Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "Help"

Why we are against SOPA

2012-01-19T01:32:15Z

As an owner of Macer Media, publisher of The Sacramento Press, I have never made a political statement on this site. Today I will, out of self-preservation, and a concern for what is just and good for this site, and the people of this community in general.

Wikipedia went black Wednesday due to its strong opposition to the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). Google also voiced its opposition with a link on its homepage. Many other Interenet companies took similar steps.

So the first question is: What is SOPA?

SOPA is a piece of proposed legislation in the House of Representatives aimed at, you guessed it, stopping piracy. The main proponent of the bill is the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and is sponsored by Congressman Lamar Smith (R-Texas). The bill has both strong bipartisan support and strong bipartisan opposition. In other words, this is not at all an issue divided down party lines. Last weekend, the White House came out in opposition to the bill due to concerns about national cyber-security. A very similar bill is to be voted on in the Senate on Jan. 24, called the Protect IP Act (PIPA).

The bill’s proponents claim that the bill is aimed at stopping the piracy of American intellectual property by foreign agents. The Wall Street Journal has an excellent FAQ covering most of the basics of the bill.

So what’s the harm?

Free speech, due process and commercial viability of Internet sites who accept user-generated content are all at risk due to this legislation.

The trouble is in the wording of the bill, which gives the government and copyright holders enormous new powers to stop sites they believe are violating their intellectual property. And while the bill is targeted at foreign agents, nebulous wording would allow for significant compliance and liability costs to be passed along to organizations such as ours. This burden could easily put an organization such as The Sacramento Press out of business.

Even the well-known constitutional lawyer Floyd Abrams, who was paid by the MPAA to write a letter touting the bill, admits that, “When injunctive relief includes blocking domain names, the blockage of non-infringing or protected content may result.” Censoring a little free speech can’t hurt that much, right?

Why SOPA?

That’s a good question and one of my biggest problems with the bill. The bill is premised on the idea the piracy is rampant AND that it causes material harm to the United States in the form of lost jobs and lost revenue. The question is, where’s the proof? Tim O’Reilly, owner of O’Reilly Books and a successful digital and print publisher (owner of lots of intellectual property) says it best:

“There's no question in my mind that piracy exists, that people around the world are enjoying creative content without paying for it, and even that some criminals are profiting by redistributing it. But is there actual economic harm?”

I believe that it should be the burden of the proponents of the bill to prove economic harm before seeking a legislative solution.

There has only been one significant independent study done on international piracy concerns, and one of the conclusions it makes is, “…we see little reason to think that changes in IP protection or enforcement will significantly affect (international piracy).”

This is bad legislation that restricts our rights, is aimed a problem that possibly doesn’t exist and will likely do little to prevent what piracy does.

For these reasons, our company strongly opposes SOPA and PIPA.

I’m happy to answer any question and concerns you might have in the conversation below. Here is a link to the full text of the bill.

Disclosure: I contribute $10 a month to a lobbying effort known as Demand Progress. It currently lobbies against SOPA/PIPA. For more info, visit demandprogress.org.

Sacpress mobile site has landed

2011-09-21T16:06:56Z

As of today The Sacramento Press has an official mobile site. The great thing about this mobile site is that it can be found at the same location as our regular site, it's way more readable on your average smartphone. Our great development team optimized most of the pages on our site for the mobile browsing experience and those pages include:

Sign-up
Log in
Front Page and Tag Pages
User Profiles
Search

The other big feature we are launching is a developer API. An API or Application Programming Interface is a way for someone to interact with our site programatically. So if someone wanted to make an application for a phone or the Web that used our publicly available data, now they can do so easily. You can sign up for an API key at the following location: http://www.sacramentopress.com/usertools/apisignup.

Beyond that, as usual, we have fixed many minor issues and implemented many new tools for our support staff – tools to help our site function better and more effeciently. And though you may not see those tools directly, you will see their results through increased coverage and quality on our site.

I hope you enjoy the new mobile site and API. As always please feel free to send me feedback directly by emailing feedback@sacramentopress.com

Disclosure yourself, or else

2011-07-06T22:13:32Z

You know who you are, but when you write for The Sacramento Press, our readers might not.

That’s part of the impetus behind today’s site update concerning disclosures.

We have added a new section to our “write article” page that pokes and prods everyone from staff to community contributors to disclose personal and professional affiliations to anything discussed in stories.

This update goes hand-in-hand with an update to our terms of use policy, which now requires a disclosure in any circumstance where a contributor has a “personal or professional interest in the subject matter of such article.”

The interface is clean and simple and is just a text area that allows you to add a short description of your affiliation with anything in an article. It’s obviously optional if you don’t have personal involvement with the article!

It also saves your last three unique disclosure statements, so if you regularly need to disclose an affiliation, such as public relations professionals, it is one click to pop in a previous disclosure.

Once you add a disclosure, it will show in a consistent way at the bottom of each article and be offset from the article text, as seen in the screenshot below.

Our goal with this new feature is to make all personal affiliations as clear and transparent as possible. When you have more than 1,000 unique contributors to your site, a mark we just passed last month, it requires an enormous amount of transparency to help build trust. We hope that this update is another step in that direction.

Blogs can offer moms friendship, lifeline

2011-05-04T00:20:52Z

When 34-year-old Elizabeth Jackson was a first-time mom staying home alone to raise her son, she felt isolated and sometimes unsure of herself – but a creative outlet her mother never knew of when she was an infant helped her feel connected and confident – her blog.

“The community was the best thing,” she said. “Being a mom is so isolating.”

The isolation, she said, comes from not being able to have a conversation with an infant – who was the only one home. For Jackson, the isolation was made harder, as she was new to Sacramento, but her blog gave her a ready community of people going through the same things, and they were always just an email away.

“You have all these questions,” she said. “You don’t know if you’re doing it right.”

She had already built up a following on her blog, which she started six years ago – before her 4-year-old son Eli was born.

Before then, her blog had been about her day-to-day life without kids.

“I just love to write, and it was more meaningful than writing in a journal because I knew people were reading it,” she said.

Blogging about Eli and, more recently, her 10-month-old daughter Katherine made parenting a lot easier.

“I really, really don’t know how I would have done it without my blog,” she said. “It was my lifeline.”

According to Jackson, blogging is a good outlet for more than moms, as there are myriad communities of bloggers on any conceivable topic, and they’re just a Google search away.

She had come to Sacramento with her husband, who got a job working for the state after finishing school in Lincoln, Neb.

While Jackson still blogs about her kids, her blog focuses on her day-to-day activities, and unlike a journal, she said the public nature of her blog means she doesn’t always speak her mind.

“I know my in-laws read it, so if I’m mad at my husband, I don’t want to blog about it,” she said with a laugh.

Sara Malan, who lives in Oakland, said she has been a friend of Jackson’s since they were 10 years old.

“I think (her blog) is great,” Malan said. “She’s an amazing writer, and it’s something I would never get to read if she didn’t blog. She wrote about when my daughter was born, and it was emotional and touching.”

Jackson said that even if new moms don’t feel comfortable putting their own writing on the Internet for everyone to see, just reading other blogs written by moms can be a reassuring and helpful experience, and that by commenting on them and taking part in discussions, it can help build the community she said she has been fortunate to become a part of.

“It saved me,” she said.

Some local bloggers she said she enjoys reading are: Holly, Sarah (who just had a baby), Mel (who has kids) and
Amy.

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

Men walk a mile in high heels to support WEAVE

2011-05-02T04:47:26Z

Men of all ages and shoe sizes gathered at the corner of 18th Street and Capitol Avenue, ready to walk one mile in women’s high heels to support WEAVE’s first “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” event.

“There are so many men that are affected by sexual assault, and this is a way for men to show their support,” said Amber Stott, WEAVE director of communications relations.

Stott estimated that since Friday WEAVE has raised over $63, 000.

Stott said all proceeds will go to WEAVE and benefit the various services that WEAVE provides, including counseling, WEAVE safe house, legal assistance, prevention programs and 24-hour support and response teams to help survivors of sexual assault.

In addition to hosting the event, WEAVE members also participated.

“We thought it was important to bring attention to the issue of sexual assault, and this is a really great way to spotlight this issue,” WEAVE board member Bryan Merica said while wearing his gold heels, knee-high socks and white headband.

The River City Gems, a transgender and cross-dressing support organization, also played a big part in the event.

Member Melissa Hansen, 51, said WEAVE contacted the River City Gems to help with the shoe distribution process and to coach the men walking in heels.

At 10 a.m. Saturday, 215 men walked toward the starting line as a crowd of up to 500 people cheered them on.

Roseville resident Shannon Pagel, 22, said she came to support her boyfriend, Dan Thompson.

“It’s fun to see men appreciate what women go through,” Pagel said.

The men anxiously waited at 19th and Capitol as retired news anchor Stan Atkinson announced the guidelines for the race.

“After the completion of each lap you will receive a different color lei and your race master will count your leis at the end of the race,” Atkinson said. “We not only encourage cheating, but we recommend it. May the best fellow win.”

The men took off walking and running in their heels of blue, white, gold and red as the crowd cheered in excitement, taking pictures and laughing.

Some men held signs that said “I am man enough to walk in her shoes” and “Put yourself in her shoes.”

Toward the end of the race, some of the men struggled in their heels, taking off one shoe, and eventually walking barefoot until the race ended.

“In my mind I didn’t think it would be that difficult to walk in a pair of heels, but after the first five minutes I thought, I’m in trouble,” said Jeff Briggs, 40, who lives in Carmichael.

The men who had completed the race wore three leis of purple, red and black around their necks.

After the race was over, the crowd shifted to the main stage on the corner of 19th and Capitol Avenue, where members of WEAVE gave out awards to participants.

The first award was presented to Santiago Proano, 39, a resident of Midtown, for “dude with the hairiest legs.” Atkinson handed Proano a large jewelry box with a silver pearl necklace with the words “Hairiest legs” written inside the box.

“This is great,” Proano said. “I’m so proud of it and I would do it again!”

Out of four teams, Activate Direct won for “most team spirit.”

Team member Matthew Eagan, 30, said it felt great to win and was happy to have a full team at the event to support WEAVE.

Sammy Cemo, 70, raised the most money for WEAVE with a total of $5,125.

“It was pretty easy,” he said. “There are so many people that are aware of WEAVE.”

The after-party kicked off at the Beer and Wine Garden, with free alcohol and live entertainment by Azuar. Vendors and information booths were set up in support of the event, including The Sacramento Bee, First Aid, Icing on a Cupcake and Le Spa.

Le Spa manager Robin Fischer, 48, said she heard about the event on the radio and thought it was a great idea.

“I think this event has been super! ” she said. “I’m totally impressed!”

Most of the men had taken off their heels by then, but Jason Poole, 27, founder of Bar in a Jar, still had on his high heels.

Poole said his teammates suffered from ankle scrapes and bruises, but he ran five laps, surpassing the one-mile goal. He said he definitely would participate again.

WEAVE volunteers were satisfied with the turnout of their first Walk a Mile in Her Shoes event.

Stott hopes men will walk away with the ability to talk about women’s issues.

“We will definitely have it again next year,” Stott said.

Beta no more

2011-04-21T18:39:43Z

It’s been nearly two and half years since we launched The Sacramento Press, and today we released a few changes (more than just the temporary purple color), one of which is removing the beta stamp from our navigation.

What is a beta stamp, you ask? Well, since you can no longer see it on our site, I grabbed this screenshot of what it used to look like.

Beta generally indicates that a company is still working out the kinks in their core product. But we finally are happy to say we feel pretty happy with what we have, so no more beta!

Does this mean we stop working on new features? Absolutely not. We will in fact bring new and increasingly cool features to The Sacramento Press over the course of this year and beyond.

To that point our co-founder and VP of technology Joel Rosenberg has assembled this quick overview of what else will see changed on our site as of today.

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Highlighting the Comments of an Article's Author

An article author's comments will now stand out in the conversation. This allows readers to quickly know when the writer may be providing greater detail, correcting a mistake, or just jumping into the action.

No more "107 Weeks Ago"

We're changing how we show the age of comments and articles in search results and lists. Currently, we show how old an article is in terms of minutes, hours, days, and weeks. Now we'll be removing weeks, adding months and showing the year and month an article or comment was published if it's more than a year old.

Facebook and Twitter links

We now promote our official Facebook and Twitter account at the top of every page.

Curated front page RSS feeds

We're adding RSS feeds for all laid-out front pages (and tag pages). This allows us to have a feed that represents curated content that is changed daily. We can give these feeds to third parties knowing that spammy or offensive articles won't show up and surprise us.

Trimming down RSS entries when things change

When we have to fix a typo in an article or when a user updates his comment, some RSS readers will often add a new entry instead of updating the old one. This change will help RSS software see changes as updates to old entries, not new entries.

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So there you go, lots of new stuff to play with. In the coming weeks, look for even more changes such as video and audio on our homepage and even more exciting features.

New Sacramento Community Resource Directory.

2011-03-28T23:45:25Z

Each day there are hundreds of individuals and families living without basic human needs, such as food and shelter right in our own Sacramento County. Using Sacramento Community Family Resources website statics which received over 97,000 page views since January 1st 2011 there were over:

• 1,728 Unique page views from words such as “homeless shelters in Sacramento”.
• 2,945 Unique page views from words such as “food closet locations in Sacramento”.

The list can go on and on, but the most important thing to know is that each of these numbers is an individual or family that is in immediate need of food or shelter.
The question is “do we really need research and statistics to tell us that the economy is bad?” No we don’t. We can all see for ourselves when we drive to work or the store that families in our community are in distress. At that time, you will see someone pushing their over filled shopping cart, standing on the corner holding up a torn paper sign, or on raining days you can see people huddled with their belongings under a roof top. All of the people you see in this type of situation are important, many are moms and dads of children that look up to them.

Solutions are not always easy, even with knowing that over a thousand people looked for emergency shelter this year, then who will use this research or data to open a shelter? Probably no one. And the sad part is that they who need help the most are not always in the “statistics”. No matter what research or statics show, the bottom line is that solutions always take money and time – the two things we seem to have very little of.

So, this article hasn’t said anything you did not already seen for yourself…right. Now what do “I” do to help? Well, the first thing would be to volunteer. Even a little bit of your time makes a huge difference to someone even if it is to just let them know you care. A good place to start with volunteering is http://www.cityofsacramento.org/volunteers/.

The next thing to do is find out what help is available in our community. I would begin with Sacramento Community Family Resources at www.OneFathersLove.com. There I can find updated information from all of the emergency shelters and food closets where I can even download it all to print. Okay now let’s pass that information on to they who need help since it is now easy and free to help others. In fact, two years ago I wanted to help our community so much that I created and published Sacramento’s one and only Sacramento Community Resource Directory! Now Sacramento has a directory of thousands of community and faith-based services. So, we have now identified a huge underserved population in our community and came up with an effective solution to help the families! Yeaaa! “I” hope everyone else will do the same and by all means please post a reply if you have a "better idea", suggestion or even a valuable resource we should know about!

Captions, credits and continuing changes on Sacpress

2011-01-18T08:55:23Z

Now you can add captions and credits to images that you upload to the site.

Because we have added captions and credits, the interface has changed for adding pictures to the slide show at the top of each story. The interface will allow you to give yourself a photo credit and assign multiple captions at the same time. Captions are optional, but image credits are required.

You can also rearrange your pictures by simply dragging and dropping the rows into the appropriate order. You drag a picture by clicking the gridded dot icon located just to the left of your picture.

In order to display this new information, we had to change the look and feel of the article’s slide show gallery. Captions and credits will appear next to both the small and large versions of your pictures. If you have never played with the large version of the slide show, you can view it simply by clicking on a picture.

Your image credits will show up on pages that are laid out by our editorial department, such as the front page. You may have already noticed these during the past few weeks. They appear when you hover your mouse over any image.

Check out the slide show for this article – there are several screenshots that illustrate these new features.

Please feel free to ask any questions or put any comments in the conversation below or e-mail me directly at feedback@sacramentopress.com.

Sacramento Area Could Win $1 Million to Fight Hunger!

2010-12-30T22:33:09Z

A Wal-Mart Facebook campaign is helping to raise awareness of hunger in our communities while offering $1 million dollars to the fight. One in five Californians is food insecure and in the Sacramento area 17.7% of families (national average: 9.2%) cannot afford regular meals.

Sacramento needs your help! Anyone with a Facebook can participate and support the fight against hunger by visiting the website and “liking” Sacramento. Wal-Mart will donate $1 million to the community with the most support and $100,000 each to the next five communities. The Sacramento area is currently in 7th place. The deadline is December 31, 2010, 4pm PST.

Spread the word
Once you've “Liked” Sacramento, there's still more you can do. Share it with your friends. Get their support. You'll not only be helping out the Sacramento area, you'll be raising awareness of the hunger problem in America.

Thank you for your support and let’s get voting!

Sacramento County Department of Human Assistance Funds Winter Shelter for Homeless

2010-12-06T17:28:57Z

The Department of Human Assistance (DHA), in conjunction with its partners, Volunteers of America and Sacramento Area Emergency Housing Center (SAEHC) will provide winter housing and shelter to homeless families from December 1, 2010, through March 31, 2011. DHA will provide $150,000 in funding. With half of this funding Volunteers of America will be able to provide up to 25 beds for families at 3547 Myrtle Avenue, and with the other half SAEHC will be able to provide up to 25 beds for families at 3671 5th Avenue.

“Sacramento County is committed to helping the homeless in our community,” said Paul Lake, DHA Interim Director. “While the funding amount is less than in previous years, it will provide shelter for many homeless families who otherwise would be spending very cold and rainy nights on the streets. We are thankful to our partners who provide these much needed services.”

Other partners, Sacramento Steps Forward (SSF), Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency (SHRA), and homeless service providers, will support winter shelter for single adults.

Sacramento Steps Forward is coordinating a faith-based nomadic shelter program to house up to 100 single adults per night. SHRA also plans to contract with Sacramento Area Emergency Housing Center (SAEHC) to provide motel vouchers for the most vulnerable homeless families and individuals. Funding for these efforts will come from private faith contributions, anticipated foundations grants, and up to $100,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds received by SHRA and approved by the Board in 2009 for homeless activities.

The Department of Human Assistance provides homeless programs from emergency shelters and transitional housing. Both provide different levels and kinds of services. DHA is also a partner with the City of Sacramento in the 10 Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness approved by the Board of Supervisors in 2006.

Disclosure: Lucinda Serynek is employed by the Sacramento County Department of Human Assistance Communications and Media Officer

Severe Weather Alert: Warming Centers Open for Homeless People in Sacramento

2010-11-23T20:42:11Z

An early bout of severe weather will hit Sacramento tonight through Wednesday night, endangering the lives of the approximately 1,200 homeless men, women and children sleeping outside in Sacramento County. The next three days will see lows of 28 degrees to 30 degrees, with rain forecasted for this evening.

Due to the projected low temperatures, warming centers are being activated for Tuesday, November 23, Wednesday, November 24, and Thursday, November 25, 2010.

Open warming centers are:

-Volunteers of America A Street Shelter (1400 North A Street, next door to TLCS Guest House: Men only

-Salvation Army Shelter (12th & North B Street): Women and Men, 18 years +

-Union Gospel Mission (400 Bannon Street): Men only

The warming centers are open from 8:00 pm to 6:00 am. The warming centers will close on Friday, November 26. An additional bulletin will follow if the dates of availability are extended.

Please note: this is not a sleeping arrangement. This is a place to get out of the weather. Unfortunately, animals will not be allowed inside.

Folks can always call 2-1-1 (or 916-498-1000) from their phones to receive up-to-date information on warming centers or shelter in the future.

Additionally, those in need of shelter or housing resources, can visit Sacramento Steps Forward's Find Help: Shelter page for important phone numbers and information. The section on the page titled "Open Beds for Sacramento's Winter Shelter" will be updated with pertinent winter shelter phone numbers and information by the end of the week.

Please pass along this information on warming centers to any persons who might be interested or are in need of shelter from the cold during the next three days.

Do Something Special While You Shop For Your Special Someone

2010-11-10T01:23:47Z

In the true spirit of the Holiday Season, Rogers Jewelry Co. is hosting a benefit for the Sacramento Muscular Dystrophy Association in their newest store, located in Granite Bay Pavilions on the corner of Sierra College Boulevard and Eureka Road in Roseville.

On Sunday, 100 percent of the proceeds of all sales will be donated directly to the Sacramento Muscular Dystrophy Association.

The MDA helps provide care and treatment of individuals with neuro-muscular and skeletal dysfunctions as well as funds research into diseases of the spine and central nervous system. Most people know the MDA from their main fundraising effort, the Labor Day Telethon hosted by comedian Jerry Lewis.

Rogers is opening the Roseville store, typically closed on Sunday, exclusively for this special event. In addition to donating all the proceeds from this one-day sale, there will be champagne and wine tasting, hors d’oeuvres and special pricing for the day on nearly everything in the store.

Rogers has been a part of the Sacramento landscape for nearly 70 years and believes that it's important to give back to the community in meaningful ways.

"We have a duty to support the cities and towns where we do business" said Robert Marks, president of Rogers Jewelry Co. and grandson of the founder. "Rogers was founded on the principals of service and integrity, and we're extremely proud to support the Sacramento MDA and their important work."

The event to support the Sacramento Muscular Dystrophy Association is being held at the Rogers Jewelry Co. store located at 9217 Sierra College Blvd. in Roseville from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. For more information, call 916-782-1505.

Disclosure: Calvin Curtin is the Director of Marketing and Public Relations for Rogers Jewelry Co

Student Associations Register 40,000 New California Voters for Tomorrow’s Election

2010-11-01T19:10:07Z

California Universities Collaborate in Voter Registration Initiative

Student Associations Register 40,000 New California Voters for Tomorrow’s Election

Students in California’s state universities partnered in a major statewide voter registration initiative this season, resulting in 40,000 additional college students registered and mobilized for tomorrow’s election. Sponsored by the California State Student Association (CSSA) and University of California Student Association (UCSA), each of the 23 CSU and ten UC campuses encouraged students to become more active in and to vote in the 2010 California Midterm election.

Campuses from San Diego to Humboldt participated in the bold initiative, recognizing tomorrow’s election will be a critical decision making time for California voters. Each of the universities set to register 10 percent of campus population. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo led the CSU system by registering 2,422 students, 142 percent of their projected goal. Other notable universities were CSU Fullerton and San Francisco State University.

During this election season, campuses hosted gubernatorial debates, rallies and other ‘Get Out the Vote’ efforts to increase political awareness among the student-voting population. “Democracy only works when people are engaged; students simply can’t afford to sit this one out” says Chris Chavez, CSSA President.

The non-partisan voter registration initiative was a supplement to the advocacy efforts of students in the CSU, UC, and California Community Colleges. Students will continue advocacy efforts to ensure California protects the quality, access and affordability of a public higher education.

Media Contact: Olgalilia Ramírez
Director of Government Relations
Office Phone: (916) 441-4514
E-mail: oramirez@calstate.edu
Web: www.csustudents.org

Love Wins at Project61

2010-10-26T20:36:10Z

Once a month, every month like clockwork since 2005, hundreds of people get together under the 12th street bridge for a love-in. Yes you heard right, and this is probably the first time you have ever heard of it. In fact it happens this Saturday, October 30th at 2:00pm. People come from all over the area dressed in tie-dye and many other forms of clothing, depending on the weather, to create an atmosphere where "Love Wins".

