Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "courthouse"

Medical marijuana supporters protests in front of Sacramento Federal Courthouse

2011-10-07T18:42:11Z

Around 20 medical marijuana supporters protested Friday in front of the Sacramento Federal Courthouse. The protest started at 10 a.m. and is scheduled to end by 1 p.m.

Railyards preferred for new courthouse

2011-04-12T22:43:24Z

A project advisory group on Tuesday endorsed a site on the edge of the downtown railyards for the location of a new criminal courthouse.

The group, which includes representatives from the city and county of Sacramento and the courts, would like to see the $439 million courthouse built on the block between Fifth and Sixth streets from H to G streets. The group prefers that location over a vacant lot at 300 Capitol Mall, according to the Judicial Council's Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC).

City and business leaders have previously voiced support for the railyards location because it's close to other courthouses, law offices, law enforcement and public transportation.

The 44-courtroom facility is being built to relieve crowding at Gordon Schaber county courthouse, used by the Superior Court of Sacramento County. The building may be up to 16 stories tall. Presiding Judge Steve White of the Superior Court of Sacramento County said the endorsement moves the system a step closer to having a "modern, efficient and workable" courthouse.

“Our present courthouse, which is almost 50 years old, is much too small and inadequate to handle the large volume of criminal cases being tried," he said in a prepared statement. "Those using this old, insecure facility have suffered too long with an inadequate, overcrowded and badly designed courthouse.”

The site currently holds a parking lot and railroad tracks that are being relocated by the city as part of a project to build a new regional transportation center.

The AOC will hold a public hearing on the draft environmental impact report at 5:30 p.m. May 4 in the Dept. 1 courtroom at Schaber courthouse, 720 Ninth St. The AOC is accepting public comments on the draft environmental impact report through May 24.

The AOC must complete the environmental review process, negotiate for site acquisition and win approval from the State Public Works Board before the site can be bought and design can start. Nacht & Lewis Architects of Sacramento and HOK of St. Louis, Mo., have been chosen to design the courthouse.

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson is "pleased" the railyards site was identified as the preferred location for the courthouse. The location will benefit both the city and the court, he said.

"The project will represent a major investment in Sacramento and serve as a catalyst for future development, as well as provide the court with an ideal location to operate effectively and efficiently,” Johnson said in a prepared statement.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.

State weighing courthouse sites

2011-03-15T04:01:17Z

Local leaders are pushing to get a new criminal courthouse built at the edge of the railyards downtown, with a decision on the location likely to be made by the end of March.

Bill Vickrey, the director of the Judicial Council's Administrative Office of the Courts, is reviewing two sites where the state could build a $439 million courthouse. One location is at Fifth and H streets across from the federal courthouse, and the other is a hole in the ground at 301 Capitol Mall where developer John Saca once planned to build twin 53-story condo towers.

The 44-courtroom facility is being built to relieve crowding at Gordon D. Schaber Sacramento County Courthouse and is currently one of the state's largest new courthouse projects. Sacramento's new criminal courthouse project is second only to a $633.9 million, 71-courtroom facility being planned in San Diego, said Teresa Ruano, spokeswoman for the Administrative Office of the Courts.

"We expect to be able to announce a decision about site selection by the end of this month," Ruano said.

A project advisory group that includes representatives from the city and county of Sacramento and the courts has provided input on the downtown sites.

In June, the Sacramento City Council agreed to support construction at the northeast corner of Fifth and H streets. Just two blocks from Schaber Courthouse, that site is adjacent to Sacramento Valley Station and close to the Sacramento County Jail. The site currently holds a parking lot and railroad tracks that are being relocated by the city as part of a project to build a new regional transportation center.

City officials think a stately courthouse at Fifth and H would be a catalyst project for redevelopment of the historic railyards. But they'd like to see more residences, restaurants and other mixed use brought to Capitol Mall to liven up the area after 5 p.m., said Assistant City Manager John Dangberg.

"It's arguably one of the grandest boulevards in Northern California," he said. "Certainly in the Central Valley, there's nothing that compares with it."

Business leaders including members of the Downtown Sacramento Partnership are also voicing support for that location in letters and meetings with the Administrative Office of the Courts. Building a criminal courthouse that requires high security on Capitol Mall would be a "short-sighted" waste of prime real estate that serves as a scenic gateway into downtown, according to the partnership.

