result in a brand that celebrates all of this and more, I can’t think of a better way to spend my time, can you?” Those who worked with Stephany at Tower know that her passion and enthusiasm are infectious. Big things are on the horizon for Music Moves Me™. Stay tuned, this is just the beginning…

Disclosure: In addition to being close friends with the founders, I am also Content & Social Media Manager at Music Moves Me™.

No thanks, but maybe a hiss.

2012-01-31T17:34:27Z

It’s early Sunday morning in January. Cars pull into the lot in an industrial section of South Sacramento. What would possess people to get up this early on a cold, dark winter’s day? It’s not a swap meet, big sale, concert tickets, or church. These people have come to the Sacramento SPCA feral cat clinic to get the cats they’ve trapped spayed or neutered and vaccinated as part of a program called TNR: trap neuter return.

Why do they do this? It’s a problem that has to be dealt with.

“When feral overpopulation causes a problem, people get annoyed with all cats – ferals and pets. They don’t discriminate,” trapper Mary said, summarizing a common sentiment. “Cats get run over, poisoned, abused and killed. Getting feral cats fixed and vaccinated gives them a chance at living a long and happy life and reduces suffering for all cats.”

Mary and other feral caregivers asked to be identified only by their first name, to prevent people from dumping or killing cats in their area.

Trap Neuter Return, or TNR, is the process of trapping free-roaming un-owned cats, vaccinating and fixing them, marking them by removing the tip of the left ear, and returning them to where they were trapped. It saves money and cats’ lives, and best of all, it works.

At the Sacramento SPCA feral cat clinics, cats are fixed, vaccinated, given flea drops, and "ear tipped" for a total cost of $15. Clinics on the first Sunday of the month are sponsored by the Coalition for Community Cats. The Sacramento SPCA sponsors a clinic on the 3rd Sunday, and a recent ASPCA grant sponsors a clinic on an additional Sunday. Clinics are by appointment only, each takes up to 125 cats. Even so they fill up quickly. Appointments are often scheduled a month in advance.

According to Dr. Laurie Siperstein-Cook, chief of shelter medicine at the SSPCA, nearly 7500 cats have been TNR'ed via these clinics over the past four years, and clinic capacity continues to increase. At some clinics 90 percent of the female cats have been pregnant.

Inside the clinic, feral cat caregivers wait patiently with their caged charges. “if (euthanizing feral cats) was going to work, it would have worked already.” veteran trapper John said. John has spent considerable time and expense combating cat overpopulation in Sacramento County, designing a special trailer for transporting and recovering 50 cats at a time. His business card lists him as a “Cat Transporter.” He has TNR’ed over 1,200 cats, with the expenses coming out of pocket.

John has brought 15 trapped cats to this clinic. Some people have brought one or two, others eight or more. There’s a mix of first-time trappers and seasoned veterans.

Each cat gets registered and a traveler tag attached to its trap. Sex and identifying markings are noted. Traps are covered to help the cat inside remain calm. Shrouded traps fill the waiting rooms and line the hallways. At today’s clinic, 90 cats will be altered and vaccinated.

You would think the noise would be tremendous, with 90 cooped-up cats yowling to be let out. The only sound is soft conversation and the rustling of paperwork. These are true feral cats, untouchable and unaccustomed to humans, not pampered and demanding pets. They are in survival mode: terrified, silent, motionless, invisible inside their covered cages.

This is the first and last time these cats will see a veterinarian. Each cat is given a thorough examination. The veterinarians and technicians volunteer their time, for training or to keep sharp on spay and neuter procedures. They run their hands over each animal, palpating to look for tumors, broken bones, or other internal issues. Matted fur is clipped away. Ears, eyes and teeth inspected. The majority of cats are in reasonably good health, as most feral cats are.

After surgery the cats are returned to their trap or a recovery carrier and placed in a quiet area until their caregiver picks them up. They will hold the cat overnight and release it the next day. The trauma of being caged is higher for a feral than is worth the risk of infection or ripped stitches after release.

The program is already seeing results. "At a defined area where we did concentrated mass trapping until almost all the cats were TNR'ed, we saw a drastic decrease in kitten litters." Dr. Laurie said "They used to find a dozen litters per year. After we mass TNR'ed, there have been zero to one litter per year. The caregivers are on the alert and round up any new litters and the mom for TNR and adoption. Since it's a rare occurence, they find it managable to take care of. We fixed about 200 cats, plus many kittens that were rehomed."

She has these suggestions for how you can help cats in your neighborhood:

Visit alleycat.org or coalition4cats.org to learn more about feral cats, and how to tell a feral from a stray.
If you’re feeding free-roaming cats, make sure they’re all fixed and vaccinated. Free and low cost programs are available.
Don’t let your pet cat become part of the feral population. Get your cat fixed and micro-chipped. Call (916) 808-SPAY or visit sacanimal.org for a list of low cost spay and neuter resources in your area.
If you’re unable to care for your pet cat, surrender it to the SSPCA or other adoption program.

Dr. Laurie had this to add "None of (our TNR clinics) would be possible without the feral cat caregivers and the many many hours of exhausting work they put in, with no recompense except the knowledge that they are doing their part to help the cats have a better life...and maybe a thankful hiss or two."

Disclosure: Lisa Farr is a volunteer for the Sacramento SPCA, working for the feral cat program.

"Diamonds" ladies night out at the guild theater

2012-01-31T09:05:08Z

The 2012 premier of the Ladies Night Out series of events returned to the historic Guild Theater in Oak Park Saturday evening. The headlining act was veteran singer, songwriter, producer and actor Danny Boy.

Best known for his work as a backup singer during the heyday of Death Row Records, Danny Boy’s solo music is grounded in his musical roots of R&B and gospel as he ably demonstrated to an appreciative audience.

“In 2012 we are taking the Ladies Night Out concept to a new level,” said poet Terry Moore, the T-Mo Entertainment founder who was responsible for bringing Danny Boy from Atlanta to Sacramento. “It is the vision of T-Mo Entertainment to bring outstanding artists to Sacramento while still showcasing our local talent.”

“The Diamonds” Ladies Night Out event also featured nationally recognized poet Ner City (pronounced “inner city”) from Oakland, along with Annie Jay, Sacramento’s reigning “Queen of the Mic.”

Also included on the program was Sacramento-based artist Carla Fleming, who joined forces with homegrown saxophonist Garrett Perkins for a brief set.

Before the curtains opened for the show to begin, poet Steve Morgan graced the audience with two heart felt poems, “Gift from God” and “B-girl Rap.

The always hilarious comic Dru Bruks was introduced as the emcee for the evening and immediately had the crowd in stitches.

Providing the live music for the night was LSB (Love Somebody), which features Leon “Scrap” Gray on the keyboards and Brian Randle on the drums. Joining LSB for the evening was Charles Andrews on lead guitar and Robert Williams on percussion.

Annie Jay was the first featured performer. Her music displayed influences ranging from neo-soul, jazz, gospel and R&B, with a little funk thrown in. She brought composer and guitarist Russell Brown with her, along with percussionist Dominic E. Garcia, who displayed his talents throughout the set playing a wooden drum box known as the cajón.

She opened her set with strong sultry vocals, covering “The Way” by Jill Scott. The “Queen of the Mic” showed her musical sensitivity, covering “Afro Blue” by John Coltrane, “Chain of Fools” by Aretha Franklin and “Brown Skin” by India Arie.

The remainder of Jay’s set consisted of her original music. She frequently acknowledged Brown for his contributions in composing. Her down-to-earth lyrics reach out and speak to all who have experienced life and love.

Those who were introduced to the “Annie Jay Live” experience for the first time were in for a surprise with her stunning vocal range and ability on the songs “Shine,” “Lotus,” and “Caramel.” Her down to earth lyrics reach out and speak to all who have experienced life and love.

Annie Jay closed her 45 minute set with a funk based song entitled “Beast,” which had the audience moving and grooving while Annie Jay cut loose on stage showing her dance moves.

Annie Jay conveyed her love for performing in Sacramento after the show and wanted to be sure to let her growing legion of fans know she is hard at work in the studio on her upcoming debut album.

Dru Bruks introduced local singer Lenoris (P-Dub) Louis, whose vocal skills were frequently met with spontaneous applause and catcalls from the female-dominated audience.

Louis made a difficult task look easy while covering “Lady in My Life” by Michael Jackson. While singing Babyface’s hit song, “Whip Appeal,” Louis interacted with the ladies in the audience, bantering back and forth with them and having them laughing and applauding in response.

LSB did an admirable job with the live music during Louis’ set, and they really shined during his final number, “Do Me Baby” by Prince. Louis flawlessly hit all of the difficult falsetto notes.

After his set, Louis expressed his appreciation for the support and indicated that he will soon be featured in local venues around town with his own live band.

Intelligent, poignant, hard-hitting, heartfelt and often gut-wrenching: Those are the terms that describe the poetry of Ner City, who closed out the first half of the event.

As the recipient of numerous spoken word awards and multiple poetry slam competition victories, Ner City smoothly and flawlessly flowed between poems. He introduced himself to the audience by reciting the poem “My Bio,” explaining his qualifications as a wordsmith and detailing his experiences growing up nurtured by the dichotomy of formal education and education learned only through experience in the streets of Oakland.

In the poem “For Tre,” Ner City describes the challenges and pride he feels by living up to the role of father to his stepson. He was eloquently profound when stating the “job of being a father” is the one that is always available but far too few are willing to accept. The theme of fatherhood extended to his own father, whose virtues he extolled in the poem “My Father.”

To close out his set, Ner City recited his piece called “Letter to the Ex,” wherein he exposed his vulnerability to love and the manipulations and machinations that occur between the sexes.

“I thought the spoken word tonight was excellent,” attendee Candice Johnson said. “Ner City was truthful and touching in his poems and his remarks.”

During the brief intermission, Moore and Burks took charge of handing out gratuities from event sponsors including ladies clothing from Konceited Boutique.

Vocalist Carla Fleming and Garrett Perkins took the stage together after intermission. Fleming performance featured some beautiful vocals and inspirational lyrics from her soon to be released track and video entitled “Rise Again.” On this first track of their set, Perkins, put on exhibition the musical talent on the saxophone he developed while attending the Berklee School of Music.

Followed by another original tune called “Ooh Wee,” Fleming showed her sensual side with the help of Perkins who displayed the skills he has honed through his years of experience touring around the world playing music.

Fleming and Perkins then covered the Ashford and Simpson composition, “You’re All I Need to Get By,” made famous by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. They combined Fleming’s strong and versatile vocals with the influences of neo-soul and jazz to arrange the well-known R&B song in their own unique way.

Dru Burks then brought local R&B singer Kaleo to the stage for a brief appearance to sing Maxwell’s hit song “Ascension.” Backed up by LSB, Kaleo put his heart into the well-loved track, much to the appreciation of the audience that seemed visibly disappointed that he only performed one song.

It was evident that the evening belonged to Danny Boy once he took the stage and took command of the audience.

From the moment of his introduction by Burks, it was clear that Danny Boy is a man whose love of music is the passion of his life.

After thanking T-Mo Entertainment for putting on the show and inviting him to perform, he began singing Bobby Caldwell’s, “What You Won’t Do Love.” Backed by LSB, Danny Boy exhibited the vocal skills that made him famous while demonstrating that his days as a youth at Death Row Records are securely in his past.

While talking to the audience after the opening song, Danny Boy thanked God first and explained how it was his belief that music “touches us, helps us and heals us.”

He then took the crowd on a musical voyage by singing “Rocket Love” by Stevie Wonder.

Danny Boy’s professionalism and status as a veteran singer was apparent to all in attendance when he ventured into some of the original material from his upcoming album “Love Offering,” a two-CD release that will include one disc devoted to R&B (“Love”) and the second devoted to gospel music (“Offering”).

In between his original songs entitled “A Song for Love,” Thunderstorm,” “Some for Love,” and “I Can’t Wait,” Danny Boy showed his versatility switching between love songs, gospel music to the crowd mostly had never known this aspect of his musical journey.

The depths of Danny Boy’s personal struggles in the music business also became evident as he candidly discussed his free-wheeling days and the fact that he left Death Row in debt and was forced to file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

In true artistic fashion, he turned his misfortunes into music and displayed how from his faith came the songs “Nothing” and “Emotional Bankrupt.”

As his set was winding down, Danny Boy had everybody in the audience on their feet dancing with his rendition of “My Girl.” Much to the crowd’s delight, he came down from the stage and brought a grandmotherly member of the audience from the front row onstage to boogie with him.

He ended his set by covering the gospel songs “Grateful” by Marvin Sapp and “God Is Good” by Regina Belle. He completed the evening with a heartfelt blessing to the audience that included a prayer for healing and help for everyone to become better in their roles in life as husbands, wives and members of the community.

While Burks attempted to close out the show, a request for Danny Boy to return to sing a few hooks from some of his Tupac Shakur songs quickly turned into a spontaneous rendition of Luther Vandross’ “Superstar,” as LSB picked up the cue and joined in after the first few lines.

After a final prayer offered by Moore, who thanked all in attendance and who performed, the easygoing Danny Boy came out from his dressing room and signed autographs and CDs and posed for photos.

“It was an awesome show,” exclaimed local poet and educator Claudia Epperson who attended the event and was waiting in line to meet Danny Boy.

“The show was wonderful,” Ingrid Pinkett said. “I appreciate the fact that Danny Boy reminded us that we always have to remember where everything we have comes from and to give thanks and praise.”

The Ladies Night Out series will resume on March 31. Contact Moore well in advance at (916) 208-POET or fromtheheart1@hotmail.com to purchase tickets. The event is guaranteed to be another inspirational and fun evening of entertainment.

Disclosure: Othello Curry was an active participant in this week's Ladies Night Out Event. Othello worked as a member of the event staff.

CROCKER ART MUSEUM & ACCESS SACRAMENTO present - "A Place Called Sacramento" - Thursday 6:30 PM

2012-01-31T06:28:49Z

Access Sacramento is excited to kick off PCS 2012, our thirteenth year, on this Thursday February 2nd at the wonderful Crocker Art Museum. If you would like an opportunity to see all 10 films on the big screen in the museum's theatre, now's your chance. It's a one night only event and rare chance to see all the films from 2011 together again. We hope to see you there!

The Crocker Art is pleased to present an encore screening of the 2011 "Place Called Sacramento" film festival. Friends of Access Sacramento, PCS filmmakers and fans are invited to celebrate, again, the 10 short films first premiered last October at the Crest Theatre.

Crocker Art Museum

216 O Street

Thursday February 2, 2012

Show starts at 6:30 p.m.

Tickets: $4 for Crocker Members

Advance tickets: Non-member $8.00 (online at crockerartmuseum.org or Admission Desk)

At the door: Non-members $10.00

"A Place Called Sacramento" (PCS), is the original, local scriptwriting and short film production project for local writers and producers. PCS challenges local scriptwriters, new and experienced, to write 10-minute scripts about the people, places, and events that make our community such a unique place to live (entry forms and submission guidelines are available online at www.AccessSacramento.org. The deadline for script submission is 5pm Tuesday April 10, 2012 in the Access Sacramento office. The Crocker screening serves as the official launch of the 13th annual "PCS" production process.

Want to know more about making a movie this summer? Do you have a good story but need to write a script? All scripts entered are reviewed by local professionals and 10 are selected. These 10 scriptwriter/producers are then introduced to volunteers, actors and technicians at The PCS "Cast and Crew Call" Wednesday, May 23, 2012. Production teams are formed and shooting - editing commences during the summer months. Finally, after weeks of hard work and great fun, friends gather at the World Premiere to a packed house at the CREST Theatre 1:00 PM on Sunday, October 7, 2012. All films are family friendly. The PCS production process is unique to Sacramento.

To view the films completed for the 2011 & previous PCS film festivals, go to the web site www.AccessSacramento.org. In the twelve years of PCS, over 119 short films have been created.

Access Sacramento is a nonprofit, community media organization building better communications between individuals and groups in Sacramento County for 25 years. With our TV studio, radio and television production equipment, media lab, and mobile production truck, we train and manage volunteers, programming cable radio and television channels 17 & 18.

CONTACT: Ron Cooper, Executive Director, Access Sacramento

4623 T Street, Suite A - Sacramento, CA. 95819

(916) 456-8600 ext. 112

Disclosure: Ron Cooper is Executive Director of Access Sacramento

Lukas Nelson Sparks Up Powerhouse

2012-01-31T04:30:18Z

Think Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton and Willie Nelson rolled into one, and yet you can only begin to imagine the sensation of a Lukas Nelson performance.