This monthly event is called Project61 and was started by local rapper and motivational speaker Minister RMB in the fall of 2004 with some friends. RMB says, "Everybody wants to know they are valued and loved...regardless of their current situation or background. People desperately need love. Love with no agenda. We have all experienced times of brokenness, failure, loneliness, betrayal, abandonment....and it was during those times that we tried to fill the void with things or people that were not healthy. That is why we do this. We know that only true love can fill the voids out here in the streets and under bridges. Love wins!"

Since then they have gone out on to the streets and any place where there were hurting people in need. They listened to their stories and showed compassion and love to people who had become accustomed to being ignored and rejected. Along with love and compassion they brought food, and friendship became their goal and monthly mission.

Heath Patterson, one of Project 61's founders states passionately, "We will no longer sing,"This land is my Land ,This land is your land" in Sacramento until the unfair laws that infringe upon our homeless brothers and sisters 14th amendment rights are abolished. They fought our Wars, Served in our armed forces, and worked in our marketplaces, contributing to the success of this City and our nation. Illegal to be homeless? You outta be ashamed Sacramento!"

When getting close to the last Saturday of every month, Project61 puts out a call through their website, Facebook and email, to call the volunteers together for their monthly dose of giving unconditional love. The monthly gathering is more of an anticipated excitement from both the volunteers and the homeless guest that usually number between 100-150 except during the more advertised events “Feast for the Forgotten” and the annual Michael “Gremlin” Wentworth memorial banquet. “Gremlin” was a well known homeless advocate for the homeless community who was murdered in an attempt to help a homeless man being chased by two men. Those two events will draw hundreds more people than a usual month.

The monthly feast usually includes BBQ hot links, 1/3 lb cheeseburgers, chicken, lasagna and all of the side dishes that go with these foods. Because these feasts have been going on for five years, it has the atmosphere of a very well organized picnic which makes it more of a family event than a typical food and clothing hand out. After the picnic is over they give out warm clothes, socks, blankets, sleeping bags and personal hygiene items to hold them over during the coming month.

A recent volunteer, Debbie Andreasen from Kids Care Dental Group wrote this about her Project61 experience:

"I was encouraged by Minister RMB and Heath Patterson to come to Project 61 in August just to observe. I was so taken away by the caring and compassion of the whole experience. I went to my office and asked the girls if we could get involved in the project. After showing them the pictures of people who gathered that day and the love they shared, all of the girls were completely excited. We put together a small donation of food, clothing, flashlights, batteries and tarps to share. It was the most amazing experience we could have accomplished together. It made us bond as a working team but most of all it made us bond with people we didn't even know over one special cause. We enjoyed conversation, hugs and the true meaning of love! They are not "homeless people" they are "wonderful people" who endure the same trials we all do. As a single mother who struggles every day to give her teenage daughter the very best...I have been completely humbled by this experience and so has she!!!"

For years these events have been funded by the volunteer's personal donations. Today Project61 is looking for sponsors, business or personal who like to see hands on community efforts in helping the sector of society who for whatever purpose have been added to the ranks of the homeless population. Project61 is all volunteer help with no paid staff. 100% of all donations go directly into this local event helping local people. The average monthly cost to put these on is anywhere between $200-$500. That amount goes very far considering they feed around 150 people each month.

To volunteer to help or make any donation of food or clothing, their contact email is: projectsixty1@gmail.com

To see more of what Project 61 does, please take a moment to watch this video http://vimeo.com/5690228

Add them on Facebook for updates & upcoming opportunities to serve: www.facebook.com/projectsixtyone

And for even more information go to myspace.com/projectsixtyone

Source: Photos supplied by Project61.

Tired of renting? Dream of owning your own home? Learn how it can become a reality.

2010-10-25T23:11:50Z

Sacramento Habitat for Humanity (SHfH) is a nonprofit organization committed to building quality, energy-efficient, affordable housing in partnership with low-income families in Sacramento County.

There is an immediate opportunity for families in need – which have the ability to make small monthly mortgage payments, whose credit record can demonstrate responsibility, and which have the desire to help themselves and other families in need – to be able to own a home.

SHfH works with selected low-income partner families who want to learn what it takes to become responsible homeowners. Qualified families will partner with SHfH to build and purchase their own homes with no down payment and with a zero-interest loan. A typical mortgage is no more than 30 percent of the homeowner's gross income.

If you are interested in applying to become a homeowner with SHfH, please register to attend a Sacramento Habitat for Humanity Homeowner Orientation at the Oak Park United Methodist Church (3600 Broadway) from 9:30 - 11:30 a.m., on the following Saturdays:

Nov. 6
Dec. 4

RSVP to Ashley Tully, AmeriCorps – Family Services Representative at (916) 440-1215 ext. 1111 or atully@shfh.org. (Parents – children may not attend the meeting).

Susan G. Komen's Bid For The Cure

2010-10-21T00:09:52Z

Pink! Pink! Pink!

Pink is plastered everywhere. From the NFL and the MLB players wearing pink, to hundred of placements in the grocery stores, on the TV and in print, it’s impossible to go anywhere without seeing pink. Does anyone not know that it’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month? In Sacramento, the Susan G. Komen Foundation twist is “In the Pink”. They started the month off with “Call for the Cure,” a very successful telethon sponsored by KCRA/MY58 that raised an incredible $84,000. Local restaurants, including all in the Paragary chain, are participating in the “Dine Out for the Cure” by donating proceeds from special pink items on their menus. The Baron Gallery is one of many art galleries involved with “Create for the Cure,” where proceeds from donated pieces of art will go to the cause.

The big event is “Bid for the Cure”. Sacramento’s Benefit Auctioneer David Sobon’s entertaining style will show you how much fun it is to help find a cure. A very rare pink diamond butterfly necklace from Michael Greene Jewelry is up for bid, along with a masterpiece created by Chaos Glass Works just for the event. A wine maker’s dinner at Entoria Restaurant for 10 with wines from Sobon Estates and art commissioned for breast cancer research are a few more of many unique ways to help. With most of us affected by breast cancer in some way, $125 is a small price to pay to save a life. That’s the cost of a mammogram.

Held at the beautiful Vizcaya Mansion, this Thursday the 21st of October, there are just a few tickets still available at www.komensacramento.org.

Think “In the Pink” for another great reason to give, Sacramento.

Burned to Ashes

2010-10-08T22:22:40Z

Watching the news everyday is very frustrating seeing that nearly every part of Sacramento has a house that has been damaged by an "Unknown Character" who is setting innocent peoples houses on fire, for what reason? What are the police, community doing about this problem? I hate to see people out of house & home because of someones carelessness to other properties. Its just such a coincedence that every single day there is a fire. I just want it to stop because I REFUSE to be a victim to this mess. What can we do to prevent it?

Rainbow Chamber of Commerce's "Simply Fabulous" Installation Gala & Live Auction

2010-10-01T16:38:27Z

For local businesses all over Sacramento, there’s nothing like making great connections, branching out your network, and reaching consumers in need of your products. The Rainbow Chamber of Commerce provides an umbrella of networking opportunities for gays, lesbians and gay-friendly business owners through monthly mixers to political and community social events. Thanks to the success of its exceptional members, the Rainbow Chamber of Commerce gives back to our city through the Rainbow Chamber Foundation. Providing college scholarships and leadership awards to outstanding gay, lesbian and gay-friendly youth, the RCC Foundation takes tremendous steps forward to help improve the lives of the GLBT community of Sacramento.
On October 5, 2010, the RCC welcomes you to come celebrate in style at the annual gala, which is set to be “Simply Fabulous”, 5:30-9:00pm at the Courtyard Marriot Cal Expo! Hosted by comedian Jason Dudely and welcoming the new board members of the RCC, come feast on a delectable dinner with friends, coworkers, colleagues and new friends! You won’t want to miss a “Fabulous” live auction by David Sobon of David Sobon Auctions. Tickets for the event are available online for $125 pre-sale, $150 at the door. Proceeds go to benefit the Rainbow Chamber Foundation scholarship program as well as Equality California, GSA Network and The Trevor Project. For information and to purchase tickets please visit rccgala.com

This article is a Collaboration with Joey O'shea, Non-Profit Specialist of Profitfornonprofits.org

Sacramento Child Advocates' A Wine Benefit For Children, Celeb Cook Off & Helicopter Golf Ball Drop

2010-09-23T22:53:08Z

When children are brought into this world, the universal hope for them is a loving, supportive, healthy life, with loving parents, a good education, and every need met with the utmost satisfaction. The sad truth is that even in our own Sacramento community, children are placed into the foster care system. Child abuse, neglect, drug addiction, and poverty are only a few of the nightmares faced by many young members of our city. These kids never asked to be in these situations nor do they have much of a say as to what happens to them including where they live or where they go to school. This is where Sacramento Child Advocates comes in! They have Given a voice and protected the rights of over 5000 abused and neglected children since 1991.
To celebrate their incomparable service to Sacramento’s youth in need and to ensure the services continue, SCA is holding a Wine Benefit for Children, this Saturday, September 25, 2010, 5:30 to 8:00pm at the private estate of Robert Buccola of Dreyer, Babich, Buccolla & Wood, LLP. We’re talking a wine party with Silver Oak, Caymus, and Rombauer and food from many local celebs like Rick Kushman and Jane Scully. You won’t want to miss a fantastic live auction with David Sobon of David Sobon Auctions. A two-bedroom condo in San Diego, a helicopter ride, and a chalet to Napa are just a few of the items up for bid!
Then to top it all off, A Wine Benefit for Children will showcase a Helicopter Golf Ball Drop! An extraordinary event where golf balls will be dropped out of the helicopter and whichever ball lands closest to the pin, wins! Prizes include: 1st place, $1,000 cash and 2 Southwest Airline Tickets; 2nd place, $500 cash; and 3rd place, $250 cash. Individual golf balls cost $25 each or you can get 5 golf balls for $100. To help the kids by purchasing golf balls, please contact Laura Fast 916-364-2342 or Lfast@sacchildadv.org.
Sacramento Child Advocates serves the young people of our city that feel alone, lost, and forgotten. It’s time to show those kids we support them and buy a ticket to this event you will never forget! Tickets to this outstanding event are $100 and can be purchased online at http://www.sacchildadv.org/fund.shtml.

After Hours Event: Huge Success

2010-09-20T16:30:19Z

400 friends & I attended the best party Fairytale Town has ever seen and the generosity of the Sacramenten's was truly evident. Benefitting the Sacramento Area Emergency Housing Center, the wining, dinning and dancing added to the highlight of the event, the live auction. Every paddle raised went towards helping the homeless issue in Sacramento. David Sobon of David Sobon Auctions entertained and engaged the crowd into a bidding frenzy. It was fun to watch and got me raising my paddle too.

The participating restaurants were fabulous, a mix of comfort food and elegant dishes. The wine was enjoyable and satisfying with all the local favorites in the house. A perfect event at Fairytale Town that was fun and simple. It felt good knowing that everything was going to help a great charity, another great reason to give Sacramento.

Ask the County Law Librarian - Criminal Background Checks

2010-09-16T20:31:04Z

Q: I met a guy who I really like, but a friend told me she heard he had a “record.” How can I do a background check to find out for sure?

Jen

A: Unfortunately, running a criminal background check is not as simple as one might think. Criminal convictions are generally public records, and anyone can go to a court clerk's office and search the files for records of conviction for a certain person. However, there’s no publicly available single database you can search for California. If you wanted to find out if someone had a criminal record, theoretically you would have to visit the courts of every county in your state -- and in the country, if you wanted to be really thorough.

The California and federal Justice Departments do have more comprehensive records. However, individuals cannot search those records. Only other state agencies and some employers have access to these databases.

If you were looking for your own California criminal records, you could submit a request to the California Attorney General’s office, along with your fingerprints. For more information about that, visit "Criminal Records - Request Your Own" on the Attorney General's website.

Here's an in-depth article on criminal records searching from www.llrx.com, a website run by and for law librarians: "Navigating the Maze of Criminal Records Retrieval." You can also visit the Law Library for books on using public records to check into people’s background, including “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Private Investigating,” which has a whole chapter on background checks.

Best of luck!

Do you have a question for the County Law Librarian? Just email sacpress@saclaw.org. If your question is selected your answer will appear in next Thursday's column. Even if your question isn't selected, though, I will still respond within two weeks.

Coral Henning, Director
@coralh & @saclawlibrarian

www.saclaw.org

Alternative Pregnancy Center's Catch A Falling Star - Annual Gala For Life Dinner

2010-09-15T18:10:55Z

   How do words like helpless, lost and hopeless turn into words like support, confidence, and healing? They do, with the resources and services of the Alternatives Pregnancy Center. The center lifts up an individual struggling with the fear, decision, and consequences of an unplanned pregnancy by providing possibly life saving services including counseling, prenatal care, pregnancy checkups and sonograms, as well as parenting classes and aftercare.
   To help celebrate and continue their unmatched work in the community, Alternatives Pregnancy Center is having their “Catch a Falling Star- Annual Gala for Life“, on Sept. 24th, 2010 at 6:00 pm at the Sacramento Hyatt Regency Grand Ballroom. The event will include a wine tasting, dinner, a raffle of a brand new Jacuzzi, and a special appearance by a former Miss Sacramento. The live auction by David Sobon of David Sobon Auctions will help raise money to ensure these FREE services will continue. A few of the items up for bid include airplane rides for 4 to The Monterey Ritz Carlton and Napa for wine tasting Plus a Deluxe Spa Package with an overnight hotel stay in The Governor’s Suite at La Rivage, dinner at Scott’s Seafood and spa services at LaLe Spa. The Margie Ruiz Jazz Band will be providing a delightful ambience of live music throughout the night. The tickets for the event are $65.00 or $600 for a table of ten.
   The Alternatives Pregnancy Center provides teen/parent education for prevention, medical support and honest, up-front information about pregnancy alternatives, as well as after-care and ongoing healing for women. The center’s services are unprecedented in the lives women and men facing the struggle of an unplanned pregnancy since the early 1980’s. Their medical clinic is fully licensed by the State of California and they offer their services at free or little cost to the parents in need, and the effects last a lifetime! For more information and tickets, please visit http://alternativespc.org/index.php/announcements/catch-a-falling-star-2010.html.

Contributions from Kathy Heggum, M.F.T. of profitfornonprofits.org

Sacramento Area Emergency Housing Center's After Hours: Wine Event & Live Auction

2010-09-03T00:42:02Z

In every fairytale the good guys always win, the bad guys always lose, and there’s always a “Happily Ever After“. Real life however, is a very different tale. Financial woes, unemployment, addictions, and lack of support hit so many Sacramento residents who then find themselves with nowhere to go. Thankfully there is a program like the Sacramento Area Emergency Housing Center that helps and supports these families in their time of crisis. Just like a real life fairy godmother.

Seems only fitting that on September 10th, 2010 Sacramento Area Emergency Housing Center will be having their 18th annual After Hours: Wine Event & Live Auction fundraiser at Fairytale Town in William Land Park. Tickets are on sale for $50.00 per person for an evening under the stars filled with fine wines, delicious food tasting, and live music. There is a newly added live auction performed by Benefit Auctioneer David Sobon of David Sobon Auctions. Some of the items up for bid are A San Francisco Getaway at The Ritz Carlton, Golf for A Year & A Beach Cruiser Bicycle. Featured live music acts include The Retronaunts and The Putah Creek Crawdads. Be sure to look for the Wall of Wine, a Lottery-Style wine purchase!

So for the same price as a restaurant dinner, come feast and dance the night away in the spirit of helping the SAEHC who has served many families and young people turn their lives around. Since 1972 the non-profit SAEHC has helped over 10,000 families receive housing services, 68 % of the participants are children. Additional programs offered include self-sufficiency workshops, living skills, parenting classes, and mental health care to name a few. Support Sacramento Area Emergency Housing Center as they shape the lives of so many people in our community. A true reason for Sacramento to give. For tickets and more information please visit http://www.saehc.org/fttah.php

How do I get another Storyline?

2010-08-10T00:24:36Z

All Sacramento Press community contributors are given four storylines when they first sign up for an account.

Some users never go through all four storylines. Most active writers will use up their storylines quickly.

To get more storylines, send an e-mail to support@sacramentopress.com.

Here are instructions on how to create a new storyline:

1. Click on the "Write" button at the top of the Sacramento Press home page.

2. This will take you to the screen that lists all of the stories you've written. Scroll down to the very bottom of this page.

3. You'll see that you have remaining storylines. Click on the button that reads "Add New Storyline."

4. Name your storyline and add a description if you'd like. This is NOT where you paste your article. You paste your article in the next page. After you've named your storyline, click "Create Now!"

5. This will take you back to the page that lists all of your articles. To write an article using your new storyline, click "Write New Article."

6. Make sure you click on the box next to your newly created storyline.

7. Once you've selected the storyline, paste your story in the content box below and publish as you normally would.

Sacramentan to Glorify Nation – On Moped

2010-08-04T21:39:56Z

Since the birth of the nation there have been great American heroes from Tom Payne to Lil’ Wayne. The next chapter in heroism starts now in an epic 5,700+80 mile journey for love and country – for USA and mopeds.

Steve Rosen, proud resident of Midtown Sacramento and proud designer and owner of a custom ‘USA: A-OK’ vintage pedal start moped – is making an attempt to get himself and his transport to the far-off Swiss alps for an 80-mile race at the face-melting speed of 30km/h (20 mph). He will be the only American participant in the competition, the Red Bull Alpenbrevet. While Rosen is dedicated to winning, he also wants to spotlight his nation, and his community and to build permanent ties from the Sacramento moped scene to the many Europeans who enjoy the utilitarian transport.

The moped, a 1978 Puch Pinto originally marketed through JC Penney, has been stripped, reworked, and reborn as a testament to America’s ‘can-do’ spirit. In patriotic colors and chrome with intricate airbrush of iconic US symbols – the moped screams what we’re all thinking constantly: ‘Hot damn, I love this country.' Pictures of his machine are available on his race blog or at his flickr.

The race is a time-distance rally over three Alpine passes: the Grimsel, the Furka, and the Susten. The winner will be the one who completes the course in as close to four hours and thirty-three minutes as possible--the time it takes to cover the 132km course at 29km/h.

Backing up Rosen is Sacramento-based Motomatic Mopeds, a spotlight company in the moped custom and performance scene. The company’s focus is pretty and fast – from beautiful, hand formed custom metal pieces and sparkling powdercoating jobs to full-out road-racing machines pushing the limits of their tiny 2-stroke powerplants.

Like any true patriot, Rosen has taken a grass-roots, from the ground-up DIY approach to sponsorship and fundraising. His corporate sponsors include businesses that are part of the community: Trumpette, a Sacramento-based couturier to babies of the stars, and Treatland.tv, a purveyor of fine moped performance parts. He’s started a blog – http://steverdoesthealps.blogspot.com – to spread the red, white and blue news of his odyssey far and wide. Team USA's fan participation drive is Inspired by Candidate Obama's smashing fundraising success and the loyalty of public broadcasting's donors. He is accepting microsponsorships on his blog and offering Swiss rewards, including edible ones, to his generous donors.

Switzerland is a small nation in Western Europe. It has four official languages and is known for cheese, chocolate, skiing, and mercenaries that dominated battlefields in the late Middle Ages.

When asked whom he is doing this for, Rosen replied, "I want to give a shout out to them crazy Americans in parts of the country that I never been to. I want to give a shout to the Eskimos. I want to give a shout out to the submarines. I want to give a shout out to the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines."

“From the Crack House to the White House”

2010-08-03T08:58:30Z

“10 years ago I was high on crack cocaine, now I’m high on life.”, these are the words from Sacramento native, Bishop Ron Allen, a former crack cocaine addict for seven years, and now one of the must prominent leaders in the country on the war on drugs.

Allen united with law enforcement agencies from all over the world, who assembled themselves in the nation’s capitol last week to share data and strategies to help fight the escalating war on drugs in this country. The event was hosted by HIDTA (The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program) an organization under the executive order of the White House.

Allen was there with the I.F.B.C. (International Faith Based Coalition), an organization in which he is the founder and director of. The coalition focuses on drug prevention within the faith based community. The organization’s ideology is that people are more likely to receive an anti-drug message from their place of worship, rather than a message brought to them sporadically elsewhere by strangers. Allen, along with other members of his coalition were honored with the HIDTA Award for superior performance.

For more information on the I.F.B.C movement, call 916-807-1210.

(This story was originally written in April of 2010)

By Ray Johnson/Npaphoto.com

How do I fix an error in my story?

2010-07-19T19:37:51Z

Once you publish your story, it’s final, so we encourage you to save it as a draft or view it as a preview before hitting the publish button to make sure you haven’t overlooked any typos or mistakes.

That said, we all make mistakes, and we want your published work looking its best.

If you ever catch a spelling error, typo or spacing issue, send an e-mail to support@sacramentopress.com and we can fix it.

We also offer free copy editing. Send your story to journalism@sacramentopress.com, and we’ll get it edited and back to you within 24 hours.

A mother needs your help!

2010-07-10T05:36:56Z

On July 24, 2010, I Tamika Tillis from Three Hands Together will be having a Community Baby Shower for a mother with terminal Cancer. This devastating disease prevents her from working to take care of her unborn child. By donating cash and in kind items to this cause, you are helping to create a beautiful, joyous memorable event to a woman affected with this unpredictable disease. The color schemes for this event are brown and pink.
I have a personal stake in this particular event. My grandmother died from cancer. Not only do I want to help her, but also the many others diagnosed with cancer. Cancer is a disease that can affect the entire body. Some symptoms of cancer may include loss of appetite, weight loss, hair loss, and loss of cartilage, loss of limbs and organs, fatigue, and weakness. Even simple everyday living skills become increasingly difficult. Everyone is affected differently by these symptoms.

My goal is to raise at least $ 800.00 for this project. This will help with the cost of putting on a successful event for the expectant mother and community guest, which sends a message to the community that we care. Please help me reach that goal with your kind donation. Your donation is tax deductible.
My deadline to get my donations is July 17, 2010. Following the event, I will send out a brief recap of the Three Hands Together Community Baby Shower to all my sponsors.

Thank you in advance for your support. Please call me if you have any questions or comments about the Three Hands Together Community Baby Shower. I can be reached at 916 236-9909.
Tamika Tillis, CEO
Three Hands Together

Cultivating a healthy comment ecosystem

2010-06-24T10:25:51Z

Comments are a crucial and highly valuable part of our site. The core vision for The Sacramento Press is an open media platform to inspire ongoing, healthy conversations and reporting. In addition, when conversation is lively but civil, we see tangible business benefits in terms of page-views and visitor loyalty.

When conversations are dominated by bullying, name-calling or off-topic comments, we see a tangible loss in terms of unique visitors and page-views. Most importantly, it is a severe detriment to our purpose and philosophy and angers our community.

In the last few weeks we have made big pushes internally to correct this. As head of product development, I have had a big part in these changes. Today we are releasing a revised version of our terms of use that explicitly lays out appropriate behavior for our site. We have also made improvements in our ability to ban and suspend users.

