The economic downturn has resulted in the closure of many small, privately owned businesses, but one family still carries the torch of a business that has been running for six generations – Burnett & Sons Planing Mill and Lumber Company. Burnett & Sons got its start in the 1800s and has had a hand in projects such as the State Capitol and the Crocker Museum. The family business has seen its share of ups and downs, including the Great Depression, but the two brothers and one sister who currently run it share a passion for the company and for the work it provides to the community. “It’s a family business and that’s what I live for- to keep it going because it’s a legacy,” said Jim Miller,

About 250 formally and historically dressed guests gathered at the L Street Dock on Front Street in support of the preservation and exploration of Sacramento’s historical legacy Friday evening. Under the guidance of the Historic Old Sacramento Foundation, party-goers traveled through the 1850s, 1960s and back to the present on the Empress Hornblower along the Sacramento River for the hour-long cruise Casino Royale on the River: Where Old Sacramento Meets Monte Carlo. This was the second year HOSF had hosted the event to raise funds for its educational and interpretive programs, including the historical exhibitions in the Sacramento History Museum on I Street. Last year the event was held

Chances are if you live in Sacramento, you know someone involved in the arts, or even a struggling artist. The greater Sacramento area is home to an estimated 1,515 arts-related businesses employing 7,061 people, according to a 2010 study by the National Arts Index. The arts contributed $350 million, $1.35 million in taxes and had the potential to make $2.8 million more for the city, according to a 2001 study by The Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission. However, SMAC and its current 10 full-time employees are facing further cuts by the city and county, the agency's two largest funding sources. County staff recommended cutting $134,655 in 2011, while city staff recommended cutting $150

A Sunday night panel with four former Sacramento mayors took a lighthearted tone at the Time Tested Books/Midtown Monthly Living Library series. Topics included Burnett Miller's alleged pornographic doodlings during council meetings ("You claimed they were pornographic," he said to Anne Rudin who kept several of them); Heather Fargo's love of animals; the expectation that Rudin look like Gloria Steinem ("aviator glasses, long hair and militant," she said); and Phil Isenberg's ability to politely interrupt people ("he knew how gently to cut everybody else off, so nobody hated him," said Miller). Nearly 100 people, most appearing to be over 40, showed up at Time Tested Books to listen to th