A slice of life in pre-Prohibition Sacramento was on display at the Sacramento County Historical Society’s monthly meeting Tuesday night as saloon ware collector Steve Abbott gave a presentation on artifacts from the 1860s through the 1920s. The Sacramento Press caught up with Abbott Wednesday for a more in-depth look at his collection. “I come from a family of collectors,” the 73-year-old retired English teacher from Rancho Cordova said. “One day I was in Old Sacramento in an antique store, and I saw an old whiskey bottle for $7. That was when I got into it – about 30 years ago.” While whiskey was made back east, in states such as Kentucky, Ohio, New York and Indiana, it was shipped to

The city’s planning commission will decide whether to OK a permit for alcohol to a proposed bottle shop and tap room planned for a shopping center near the intersection of Howe Avenue and Fair Oaks Boulevard Thursday night. Capitol Beer and Tap Room is a potential business set to take an empty space at 2222 Fair Oaks Blvd. put together by business partners Ken Hotchkiss and Patti Aguierre. “It’s going to be kind of a high-end craft beer tasting room and bottle shop,” Hotchkiss said Wednesday. If given the go-ahead by the Planning Commission, the business could open as early as December, and Aguierre said she plans to participate in Beer Week, in late February. About 20 beers will be on

Over the past several weeks, the Save Sunny's Market Campaign attempted to obtain a change in the law so that we could decide as a neighborhood whether or not new owners Josh and Monica Patel ought to possess an alcohol license.  As the leader of this campaign, you might imagine that I became emotionally invested in the effort. It is with regret that I found out yesterday that we will not be able to get the change in law that Sunny's Market needs.  People just want government to work and as someone who has been in and around government, I hoped to be able to navigate around the some of the complexity.  Unfortunately, the bureaucracy proved to be too large of a barrier. So it is with even

Anyone who's been following the Save Sunny's Market campaign, might wonder how we got to this point.  In short, state law allows the negligent actions of a previous business owner to impact the potential success of a new owner.  After researching the legislative history, the answer to why this is the case is somewhat mysterious. The legislation in question is AB 1042 (Chapter 538, Statutes of 1996), authored by Assemblywoman Dede Alpert, and came about to "reduce the number of applications for liquor licenses by premises who have continually been denied a license and thus reducing the impact that these 'unwarranted' applications have on communities." Specifically, residents of the Linda

Thanks to the support of so many Marshall School/New Era Park (MSNEP) residents, the Save Sunny's Market campaign was able to deliver eleven pages of petition signatures to the offices of Assemblymember Roger Dickinson and Senator Darrell Steinberg yesterday. The 165 signatures demonstrate broad-based neighborhood support for the new operators of Sunny’s Market to acquire a beer and wine license. If you are just hearing about this issue for the first time, Josh and Monica Patel – the new owners of Sunny’s, are at risk of closing their doors due to the negligent actions of the previous owner who violated the law several times by selling alcoholic beverages to underage decoys. Under curren

This week, members of the Marshall School/New Era Park Neighborhood Association helped launch a campaign to save Sunny's Market.  A corner store at 28th and G Streets, Sunny's was acquired four months ago by new owners Josh and Monica Patel. Because of mutiple alcohol sales violations by the previous owner, a one-year moratorium on a new license has been placed on the site, notwithstanding the change in ownership.  At a time when Midtown residents have sought to further restrict the availability of alcohol in the central city, it's ironic that neighbors of Sunny's have come together in support of the Patels acquiring a license.  However, options appear limited at the moment because the r

The owners of a contested bar with a mixed martial arts fighting concept withdrew their application earlier this month, but neighboring residents are still concerned that new plans for the Midtown space will be the same operation by another name. The MMA Fight Bar concept was planned by the owners of Luck’s BBQ, which at 2502 J St. is next door to the vacant space the fight bar would have taken. The application for an alcohol license for Fight Bar was withdrawn by owners in mid-July, and the Alcoholic Beverage Control office confirmed Friday that no new application has been filed yet. “They’ve decided to change their format there,” said Midtown Business Association Executive Director Ro