By making that last change we have banned our first user from the site. The user we have banned goes by the moniker “bbbbmer.” Our operations staff has had to remove more than 50 comments from this user, and has sent the user more than 40 e-mails and one official system warning. More than 10 users of varying backgrounds have e-mailed us to complain about comments this user has made. For more than any other reason, we are banning “bbbbmer” because he has single-handedly degraded the quality of conversations on our site, primarily through personal attacks and instigation.

This is a sad day for us. While “bbbbmer” had many comments removed from our site, he also made over 1,000 comments which were not removed and often has been a vibrant and positive member of our online community.

This is only the beginning of our planned changes to the commenting system. We have many more changes in the works, from how we operate to technical changes to policy changes.

I personally have attended conferences and led sessions focused on finding long-term solutions to running a healthy comment system. I attended one such conference in Detroit only two weeks ago.

Please let us know in the conversation below what you think of our decision to ban “bbbbmer” and our changes to our terms of use. And please, be courteous, respectful and civil. I will be here all day answering people’s questions, addressing their concerns and removing comments of those who feel the need to express themselves by violating our terms of use.

Thank you for reading and participating on our site. Let the conversation commence!

Fear of Frailty- Lack of Activity Threatens Local Seniors’ Independence

2010-05-25T19:11:02Z

Fear of frailty is of paramount concern not only for Sacramento area seniors, but those local adults ages 35 to 62 – many of whom are daughters – worried about the health and safety of their older loved ones. That’s according to results of a recent national survey of seniors and adult children that reveals staying physically active is a major challenge for seniors.

Lack of activity can lead to a downward spiral of poor health resulting in frailty, a condition that threatens the mind, body and social life of older adults, according to senior care experts.

“We regularly see seniors who are literally trapped in their homes because they are too weak to perform many of the activities they need to remain safe and independent, or to even enjoy life,” said Buck Shaw, owner of the Home Instead Senior Care office serving Sacramento,Roseville,Folsom, Auburn and Grass Valley Ca. “That’s why staying active is viewed by so many as vital to healthy aging. Differences in perceptions between family
caregivers and seniors can make addressing these issues challenging for many families.”

This problem is what prompted Home Instead Senior Care to develop the Get Mom Moving Activity Cards and Web site at www.getmommoving.com, both designed to help keep seniors engaged and fit. These resources provide the tools by which seniors can fight frailty.

A national study conducted for the Home Instead Senior Care® network found that 74 percent of seniors 65 and older say that staying physically active is a major challenge. Adult caregivers see the problem as well: 81 percent of adult caregivers listed staying physically active as a top challenge for seniors. That challenge leads to another worry: 90 percent of seniors in the survey say their greatest fear is loss of independence.*

Frailty can be difficult to define, but most know it when they see it, said Stephanie
Studenski, M.D., M.P.H., one of the nation’s foremost authorities and researchers of mobility, balance disorders and falls in older adults, and director of clinical research for the University of Pittsburgh Institute on Aging. Medical professionals describe frailty as a syndrome of weakness, fatigue and decline in physical activity that may be triggered by hormonal or inflammatory changes or chronic disease states. For some, frailty results from a heart attack or stroke, while another senior might experience falls and weight loss.

Studenski and her colleagues conducted a series of focus groups with health care providers and family caregivers about how they perceive frailty in an effort to better
identify the condition. “I think the thing that was most striking to me was that many family members we talked with perceived that an older person is getting more or less frail based more on social and psychological factors rather than physical factors. Doctors, on the other hand, focused on the physical manifestations in an older adult,” she noted.

Dr. Studenski said that frailty can be both prevented and reversed by activity. “One of the core ideas in aging is that there are underlying problems in the body’s self-correcting mechanism. For example, when a young person is bleeding, the body self-corrects by increasing the heart rate. But older adults, because of medication or health problems, may have lost the ability to self-correct by being able to increase their heart rate. Through activity, though, seniors can build both physical and mental reserves that can help their bodies better tolerate problems that come with aging.”

So, in a very real way, family caregivers who can encourage and integrate physical, mental and social activities in seniors’ lives are helping them ward off frailty and stay healthy. And that addresses seniors’ biggest fear of losing their independence as well. “This topic is at the heart of the concerns that we see each day in the lives of seniors and those who care for them,” said Sacramento Home Instead Senior Care’s Shaw. “Fear of frailty keeps seniors worried about whether they can stay home.”

The Boomer Project, www.boomerproject.com completed online interviews with 523 seniors and 1,279 adult caregivers, ages 35-62, with a parent, stepparent or older relative for whom they or someone in their household provides care.

In a women’s study released last summer, researchers at Columbia and Johns Hopkins Universities discovered the important role activity plays in the fight against frailty and shed new light on what causes the condition.

So how do family caregivers know what to look for? Following, from Stephanie Studenski, M.D., M.P.H., University of Pittsburgh geriatrician and researcher, and Home Instead Senior Care, are the signs that a senior might be becoming frail:

Change. If a senior has always been interested in talking to the neighbors, reading the newspaper or volunteering and is withdrawing from those interests, suggest your loved one see a doctor.
Inactivity. If your senior suddenly becomes less active, investigate what could be the cause.
Slowing down. If grandpa always used to have a bounce in his step and now, suddenly, trudges along, that’s a bad sign.
Loss of appetite and weight. A senior who always had a healthy appetite and doesn’t any more should be of concern to their loved ones.
Unsteadiness. Loss of balance comes with aging but an increasing unsteadiness is a sign that something could be wrong.

To find out how you can help keep a senior active, contact Home Instead Senior Care for a free set of Get Mom Moving Activity Cards: “Activities for the Mind Body and Soul.” 916-920-2273 or www.livehomeinstead.com

Senior Fear Factors . . . . .

Many of the fears that seniors experience relate to the biggest challenge they say they face: staying active. According to a recent survey conducted for Home Instead Senior Care, seniors have these fears about the future, beginning with the greatest fear and in descending order:

1. Loss of independence.
2. Declining health.
3. Running out of money.
4. Not being able to live at home.
5. Death of a spouse or other family member.
6. Inability to manage their own activities of daily living.
7. Not being able to drive.
8. Isolation or loneliness.
9. Strangers caring for them.
10. Fear of falling or hurting themselves.

For more information about how to help seniors at home, contact your local Home Instead Senior Care office.

Please help Big Brothers Big Sisters fund raise for WALK 'N ROCK FOR KIDS

2010-05-12T20:22:38Z

This Saturday Jimmy Valoria, "Big Brother" and Marketing Coordinator for Big Brothers Big Sisters, and his "Little Brother" Saxon are doing a car wash to support their fund raising efforts for WALK ‘N ROCK FOR KIDS. All proceeds of the car wash will directly support the Big Brothers Big Sisters program. Please go out and get your car washed. It will be taking place between the hours of 9a and 2p at the Smog 'N Go parking lot, located at 9580 Harbour Point Dr. in Elk Grove. Please come support and tell everyone you know. If you can not come out, you can also donate directly to Jimmy's online fund raising webpage. To do so, click HERE.

Thank you to Jack Williams and Smog 'N Go for their much-appreciated support of Big Brother's Big Sisters, Walk 'N Rock, and Hope Productions. For more information on Smog 'N Go, visit smogngo.com.

About Walk 'N Rock

WALK ‘N ROCK FOR KIDS, taking place Sunday, May 30, 2010 at Raley Field in West Sacramento, is a fund raising walk and benefit concert event will unite the community for a day of fun to raise funds to support our local children. The event kicks off with a community 5K walk in the morning that begins at Raley Field. Later that same evening, Hope Productions and community corporate partners will host an exclusive VIP reception and benefit concert on our behalf, which is open to the general public. The proceeds from the concert will be divided among this year’s Hope Production Foundation nonprofit alliance partners. The concert will be performed by iconic female rock band Heart, and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Sammy Hagar. For more information on Walk 'N Rock, visit www.bbbs-sac.org.

Is Sacramento County CPS really in danger due to recent funding cuts?

2010-05-12T18:59:56Z

There have been many articles in the Sacramento Bee recently about the fact that CPS is losing all of their funding, the State of CA is not giving them money, and terrifying people by telling them children will be in more danger because there won't be enough people to ensure child safety. However, after researching statistics, it became clear to me that Sacramento County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and Child Protective Services (CPS) are crying wolf just so they have another excuse for their incompetency. CPS is in desperate need of a "way out". They are blaming their failures on a lack of money because of recent funding cuts instead of taking responsibility and being accountable for the failures, incompentantcies, and issues relating to cover-ups. These issues of unaccountabililty, failures at every level of CPS, incompetancies, secrecy, and cover-ups are well documented through several investigations into Sacramento CPS.
The Child Welfare League of America provided the following numbers for the most recent studies:
California received $1,795,256,381 (nearly 1.8 BILLION) in federal funds divided into the following categories:
70.8% was from Title IV-E Foster Care and Adoption Assistance
13.9% was from TANF (a.k.a. WELFARE-food stamps, cash aid)
9.9% was from the Social Services Block Grant
4.2% was from Title IV-B CWS Promoting Safe & Stable Families
1.8% was from Medicaid
1% was from other federal services
That means that the State of CA received $1,271,041,517 (nearly 1.3 BILLION) in federal dollars from Title IV-E Foster Care and Adoption assistance. To fully understand the problematic issues with this, you would need to understand how States qualify for Foster Care and Adoption Assistance funds. A bill was passed in 1997, which provides this money to the Department of Social Services in the amount of $4000- $6000 for each child they get adopted out. But wait...there’s more. In the book WARNING! The Truth about CPS, Don Lyons explains that it’s “just a starting figure in a complex mathematical formula in which each bonus is multiplied by the percentage that the state has managed to exceed its baseline adoption number. The states must maintain this increase in each successive year. [Like compound interest.]”. Basically it means that each year the state has to exceed the number of adoptions from the previous year in order to receive these funds. What?
When I first began to understand how it worked, I had to sit back and let it settle with me. I had such a hopeless feeling and the only thing flashing in my mind was the old quote "Money is the root of all evil.". Well yes, of course it is. Then I realized our government is not immune to greed, especially during tough economic times when funding for programs is dramatically cut. Another quote came to mind soon after that. "The road to hell is paved with good intentions". I have no doubt that this bill was passed with good intentions. The need to get children adopted into permanent families is very important for a child instead of rotating them from numerous foster homes, group homes, etc. For children that were removed from their homes because legitimate allegations, finding them a permanent home and family is an amazing thing. However, in my opinion, nobody really looked at the huge holes in this bill. The simple fact that they need to exceed their baseline adoptions for the fiscal year, creates a child mill in which more and more children must enter the system each year in order to increase the number of adoptions out of foster care.
The bill that was passed includes a technical support assistance section "to assist State and local communities to reach their targets for increased numbers of adoptions”. It goes on to say the support is for “the development of best practice guidelines for expending the termination of parental rights…the development of special units and expertise in moving children toward adoption as a permanent goal; [and] models to encourage the fast tracking of children who have not attained one year of age into pre-adoptive placements without waiting for termination of parental rights.” By implementing these policies they are putting a bounty on the heads of American children…your children! CPS and DHHS are denying parents rights and setting parents up for failure before they walk out of your home with your child in hand. Without knowledge of their rights, parents have no chance to protect themselves and their children until it’s too late.
The Nation Center for Policy Analysis says it best: “The way the federal government reimburses States [actually] rewards a growth in the size of the program instead of the effective care of children.”
I often hear people upset about “lazy parents” that don’t take care of their kids and live off the “system” with taxpayers’ dollars. However, it is clear by the funding figures I provide above, that only 13% of funding is from TANF (aka Welfare). It is also amazing that 70.8% is for foster care and adoption assistance, but only 4.2% is to promote safe and stable families. Perhaps if our government promoted family preservation instead of family destruction, it would make crime rates go down, decrease inmate population, decrease the homeless population, decrease unemployment rates, and decrease the amount of welfare recipients. This in turn would probably decrease the amount of children that are abused and/or neglected.

The Picture of Change

2010-03-09T19:13:13Z

It seems to often we are solving a puzzle without a picture.

When I was a kid, my grandmother Retha used to always give me Sleeping Beauty, Alice in Wonderland, and all sorts of other books and puzzles for Christmas. I appreciated the gifts, but I never knew the value of them. I'd rather have the newest toy or the latest fashion.

But I was a kid. Now I'm an adult continuously reading books and trying to solve a puzzle – oftentimes without a picture.

In addressing issues with our mayor, with youth violence or any of our concerns, I think people from all different walks of life are the puzzle pieces. Some of us are rough around the edges, and some of us are smooth. Opinions, insight and beliefs are all puzzle pieces and are supposed to be shaped differently. We are each unique, each different, each valued and instrumental in putting together the picture of change.

I don't think we always have to agree. I don't think we have to choose sides and remain on one side on every issue. Different puzzles have unique puzzle pieces. And it's important that we leave the border to find the different pieces.

When putting together a puzzle, the first step is the easiest. We seem to always do the border of the puzzle first. People who agree or are like-minded are easy to align together to form a straight line and create the border. But the border doesn't complete the puzzle. It's just an easy step to what is soon to be a complex process.

Our next step in forming the picture for our puzzle is to separate the pieces into groups according to their texture or color. We look for all the pieces that feel the same – the same color of thought – and we attach those pieces together. It's basically easy to join the groups together because they feel the same and often share the same background.

Once we've put all of our pieces of the same group together, we begin to see an image form. We begin to notice the value of pieces that are different in color or texture, and we form an image in our minds of what the puzzle picture should look like. We scatter through all the images and different pieces to see where to place the next puzzle image.

But our puzzle hasn't formed its picture until we complete the final connection of the images using the different colors and backgrounds.

Often it seems in Sacramento that many are trying to solve a puzzle without a picture. The picture of change is people of all different colors, textures and backgrounds who organize to come together.

We're not supposed to be or think the same. Some of us are quiet, some are loud, some are rude and some are kind.. We are all different and all of value. I don't think we are supposed to always agree. I don't think we're suppose to fit in the puzzle the exact same way – some can be knowledgeable, and some are willing to learn, but each is necessary to put together the picture of change. We come from different social, economic and ethnic backgrounds, and we each want a picture of change. When putting together a puzzle, each background eventually links together if we go beyond looking for similarities.

Generally, when people see deceit, they speak up and attempt to bring the truth and solve a puzzle. But oftentimes the puzzle pieces aren't fitting together. They aren't organized, and they aren't seeing that difference of opinion doesn't mean you don't belong as a piece of the puzzle. It often appears that the puzzle pieces are all scattered and unorganized, but a few that are like-minded will piece themselves together, but without reaching for the pieces with different textures or colors of thought.

But if we want change, we have to remember an organized lie can have more power than disorganized truth. It seems if we really want change we have to organize with truth and accept the differences of opinion and beliefs and value one another as being a unique piece of the picture.

In order for us to put together a picture of change, we have to go beyond putting only together the pieces of the puzzle with the same color and texture. We are all unique and may not link to one person in particular, but if we look beyond our similarities – beyond the border – we can link together through differences of opinion and form a picture of change.

It's so frustrating trying to put together a puzzle with a thousand scattered pieces and many attempts to solve the puzzle without a picture – without accepting or welcoming the differences we each can bring. We don't have to solve a puzzle without a picture. When looking for the picture to solve our puzzle, we have to see our differences outweigh our similarities. There will be more different, unique, puzzle pieces than the straight, like-minded pieces that align to form the border. Those differences make the picture.

Thank you Grandmother Retha for giving me the beauty of books as a child so I would not sleep through change. Thank you for giving me the many puzzles that taught me to go beyond the border, beyond similarities, and see the value of our differences. Thank you for showing me the wonder and value each piece can bring. Thank you for the gift to learn and see the Picture of Change.

Thank you City Manager Ray Kerridge

2010-02-02T04:36:53Z

Editor's note: This article is a response to a recent Sacramento Press story about City Manager Ray Kerridge being an "Invisible Man."

It has been said our city manager is not held accountable to the residents of Sacramento. But I disagree. Not only is Sacramento's city manager accountable to the City Council and the mayor of Sacramento, he is also accountable to the public and oftentimes reaches out to them with genuine concern.

Prior to meeting Sacramento City Manager Ray Kerridge, I used to think power was in the hands of others. I used to think my opponents were others, and they were often my enemies. President Franklin Roosevelt once said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." I used to believe that statement. But I no longer feel that to be true. I learned from meeting with Kerridge that there is something to fear - and it is oneself.

Last month I met with Kerridge again. He asked me how I was doing and showed genuine concern. Kerridge said something that stood out. He told me, "Be careful of ego; ego can become your worst enemy." We sat ate our muffins and drank hot chocolate and tea and I listened carefully, but I didn't know the impact of what Kerridge was saying. I thought he simply meant not to be self-centered, self-absorbed, or too proud. But it wasn't until today that I learned the impact our city manager would have on my life.

I believe that everyone comes into our lives for a reason. I believe some are meant to stay in our lives and some are meant to enter it and bring us lessons. We have a city manager who came into my life a couple years ago and has recently taught me the greatest lesson I have learned on my life's journey.

I try and always look at others. But perhaps I look at so many more to avoid looking at my worst enemy - myself. Perhaps in trying to not be selfish I actually was selfishly looking for others, creating characters to blame.

As I sat with Kerridge, he asked me if I had ever watched the movie Revolver. When I told him I hadn't he asked me to watch it and to let him know what I learned. Among the lessons I learned was that we have an insightful city manager who opens his heart to see city residents and to bring them lessons. I am moving towards victim to an opponent, from weak to powerful, and it is an amazing feeling.

I hadn't realized I've been at war - with myself. I thought I was an opponent, but in this game of life I've played the role of victim. I locked myself inside my inner prison. I placed walls around myself to hide in. I gave myself boundaries and feared to cross them, afraid of the new pain it would bring. I was so busy fighting so many others that I overlooked the one person I needed to fight. I kept my friends close but I kept my enemy closer. I didn't realize my enemy is not others: it's myself. I often hear people say, "Fight the powers that be." I learned after meeting with Mr. Kerridge that power is our own ego. I never thought I would have to fight myself - that the "powers that be" would be myself.

Why am I still in the same place that I was five years ago even though I've grown and learned from so many lessons? Because I set boundaries and failed to conquer self before attempting to conquer others I saw as my opponents. I remained the victim. I didn't see myself worthy of more. I fight the fight. I talk the talk, but I set limits on myself, and I've been at war with myself, and I didn't even know it. Our ego is clever.

I've been a victim of my own doing for a very long time. It's time I become the opponent - and the only way to get smarter is by playing a smarter opponent. I learned I was looking for the devil's hand in so much that is occurring but ego - in efforts to find someone else to blame - created the devil. I cannot thank Mr. Kerridge enough for having me watch Revolver. The movie is brilliant. I learned the greatest enemy will hide in the last place you will ever look. I've been so busy looking at everyone else that I failed to see my greatest enemy - I failed to look at myself. And if I can conquer my ego I can conquer anything.

As I sat today and watched Revolver I was in awe watching Jason Statham go from victim to opponent - fight with himself, creating characters to blame. It was insightful. Watching him leave his own prison and overcome his own demons, his ego, was powerful, and watching Ray Liotta go from opponent to victim was equally insightful. I learned I can be an opponent or a victim, and if I'm not careful I can be an opponent who turns into a victim. I learned life is tricky if we allow our egos to dictate our lives.

Today I learned I failed to see my greatest enemy. I failed to see myself, and I need to stop finding characters to blame to move from victim to opponent. I worked for years to address youth violence. Often times it felt like a game, a con, so many opponents using the efforts of victims to enhance their departments or advance their careeers. Their is a powerful quote in the movie Revolver where Jake Green says, "there is an opponent and a victim; and the trick is to know when you are the latter so you can become the former."

The city manager has many jobs to perform, and I for one am grateful that he took the time to meet with me, a community member, to listen to a victim and helped her to become an opponent.

Sacramento City Manager Ray Kerridge managed his way into my life and I am extremely grateful to have a city manager who goes beyond the Council, the mayor and people with titles to see everyday people struggling and fighting their own worst enemy - fighting themselves. I am grateful to Sacramento City Manager Ray Kerridge for giving me a key to walk out of my own inner prison.

Rhonda Erwin

We don't need no stinking badges?

2010-02-01T04:27:28Z

How do you know if community contributors on our site are using their real names? How do you distinguish staff reporters from community contributors? How do you know who has been featured on our front page?

This weekend, The Sacramento Press launched badges to address all those concerns and more. Badges come in two varieties: merit and identity. Identity badges identify our users, what they do and their role on our site. The staff of The Sacramento Press assigns all identity badges manually.

Assigning badges will start slowly and take time. We have eight identity badges: Editorial Staff, Sacpress Staff, Editorial Interns, County Government, City Government, Law Enforcement, Fire Department and Verified Community Contributor. When an identity badge is assigned, The Sacramento Press stands behind it.

If you are a community contributor and would like to have your name verified by our staff, you can do so at most workshops as well as some Sacramento Press events.

Over time, we likely will add identity badges to identify different types of users on our site. While badges help to increase transparency on our site they are not a replacement for contributors stating who they are in their profiles and articles.

In addition to identity badges, there are merit badges, which certify achievements by members of our site. Some of them are assigned by our staff, such as workshop badges, while others are assigned automatically by our system, such as front page badges. We hope that merit badges will help readers identify talented and hard-working writers, and encourage community contributors to learn more in order to earn them.

In addition to badges, you will find many other small updates to our site, including new and more prominent RSS feeds on the profile page, as well as the ability to easily browse all of a user's articles and comments.

We hope you like the new features on our site and encourage your feedback. There is always room for improvement, sometimes, lots of room. So please feel free to dig in below with as much constructive criticism as you can think of, plus any questions you might have. We all have thick skins. If the comment section is not your forte, please send your feedback to feedback@sacramentopress.com.

Discover Scuba Diving to help Red Cross help Haiti - February 6th

2010-01-30T00:38:10Z

SWIM, SNORKEL OR SCUBA !!!

As most of you know the small Island of Haiti suffered and continues to suffer from a massive earthquake. As a result of this The Northern California Swimstitute and SACSCUBA have partnered together to offer a unique fundraiser - DISCOVER SCUBA DIVING.

For every person who signs up to DISCOVER SCUBA DIVING - cost $70 per person - SACSCUBA & The Swimstitute will donate $40 to the American Red Cross to help the victims of the Haiti quake. Very simple. The date of the dive is:

FEBRUARY 6, 2010

Please call:

530-346-3483

Bring a friend and let's help out!

Solar Cookers International to Help Haitian Families

2010-01-25T17:41:13Z

Solar Cookers International (SCI), a not-for-profit organization founded in 1987, announced the launch of the Haiti Project, which aims to send one complete solar cooking kit to at least 200 Haitian families that were devastated by the recent earthquake. The initial fundraising goal for this project is $8,000.

Even before the disaster, SCI ranked Haiti as one of the top twenty countries in the world where solar cooking is poised to be very successful and tremendously beneficial. The recent earthquake, in combination with the country’s already scarce fuel and power resources, spells an immediate need for solar cooking training and supplies. Forty dollars is enough to provide one family with a solar cooker, a cooking pot, and a water pasteurization indicator (WAPI), a device that shows when solar-heated water has been rid of pathogens and is safe to drink. “With Haiti’s abundant sunshine, each solar cooker will provide a fuel-free means of cooking many meals, reducing the burden to buy charcoal or fuel-wood in this heavily deforested country, both now and into the future,” said Bev Blum, SCI’s interim Executive Director.