Hitting the stage at the Powerhouse Pub in Folsom, with his talented band Promise of the Real, Nelson immediately captured the respect of his audience with his opening poetic dirge, “Let Me Smoke My Pipe.” He spent the evening rolling them into his powerful, soulful, rockin’ blues concert that left all satisfied with a truly smokin’ hot afternoon, indeed.

At 23, showing off his recent clean-shaven face and shorter locks, the strikingly handsome yet still boyishly charming son of music legend Willie Nelson is not ashamed to admit he loves and respects the man and the music of his famous father. But, as far as comparisons go, except for the noticeable “Willie Twang” in his voice and his down-home smile and welcoming personality, the younger Nelson stands on his own as an evolving guitar maestro.

From inside Willie’s old bus which Nelson bought from his father to replace the van and motor home he used to tour with, I got the opportunity to find out some of his influences.

“Besides my father, who first taught me how to play and has and continues to inspire me with his writing and music, I also enjoy listening to and have had the opportunity to play with such great musicians as B.B. King, Neil Young, Pink Floyd’s David Gilmore — great musicians and writers who all have inspired my writing and playing,” Nelson said. “There is no one song I’m particularly fond of. It’s the same with my dad’s music. I can’t name just one favorite song. It all depends on the day and my mood.”

I mentioned I saw his duo with his father during the country “Throwdown” tour this past summer in Murphys. Nelson said the tour inspired him to write most of the music on his upcoming album, effectively titled “Wasted.”

“It’s how I and some others felt about that particular tour, not wanting to step on toes” Nelson admits. “I loved playing with my dad, but the mix of musicians, for me, was not a good fit. Except for writing and spending some time playing with my father, I felt the time was, well, wasted.”

Nelson has not wasted any time, however, perfecting his presentation skills over the last year with stellar appearances on “The Late Show with David Letterman,” “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and his recent gig playing with one of his musical heroes, Neil Young, at Young’s annual Bridge School Benefit Concert.

Listening to Nelson’s music, wasted time, I far as I can perceive, has creatively been time well spent.

Are you too old to heal?

2012-01-31T04:18:17Z

Most of us have at least one person in our family who has served in the military during wartime. These men and women live amongst us, some suffering more than others, some not suffering at all. As they age their sense of self worth comes into focus, and they struggle to explain themselves to younger family members. Talking about traumatic events experienced during war is stressful and exhausting. So the question is “Should we dredge up old painful memories? Are our grandfathers and fathers too old to heal?”

Apparently Frazier Sheppard and Laverne Shimanek feel you are never too old to heal. Sheppard (US Army, Vietnam) and Shimanek (US Marine, Korea) are both veterans of war and now they reside at Carmichael Care and Rehabilitation Center where Sheppard is President and Shimanek is Vice President of the Resident Council.

Shimanek and Sheppard frequently meet together to decide what would be best for their fellow residents. They then present the idea as a vote, or just try an activity and see how it goes. For some time they have noted a tendency for veterans to huddle together in the facility lobby, family room, or courtyard and talk quietly amongst themselves. Semper Fi, Hoorah, and a sharp salute are shared up and down the hospital corridors. Sheppard and Shimanek brought the idea of creating a social time for vets to Tracy Haroldson, the Activities Director.

Tracy Haroldson’s training in group dynamics led her to suggest a semi-formal meeting once a month using a subject schedule. She named it 'The Fireside Chats' in honor of President Roosevelt who held frequent radio “chats”.

The first Fireside Chat brought 25 veterans down to the activity room. Once the door was closed Sheppard took over, since he had served as one the first presidents of the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) group at Palo Alto in the 80’s. PTSD is a standard side effect for every military person serving during wartime. Firefighters, police officers, and first responders also typically will experience PTSD. He explained what the meeting would entail and then had each veteran introduce himself, state his military branch and the war arena he had fought in. Tracy introduced herself, and shared her experiences with being contained in her neighborhood by the military during the Rodney King Riots in Los Angeles. She recalls hearing gunshots, explosions, and screaming for two weeks. Sheppard felt it important for them to know Tracy’s history; otherwise they would not open up in her presence.

The next item on the agenda was to have each vet bring up any questions or feelings they had at this first meeting. One very dignified calm gentleman broke down in tears and couldn’t speak. Another man who has dysarthria, and therefore cannot speak well, stated his name and his war clearly, with pride. The facility class clown was completely silent and respectful throughout the hour-long meeting.

At the end of the meeting a unanimous decision was made to have the meetings weekly instead of monthly. The need at Carmichael Care far exceeded their expectations. These men desperately need to pour their hearts out at this time in their lives. They have held emotions in check for too long.

The Vietnam Veterans were especially hard hit. Resident, Harry Circle, former Executive Director of the Viet Vet House, explains; “With WWI, WWII, and Korean war, they came home on ships and had time to detox. With the Vietnam War, and since then, our military guys and gals are from jungle to the US in less then 17 hours. There’s no time to adjust. I repeated to myself for several years ‘I’m not in Nam.’ I just couldn’t figure out how to stand down. I still have room to heal. No matter how many classes you take you can always heal.”

Sheppard was deeply moved by the response to the meeting and states “You can share with people who have been in combat. It doesn’t matter how you served. We were all in it together. They taught us how to fight . . . how to kill, but they didn’t teach us how to come back into society. We only knew how to kill, but there wasn’t anyone to kill when we got back. Some guys just lived in the forest. They didn’t detox us! There was no one to talk to.”

Some of the men had careers in the military and believe that helped them recover from their experiences, as they had other military personnel with whom they could talk. They plan to attend the meetings to offer support to their fellow vets.

Shimanek has special expertise to bring to the table. He is a retired administrator of both hospitals and skilled nursing facilities. He hopes other facilities will create similar programs and offers advice; “The biggest problem will be getting the bed-bound men down for the meeting. This is where the administrator or director of nursing really needs to step in. The nursing staff needs to be excited about getting them up. The patient who takes a lot of work to get into a wheelchair will be very conscious of whether or not his nursing aid wants to get him up, and will often refuse. It’s not going to work unless it’s a team effort.”

The hurt experienced by Vietnam Vets is deep and slow to heal, but according to Sheppard he is still healing. Every time a stranger notices his Vietnam baseball cap and thanks him for his service he heals a little more. He recalls coming home from war thinking he would get a hero’s welcome. His father was honored with a parade when he came off the ship from WWII. Sheppard was stunned when the crowd waiting for him to come off the plane at Travis Air Force Base shouted “Baby Killers!” and they burned an American flag. “I couldn’t believe it. After all I’d been through to come back to people burning flags . . . I just couldn’t take that . . . I still can’t.” In the late 1980’s the PTSD group at Palo Alto had a parade for them through Redwood City. “We all marched together through the city and people cheered and shouted ‘Thank You!’ That was the first time anyone had ever said thank you.”

In the nursing home setting a lot of behavioral issues are treated with medications, or are “care planned” to accommodate the behavior. This group goes deeper to the root of the problem . . . to the anger, hurt, fear, shame, and their embedded desire to protect others from the dark side of war. Their pain won’t go away, but talking about it will validate their feelings and create alternate choices for expressing themselves and managing their emotions. Another bonus of this group is it elevates their self esteem. They see themselves as being important to the skilled nursing facility. They also feel honored as they are taken down to the meeting. It is hard to explain, but barbeques and picnic events held in their honor validate their military service, whereas this group setting acknowledges the depth of their sacrifice. This pulls it out from under the rug where it has been shoved for 35 plus years.

For advice on PTSD contact http://www.ptsd.va.gov/public/pages/help-for-veterans-with-ptsd.asp . (If you are feeling like hurting someone or yourself, call 911 or go the nearest VA hospital).

For advice on starting a group meeting at a skilled nursing facility near you, call Carmichael Care Rehabilitation Center (916-944-3100) and ask to speak to Tracy Haroldson.

Heidi Schussman Gilbert, PT

Disclosure: Gilbert is a physical therapist working in a skilled nursing facility. Her specialties are geriatrics, dementia, psychiatric disorders, and neurological injury. Gilbert is also a clinical instructor for the CSUS PT program.

Read this or the kitten gets it.

2012-01-31T03:48:23Z

There’s a war being waged in Sacramento. The dead are strewn in street gutters like dirty rags, or wind up in dumpsters and garbage cans. Even though the casualties are all on the other side, the humans are losing.

The battle is to control our stray and feral cat population, currently estimated to be 350,000 cats in the Sacramento region. The cats are losing, too. There are no winners in this war.

Recent news stories about a pet cat shot with a crossbow, teens killing cats for "fun" and a cat mauled by neighborhood dogs underscore the tragic results of a lack of respect for free-roaming cats. An out-of-control feral cat population contributes to the perception of cats as a nuisance and an easy target.

Most of us have experienced jolting awake from the loud yowling of cats fighting or mating. Noise, spraying, feces and litters of kittens make feral cats unwelcome neighbors. What can we do when a pet becomes a pest?

The answer, up to now, has been to trap and euthanize abandoned and un-owned cats.

Part of the problem is telling the difference between a feral and a scared stray. Feral cats are unaccustomed to humans and can’t be touched. They will run or freeze when a person is near and avoid eye contact. A scared stray may stay in the area and even approach with a raised tail. Strays and young feral kittens can be adopted as pets. Adult ferals are best left to live outdoors.

Because they can’t be adopted and have no owner to claim them, feral cats entering local shelters have a 100 percent euthanasia rate. Determining if a cat is feral or stray takes time, space and resources away from lost pets and community services.

Local shelters and rescue organizations are adopting a new feral cat management method called TNR: trap, neuter, return. TNR is the process of trapping free-roaming un-owned cats, vaccinating and altering them, marking them as a feral by removing the tip of the left ear, and returning them to where they were trapped. Instead of a multiple-day stay at the shelter ending in euthanasia, a feral is TNR’ed and released the next day, resulting in significant cost savings and freeing up shelter space for lost pets.

Rome, Italy, has had a well-documented TNR program in place for more than 10 years. The program significantly reduced the cat population within the city, even with additional abandoned and lost pet cats joining the feral population.

"Trapping and euthanizing feral cats is not a proven method to effectively control the feral population,” says David Dickinson, interim director of the Sacramento Department of Animal Care and Regulation. “TNR has been proven over time to reduce the population in a given area if the efforts are there to follow it through.”

Sacramento Animal Care and Regulation along with the Sacramento Area Animal Coalition provide free spay, neuter and vaccinations for feral cats via a voucher program, available by calling (916) 808-SPAY or visiting sacanimal.org.

"There have been shelters that have seen 60 percent drops (in feral intake) after just two years,” Dickinson said. “I hope we can come close to those stats in a year or two. We will continue the programs as long as we can fund them from the fines we collect from owners with loose strays, unaltered and unlicensed pets, along with grant money we apply for."

Dr. Laurie Siperstein-Cook, chief of shelter medicine at the Sacramento SPCA, agrees.

"TNR is the most effective and humane method of controlling the cat overpopulation problem and decreasing euthanasia in our shelters,” she said.

The SSPCA hosts feral cat clinics on the first and third Sunday of the month. Cats are fixed, vaccinated, given flea drops and ear tipped for $15. A recent grant from the ASPCA sponsors an additional feral clinic each month. Reservations are required, and even with 125 cats per clinic, they often fill up more than a month in advance. To make a reservation, call (916) 540-2818 and leave a message or email feralcats@sspca.org.

The SSPCA takes walk-ins Monday through Saturday from 7:15 to 8 a.m., one cat per trap and one cat per day. The cost is $45 for spay and $30 for a neuter and includes vaccinations, flea drops and ear tipping. Coalition for Community Cats issues vouchers via their website that brings the walk-in price down to $15.

Kittens can be spayed or neutered at two months old or if they weigh two pounds. Female cats can be spayed even if pregnant, or nursing as long as the kittens are 6 weeks old.

Most feral programs require that the cats be brought in a humane trap and that the cat must be ear tipped to mark it as a fixed feral. Veterinary technicians use a special tool to hold the cat against the side of the trap, giving it a shot to knock it out without having to remove the cat from the trap. This reduces the stress on the animal, prevents escapes and protects the techs from injury. Mandatory ear tipping discourages owners of pet cats from taking advantage of funds earmarked for homeless cats.

Traps can be rented from Western Feed and Supply or Bradshaw Feed and Supply. Trapping instructions can be found online at alleycat.org. For help with trapping, visit alleycat.org/response and request a list of Feral Friends in your area, or join the C4CC or SAAC email lists.

After TNR, true ferals live out the rest of their lives without human intervention. Because they don’t spray, fight, mate, have kittens, or spread disease, they aren’t the nuisance they used to be and can again peacefully coexist among their neighbors.

Each cat TNR’ed is a placeholder, keeping other unaltered and un-vaccinated cats from entering its territory. It takes up resources that non-TNR’ed ferals would use to create more nuisance cats.

By taking care of feral cats, we reduce suffering for all cats and eliminate the sad casualties in the war on cat overpopulation.

Disclosure: Lisa Farr is a volunteer for the Sacramento SPCA working with their feral cat program.

Arena, green tech, education: State of the City highlights

2012-01-31T02:20:44Z

A new program to raise $10 million for arena financing and turning Sacramento into an “Emerald Valley” were two key points in Mayor Kevin Johnson’s State of the City address Monday.

Johnson’s speech focused on boosting the local economy in three areas: building an entertainment and sports complex, green-sector jobs and reforming public schools to create a more competitive workforce.

“The economy is bad everywhere, but it’s worse here,” Johnson told the nearly 1,000 people in the audience.

“We have to take bold actions,” Johnson said. “We have to make the impossible possible.”

The mayor delivered the 20th annual speech at the Sacramento Convention Center in an event hosted by the Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce.

Johnson introduced a new program aimed at raising $10 million toward the cost of building the entertainment and sports complex.

The “Brick-by-Brick” program will allow individual supporters to buy bricks with their names engraved on them to be placed in the entryway of the new complex.

Johnson said after the event that the program is in the early stages and costs for the bricks have not yet been determined.

The first three honorary bricks were given to City Councilman Steve Cohn and two young Kings fans, Jack O’Brien, 11 and Gil Vechner, 12. The two boys caught Johnson’s attention when they started a lemonade stand last year to raise money for the arena.

“It’s time to finish what we started. It’s crunch time,” Johnson said, referring to the March 1 financing plan deadline to prevent the Kings from relocating.

Johnson turned the discussion to employment concerns, saying he believes one of the biggest problems Sacramento faces is a dependence on state government and real estate for jobs and revenue.

“This sets us up to be the hardest hit in a financial crisis,” Johnson said.

Bringing green technology and green industry jobs to the region is one solution to that problem, Johnson said.

Among the goals Johnson outlined for 2012 are plans to raise $100 million to retrofit schools to make them more energy-efficient and “green,” and joining the Edible Schoolyard Program to bring school gardens, cooking classes and healthy eating to local schools.

“Becoming the Emerald Valley is within our grasp,” Johnson said.

Although he doesn’t have a direct relationship to local schools as the mayor, Johnson said improving education has long been a focus for him – and it should be a focus for the city, he said.

As a way to keep schools accountable to parents – and to make it easier for parents to decide which schools are best for their kids based on performance – Johnson said he is working to establish “report cards” for local schools.

The new rating system will assign a letter grade to every school in the county based on a range of performance criteria including student test scores and whether the schools are meeting academic standards.

Johnson said his office will not be responsible for consequences to a school for getting a low grade – the consequences will come from parents who withdraw their students or choose not to enroll them in low-grade schools.

Some business and civic leaders at the event had a positive reaction to the mayor’s address – former State Assemblyman and current president of the Sacramento Metro Chamber Roger Niello said it was “completely on point,” and County Supervisor Don Nottoli said it was “very well-delivered.”

“I think (Johnson) was absolutely right about the region needing to diversify its economic base,” County Supervisor Roberta MacGlashan said after the event.

“I think that’s the most important point he made,” she added.

Michael Ault, Executive Director of the Downtown Sacramento Partnership, said the mayor did a good job of breaking down what needs to be done for the city into smaller, achievable goals.

“You just can’t have 30 priorities for the coming year. We have to narrow it to a few legitimately reachable goals,” Ault said.

“The sports and entertainment complex is clearly something we think needs to be accomplished in the short term and I think the mayor really highlighted that,” he added.

The current city charter does not require the mayor to give a state of the city address. Johnson has delivered the speech each year he’s been in office – four times.

If the mayor’s charter reform proposal gets on the ballot and is passed by voters, an annual state of the city address would become a requirement for future Sacramento mayors.

Melissa Corker is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

Keeping a winning tradition alive with a new style

2012-01-31T01:07:42Z

Every successful high school sports team overcomes obstacles during its road to success. However, for John F. Kennedy High School’s girls basketball team, its challenges are not necessarily from outside competition, but more so from within.
Kennedy, which is second in the Metropolitan League with a 15-6 overall record and 7-1 in league play as of Jan. 28, is going through a transition period with some of its players. This season, two of Kennedy’s top players are playing different positions that they are not used to and are learning their new roles while still trying to lead the team through the season.