"Clearly, the Fifth and H site is what we feel is the most appropriate location for this facility, with related adjacent services and an opportunity to really complement starting the development in the railyards," DSP Executive Director Michael Ault said Monday.

The Sacramento District Council of the Urban Land Institute has also weighed in on the process. In a letter last month, urban designer Allen Folk, the council's chairman, encouraged the courts to consider the regional and neighborhood contexts, access to public transit and whether the building would promote nearby development when choosing a site. A courthouse should be near support services such as law offices, bail bondsmen and restaurants, he said.

"Courthouses by nature need to be located in an area that would be convenient to visitors and services," he said.

The 1965 Gordon Schaber courthouse was designed with 22 courtrooms but is currently operating 44. Criminal and civil court cases will be divided up once the criminal courthouse opens, with Gordon Schaber courthouse being used for civil court matters and administration. The new courthouse will replace 35 of the courtrooms and allow nine new judgeships, Ruano said.

Construction is expected to begin in early 2013 and be completed in 2015. Funding for the project would not come from the state's general fund. The Administrative Office of the Courts must ask the California State Legislature's Joint Legislative Budget Committee to issue lease-revenue bonds. The bonds would be paid back through court fees, penalties and assessments from within the judicial branch under Senate Bill 1407.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.

Light rail construction prompts street closures

2011-02-04T23:32:54Z

Road work will be taking place downtown on F, G, H, Seventh and Eighth streets this month, causing street and lane closures as well as limited parking and pedestrian access.

The roads are closed as part of the extension of the light rail Green Line, said Linda Tucker, spokeswoman for the city of Sacramento.

Click on the points in the map below to find out how your commute will be affected.

View Road work from Feb. 7 - 27 in a larger map

From Feb. 7 - 27, G street will be completely closed at night between 7 p.m. and 5 a.m. between Seventh and Eighth streets. Additionally, Eighth Street will narrow to two lanes between H and G streets.

G street has already been narrowed to two lanes between Seventh and Eighth streets, and will remain narrowed until Feb. 27.

From Feb. 14 - 27, the intersection of Seventh and North B streets will be detoured at all hours.

According to Regional Transit, Seventh Street will be open to northbound traffic from F to North B streets and to southbound traffic from North B Street to Richards Boulevard.

North B Street east of Seventh street will be closed except to local access to driveways.

Detour map courtesy city of Sacramento/Regional Transit.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Couple arrested for courthouse keg bomb

2009-05-21T04:17:21Z

A Sacramento couple is in jail Wednesday night on charges related to allegedly hiding an explosive device outside the downtown federal courthouse last weekend.

The FBI on Wednesday arrested Matthew Fraticelli, 30, and Stephanie Ann Shinn, 35, of South Sacramento on charges of attempted arson of a federal facility and possession of an unregistered destructive device.

Wednesday afternoon, the two had an initial appearance in federal court at the Robert T. Matsui Federal Courthouse at 501 I St. -- the same building where the device was found.

Fraticelli was convicted about two years ago in the state court system for possession of a destructive device, said the FBI’s Sacramento Division Special Agent in Charge Drew Parenti. The FBI has not yet uncovered a motive and has no reason to believe the couple is affiliated with a political organization.

The name “Fraticelli” was written in bold black letters on the explosive’s container, said FBI spokesperson Steve Dupre.

“We would describe that as a very useful clue in the investigation,” Parenti said.

The device was built with a five-liter aluminum Heineken keg filled with one gallon of flammable liquid and what appeared to be an M-80 pyrotechnic device with a fuse strapped to the keg with duct tape. The M-80 stuck out of a pill bottle containing a dark powder later found to work as a pyrotechnic material.

“That’s a high-powered firecracker,” Dupre said. “It’s not a little bitty firecracker you light on the Fourth of July. It’s a more powerful device.”

A federal protection service officer on a routine perimeter check discovered the device in front of the door of a small security kiosk on 6th Street just before 5 a.m. Sunday. The kiosk is a one-person booth outside a courthouse security gate. No one was in the kiosk when the bomb was left, Dupre said.