Solar cooking projects have been ongoing in Haiti for decades, so local groups who can facilitate training and distribution are already in place. Unfortunately, at least one confirmed death among SCI’s network was the leader of a solar cooking program and one warehouse filled with much-needed solar cooking supplies was destroyed. SCI is working with Sun Ovens International and Friends of Haiti Organization (FOHO) to send as many solar cookers as possible to Haiti in a shipping container in the coming weeks. Once again, the goal of the Haiti Project is to send enough supplies for at least 200 families. Additional solar cooking supplies will be distributed if surplus funds are collected.

Solar Cookers International (SCI) is widely considered the world pioneer in advancing solar cooking through its product development and field training experience. SCI has improved the lives of tens of thousands through the development, distribution and training of solar cooking systems in Africa. SCI helped invent an innovative “water pasteurization indicator,” a simple, life-saving device that measures when solar-heated water is clear of all disease-causing microbes.

From Sacramento to Haiti, the Jewish Federation, your location for community donation

2010-01-20T22:19:35Z

According to Jewish tradition, the highest form of tzedakah, or charity, is to donate to a community fund, or kupah. Whether your donation is in the form of community service hours, survival materials or a monetary donation, it all helps to strengthen and build our community at large.

The Jewish Federation of the Sacramento Region, and their overseas beneficiaries, work with a broad set of national and international institutes that span the world to provide relief, rescue, and reconstruction. The federation system is dedicated to inspiring community members to secure the financial and human resources necessary to achieve the mission of caring for those in need, without discrimination. That includes supporting victims of natural disasters and assisting refugees from war-torn countries.

Most recently, the Jewish Federation of the Sacramento Region has been at the forefront of relief and aide sent to the victims of the Haiti earthquake in the form of monetary donations. The Jewish Federation has partnered with the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) to provide urgently needed aide and relief to victims of the devastating earthquake.

A reputable source of community giving that benefits the world locally and globally, the Sacramento Federation has been a driving force in providing aid overseas. Take a look at the many projects and forms of aide that Federation has taken part of in the past:

* Federation donors provide assistance to victims of natural disasters through UJC rescue and relief mailboxes. That includes assistance to victims of the earthquakes in Turkey, Armenia and Columbia, and hurricanes Georges and Mitch in the Caribbean.

* The federation supported UJC Kosovo Relief Fund, which raised $3.5 million provided humanitarian relief for Kosovar refugees, helped repair and reopen 15 elementary schools, and distributed posters warning children about the dangers of land mines. Through the Jewish Agency for Israel, UJC provided resettlement and relief, including 11 planeloads of goods: 100 tons of medicine, blankets, tents, clothing and other basics.

* In Bosnia-Herzegovina, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee., with support from federations, rescued more than 2,100 Jews, Muslims and Christians from war-torn Sarajevo. Thousands of food packages and 60% of the available medications were distributed free of charge on a non-sectarian basis by the federation-supported Sarajevo Jewish community.

* In Albania, federation support enabled one of the few winterized refugee camps to house the conflict's most vulnerable refugees, and provided bedding and mattresses to 23,000 refugees, recreational kits for over 10,000 children, and arranged for the services of physicians and nurses.

* In Ethiopia, the JDC, with funds provided by the federation system, provided full-scale medical, social and educational services to 15,000 Jews in Addis Ababa, maintaining their health and morale until they were airlifted to Israel by JAFI's 1999 Operation Solomon. In 1999, JAFI brought 2,300 more Ethiopian Jews, 1,400 from Quara, to Israel, all supported by Jewish federations.

* In the former Soviet Union, over 205,000 needy elderly are receiving some kind of assistance from the federations of North America through JDC. In 1999, JDC delivered more than 960,000 food packages, provided four million hot meals, supplied 44,000 clients with fuel, clothing and blankets, loaned more than 26,000 pieces of medical equipment, and mobilized nearly 10,500 welfare volunteers.

* In Morocco, through JDC, the UJA Federation Annual Campaign of United Jewish Communities provides food, clothing, shelter, health care, and Jewish cultural and recreational activities to the most vulnerable of Morocco's Jews.

* In 1999, 411 young Jews from war-ravaged Yugoslavia participated in a two-week pilot trip to Israel developed by JAFI, with funds from federations. Participants were invited to remain in Israel while exploring study opportunities and immigration options. 135 chose to stay.

To donate to the Jewish Federation of the Sacramento Region's Haiti Relief Fund or community campaign, please visit www.jewishsac.org

Vegan bake sale raises funds for Haiti relief

2010-01-15T16:59:35Z

As part of a nationwide effort, two local women are putting together a vegan bake sale with proceeds benefiting the American Red Cross relief effort in Haiti. Toni Okamoto and Amy Galvan are going to be selling vegan baked goods at R5 Records(2500 16th Street, Sacramento, CA 95818.) this Saturday the 16th from 10:00 AM to 3:00PM and encourage everyone to participate.

Isa Chandra Moskowitz, author of several vegan cookbooks, is helping organize the effort and has a website devoted to a listing of vegan bake sales nationwide.

Come out, support Haiti and enjoy a delicious vegan snack or two this Saturday!

http://theppk.com/blog/2010/01/13/vegan-bake-sales-for-haiti/

Sacramento Vegan Bake Sale For Haiti:

Saturday, January 16, 2010 - 10:00 AM - 3:00PM,

R5 Records - 2500 16th Street, Sacramento, CA 95818.

Handgun cartridge microstamping, or Feurer's Folly.

2010-01-01T00:09:55Z

On January 1st a new law will take effect that will require all semi-automatic handguns to have the capability to imprint identification on each expended cartridge case when it is fired. The legislature passed AB 1471 Feurer in 2007 that mandated this technology on all new pistols starting in 2010. The main drawback to this law is there are no firearms manufactured with this capability. The patent holder has not relaxed the restrictions to implement his invention. It has been theorized that this will ocurr in the near future.

During arguments for the bill some legislators postured as if they were experts in firearms design and manufacturing processes and proferred cost estimates for the implementation of this technology. Their highly simplistic prognostications bordered on buffonery with the insanely low estimate of $7-8 per gun. The estimates from the major gun manufacturers for extensive modification of product and reengineering the production process amounted to hundreds of dollars per gun. These costs, of course, will be passed on to the consumer,

Governor Swartzenegger signed the bill into law under the recommendations of some law enforcement agencies that traditionally support any new restrictions on firearms and law abiding citizens. Totally ignored are the crooks, thugs and hoodlums that just ignore an orderly society and the laws that govern it. Pro-criminal legislation such as this, the ammo registration boondoggle, Firearms Safety Certificates, the life threarening 10 day waiting period, gun registrations, bans on high capacity magazines and semi automatic firearms do not affect law breakers. The sob stories, political propaganda and skewed studies by pseudo-scientist political fops tenured by otherwise reputable universities and esteemed centers of learning serve only to justify more attacks on the rights of citizens and promote further contempt of the laws that govern society rather provide law enforcement with useable and enforceable laws

Will this technology assist law enforcement? Doubtful. There are too many drawbacks and limitations to be of any use to police such as: normal wear and tear of firearm components that results in a gradual degradation of the quality of the imprints. Is there a mechanism in the law that allows for economical replacement of worn parts to assure quality imprints on the cartridge case? Is the current process of transferring a gun through a licensed dealer adequate to perpetuate the data base generated by AB1471. Doesn't this law violate the federal Firearms Owners Protection Act of 1986 that prohibits gun registration?

The law is entirely dependent on a reliably law abiding society, however pipe dreams seem to be the norm in firearms legislation no matter the city, state, country or continent.

One more “Great Christmas” story

2009-12-30T18:04:15Z

     By now most of us are getting a little tired of hearing about Christmas, but this is one short story that we all want, and need, to hear about. On December 22 my six year old son and I went to the Saca center on Del Paso Blvd. This day is one of the most memorable days of the year as we were able to witness a true Christmas miracle that most people only see in the classic Christmas movies. What we saw was the Saca center giving an awesome Christmas to over 274 families in the surrounding neighborhood of Del Paso Heights. Most of these families came from the local neighborhood of the Saca center, probably clients of their Community center and Mother Baby program. It is especially nice that this event happened in the neighborhood, which allows the neediest families to have a Great Christmas.
     What I observed was two rooms, each bigger than my own apartment, filled waist high with toys and other gifts. All of these gifts were pre-wrapped by volunteers and ready to go. The sight of it all looked like the true location for Santa’s workshop! Busy going about to hand out the gifts were Genevieve, Sacra Center Program Director and Chris, Saca Center Volunteer, both of them seemed to have a constant smile and genuine warmth coming from their affect.
     It made my day to see that every family that signed up for Christmas presents received not just something, but a pile of gifts for their family. One man came to pick up gifts for an infant and a toddler, unfortunately they could not be identified from the sign up sheet, but that was not a problem. Staying in the spirit of Christmas Genevieve and Chris “put something together on the spot” and the man left with a bag of gifts bigger than he could carry. No family or person was turned away even if their name was not on the “good list”.
     Personally, I consider it a blessing to have seen such an event. There is nothing greater than to see the success of a Christmas assistance program giving a bag of gifts to children and seeing the wide eyed and excited kid’s pulling a bag of presents bigger than they are. Once again the Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services is the supreme local charity organization. The SFBFS is the best place to give our donations and volunteer time. And I, OneFathersLove, am committed to supporting the SFBFS. A special thanks is given to “Genevieve and Chris” for this Great Christmas story.

The reality of the Christmas Assistance program

2009-12-23T15:40:33Z

Editorial Note: The Sacramento Press is in no way affiliated with any of the organizations mentioned in this article.

Most of us have heard about the Salvation Army’s toy drive for local needy families. Through the media we see a family that is very happy to receive several presents given to children that otherwise would go without. All of this generous charity work begins with expensive marketing, fundraising events, donations, and of course volunteers. The most important part of this charity process is the families with children in need.

When a family signs up for Christmas assistance from the Salvation Army they must provide certain documents, such as a proof of income, proof of residency, ID, etc. When a family signs up they must go to the Salvation Army sign-up location. The location for this year was on the far side of north Sacramento. Families had to spend the day on a bus in order to reach the sign-up location or, as with most families, have vehicle transportation. That means a family spent at least $6 for an all-day bus pass or they spent approximately $6 for gas depending upon how far they lived from the sign-up location.

Once the families have completed their sign-up they are very happy and excited in anticipation for what they believe will be a wonderful Christmas for their children. These children are so hopeful and happy that they will now have presents under their Christmas tree, if they even have a tree.

Now comes the big day that they are all looking forward to picking up their presents. Each of these families that signed up must have a vehicle to go out to Cal Expo and pick up their gifts. That means families who are disadvantaged to the point that they do not own a car will not likely receive any Christmas assistance. If they do not own a car then they may be able to give a friend some gas money for a ride out to Cal Expo to pick up their children’s presents. So far, signing up and picking up the gifts has cost the family approximately $15 – $20. But this process will give children a Christmas, so who cares about how much it will cost? Right?

When families arrive at Cal Expo to pick up their gifts, they hand their ticket to a volunteer who leaves and returns with a large white plastic bag with the Salvation Army logo on it. Inside of the bag is one new toy with an estimated price of $8 to $10. Also, two additional very small toys, one new and one used toy, estimated price of $5, are included in the bag for a total of three.

Needless to say, the excitement of a blessed Christmas has dissipated. These two or three unwrapped toys are what that child will receive for Christmas. It is to late for them to look elsewhere for Christmas assistance and what little money they had was probably spent on gas getting to and from Cal Expo.

I, Sacramento Cmmunity Family Resources know all of this because I helped a family go through the process. I concede that the Salvation Army’s Christmas assistance program is a good program, but I will now personally go out and buy the child some secret Santa toys who would otherwise have a very sad Christmas. I am not sure where the blessing is at when more money is spent getting to and from the Christmas assistance program than is spent on the donated gifts. Maybe some reader feedback can explain the math.

Local Company - Waste Connections Steps up to the Plate

2009-12-15T03:44:24Z

During these tough economic times it is refreshing to see a company not only donate money but continue leading the way in ensuring that important non profit services are not interrupted in their communities. A service company, Waste Connections, is embedded in their neighborhoods and has been supporting more than fifteen local charities for many years. Their grass-roots outreach has proven to be the most effective and cost efficient. It works! Many local nonprofits have been struggling in this downturn to stay afloat and Waste Connections has come to their aid - very quietly, but consistently. Government agencies, local governments, please take note. Local grass-roots efforts are the most effective way of reaching and helping people (on Main Street and in rural areas), during this downturn and that includes job creation and important necessary services. The "culture of giving" and community service starts at the top with management, and Ron Mittelstaedt is a leader to watch. Waste Connections is having a huge impact on El Dorado and Sacramento county communities. Let’s all learn from their example and pitch in - our work has just begun!

A SuperMan works at Sunrise Natural Food's

2009-12-11T20:44:58Z

Occasionally in life you meet someone who has developed such an incredible gift it makes you want to tell everyone else about that person. That is what happened when I ventured into the Sunrise Natural Foods store in Roseville with my girlfriend and she introduced me to a friend of hers that works there. His name is Alden Okie and he is the epitome of the kind of person people need to see and ask advice of when they enter a natural food health store.

Alden, a very distinguished looking man in his 50's, is also a very humble and gentle man who probably never sees himself as a superman. But to the people who have come to know and trust his advice, he is a super man to them.

I remember the first time I heard my girlfriend ask Alden a specific question about some vitamins she was taking and what his advice was on them. His answer captivated me to the point that I thought to myself that Alden isn't just another sales clerk in a natural foods store, but rather he is a man answering his higher calling and helping people with specific questions who have chosen the natural healing path.

I also heard him talking with another woman(not pictured) who had been diagnosed with an extreme bi-polar condition. I quickly became very interested in this matter because I knew someone else who was suffering from the same dis-order. Afterwards I talked privately with this woman and she openly shared with me her condition and stated that if it wasn't for the information that Alden shared with her years ago, of things she could do to alleviate symptoms, she might have had to constantly live under the influence of prescription medicines because her condition was worsening. Instead she was able to make incredible improvements over her condition through the use of natural remedies.

I noticed it was a common thing for the stores customers to chat among themselves about the herbs and vitamins they were taking and the help they were getting from them. Every aisle seemed to appear as little chat rooms at times. Strangers talking to strangers and helping each other.

I asked Alden how did he come into his present passion for peoples health and the knowledge that he had? He told me he met up with a friend five years out of high school who use to be in great shape as most young men were back in those days, but when he saw him he noticed that his friend was now frail and very sickly looking. He discovered his friend had been stricken with cancer and had been given 6 months to live by a doctor. Back in the 70's and early 80's, cancer was not as understood as it is today, so Alden being heartbroken over the condition of his once strong and healthy friend, began looking into information about cancer and treatments and the possibility of reversing the cancers effect on his friend. He did just that and with two friends working together on slowing down the path and process of cancer, his friend actually lived for two years longer. Though the efforts were not a complete cure to cancer, they enabled his friend to enjoy life a little longer and inspired Alden to want to add quality and quantity of life to others as well through a natural approach to healing.

Of course traditional medicine in those days gave little hope for a cure let alone a reversible position. Alden's investigation into cancer started him onto a path of studies and research information that could help the body to restore, revive, replenish and re-live through dramatic yet simple lifestyle changes. With the use of herbs, vitamins, healthier eating, moderate exercise and a measure of hope that exercises faith, changes can be made. Of course dramatic life changes would also include the elimination of negative influences on ones body which include drugs, alchohol, unhealthy foods and unhealthy lifestyles, relationships and environments. Those are the ingredients aggravating many of today's ailments and illnesses.

Being a man of faith, Alden has spent many years studying and watching the effects of his non traditional and natural remedies on peoples lives. He not only has faith in the Great Physician who he has not seen, but also has continued faith in the things he has seen, that has happened through the use of herbs, vitamins and natural foods.

When I talked with Eric the store manager, he said that Alden has become a celebrity in his field and that people travel from great distances just to chat with Alden and glean some nuggets of information that could possibly change their lives. He mentioned that there are regulars who come from as far away as Nevada and Redding just for that purpose and to stock up on items from the store.

In my hour and a half of observing Alden and the store, I watched him advise families, mothers and daughters such as Brandy, Stephanie and Sherry(seen in the picture), people who were old and people who were young, and people from different ethnicities. That day a number of customers got the quick and easy "iodine cotton swab dab". I coined that phrase to describe the test that checks the condition of your thyroid. I asked Alden about it and he said that it is a simple test that anyone could do at home if they wanted to.

I asked him what if someone comes in with a question he didn't have an answer to? He quickly showed me his computer and internet connections that he has to get those new and unlikely questions answered. He was also quick to point out to customers that they could find many health tips themselves by going online as well. Even though Alden is comfortable with talking with people of both sexes about any health issue they might have, I asked him "supposing a woman feels more comfortable talking with another woman about a personal health issue?", He told me that Sunrise Natural Foods also has a woman named Laura Ryan working there who can answer their personal female questions and help them with the ingredients they need for a healthier life.

Over the years, the awareness to help oneself with the use natural remedies has opened the doors to information on natural healing as an alternative when traditional medicines are not desired, needed or useful. Sunrise Natural Foods not only has courteous and helpful employees and a natural food superman, it also has books, magazines and pamphlets to help anyone get the answers they might be needing that could lead themselves to a natural healing and a longer life.

There is an old saying that goes something like this: "If you don't have your health, you don't have anything". Isn't that so true? If you are still looking for the perfect and appropiate gift for someone who has everything but doesn't have their health where they want it, I think the gift of good health or the path that leads to it is a great gift from the heart. Take the time to visit the Sunrise Natural Foods store. From Hwy 80 go east to 1950 Douglas Blvd in Roseville. Their phone number is 916 789-8591. There is a second location in Auburn as well.

You can check out their website at www.sunrisenaturalfoods.net Just going to their website and reviewing information there could be better than a trip to the doctor.

My thanks to the Sunrise Natural Foods store, Alden Okie, the store staff and customers who allowed me to ask questions and take these photos while they worked and shopped.

"Merry Christmas and a Healthier New Year"

You're invited to a Holiday Party benefiting Diogenes Youth Services

2009-12-09T00:35:08Z

You're invited to the 23rd Annual Christmas Party Extravaganza benefiting Diogenes Youth Services.

One of Sacramento's hottest holiday events. Whether you want to meet new Sacramentans, celebrate the holidays in style, or help at-risk youth in the Sacramento area, this event is not to miss. The party includes:

Catered Appetizers from Tuli, Zocalo, Hot Italian and Rail Bridge Cellars
Live Music by Utz and the Shuttlecocks
Valet Parking
A Full no-host Bar
Fashion Show presented by A&A Music Events
Special Performance by Sacramento Kings Dancers

When: Thursday, December 17, 2009
7:30pm - 11:30pm

Where: Niello Audi Dealership (2350 Auburn Blvd., Sacramento)

Tickets: $60 in advance, $75 at the door | Buy Tickets Online

Dress: Formal attire please

Visit www.christmaspartyextravaganza.com for more information.

All proceeds from this event go to Diogenes Youth Services. Diogenes started in 1969 as a counseling and crisis intervention center and has grown to become one of the only local non-profit agencies offering free comprehensive services focused primarily on 12 to 17 year-olds. On any given night there are at least 300-400 teens living on the streets in the Sacramento area and thousands more in crisis just one step away. For more than 40 years, Diogenes Youth Services has cared for these runaway, homeless and at-risk youth.

Interested in becoming a sponsor of this event? Email a board member to find out how.

“Hope” for the Holidays to Sacramento Families.

2009-12-03T12:54:58Z

Many of the Sacramento Food Bank locations and other food distribution sites throughout Sacramento are generously providing our American citizens a basic portion of food that will last them for about three days. These food distributions are the hope and excitement for many families that would otherwise go hungry this holiday season.

I recently made the time to personally observe the people who stand in the food distribution lines, sometimes for hours, just to get a single paper bag of groceries. It sadly seems that a majority of the people who are standing in these food giveaway lines are families in need with young children. It is a very depressing site to see children in these food lines, I almost have to look away from the sad scene because no child in our country should go to bed hungry. While sitting in my car, the food giveaway line moves slowly along with the children hanging onto their mothers’ leg waiting for their turn, hoping that some sort of treat will be given to them in “their bag”. Once the families receive their food they immediately begin looking through it and eating before they have even left the location.

So, hundreds of malnourished American children are fed from our food lockers and are dependant upon the empathetic contributions by businesses, workplaces and individuals. What is it like to get up in the morning and start our day off hungry? Wondering where our next meal is going to come from? For many, to many, of our Sacramento families that next meal comes from the Food Bank and other food distribution sites.

There is some help available to those who are in immediate need, but where do they find that help? I decided to do my part and create Sacramento Community Family Resources providing a food distribution list that places the food lockers with the least restrictions on top of the list. It makes no sense to me telling a hungry person that they must wait until a certain day to have food to eat. If someone is hungry, then feed them. I believe that a call to action is in order that we all step up and find something within our kitchen cabinets, our next trip to the store or just plain give something to these families that have nothing left but hope.

Let us take another look at the families after they receive help from food lockers. Myself and four volunteers for example, have taken food directly to a family for Thanksgiving, and WOW the excitement and thrill that they had when receiving the food. The two little children literally run to the refrigerator where they now have something in it to eat and drink. The food that these families receive means a lot to them, and I am sure that they are very grateful for what they are given. What may seem like a small contribution from us is to the families a healthy meal, a peace of mind and the presence of food in the home seems to give the kids more energy to run around in circles and play. Our contributions to the Sacramento Food Bank and other organizations are what help these families feel happiness during the holidays. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing a happy family with children laughing and playing because they do not worry about their next meal.

My “hope” is that everyone will find a way to contribute something to the happiness of the families in our community. What you can do starting today is post a comment about any helpful organization that you know of where people can go to for finding the help they need.

Sacramento Small Business Celebrate the Holidays in a BIG Way!

2009-11-29T07:29:42Z

There is no doubt that businesses in general have suffered through our ever-changing economy. Businesses on multiple levels have had to make sacrifices; downsizing, cutting salaries, furloughing, laying off, and certainly cutting expenses.Small business, especially in Sacramento, is no exception. One expense that seems to be a commonality, is the Company Holiday Party.

Historically, no matter how large or small an office or business is, company's have celebrated the holidays and their accomplishments with their partners, employees, and sometimes, vendors and customers. It is a time when people put work aside, and come together over food, drinks, entertainment and memories that often survive the company itself.

This year, small and medium sized businesses, consultants, solopreneurs, coaches, recruiters, relators and attorney's are all invited to participate in Get Networking Now's inaugural "Sacramento Region Company Holiday Party"! On Thursday, December 17, business owners, their employees, their vendors and key clients will enjoy a "BIG" celebration on a small business budget! Part of the proceeds will also benefit a local childrens' arts organization, Chalk It Up!

Chef Simon Mandell, co-owner of Courtyard D'Oro a new restaurant and banquet faciliaty in Old Sacramento, is preparing a "feast" for these hardworking entrepreneurs consisting of four cuisines, followed by dessert, dancing, music, entertainment. and "swag bags" with special offers, samples and promotions from local businesses. The event is scheduled from 6-10 pm at Courtyard D'Oro, which is located at 1700 Front Street under G Williker's Toy Emporium.

