Join the Friends of Fremont Park, Councilman Rob Fong, the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission (SMAC), CADA, and artist Stephanie Taylor this Saturday, May 12th, for a day of family fun at Fremont Park. The festivities will kick off at 5:30 p.m. with the dedication of Confluence, the 8-foot sculptures recently added to Fremont Park through public art grants provided by SMAC and CADA. The sculptures depict aspects of the famous explorations of the 19th century “Pathfinder,” John C. Fremont. Although the event is free to the public, visitors might want to bring some extra cash for the food truck vendors who will be selling a variety of cuisines beginning at 6 p.m. Participating vendors i

The Newton Booth Neighborhoods Association (NBNA) is honoring Mike McKeever, Executive Director of the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG), with the organization’s 2011 Growing Together Award for his role earlier this year as the volunteer mediator in a neighborhood development controversy. The NBNA represents the Poverty Ridge, Newton Booth, and Alhambra Triangle neighborhoods in Sacramento’s District 4. The award will be presented to McKeever Thursday, November 10th, at Newton’s Night Out, a neighborhood event to be held at Revolution Wines, 2831 S Street, from 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm.  McKeever will be in attendance. The Growing Together Award, established in August 2011, is gi

Paul Schmidt has announced that he will retire from his position as Executive Director of the Capitol Area Development Authority (CADA) at the end of December 2011. CADA is a Joint Powers Authority of the City of Sacramento and the State of California. By announcing his retirement plans now, Schmidt provides the CADA Board of Directors with time for a seamless transition of leadership. Schmidt was appointed Executive Director in 2005, but his work in the Capitol Area began in December 1975 when Schmidt and Jacqueline Whitelam, CADA’s Deputy Executive Director, were staff planners for the State on the Capitol Area Plan, adopted by the Legislature in 1977. The Urban Land Institute has calle

The massive redevelopment project on the 700 block of K Street will be submitted to the city’s building department for approval in October, and if approved, work could begin as early as the end of this year. “We’re looking to break ground in (February or March) of 2012, but it might be sooner,” said Ali Youssefi of CFY Development. The approximately $47.7 million project is a collaboration between D&S Development, Inc., and CFY Development. It will be a mixed-use project with apartments, retail spaces, restaurant/bar spaces and an approximately 15,000-square-foot live music venue. “We really want this to be a catalyst for the rest of the area,” said Bay Miry of D&S Development. For mor

City Planning commissioners gave the go-ahead Thursday to a residential building project at 24th and T streets that has been a source of contention between the developer and residents for months. The proposed two-building, five-unit residential apartment complex met opposition from neighbors almost as soon as it was proposed by developer Andrea Rosen last September, and the project has since undergone numerous changes in both concept and design. “It’s been over 10 months and staff put up with a lot of twists and turns on the route and destination,” Rosen said. “But I think this is an exciting, well-designed project, and it will add value to the neighborhood for decades to come.” Initial

A new nail and wax salon focusing on using natural products is now open at the corner of Alhambra and S Street in the Alexan Midtown building. “We really wanted to be green,” said GG Salon owner Thuy Ho, 37, who also owns Melody Salon, 1809 S St., in Midtown. “Most of our products are almost 100 percent natural.” Ho said she called the salon “GG” as an acronym for “going green,” and she uses O.P.I. products of Los Angeles, which don’t contain a lot of the harsher chemicals such as formaldehyde that other nail polishes use. A sea-salt scrub is used for pedicures, Ho said, since it is a more natural product. BeBe waxes are also used, since they are all-natural. The salon does work with a

If you missed the last screening of The Next American Dream, you'll have another chance to see the film this weekend.  This documentary and dialogue-driver about revitalizing America's urban cores will be showing for free in front of the MARRS building on Saturday evening. When:  Saturday Oct. 2, 6:30-8.  Screening will begin at 7pm Where:  In front of MARRS, 1050 20th Street Cost:  Free Sacramento stands poised for a 21st century transformation.  Come and join the discussion about shaping our city's future!

Applause filled The Crest Theatre Thursday night when a scene from the documentary “The Next American Dream” displayed an enormous tractor claw demolishing a freeway overpass. The scene symbolized an end to urban sprawl, its destructive effects on nature and its seeming lack of forethought in urban planning. No one specific group, organization or political party took responsibility for the showing of the film. Instead, it was communicated to the audience that the film was being brought to the Crest by a group of people who call Sacramento home. Dustin Littrell, a local architect and designer, ambiguously revealed that the idea for showing the film in Sacramento began among “a group of ca

Thursday afternoon, about 50 seniors, homeless and other community members participated in the Sacramento Housing Alliance Affordable Housing Bus Tour. The tour surveyed 10 different housing options and stopped to provide in-depth tours of three housing complexes. Guided by Shamus Roller, director of the SHA, Ken Cross, CEO of Sacramento Habitat for Humanity and Paul Ainger, Mercy Housing project developer, the four-hour tour began and ended at the SHA office in Midtown. "It's important to know what affordable housing means," Ainger said. According to the federal government, housing is considered "affordable" when a person renting or buying it spends no more than 30 percent of his or her