With one last vote Tuesday, the Sacramento City Council approved a map that seals council district boundaries for the next 10 years, but the work of redistricting isn’t finished just yet. “The new map goes into effect Oct. 6, which is only 30 days after the final council vote,” said Scott Mende, principal planner with the Community Development Department. “After that, each council member has a different group of constituents.” New district lines for the city and new constituents for council members will have a ripple effect throughout city administration, and Mende said city staff has a lot of work to do to be prepared for it. The first step, Mende said, is a “massive outreach” to counc

With nearly $450 million invested in development projects so far, the River District is moving ever closer to realizing its potential for being a valuable transit, business and community hub for the Sacramento region. Business leaders, City Council members and members of the River District association gathered Thursday to hear the latest progress report on development efforts for 750 acres along a 2.5-mile stretch of riverfront that is currently residence to industrial, retail and office uses and about 400 homes. The event, hosted by the River District board of directors and attended by more than 80 people, was an opportunity to learn about recently completed development projects and get

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

With help from neighborhood volunteers and a group of rose-lovers, the rose garden at McKinley Park will be getting a facelift this fall. The 1.5-acre rose garden, which was originally planted in 1928, will be closed from September to mid-February for renovations, including a new irrigation system, accessible walkways, planter curbs, new signs and accessible parking spaces near the garden entrance. According to a recent historical assessment, the 83-year-old garden has not been upgraded or improved for several decades except for the rose arbors, which were replaced five years ago. “This may be the first time (the rose garden) has ever been given this much attention,” said Claudia Bordin

Anyone in the city can use the city’s online tools to carve up the eight City Council districts and present their redistricting ideas to city leaders. The mapmaking tool for the 2011 redistricting process is free to use, and the city welcomes maps from residents. Maps developed and submitted by citizens will be shared with the City Council, the council’s redistricting advisory committee and the general public, said Maria MacGunigal, the city’s Geographic Information Systems manager. Every decade, the city rearranges its council districts by applying U.S. Census data.The reordered districts should all have the same population, according to city staff. “The primary objective of redistric

Alkali & Mansion Flats Historic Neighborhood Association. Meetings are generally held on the Second Thursday of each month, 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Boys & Girls Club, 1117 G Street. For more details contact Luis Sumpter at luis@luissumpter.com Ben Ali Neighborhood Association - Board Meetings are held the First Wednesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. at the Higher Learning Academy campus (formerly Ben Ali Children’s Center). For more information, contact Sondra Betancourt at 837-3339. Boulevard Park Neighborhood Association (BPNA) - For BPNA updates, see www.boulevardparkna.org. For more information, contact Asha Jennings at ashajennings@gmail.com or call 803-7409. Capitol R Street A

Pops in the Park Concert Schedule: Saturday, June 4th - Tom Rigney & Flambeau at McKinley Park Saturday, June 11th - The Q-Balls at Glenn Hall Park Saturday, June 18t h – SwingMasters at Bertha Henschel Park Saturday, June 25th – Mercy Me at East Portal Park For more information visit www.eastsacpopsinthepark.com Screen on the Green Movie Schedule: Saturday, August 6th – Despicable Me at Stanford Park Saturday, August 13th – Shrek Forever After at Hagginwood School Soccer Field Saturday, August 20th – Secretariat at East Portal Park Saturday, August 27th –Toy Story (1995) Glenn Hall Park For more information, visit www.sacscreenonthegreen.com

Construction is progressing on the Alex G. Spanos Heart & Vascular Center at Mercy General Hospital. To celebrate completion of structural steel, Mercy General hosted a topping off event on February 17, 2011, during which the last piece of steel was put in place. The Request for Proposal (RFP) for the residential housing project is expected to be released in late Spring 2011. Permitting is anticipated to be completed by the end of 2011 with construction starting in early 2012. At the February 22, 2011, Neighborhood Advisory Committee (NAC) meeting held in Mercy General Hospital’s Main Auditorium, community members learned about, questioned and discussed a wide range of topics including b

Water Conservation can help you save water and money! Learn how to find ways to save water and money in and around your home at the City of Sacramento’s Water Conservation Workshop! Get FREE water conservation tips and tools, discuss how much water your landscape needs to be healthy, learn about rebates for water saving devices and City water conservation rules and services. Attendance at the Water Conservation Workshop can also waive fines for water conservation violations. For questions or further information, please visit www.sparesacwater.org. April 9, 2011, 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. June 25, 2011, 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.* July 30, 2011, 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. August 27, 2011, 8:30 a.m

Through the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Grant Program, the Sacramento Fire Department was awarded $5,606,864 to hire 27 firefighters and restore two fire companies. The Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District was awarded $5,470,824 to hire 24 firefighters. The SAFER grant is awarded annually through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide financial assistance to help fire departments increase their cadre of frontline firefighters. The goal is to assist local fire departments with staffing and deployment capabilities so they may respond to emergencies whenever they occur, assuring their communities have adequate protection from fire and fire-rel