Ticket prices are $40 at the door, $35 presale. Special Pricing is available for small businesses with profiles on www.sacgnn.com and is FREE with paid monthly membership to Get Networking Now. Tickets may be purchased at: http://sacareacompanyparty.eventbrite.com/

Get Networking Now (SacGNN) is a local networking resource assisting small and medium sized businesses to grow "small talk" into "BIG Business" through education, training and networking events. SacGNN offers a free online community for local business owners to exchange leads, information, and resources and assist one another in growing their businesses in Sacramento.

For more information on this event, or Get Networking Now, please contact Rebecca Johnson 916-868-7562 or rebecca@sacgnn.com

National Adoption Day is November 21

2009-11-18T23:25:20Z

November is National Adoption Month – Sacramento Shows its Commitment to Our Children

November 12 - Sacramento, California – Nationally, November is recognized at National Adoption Month. With nearly 500,000 children and youth living in foster across the country there is a tremendous need for families to come forward. In California, there are over 62,000 children and youth living in foster care and, of that, over 4,000 lived in the Greater Sacramento Region.

As the capital of California, Sacramento is committed to the children of our state who are living in foster care and are awaiting a permanent family. For many of these children, they have been removed from their birth families due to neglect, abuse and/or abandonment. Left to the system, these children will languish in foster care until they turn eighteen, and if a family or permanent connection is not found for these children, they will become a statistic – without a permanent family or connection, for youth who emancipate from the system at the age of eighteen, within 2-4 years, over 50% will be homeless, addicted to drugs, in prison or dead. This is unacceptable.

On November 21, National Adoption Day, Senator George Runner and Assemblyman Roger Niello will co-host an Adoption Resource Fair at Sunrise Community Church. The purpose of this event is to provide a call to action for area families and individuals who are considering helping a child by becoming an adoptive parent. Local foster/adoption agencies will be available to answer questions and provide resources to prospective families and post-adoption resources to existing foster/adoptive families. The event takes place from 11am – 3pm, with registration at 10:30am. Lunch and child care are available. To register: www.CommunityRenewal.net or call 916.349.1995.

Also taking place on November 21, Sacramento hosts a Calling Out of Names and Candlelight Vigil at the State Capitol from 2pm-5pm, concluding the event with a candlelight vigil on the north steps of the Capitol. Join government officials, child advocates, community leaders, adoptive families and former foster youth for this meaningful event. During the event, speakers will read aloud from a list of names of children living in California foster care. By reading aloud the names of the children who wait, Sacramento will stand up, speak and be the voice for the children who are waiting.

IKEA will recognize the Sierra Forever Families' Family of the Year with a $1,000 gift card during the event at the State Capitol. The Williams family has been selected as the Family of the Year. Michael and Michelle Williams have one biological daughter, Alexis, who is 10-years-old, and have expanded their family with the adoption of a sibling set of four. The children range in age from 20 months to 4 years. They truly are a wonderful family.

For those who are considering adopting a child, there are many resources available and tax incentives as well that will assist you in making the decision to welcome a child into your heart and home.

For more information on National Adoption Month and the activities taking place to support youth permanency, please contact: Sara Hanson at 916.368.5114 or visit www.sierraff.org

Shortage of Holiday Meat for Sacramento Food Closets

2009-11-18T18:25:47Z

Shortage of Holiday Meat for Sacramento Food Closets
Sacramento Emergency Foodlink is in need of Holiday Meat for Local Food Closets

November 18, 2009 Sacramento, CA – Local Food Closets and Agencies will be visiting Sacramento Emergency Foodlink (Foodlink) this Friday, November 20, 2009 to pick up their holiday meat. Sacramento agencies have submitted over 2,500 requests for holiday meat. Foodlink has enough holiday meat to fulfill 1,000 of these requests, leaving 1,500 recipients with no holiday meat.

We need your help! In response to the shortage, Sacramento Emergency Foodlink, the Official Food Bank of Sacramento County, will be collecting holiday meat donations through the end of the year to try to fulfill these requests. Any holiday meat, chickens, turkeys, and hams, can be donated at Foodlink located at 5800 Foodlink Street, Sacramento, CA 95828.

All donated holiday meat will be dispersed among the Food Closets throughout Sacramento County. The Food Closets and Agencies will then distribute the holiday meat to individuals in their communities.

For more information about Foodlink please visit www.foodlink.org.

Below is a list of Foodlink partner Food Closets and Agencies that visit Foodlink weekly for food and commodities:

Antioch Progressive Baptist Church
Arden Church of the Nazarene
Assoc. Of African American Single Mothers
Atonement Lutheran
Broadway Head Start
Capital City SDA
Carmichael SDA
Carmichael Presbyterian
Cathedral of Praise
Central Downtown Christian Solders
Collings Teen Center
Community Won
Cordova Food Locker
D&A Detox
Diogenes Youth Services
El Camino Baptist
Elevation of the Holy Cross
Elk Grove Food Closet Florin Meadows Head Start
Folsom Cordova Community Partnership
Fruitridge Head Start
—South County Services
Gateway Recovery Home for Women
Gathering Place/River of Life
Genesis Baptist
Gifted Healing Center
Gloryland Revival
Greater Grace
Heavenly Helpers
HOPEFUL Inc
Hopkins Park Head Start
House of Hope
Liberty Ministries
Lighthouse Samoan Assembly of God
Loaves and Fishes
Mustard Seed Faith Ministries
NBQ Fiji Mission
Nedra Court Head Start
New Covenant Church of the Nazarene
North Highlands Food Ministries
Now Faith Church of Deliverance
Options of Recovery
Orangevale SDA
Peacespeaker Ministries
People of Purpose
Phoenix Park Head Start
Phoenix Park/Franklin Villa
Pointman International
Quinn Cottages
Radiant Life
River City Community Services
Robla Elementary
Sacramento Bread of Life Ministries
Sacramento Food Bank
Sacramento Recovery Home
SAEHC
Salvation Army
Serna Center
Sierra Arden
Slavic Missionary Center
Southgate SDA
Southpointe Christian Center
South Sacramento Interfaith Partnership
St. John’s Women’s Shelter
St. Mathews
Sunrise Christian
SVDP Our Lady
SVDP Roseville
SVDP St. Charles
SVDP St. John’s
Teen Challenge
Temple of Deliverance
Traveler’s Aid
Trinity Life Center
Twin Lakes Food Bank
Union Gospel Mission
United States Mission
Victory Life Bible Church
Vietnam Vets of CA
Volunteers of America
Walnut Grove—South County Services
Wellspring Women’s Center
WIND Youth Center
World Fijian Fellowship

The Q Balls Hold Fundraiser for Pops in the Park - November 14th

2009-11-12T19:25:10Z

Sacramento rock-n-roll band, The Q Balls, will play a benefit show on Saturday, November 14th from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the Torch Club, 904 15th Street, Sacramento. The event is Free with donations taken at the door. Proceeds will go to Pops in the Park and in turn be used for East Sac and River Park parks. In 2009, Pops in the Park funds were used to leverage funds raised by the community to help restore swim pool hours cut through the City's budget at Bertha Henschel Park, Glenn Hall Park and McKinley Park. The Q Balls manager Sol Siler said: "The Q Balls are really looking forward to the November 14th gig at the Torch. All members save one were born and raised in the East Sacramento area and this opportunity to lend a helping hand to East Sac parks and Pops in the Park means a lot to the band. We're spreading the word and hope to raise some righteous bucks at the benefit." A big thank you to The Q Balls for supporting our parks!

Sister's United, Inc., Recently Opens The "House of Esther".

2009-11-10T19:46:32Z

Sister’s United, Inc., Recently Opens The “House of Esther.”

Sister’s United, Inc., a local non-profit corporation recently held their grand opening for the “House of Esther” on Friday, October 2, 2009. Many of the attendees marveled at the beauty of the home located at 3334 4th Avenue, in the heart of Oak Park.
The House of Esther is the first of many from Sister’s United, Inc., opening in the Sacramento Community, and is more than Board & Care Housing; this home offers upscale living and beautiful décor. Those entering this home participate in a unique Empowerment Program purposefully designed to transform lives, and build strong affective leaders.
The unique program focuses on holistic health and nutrition, eco-friendly living, imparting curriculums, intense skills training, mentorship, and community involvement. The 12-month program serves to empower women ages 18+.
Beverly Swanson, CEO/Founder of Sister’s United Inc., is a motivational coach, credentialed instructor in Adult Education, Veteran, Retired Parole Agent California Department of Corrections, and a divinely inspired woman of God. While revitalization is ever-present, in the community, it is the vision of Beverly Swanson and Sister’s United, Inc., to be ever-present in revitalizing valuable lives in the community.

See Beverly on Sacramento & Company, KXTV-10 on Monday, November 16, 2009 at 9 a.m.
Sister’s United, Inc.
www.sistersunitedinc.info

Cosumnes River College Hosts SHAREfair

2009-10-29T05:18:14Z

On November 18-19, 2009, Cosumnes River College will host the second-annual SHAREfair. This event highlights community service and philanthropy. On the 18th, students have the opportunity to hear from non-profit and social service leaders to learn about the benefits of giving time, money, and talent to local efforts.

On the 19th, as part of the fair, students will get information from local organizations seeking enthusiastic and intelligent volunteers (or employees) for long-term, short-term, or permanent assignments.

Also, SHAREfair organizers will conduct campus-wide drives for canned foods, clothing, hygiene items/toiletries, and school supplies to deliver to local groups.

The CRC Social Responsibility Committee is organizing this effort and is seeking participation from community groups and volunteers who can tout the benefits of being actively engaged in non-profit and social service efforts. If you or your organization would like more information about how to showcase your group, share your volunteering story, or participate in the drives, please contact the organizers at sharefair2009@yahoo.com.

Free SMUD trees support the 5 million tree campaign

2009-10-28T17:33:28Z

Tree clean our air and water, store carbon in their trunks, create habitat for wildlife, reduce air pollution, increase property values, and provide countless other benefits. The Sacramento Tree Foundation works to leverage all of the benefits that trees provide to create healthy and sustainable communities through building the best urban forest in the Sacramento region. A major keystone in building the best urban forest is the Greenprint initiative, a multi-decade regional framework created to meet Sacramento's sustainability and livability goals by expanding urban forests and optimizing the benefits of tree canopies. Greenprint partners, comprised of 22 cities and 6 counties, have agreed to double their tree canopy over the next 40 years. In order to achieve this goal, we need to plant 5 million new trees by the year 2025.

SMUD customers can join the 5 million tree campaign by planting free energy saving SMUD trees. Through the Shade Tree Program, the Sacramento Tree Foundation, in partnership with the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, has planted over 450,000 trees in Sacramento County since the program’s inception in 1990. If you wish to receive free shade trees, a Community Forester from the Sacramento Tree Foundation will visit your property and help you select the best trees, determine the strategic locations for maximum energy savings, and provide you with information on planting and care. When you are ready to plant, your trees will be delivered to your home, along with stakes and ties – all at absolutely no cost to you. To sign up for a free appointment or to learn more about trees and the 5 million tree campaign, please contact the Sacramento Tree Foundation at (916) 924-8733 Ext. 121 or visit Sactree.com.

"Pay it Forward" Food Drive

2009-10-26T23:50:38Z

The holidays are quickly approaching and it's time to help those in need. Help make this Thanksgiving one families will cherish.

Pay it forward by donating food items at the following locations:

Sacramento City Hall - 915 I Street (All Floors)
Historic City Hall - 915 I Street (Main Lobby)
Community Development Dept. - 300 Richards Blvd (Main Lobby)
City of Sacramento Public Safety Building - 5770 Freeport Blvd (Suites 100 & 200)
Sacramento Metro Chamber - 1 Capitol Mall

The Drive runs until November 18th, 2009. Contact us at 808-6789 for more information.

Am I somebody’s someone?

2009-10-26T20:05:27Z

I am glad for good news. It was true in Sacramento where I first blogged in a journal, that Regina Louise was introduced to others as a speaker of un waivered strength, courage, and diction by the National Coalition for 100 Black women.

I was most honestly depending on a book in the seed of her humanity to bring. It would appear that like the Author of this memoir, Regina Louise, can seek an affectionate tone and still remember her plight because of her distant heart breaks associated with the salvation.

She was sincerely recognized as a client of the system and nuclear family fostering program, and is now fighting for way of instilling more pride and rewarding truth. My mother, Ida A. Russell, was glad to purport this ongoing wisdom. But really it was Beverly Thomas who was able to get to know the class speaker, and identify goals set in her needs. Often Miss Regina had talked as if 27th and maybe a 28th foster parent wouldn’t be best for a long sufficient friendship and covenant wailing believer.

How I found the gem that gave and replaced all feeling of contempt was an inept matter. I feared her love and was enticed by the thoughts though I could be as recluse. I was there to read and she was awesomely and also dangerously addressing me. The marriage, a principle of harder protected sympathy’s of greatness, and the fostering of protective discourse.

If God lives, then I say as if she had a healing river of Spirits. I felt there was well-spring of the stream that bought her faithfulness. It plays here that little upheld doctrines of care weren’t as routinely beneficial to her. Though I am aware she charmed others and was seeking a blessing in attempt to work up an attitude, mood, and control for her feeling of false hope, I can see the trees making her forest.

In her authored book, she made waves purposely adding attitude to the good books love doctrine and endearing equation. And attested “I don’t know why you had me anyway”, as ways to beat her socially dysfunctional and engendering behavior.

Though I am securely saved as an example and find friendship and something more meaningful as God in her trusting life, Regina Louise love of altruism has satisfied those around the totem pole. Because competition was, an aftermath tough, she explained that there will always be sin, madden, and waiting and to teach one how to see over those prophecies which wouldn’t have most people awash.

My offering was to be evident and somehow accurate to bear as a witness to her selfless needs, but Miss Regina Louise has settled and achieved as a keynote speaker at numerous foster care and social workers’ conventions across the spectrum. She has an “A “ as the grade for a one-woman societal social cause. If I were seeking justice, and attested “I don’t know why you had me anyway”, as ways to beat her socially dysfunctional and engendering behavior she has been in playwrights with this creation of epilogue. Something unforgettable? And yes, her plan was designed to give help and esteem to those like her, in as well the service.

To Miss Regina, the at risk program for high school students called Project Think, is were denying for long trials ajar the same door simply because of their livelihood and need for a fail safe system, was independently placed as recovery up on the racks. Belle Coolidge Community Center is where I saw her first start.

She also was passionate as she explained the principles of success to the gifted as well as the less assured. This engagement to speak around the subject of ineptness or social wellness was her silent way of not subsiding but rising like cream to the top in no guilt whatsoever.

When I see her again I’ll have two points of common. One, it is your dream and you can pick up on timely, for it fulfills your self-esteem. Two, where are you going and how much shall I render this worth?

She hails from Northern California and has Play written with the Sacramento Theater Company.

Joseph L. Russell, Jr.

Editorial: Transparency and scrutiny

2009-10-01T04:13:06Z

There are not a lot of solid rules for starting up a hyper-local site fueled by community contribution. We think, rethink and question just about every policy and design choice for The Sacramento Press.

We strive to act with integrity as individuals and as an organization. Our highest principles at The Sacramento Press are openness and transparency.

Our policy is to allow anyone to publish. Then we and our community read, rate, flag, comment and add to the story. We ask our contributors to use their real names. We ask them to stay local and to disclose their affiliation with the issues they write about.

Recently there was considerable debate here and elsewhere on the Web about our policy of publish first, ask questions later.

I want to open up a debate here about how to do a better job.

The article that sparked off the debate was published by Ronald West, Mayor Kevin Johnson’s brother and a consultant for Sacramentans for Accountable Government (SAG). While he did use his full name, he did not offer disclosure of his involvement in SAG. Soon after the article appeared, the conversation on the article heated up and uncovered these facts.

The response there (in the conversation) and elsewhere was to question whether we should first screen articles in order to make sure authors give full disclosure of affiliations.

In order to promote transparency this sounds like a good idea. However, the interesting thing is that our community actually uncovered these affiliations in the conversation, not us. If we give one person the job to screen then we take power away from our community and give it to someone in our office. That person is fallible and will undoubtedly make mistakes.

There are also gray areas to consider. I am not sure if I feel comfortable asking people to disclose that they are the brother or sister or mother of anyone. We ask people to disclose their affiliation with organizations.

I like a system that allows our community to take everything with a grain of salt, question the author directly and have the support of our editors and staff in asking for full disclosure.

There is some kind of myth about the press that media mega-corporations have concocted over some years: That journalists are like scientists carefully revealing truths without bias. Journalists may strive to be unbiased, but they are not scientists. Neither are editors. I fear that the more we try to control and sanitize The Sacramento Press the further we move from our core mission of openness, transparency and our service to the community.

That said, we do lay out our front page everyday, composed of articles scrutinized by our community and then by editors.

So, theories aside, what happens when someone comes to our site for the first time or lands on a biased opinion piece straight from a google search or an aggregator? How do we tell these people that our site is radically open and that this article is written by someone with skin in the game and not a traditional journalist?

I think that is where our site is broken.

What happens when we make a correction that our community discovered long after the initial publication of the article? And what if the reader doesn’t read the conversation and only reads the article?

I have some thoughts.

One idea: We can create a pop-up that shows the first time someone comes to The Sacramento Press explaining how we work. That way first timers will know that The Sacramento Press is an open platform where anyone can post an article.

We can also create separate forms by which PR professionals can submit press releases which have fields for disclosure - and mark those articles appropriately. We could make separate forms for submitting op-ed pieces, events, news or other information.

We could have an unfiltered section of the latest articles, like the list at the bottom of the front page, that doesn’t live on the front page and clearly states that these articles have not been reviewed by editors.

Please help us build an open and transparent online newspaper. I put it to you, our community— what do you think about our policies? What can we change to make this a better place?

RWA offers Green Gardener Training Program

2009-09-15T20:43:04Z

The Regional Water Authority (RWA) is pleased to announce the River-Friendly Landscaping, Green Gardener Training Program.

The Green Gardener Training Program is a 10-week series providing high quality training to professionals on how to “garden green.” Attendees will learn landscape principles that can assist in reducing urban runoff, conserving water, and reducing solid waste, including:

Conserving water, protecting the soil and reducing the use of pesticides. Many classes will include both indoor and outdoor hands-on components.
Creating a healthier garden for your client and a healthier work environment for yourself and your employees.
Offering a list of River-Friendly Landscaping Principles, helping you compete in the professional industry.

Landscape maintenance staff and landscape contractors are the program’s primary audience, but classes are open to any landscape professional interested in green gardening practices.

Class starts on September 30 at 6:30 pm at the McMillan Center, 8020 Temple Park Road, in Fair Oaks, CA 95628. The cost is $45 for 10 consecutive-week sessions.

Information, class details and registration forms can be found on the Regional Water Authority Web site at www.rwah2o.org.

Easy guide to contributing to The Sacramento Press

2009-08-16T00:54:51Z

You can help us make Sacramento a stronger community by contributing to The Sacramento Press. Our website is free and open to the public. To become a community contributor, all you have to do is:

1. Sign up by clicking the button at the top of the page.
2. Then, once you are signed in, you will see a "write" button at the top of the page. Just click the "write" button, fill out a form and watch a tutorial.
3. Title your Storyline. This is the topic you intend to write about and it helps tie your articles about the same topic together.
4. You can start writing immediately inside the browser or copy and paste your article from a word processor. You can save your draft on our system and come back to edit the draft. However, please note that once you hit the "Publish" button, your story is published and cannot be edited without the help of an administrator -- you can email journalism@sacramentopress.com to contact an administrator.

Finally, we now offer copy editing and other services for writers. Just email a draft of your work to journalism@sacramentopress.com. Journalism Support Manager Colleen Belcher will coordinate an edit with one of our copy editors. Your story will be sent back to you within 24 hours. You can post the story with or without the editing changes.

Thank you again for your interest. If you have any questions, you can email journalism@sacramentopress.com and we will get back to you as soon as possible. We look forward to reading your work on The Sacramento Press!

Toward a clearer picture

2009-07-30T08:50:13Z

Have you ever noticed yourself straining to make out someone's profile picture? Perhaps you've had trouble seeing detail in an article photo. If so, you'll be pleased to know that tonight we've rolled out an update to The Sacramento Press that should make your pictures clearer and smoother than they've been before. Initially, you'll only see the difference in pictures uploaded after today, but in a few days we'll go back and fix everything uploaded to the site since day one. In addition, article images now appear in the order in which they were uploaded, and we're now accepting a few more image file types (although we recommend sticking with JPEG or PNG files).

We also added a few new capabilities and crossed some items off our list of known problems. Here are just a few of the 35 fixes and additions we've made:

Improved article pages so the text loads instantly (no more waiting for the whole page to load on your mobile device)
Fixed your personal tag clouds
Made the site work better in Internet Explorer 6 (but please upgrade to IE8!)
Darkened the text throughout the site to make it a little easier on your eyes
Fixed a problem when writing articles with Safari 4
Tweaked our layouts to have Featured Pictures clickable, and added quotes around Featured Comments (see picture above)

As always, let us know if you have any questions or comments.

My Son is a Drug Addict

2009-07-15T16:10:10Z

He woke up this morning, finally, but he can’t remember much of the night before. He can’t remember the shouting match with his mother, telling her to “F” off and that he’ll do drugs as long as he wants too. Or the fight with his girl friend that ended with him passing out on the couch.

His name is Christopher, he’s my seventeen-year-old son, and he’s a drug addict. No, he’s not the kind of addict depicted in the movies or on television. He doesn’t sleep in alleys and creep around trying to find his next “fix.” He’s not disheveled or unwashed, though the clothes kids wear today kind of express that. No, he’s a middleclass kid from the suburbs that got off the road somewhere and can’t find his way back.

Ecstasy, “E,” “smackers,” “fizz.” It doesn’t matter what you call it, he takes it and he can’t, and won’t stop. His mother and I sit for hours trying to figure out where we went wrong, and you know, we’ve come to a conclusion that may not set well with others: we haven’t done anything wrong.

We put him through school and made him study, but the drugs took over and he quit going to school.

We taught him the difference between right and wrong, but the drugs took over and the difference to him became muddled and cloudy.

We taught him that it’s not the money or the fame, but hard work and diligence that equal success, but the drugs took over, and he no longer even wants to look for a job or accept work from anyone.

We taught him respect for others, but the drugs took over, now his hair-trigger temper kicks in and he lashes out at everyone with such anger, and distain that we fear he’ll hurt someone one night in a drug-induced stupor.

Finally, we taught him love, and not by merely saying it to him. We expressed it to him every day by example and by our actions with him. But again, the drugs take over and he yells at me in the front yard that he hates me and wishes I were dead.

No, we did everything we could to ensure that he became a good man and a positive contributor to society… but the drugs took over. We can no longer control him because his defiance is to such a point that he won’t obey anyone.

Now we’re trapped between our love for him and the knowledge that if we do nothing, he’ll eventually hit bottom, or worse.

So, there you have it. Where do we go from here? I don’t know, but we’re not going to sit still. Would an intervention work? I don’t know, but we’re going to try it. Would a stint in re-hab work? I don’t know, but if it comes down to it, we’ll try it.