Surveillance cameras showed a couple fitting Fraticelli’s and Shinn’s descriptions near the courthouse, according to a sworn FBI affidavit. The woman was walking behind the man and pushing a stroller with a toddler inside northbound on 6th Street between I and H streets. The man was filmed carrying a brown paper shopping bag on 6th Street and then leaving video surveillance near the guard kiosk.

He soon reappeared on camera, running without the paper bag. He met up with the woman and baby stroller, and they jogged out of view. FBI agents can’t yet comment on why the device was apparently not set off.

Fraticelli and Shinn were arrested just after 7 a.m. after FBI agents tracked them to the house where they appear to live together with other adults and several children.

The FBI believes a 1-year-old child at the house was the one in the stroller. Wednesday afternoon, authorities did not yet know which adults were the parents of the children. Child Protective Services was called in after the couple was arrested.

Fraticelli is being held without bail. Shinn, who doesn’t appear to have a previous record involving explosive devices, has a detention hearing set for May 27, when a judge will determine whether she’s a flight risk or a danger to the community.

The arson charge carries a possible sentence of at least five but no more than 20 years. Possession of a destructive device carries a sentence of up to 10 years, Dupre said.

Fraticelli has a criminal record stretching back to 2000 that includes a report of a possible attack on Shinn on Valentine’s Day, 2009.

Sacramento Police and agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives aided in the investigation.

Sunday morning, Sacramento Police investigated another call about a suspicious item found on the street near Denny's at the northeast corner of 3rd and J streets. The item was a water bottle whose top was on fire, said Sacramento Police Sgt. Norm Leong.

On April 30, two “suspicious packages” were reported to have been left on a statue outside the Capitol. One was a paper bag containing clothes. Neither was found to be a bomb.

Incendiary device found at the Federal Court House in Downtown Sacramento

2009-05-17T22:34:34Z

Sacramento, CA
May 17, 2009

Things are quiet now around the Federal Courthouse at 501 I St., in Downtown Sacramento, but around 5 am Sunday morning, there was a hubbub of activity as word spread that an unknown incendiary devise had been located on the west side of the courthouse.

Per Sacramento Police Department, “at 4:47 a.m., Federal Protection Service personnel located a suspicious item on the west side of the Sacramento Federal Courthouse and contacted the Police Department.”

A myriad of agencies are assisting with the investigation to ensure every angle is covered. The agencies involved are: Sacramento City Fire Department, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Federal Protection Service, U.S. Marshals Service, General Service Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Presently authorities are not releasing a description of the incendiary device. From the outside of the Federal Building, it appears that there is no elevated alert level. The parking garage barriers are not up and there appears to be no additional law enforcement coverage posted around the exterior. We will continue to follow this story and bring you more information as it becomes available.

The Sacramento Police Department urges anyone with information pertaining to this crime to contact Crime Alert at (916) 443-HELP or text in a tip to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter SACTIP followed by the tip information. Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward up to $1,000

$550 Million for New Sacramento County Courthouse

2009-02-26T07:03:22Z

Today on Ninth Street in front of the Gordon D. Schaber Courthouse, Assemblyman Dave Jones unveiled a new deal for Sacramento County to build a courthouse expected to cost $550 million. The new site of the building has not chosen yet but court officials would like it to be on the site of the two-story parking lot across Eight Street from the existing facility. It would house 35 to 49 new courtrooms for criminal proceedings. and funds to build the new court house will come out of the $5 billion lease revenue bond that was enacted buy the legislature last year.

$550 million is alot of money…here's the costs of some other local State projects and what we got for the money.

Federal Courthouse, 6th and I Streets
Project Description: Construction of a 16-story, 380,000 sf office building forthe United States Federal Courts. 19 courtrooms.
Total Project Cost: $134 million
Date of Completion: 1999

State of California East End Project, 15th and Capitol Mall
Project Description: Construction of 1,470,000 gross sf of office and retail.Approx. $4.2 million was allocated for housing, preservation, lighting and park enhancements.
Total Project Cost: $392 million
Date of Completion: 2003

Cal EPA Building, 10th and I Streets
Project Description: Construction of a 25-story, 765,000 sf office building forthe California Environmental Protection Agency. The building houses approximately 3,500 employees.
Total Project Cost: $170 million
Date of Completion: 2000