The new retail/restaurant concept, Hot Italian, on the corner of Q and 16th Streets, is embracing green ideology in its entirety, completely renovating an old, vacated retail space with a sleek new design that Mother Nature would be proud of. Andrea Lepore, co-owner of Hot Italian, had the environment in the front of her mind when she first had the idea for Hot Italian. The reason is simple. "I think the environment is important to everyone,” she says. “Especially when you're in a space where you're eating, drinking, and relaxing. We wanted to create a restaurant that offered healthy food, but was also healthy to be in." Lepore decided to pursue a Leaders in Energy and Environmental Desi

Sacramento's newest bike rack is just in time for this weekend's Amgen Tour of California. There it sits, on the corner of 19th and O, right outside of Zuda Yoga Center. The smell of fresh concrete, a green metal masterpiece, new paint - it's the real deal.  The Sacramento-themed bike rack, which has a depiction of a bicycle inside the State Capitol Building, was installed earlier this morning. The work of art already had a blue bike locked to it this afternoon.  Zuda's owners, spouses Anne Marie Kramer and Bill Prysock, had been actively "trying to get a bike rack installed" outside their business for approximately six months, said Yoga Coordinator Amanda Johnson.  Johnson added, "We a