I won’t be writing my articles or working on any literary projects until this crisis with Christopher is over. I’ll miss it, but not as much as I would miss my son if he were to die, and I didn’t commit everything I had to preventing that.

Protesters Rally at the Capitol to prevent HIV/AID budget cuts

2009-06-11T07:18:37Z

Hundreds of protesters turned out on the steps of the captiol yesterday to show their disapproval of the proposed budget cuts to HIV/AIDS organizations.

According to David Stupplebean and Jason Riggs, “Governor Arnold Schwartzenegger is seeking to balance the state budget on the backs of some of California’s most vulnerable residents—including people living with HIV and those at greatest risk of HIV infection. By cutting more than $80 million of support for HIV care, prevention and treatment, the governor’s budget jeopardizes livs and threatens years of progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS.”

Cathy Olufs, HIV positive since 1995 said, “I feel a little ashamed of my state right now.”

Speakers for the event varied from Actresses to California legislators and assemblymen.

Tony award winning actress, Sheryl Lee Ralph, said, “On June 5, many years ago five men in San Francisco were diagnosed with a disease that made doctors say ‘what the hell is this,’ it was an ugly time and we are here at the capitol to say don’t put us back in the ugly time.”

Ralph spoke to diverse crowd chanting their messages in many different languages; including English, Spanish and Japanese.

Ralph said, “These cuts are connected to a living breathing human being.”

Artist and childrens book publisher, Ralfka Gonzalez, who has had full-blown AIDS for around 18 years, said, “Proposition 8 protesters should be here too, people that can’t get married wont die, if I don’t get my medication I will die.”

California legislators spoke briefly to the crowd about the progress of the proposal.

As legislators spoke out the crowd chanted, “Tax the billionaires.”

Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, a favorite among protesters said, “I have a message for Arnold. He is working my last gay nerve.”

Domestic partners of two years, Johnathan Clark and Lupe Martinez, who have been HIV positive for 18 years, said, “To cut funding is to cut all progress we as a community have made.”

Clark said, “It seems totally wrong to get rid of the people that cant help themselves.”

Protester, Maurice Belvin, who has been HIV positive for 30 years, says, “I cant afford $1000 per month, so I would probably die if they cut ADAP.”

Carina Aguilar, a young woman living with HIV, says, “I want to have a long life and a big family. I am worth it and so are you.”

Reverend Alejandro Escoto, says, “I also have a message for Arnold. Will he be there by my mothers side when I die? Will he be by my mothers side when she buries me? Will he be by my mothers side when she is asking why?”

A Day at the SPCA

2009-06-04T06:26:19Z

As you walk into a heartwarming scene of chewed up tennis balls, toys on the floor, happy dogs sleeping peacefully in the offices of loving executives, you can feel the dedication for animals in the administration building of the Sacramento SPCA.

The animals that come to the Sacramento SPCA on Florin-Perkins Road find love, dedication, and much-needed attention. The shelter received 11,936 animals in 2008 and diligently placed 5,937 of them in new homes that year.

The staff of 90 and the 1,127 volunteers work tirelessly to keep the animals happy and healthy by walking the dogs, playing with the cats, and taking the bunnies out to hop freely.

Wendy Bright, a six-year volunteer dog walker holds a timid black mini Aussie puppy that has been neutered a few weeks earlier, never taking her eyes off of him.

“I like to walk the dogs. I love them and play with them and get them ready for their new homes,” Bright says.

The SPCA tries to prevent animals from coming to the shelter by offering a low-cost spay and neuter clinic. In 2008 the clinic spayed or neutered 12,570 animals—an increase of 5,092 from 2007.

One of the two full-time veterinarians, Giselle Chan, says, “We can do so many operations because they only take about eight minutes.”

Chan says they spay or neuter about 25 animals per day.

The chief veterinarian Laurie Siperstein-Cook sits in the clinic syringe-feeding and talking to a litter of three-week old kittens.

“They gave me the look, so now I’m fostering—they made me,” Siperstein-Cook says.

Siperstein-Cook says she hopes that the SPCA will soon be able to provide low-cost veterinary services in addition to the spay and neuter clinic.

Public relations specialist Lesley Kireen proudly shows off the adoption center and all of the new facilities that have been established for the animals.

“We are happy to have all new homes in the adoption center for the cats. They have plenty of toys, a comfy couch and a TV that plays things like fish swimming or butterflies all day,” Kireen says.

In one of the large adoption areas sat Snow, a talkative white domestic short hair cat with a hematoma and an apses in one eye. On the front of Snow’s home was a handmade book held together by ribbon tied in bows. Four girls from the spring camp—Camp Kindness—fell in love with Snow and made her the star of their story. The girls ended their story with a heartfelt, “We love you, Snow.”

“She has been with us for a while-everyone loves her, but she’s still here,” Kireen says.

Bonnie, a 13-year-old large black and white domestic medium-hair cat, sits proudly as pet of the week in her cozy bed. Bonnie had been surrendered by her owners almost one year ago after being with them for 12 years.

“It’s hard on the heart when you know an animal has been with someone their entire life and then they suddenly find themselves in a shelter,” Kireen says.

Kireen explained that there had been an electrical fire recently in the large holding area for the dogs, so that area is receiving a makeover too.

“Since the fire, things have been a little cramped for the dogs, and we hate that because we want them to have space to run and play and be as happy as possible,” Kireen says.

Star, a large coonhound mix waiting to get her bath for the day, calls for the busy staff member who stops and talks to every animal on her way to Star.

The SPCA also takes care of many small animals such as rabbits and guinea pigs, which attract small children.

“We have pretty good luck with placing bunnies and guinea pigs because they’re just so cute and fluffy a lot of people want them,” Kireen says.

Sassy Pants, a black and grey Dutch rabbit, ripped apart the newspaper that lined her homey cage as she pranced around showing herself off.

Kireen says that everyone has made room for an animal or two from the shelter because everyone falls in love as soon as they walk in.

“We love them all and try to make them happy, and if that means taking them home or spending extra hours at work just to play with them, I think that’s something anyone here would do without hesitation,” Kireen says.

BB, a blind and deaf mix breed that was recently diagnosed with kennel cough, stands hopefully in the holding area for sick dogs talking to everyone who passed by as if to say, “Good morning.”

“We won’t give up on her,” Kireen says.

250 Join forces to "Make a Movie This Summer" - 10th Year of "A Place Called Sacramento" Intros 12 Movie Projects"

2009-05-21T19:16:03Z

Access Sacramento welcomed more than 250 eager filmmakers to the Coloma Community Center last night for the Tenth Annual "Cast & Crew Call" event. Twelve short films were "pitched" to the large group, short video auditions of each participant were recorded by Access Sacramento staff, and sign-up sheets for each film invited all to "make a movie this summer".

The festive evening was kicked off by welcoming comments from Executive Director Ron Cooper and Lucy Steffens, Sacramento Film Commissioner. Youth and adult mentors visiting Sacramento from their community media center in Honolulu, Hawaii offered a welcoming chant and presented Cooper with gifts from their home state.

Each of the 12 filmmakers then presented their film ideas to the crowd and asked for their help. When completed and shown on the big Crest theater screen October 4, 2009, the 12 films will round out 100 completed films in the ten years of "PCS" filmmaking. Most of the past films are available for viewing at any time at www.AccessSacramento.org or on You Tube's Access Sacramento channel.

There is still time to get involved. Go to the Access Sacramento web site, read the log lines for the 12 films, and contact the films you find most interesting via the e-mail addresses provided. Cast and crews are still being formed. "We build our community by working together, asking others for help, and sharing our stories with all our neighbors", said Cooper. "We had a great time and the real fun has just begun."

Photos by Kati Larson Garner

Forgot your password?

2009-05-11T09:08:31Z

The Sacramento Press was updated tonight with a grab bag of wish-list items, tweaks, and bug fixes that have been accumulating over the last two months.

Recently, we've been using email as a tool to pass on news and workshop event details to you. Now, with this new release, we've started verifying email addresses on our site. So, for all new signups (or if you're already signed up and you change your email address) you'll get an email that contains a link to visit that lets us know your email address is in good working order. This will help us better communicate with you. We run a lot of free, fun workshops here in our downtown office, and having a working email is really important for us to be able to get the word out.

Here's a few other things we've added:

If you forget your password, you can request an email that shows you how to reset it
You can now log in with your email address
If it takes you a long time to write an article, the site won't kick you off when you eventually try to publish it
You can easily cycle through all an article's images when zoomed in
We've increased the font size in our conversations
There's a new RSS Feed for site-wide comments
If you include a large image in the middle of your article, it won't spill over into other parts of the page anymore

The list of minor fixes and features keeps going, but I won't bore you too much with that. Enjoy!

Let's continue EARTH DAY

2009-05-07T15:02:58Z

SACSCUBA Dive for Earth Day continued at HURRICANE BAY LAKE TAHOE. We will be making a Splash

Lake Tahoe, CA– This 21st day, 2009 June, SACSCUBA and community volunteers will join in the action for Project AWARE Foundation’s global Dive for Earth Day events continuation. More than 300 collective events will take place in over 100 countries around the world and SACSCUBA will make a local splash for this conservation celebration.

Join SACSCUBA hikers, bikers, walkers, divers and snorkel volunteers to keep Lake Tahoe clean. Let’s start the summer off right! We will be meeting at 9am. Please stop by Sacramento Scuba World, Sacramento or Fisheye Scuba, Folsom.

Each year, divers and water enthusiasts worldwide make a splash for water conservation in partnership with Project AWARE, a nonprofit organization dedicated to underwater conservation. This year events include shoreline and underwater cleanups, coral reef surveys, AWARE Kids projects, mooring buoy installations and more.

Please contact: John Day at SACSCUBA to take action for our Earth Day continuation this year. We really need folks to help on the shore, bike path and bushes.

Earth Day began in the United States on 22 April 1970 to raise the status of environmental issues to the global stage. In 2000, Project AWARE began to help dive volunteers put aquatic issues on the Earth Day map. Since that time thousands of divers in 115 countries around the world have helped protect underwater environments and educate local communities each April.

This year SACSCUBA decided to keep up the effort and add a Local clean-up at Hurricane Bay Lake Tahoe.

Project AWARE Foundation is a registered nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving underwater environments through education, advocacy and action. www.projectaware.org.

Contact: JOHN DAY, SACSCUBA
Email: divetraveltrain@gmail.com

Feb. 2, 2009 Intro to Journalism handout

2009-04-19T04:02:33Z

There’s news right under your nose!
Feb. 2, 2009
Holly A. Heyser, Professional Journalist in Residence, Sacramento State

Questions that help you find news

Do you see a problem that needs to be solved?
Is something happening that changes how you and your neighbors function?
Did you see an unusual event or happening
Can you see a new trend? (Magic Number: 3)
Is there an interesting new business or person in your neighborhood? (Or has one left the neighborhood?)
How are national trends (e.g., the economy) affecting you and your neighbors?
Do you know about something being planned?

So, what’s interesting? The test is this: Will you mention it to a friend or family member? If it’s worth mentioning to someone you care about, then it’s probably interesting.

What takes this from idle chatter to journalism?
FACTS. You have to know what you’re writing is true. This means you:

Observed it yourself
Were told about it in an interview with someone credible
Verified it with other sources
Found it in official documents

Two rules:

If you don’t know or can’t prove it, leave it out.
Even if you’re writing opinion, you must avoid presenting opinion as fact.

Writing
Getting ready:

Decide what you’re writing about.
Gather and make note of all facts that are immediately available. You’re looking for who, what, when, where, why, how.
Determine what you don’t know. If you can fill in the blanks quickly, great.
Think about how you would share this story with a friend or family member. What are the most interesting parts? They should be your focal point.

Writing

The lead of your story – the first paragraph – should provide key information to the reader. If s/he stops reading there, will s/he at least know what happened?
Write the rest of what you know in a logical order, which may be chronological or in order of importance.
Write what you don’t know. This can be a foundation for further research – or it can invite reader input that answers questions.

March 19, 2009 Interviewing Techniques handout

2009-04-19T03:56:22Z

The Art (and Science) of Interviewing

Martin Kuz, Senior Editor for Sactown magazine, March 19, 2009

Pre-Interview

Deciding what your story is about will help you determine what questions to ask. What are the primary points or themes you want to touch on in your story?
Who is your audience? Understanding who reads the publication you’re writing for – and what writing style that publication prefers — will also help you craft your questions.
Research your subject. Read what’s been written about the person. Depending on the story’s complexity, talk to other sources before you interview the main subject.
Prepare a list of questions and bring it to the interview. Ideally, you’ll have your questions memorized so that you can stay in the flow of the conversation, but the list can help if you forget a question or get sidetracked.
Practical matters: Pick a place that isn’t especially noisy (for taperecording purposes). Find out beforehand how much time the person has for the interview – you don’t want the interview to end with your most important questions left unasked. And always, always, always plan to take notes so that you have backup if your recorder malfunctions.

The Interview

Keep an open mind. Don’t assume you know how a subject will answer a question – you want to try to understand how he or she sees the world. But an open mind isn’t an uncritical one – don’t necessarily take everything a person says at face value.
Establish rapport. Some people are more comfortable than others giving an interview. But either way, you want to make the person feel less like they’re doing an interview and more like they’re having a conversation with you. Start with easy, open-ended questions that can’t be answered with “Yes” or “No” so you can draw out your subject.
Ask your questions and then listen. (In other words, don’t pull a Charlie Rose.) Remember: It’s the other person who’s supposed to be doing the majority of the talking.
Be patient – but not overly so. Always give your subject ample opportunity to answer a question because you never know what may
be revealed. At the same time, remember that this is your interview – if the person is ranging far afield on a tangent, don’t be afraid to (politely) interrupt and steer the conversation back to where you want it to go.
Save the toughest questions for last. If you plan to ask questions that might compel your subject to end the interview, wait until you’ve asked everything else first.
Don’t forget to ask for the person’s e-mail address and cell phone number if you don’t already have them so that you’ll have a way to follow-up if necessary.

Post-Interview

Don’t wait to transcribe your tape or go over your notes. It’s best to have the interview fresh in your mind when you review the tape or
notes for several reasons, including a) It will help you to more clearly see what were the most interesting responses, which in the normal flow of conversation can sometimes be missed; and b) You’ll have a better sense of what follow-up questions you may want to ask.
Organize your transcripts/notes into an outline so that you can see what topics and themes are most relevant and engaging.
If necessary, arrange a follow-up interview, making clear to the subject what points you want to delve into more deeply

Bringing Sacramento Press workshops to you

2009-04-19T03:49:13Z

It was suggested by one of the users of and contributors to the site that the Sacramento Press create a section where people can access the materials from the workshops that we hold. Many people who have been unable to attend the workshops have also requested copies of the handouts from the various workshops.

In order to better arm our readers with the tools that will help them write, there will be a section where all of the materials from the past workshops can be found. If you type in "SP workshops" in the search field, all of the articles and handouts dealing with our workshops will come up.

Also, in the future we will upload a video feed of the workshops, if people are interested, so that you can watch the workshops from your own home as if you were really there.

We still encourage people to attend our workshops, as we'd like the chance to meet you in person, however, we understand it's not always possible to make time in your busy lives.

If you have any other suggestions on how we can improve your experience with our site or feedback on how to make our workshops better, please email journalism@sacramentopress.com.

The Sacramento Press policy enforcement change

2009-04-17T13:25:12Z

Until April 14th, 2009 we, at The Sacramento Press, had been lax in enforcing our policies. As of that date we have begun to more strictly enforce our policies.

We strive to be the best source of local news and information in the Sacramento area. We aim to do that with a mix of paid reporting, and contributions from the Sacramento community. However our site is primarily written by community volunteers who submit their content without direct contact with The Sacramento Press

Anyone who lives in Sacramento is welcome to sign up and write for our site with no editorial approval prior to posting. It is a very free system, the only caveat is that you abide by the rules and policies of the site.

While our terms of service, privacy policy and contributor agreement go into depth about our policies, here are a couple of the basic principles.

If you are writing for our site please keep you writing primarily about Sacramento. This site is not intended to inform people about state, national and international news. We want to know what's going on in our neighborhoods and in our area as a whole.
Treat others with courtesy and respect. Do not swear in comments or articles that you write. Do not attack others on the site; debate the issues, not the people.

As we have become increasingly popular these messages have been lost to some of our community contributors and some of our users. We have allowed posts that have had nothing to do with local news and information in Sacramento.

From this point forward we will take down any posts that are in violation of our policies.

Please feel free to comment below or send in your ideas by emailing feedback@sacramentopress.com.

Thank you for being a part of The Sacramento Press.

Contributor agreement revision

2009-04-13T05:36:18Z

We have made a significant change to our contributor agreement. This is the agreement between The Sacramento Press and volunteer contributors who write articles.

The major change is that originally our agreement was structured like a newspaper or magazine. It gave The Sacramento Press an exclusive right to the articles published on The Sacramento Press. Now we share a nonexclusive right with all of our writers. They can remix, use, or even sell their work as they wish.

Original:
In consideration of the availability of the website to post your contribution, you hereby grant to us the sole and exclusive right (including any moral rights) and license throughout the world to produce, adapt, print, publish, copy, store in any medium by electronic means and otherwise exploit the contribution or any part of the contribution or any derivative of the contribution in all languages in every form or format whether now known or hereafter invented, including without limitation print, audio, digital and electronic form and in each case to license others to do any or all of the same. We shall have absolute discretion as to the exercise, sale or other dealing of the rights granted herein. You will retain copyright in the contribution. Consent for you to republish the contribution after the submission of the contribution to us for use in _________________________ without charge shall not be unreasonably withheld.

Revised:
You will retain full copyright in the contribution and nothing herein grants to us any ownership rights in the contribution. Thus, subject to limited grant to us as defined herein, you may produce, adapt, print, publish, copy, or otherwise exploit the contribution or any part of the contribution or any derivative of the contribution at your own discretion anywhere in the world and as any law may provide. However, in consideration of the availability of the website to post your contribution, you hereby grant to us a nonexclusive, irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide right (including any moral rights) to produce, adapt, print, publish, copy, store in any medium by electronic means and otherwise exploit the contribution or any part of the contribution or any derivative of the contribution in all languages in every form or format whether now known or hereafter invented, including without limitation print, audio, digital and electronic form and in each case to license others to do any or all of the same.

We spoke with several potential contributors who did not feel comfortable with our old contributor agreement. We examined our options with an intellectual property lawyer and feel confident that the revised agreement serves our needs while being more open for our contributors.

The new agreement also allows professional bloggers freedom to cross post on our site.

Please take your time and give us your feedback.

He Sleeps in Alleys

2009-04-01T21:16:38Z

Raymond…

He sleeps in alleys, under bridges, in doorways and open fields. He wakes infested with slugs, leeches, or ants, or any number of local insect. His name is Raymond, and he’s homeless.

The circumstances that lead to his current situation are not relevant. The lack of compassion or understanding of us as a community is.

He says that he can’t work because he suffers from chronic, untreated schizophrenia, but the medication he needs to control it is not available to him because he can’t keep a job and get medical insurance. He’s scared to death of the county mental health facility, so he suffers. He lives as he can, eats whatever he can find or beg for, and tries to leave everyone else alone.

Just last month, he was attacked at a homeless camp and robbed of the precious few items he could call his own, a plastic bag of toiletries, and his notebook. He suffered a bruised rib and contusions on his face and back. But he survived. He has since managed to replace the toilet items, but the notebook was never found. It was his catharsis, his way to record the small things he could manage to cope with and remember from day to day. The telephone numbers of the few people he could call when his life got too hard to handle, and pictures of his family, long since behind him.

Raymond has been homeless for seventeen years now. He has been in and out of mental health facilitates and jails from Seattle to San Diego. Each time he is incarcerated, he is treated for the psychological problems he has lived with all his adult life. But when he is released, he is forgotten, the pharmaceutical treatments are stopped suddenly, leaving him to cope with the debilitating withdrawals and to return to his dismal, paranoid existence.

He once was a well man. He once had a family, but he can’t remember most of them. He once had a job, but when the illness set in, his employers let him go.

I have heard more than a few people say that they sympathize with the homeless, but they don’t want them housed near them. They say they identify with the hungry, but they don’t want to help feed them. They have compassion for the children with little clothing, but they won’t cloth them.

The circumstance surrounding the plight of the homeless is not relevant to society’s responsibility to care for them. Not just the City, county or State governments, but the community as a whole.

I’m not advocating we house homeless families in our homes. But when there are a myriad of vacant and seasonally used buildings that could house them at least for a time to keep them from the elements, I say open those doors.

Dinner and a Movie, for the Homeless?

2009-03-18T23:37:50Z

Sacramento is now also known for the "Tent City" for the homeless. That’s okay. If Sacramento, the capitol of the seventh or eighth largest economy in the world has to be the poster child city for the homelessness problem in America, then so be it!

Probably every man, woman and child in our area is aware of the growing homeless community. It does not matter where you are in the Sacramento area, homelessness happens. In fact, some of the people interviewed for the stories about our tent city, said "we never dreamed that we would be homeless and in this condition". I have never dreamed of being homeless, have you? Maybe we are next.

I come from a very large family and I believe if my world got to the point of having no place to go home to or sleep, someone in my family would give me a place. My dear mother, Marilou Nordby, whenever she would see someone less fortunate than herself would always say, "there but for the grace of God go I". Which means, that could be me in those peoples shoes, but because of God's grace it is not me. One time she confided in me and said that her greatest fear was becoming homeless. I was shocked! My mother had nine children and at the time she told me this every one of them were still alive. I told her that as long as I was alive she would never be homeless. I hope that gave her some peace in her fears.

As compassionate people we need to be reminded that not all homeless are mentally unstable, drug addicts, alcoholics or even losers in this game of life, but rather each of them at one time had a home, a mother, a father, brothers and sisters and even children and we should treat them as if they were our mom or dad, or a sister or a brother because we don't know their circumstances.

I have been stirring the idea around with friends that I know that we should have a dinner and a movie night for our homeless. Today I want to share this idea with the readers of the Sacramento Press with hope that this will go further than this online news source.

Here is what I am envisioning for that night.

We will ask the churches and clothes closets to donate clothing for all ages and gender and we will have an opportunity for anyone who needs a new set of clothes to pick out what they want to wear for that dinner and to leave in. We will have a place to dispose of old clothes. Of course we will have some sort of changing rooms available and port-a-potties on 10th street.

This banquet honoring our less fortunate neighbors will be done on the west side of the Capitol building using this glorious building as a backdrop for this event. The Capitol also represents the state government for the people, all the people, even the homeless. The grounds will be decked with tables all decorated like a fine restaurant(except everything is disposable) a tablecloth with a candle and a flower, nice plastic ware and napkins. We will serve steak, chicken, potatoes, fresh veggies, milk, or soda, coffee or tea, and a dessert that is fit for a politician or cupcakes and cookies for the little children.

After dinner we will show a movie on a giant screen with a great sound system. The movie should be heart warming with some comedy and rated for all ages. Perhaps the newly released "Marley and Me". I have never seen it, but I think everyone would enjoy it. There will be popcorn, movie type candy and bottles of water and other drinks.

After the movie we will have blankets, sleeping bags and personal items for anyone in need of these things.