After being out of town and unplugged from social communication for over a week, I have decided to use this week’s column as a little op-ed piece regarding a very touchy relationship subject: the ever-so-awkward public breakup scene. The only reason this is so fresh in my mind is that, during my vacation last week, I was caught in the tornado of one of the worst public breakup fiascoes I have ever seen. No, I was not breaking up, but my tablemates were. What started out as a pleasurable evening of watching UFC at a local pub in Long Beach turned into a horrible display of awkward, loud, hateful (and drunken) insults spoken by Miss to her Mister. My party of four had been seated with this

As downtown’s Shady Lady Saloon undergoes a voluntary 10-day suspension of its alcohol license, owners are helping their 32 employees find work until the bar can reopen May 20. When the establishment opened two years ago, a liquor license was obtained under the names of the three owners, Jason Boggs, Garrett Van Vleck and Alex Origoni. When the business was renamed Shady Lady Inc., the owners didn’t clear it with the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, Boggs said. “Unbeknownst to us, you can’t do that,” he said Friday, three days after the bar’s closure for the license suspension. Lori Ajax, district administrator for ABC’s Sacramento and Yuba district offices, said the

What do you get when you mix drink specials and poker chips? Tipsy Tokens, founded in Sacramento in 2011, is similar to the concept of Groupon, but focuses its promotions on local bars and nightclubs. What sets Tipsy Tokens apart from the other coupon sites is its social focus, co-founder Robert Cima said. “Though you’re purchasing something online, there’s a social aspect involved. There are reps on-site at the event checking people in and making sure everyone is having a good time. Also, you’re provided something physical: Tipsy Tokens. These tokens are colorful poker chips with the company logo on them used for buying drinks and playing games.” According to Cima, the project began ab

Ace of Spades music club recently got its liquor license under limited hours following area residents' concerns about possible problems. On March 3, the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) transferred a liquor license to the club, which opened in early February at 1417 R St. The license was transferred from Empire Events, a nightclub operated there by the building's owner, Randy Paragary, and partners from 2004 until February 2010. Ace of Spades' owners, Eric Rushing and Brett Bair, had hoped to serve alcohol at the club until 2 a.m. every night. Under the conditions of the liquor license, the music club must stop serving alcohol at 11 p.m. Sundays through Thursday

Sacramento Beer Week culminated with The Capital Beerfest, held at Cal Expo on Saturday. Upon entering the exposition hall, there were professional brewers, organizations of home brewers and several distributing companies present, with volunteers buzzing around with a camaraderie that can only develop while working a beer festival. Beer drinkers and enthusiasts of all ages were there enjoying the event to the fullest. The only downfall was the weather. It was so nice outside that everyone was wishing they could be sipping outside rather than inside a hall. The VIP session began at noon and was terrific in the fact that the brewers pulled out all the stops and brought out their best from

"Escape the Fate! Escape the Fate!" With appetites violently whetted by the three-guitar screamo attack of the final opening band Alesana, the loud chanting of hundreds of eager fans filled Ace of Spades Sunday night, beckoning Escape the Fate, the headliners of the Dead Masquerade tour. The sensory onslaught began with appropriately named opener "Massacre," as the Vegas post-hardcore band pounced on the young crowd like a rabid pack of hyenas on defenseless baby gazelles. The response to ETF's latest Facebook wall posting before the show ("Sacramento Ace of Spades tonight it's on! You guys ready?" – 1,429 Likes and 539 comments at the time of this writing) indicated a large and dedicat

