When is comes to redistricting, the LGBT community has a lot to say about being recognized as a legitimate community of interest and working toward getting the central city united into one council district. “Unless you see yourself represented, it’s hard to see yourself in the world,” said Steve Hansen, a community activist and a member of the former Citizens Advisory Committee on Redistricting. Hansen and Rosanna Herber, chairperson of the LGBT Redistricting Committee, said members of the LGBT community worked tirelessly over the last several months to be recognized as a community of interest and be given a stake in the process. Their goal has been to finally see the central city united

Sacramento shopkeepers Olivia Coelho and Trisha Rhomberg will open a new take on their vintage clothing store Bows & Arrows this Saturday. And this time, they will not be alone. The new Bows & Arrows, opening across from Safeway on 19th Street, will also sell the gourmet popsicles, panini sandwiches and other fare made by Jaymes Luu of Davis-based Fat Face cafe. The new store, located in a former recording studio, will continue to sell clothes from the 1960s through the early 1990s. Coelho and Rhomberg will also sell refashioned clothing under their own label, Miss Chief of California. The new store will also contain an art gallery, the cafe, and a beer and wine bar run by Coelho and Rh

The Downtown Sacramento Partnership is recommending that all of the central city be included in one City Council district as the city undergoes its redistricting process, which must be completed by September. “We want to affirm the importance of the central city, the heart of our city and our community, and have a collective voice within the central core,” said Wendy Hoyt, chairwoman of the DSP’s redistricting task force. The DSP worked with a consultant, but anyone in the city can make redistricting maps and submit them. Find out how by clicking here. Hoyt said the DSP defines the central city as the area bordered by the American River to the north, the Sacramento River to the west, In

Bicycle Chef has temporarily closed until the business is transformed into Sacramento's first bike shop/microbrewery. Owner Christopher Davis-Murai, a longtime cyclist and chef, is currently hunting for a space where he can open a hybrid business that combines a full-service bike shop with a microbrewery and restaurant. The Land Park resident has been looking for a 4,000- to 6,000-square-foot building to lease or buy for several months. He put the entire contents of his East Sacramento shop into storage and closed the doors a month ago after being unable to find a space before the lease ran out at 3184 N St. Belgium and France have several bike shop/brew pubs. Davis-Murai has wanted to

A group of nearly 40 residents and city staffers held an in-depth discussion on the city’s redistricting process Monday night at the Ethel Hart Senior Center. Residents explored a range of topics, including the role of race in the process. The city redesigns its City Council districts every 10 years by using U.S. Census data. The 2010 Census data that the city will use is expected to be released in April. The new districts must be drawn up and finished six months after the Census data is available, according to the city’s charter. The city’s deadline for the 2011 redistricting process will be Sept. 27. At Monday night’s redistricting forum, hosted by the Area 1 Neighborhood Advisory Gro

The Sacramento Planning Commission gave the green light to plans to re-zone parts of North Sacramento to attract future development. The commission made a recommendation, Thursday night, to the City Council to vote on plans that will allow for more commercial development near a Regional Transit line. City staff formally refer to the plans as the Northeast Line Implementation Plan. Areas near a light rail line that has stations at Globe Avenue and Del Paso Blvd, and at Arden Way and Del Paso Blvd, are the focus of the proposals. The city’s plans also cite areas around Royal Oaks Drive and Arden Way. The City Council is expected to vote on the plans next month. The commissioners approved

Sacramento’s Central City has received a lot of media attention for shootings and muggings in recent months. However, the area is also frequently in the spotlight because of large-scale development projects, such as the downtown Railyards or George Karpaty’s trio of businesses on K Street. The Sacramento Press recently interviewed three City Council members to learn about their plans for the Central City. Councilwoman Angelique Ashby and Councilmen Steve Cohn and Rob Fong shared their priorities for the different parts of the Central City they represent. Ashby’s portion of the area includes the downtown Railyards, K Street, Old Sacramento, Alkali Flat and the River District. Ashby mentio

Nightclub safety will be discussed at upcoming workshops offered by local business organizations. The Downtown Sacramento Partnership, Midtown Business Association and Old Sacramento Business Association are hosting two sessions this month.They are part of a series aimed at educating bar and restaurant owners and staff about their responsibilities, as well as state laws and city regulations. The free workshops are open to businesses, DJs and club promoters in Old Sacramento, downtown and Midtown. Rapper B-Smoove and other experts in Sacramento's hip hop scene recently agreed to lead a panel on managing hip hop nights so that they stay free from the violence that shut down clubs like Ele

Efforts to open a new campus in the central city’s Newton Booth neighborhood have stalled because of fundraising difficulties. Stephen Repsher, headmaster of Country Day School in Sacramento’s Sierra Oaks neighborhood, said the school is struggling to raise a remaining $1.2 million to launch a campus in the old Newton Booth School at 2600 V St. “We’d love to have the money right away, but we’re having a dickens of a time raising the funds,” Repsher said. At this point, the preschool-to-12th-grade school has collected about $1.3 million of the $2.5 million it needs to start a new campus, he said. The school enrolled 471 students at its Latham Drive location in the 2009-2010 school year,

This weekend's Second Saturday Art Walk will end a little earlier and see an increased police presence, one month after a fatal shooting rocked Sacramento's central city. While art galleries and other businesses taking part in the event can stay open, the city is now requiring them to stop serving alcohol under Second Saturday special event permits at 9:30 p.m. Previously, permits for the monthly special event set a 10 p.m. closing time. Vendors operating on public sidewalks are also being asked to close down, although they aren't regulated with permits yet. Vendors selling wares on private property can stay open later. Restaurants and bars operating under regular licenses aren’t impacte