I don't know all the logistics of this yet, but if enough of us get together with our influences and connections we can totally bless our homeless and let them know that we care. Perhaps the lawmakers and city leaders will see this event as a wake up call and put some real attention towards helping ease the sting of the plight of the homeless which now include many little children.

I know everyone reading this is now thinking, 'this is going to cost some money'. Yes it is! But I believe every good cause can be very easily funded by anyone who can afford a little to help. Some who can afford more will also help. I believe if we make this event known to everyone, there will be plenty to take care of the cost. I am also sure that many who have other needed resources will also want to be involved. I am going to put my money where my heart is so I will make the first donation to this cause and I believe the rest will come. Kind of like the “Field of Dreams”, build it and they will come. I say “do it and it will come”.

I was talking to a homeless man today and asked him about this dinner and a movie idea and he was very excited about it. I asked if the homeless would come? He said "oh yes they will". He also shared with me of his hope of the "Ten Year Plan" to get the homeless problem under control. We can't wait for ten years. We need to do something now.

I realize that this is not a "fix" to a serious problem, but if we can bring some joy to people if only for a night, it will be well worth it.

If anyone who reads this article would like to get involved somehow, someway, your service and willingness to serve will be much appreciated by those who come. Leave a comment and contact me personally at jacknordby@hotmail.com

P.S. When was the last time a homeless person heard the words, "your table is ready" or, "how did you like the movie"? Lets give them something to talk about. Better yet, lets give them some love with hope that things can turn around for them.

Interviewing Techniques workshop March 19th

2009-03-16T05:34:54Z

Don't miss out on our next workshop, Interviewing Techniques, which will be held this Thursday, March 19, from 6:30 - 8 p.m.

Stephen Magagnini will be leading an interactive workshop on how to make the most out of interviews, which will help to improve the quality of your writing, whether it be for school, Sacramento Press or your career.

Magagnini has taught journalism, advanced composition, investigative reporting and narrative writing at UC Davis.

He continues to teach professional journalists how to do their jobs better as part of USC's Institute for Justice and Journalism and Health Journalism Fellowships, and the American Press Institute's seminars on compelling writing.

He's been teaching professionals for many years, and has done so at Columbia, Poynter, Harvard and USC. Arlene Morgan of Columbia University has called him “one of the finest teachers of beat reporting in the country,” and in 2001 Columbia gave him a Lifetime Achievement Award “for outstanding coverage of race and ethnicity in America.”

His stories have won numerous local, state and national awards, and his work appears in the anthologies Best Newspaper Writing 2001 and 2002.

We'll be serving food promptly at 6:30 p.m., and the workshop will start at 6:45 p.m., ending around 8 p.m.

Our office is located at 431 I Street, Suite 107 in the Amtrak Station. The parking spaces are not free, so try and find street parking if you can. If you are able to take light rail to our office, we will have passes to give you. We'll give you two - one to cover your ride here and one to cover your ride back.

Please RSVP by e-mailing colleen@sacramentopress.com, so we know how many people to expect.

This article was written by Colleen Belcher of The Sacramento Press.

How to avoid plagiarizing on the Sacramento Press

2009-03-11T23:38:42Z

While I was cleaning out my apartment over the weekend, I stumbled across a handout from my college days. I found it very relevant to what I'm doing now at The Sacramento Press, so I thought I would share it with our readers.

It was a handout on how to avoid plagiarism. Many of you may not take the time to read over these, but we at The Sacramento Press feel very strongly about credibility and transparency. While we are unable to fact-check and copy edit everything that gets published on our site, we still uphold a high level of integrity for our newspaper.

For those of you who may not be aware, we offer copy editing for anyone who wants to publish a story on our site. Simply email your article to journalism@sacramentopress.com and we'll send it back to you with edits.

If you have been unsure about what constitutes plagiarism, here's a few reminders, a refresher course if you will.

The tips below are taken from the UC Davis, Division of Student Affairs, Office of Student Judicial Affairs, Mastering the Art of Scholarship - which cites a section of J.R. Hendrickson's book, The Research Paper. Direct links to other resources on plagiarism can be found here.

What is the definition of plagiarism?
Plagiarism means using another's work without giving credit. If you use others' words, you must put them in quotation marks and cite your source. You must also give citations when using others' ideas, even if you have paraphrased those ideas in your own words.

Why should you be concerned about plagiarism?

If you plagiarize, you are cheating yourself. You don't learn to write out your thoughts in your own words, and you won't receive specific feedback from others geared to your individual needs and skills.
Plagiarism is dishonest and/or misleading, because it misrepresents the work of another as your own.
Plagiarism devalues others' original work. Using and submitting a professional's work as your own is taking an unfair advantage over students who do their own work.
It is wrong to take or use property (an author's work) without giving the owner the credit due. Further, copyright violations can result in damages, fines, or worse.

Guidelines for Avoiding Plagiarism

Use your own words and ideas. Practice is essential to learning. Each time you choose your words, order your thoughts, and convey your ideas, you can improve your writing.
Give credit for copied, adapted or paraphrased material. If you copy and use another's exact words, you must use quotation marks and cite the source. If you adapt a chart or paraphrase a sentence, you must still cite your source. Paraphrasing is restating the author's ideas, information, and meaning in your own words.
Avoid using others work with minor "cosmetic" changes. Examples: using "less" for "fewer," reversing the order of a sentence, changing terms in computer code, or altering a spreadsheet layout. If the work is essentially the same as your source, give credit.
There are no "freebies." Always cite words, information and ideas that you use if they are new to you (learned in your research). No matter where you find it - even in on the Internet or in an encyclopedia - you cite it!
Beware of "common knowledge." You may not have to cit "common knowledge," but the fact must really be commonly known. That George Orwell was the author of the anti-totalitarian allegory Animal Farm is common knowledge; that Orwell died at age 46 in 1951 is not.
When in doubt, cite. Better to be safe than not give credit when you should!

We will continue to hold workshops on journalism ethics, introduction to journalism, interviewing techniques, etc. We hope to arm our readers with as many tools as possible to improve their writing quality and our article quality. It's a win-win situation.

We hope that you will also take an active interest in keeping the content on our site honest and credible. The great thing about the comment section is that people can point out corrections if information is misleading or not accurate. The more people involved in reading an article, the more resources and knowledge bases are drawn together in one place. When there is a collaboration of resources, the more complete the picture is. No man is an island*.

Thank you for contributing to our site and for elevating the content of our articles by your commitment to integrity and by not plagiarizing.

If you have any questions whatsoever about what is considered plagiarism or writing in general, please email journalism@sacramentopress.com.

Recession Proof Your Business

2009-03-11T22:55:13Z

Are you a small business owner or a direct sales representative unable to meet your revenue goals? Are you scared that you won’t have enough money to pay your bills tomorrow? Are you one of the unfortunate thousands who just lost their jobs and fear for their financial future? If you answered “yes” to any of those questions, then get ready to free your fear and take control of your financial future by attending the free workshop “Managing Your Money” being held March 16th, 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in Sacramento or on March 19th, 9:00am – 11:00am in Elk Grove.

Hosted by Barbara Thompson, certified financial stress reduction coach, the workshop focuses on stress reduction based on the principle that you can’t get to where you want to go until you are willing to tell the truth about where you are. “We get brutally honest in my financial stress reduction workshop – there is laughter and tears as people open up and get real about their finances,” said Thompson. “The workshop is designed for people to get in control of their personal and business finances by following a proven plan of action in eight short weeks.”

In this interactive workshop you will learn to:

• Earn More
• Spend Less
• Get Creative

Barbara teaches powerful tools that help shift your attitudes and actions so that money becomes a source of joy and pleasure. By following her simple steps, participants gain peace of mind regarding their finances which in turn empowers them to earn more money.

“At the end of the workshop, each participant will have balance and control of their money or I refund the workshop cost back,” said Thompson. “I really enjoy working with people with financial stress because I help change their lives; it is a very rewarding journey we take together.”

Online registration has opened on the Self Worth Net Worth website. Please sign up by “clicking here.” If you have any questions on the workshop, please send an e-mail to Barbara@SelfWorthNetWorth.com.

About Barbara Thompson
Barbara Thompson is a certified Financial Stress Reduction Coach serving the Sacramento Area. She personally struggled with her own finances until she herself took Chellie Anderson’s Financial Stress Reduction Workshop and later became a certified trainer as she believed in the process and its proven results. Self Worth Net Worth offers financial workshops and one-on-one coaching. For more information, visit http://www.selfworthnetworth.com/

Learn to love the “F” word - Failure

2009-03-11T22:06:54Z

Ever heard the term “mash-potato manipulator?” Or would you ever believe you could learn to love the “F” word, failure? And what exactly does mash potatoes and failure have in common? They are surprising and irreverent ideas expressed in a fun, new workshop developed by the co-authors of the book Second Bloom: 10 Steps to Reinvent, Rejuvenate and Realize a New Life.

Along with creative and interesting stories about women who took bold and daring steps to reinvent their lives, the three-hour interactive workshop guides, helps and supports women as they develop a plan for change.

“We like to have fun and explore seemingly offbeat but actually common women’s issues during our workshops,” said Michelle Gamble-Risley, co-author. “We designed this workshop to pull back the curtain and take a closer look at common problems (e.g., mashed-potato manipulation) and walk women through the 10-step planning process to help set a new direction toward personal transformation, joy and happiness.”

The Second Bloom Workshop sponsored by the Rancho Cordova Chamber of Commerce will be held March 27, 2009, 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in the American River Room. In this interactive workshop you will learn to:

• Identify the change you want to make in your life
• Create a bold and daring vision that electrifies and motivates you
• Smash through obstacles clearing the path to your vision
• Craft a plan of action that empowers you to move from hoping and wishing to living and loving your dream

“Yes, we poke fun and laugh together at ourselves but at the end of the day, each woman has a serious, personalized plan for change,” explained Anne Marie Smith, co-author. “We’re excited to work with the Rancho Cordova Chamber of Commerce to bring women together, discuss and explore the process, and help women reinvent their lives.”

Rancho Cordova is underwriting some of the workshop costs, which enables the authors to provide a Recession-Buster fee of $19.95 for members and $29.95 for non-members. Snacks and refreshments will be provided along with a Second Bloom planning template sheet. Second Bloom will also be on sale for a one-time fee of $14.95 available the day of the workshop.

What's in a name?

2009-03-05T01:18:38Z

As we are just inventing The Sacramento Press as we go along, we have many, many discussions about which way to go on any given subject. The web is above all, about options, and we're constantly assessing ours.

One such subject that has occasioned discussion here is whether to allow commentators to use aliases instead of their real names. Community contributors, who write articles for the site, must use their real names, which goes to the credibility and transparency of The Sacramento Press.

But commentators, who respond to what has been written, need not use their real names. Thus we get "Doug" commenting, or "HillWalker." These names are not identifiable to anyone the Doug or HillWalker haven't clued in. While this is entirely permissible, I find it inadequate for several reasons.

First off, I always wonder why people post under aliases. Are they hiding their real identities so that they don't have any responsibility for what they say? Freedom without responsibility sounds like a good thing, but it's not realistic, or socially desirable, in real life. And we at Sacpress aim to record real life in our city. I hope The Sacramento Press feels, above all, like real life in our community.

Even assuming that people are hiding their real identities because they would otherwise not be free to state "the truth" - they are, say, whistleblowers, afraid of retribution if they reveal something the powerful don't want revealed - I haven't seen much whistle-blowing here.

I also think that aliases take us out of reality - if I'm arguing online with, say, Geoff Samek, I know who I'm arguing with. If I'm disagreeing with "midtownmom" I have only the slightest inkling of who this person might be - or rather, "type" of person "she" might be. Yes, I don't really even know if she's a man or woman. And she knows I don't know.

Our names mean something. Our name is our bond in society, and keeping "one's good name" strikes me as a very baseline motivation for anyone, on- or off-line. We don't check, via drivers license or other means, the identity of our community contributors when they sign up. People on The Sacramento Press are who they say they are. But the more honest we all are with the rest of the community, the more the bonds of community will grow.

Kids fantasize about doing things without anyone knowing about it; some adults do, too. It is perhaps human nature to want to do whatever we like without any consequences. It remains a juvenile, if understandably appealing, impulse.

It is also potentially dangerous. Imagine trying to keep order in a school yard where anyone could do anything to anyone else without any repercussions. Chaos. Anarchy.

Some say that this anarchy is the nature of the Wild Wild Web. It surely can be, and I have certainly availed myself of some of the advantages the anonymity of the web can offer. Indeed, for some of us, the anonymity of the web has been liberating. Closeted gay teens and questioning "straight" marrieds have been able to assert their true identity and reach out to others from behind the cyber veil of internet anonymity. The New Yorker cartoon got it right at the turn of the last century, with a dog seated at a computer and the caption, "On the internet, no one knows you're a dog."

But The Sacramento Press has as one of its goals the creation, or further co-creation, on- and off-line, of community. People in communities know each other. We want people to come here and speak their minds, but we want them - you - to be yourself. Be a member of your community, let your words, not your anonymity, be your strength. Let the power of your argument, not the vehemence of your disdain, be your rhetorical sabre.

Watching The Sacramento Bee's website has been enlightening, though in often disturbing ways. Sacbee.com allows anonymous posting, and it has been rewarded with comment threads that are so juvenile, so full of bile, provocation and plain rudeness, that they prove the school yard metaphor to be true. You do not go to The Bee's comments threads for intelligent discussion. Do you?

The comments on The Sacramento Press are on a different level so far, and I hope they stay there. I attribute that to the fact that most of our commentators post under their full names. They are taking responsibility for what they say, and I think that's good.

Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor made a memorable appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart earlier this week. She noted that the nine justices, despite holding very different views on a variety of subjects, may have gotten into heated arguments, but they never got personal. She noted that the Supremes are appointed for life, and life can be a very long time indeed. They knew that they were going to see each other year in and year out, possibly for decades, and that bad feelings occasioned because of a disagreement over a particular subject taking a personal turn could make that long term relationship difficult.

We are building long term relationships at The Sacramento Press. We are here to stay, both online and in this town, and we do not want disagreements over small, near-term issues to tear holes in the fabric of community. We can disagree with each other, online - that is, in public - and still keep it civil. And one way to keep it civil is to own our opinions and our language, and stand behind what we have to say with the full faith and credit of our good names.

We are not trying to control this. You may post comments under a "handle" or alias if you want to - our official position is that we do not want to limit the free expression of opinions - but I'd like to make a personal pitch for using your full name when you comment. If it's worth saying, and you really believe in what you're saying, I think it's worth saying it as yourself.

If you are posting under a "handle" and would like to change to your real name, it's easy to do. At the top of the Front Page, click the "profile" box, then go to "edit profile." Enter your first and last names as you'd like them to read, then click "Submit" at the bottom of the page. Now you are you, and we can put a name - a real name - with the opinion.

Free journalism ethics workshop

2009-02-18T06:06:50Z

Are you looking for an excuse to come meet the staff of the Sacramento Press? Come join us for our next workshop on Feb. 25th from 6:30-8 p.m.

Molly Dugan, an assistant professor of journalism and communication studies at Sac State, will be leading the workshop on Journalism and Ethics. She'll be discussing how ethics come into play when we write and publish articles.

We'll be serving food and drinks at our office.

Our last workshop had a fantastic turnout, with more than 30 people in attendance. We'll continue to hold more workshops covering a variety of topics. If you have any suggestions for future workshops, please send them to colleen@sacramentopress.com or comment below.

We look forward to seeing you next Wednesday! Please RSVP to Colleen at colleen@sacramentopress.com so we can have a good idea of how many people will be showing up to the workshop.

Our office is located at 431 I Street, Suite 107, inside the Amtrak Station. We have light rail passes for those who use RT; we'll give you two passes when you get here. One will be to cover your trip here and one to cover your trip back. Give us a call if you have any trouble finding the office, 916-443-5403.

Editorial: Facebook and community

2009-02-03T03:00:44Z

Jill Duman's column "My View: We need more than Facebook 'friendship'" in The Sacramento Bee today is scary. However, the online comments below the story are encouraging. Link here.

I am having trouble actually putting together a proper response, but I will try.

The thrust of the column is that Facebook cannot replace real friendships and community. That could have made for a fine column. Unfortunately, she uses most of her column to demean those who participate in social networks while dismissing the community these networks foster. Hint: facebook does not replace friendship, it supplements. Facebook is a tool.

Here are a few choice cuts with some of my responses:

"[Facebook] apparently is the grown-up equivalent of asking everyone you know to sign your yearbook. It's Facebook, and it gives people with too little to do (or a lot of work to avoid) a way of creating a personal billboard in cyberspace."

Nice way to start the discussion, demean the people who use online social networking services. Oh, by the way, Jill has a profile on linkedin.com.

The notion that a service like facebook is the equivalent of yearbook signing makes me a little sick. Hundreds of software engineers toil to build something special just so that she can spit on their work. I guess newspapers are just like toilet paper that you can read?

"I suppose there are advantages to using Facebook. It's certainly a good networking tool for the thousands of us who are unemployed or underemployed. It's a way to keep track of family bloodlines and avoid inadvertent intermarrying."

More of the same demeaning. Thanks for the solid insights. She goes on:

"It allows us all to quickly check in and skim headlines from the lives of people wanting to maintain us as friends – here a great job; there a wonderful apartment in the big city; across the country, a new baby."

This is where I find the column takes a turn for the scary. She clearly realizes, through her sarcasm, that Facebook is delivering important news people care about. This is the kind of thing newspapers should stand up and notice! This is the kind of thing newspapers ought to emulate! Instead of celebrating personal and local news, Jill dismisses it. I honestly fear that this kind of thinking is rattling around inside The Bee.

I want our local newspaper to survive and thrive. This is my plea to stop this kind of madness. Facebook is a tool. It is not a community, it is a tool for community building. It is a way to deliver news and information. It is a way to allow for responsiveness and multi-dimensional conversation. Facebook is not your enemy, it is a tool.

Please use it to drive readership and inform young people about local news. Please use it to get feedback from your readers and create rich conversations. Do not print things that demean 95% of young people who graduated college in the last few years. Please stop putting down the readers and writers of the next century. Make an honest effort at this and fight back. Do not fade into the sunset and then blame fantastic services like facebook while you willingly disconnect with the future contributors who want to make Sacramento better.

"I guess what is troubling about all this cybercontact is that it creates the illusion of community without the commitment. Facebook will allow two dozen former friends to reconnect, but will they really do more than exchange e-mail addresses? Will they watch each other's children grow up? Could you really call a long-lost Facebook friend with a dissolving marriage, a positive biopsy or an imploding mortgage?"

I have to say, the answer to all those questions is: YES! I do not want to get into personal details, but reconnecting with someone from high school on MySapce led me to a wonderful and fulfilling relationship with my girlfriend. When someone gets sick or is getting divorced, Facebook can bring so much love from friends. Then those people can go meet up in person.

I suppose if by using Facebook I abdicated my right to actually go see people in person then the column would make some sense, but that is hogwash. Facebook friending is not about relieving you of your duties as a friend, family member, or community member. All it does is allow for a richer relationship with more communication. It is a supplement, not a substitute. People love real community. Online social networking is built on the idea that people love community.

"In a real community, you meet over common ground – the bike path, the dog park, the PTA meeting. You share interests and concerns. And most important, you respond. You're the back-up baby-sitter or kid pick-up. You have the needed hammer, wrench or phone number.

"You'll pick up your neighbor's newspaper when they're on vacation. You'll buy Girl Scout cookies or Boy Scout popcorn. And when someone dies, you'll bring a casserole, go to the funeral and hug the bereaved."

Real communities can benefit using tools like Facebook:

create support for the bike path and organize an event on Facebook to keep it clean once a month.
create a dog park group to pressure local government to add the second gate that is so sorely needed
take the PTA online so that parents who cannot attend can watch a video uploaded to facebook of the meeting and respond with comments below
ask your friends for a recommendation of a baby sitter or see who has time to help watch the little ones (same with pick-up, hammer, or wrench)
The Girl Scouts would make a killing selling their cookies using a facebook application
these days when someone young dies many times their MySpace page becomes a living memorial to that person

Whew! You all get the idea.

One final time: Facebook is a tool. Real communities and real friends communicate and interact in absolutely vital, engaging ways using social networks. You don't have to use them or like them, but please do not attack those of us who do. And if you work for The Bee please ask your editor to respond and distance yourselves from this kind of mentality.

By the way, I have a feeling the column will make it onto The Sacramento Press facebook page.

Problems With Skunks

2009-01-26T04:38:23Z

Think skunks are just a backwoods problem? I live a dozen blocks from the State Capital in Side Park and skunks have become a very real problem. It wasn’t so bad this summer when they would occasionally visit my yard at night and dig for grubs, but now it is a very big problem because it is every night and because they seem to be trying to move right into the house. Their nocturnal sprayings wake us up at night, so strong is the smell.

I called the city information operator, and was told that “unfortunately the city doesn’t take care of wild animal problems” however the operator had several numbers to pass on for trappers who would, for a fee, help me with my skunk problem.

The first number (800-700-8715) was Critter Control. They also have a national website: www.crittercatchersinc.com

At the second number (530-885-7378) Creature Catchers; I spoke to a private, licensed trapper. Very important that license, because as he told me, skunks are fur-bearing animals, and if I were to trap one, and if I were to try and transport it back to the real woods for release-- I would be guilty of poaching!

This trapper charges $199 for the first 48 hours and a fee of $150 for each additional animal removed after that. He also told me that it was skunk-mating season, which was why they seem to be spraying each and every night.

My last number was (875-6603) Federal Trappers. I thought this was just another gimmick name, so imagine my surprise when the number was answered “Weights and Measures” an actual federal government agency. I did not get to talk to a federal trapper because I had called too late, of course on a Friday, so I will have to call again on Monday.

This problem started when the Davini Lane condominiums were built at 5th and V Streets. The skunks and who knows what else were displaced when the developers tore down the overgrown work shed and China Berry Trees at the ally end of the lot. That shed and the copse of trees had apparently been home to generations of skunks and other critters. One of the construction workers even told us about seeing one of the biggest skunks they had ever seen, just sauntering casually on down the street one day.

Shouldn't’ the builders have taken care of the skunks when they displaced them to, apparently, their second home-- a vacant lot at 3rd between V and W Streets? This second skunk hollow was in an old vacant lot that must have been left over after the city cleared the area to build the I-5 freeway. It has long been vacant and overgrown with a variety of trees, huge old palms, vines and weeds. Last year’s windstorms blew most of the trees over, and last spring the lot was cleared of all growth.

Again, shouldn’t whoever cleared the lot have done something about the skunks at that time? I know it is too late now for blame, and who knew what a problem these skunks were to become. I don’t know if building codes address the problem of wildlife displacement or if it is only when there is an environmental report? Seems a little late now for these questions, for now I am just focused on Monday and hoping the Feds can help with our skunk problem.

Free journalism workshop

2009-01-26T00:02:11Z

We are now in our fourth month of operation, and we are happy to see the growing number of community members writing for our site. I'm sure there are many of you who have been reading but are hesitant to post your own story.

You may feel like you aren't a good enough writer, or you may not know what you should be writing about. Whatever the reason may be for you not writing, we'd love to get you to change your mind by attending our next workshop.

The next scheduled workshop, titled Intro to Journalism, will take place from 6:30-8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 3.  Holly Heyser, a journalism professor at Sacramento State, will be discussing how to discover news in your everyday life and how to go about making it into an article.  We will have food for dinner, so bring your appetite for food and news.