The Hagginwood Community Association (HCA) was awarded a $14,470 grant from the Sacramento Tree Foundation and Cal FIRE to beautify a spot in Hagginwood and to educate the community about the importance of green space and the urban forest. The grant will be used to plant shade trees, install irrigation and give us Sacramento’s first “community orchard”. The orchard will be a resource for people throughout the region to visit and see the type of trees that can be planted in our region and that the Sacramento Tree Foundation offers for free! The group has one year complete their project. Several years ago, I worked with the group to clean up and plant trees in the “parklette” located at Del

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

The final Sacramento City Council election results did not yield any last-minute statistical miracles. Furthermore, a Sacramento city clerk’s predictions about City Council runoffs proved true: The leading two candidates in Districts 5 and 7 will compete in a Nov. 2 runoff election. The county elections office finished counting ballots from the June 8 election on Wednesday. Candidates Jay Schenirer and Patrick Kennedy will run for the District 5 seat, while candidates Darrell Fong and Ryan Chin will square off in District 7. Incumbent District 1 City Councilman Ray Tretheway lost his battle against challenger Angelique Ashby — just barely. A City Council candidate needs at least 50 per

Sacramento City Councilman Steve Cohn has prevailed over realtor Chris Little, his toughest challenger. Cohn, who has held his District 3 seat since 1994, took just under 54 percent of the vote with all precincts counted. Realtor Chris Little followed Cohn with nearly 38 percent. Cohn, who is a top attorney at the Sacramento Municipal Utilities District, garnered 4,792 votes. Little received 3,351. Election results have not yet been certified, said Brad Buyse, the county’s campaign services manager. More than 20,000 vote-by-mail ballots came in Tuesday, Buyse said Wednesday morning, and they are still in envelopes. It was unclear how many, if any, of those vote-by-mail ballots would a

Despite uncertain election results, City Councilman Steve Cohn appeared to lead the pack vying for his District 3 council seat by a fairly wide margin of nearly 13 percent. Vote numbers stayed the same from shortly after polls closed at 8 p.m. to well after midnight. Late Tuesday night, Cohn and his closest challenger, East Sacramento Chamber of Commerce President Chris Little, said they were confused after not getting any explanation from the county. Throughout the night, Cohn was reported to have 1,716 votes to Little's 1,295. That would put Little, a realtor in his first political race, 421 votes behind, at 39.59 percent to Cohn's 52.46 percent. The 3,271 votes counted in District 3

11:21 p.m. UPDATE Angelique Ashby's supporters gather around the wide screen television to anxiously watch the results of tonight's election. With a lead of more than 10% on her closest competitor, incumbent Tretheway, Ashby supporters are anticipating the coming numbers. "We think we know the answer," volunteer Celia Hernandez said. "We just need it official!" Cheers, laughter and applause resonate throughout the police stationassociation, and tensions build as the night wears on, the final count looming closer and closer. "We're all excited," canvas coordinator Greg Pruden said. "Really looking forward to getting the final returns in and seeing what the final result is. We're reall

Top priority topics in the June 8 election for District 3 include the budget, creating more jobs and becoming more business friendly, according to the candidates. "Unless we grapple with (the budget), we can't get other things done," incumbent Steve Cohn said. Chris Little said creating jobs is the most important issue. "(Sacramento is) the Silicon Valley for medicine," he said. "(It's a matter of) taking what we have right here and leveraging it." Shawn Eldredge said that Sacramento needs to focus on business. "It's about re-creating a healthy downtown core that's business friendly, for not only large corporations, but all small business, too," he said. "We need to be a city that emb

I was truly fascinated by Stephen Gillis’ article “City Council Candidates Use Facebook to Connect With Community” today.  In my view, as someone working with Social Media daily, I would say Steve Cohn is not using Social Media as an effective part of his campaign. On the other hand, Chris Little has 716 fans on his Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Elect-Chris-Little/216446910449?ref=ts) to Cohn’s 214.  Because Little has been so diligent in using his Facebook and Twitter accounts as a communications vehicle to voters, he has made up ground on a 16 year career politician in just 5 months.  The result is nearly 1000 lawn signs being displayed on individual yards throughout Dist

Jeff Rainforth has run for U.S. Congress and governor of California. Now he's turning his attention toward a seat on the Sacramento City Council. The Sacramento Press is interviewing City Council candidates in advance of the June election. Rainforth, 41, is running for District 3, which is represented by Steve Cohn. District 3 areas include East Sacramento, Midtown, Arden Fair and the Riverpark/CSUS/Campus Commons area. Now working for Best Buy's Competitive Strategies Group, Rainforth has done his share of political activism. He ran for Congress on the Reform Party ticket, and became the party's California chairman in 2003. He also held a seat on the party's national committee. After

City Council candidate Chris Little said his top goal as a council member would be to ensure that city business is transparent to the public. The Sacramento Press is interviewing City Council candidates in advance of the June 8 election. Little, 48, works as a Realtor in East Sacramento and is running for the District 3 seat held by Councilman Steve Cohn. The district includes neighborhoods in downtown, Midtown and East Sacramento. Little, who is a third-generation Sacramentan, earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Oregon. He is president of the East Sacramento Chamber of Commerce and chairman of the American River Parkway Advisory Committee, which advises the county. If