Senior Lori Wong, who is normally a guard, is now a point guard, a position she has not played since second grade. She said the transition has been tough.

“It’s kind of hard to be a leader when you’re not sure what you’re really supposed to be doing,” she said. “I think it’s just getting used to the fact that I’m now passing the ball and getting clean passes and not always looking for the shot but looking to get someone else open.”

Wong said that through time spent at practices and improving, her transition becomes easier and she is able to help out her teammates in the process.

It was during last season when Wong realized she would become a point guard for her last season at Kennedy.

“Last year, our senior was the point guard and no one else was one, so I was thinking to myself, ‘Well, that’s probably going to be me, so I might as well get used to it,’” Wong said with a laugh.

Check out an exclusive video of Kennedy playing at home against Burbank HS Jan. 24, which the Cougars easily won 79-16. Head coach Dave Parsh and junior forward/guard Lynette Johnson talk about the team's performance during the game and what their win against Burbank means after a big loss to Sac High the previous week.

Kennedy head coach Dave Parsh said Wong has responded well with her position change so far this season.

“I think she’s accepted the responsibility, and working hard at getting better at point guard and adding that into the skills that she already has,” he said. “I guess it’s been a good lesson for her in life, too, to try to advance your abilities and be able to do more, and she’s responded really well. She’s been having a really good year.”

Parch also said it benefits her as a senior taking on a leadership role in the team to become an example for the younger players.

Junior Lynette Johnson is also dealing with a transition this season, playing a different position in her club basketball team.

Johnson said she has always played a post position, better known as a forward, but at her height of 5-foot-10, she plans to transition into a guard role for club basketball JBS (Just Believe Sports) and going into college.

“It’s not too hard for me because growing up, I was always taught post because of how strong and built I am,” she said.

She said playing a forward at Kennedy not only helps her become more adaptable as a basketball player as a whole, but it also helps her when she plays as a guard.

“I feel I’m more versatile because it definitely helps because of the fact that I’m going to be playing a guard (position) in college,” Johnson said. “My post moves are going to help being a guard because not all guards are tough and can just drive straight to the basket. Being strong with the ball, it will definitely help a guard, since that’s something that not all guards have.”

Parsh said that so far, both players have done well transitioning, and for Johnson he said her skills inside the paint are improving.

“I think the inside part of her game is coming along really well,” Parsh said. “She’s always been pretty good on the outside, but she’s really working hard at the inside and in ball handling and all those perimeter skills too.”

Wong said she has also played other positions in the past and feels more comfortable playing point guard as the season progresses.

“I think it’s been a good (change) so far,” she said. “I’ve played every position at one point or another, so it’s not completely new.

“At this level of play though, it’s totally different to me. Being a senior in high school and playing point guard against high schoolers who are really talented, it’s pretty different, but I’m getting the hang of it.”

In addition to finishing the season strong, Kennedy hopes to go into the postseason and advance further than last year. During the 2010-11 season, the Cougars were eliminated by the Lincoln Trojans 54-33 in the second round of the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs.

“We’d like to go further into the playoffs than we did last year,” Parsh said. “We not only want to get into the postseason, but we want to do well.”

Kennedy’s girls basketball team also has a tradition of numerous playoff appearances. Since the 2005-06 season, Kennedy has made the playoffs for six consecutive seasons and two SJS playoff tournament victories.

During the 2009-10 season, Parsh’s first season as head coach, he helped advance his team to the SJS championship game but lost the game to Oak Ridge 64-50. The Cougars still advanced to the CIF State Championships but were eliminated in the regional semifinals by Berkeley 52-47.

Parsh said he wants to keep Kennedy’s winning tradition alive and pass it down to this year’s team.

“The girls basketball here at Kennedy has a tradition of doing well in the postseason, so we’re trying to uphold that,” Parsh said. “We’re trying to make that tradition so it’s expected.”

A Sweet Challenge

2012-01-31T01:00:00Z

Cakegrrl.com challenges local bakers to a sweet video competition!

This year’s Cake War at the 10th Annual Sacramento Chef Challenge is “Battle Cupcakes,” and organizer's are looking for three amateur contestants to duke it out against three cupcake pros!

Amateur baker’s from the greater Sacramento area are invited to join the battle by creating a three to five minute video that shows “why you and your cupcakes are the best!”

The challenge is presented by Cakegrrl.com, a local blog that explores and promotes restaurants, activities and fundraisers from across the Sacramento Valley. Kristy DeVaney, the sugarplum behind Cakegrrl.com is excited to see what her fellow bakers have to offer.

Submissions will be accepted now through April 1, 2012. The following day, ten videos will be posted online, and the public will decide which lucky bakers have what it takes to compete live at the Sacramento Chef Challenge on Saturday, June 23, 2012.

The Rules are Simple:
• You must be 21 or older to compete.
• The Video must be 3-5 minutes long, uploaded to YouTube and submitted to Cakegrrl.com by April 1, 2012.
• Finalists will be notified by June 1st.
• The three finalists will create a themed cupcake display alongside professional bakers and in front of a live audience. Guests will sample the cupcakes and vote for their favorite!

"We are looking for great bakers with amazing personalities, so now is the time to pull out all the stops," says DeVaney.

Want to submit a video, but don’t know where to begin? Sample videos and complete rules are posted online at at www.cakegrrl.com and www.chefevent.com. For more information email cakegrrl2007@gmail.com or call 916-381-1300 x170.

The 10th Annual Sacramento Chef Challenge will be held on Saturday, June 23, 2012 from 4pm-9pm at 6950 21st Ave, Sacramento, CA 95820. Tickets are $25 in advance and $35 at the door. For more information visit www.chefevent.com.

Disclosure: Jessica Bean is an employee of INALLIANCE, host of the Sacramento Chef Challenge.

Its still warm enough to enjoy Folsom lake

2012-01-31T00:01:49Z

I had a picnic at Folsom Lake on Sunday. Who would believe we’re still having sunny days to enjoy our beautiful lake. We walked in at the levee entrance at Sophia Parkway and GreenValley Road in El Dorado Hills and found we weren’t the only ones with the same idea.

Boaters, families, individuals with dogs, Whipperwils, Seagulls, Geese and a lone Loon populated the lake. Hikers, Cyclists, Equestrians, and nature enthusiasts alike enjoy the many trails.

One of the popular trails leads to Brown’s Ravine in Folsom Lake State Recreation Area that is home to the Folsom Lake Yacht Club and Folsom lake Marina, also located on Green Valley Road in El Dorado Hills.

Although only the brave would go swimming Sunday, the peacefulness of the day drew so many. The water level s low and provided wonderful opportunities to explore what
may typically be hidden such as foundations of old Gold Rush buildings. There is also the hope of catching a hungry fish or just laying back to enjoy the warmth of the sun.

Whatever appeals to you, El Dorado Hills and Folsom Lake can offer Recreation,relaxation and qualify of life. Come to our area and check it out.

courtesy of local Real Estate Broker, Jill Berni, El Dorado Hills, CA

Disclosure: I bought my home in 1981 in El Dorado Hills within walking distance to Folsom Lake. I started selling Real Estate here shortly thereafter because I believe and love this community.

Converting Freeport Blvd into a 'complete street'

2012-01-30T23:45:35Z

The City of Sacramento Transportation Department is considering a redesign of traffic lanes along Freeport Blvd between Sutterville Road and 4th Avenue. This part of the roadway is scheduled for resurfacing in 2013 and last August the city approved a Bike Lanes Project to study options for redesigning Freeport Blvd into a "complete street" as part of the resurfacing effort.

From the National Complete Streets Coalition website: "...a complete streets policy ensures that transportation planners and engineers consistently design and operate the entire roadway with all users in mind - including bicyclists, public transportation vehicles and riders, and pedestrians of all ages and abilities."

This section of Freeport Blvd currently has two traffic lanes in each direction, some on-street parking and no bicycle lanes. The designated speed limit is 30 MPH and an estimated 21,000 vehicles travel this street each day. Sacramento City College and C.K. McClatchy High School are located along the section, along with residences, small businesses, restaurants and a senior residential facility.

The city planners are considering these redesign options for Freeport Blvd:

3 Segment Design Concepts (Sutterville to Vallejo)
- Bike lanes, parking on both sides, no middle turn lane, one lane north and one lane south
- Bike lanes, middle turn lane, parking on east side 13th to Bidwell, one lane north and one lane south
- No bike lanes, no parking on either side, two lanes north and two lanes south with lane widths increased

4 Options (Vallejo to 4th)
- Signed southbound bike route
- Southbound bike lane/bike route with push button
- Southbound bike lane with signal control
- T intersection

Students, residents, business owners, cyclists, pedestrians and commuters are showing interest in the project. Tom Buford, Senior Planner with the City of Sacramento, says community interest is healthy. In a telephone conversation, Buford said, "It's an important street in the community and we've seen the kind of interest that we would expect from discussions of changing the way a roadway is working."

Anyone interested in this project is invited to provide comments and suggestions to the draft Environmental Impact Report that is being developed by the city transportation department. Comments and suggestions may be submitted in writing until 5:00 PM, February 13, 2012 to:

Dana Allen, Associate Planner
City of Sacramento, Community Development Department
Environmental Planning Services
300 Richards Blvd., 3rd Floor
Sacramento, CA 95811
Phone: (916) 808-2762
Email: dallen@cityofsacramento.org

Questions may be directed to Linda Tucker, City of Sacramento Transportation Department Director at (916) 808-7523 or email her at ltucker@cityofsacramento.org.

Disclosure: Ron Nabity is an avid cyclist, Sacramento City College student and resident near Freeport Blvd. Ron is also a regular contributor to the Sacramento Press.

Sacramento Undy 5000 5k to Kick Off Colon Cancer Awareness Month

2012-01-30T22:33:45Z

The Undy 5000 5K Run/Walk to fight colon cancer is coming to Sacramento for the first time ever. It will take place at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 3, at William Land Park, kicking off March, which is also Colon Cancer Awareness Month. The event is one of three Undy 5000 races in March. Participants are encouraged to run in their underwear as a tongue-in-cheek reference to the area affected by colon cancer.

“We wanted to have a great start to Colon Cancer Awareness Month,” said Todd Setter, National Undy 5000 Event Director. “We know Sacramento will be a great host for the region’s first Undy 5000 event. A portion of the funds raised from the 2012 Sacramento Undy 5000 will be given to our Community Health Partner, the California Colorectal Cancer Coalition (C4), to provide colon cancer screening and treatment programs for residents in need.”

The Sacramento Undy 5000 will feature the Colon Cancer Alliance’s (CCA) Inflatable Colon, which is a giant, walk-through colon that shows the various stages of colon cancer, including descriptions about Crohn’s disease and Colitis.

The Undy 5000 will be held in 16 cities across the country this year to educate the public about colon cancer, promote screenings and encourage people to talk about the disease. Instead of raceday T-shirts, all registered participants receive a commemorative pair of Undy 5000 boxers. It is a family-friendly event open to all ages, and in addition to the 5K, there is a 1-mile fun run. The Colon Cancer Alliance (CCA), the nation’s largest and oldest patient advocacy organization dedicated to ending the suffering caused by colon cancer, hosts the event.

Created by the CCA in 2008, the Undy 5000 stresses the importance of timely colon cancer screenings, early detection, and provides valuable information for those already affected by the disease. Event proceeds help fund the CCA’s patient support and public awareness programs.

Boehringer Ingelheim, the maker of Dulcolax®*, is the proud presenting sponsor of the 2012 Undy 5000 races. As the #1 doctor-recommended stimulant for constipation relief, Dulcolax ® reminds everyone over the age of 50 or with a family history of colon cancer, that a colonoscopy can save lives.

Disclosure: Me Communications provides services to the Colon Cancer Alliance

Sacramento Area Youth Speaks (And The World Listens)

2012-01-30T21:10:46Z

A young black male raised without a father, expelled for assaulting his teacher in fourth grade finds poetry mentors who help cultivate his gift for words and turn him into a beacon of hope in his community. It's the kind of adversity-overcoming story that fuels the inspirations of Hollywood filmmakers. It is also the real-life story of Sacramento Area Youth Speaks poet/mentor Andre Tillman, otherwise known as Dre-T.

"I would say ages six through eight were my troubled years," Tillman says, recounting the incident that got him expelled from grade school, "I remember knowing it wasn’t my teachers fault." It was right around this time that a young, frustrated Andre Tillman would discover what would become his life's work.

At the age of nine Tillman began putting his thoughts down on paper. "I started off writing about my pain or writing little funny poems," Tillman describes, "With the absence of my father and my mom working I didn't have a lot of people to talk to and I'd take that time to document my thoughts and experience."

From the beginning, music and poetry went hand in hand. His grandfather was a percussionist and a teacher, not to mention the primary male influence in his grandson's young life. While grandpa played the rhythms, Andre's older cousin taught him to write his rhymes in a traditional 16-bar hip hop format.

One day in high school, while on a field trip to Sac State for an African-American student leadership conference he stumbled upon a Sacramento Area Youth Speaks workshop. He was immediately hooked.

As the group of teens shouted their poems from every corner of the room in a guerilla poetry spectacle called Griots (which are an ancient West African tradition that S.A.Y.S has adopted) Tillman was captivated. "I'd always been hungry for knowledge," he explained, "S.A.Y.S had the food for the thought I was starving for and they knew I was hungry."

Tillman signed up for S.A.Y.S. in the spring of 2010. That year his S.A.Y.S. poetry slam team would go on to compete at the international level taking part in the Brave New Voices competition in the Bay Area sponsored by HBO and Russell Simmons and place in the top ten. Tillman also competed at Brave New Voices as a solo poet, under the moniker of Dre-T, and placed in the top ten in a class of over 60 lyricists from all over the world.

Upon graduating high school, Dre-T was offered a chance to continue his work with SAYS, only this time in front of the classroom as a poet/mentor. “To sit in and observe one of his classes is beautiful; the way he interacts with the youth,” described seasoned S.A.Y.S mentor Denisha Bland, “To be a black man in America, stay positive, do right, and focus on your dreams, while raising a newborn and giving what he does to the youth; I mean, It’s breathtaking. To see Dre-T, only 19 and doing what he is doing, coming from a single-mother home, gives me hope for my son.”

The day before his eighteenth birthday, which coincided with the release party for his mixtape, Done Right Every-Time, Tillman found out his life would again change forever. The birth of his daughter Audrey Auro Tillman, on May 6, 2011 would shape the way his words would come out from that moment on. “It’s made me think more critically about how I talk about women,” said Tillman, “Every time I write she is always on my mind.”

Two months after the arrival of his daughter, Tillman coached the 2011 S.A.Y.S. poetry slam team all the way to the back to HBO’s Brave New Voices. While busy coaching and mentoring the next generation of young poets, Dre-T also managed to make his way back as a solo act, repeating his performance and again placing in BNV’s top ten on the international stage.

As an educator and performer who is also a parent he takes the responsibility of inspiring the next generation very seriously. Soft spoken and attentive, the reason he fell in love with poetry makes him the perfect person to aid at-risk youth in finding their voices. “There’s so much trauma that the youth go through,” he describes, “My most important message is to love yourself. Then love the people so they can love themselves. We are in a time where selfishness is increasing and we’re traumatized by things we're not supposed to be afraid of. There are too many of us that are divided by our skin color, our status, or our age. I really love revolutionaries but where did all the hippies go? I wonder that all the time.”

While today’s radio and television push the image of rappers as drug dealing misogynists hustling to get by, emcees like Andre Tillman are quietly hard at work behind the scenes preserving the positivity and community empowerment the Hip Hop culture was built on. And they're doing it in our backyard.

To hear the latest music from Dre-T go to www.dre-t.com and to find out more about Sacramento Area Youth Speaks go to www.says.ucdavis.edu or come to Sol Collective on the second Monday of every month when S.A.Y.S hosts Microphone Mondays.

Disclosure: I met Dre-T through an open Mic that I host at Sol Collective every Monday night 8-10 p.m. Sacramento Area Youth Speaks hosts every second Monday of the month.

Railroad Museum Celebrates Black History Month By Exploring the Role of Railroads in African American History on February 18

2012-01-30T19:04:28Z

In celebration of Black History Month, the California State Railroad Museum is proud to present two special guest presentations and book signing opportunities with Professor Theodore Kornweibel, Jr., author of Railroads in the African American Experience: A Photographic Journey. After 30 years of research and work in the field of black history, Kornweibel will share his thoughts and findings during two special illustrated presentations on Saturday, February 18, at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., each to be followed by book signing opportunities.