Our office is located at 431 I St., Suite 107 at the Amtrak Station. If you take Light Rail, we will give you two free passes to cover your ride to the office and back.  Please tell anyone who may be interested in learning more about our site and journalism in general.  We look forward to meeting new faces and hopefully many future writers!

This article was written by Colleen Belcher. Colleen is the Journalism Support Manager at The Sacramento Press.

Open letter to Sacramento Parking Authority

2009-01-24T00:13:28Z

The writing doesn't show up well on the scanned ticket, and satan is in color on the real thing, but you get the idea...

...and yes, I did black out my address and phone number. There are lots of weirdos in Sacramento and I don't want them having my address so they can show up to my house, drain me of my fluids and attempt to bottle and sell my badassedness on the black market.

Update: Cooler in color.

Didn’t feel like the ‘old’ me…

2009-01-15T01:49:16Z

Time for a Change

I’m not the typical mom. I don’t have baby weight to lose. No.1 she’s seven and No. 2 I lost all the weight within a year after I had her. My problem is I always wanted to be there for my daughter, she has been my #1 priority, while I dropped to #55 on a growing list. I started working at home to be with her. I stopped doing all the things that made me feel good, inside and out: Hair, nails, social time with friends, etc.
I’m heavier, now, than I’ve ever been and totally out of shape. A flight of stairs makes me lose my breath. I tried to do something for my mental fitness (went back to school), which still was doing nothing for my physical fitness. Needless to say “going to the gym” was at the bottom of my priorities list.

It’s 2009, and I’m a new woman. I think I am strong enough now to see to it:
I do what I want, when I want. (for the most part)
I can be a great mom and still take care of me.
I still work from home.
I still go to school and get 4.0GPA.
I started getting my nails and hair done, again.
I’m still an assistant Girl Scout leader,
I still take my daughter to school every morning and pick her up every afternoon (and I’ve never been late)
I’m at every school function
I’m a great girlfriend to my man of 4 years.

But, I need more… So, I asked my honey for a gym membership for Christmas (my friends think I’m nuts) I started using *Gyminee and I started going to the gym last week. It is at a brand new, huge gym (not to mention a bit intimidating). I am so motivated, wanting to go every day. I make time to go after my daughter goes to sleep and on weekends. Someday, I will be the one people look at in that “big gym” and I hope to motivate not intimidate…

*Gyminee http://gyminee.com

Online fitness program, allows you to track all fitness and nutrition goals. You can have "Gym Buddies" to help keep you motivated, forums, etc. I am really pleased with all the foods already in the system. It made it easy to point and click on what I've eaten. Best of all it's FREE. You can sign-up for the "Pro" version at a price. I have the basic free plan, and it works for me.

Sac Press navigation changes

2009-01-01T12:24:08Z

With the start of a new year we, at The Sacramento Press, have decided to update the sections that are present on our navigation bar. As we expand out of our initial test area and cover more of Sacramento, we wanted to update our primary sections accordingly.

Despite the change in the navigation bar our focus remains the same, to be the best source of news and information in the Sacramento area.

Additionally we have found that many contributions to our site are about various cultural topics, such as movies, art and entertainment and so we wanted to include that as well as several other new sections.

While the new sections are more traditional in nature nothing about the way we deliver and cover local content is traditional. We need your help, the help of the whole Sacramento community, in order to tell all the stories in our fair city. So many stories go untold and we are here to provide the community with a means to tell those stories.

What if your story doesn't fit well into one of the above categories?

Not a problem. Each of the sections is merely a tag, or label, describing what a story is about. So our paper can have an infinite number of sections, just not all of them will be present in our top navigation bar.

Over time the sections will change and be updated based on the content we receive and the interests of our readers.

We are here to serve our readers and the Sacramento community.

So please feel free to let us know what you think of the new sections and if you have any recommendations or any other comments, please note them in the conversation below.

Thanks for reading and I look forward to reading all the untold stories going on everyday in our town.

Geoff Samek, Editor in Chief.

Tell us about your experience with The Sacramento Press

2008-12-21T03:56:31Z

Over a month ago I asked everyone: what is wrong with The Sacramento Press?

It was an attention grabbing headline, but more importantly it opened an honest conversation between all of us who run and write and read The Press.

Now I am asking for broader feedback: tell us what you like and don't like about The Sacramento Press. Give me suggestions for our operations, marketing and sales.

The last time I asked we got feedback that helped us build out a better help section, fix bugs, add features, and even begin a path towards changing our legal agreements.

We are always looking to improve our site and operations. We don't have all the answers, but I hope we continue to ask the right questions.

Making changes to your storylines

2008-12-17T08:12:35Z

Another Sacramento Press update just went live. Among the two dozen changes we made to the site tonight are a few that concern storylines. We've noticed that it may take an article or two to get a sense for the common thread in your subject. Perhaps you intended to write about one thing but ended up writing about another. If this has happened to you, you'll be glad to know that you can now rename your storylines. Other changes we pushed out include some icon fixes, tweaks to our RSS feeds, making profile edits more forgiving, and many more tweaks, bug fixes, and improvements.

2nd Sacramento Press workshop: Intro to journalism

2008-12-15T08:04:38Z

Sign up for our site and come on down to our office for free food and a great interactive workshop taught by Holly Heyser, Sacramento State Professional Journalist in Residence.

The workshop will be from 6:30pm - 8:00pm Thursday, December 18th at The Sacramento Press office. We will start with food and refreshments, move on to quick introductions and then the interactive workshop.

Please R.S.V.P. by Wednesday, December 17th, and do so by emailing journalism@sacramentopress.com.

The workshop will be aimed at finding the news that goes on in our lives and how to report it following basic journalistic principles.

Parking is available in our lot however it can be rather pricey, $1.50 per half an hour. Street parking is usually available and free at that time of day. A good option is to take a bus or take light rail.

To take light rail you will want to take the Gold light rail line to Sacramento Valley Station, the last stop.
To take the bus simply take the 30 or 31 bus line which also has its last stop at the Sacramento Valley station.

If you take a bus or light rail and bring your ticket from the trip into the workshop we will give you 2 new tickets.

I look forward to seeing a lot of new faces at this Thursday's workshop and hopefully some familiar ones.

Writing format and style

2008-12-07T01:25:13Z

Format and writing style is about more than just looks. How you format your writing might make the difference between people reading your article or passing it by.

One of the trickiest parts of news writing is keeping things brief and to the point.

Stylistically this means paragraphs that don't exceed two sentences. While it seems excessive, if you read any major newspaper you will realize that this rule is nearly universal.

By adding whitespace an article seems more readable; huge paragraphs deter readers.

Good grammar, spelling and punctuation, is another important part of having your work read. Proofread your work, or have another person proofread it.

If you have no one to proofread your work we, at The Sacramento Press, will proofread your work for you. To do this, simply send us your article at journalism@sacramentopress.com.

We will edit your work and send you the edited version. Our goal is not to change your message, just to make it the best version of your work possible.

There are many more style guidelines that we abide by here at The Sacramento Press and in the next update I will post a list of the most important of those guidelines.

What's front page worthy?

2008-11-24T04:59:51Z

Any article written about local Sacramento topics and covered in a clear, concise and well written language is worthy of our front page.

Not everyone is a great writer. If you have an interesting topic about which you'd like to write, but worry that your writing is not up to snuff, that isn't a problem.

Send us your writing, we'll clean it up and send it back to you. Then you can post with the confidence that it will look professional.

In a physical paper the top half of the newspaper is called, "above the fold." The bottom half is what's known as, "below the fold."

On our website we have a similar notion. Above the first leader board ad is what we refer to as, "above the fold." That content is chosen by our editorial staff.

We also chose the content that goes, "below the fold." Both folds serve to tell you the reader what is the most valuable content on our site in any given day.

The content that we choose for the 2 folds is content that we stand behind. It is content that we believe is truthful, accurate and interesting. This content does not lack opinion.

It also does not represent the opinion of The Sacramento Press, it represents the opinion of the person writing the article, those opinions will vary by writer.

Lastly we have a list of the newest content on the site. That content is completely unfiltered at the time is posted to the site. There is no editing, and no editorial oversight by the staff at The Sacramento Press.

However, if an article violates our terms of use, it will be removed. You in the community can help us find the bad content by flagging it. You can also help us find the great content by rating it with a, "thumbs up."

By working together, you the reader and us the staff, we can give you a the best news and information from around our region.

Our Vision

2008-11-22T06:36:55Z

I wrote this document a couple of years ago when Geoff and I were just developing a set of ideas that would eventually lead to The Sacramento Press. it is our vision. We are working hard every day to make this a reality. And so far, with your help, we are getting there.

Compare the words news and information. News is a form of information. It is quick, disposable, always up to date,
decimated from a few to many; it is new. Information is much broader. It can be old or new, it can ﬂow in any
direction (between people and organizations in webs and bursts).

Disregard the traditional parameters of a newspaper. Imagine instead a greater variety of information. There is more
of it now; it is freer ﬂowing. There are more sources, more end users. End users can be sources. Interaction can
create new information through synergy and synthesis of ideas. Old ideas interact with new ones. History, news,
and interactivity form storylines rather than articles. It is lightning quick.

This is a dream and a nightmare because now news is so simple, so ﬁltered and easy to use. These new forms of
information may not be, and this system may overwhelm rather than inform. It is time to take a risk and apply new
filters to information, to better inform people about relevant issues. Some new ideas about ﬁlters may be technical in
theory, but the end result should be simple: a great user experience. These ﬁlters, and the powerful search tools used
to affect them, will present a simple user interface that looks and feels intuitive and provides relevant information to
a wide variety of users. Share our vision. Imagine the possibilities with us . . .

Ok, I know it is a little cheesy. And maybe there are some lofty platitudes in there. But its a dream for us and right now we get to live it out with all of you. Thank you.

If you want to know more about us just click the green "storyline" tab on the right of the page or visit the help section.

Free workshops at The Sacramento Press

2008-11-19T09:52:05Z

From learning journalism basics to photo editing to learning about new Internet technologies The Sacramento Press provides workshops to all of our Community Contributors absolutely free.

Our workshops will have food and refreshments at no cost. We are located at the REA building next to the Amtrak building at 5th and I Street.

Our goal is keep most workshops to 20 people or less, but to put them on as frequently as possible, starting in the next few weeks.

What's the catch? All you have to do is sign up to write for the site. It's just two simple forms and you're in. Then when a workshop is announced just email us for a spot.

Why would The Sacramento Press do this?

Because we want you to write for us. Beyond just writing for us, we want you to write the best articles you are capable of writing and we want to help you do that. Lots of writing, and good writing, translates into more people reading and more people reading translates into our paper's success.

As workshops are planned check back on this storyline for more information.

Do you have more questions about our workshops? Ask your questions in the conversation below this story or write our journalism support department at journalism@sacramentopress.com.

Everything is news

2008-11-19T09:32:04Z

I challenge you, the readers of our publication to see the news that is going on all around you.

Kevin Johnson thanked his supporters on the corner of 5th and I Street 500 feet from the front door of our office.

Several weeks ago the entire Sacramento Federal Courthouse emptied out for a fire drill and marched across the street invading the local Starbucks and our parking lot.

The last Friday of every week all the air raid sirens positioned around Sacramento blare loudly at 11 A.M. Have you heard them? Did you ever ask why?

The picture above depicts all the construction going on at the Amtrak station, which is undergoing quite a transformation.

The Sacramento Press is a place for you to ask questions. It's a place for you to get answers. And most importantly it's a place where you can tell everyone.

A question that people frequently ask me is, what can I write for your paper? The simple answer is any local news.

What qualifies as local news? Just about everything.

Do you dislike the fact that your neighbors leave their trash cans out too long? Contact The Sacramento Press about who you can call to do something about it. Then write about what you found out.

That is news, and it's news that you can report on.

Regarding the next update

2008-11-16T06:34:21Z

Hello again.

Last I wrote we had made our first few changes to the Sacramento Press website. Time does fly, I suppose, because we're just about done with another update. If all goes well, you'll probably be seeing it in action sometime next week. And like last time, this isn't revolutionary stuff; we're still fine-tuning the engine to make sure everything's solid before we roll out the shiny new features.

So, what's in this update? Right now we have fifteen additions, tweaks, and squashed bugs coded up and ready to go, including fixes to an RSS feed that broke last week, the ability to rename your storyline, and a few graphics changes throughout the site (ever notice that the thumbs down icon was cut off in a list of articles?).

There will probably be more releases like this in the near future, but we're already working on a list of things to add to the Sacramento Press in the coming months that are shaping up to be pretty exciting. Stay tuned for more.

The very beginning of The Sacramento Press

2008-11-15T17:53:51Z

Recently a reader emailed and asked me about The Sacramento Press as a business. What is our direction? How do we make money? Why would anyone want to write for The Sacramento Press?

I think it is best to start at the beginning. Geoff and I wanted to cover local news. We were both working other jobs at the time and The Press was just an idea. We wanted to start a traditional newspaper, brick and mortar, with regular paper editions and a full staff of writers. Plus we wanted to have an online edition with a focus on community debate. We put together a business plan and had some consultants take a look. It didn't go well. This was in 2003 and even back then most people realized paper newspapers were part of a mature industry heading for a slow decline.

The advice of the consultants? Cut costs in three areas: paper, delivery, and labor. We weren't really too happy. Essentially these people just gutted our dream. We tried a few other plans on paper, but nothing incredible happened until I stumbled upon The Northwest Voice, a community newspaper in Bakersfield, CA. I was able to speak with their editor at the time Mary Lou Fulton. She was cheery and encouraging. And she had reason to be, The Northwest Voice was pioneering a new era in community journalism: citizen journalism.

Over the next two years Geoff and I crafted our business plan and talked about technology. Our goal never changed. We still wanted to find a way to get more local, neighborhood news out there and let people debate and discuss in a civil forum. We refined the concept to its core; let people do what people love to do:

Tell stories
Have conversations

So how were we going to run with low enough costs to make it happen? Being online only we not only eliminate costs associated with the rising price of paper, but also the rising costs of delivery (like gasoline).

Better yet, the price to host a site online is going down, not up. What about labor? Did we want to get rid of reporters? Our consultants from 2003 wanted us to be an aggregator and just show content other news outlets already wrote. But the catch is that Geoff and I got in this business specifically to get more local coverage, not just point to the very little local news that other outlets provide. Plus, there are other great options that aggregate local content from weblogs in Sacramento (like ipso sacto). Also, Geoff and I realized that not only do reporters want to get paid, but many do not want to cover neighborhood level stuff. I'm talking about sending someone out to cover a little league game, lack of lighting at a basketball court, or a house being torn down. These are things that matter to the community, but they lack the spice that would entice a great professional to do great work. Finally, wouldn't the people who care most about these local events be the best to cover them? The reporter we send to a little league game may know a ton about baseball, but do they know the names of these little players? I know that I would rather read a piece written by someone who lives in a neighborhood everyday than someone sent to cover it for one day.

Today Geoff and I want to be part of a mixed solution. There is a place for a spectrum of local coverage from professional to amateur and from very structured to independent blogging. The Sacramento Press is a place where we want to empower you to tell your local stories. We encourage you to become a community contributor and write. If your story is great, we will put it on the front page. If you want help copy editing, email your draft to journalism@sacramentopress.com. We will be hosting workshops if you want to improve your writing skills. It is time to come together and build a more vibrant Sacramento.

Suggestions from a Sacramento Press reader

2008-10-28T23:01:31Z

I received an email from a reader the other day. He had lots of suggestions for us to work on. I asked him if I could post his email and my response so that everyone could join in the conversation. He said yes.

The email and responses do get a bit technical, so please ask questions in the conversation below if you want to know more about anything. This is the kind of feedback we want from readers and writers.

Here are the suggestions in the email:

Insecure login page. You should put both the login form and the form processor behind ssl. I *often* use insecure wireless and someone could easily grab my password (which most people would use elsewhere). The best solution to this problem would be to support something like openid[1] (at least for commentors if not editors also).
Major RSS feeds are hard to find. I'm guessing it is available for the front page but I can't (and more importantly Google Reader can't) find it.
Neighborhoods. An auto-complete for sacramento neighborhoods would be helpful (in the profile). Also, maybe instead of just "Southside Park" there could be a "neighborhood" section?
Personal Info... You collect a *lot* about your contributors (are ya'll really planning on calling me on the phone?). Perhaps you should loosen those requirements and/or state on your privacy policy how you intend on using (and keeping safe) our information.
tagging... it took me a minute to figure it out but I like it! I wonder if others can see my tags? How do you plan on keeping the vocabulary clean/small/etc. Visualization can become a problem when there are a ton of tags.
look and feel... I like it. The site seems clean and very easy to use.
links. Can you add a way to link to a specific comment on an article? Usually this is down by doing something like <a name="comment123">I think ...</a> then one could link to http://sacramentopress.com/article/foo/#comment123

And here are my responses:

The technical points you made I have forwarded on to our development team. I wanted to take a moment and address the points you made.

Login. I love Open ID and we may hook into them in the future. As for security, I want to talk with our technical team more before I dig a hole for myself.
RSS feeds. Working on it. We have 2 components to the splash pages. The top area is laid out by an editor. The bottom area is a list of new articles. We are reworking the bottom area to have buttons for the hottest and most discussed new stories and we will include an RSS feed when we make the revision.
Neighborhoods. Our entire operation is in beta right along with the site. This includes marketing and sales. We chose to limit our market to Southside Park neighborhood, Richmond Grove, and some surrounding areas. We will be expanding to cover other neighborhoods very soon as we make changes and have a more stable and usable site. At that point, we will move neighborhood by neighborhood around the city and eventually cover everyone.
Personal Info. We do collect a lot of personal information especially if you are a community contributor. Are we really planning on calling you on the phone? Absolutely, that's why we ask for it. When I say absolutely, this does not mean we are going to call you to advertise, but our goal is to have working relationships with our Community Contributors and treat them as a true reporter would be treated. We also need to know who you are if we choose to promote an article you write to our front page or one of our section pages. For casual users, the sign-up is easy. If you want to be a Community Contributor we are truly entering into a sort of partnership and the bar is higher. This is intentional and I would love to continue this dialog with you.
Tagging. Tags are a great tool, I'm glad you were able to figure them out and see their use. We have certain limits in the system to handle long tags (we shorten them or don't allow them). Our visualizations scheme uses an algorithm to determine what tags are most used and what tags to show. We have thought a lot about tags and we will be refining the system as we see it grow.
Look and Feel. Thank you, we worked really hard to get it to this point and we are not done yet. The design of the site will be slightly revised in the next couple of months to make sure that literally every button is just right.
Linking to a specific article is actually harder than it looks. We are working hard to get that feature out and make it light weight. We are always looking to optimize speed and keep things clean in the code and we may need to innovate behind the scenes to get it right the first time.

One more note. We have already crafted a solution to #2. RSS feeds. Our system now supports feeds for our front page and all splash pages. We are still working on making lists on these pages smarter.

An introduction and a minor update

2008-10-26T07:43:59Z

Tonight I'm starting a new storyline (yes, this one). Here I'll be giving you a look at the Sacramento Press from a nuts-and-bolts point of view. Whenever we roll out a sparkly, new feature for you to use or fix a bug that's been causing you trouble, I'll try to let you know about it here. If you ever want to discuss the site or have any questions about something we've added, let me know in a comment!

And to christen this storyline, let me tell you about the release we pushed out tonight. It may not seem like a big change, and that's because it's mostly a collection of odds and ends we only discovered we needed after going live two weeks ago. Have you ever uploaded an image when writing an article, only to have it disappear if you made a mistake when publishing? Well, even if you haven't, we've fixed that. Had trouble clicking links in our RSS feeds? Well, yes, we have RSS feeds, and now they're working right! Most of the other changes are too small to mention, but I'll mention a few anyway: we've added favicons to give your bookmarks a little zip. Also, if you have an iPhone and you bookmark our site to your app list, you'll see the icon above.

Look out for more fixes and features in the coming weeks as we speed through our beta process. And, as always, if you're having problems with the site or have suggestions, feel free to bring them up here, but also remember to email our support at support@sacramentopress.com to get a faster response (It's like dialing 9-1-1 versus chatting up your policeman neighbor).

Thanks, and I hope you enjoy the site.

What is RSS?

2008-10-25T00:52:44Z

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. It has had several other names over the years, but that is the current one.

RSS attempts to solve a problem that people have when using the Internet; they are overwhelmed with information. In the age of the Internet you can now read all your favorite newspapers and blogs and do so all while never leaving your computer.

The problem is, how do you keep track of the newest information on all these websites without being completely inundated, or having to spend hours combing through these sites? This is where RSS comes in handy.

So what is RSS exactly? Wikipedia defines RSS as follows:

"RSS is a family of Web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works – such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video – in a standardized format"

The first thing that you have to do is get something to read RSS. We here at the Sacramento Press tend to use Google Reader. This will be a home for all of your RSS feeds.

On many sites including this one you will see an RSS icon. Generally this is a small orange icon, like one of the two pictured in the image gallery above.

These icons are simply links to unstyled versions of the content on a website. And the way you use them is copy the link from these RSS buttons into your RSS reader, such as Google Reader.

Because I think this is more easily demonstrated than explained, I have linked to a video of a really great explanation of RSS.

Did you watch the video? If not I would really recommend it. After watching the video go ahead and try it for yourself. Grab Google Reader and subscribe to the RSS feed for this storyline. Can you find the RSS button? It's right under the title of this article.

Still don't quite get it? Comment in the conversation below and I'll answer all your questions and concerns.

What is wrong with The Sacramento Press?

2008-10-16T19:44:57Z

The Sacramento Press is an amazing tool. Our development team built the site from the ground up to be clean, fast and useable. But most of all it is a flexible platform. Why the focus on flexibility? Because we know that we will not get everything right the first time around. We know there are bugs. We know there will be usability problems and design flaws. We need your feedback. Our goal is to be responsive and flexible, not perfect. We strive to be always better.

Our operations are also designed to be responsive and flexible. We want input on how to make our terms of use better. We need your feedback about our privacy policy. We have posted both as storylines on the site so that you can comment on specific terms and begin the conversation.

Up and down our operation our goal is to meet your needs and exceed your expectations. In order to serve the public we need an open conversation with you. Please join me on this storyline and give us feedback. Just add your comment to the conversation section below. What do you like about the site? What is worng with the site? What plainly does not work? How can our terms or business model be better?

We pledge to be open, honest and transparent. As Operations Manager for The Sacramento Press, I pledge to be active in conversations about our site and operations.

Our coverage plan

2008-10-15T17:33:11Z

Our long term goal is to cover all of the Sacramento Metropolitan Area, however that will take time. Some users have already noticed that we have given a huge bit of attention to the Southside Park neighborhood of downtown. This is because the Southside Park neighborhood is in our "beta" area.

For a more detailed description of what beta means and the what area of town we are starting out in please visit the article What is "beta"? in our Frequently Asked Questions storyline.

As we expand and grow we will quickly move beyond just trying to cover this neighborhood in downtown and begin covering a larger and larger area. When we do we will also change our navigation to reflect our growth and won't give top billing to just one neighborhood.

If you still have any questions our comments about our strategy please feel free to comment in the conversation below or email us at feedback@sacramentopress.com.