Let's get a couple of things straight: The shooting at 18th and J this weekend wasn't caused by Second Saturday. And it isn't going to take Second Saturday down. The shooting was an act of violence by someone who ended up in Sacramento's central city with a grudge and a gun. Sure, they may have been drawn here by the street party atmosphere that has grown around what began as an art walk. But they might have been here on a Tuesday night as well. Did they come to drink? Possibly. Did having a drink or two cause them to shoot at each other? That's a leap. Alcohol does not make someone a murderer. It may, however, cause one to hurl. And the ongoing irritation of some Midtown residents with

(please note: For the purpose of this overview, "downtown" and "central city" are used in the traditional sense of designating the urban business core AND including the area bound by two rivers and two freeways, which includes Midtown)   Gallery owner Michael Himovitz brought Second Saturday to Sacramento two decades ago, to "educate and connect people through discussing art." He advocated coordinating individual efforts into an event that benefited all the galleries, their customers, local culture and the community. It worked. The synergy resulted in a Second Saturday tradition where art lovers gallery hopped, enjoyed artist receptions and mingled with lively crowds in different parts

A Shingle Springs couple is working to open 32 massage franchises in the Sacramento and Stockton areas over the next four years. Terri and R.J. Cicchetti signed a deal to develop more Massage Heights locations less than two years after opening their first franchise in Roseville. They plan to open at least one more in the area themselves, but are primarily searching for other people to open the franchises, Terri Cicchetti said Friday. Massage Heights offers a monthly membership program that enables a client to get a one-hour massage session from a licensed massage therapist for $50 and additional hour-long sessions for $40 that month. Membership requires clients to pay for six to 12 month

The city of Sacramento's Preservation Commission on Wednesday got the first look at a draft of the new plan intended to guide redevelopment of the River District north of the central city. Commission members gave the first round of feedback Wednesday evening to the city's Community Development and Economic Development departments, which led the multi-department project encompassing about three years of work. The draft River District Specific Plan was unveiled online last week. Commissioners were concerned with proposals to allow 250-foot hotels along the Sacramento River, demolishing the state's printing plant building without exploring its historic landmark eligibility and the need to c

 Some Midtown residents are concerned that Sacramento’s urban forest will get the ax from budget cuts. Midtown resident Karen Jacques raised the issue at Monday night’s Area 1 Neighborhood Advisory Group meeting by filing a request for a response from the city of Sacramento on the possible laying off of Sacramento’s experienced tree maintenance staff. Jacques said she has heard that maintenance staff is at risk of being laid off, and she said she fears the loss that will represent to the upkeep of the numerous trees in the city. “This issue is at least grid-wide, and it may be Central City-wide,” Jacques said. “What I’m asking of urban forest staff is that they look at their budget prio

Tyler Langdale knew from his first yoga class that he would open his own studio one day. But it wasn't until he and Sacramento lobbyist Josh Pane, a devoted friend and yoga client, spent a month studying yoga, traditional healing and Buddhism in India and China that he seriously considered it. The 27-year-old yoga teacher and the former city councilman were walking on a beach in Goa on India's west coast. The Arabian Sea shimmered as the idea crystallized in Pane's mind. "I turned to Tyler and I said, 'Tyler — you've got to open up a yoga studio,' " Pane said. Now the two are partnering to open the central city's newest yoga studio, Yoga Shala Sacramento, in the recently renovated YWCA

The Capitol Area Development Authority is turning a vacant corner across from Fremont Park into a parking lot, eliminating an eyesore and adding parking spaces to an increasingly busy part of town. On Monday, a construction crew with E & J Enterprises was busy at the corner of 15th and Q streets. An excavator loaded trucks with dirt to be hauled away during site[-]grading for a temporary surface parking lot. The corner, which sits in the R Street Corridor, has been vacant for at least 10 years after an old gas station closed down. Neighbors said the 120-by-160-foot lot had become overgrown with weeds and filled with trash. CADA has been working with the property owner, the McGilvray fam

A Fortune 500 company is consolidating its regional office in Sacramento's central city. Although moving only two blocks, AECOM's choice to remain here and bring more workers to the city's core is cause for some celebration after many regional and divisional offices shrunk in the last two years, local business leaders said. "This is an indication that we're heading in the right direction," said Michael Ault, executive director of the Downtown Sacramento Partnership. AECOM, headquartered in Los Angeles, merged with the environmental, planning and design firm EDAW in 2006. AECOM added construction, engineering, architecture and high-level project management, as well as a global force of 4

Sacramento's restaurants are a clear reflection of the times, with high-end establishments taking a beating and fast food expected to continue to rise in 2010. As the recession continues, top-tier central city restaurants such as 55 Degrees and Masons have closed or begun transforming into more affordable dining. Similarly high-end chains, such as Ruth's Chris Steak House, just outside the central city, and Morton's The Steakhouse, and celebrated local establishments are reported to be in trouble. Casual restaurants have also been seriously hurt by the economy. But fast-food restaurants like McDonald's are expanding and the demand for "fast-casual" restaurant concepts is exploding. "Eve

Sacramento retailers are still feeling the bitter sting of the recession this holiday season. Local merchants selling everything from kids' snowshoes to William Shatner's first album are mostly reporting decreased sales — although some say 2009 holiday sales haven't been as dire as predicted. "I think the holiday season will be a disappointment to most merchants," said Ed Castro, who owns Ed's Threads at 1125 21st St. "I'm not shooting for the moon, so I'm not going to be disappointed." With the country's economy in its third year of recession, retailers operating downtown and throughout the central city are struggling the same as retailers elsewhere. Industry-wide, holiday retail sale