His photographic book is a captivating, illustrated tour of the black railroad experience from slavery to Amtrak. It includes nearly 200 compelling images, many of which have never before been published. In the book, Kornweibel examines how the history of American railroads is deeply intertwined with African American history. This industry, America’s first “big business,” provided industrial jobs for blacks who were instrumental in the daily operation and success of America’s railroads.

While there is no cost to attend these special presentations, regular Museum admission fees apply. The book Railroads in the African American Experience: A Photographic Journey is also available for purchase in the Museum Store.

In addition, Kornweibel has generously donated his research notes from his book to the Museum which can now be accessed through the Museum Library. For more information about this special presentation, accessing information from the Museum Library or about other activities, events and exhibits on display at the Museum, visit www.californiastaterailroadmuseum.org or call (916) 445-6645.

Special Note: In cooperation with the Museum, there will be an additional opportunity to meet Kornweibel at Underground Books, 2814 35th Street in Sacramento, on Friday evening, February 17, from 6 to 8 p.m. At this venue, guests can talk with Kornweibel informally, purchase his book and have it signed by the author.

About the California State Railroad Museum
Operated by California State Parks with financial assistance from the non-profit California State Railroad Museum Foundation, the California State Railroad Museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. Widely regarded as North America’s finest and most popular railroad museum, the complex of facilities includes the 100,000-square foot Railroad History Museum plus the reconstructed Central Pacific Railroad Passenger Station and Freight Depot, 1849 Eagle Theatre, and Big Four and Dingley Spice Mill commercial buildings in Old Sacramento. For 24-hour information, visit www.californiastaterailroadmuseum.org or call (916) 445-6645.

Disclosure: Traci Rockefeller Cusack represents a number of businesses and organizations throughout the greater Sacramento area including the California State Railroad Museum.

Traces of a Native Son: Searching for Clarence Glacken

2012-01-30T16:27:04Z

Clarence James Glacken (1909-1989) was a Sacramentan whose 1967 magnum opus, Traces on the Rhodian Shore: Nature and Culture in Western Thought from Ancient Times to the End of the Eighteenth Century, was one of the most widely influential contributions to environmental scholarship in the 20th century. Despite professional success as an academic geographer, after suffering a series of mental and physical health crises, he destroyed his highly anticipated sequel to Traces. He died in Sacramento soon after, convinced his life’s work had been futile.

Glacken was a third-generation Sacramentan, a fairly unusual trait for someone born in 1909, given that in his grandmothers’ generation the state’s population was barely 10 percent women. His paternal grandmother moved here in a covered wagon as an infant in 1854, his maternal grandmother was born in Sheldon (near Elk Grove) in 1865, both his grandfathers settled here as young men in the 1870s, and both his parents were born and raised downtown. Glacken grew up at 1830 T Street with his younger brother, mother (his parents divorced sometime between 1913 and 1920 and his father moved to Vallejo), uncle, and maternal grandparents.

In his 1983 autobiographical essay, Glacken attributed the earliest impetus for his book to growing up here: “Looking back in later life on the earliest years, one must be careful to avoid a teleological view…there were, however, several interests in early life which I later perceived to be geographical and historical. Sacramento…is an historic city, perhaps not by Old World standards, but certainly by American ones.” His essay affectionately and elegantly describes how gold rush mythology, streetcars, the western terminus of the Central Pacific railroad, Sutter’s Fort, the Capitol building, and the confluence of the Sacramento and American rivers collectively sparked a early passion for geography and history.

He attended Sacramento Junior College (now Sacramento City College) for two years, where he was encouraged by his English instructor to study with the historian Frederick Teggart at UC Berkeley. Glacken did so and became enthralled: “Teggart’s course, The Idea of Progress…was a revelation, because I then realized the importance of the history of ideas…I have often been asked whether in these undergraduate years I took any geography courses. I did not. I had heard of Carl Sauer [Glacken’s future boss], but I had no time for anybody but Teggart.” He received his BA with highest honors in 1930 and his MA in 1931, both from the Teggart-chaired Department of Social Institutions.

It would have been a much more typical career path at that time for a male graduate, particularly one whose burgeoning passion seemed relegated to library research, to enter directly into a doctoral program. But the economic climate limited his options—“The early 1930s were bleak years for young people, and the details of my life then are of little relevance here”—and as it turned out, his atypical career path and life experiences proved ideal fieldwork for enriching Traces.

For the first five years after graduation, Glacken worked for the newly established Farm Security Administration, reporting on migrant labor camp conditions from Redding to Bakersfield. He next fulfilled a lifelong dream by traveling around the world for a year: “In retrospect, I look upon my travels as a species of field work…I do not think I would have ever developed my intense enthusiasm for the history of ideas without it. It would have been a world of abstractions.” After his travels, he returned to the FSA for another four years. In the introduction to Traces, he wrote, “The early stimulus to study these ideas came also from personal experience…as I worked with resident and transient families on relief, with migratory farm workers who had come from the Dust Bowl, I became aware…of the interrelationships existing between the Depression, soil erosion, and the vast migration to California.”

In 1941, three months after Glacken’s first wife died, he was drafted into the Army and served for six years. During his service, he married Mildred Mosher (b. 1913 in Pomona, CA) and had two children. Following his release from the Army, he decided his true calling was to study how human relations with the environment had been interpreted throughout history. In 1949, at the age of 40, Glacken entered the Isaiah Bowman School of Geography at Johns Hopkins University.

His dissertation, The Idea of the Habitable World, looked at how the history of ideas could reframe contemporary debates about population growth and natural resources. He finished his Ph.D. in 1951 and snagged a short-term position working on an ethnographic study of Okinawa for the Pacific Science Board of the National Research Council. After returning to his family in Berkeley, he visited Carl Sauer, who offered him a position in the Cal geography department starting in the fall of 1952.

Thrilled to be immersed in his calling at last, Glacken was poised for inspiration when he attended a groundbreaking conference in 1955. The international symposium “Man’s Role in Changing the Face of the Earth” was the first academic conference on anthropogenic environmental change—seven years prior to the publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring and 15 years before the first Earth Day. Glacken later wrote: “I was most grateful for this opportunity…I will never forget the symposium.” The experience crystallized his past experiences and catalyzed his investigation into how manmade environmental changes had been interpreted since antiquity.

After more than a decade of research, Glacken concluded that there had been three major ideas in the history of Western environmental thought: the idea of a divinely designed earth (both ecological theory and the intelligent design argument are direct descendents), the idea of environmental influence on people (similar to the environmental determinism popular in early anthropology), and the idea of human influence on the environment.

The various incarnations and intersections of those three ideas from antiquity to the end of the 18th century constitute Traces’ intimidating scope. Probably the book’s most remarkable feature is its depth and breadth, without any padding. Glacken’s colleague David Hooson wrote that Traces “was originally planned an introductory chapter to a major work on these themes in 19th and 20th century thought…[Traces], however, stands on its own as one of the most scholarly books written by a geographer, or by a historian of ideas, in this century.” That “introductory chapter” ended up more than 700 pages long, literally able to stand on its own. At the same time he was writing, Glacken simultaneously researched environmental thought of the 19th and 20th centuries, and actually began writing the sequel as soon as Traces went to press.

Its publication coincided with the dawn of the modern U.S. environmental protection movement. As Hooson put it in his tribute to Glacken: “Ideas about the human relationship with, and responsibility for, nature [were] commonplace, but they were often half-baked and lacking in depth. Glacken’s writings gradually came to be recognized as supplying vital historical and intellectual foundations for the new environmental and conservation movements.”

Traces cemented his stature as a scholar, earning him wide accolades and the Association of American Geographers Citation for Meritorious Contributions to the Field of Geography in 1968. It was not a runaway bestseller, but it remains in print and periodically crops up in “best-of” lists and anthologies. It did not seize the popular imagination on the same scale as other environmental tomes of the same period, but it become a staple in courses across multiple disciplines.

Despite its reputation as a classic, many people have never heard of Traces. Geography’s decline as an academic field in U.S. higher education has probably contributed somewhat to the book’s obscurity. Additionally, it's not an easy read. The three ideas are analyzed in minute detail (and a microscopic font size), with sources quoted in the original Greek, Latin, French, and German. Consider the following from the introductory essay to Part One:

“Theophrastus’ Enquiry into Plants is a product of this increased knowledge of the world’s vegetation. Who can read the fourth book, ‘Of the Trees and Plants Special to Particular Districts and Positions,’ without being aware that such knowledge was based on gathering from the Mediterranean and Egypt to the Indus? One can agree with Bretzl that plant geography starts with Theophrastus.”

It can sound almost satirically pompous to modern ears, but he was writing during a time when most of his peers, students, and readers had a serviceable familiarity with the ancient Greek canon. Nevertheless, absorbing the book in its entirety is a long hard slog.

Glacken had earned full tenure in 1964, became Chair of the department just two years later, and after Traces was published, went to Europe on a Guggenheim fellowship for a year. But his professional success coincided with a period of intense political turmoil, both within the field of geography and on the Berkeley campus.

All published accounts and oral interview subjects described Glacken as particularly sensitive and conflict-avoidant—a personality ill-suited for coping with, much less managing, the battles raging within his department and on campus. After two years of struggling with escalating faculty rivalry and student protests, Glacken had a nervous breakdown in the spring of 1970 and a physical breakdown in the following fall. He took six months of sick leave, and occasionally showed signs of recuperation over the next few years, but he never fully recovered. He had a heart attack in 1974, after which his teaching career essentially ended. Carl Sauer, who was a close friend as well as a professional mentor, died in 1975. Five years later, his wife Mildred had a serious stroke.

Despite these tragedies, his spirit was still sustained by his labor of love, the sequel to Traces: “The deeper I studied these [three ideas], the more intertwining relationships came to the surface. I find this to be even more true in the work I am now engaged on. I have always been interested in works of synthesis; there is a certain security in them; they reverse trends to atomization, give one a feeling of interconnections, hence, of reality.”

Soon after writing those words in 1982, he submitted his final manuscript to UC Press, but they returned his manuscript. Whether or not they would have accepted a revised version is unclear, although given the success of Traces, it seems unlikely that it was an outright rejection. Nevertheless, Glacken was crushed and destroyed all remaining copies. Only a handful of chapters survive in the Bancroft Archives at UC Berkeley, some finished and some handwritten drafts. Mildred died around the same time or soon after, and Glacken’s health deteriorated completely.

One former colleague shared a story of Glacken being taken into custody by campus police in the mid-1980s, for wandering a Berkeley neighborhood in his pajamas and throwing rocks at windows while shouting incoherently. The colleague sadly recalled how, upon arriving at the police station to vouch for Glacken’s identity and take him home, he found Glacken in tears over his life's work. Around 1987, Glacken moved back to Sacramento, where his daughter (the writer Karen Kijewski, best known for her Kat Colorado mystery series) took care of him until his death on August 20, 1989.

Forty-five years after its publication, Traces is more relevant than ever for its ability to place any environmental debate in a deep historical context. The ideological and intellectual parameters of contemporary debates, from anthropogenic climate change to fracking, can be traced directly to the three ideas Glacken recognized and analyzed like no other scholar before or since. Neither polemical nor partisan, Clarence Glacken’s magisterial work is useful for anyone interested in environmental issues.

Thanks to Nora Hansen and the UC Berkeley Department of Geography faculty and staff for their assistance with research and photographs.

Real Relationships: Saying goodbye to loved ones

2012-01-30T15:57:19Z

Q: My mother is in the last stages of aggressive cancer, bedridden and nearly comatose from the pain medication. We haven't always had a good relationship (actually we have never had a good relationship), but the thought of losing her makes me realize how much I really do love her. I know she has sacrificed a lot for me in her life, and now I feel like I lost out on something special, a relationship with her. I am having a really hard time coping with her dying and us never having the chance to talk about this.

My brother tells me that I just need to let it go and not bog her down with my feelings. I don't know what to do.

A: I am really sorry to hear about your mom and the pain she is experiencing. End-of-life situations have a way of clearing all the gray areas of our lives and making everything black and white.

It is totally natural for you to be feeling a sense of loss and desperation to talk with your mom. You need that closure, but I encourage you to look for the right time. Any conversation that you have with her when she is awak will likely be emotionally taxing on both of you. If she is mostly comatose, then you may not get a chance to have a face-to-face with her, but that is OK. Don’t force it to happen. There will be a time that is right.

Sit by her bedside, even when she is sleeping and pour out your heart. She can hear you, even if it doesn't seem that way. Sometimes closure comes from speaking the words that are in our heart aloud — words you have been thinking but have never said.

If you are having trouble formulating the words in your heart, sit down and write a letter. Take some time to really examine what you want to say, pen your thoughts down and then read it to her. Hopefully you will feel the burden of your past lift off you and only love for your mother will be in its place.

Be prepared that she may have been holding on for a moment when you two could reconcile your relationship. Once that happens, even just from you to her, she may let go.

Let her go.

Give her the permission and the freedom to end her fight and be at peace. Talk with your brother and let him know your feelings and that you spoke to her. Encourage him to do the same if he has anything in his heart that he would like to convey to her. Be in agreement when you both have said your piece that she can go.

Once she is gone, I hope that you are at peace. Carry her memory in place of the burden you felt. That is the best tribute you can make to her.

Have a relationship question? Email sacpress@live.com. Questions and advice are featured every Monday in "Real Relationships."

Good, good, good, good vibrations: Consummate cast overcomes overlong, disjointed script in Capital Stage's 'In the Next Room'

2012-01-30T14:10:52Z

With a title like "The Room Next Door, or the vibrator play," audiences might well expect a jolt or two – and not of the AC variety the newfangled electric gadgets of the late-19th century were known to occasionally deliver.

For those looking for a bit of shock and awe from J Street's "bold, intimate, live" theater, the current Capital Stage production of Sarah Ruhl's comedy does not disappoint. Though Ruhl's script goes for the gag switch a few too many times, and changes polarity with unsettling frequency, the uniformly strong cast led by Michael Stevenson, Elena Wright and Katie Rubin shine brightly and consistently.

Playing through Feb. 26, "The Room Next Door" is set in the late-19th century when the country was getting wired up, and men and women were getting buttoned up. As men's and women's fashions were adding layers and layers of floor-length outer and undergarments (fabulously designed here by costumer Gail Russell), so too were they masking their most primal emotions and desires in what was perceived as civility.

Dr. Givings (well-played with appropriate restraint by Stevenson) is a respected New York gynecologist who proudly refers to himself as a "man of science." His clinical bedside manner is respectful but wholly detached as he prattles on about the accomplishments of Ben Franklin and Thomas Edison and their contributions to the electrification of America while matter-of-factly applying what looks like a hand-held floor polisher to his patients' nether regions.

Convinced of the therapeutic value of the experimental contraption (which he believes cures a host of female-centric ailments, including "congested wombs" and the resulting "hysteria" they cause), Givings offers quick two- or three-minute applications (isn't that always the case?) to "release the juices downward."

He promises the women (and their husbands) who visit his home-based "operating theater" that they will see immediate results.

Among those calling on the good doctor are Mr. Daldry (a suitably stoic Alexander) and his wife, Sabrina (Rubin). Daldry is concerned that his wife is no longer the woman he married and that "there is very little sympathy between us."

"You have no idea what a source of anguish my wife's illness has been to me," he says, pausing just a moment before thinking to add, "And to her, of course."

Other concerns dominate the Givings household as well. Givings' wife Catherine is unable to properly nurse the couple's newborn daughter, who is losing weight. Offering the same clinical compassion to his wife as he does to his patients (whose moans and occasional cries to "God" go unnoticed), Givings flatly tells Catherine, "Your milk isn't adequate."

As he explains, he's not leveling blame, just stating the medical facts.

The grateful Mr. Daldry offers the services of their maid, who recently lost her own newborn, and is willing to serve as a wet nurse.

Frustrated by her inability to properly bond with her baby daughter, as well as with her husband, the always prowling, cat-like Catherine increasingly looks to her husbands' patients for conversation and more. One might think the Givings' home, which begins to feel like Grand Central Station in the second act, would annoy after a fashion, but Wright (in a marvelously antsy, even "hungry" performance) delivers a Catherine who doesn't mind the constant interruptions, but welcomes them to escape her passion-free home life.

"Experiment on me!" Catherine pleads to her husband, longing to witness the bright lights some of her husband's patients have reported seeing during their treatments. Essentially, she, too, would love to be blinded by science.

The era's repressed sexuality is repeatedly used as a punch line throughout the first act, as Sabrina's early trepidation evolves into a daily sprint through the Givings' parlor and into "the room next door" for longer and longer sessions.

