Before the Sacramento River Cats begin the 2012 season in defense of their 10th division title in 12 years, one of the most successful American professional sports franchises will host one of Major League Baseball's most storied champions. For the first time in half a decade Major League Baseball will be played in Sacramento as the River Cats host their parent affiliate Oakland Athletics on March 31, 2012. Following a successful 2011 season, in which Sacramento won its 10th Pacific Coast League South Division title, the River Cats kick off the 2012 season against some familiar faces who have found success at the Major League level. The River Cats will host the four-time World Series cham

The push to put a city parking lease to a vote fell flat Tuesday as the City Council rejected a motion to put the question on the June ballot. It was City Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy who first suggested in November that the voters should have a say in whether the city leases its parking inventory to an outside company. She conducted a city-wide poll on her website in October, which indicated that 70 percent of respondents favored a public vote on a potential 50-year lease, according to Sheedy. “The (arena) plan hinges on leasing the city’s parking for 50 years,” Sheedy said Tuesday. “I think such a massive public investment warrants a public vote.” Still, after almost an hour of public d

Sacramento’s Trash Film Orgy Productions (TFO) is preparing to make a new feature film this spring. In an effort to bring the film to the big screen, TFO will hold a kickoff fundraising event this Friday, February 10 at Sacramento’s On the Y. TFO is a Sacramento-based film production company that specializes in creating high quality, low budget horror films. TFP also produces the annual Trash Film Orgy Midnight Movie Film Festival. The Crest Theatre has been home to the event since 2001. Friday’s Super-Special Fundraiser Show will feature a special screening of TFO’s hit, “Monster from Bikini Beach.” The film, shot in Sacramento, includes clips of several Sacramento landmarks. The 2008

On Sunday morning at the University of California, Davis Mondavi Center, Kevin O’Connor, Slater Penney, Christine Germain and Emily Leap led two free workshops on rope climbing, juggling, building human pyramids and using the trapeze. Each 90-minute workshop accommodated 60 very lucky participants ranging from age 4 to adult. More than 300 people could not be accommodated. Kevin O’Connor, an MFA choreography candidate and graduate of the National Circus School of Montreal, was the event’s organizer. O’Connor invited three other trained professionals to lead the four simultaneous workshops sponsored by the new UC Davis Institute for Exploration in Theatre, Dance and Performance. The morn

La Raza Galería Posada, a local nonprofit Latino arts organization, succeeded in reaching its fundraising goals to stay open after Sacramento County Supervisor Phil Serna helped fill the funding gap with a music event Saturday. In November, the center announced that it needed to raise $25,000 or face closure. “We are extremely grateful for Supervisor Serna for his beyond-the-call-of-duty support,” said Marie Acosta, executive director of La Raza Galería Posada. “It’s very rare when an elected official will go out of their way and walk the talk for a nonprofit in need of funding.” Funding sources for the art gallery and cultural center, located at 1022-1024 22nd St., have been in steady

The Cave is a new music and multi-use venue coming to Stockton Boulevard, moving in next door to the Colonial Theatre. Formerly a shoe store, The Cave is currently used to hold wrestling events put on by Total Wrestling Federation, and starting Feb. 24, it will be opened to live music, standup comedy, art exhibits and other uses, said Mike Flanagan, who books the venue. “We want this to be a public space where people can come and see a show, hear some comedy or see an art exhibition,” he said. “We have no intention of getting a liquor license, because we want this to be an all-ages place.” Flanagan, who owns Bad Current Records and has been involved with the local music scene, said he w

Recently I made my first visit to Marilyn's on K St. The show was Lube & Roses: A Night of Bare Bellies and Drag, a fundraiser for The Gender Health Center (GHC) in Sacramento. Information about The Gender Health Center follows the photos of the fundraising evening. The show ran the gamut from silly to raunchy: "GHC is a non-profit agency that provides counseling/therapy services to anyone who expresses the need, as well as anyone who self- identifies or is perceived, to be gender variant," Ben Hudson explains. Their services are accessible to the most underserved communities, including the LGBTQQI ( Members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning,

The locally owned Willie’s Burgers plans to launch a food truck – the Willie Wagon – in Sacramento this week, carrying burgers, chili burgers and fries. “We’ve always thought a food truck was a good way to get the product and what we do out to people,” said Bill Taylor, owner of Willie’s Burgers. “I’d started developing the idea of a Willie Wagon since 1995, but it’s been in the back of my mind.” Willie’s Burgers opened at 16th and Broadway in 1991, and a second location opened in Carmichael in 2004. Now, taking the burgers to offices and events with the food truck is proving a good addition to the business, Taylor said Friday. “It’s been terrific,” he said. “We follow basically the sam

The Red Rabbit Kitchen & Bar is now open in the space that used to hold Red Lotus in Midtown, and a grand opening is scheduled for Friday. The restaurant and bar aims to bring affordable food and drinks with an international flair to the block and see the same successes that other businesses – Harlow’s, BarWest Burgers & Wings and Centro Cocina Mexicana – have seen, said co-owners Matt Nurge and John Bays. “We’re going with the globally inspired concept,” said Bays, who is the restaurant’s chef. “We’ve got a little Vietnamese, a little American – a lot of braising going on, and we’ve got some Hawaiian.” An assortment of cheeses – including Spanish Manchego – will be on the menu, and whi

Photographs are an important part of storytelling and can often tell a story on their own. After a brief workshop hiatus, our first Sacramento Press workshop for 2012 will be on photojournalism. (The Journalism Open workshop wasn't a typical workshop for us.) John Hernandez will teach an introductory photojournalism workshop from 6:30 - 8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 21 at the Sacramento Press office called "Introduction to Photojournalism." Hernandez is a Sacramento-based photographer. He has professional experience in wedding, portrait and social documentary photography as well as various multimedia platforms, including audio slideshows. He has freelanced for ABS-CBN, a Filipino American news ch