DGC/Interscope band Escape the Fate will headline the Dead Masquerade tour at Ace of Spades this weekend, joined by support acts Alesana, Motionless In White, Get Scared and Drive A. Las Vegas-based hard-rockers Escape the Fate are touring in support of their self-titled third album and recently released “Issues Remix” EP, featuring remixes of their first single "Issues" done by Jakwob (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Lily Allen), LA Riots (Tiesto, The Ting Tings), Wolves At The Gate (The Cure) and Does It Offend You, Yeah? (Muse, The Raconteurs, Bloc Party). The band currently graces the cover of Outburn magazine, which declares, “the band’s new album is a compelling modern day masterpiece.” Bassist

Vacaville natives Papa Roach certainly know how to make an entrance. Friday night at Ace of Spades opening bands Track Fighter and Will Haven had just finished their sets. As Queens of the Stone Age's "No One Knows" played on the PA during the set change before Papa Roach came out, something on stage (a light?) blew with a loud pop, giving off small plumes of smoke and triggering the fire alarm. Cue the firefighters walking through the sold-out crowd a few minutes later, but there was no indication that it was anything more than a precaution. Thankfully it turned out to be a non-issue. The show went on as planned, and guy-linered frontman Jacoby Shaddix and company came out to much love

Ace of Spades hosted its second event Saturday night, an "all locals" show called "SacShows Presents: Soundcheck", featuring performances by Oneira, Above The City, Carcerys Vale, Batten Down Your Heart, City of Kings, The Winter Formal and Ten After Two. The theme for the night seemed to be "screamo," and it was delivered in spades (pun intended) with the exception of maybe The Winter Formal, which leans more toward sung vocals. The tattooed and skintight jeans-wearing band members whipped their hair through quick 20- to 30-minute sets, cheered on by pierced and gauged teenage boys and girls, while overly aggressive males swung their fists around and ran into each other hard in the circ

“Tony Silva rides the bus to see the punk rock bands    He rides out from BFN and no one understands   He doesn’t have a car and he’s not old enough to drive    But seeing punk rock concerts is what keeps Tony alive.” --“Tony Silva Rides the Bus”, by The Secretions   Despite a bad economy and multiple venue closures this year, punk rock is alive and well among the under-18 crowd. “There will be times when things get closed down, and it’ll affect the scene negatively, but in the long run, there’s a resilience in Sacramento,” said Craig Usher, who has been going to punk shows since his freshman year of high school. Usher, now 42 with children, runs a Facebook page cataloguing shows. He sa

Sacramento police will now have “another tool to address criminal behavior” as it relates to underage drinking, according to City Councilman Robbie Waters. The City Council unanimously passed an ordinance Tuesday that will fine adults who host parties with underage drinking within the city anywhere from $250 to $25,000. They will also be charged with a misdemeanor. The “social host liability ordinance” will hold people accountable for sanctioning underage drinking, said Derrick Lim, manager of Neighborhood Services/Special Events within the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation. Lim said a civil penalty can also be administered for those in violation of the ordinance. Similar ordin

Costume Crawl III The Costume Crawl is Back!!! Get your All-Hallows-Eve Pre-Party on Tuesday, October 26th, 2010. Come enjoy a FREE menu of Monster Munchies and Ghoulish Grubs, as well as discounted Spooky Spirits. Wear or bring your costume to work/school or change in our private dressing room at our first GrubCrawl venue...this is the (not so dry run) chance for you to see how good you look as a sexy (or scary) firefighter/pirate/character from GLEE (or Dispicable Me!?) You'll have a spook-tacular time with the freakiest fun crowd on the planet, as we haunt for the hottest place to party…all for great price per person! We'll start our Monster March at VIVE Cocina Mexicana & Ultra Loun

For more, visit PublicCEO.com I have a confession. I drink alcohol. I enjoy soda, too. Potato chips? Love ‘em. So why are politicians posing as moral leaders and digging into my wallet over these simple pleasures? Well, simply because their vision is just as simple. Cities, states and the federal government officials have locked into the mindless notion that these "sin taxes" are either morally or economically logical. They couldn't be more wrong. It's easy to find public support when you single out a faction that can be looked down upon as taking part in immoral behaviors, forgetting about individual rights or the ability for the public to make its own moral judgments. But the trut