These scenes become repetitive and merely stretch out what is already an overlong second act in which one wants to shout out, "Yeah – we get it! The vibrator is getting them off!" The larger joke (one that is also overused) is that the doctor seems oblivious to what his "treatment" is actually doing.

Adding to the bloated second act, and its deviation from massage-and-tickle farce to a more-serious treatise touching on everything from interracial relationships, gender preferences and death and dying, is the focus on two new characters – Elizabeth (Victoria Alvarez-Chacon), the Daldrys' African-American maid who is nursing the Givings' baby, and Leo Irving (Kirk Blackinton), an artist whose recent breakup during a European sojourn has resulted in a stifling creative malaise.

Those who love the vibrator of the title will love what the doc comes up with to alleviate Leo's artist's block.

Under the direction of Peter Mohrmann, there's really not a false moment delivered by the cast. Even in the most-absurd "Saturday Night Live" sketch-like moments of the play, they are true to their characters and rise above Ruhl's material. During the show's quieter scenes, such as in the climax (no pun intended) when Givings and his wife shed convention (and a good many layers of their wardrobe) to finally make a true emotional connection, Stevenson and Wright are absolutely mesmerizing.

Rubin, too, is very good – especially in her scenes with Wright in which the ladies let themselves into Givings' locked operating theater to do a little AC/DC experimentation on their own.

Alvarez-Chacon, who delivers her predominantly poignant lines as mandated by the script, seems a bit out of place. Her character seems like she's on loan from another play. It's not her fault – she, too, does the best she can with Ruhl's occasionally unruly script which is somewhat of a letdown following the pace and comedic tone of act one. Also, a case could be made that her character's speech about sexual satisfaction being best achieved through relations with a flesh-and-blood husband versus a power tool is a bit racist.

At Elizabeth's suggestion of such a scenario, both Catherine and Sabrina pooh-pooh the very thought, as if white, well-to-do women couldn't possibly understand the sexual honesty an "earthy" housekeeper of color such as Elizabeth takes for granted. One could also argue that Ruhl is saying that all lower-income African-American women have a genetic trait that makes slipping and sliding to Morris Day & The Time's "Jungle Love" second nature. Either way, it presents uncomfortable stereotyping.

Whether those who go to "In the Next Room, or the vibrator play" do so for pure titillation, for a glimpse at 19th-century sexual mores, as fuel for a discussion on playwriting, or simply to witness actors on top of their games, there are plenty of reasons to plug in.

JUST THE FACTS
WHAT: The Capital Stage production of Sarah Ruhl's "In the Next Room, or the vibrator play"
WHERE: Capital Stage, 2215 J St., Sacramento, Calif.
WHEN: Plays Jan. 25-Feb. 26, 2012, with performances at 7 p.m. Wednesdays, 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, 7 p.m. Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays (special Valentine's Day performance at 8 p.m. Feb. 14)
HOW MUCH: $20-$32; call (916) 995-5464, or go online at www.capstage.org
DIRECTOR: Peter Mohrmann
CAST: Michael Stevenson (Dr. Givings); Elena Wright (Catherine Givings); Katie Rubin (Sabrina Daldry); Greg Alexander (Mr. Daldry); Shannon Mahoney (Annie); Kirk Blackinton (Leo Irving); Victoria Alvarez-Chacon (Elizabeth)

When things fall apart

2012-01-30T09:40:37Z

Every morning 1,800 employees enter the California State Board of Equalization Building. Past the sliding glass doors, security, then up the elevators to get to work. Most never notice the 2 by 5 signs taped to the glass doorways upfront.

Warning: Chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm, may be found in the facility. California Health and Safety Code Section 25249.6

Though it's not only harmful chemicals, that has plagued the safety of the buiding in the past. Two weeks ago, on January 11, pieces of broken glass fell eight stories to the sidewalk on 5th and N Street.

The sidewalk is still blocked with caution tape and orange cones although the gaping hole between the 8th and 9th floors has been secured with plywood according to the Department of General Services.

Sooner or later the cones and yellow tape will also go away and the employees won't remember a thing. They will go on with their lives, remaining apathetic because, they're just too busy to think about it.

After all, a day without work means no revenue for the State of California. The staff is there to complete the work, not to complain about their environment.

"It's dangerous, really dangerous," exclaimed Phillip Robinson, an IT professional who has worked in the building for more than 8 years. "In the past, they had scaffolding on all four sides. I'm surprised they only blocked off the side where the window fell off."

He glances up at the high rise pointing to where the piece fell off. There were more random pieces that fell down in the afternoon. This prompted the guards not only to close the sidewalk but also the traffic lane adjacent to the building on 5th Street to close.

"We don't know if other debris will fall. There's no guarantee. Watch your head, " a security guard warned.

Tax professionals slaving away at their desk received an email from the union in the afternoon to encourage letters of concern to media.

"No one wants to say anything. Most are afraid to be fired if they did," states Luz Susa who works in the returns support unit. Silence is golden for the golden state.

While it is true. Management does have every intention to move the employees out of the place, they just do not have the funds to do so. The money for relocation would come from the general fund because the owners of the building is the Department of General Services.

With California holding the bag for a $17.5 Bilion deficit, and already cutting jobs and social service programs, there is just no room to renovate the building to code.

Even if civil servants end up with tumors after serving their time, it looks like management will still be at this gridlock.

Historically, the building has had it's string of flaws. People have reported getting trapped in elevators, plumbing breaks leading to floods on the 9th floor, and front glass sliding doors coming loose almost falling on innocent bystanders. Other red flags wave at poor air quality, freezing temperatures that force employees to work with their winter coats on, mold scares, and strange odors that forced entire floors to close.

Still, the managers, tax representatives, and support staff continue to work in hazardous health and safety conditions like it's not any more dangerous working in the BOE building than Fukushima.

Why do they do it? They do so because they have hungry families to feed, because they have no other place to go, and the State of California urgently needs this money. This money that they can't even touch.

The irony is that state workers file in to work with more pressure to collect needed tax dollars so California can be restored to a fully functional budget, not factoring in their own risk in the equation.

After all, is it worth losing a job when your family, sanity, and long term health is really what is at stake?

Maybe we should take the action of the vendor who used to run the cafeteria's example. One day , they just up and left without notice to the Department of General Services.

If it looks dangerous, it probably is.

Run away, really fast. DGS obviously does not care about the people who work in the building. In fact, they're careful to make them stand under more danger while they wait for their lunch to cook.

Disclosure: Author is a civil servant. She also worked in commercial and residential real estate for 7 years prior to joining the state.

A look back at the remnants following infamous UC Davis pepper-spray incident

2012-01-30T08:56:33Z

DAVIS, Calif. — It has now been two months since the infamous pepper-spraying incident that made UC Davis an international house-hold name occurred. Even after Thanksgiving weekend, only the remnants of the incident remained. Although a bounty of tents could still be found on the quad, a mere handful of protestors could be found in them. Then the Monday morning after Thanksgiving break arrived. Once again, one by one, news vans crept back onto campus as if waiting for blood to be shed. The vans have now let the campus in peace.

Almost all protestors and non-protestors alike felt strongly that the pepper spraying incident was nothing but unacceptable. “The extraordinary reaction of the pepper spraying is entirely sensible, given how horrific it was,” asserted Professor Joshua Clover of the UC Davis English Department. Now that time has passed, the reaction has appeared to settled down.

Similar to many non-protestors, some protestors admitted that the UC Davis movement would have flatlined much sooner, had it not been for the infamous pepper spray scene. “This movement wouldn’t have happened without the pepper spray incident” one protestor admitted.
Although the pepper-spray incident did bring attention to the protestor’s cause, many soon claimed that they were tired of the attention diverting from what really needed to be changed. Others, still, stated the pepper spray to be the reason they were protesting. The non-protestors appeared to be tired of the attention altogether.

Now, as the winter quarter has begun, the various artistic expressions of frustrations that once took over the quad in solidarity for the strike and ongoing protests have dispersed and almost disappeared. Signs such as “The Chancellor was appointed, so was Hitler,” “California RNs support Occupy UC Davis,” and “I’m queer; I’m for justice” could have once been found throughout the conglomeration of protestors, but are no longer abundant.

In the aftermath of the incident, some feared that the school would suffer financially. “I don’t think the protestors realize the long term negative effects the protesting is having on both the students and the university as a whole,” one UC Davis alum stated. In current light, however, it appears that these worries too can be calmed. According to a Sacramento Bee review of university records, not only did the Campaign for UC Davis experience an increase in donations during the this past December, but the $1 billion goal is currently 75 percent achieved.

Once written in chalk on the walkway of the quad was what appeared to be an unofficial documentation of a revised Preamble stating:

1. Reform higher education
2. Reform our justice system
3. Reform health care
4. End the Fed
5. End money in politics
6. Make lobbying illegal
7. Hold the banks and Wall Street accountable
8. End the war! Bring home our troops
9. Rebuild America’s infrastructure
10. Reduce dependency of fossil fuels

The chalk has now faded, and a mere handful of tents remain. Students are once again studying and spending time with friends on the grass outside of Memorial Union. It appears, at least for the present time, that the presence of Occupy UC Davis has run its course.

Disclosure: UC Davis student

Broadacre Coffee debuts live music

2012-01-30T03:27:35Z

Broadacre Coffee hosted their first live music night this past Friday night, featuring the musical talents of Exquisite Corps and Garrett Pierce, along with dj sets by Nico Turner and Sister Crayon's Terra Lopez and Dani Fernandez. Over 100 people turned out for the all ages show, making it a huge success. The next show at Broadacre will be February 24, so mark it on your calendars!

Art Songs of Unity

2012-01-30T01:54:22Z

The music recital hall at California State University, Sacramento was filled with the sounds of guests happily chatting and laughing in anticipation of the evening’s presentation, The Art of American Song. Even among the noise of the families and groups of students finding their seats, the empty stage maintained an ethereal glow, with a soft light illuminating a cardboard backdrop surrounding a grand piano.

Once the lights dimmed and the crowd fell silent, the hall was entered by two well-dressed faculty members who would be the entertainment for the evening. Hatem Nadim, an accomplished pianist, and Robin Fisher, a well known soprano, took their places on the stage.

The smiling Ms. Fisher began with a short introduction, describing the music they were going to share as “art songs you probably haven’t heard before.” An art song is a poem set to music, usually for the airing of a vocalist and pianist.

She then penetrated the room with her powerful rendition of the poem entitled, “Fantasy,” by Richard Nickson. Her sweet and clear soprano notes were constantly changing with the mood of each piece. With some songs she conveyed a haunting sense of sad thoughtfulness, while others were infused with a thunderous passion. At some points she would make comical faces and gestures to coincide with the more humorous pieces, such as “Shelling Peas” by Jessica Jackson. Fisher definitely succeeded with her comedic timing, receiving several chuckles from the audience.

Nadim held his own on the stage quite well with intricate solo parts and swift changing of mood for the accompaniment of each piece. His fingers fluttered effortlessly along the high keys for the energetic rendition of “Robin Song” by Emily Dickinson.

This awe-inspiring pair poured much spirit and emotion into every work of art by American greats such as Langston Hughes, Dorothy Parker, John Duke, Mary Howe and many others. They managed to breathe life into old poems that may possibly have been forgotten by younger generations.

Though stunning and elegant as a performer, Fisher did not forget her role as a teacher. Toward the end of the show, she encouraged the diverse audience, made up of elderly couples, families and groups of college students, to read the poems on their own in order to grasp the full meaning of them.

In just an hour-long performance, Fisher and Nadim helped convey so much more than just an appreciation of classic American music and poetry. With this melting pot of poets and composers, parents and children, performers and audience, exchange students and immigrants, they promoted the spirit of unity; the heart of American culture. They showed the common ground among the differences. Though they are both world travelers (and Nadim an immigrant from Egypt), they demonstrated a love for this country’s immense selection of art. Though they are both older than the students they teach, they exuded a shining spirit of youth.

The final selection of songs was written by Emily Dickinson, whom Fisher believes to be one of the finest American poets ever to have existed.

“She says so much with so little,” said Fisher.

At the last note of “I’m Nobody!” the audience members were on their feet in applause, showing they did not agree with the title of that song one bit.

Getting Righteous at Thunder Valley

2012-01-30T01:30:28Z

Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame member and legendary Righteous Brother Bill Medley brought a crew of extremely talented individuals to Thunder Valley Casino Resort Friday, including daughter McKenna.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Righteous Brothers. The second half of the duo, Bobby Hatfield, died of a heart attack back in 2003; Medley now tours with the 3 Bottle Band and McKenna.

Kicking off the show was a video showing Medley as he made appearances in various shows throughout his career, including the David Letterman Show and the hit television series, Cheers. As the video ended, Medley started to sing “A Song for You” while he was still offstage. After about a minute he started to make his way to the stage, providing for a nice dramatic entrance.

71 year old Medley’s voice has taken a beating over the years. While sounding coarser and a bit rough at times, he was able to make it work. The audience was enthralled with Medley from the start as he continued with “Ready, Willing and Able” and “Soul and Inspiration.” In between songs he would talk about life and joke with the crowd.

For his hit song, “Time of My Life,” from the movie “Dirty Dancing,” Medley brought out McKenna to perform Jennifer Warnes’ part. McKenna did an awesome job and has a very melodic voice with a bit of a country/blues flavor.

McKenna went on to perform solo, singing “Silk Flowers” and “Give Me One Reason.” When McKenna completed her set, Medley sat down at the keyboards and called on band member Bob Gulley to sing some songs with him and McKenna. This is where Medley shined, providing the audience a glimpse of what it’s like to jam with the best.

3 Bottle Band has been playing together with Medley for over 35 years, and it shows. This is a very talented group of musicians including Gabe Rabben (drums), Bob Gulley (bass), Tim Lee (keyboards) and Larry Hanson (lead guitar). Also a member of the band is America’s Got Talent winner Michael Grimm. However, Grimm was not present at Friday’s show.

Concerts 4 Charity presents: Talkdemonic, Two Sheds and Fine Steps, February 1st at Bows and Arrows

2012-01-29T05:58:16Z

Concerts 4 Charity is putting on a very special show at Bows and Arrows featuring Talkdemonic, Two Sheds and Fine Steps on February 1st at 8 PM.

Clay Nutting started Concerts 4 Charity with a group of friends in college in 1999, aiming to “introduce nonprofits to a broader audience, help them meet a younger demographic, raise awareness, and maybe even cultivate a future donor or volunteer.” Although they were very successful for a few years, and even had a documentary they produced premiere on HBO, ultimately their model wasn’t sustainable. Eventually Clay moved to Sacramento and started a new branch of Concerts 4 Charity in 2003.

The two aims of Clay’s project are to support music education (sponsoring music lessons, donating to a music program, or starting a new music program) and to support the music scene (through supporting things like local music festivals, Verge, and Bows and Arrows, of course!) As he put it, ”I try and do things to further the music and arts community in Sacramento by either making kids more rad through music education, or putting on rad shows.” Rad, indeed.

Talkdemonic is a Portland-based “avant-instrumental” duo that began in 2004 as Kevin O’Connor’s solo project , and soon added Lisa Molinaro on viola. They will just be starting their cross-country tour when they stop at Bows and Arrows. Lisa described their style as “a film score, a metal band and some electro-pop phenom all colliding in a fatal accident, only to be escorted to heaven by the sounds of a dark but comforting chamber orchestra.”

The band has become quite popular in Portland. “Love it. LOVE IT,” said Lisa of Portland. “It’s so very nurturing, supportive, and inventive. Seems like all my friends are players in the game, big and small! I’m fortunate to be here now and over the past ten years to witness the community develop.”

Talkdemonic recently released their fourth album, Ruins. “I think our sound has evolved, leaving some organic components behind, perhaps favoring more synthy sounds and darkening up our tone a bit,” said Lisa. “It’s a matured approach to Talkdemonic’s delivery, in our opinion. Also we allowed ourselves to go forth with some ideas that I believe previously may have been restrained. It felt good to wail, or to sound off-the-wall. What did we have to lose?”

Local band Two Sheds is comprised mainly of married couple Caitlin and John. They’ve been around since about 2004, and have put out one full length album, one EP, and a split 7”. They’re currently working on a new record.”We are an indie band,” said Caitlin. “Sometimes rocking, sometimes mellow, sometimes sad. We love all kinds of music.”

“The critics lay comparisons to Mazzy Star, Lucinda Williams, Cowboy Junkies, VU and Nico – good road signs on the way to Two Sheds, though I’d throw in that it feels like M. Ward a little in a way too. Cool stuff,” wrote Larry Crane of Tape Op Magazine. Nathan Baker of the SF Guardian wrote, “Two Sheds’ charm lies in the direct, personal effect of singer Caitlin Gutenberger’s lyrical inventions. Trading equally in the Summer of Love folk rock of Blackburn & Snow (not to mention their magnetic boy-girl charisma) and the coquettish fuzz of latter-day melodist Heather Nova.”

Fine Steps started out as Julian Elorduy’s solo project (he still performs solo on occasion as Les Fine Steps), but soon added members from G.Green and Ganglians. Though Fine Steps has only had a few live shows so far, they’re getting a decent amount of attention; Midtown Monthly did a write up about them in the January issue, and they recently played at Verge‘s Success Party. ”I operate under a basic premise,” said Julian. “Keep everything simple and sparse. I do what I can to eliminate anything that is unnecessary. [Fine Steps] started with a fascination with 70s folk/pop and has grown to be representative of all of my varied tastes.”

Julian continues to play solo as well as with the band, and said that it’s hard to choose one over the other: “It is wonderful to have complete control by myself. I have everything I need at my finger tips,” he said. “The dangerous part is its unpredictability. Being so bare and dependent on my moods, the music wavers between being solid and about crumble based on my immediate feelings toward the space and the audience. The music is always changing and both solo work and the band have its place in my heart. The band, of course, having a party vibe and the solo work being more focused on just showcasing a simple song without much to hide behind.”

"[Music for charity] should be an on-going and motivating endeavor. I think Clay is a noble soul keeping this going and I am happy to help him succeed,” said Julian.

The show will start at 8PM, and there will be a $6 door charge. You can also buy tickets in advance here.

Disclosure: Sarah Hansel works at Bows and Arrows as a retail girl/blogger

"Make Em Laugh" Mines the Humor of Musicals at STC Cabaret

2012-01-28T21:01:32Z

Sacramento Theatre Company associate producer Michael Laun shakes up the STC Cabaret format with some good surprises. SacPress community contributor writer/photographer Barry Wisdom has a great preview of the latest show.

Changes included the type of theme. Many previous shows have centered around specific composers. “Make Em Laugh” which runs for a short four show run this weekend on the STC Cabaret Stage, is centered around the title subject. It is a collection of songs, many of which are very well known songs by extremely well known composers from timeless shows.

Many of the songs are also from “who wrote that”? Great song, but “what show”? Never heard of it. And it all works well together to create a fun musical look at what Broadway and pop culture has seen as humorous in our lives. No surprise, much of the humor revolved around relationships.

Much of the success of “Make Em Laugh” is due to the performance of this ensemble. They are excellent at turning a good song into a whole story. Each STC Cabaret show has a mix of performers familiar to the core audience and new performers. This show has a larger mix of new faces.

Leading off with Laun is Jessica Crouch fresh off her staring role in “Bingo” at the Cosmopolitan Cabaret, a role that caused this reviewer to use the “F” word: Fabulous! She sounds so beautiful while being so downright funny. She is especially great on “What Happened to My Song” from “Monty Python’s Spamalot.”

Laun is great on a very funny song called “Hawaiian Wedding Song” from a musical called, of all things, “When Pigs Fly.”

Joining Laun and Crouch from the STC Young Professionals Conservatory for “Make Em Laugh” is 14 year old first year student Devon Hayakawa. She gives a sophisticated performance beyond her years, starting with “Shy” from the tv musical “Princess and the Pea” made famous by Carol Burnett.

New to the ensemble are Robert Irvin, Christine Nicholson, and Madeleine Wieland.

Irvin is great on the Cole Porter hit “Miss Otis” and teams with Crouch on “Sue Me” from “Guys and Dolls” and Laun on “Honest Man.”

Nicholson is a hoot on “April in Fairbanks” and “When Your Lover Says Goodbye.”

Wieland opens with “The Boy From” a Sondheim song with a mouth full of words that she readily handles.

Since a lot of the songs are about relationships and the cast is heavily tilted to those interested in men a lot of the songs are about relationships with men such as “The Boy From,” “What Do You Do About Men?,” and “100 Easy Ways to Loose a Man.”

Also new to STC Cabaret is Sam Schieber, musical director and pianist playing with frequent performer, Kellen Garcia on bass.

Love clever lyrics from Broadway shows, both popular and obscure, performed by some great talent? Check out the remaining shows today at 2:00 and 8:00 pm of “Make Em Laugh.”

“Make Em Laugh.” Sacramento Theatre Company Cabaret
Last shows today
Information and Tickets

MidLife GridLife - Death Be Not Loud?

2012-01-28T19:00:00Z

I began to grieve in earnest on a Thursday morning. It was windy, cold; I was sitting in a chair next to my grandmother’s bed in a convalescent hospital. She had fallen, tripped over her cat and fractured her hip, and was now recovering—doing well according to those who claimed to know—in a dimly lit room that smelled of everything you shouldn’t talk about at the dinner table.

She was wearing a faded hospital gown, the flaccid skin of her right calf sneaking unnoticed out from under an unexpectedly magenta blanket. Gram told me that every night now she prayed for God to take her away. To let it end. I nodded. I said things, endearing, compassionate, empathetic, supportive things. I didn’t blame her.

I didn’t. I was happy she wasn’t frightened of dying (recovery, she said, was much more frightening).

“You mustn’t be sad,” she said, giving my hand a little bounce, “You mustn’t be sad.”

I told her that was something she couldn’t ask of me.

I would accept whatever happened—help her through whatever happened.

I would be happy when she was at peace, glad she wasn’t in pain, but I planned to miss her. To be sad she was no longer accessible, to be, for an unknown period of time, selfish and sad.

From this I would not be dissuaded.

A few minutes later I went to my car and began the extended process of mourning.

My grandmother, Alida, was a woman who still said “mustn’t,” loved opera, and viewed women with suspicion. Her mother was a Swedish immigrant who came to America alone at the age of twelve to work as an indentured servant and ended up marrying a close friend of her employer thirty years her senior.

My grandmother was her third of five children--two boys and three girls--and inherited her mother’s independent spirit and strength, though they were qualities that would not always serve her well during an era when women were still viewed informally as possessions, pretty and pliable hostesses and waitresses, those wives.

She was pretty. Beautiful, in fact. But I hate to think how she struggled with those other adjectives.

There was a first marriage, to a man who used to bring home men and then expect her to disappear.

A second marriage to my grandfather, a police officer, and later Detective. He was in his seventies when he died, but despite the emotional distance that had developed between them over the years, the anger and bitterness we had all seen displayed, my grandmother fell apart.

She asked me to sing Amazing Grace at his funeral, because it had been his favorite song.

She asked me with about two hours notice. I only knew the first verse, and I hadn’t sung in public since the twelfth grade. So, while my mother sat in the front row and sobbed over whether or not she had remembered his favorite flowers (her own way to begin mourning) I got up in front of hundreds of people and sang Amazing Grace accompanied only by an out of tune piano, because when your grandmother asks, that’s what you do.

Her life, I think, had already broken into pieces, but this, I think, is when pieces of her life began to break away.

Earliest years with Grandma were a bit of a mixed bag. She was a loving, if not stereotypical grandmother. Until I was 8, we lived just a few minutes away, and my sister and I spent lots of time at my grandparents’ house, climbing the big avocado tree, playing house on the back stairs, and taking trips to the world famous San Diego Zoo, just blocks away.

Grandma played gin and watched Public Television.

She listened to opera and Johnny Mathis.

She gave us knit suits and pointy-toed pumps and dressing gowns to play dress-up in and wads of baubles and beads to drape and drip and dangle from every available appendage.

She took us shopping and bought us tuna sandwiches in department store restaurants, gave us coffee for breakfast—well, half and half turned beige by a little coffee—and cut iceberg lettuce into the most elegant wedges at dinner, served with buttermilk dressing mixed up from scratch.

She never made macaroni and cheese from the box, but served only the much-coveted frozen kind that came in the tinfoil pan.

She drank martinis, and fished the olives from the glass with two fingernails. She was slightly intimidating, but impressive then.

Not just a person to spend time with, but a person to have experiences with. For better or worse, that never changed.

I was alone with her when she died.

This time we were in the hospital, and I had been quietly reading for hours.

I wanted to be sure she had stopped breathing, even though the machines confirmed it.

I kissed her on the forehead.

I wished her peace.

I waited.

I did not want to risk an opportunity for resuscitation.

I notified the nurses.

I called my mom.

This had been my first experience with the process of dying, and, in some ways, it was easier than I would have imagined.

I am, and always have been, overwhelmed by the idea of my own mortality, but I have always felt strongly about being present during the passing of others, if necessary. I became, at some point, the one to turn to when pets were likely to be put to sleep.

As a result, I was present for the final breaths of my childhood dog, my first husband’s longtime favorite dog, my son’s first cat, and a couple of pets of my own.

It may seem indelicate to relate the euthanizing of animals to the passing away of my grandmother, but it all stems from a desire not to allow anyone to be alone at the end.

I did not want my grandma to spend her last hours—however long that might be—isolated in a sterile hospital environment, devoid of emotional support and loving contact.

I knew, however, that my mom and my sister were not eager to deal with the process, so it was important that I should be available and prepared.

My grandma was 96 when she died.

She was long finished with life, a bit jaded, a bit disappointed, but appreciative of the experience.

I spent almost every part of it with her while I was alive, at least to some degree, right up until the end.

Grieving was mild, more a remembrance of times past than a longing. Grieving had begun in the nursing home as I watched her suffer, a shadow of the person I had verbally jousted with for all those years.

Such was not the case for my friend who recently lost her father.

He was many miles away in another country, and although he, too, had lived a long and full life, well into his 90’s, his death was a devastating loss.

The loss of a father is frequently more traumatic than the loss of a grandparent and for my friend it has created a gaping wound that I can sense will not soon heal.

Exacerbating the sense of abandonment is the isolation she feels, thousands of miles from the rest of her family, left to grieve on her own.

In her culture, she has told me, people come to your home to visit, to keep you company. They don’t want you to be alone. Even though the grief is more pronounced, she says, at least they have each other to share the experience with, to share memories of good times as well as the sadness.

It got me thinking about grief, and the way we grieve—or don’t—in this culture.

When my father died, somewhat unexpectedly, in his sixties, his third wife made unilateral decisions about how his death would be memorialized.

Initially, I was offended.

Then angry.

But later I came to realize just how much being part of that process might have had to do with closure, and the process of grieving.

Over a year later when she released some of his things to us, it was as if the mourning began again.

Seven months later, my son and I decided to cross cultures and create an altar during the Dia de los Muertos celebration to finally honor my dad’s memory in our own way.

Rather than the sense of peace and closure I had hoped for, again, it seemed to renew the immediate sense of loss.

Grieving, I have come to understand, is a process, one that is often undervalued in our culture.

When I send clients to drug treatment programs, they are often amazed to discover that it is the grieving workshop that affects them most profoundly. They are grieving losses that they were not even aware they had.

Many of us have losses that we do not grieve, I think.

We are a chin-up, buck-up, boot-strap pulling society, regardless of whatever touchy-feely trends come and go.

We are just as uncomfortable—if not more—with the grief of others.

How many times my friend has had people ramble on about what’s going on in their lives, only to stop them—blunt as she is—and say, “Do you realize my father just died? And you’re telling me about your trip to Hawaii?”

“I didn’t know what to say.”

This is the most common response. Really though, I think we avoid getting too close to those issues, feelings, with people in our lives.

Our condolences, when we offer them, are quick and awkward, the sub context being, “Please get over this so I don’t have to experience any more of it either!”

But we do ourselves a disservice.Suppressing those feelings or discouraging them in others can lead to anxiety attacks, chronic fatigue and depression, things all-too-common in society.

And prescriptions. Imagine if people came together to support their friends and family in times of loss—job, death, relationship—and some situational depression and anxiety never turned chronic and needed medication!

The film Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close addresses this issue in a unique way, as well.
War is all around us. Hunger is surrounds us. Baby Boomers grow older en masse.

Grief is a concept we should all be exploring.

Grief drives men into habits of serious reflection, sharpens the understanding, and softens the heart –John Adams

Investigation in Folsom by Celebrity Psychic Belinda Bentley

2012-01-28T18:44:35Z

Investigation in Folsom by Celebrity Psychic Belinda Bentley

Pictures from the Investigation:
http://s970.photobucket.com/albums/ae185/PaulDaleRoberts55/BelindaBentley/

Part 1 - Followed Home by the Ghost of Preston Castle: The Prelude!
http://forums.jazmaonline.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4066

PART 2:

I'm sure you'll laugh, because it explains perfectly how psychic information comes in. We don't always understand the why, what and hows and sometimes we do.

I asked Rubbie Salinas to do a psychic session on the case we are investigating on Friday: "Followed Home by the Ghost of Preston Castle?" I gave her the clients real name and the city we would be in. Over the phone she says "The only thing I am getting right now is fire." Which as far as I knew had nothing to do with the case. Twenty minutes later, she sends me an email. Rubbie lit a candle to help her meditate on the situation. When she leaned in to blowout the fire her bangs went up in flames. She's fine, but we understand what that means now.

The other psychic hits she received were about the case. "I feel someone in the home is the center of the attention. Almost as if there is an attraction or obsession with this woman. I don't feel as if it's the only spirit in the home. I feel the claims will be people being touched, brushed by the spirit and I'm hearing laughter or giggles of a child. Stuff being moved around, closed or opened. The house feels very cold. One of the entities is like Pan - (The Greek God of mischief and pleasure.) He likes to get attention even if he has to break something or scare someone (he is a cocky spirit.) I kept getting smoke or smoking and fire (even before I sat down to focus, but maybe it was a warning about my own hair.)"

Rubbie continued, "I am not sure if this is a house or a public place because I feel as if there is to much or many energies for it to be a private home,"

Maybe Rubbie is seeing that the spirit did come from Preston Castle? Might she have answered the question posed by me in the very beginning?

Rubbie continues, "I got a few numbers 47, 7, 3 and I have no idea what they have to do with any of this. I also got a few names I'd like to ask the client about on Friday. Not sure if they are relevant to the case, Sharron, Elizabeth, Michael, William and Robert. How far off am I? This was harder then I thought."

This was the first time I has asked Rubbie to use her abilities in a paranormal investigation, but if you look at my last article she was right on. She sent me this report before my article ever went out. So I am taking these notes to the investigation.

I did let Rubbie know there were some pretty good hits and either some misses or hits that the client can clarify for her later. Then she wrote me back "Is it demonic? I get the feeling of being trapped, fear and irritation. Does the woman feel alone in the situation like her husband treats her like she is imagining everything and he easily explains the unexplained? I feel condescending attitude here too." The client Rebecca did say her husband doesn't believe her.

I've yet to answer her questions. I will wait for her to arrive tomorrow. It will be interesting to see what she picks up at the house. The next step maybe to investigation Preston Castle.

I called on Keli Michaels to give me more insights from her home in Los Angeles. "This is what she picked up. It's an old man. Almost like a farmer in overalls. This was his territory, his land and he's not pleased with anyone living on it. He and his wife lived and died there. He doesn't want to let go. He doesn't like cats. If she has an animal she will see weirdness from it. The man looks like the Rockwell picture of the farmer with the pitch fork. He smoked a pipe too so she may smell a burning type scent sometimes." (Burning, fire? This seems like a theme.)

My personal psychic impression is that mirrors will be an issues and that this woman has opened her doors to the paranormal and in essences is calling it in. I also got that this was entertainment to her which I mentioned in the first article so let's see if we got any hits on this case. Let's see how right we might be.

PART 3:

The only investigators for tonight were Rubbie Salinas aka Rubbiz Fire and me Belinda Bentley celebrity psychic medium and yes, the one and only Sex Psychic. When we arrived outside the home we smelled smoke and burning. It was a warm, sunny day and the client, Rebecca had her fireplace on. She had wine poured, food cooked and was ready to entertain. Very sweet and in-line with our psychic impressions we got before the investigation. We call these psychic hits. Rubbie doesn't drink and I don't drink on investigations, but the client was nice enough to give me two bottles of wine to take with me. The client Rebecca and her friend Jane, both had a few drinks, which I don't advise during investigations.

Oddly the client told me she has only been on one investigation where she met Paul Dale Roberts the Manager of HPI Paranormal, but later in the night they talked about many investigations they've been on. Because she is opening looking for spirits, the spirits seem to seek her out, as you'll see further into the investigation.

I walked into the living area where there was a huge mirror embedded into the wall. The mirror was facing the area with the most activity in the house. I felt this was an open portal. (A portal is where spirits enter the home.) Going up the stairs Rubbie got nauseous. It didn't hit me until we got to the top of the stairs. It was crowded with a amour, and the design of the house felt wrong. It was also crowded with spirits as I would soon find out. Going in the bedroom I almost fainted - mirrors, let me counted them! Eight! Eight mirrors almost from floor to ceiling. Rubbie looked at me and said the mirrors are the problem. Later Jane says "I feel they come from the mirrors." On a video they showed us later in the night - orbs and lights flew around the room like bugs, going in and out of the mirrors. Which was a hit that I got about the house. Rebecca and Jane claimed they didn't see this during filming. It was impressive. The lights were not on the wall, but free floating streaks and orbs. Rubbie caught some strange orbs in some main hot spots in the house. I told her to ask that they make strange and unusual orbs to show us they are intelligent and I can honestly say they don't look like dust. One actually looked 3D. Another was in a triangular shape. Rubbie thought it looked like a coffin. It was floating up, down and around in a series of four photos.

At one point I was in the downstairs bathroom and I heard and male and female talking briefly. There were no males in the house. About twenty minutes later Rubbie heard a male talking. It was never clear where the voices came from. On the voice recorder you heard static and then I ask if someone said something when I heard the conversation happening, but no EVPs were captured, however we did listen to the clients EVPs. We heard two women speak, which were the clients and then we heard a distant male say "Sexy." Then we heard another male later say "It goes dark, we get her." From what we can make out. There was really no way to know if they were talking amongst themselves, or about the resident.

In the living room Rubbie was taking pictures when she felt a heaviness in the chest. It hit me too about ten minutes later when I was around a massive amount of activity. The client says she experiences that from time to time. It felt as if there was so many energies that it was taking up air and space. At one point I felt as though something were on my neck looking over my shoulder at the pictures was flipping through.

We didn't feel anything demonic, but the client was insistent that it was demonic from an attack she had over a year and a half ago. When you live in Grand Central Station for spirits you are bound to get a negative one here and there. Jane, Rubbie and I all felt nothing unsafe or malicious. We all had the feeling that the mirrors were portals and desperately in need of being rearranged to change the situation.

During the beginning of the Investigation I wrote in huge letters Feng Shui! As I walked through the house that was built more like a puzzle I realized the house was built for spirit activity. She needed Feng Shui to close off those portals. The client didn't agree with Rubbie about the only spirit that stays on a regular bases was the child's spirit. Then later she said "Oh, yes, the child has woke me up shaking me and poking me. They captured a child's voice saying "Me" when asked if there is anyone here that likes chocolate and there are no children that live in the house. It was a class A EVP they had us listen to from previous investigations in the home. Not to long after the Ovilus we were using said "nice", "child", "seen". It was in direct connection to what were talking about. Later I asked the Ovilus to say "finger," that would let me know there was an intelligent entity with us and it responded "scanning." Was it scanning to find the word?

At the end while we were going over evidence at the dinner table the client confided in us about an experience she had a while back where a spirit turned her on sexually. She said it felt like a stroke up and down the side of her body. It was the one time she felt really felt terrified, because she liked it. Rubbie said to me later jokingly, maybe this is a sex psychic case, not an HPI case. Paul is excellent at assigning cases to me that end up being in my field of expertise! Rubbie's light-hearted comment really got me thinking about the client and what's really going on.

Rebecca let on she might need some help in this area. It felt as though this was really what the investigation was about. Something that she desired from the investigation. Maybe she desire a demonic case, because she could place blamed on the entity for how she about the way it touched her. Something she misses to this day. It seemed the client lost her groove sometime after this incident and her libido came crashing down. I feel she is trying to find it in these investigations. Did the client call us to help her get her groove back? If Stella can get her groove back so can Rebecca. Hopefully being able to express her feelings and experience gave her what she truly needed all along. The Truth is out there! The Sex Psychic and HPI are teamed up to find it. No matter how strange it may be and no matter where the truth may lie. If it is rooted in the paranormal we are on it.
--

Disclosure: Author: Belinda Bentley Posted by Permission from Belinda: Paul Dale Roberts

Perennial Cellar Dwellars: What Happened to the Sacramento Kings?

2012-01-28T17:44:29Z

No trips to the playoffs since George W. Bush was just beginning his second term. No players on the roster even close to All-Star consideration. No recognition for a franchise that just a few years prior was playing in front of a national television audience seemingly on a weekly basis. Even the most optimistic onlookers have had few positive things to say about the Sacramento Kings for nearly a decade.

The Sacramento Kings have spent their last three drafts, where they selected with the fourth, fifth and 10th overall picks, stockpiling highly touted NCAA stars Tyreke Evans, DeMarcus Cousins and Jimmer Fredette. The mid-season acquisition of explosive scorer Marcus Thornton last February and an existing roster of capable and athletic ballplayers had legions of Sacramento fans buzzing that finally their beloved team would again be competitive, or at the very least play an exciting brand of basketball.

Just one month into this abbreviated NBA season, neither the former nor the latter ring true. Only four other teams in the league have won fewer games than the Kings, now with six wins in 19 games.

Head coach Paul Westphal was the first casualty by the team's poor performance, getting fired after seven games in early January. The team does hold the distinction of being the youngest in the league. That fact might lend credence to their struggles if not for the Oklahoma City Thunder, who are the second youngest team in the NBA, and they currently boast an impressive conference-leading 15-3 mark.

The Kings average a paltry 90.5 points per contest, good for 24th in the league. Defensively the team is yielding 102.6 per game, worst in the NBA. They are ranked 28th in three-point shooting, 24th in free-throw shooting and average just 15.7 assists per game, by far the worst.

Not much positive to draw from those statistics. It is astounding that the Kings have even won six games despite their rank in those key categories.

Excuses are few and far between for this franchise, and there are plenty of places to reasonably place blame. Geoff Petrie, the team's longtime basketball executive, has his fingerprints all over the scene of the crime. Petrie has been solely responsible for the construction of the roster since 1994. The NBA, like all professional sports, is an ultra competitive, “what have you done for me lately” high-stakes poker affair. Consequently, his two NBA Executive of the Year awards won in 1999 and 2001, while a remarkable achievement, feel like ancient history.

To be fair, Petrie can only spend what his owners will allow him to. Petrie has had the enormous burden of attempting to rebuild an aging, talentless roster despite an ownership group that has been pinching pennies since 2007.

The Maloofs continued to invest millions into their crown jewel, the Palms in Las Vegas, just as the recession began to take shape. They have liquified nearly all of their beloved assets, including their WNBA franchise, the Sacramento Monarchs, their beer distributorship in New Mexico and almost all of their stock in the Palms (the family now owns just 2 percent of the hotel they built).

Sacramento has finished among the lowest in team salary the last five years. It's no coincidence that the Maloofs’ financial peril corresponds with the Kings dwindling payroll. Last season, the team was forced to trade for a player (Marquis Daniels) who was nursing a career-threatening neck injury and never even dressed for a single game for the team, simply so the Kings could get to the league's minimum salary.

So while other teams are spending their summers offering multimillion dollar contracts to elite NBA free agents, the Kings are trading for players who can't even step foot on the court. Not exactly the best way to appease your eternally loyal fanbase.

The players themselves, of course, deserve a lion's share of the blame as well. Even if the Kings are less talented than their opponents most nights, at some point professional pride and competitive nature have to rise from within.

Tyreke Evans, the 2008-09 NBA Rookie of the Year, has seen production and efficiency drop at an alarming rate from his rookie year. Evans contributed one of the best rookie seasons in league history, becoming just one of four NBA players to average 20 points, five rebounds and five assists in their first year.

His second campaign, which was marred by plantar fasciitis, was abysmal. He saw dips in his scoring, rebounding, assists and field goal percentage. Just 19 games into the current season, Evans has been even worse. All aforementioned stats have dropped even further and his field goal percentage is a pathetic 40.5 percent.

Recent winners of the league's prestigious honor of Rookie of the Year include Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose and Blake Griffin. Those players have improved considerably every year and, not surprisingly, their teams have as well. Each of those three play for teams that will be in the playoffs and are vying for the ultimate prize. The Kings success, both short and long term, is tied directly to Evans' development.

Second year center DeMarcus Cousins has battled inconsistency and immaturity in his short time with the club. Cousins, just 21 years old, is blessed with outstanding offensive gifts. Soft hands, brilliant footwork in the post, a capable jumpshot that extends to 20 feet and an unusually high basketball IQ for a player who only played collegiately for one season. He also leads the NBA in charges taken and is currently sixth in rebounding, averaging 11 per game.

Cousins has been troubled by bouts of immaturity, however, including two different Kings-sanctioned suspensions for actions detrimental to the team and various other infractions since joining the squad.

Cousins has improved from his rookie year and, without question, has been better than Evans to this point. But if Sacramento is going to improve as a team and eventually return to glory, it is going to be on the strength of these two. The team itself would absolutely acknowledge that sentiment, as just days after drafting Cousins they erected two colossal 35-foot banners of each of the two franchise players. These two must continue to develop their games, but, more importantly, they must learn how to complement one another on the court.

Prized rookie Jimmer Fredette has struggled somewhat finding his place thus far. Offensively he has been hesitant at times, not certain whether to get others involved or look for his shot as he did so often in college. Fredette's offensive production recently has been markedly improved, scoring 19 and 20 points respectively in two of his last three games. Defensively he has struggled staying in front of his man on the perimeter, but that is almost to be expected by a first-year player. Though his turnovers are high, he has shown a penchant and, more importantly, a willingness to get others involved. Fredette hasn't been great, but he hasn't been a disappointment either.

Hard to place a lot of fault on any other individual on the team, as it is by in large a collection of either veteran role players or very green rookies trying their best to learn their way.

So where do the Kings go from here?

The season has just 47 games remaining, and all anyone can hope for is the team plays hard and gets better every night. The hope is interim coach Keith Smart can get the team to play together, play unselfishly, compete defensively and defend their home court.

In all likelihood, Sacramento will again finish among the worst teams in the league and thus will have the right to draft one of the premiere players in college basketball or international competition. Add him to the young nuceleus of talent that the Kings have accrued and fortunes could change quickly.

You often hear the idiom, “Rome wasn't built in a day.” But Sacramento has seen it happen. In just a few weeks following the pitiful 1997-98 season, the Kings traded for troubled All-Star Chris Webber, drafted Jason Williams, signed Vlade Divac as a free agent, and Serbian holdout Peja Stojakovic finally came overseas. In just a matter of weeks, the Kings were transformed from a laughingstock to a powerhouse.

Sacramento Theatre Company Cabaret Series revue aims to 'Make 'Em Laugh'

2012-01-28T12:13:36Z

Remember when musical theater was called musical comedy?

True, dramatic plot turns have consistenly been essential elements in most of the Great White Way's all-singing, all-dancing productions. From the issue of racial discrimination explored in Jerome Kern's landmark "Show Boat" (1927) to the gritty realities of abortion, rape and suicide facing teenagers in Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater's "Spring Awakening" (2007), musicals often have featured some measure of conflict.

Maybe it's the rose-colored opera glasses audiences tend to slip on when looking back, but some still bemoan Broadway's shift away from happy-go-lucky book musicals in which the most-serious issue was the question of who's taking Laurey to the box social.

The truth is even after the musical scale tilted toward heavier fare (think "Evita," "Les Misérables," "Phantom of the Opera," "Side Show," "Parade," and "Spring Awakening"), most every tuner – no matter how dreary the score – continues to feature at least one or two songs that provide some measure of comic relief.

During this cold midwinter, Sacramento Theatre Company presents more than just a few LOL numbers in "Make 'Em Laugh: Broadway's Best Comedy Songs," its latest Cabaret Series revue.

Set to run Jan. 26-28, 2012, "Make 'Em Laugh" is geared to leaving audiences humming (and not bumming) as they exit the STC lobby by showcasing songs from such carefree shows of yesteryear as "Guys and Dolls," "Wonderful Town" and "Once Upon a Mattress."

Directed by STC Producing Director Michael Laun, with musical direction by Sam Schieber, "Make 'Em Laugh" features Jessica Crouch, Christine Nicholson, Madeleine Wieland, Robert Irvin, Devon Hayakawa and Laun. Accompaniment is provided by Schieber (piano) and Kellen Garcia (bass).

"Make 'Em Laugh" plays at 7 p.m. Jan. 26, 8 p.m. Jan. 27, and 2 and 8 p.m. Jan. 28. Tickets, priced at $25, are available by calling (916) 443-6722, or by going online at www.sactheatre.org. Please note that $12 student rush tickets go on sale 30 minutes prior to performances (subject to availability).

Cesar Chavez Memorial Plaza Renovations Coming Soon

2012-01-28T05:02:41Z

After two years of planning and organization, renovations will begin on Feb. 6 for the Cesar Chavez Memorial Plaza. Since its construction 150 years ago, the park has been renovated many times to maintain it and adapt it to the new needs of the public.

“It’s a prominent public space, and I’m looking forward to giving it a facelift,” said J. P. Tindell, park planning and development manager of the Sacramento Department of Parks and Recreation.

Lisa Martinez, marketing director for the Downtown Sacramento Partnership (DSP), also said that she looks forward to the “beautification efforts” on the park. The DSP is known for holding many events in the park, including Friday Night Concerts in the Park and the Wednesday Farmers Market.

“The city’s doing their best to make sure the community’s aware of (the renovations),” Martinez said, “and to make sure the business community isn’t negatively impacted.”

The renovations are meant to enhance the park by reducing maintenance and improving the functionality for events like concerts and the Farmers Market. One example is the extension of the walkway from the perimeter sidewalk to the center plaza, which will lengthen the walkway by around a third of its current size and provide direct access to the center plaza from 10th street. Tindell said this part of the park is often used for the beer garden during summer concerts, and replacing turf with walkway will minimize wear and tear on the turf.

Tindell said that this park in particular has more traffic than most in Sacramento, and it has to be renovated more often to compensate. There are three phases of renovations, and while they can be extensive – from placing new benches to raising the stage – Tindell said they want to avoid closing the park.

“We’re not planning on closing it,” Tindell said. “We don’t want to negatively impact the community.”

Tindell said the entire cost of all three phases will be around $800,000. Tindell said that the budget funding comes from the Quimby Act funds, which authorizes local agencies to establish laws requiring new development to pay in-lieu fees for parks. City and state law won’t allow these funds to offset staff operation and maintenance costs.

Tindell added that she and others who’ve planned this for years want to recognize all events held in the park and help them, and help all surrounding businesses as well.

“It’s the front lawn of the City Hall,” Tindell said, “and it should be kept at some level of maintenance.”

The city plans for phases one and two to be completed before concerts begin in May, and phase three should begin toward the end of the year.

Ancient olive trees create the 'heart' of Bridge District park

2012-01-28T04:24:21Z

Four massive Seville olive trees were installed in The Bridge District’s Garden Park earlier this month setting the stage for a welcoming community space in West Sacramento’s newest development area.

Garden Park is a three-quarter-acre public park billed as the “centerpiece” to the first stage of development of The Bridge District, according to Stephen Jaycox, senior vice president of design for The Bridge District’s designer/developer, Fulcrum Property.

Jaycox said the design and planning of The Bridge District is unusual compared to typical new development plans.

“We are starting with the green space and then moving on to building townhomes and apartments around it,” Jaycox said. “This is a different sort of planning from the days when parks were an afterthought.”

The newly-replanted olive trees averaged 21,000 pounds each and are each well over 100 years old, according to Jaycox.

The olive trees were working trees on a farm near Fresno before the move to the park in West Sacramento. They were selected because of their sculptural trunks, character and beauty, Jaycox said.

“Having a fruit-bearing tree is a reminder of the importance of agriculture to our communities,” Jaycox said Thursday.

The trees will frame a seating area in the center of the park featuring a 16-foot-long granite table that Fulcrum Property President Mark Friedman described as “an invitation” to get together with neighbors.

“The trees give the park instant character, creating a sense of age and permanence that you wouldn’t normally get in a new park,” Friedman said.

Jaycox said Garden Park is designed in what is called a “circus plan” – a long oval – similar to South Park in San Francisco.

“It’s long and narrow, and the buildings will go up around it,” he said. “It will feel like being in an outdoor room.”

Garden Park is expected to be the “heart of the neighborhood,” according to Friedman.

“We’ve built it like a jewel box for the district,” he said.

The West Sacramento park will cost nearly $2 million and is being paid for with a variety of public funds including grants and general fund dollars, Katy Jacobson, project manager for the city of West Sacramento, said Friday.

“(The olive trees) give us an instant sense of history as we transform the area from industrial to mixed-use,” Jacobson said.

Additional improvements to The Bridge District will include final construction of an off-ramp at Fifth Street this fall, followed by the start of construction on the first housing units before the end of the year, Jacobson said.

As Garden Park nears completion, the final addition will be a yet-to-be-selected sculpture set in a prominent place as a counterpoint to the ancient trees.

“It will offset something natural – the ancient Seville olive trees – with something manmade,” Friedman said.

Construction on Garden Park began in November and is expected to open in spring, although no specific date has been set.

Melissa Corker is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

Blackbird to open by end of February

2012-01-28T01:37:16Z

Replacement of a gas line is postponing the opening of the downtown seafood restaurant Blackbird Kitchen & Bar from Valentine’s Day to Feb. 21, but the restaurateurs are still able to work inside, and the iconic graphic on the front is complete.

“The buildout is being done right now, and the menu will be available in a couple of weeks,” said General Manager Shayne “7evin” Iles.

“We’re going to open when PG&E finishes the work, so hopefully it’s sooner, or at least on time,” he said.

Officials from Pacific Gas and Electric did not return messages left on Friday.

Blackbird Kitchen & Bar is located at 1013-1015 Ninth St.

Free workshops to teach circus skills

2012-01-28T01:31:56Z

Did you ever want to be in the circus, swinging around on ropes and juggling? The UC Davis Mondavi Center is hosting three free workshops Feb. 5 where families are invited to learn some basic circus skills.

“They’ll learn to climb a rope, hang from a rope and do aerial work,” said 32-year-old master’s student Kevin O’Connor, who is one of two artists who will teach the workshops. “There will be juggling, too.”

O’Connor is using the workshop as a way to explore how the Mondavi Center can be used to bring people in for creative energy that can then be returned to the outside community, a part of his master’s coursework.

Other skills taught in the workshop will include making human pyramids. O’Connor said there is no risk of high falls, as none of the platforms are more than 1 foot off the ground, and all ages are welcome.

“It’s great if you wear two layers of clothing, mainly to protect your skin from the friction of the ropes,” he added.

O’Connor graduated from the three-year circus program of the École Nationale de Cirque in Montreal – the national circus school that spawned Cirque de Soleil.

Each workshop will be 90 minutes long, and the first one kicks off at 10 a.m. Reservations can be made by emailing ucdavisdance@gmail.com, and class sizes are limited. No more than seven people can be included on one email reservation.

Janice Bisgaard, spokeswoman for UC Davis Department of Theatre & Dance, said the the event is the kickoff for the Institute for Exploration in Theatre, Dance and Performance.

The new institute is set up to allow research to be conducted on campus and with direct interaction with the campus community, as well as allow more interaction between the students and performers who make up the Department of Theatre & Dance.

“We’re really excited at the responses we’ve had among the greater community for the workshops,” she said. “It’s a wonderful way to be kicking off our new institute.”

The workshops will be held at the Mondavi Center’s Vanderhoef Studio Theatre, located at One Shields Ave. in Davis.

Volunteer coaches needed for youth basketball league

2012-01-27T23:59:05Z

The Salvation Army of Sacramento is looking for some volunteers to coach in its youth basketball league (13 and under, 10 and under, and 7 and under).

League organizers are seeking individuals with a basketball background and experience managing youth activities.

Games are all played at The Salvation Army Ray Robinson Oak Park Community Center (located on the corner of Alhambra and Broadway).

For more information, please call 916-469-4620.

Disclosure: Syd Fong is the public relations director for The Salvation Army of Sacramento County. For more information about The Salvation Army, log onto www.salarmysacto.org or join the facebook page www.facebook.com/salvationarmysacramento

A JOURNEY OF HOPE - Part II

2012-01-27T20:54:32Z

Written in memory of our brave daughter, Katie Janae Cramer, who went to Heaven January 6, 2011.

TO THE HOUSE OF THE KING

Continued from A Journey of Hope- Part 1

It was January 2007, and our family would spend the next three years, three months climbing out of the valley of childhood cancer. We emerged - battle-fatigued and scarred - but we had emerged! And no one enjoyed being out of that valley more than our daughter.

Katie seemed to have a renewed vigor for life. The battle hadn’t dampened her spirit - it energized it! She was ready to put her ordeal behind her and get on with life. She enjoyed her friends, being involved at church, and continued to excel in school.

In February of 2011, our now 16-year old daughter decided to enter the first Miss Teen Asia Sacramento Pageant. It was a bit unusual for her to intentionally seek out this kind of attention; her unassuming and soft-spoken nature definitely did not fit the typical pageant mold.

Nevertheless, we were excited for her to step into the limelight, hoping it would increase her involvement with the Asian community and improve her leadership skills. Katie had a story of triumph to tell and was a natural beauty.

Katie won the title of Second Princess, as well as a special award for Academic Excellence. The beautiful butterfly we had foreseen fifteen years ago in the gray city of Liuzhou was now in her full glory! In a little over a week, our world will be turned upside-down once again.

Relapse. The most dreaded word in childhood cancer. Telling our daughter the cancer was back was more than painful. Katie had only been twelve years old when first diagnosed; she had little knowledge about the world of cancer. Now sixteen, she knew what to expect and understood the consequences were more dire.

Childhood cancer parent, Steve McNitt, Cameron Park, put it this way when he learned their son’s cancer had returned, “On June 1st, 2009, Caleb celebrated three years being CANCER FREE! We threw the biggest celebration we could imagine and afford. We thought we were finally done with cancer, and could be a "normal" family again. Our sails were full; our future was bright; our pain was behind us!”

He recalls the event with vivid details. “Twelve days after our big celebration - 9:30pm - Caleb was in already in bed. I was getting ready for bed when the phone rang. It was a pediatric oncologist from Kaiser telling me Caleb's leukemia had returned. I told her she was wrong and questioned her credentials... then it hit me. Caleb's cancer was back! I was shocked. I was scared. I was angry! “

Elaborating, McNitt put it this way, “Every molecule of excitement from his celebration was gone, replaced by three times the amount of horror, despair, hopelessness and heaviness – a heaviness that could crush a soul! I had no strength to fight it again. We had only tears... and prayers... and an overwhelmingly heavy depression.”

Like Caleb, Katie’s only hope of beating cancer this time would be a bone marrow transplant. She would be brought back into remission as the search began for a match for her. We had faith a perfect match would be found. It couldn’t be that difficult to find a match; she had a good number of potential matches, didn’t she?

The statistics were not in Katie’s favor. “The odds of siblings having identical tissue types are 1 in 4. The odds of matching an unrelated donor are between 1 in 100 and 1 in a million. Currently, only 25% of the National Registry represents racial minority communities; therefore, the current odds for a minority patient to find a matching unrelated donor may be closer to 1 in a million.” (1)

“Just be patient,” we told ourselves. But timing was crucial; the transplant would need to take place soon after Katie was back in remission. But patience was difficult to maintain as the clock kept ticking down, and each day passed with no positive news about a match.

Since Katie had been adopted from China, and racial heritage is an important factor in finding a match, we thought potential donors would more than likely come from her country of birth. Our intuitions were confirmed when the geneticist from the National Marrow Donor Program (“Be The Match”) compared Katie’s HLA typing with gene pools around the world. Not surprisingly, the greatest concentration of similar gene pools was found not just in China itself, but in Katie’s birth province of Guangxi and in neighboring provinces.

Prompted by our increasingly desperate search for a donor and the geneticist's findings, a decision was made that I head to China to see if I could increase Katie’s odds of survival. It was a leap of faith, but one we felt need to be taken.

News of our plea for donors and my trip to China was covered locally by Sacramento’s News 10; around the United States by various news sources, including MSNBC; and China’s largest national news service, Xinhua. I returned home to Sacramento hopeful that a match would soon surface. (2)

Sadly, no perfect marrow or peripheral blood stem cell matches were found. Our hopes were now pinned on an umbilical cord blood transplant, a viable alternative for patients if other options fail. We accepted this new reality, and proceeded to Stanford with our hopes changed, but still high.

Katie’s transplant day was October 22nd, 2010. Time passed slowly in the isolated transplant wing of the hospital as we waited for the stem cells to engraft. Day after day - nothing. Two more infusions of cord blood stem cells were given; still no engraftment. Complication after complication followed. Christmas came and went.

On December 30th a “family care meeting” was called. The scenario painted by the doctors was bleak and, in all probability, would only get bleaker. Arrangements were made for Katie to immediately return to Kaiser’s Roseville hospital. Hospice services were quickly set up in our home. Katie went peacefully and sweetly into the arms of Jesus on January 6, 2010.

Life has forever changed for our family. Our hope now is that others will never have to face what our family did. But there is still work to be done to fulfill that hope.

“There are currently three teenage girls at Kaiser Roseville who are in need of transplants,” Dr. Kent Jolly, pediatric oncologist at Kaiser Roseville, informed me. “Two of these patients are from minorities; one is Caucasian. All three are having problems finding suitable matches, and the families are now considering umbilical cord stem cells, or even incompletely-matched marrow transplants."

Thankfully, a perfect match was found for Caleb, and he is doing great today. His donor made the difference. Could you possibility be a life-saving donor? Absolutely!

Vicki Wolf, BloodSource Communications Manager says, “People in the Sacramento area between the ages of 18-60 years old who are generally healthy and committed to donating to anyone in need can join “Be The Match” marrow registry through BloodSource at no cost to the registrant at this time.”

“We believe that marrow transplants can offer a second chance at life. As long as patients like Katie are in need, we hope to help not only by providing blood products, but in educating and recruiting committed people to join the marrow registry, especially those of diverse heritage” Wolfe states.

If you would like to join the registry, or would like to hold a marrow registry drive through BloodSource, please call at 866.822.5663. You can also go online to “Be The Match” at http://marrow.org/Home.aspx

Butterflies are exquisite but short-lived creatures. They emerge from their cocoons, and flutter into our lives bringing us delight, then quickly fly away. Such was our dear daughter, Katie. We wish you could have stayed longer.

(1) http://www.aadp.org/learn/faqs/

(2) http://katiecramer.org/news-stories

A JOURNEY OF HOPE - Part I

2012-01-27T20:53:55Z

Written in memory of our brave daughter, Katie Janae Cramer, who went to Heaven January 6, 2011.

FROM THE DOORS OF AN ORPHANAGE:

As the butterfly alights on my arm in the dingy industrial city of Liuzhou, China, our hopes for our newly adopted daughter are high. Life in a Chinese orphanage has been perilous for her, her tiny body telling a story of deprivation through her bloated tummy, pale skin, weak muscle tone, and dry, sparse hair. But a butterfly will soon to emerge.

My husband and I return to Sacramento in May 1995, exhausted but elated at being home with our daughter. What was once only a tiny black-and-white picture is now an in-the-flesh baby dressed most often in pink. Already we see signs of her metamorphosis - she is smiling more, able to sit up on her own for short periods of time, and beginning to hold on to us.

Like most parents, we are enraptured with our new little one. Early concerns about her severe malnutrition quickly fade as she gains weight and strength. Thoughts of what she must have endured in the underfunded orphanage recede from our minds. We watch and are amazed as our daughter adjusts to her new surroundings. We wonder what the future holds for her.

Katie had the distinct role of being the first Chinese child in Sacramento adopted through Holt International Children’s Services and, from the beginning, served as a tangible promise for what many hopeful parents-in-waiting might expect. Referring to Katie’s status as Sacramento’s first Chinese adoptee, adoptive father Jeffrey Trapnell states, “Whether she knew it or not, she was a trailblazer for many more children to come, my daughter included.”

Life for our family settled into the normal joys and challenges of parenting and, eventually, we added two more wonderful children from China to our family: Anna, adopted from Hunan in 1999, and David, adopted from Jiangsu in 2002.

It was June 2006, and Katie was now a beautiful 12-year-old butterfly getting ready to stretch her wings and fly. The only problem was this delicate butterfly had a large, dark, unexplained bruise on the back of her leg, and was tired much of the time. A life-and-death battle would soon be underway as our family entered the terrifying world of childhood cancer.

One week after finishing elementary school, Katie was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia called acute myeloid leukemia (AML). We were devastated and in shock. We learned the standard protocol for treatment of AML would require her to be inpatient for most of the next six months. Katie bravely put away the things of childhood and, without tears, stoically entered into her second battle for survival - this time with cancer.

At Kaiser’s Morse Avenue hospital, Katie endured four rounds of intense chemotherapy. The chemotherapy robbed her not only of her shiny, black hair, but her entire immune system. In addition to nausea, lack of appetite, and isolation, there were trips to the ICU, numerous bone marrow biopsies, fungal infections, heart complications, and our constant underlying fear of relapse.

Isolated in the aging children’s wing of the Morse Avenue facility, we discovered we were not the only family on this terrifying journey - there were other families facing similar battles with their children.

“Our pediatric team sees approximately 35 new patients each year at Kaiser’s new Roseville facility,” states Dr. Kent Jolly, one of Katie’s pediatric oncologists. “Many of these patients are in treatment (needing chemotherapy) for two to three years, resulting in a caseload of approximately 70 patients per year.” Dr. Jolly adds that Sutter Children’s Center and UC Davis Children's Hospital treat approximately the same number of children at their facilities each year.

Our daughter was one of these “statistics”. We know other families who have children who were one of the numbers below. Even so, I was shocked to hear and see these figures. According to the National Cancer Institute’s State Cancer Profiles, for the years 2004 - 2008, the annual incidence rate (per 100,000) and annual average counts for Childhood Cancers for Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado, and Yolo Counties are as follows:

County Annual     Incidence Rate*    Average Annual Count
Sacramento            16.4                       50
Placer                     16.6                       11
Yolo                         15.7                       6
El Dorado                18.1                       6

* per 100,000

(all races, including Hispanic/both sexes/ages <15)

We decided not to focus on “survival rate statistics”, and to make the best of our difficult situation. Summer passed, as did the start of school, and then each of the winter holidays. We lived as a family divided, riding a roller coaster of emotions as the inevitable setbacks and crises came our way.

Throughout, we marveled at Katie’s ability to nonchalantly endure each challenge presented to her; deep inside, she seemed to possess a core of steel in her petite 80 pound frame. Had her first year in an overcrowded and understaffed orphanage toughened her, giving her the ability to courageously face such an ordeal?

January 2, 2007, we received the news we had hoped and prayed for. Katie was in complete remission and could go home! It was the best news we could have heard the beginning of that new year. Our first night home brought tears of indescribable relief and joy.

Though our innocence had been shattered, we continued to believe our daughter would be in the 50% category that would beat this disease. We would cling to the hope that this vicious monster had been defeated - once and for all! Nevertheless, we would hold our breath for the next three and a half years…

http://statecancerprofiles.cancer.gov/incidencerates/index.php

Continue to A Journey of Hope- Part 2

Complimentary Bridal Open House at Arden Hills this Sunday!

2012-01-27T18:49:13Z

With spring here before we know it, wedding planning is already in full bloom! Arden Hills Resort Club & Spa invites brides, couples and event planners to a complimentary “Bridal Open House” this Sunday, January 29, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. where they will enjoy tasty appetizers and refreshments while touring the gorgeous site with three elegant ballrooms, two lush wedding courtyards, the luxurious overnight villas and award-winning spa and salon. Known as the area’s premiere wedding destination, Arden Hills is the perfect venue for creating events to remember.

Disclosure: Traci Rockefeller Cusack represents a number of businesses and organizations throughout the greater Sacramento area including Arden Hills Resort Club & Spa.

Boys Basketball: 17-1 Run Lifts Sacramento over McClatchy

2012-01-27T18:16:24Z

McClatchy High School boys basketball team hung with Sacramento High School for the first 16 minutes Wednesday night at McClatchy, but a 17-1 start to the second half for the Dragons ultimately buried the Lions 82-56.

The game was close in the first half, but 3 consecutive turnovers led to six unanswered points for the Dragons to end the half, giving them a 37-29 lead at the break.

“It was a good first half, they were doing everything we planned to do-move the ball, rotate the ball, but in the second-half we couldn’t get anything,” said McClatchy head coach Jeff Ota.

The Dragons (15-5, 7-0 Metro League Play) won their third straight game to continue their undefeated league season. While the Lions (8-12, 1-6 Metro League Play) have struggled, they looked very much alive in the first half.

Where the Dragons, would race down court, the Lions would fall right back into their defense. Then in the second half, the depth of the Dragons hurt the Lions. The Dragons who have 16 players listed on the roster and the Lions have 12, but only nine suited up Wednesday evening for McClatchy.

The Dragons were able to go on a 17-1 run to start the second half taking up the first five minutes of the third quarter and outscored McClatchy 21-7 in the quarter pushing their lead to 58-36 with eight minutes remaining.

In the final frame both defenses looked worn down, which leading to a 22 point quarter for the Lions and a 24 point quarter for the Dragons.

McClatchy senior point guard Darrelle Dixon led the Lions with a game-high 19 points, 11 of which came in the fourth quarter.

“He’s fantastic, he’s our engine, we tell him to bring up the ball, score, and create assists,” Ota said.

The Dragons were led by standout Darius Graham who finished with 18 points. The Dragons also got solid performances from Erick Kinney with 11 points, and also got 10 points and 6 blocks from James Hadnot.