Have you ever attended Friday Night Concerts in the Park, grabbed a deal at Dine Downtown Week, shopped at the Downtown Farmers Markets, or skated at the Downtown Holiday Ice Rink? Most likely--even if you’ve lived in Sacramento for just a short period of time--you’ve crossed paths with one of these events. But, do you know who puts in all the behind-the-scenes work? It’s the Downtown Sacramento Partnership (DSP), a hard-working organization dedicated to the ongoing preservation and improvement of the Downtown Sacramento area. In addition to producing fun-filled events, the DSP works tirelessly throughout the year to provide ongoing services and programs to the downtown neighborhood, comm

Looking east, more than west, as sunset approached I spotted great reflections on some landmark downtown buildings:

Verge Center for the Arts has remained a consistent hub of creativity for Sacramento since they first opened their doors as a private art gallery in 2009. In 2010 they expanded into their current space—a 22,000 square foot warehouse in Downtown Sacramento—and organized as a nonprofit. Now home to 30 resident studio artists, plus extensive gallery and event space, Verge continues their mission of exposing Sacramento to the contemporary art and artists of the region. 2011 was a particularly big year for Verge. Among many other achievements, they had a more-than-successful Kickstarter campaign ($9,165 raised on a $7,500 goal!), won the First Place award of the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Co

As always, Sacramento steps up to the plate with holiday events of all sorts. At Sacramento365.com, we see a lot of events come through the site every day. Though there are myriad options in our Holiday Event section, we've narrowed down the list to 10 to get help you pick your Christmas Eve & Christmas Day festivities. Christmas Eve Events: Sure, the night before Christmas should be spent snuggled in bed waiting for Santa Claus, but why not get out and about during the day. Here are some options to keep you entertained around town: 1. Free Admission at Fairytale Town & Sacramento Zoo: FTT 10am-2pm; Zoo 10am-1:30pm Treat the kiddies to a day out while both Fairytale Town & the Sacramento

Since opening its doors two weeks ago, Broadacre Coffee has been serving up freshly brewed, personalized and made-to-order cups of coffee to the customers downtown. The four owners – Andrew Lopez, Justin Kerr, Lucas Elia and Jacob Elia – offer eight to 10 various artisan coffee beans sourced from at least four different roasters at any given time. They are currently serving coffee from Intelligentsia, Ritual, Coava and Verve Coffee Roasters. They offer four distinct brewing methods: Chemex, Aeropress, French press, and V60. The Sacramento Press visited Broadacre Coffee to meet with co-owner Andrew Lopez, who explained the process of ordering a cup of coffee and the intricacies of the V6

Restaurants accumulate anywhere between 250 and 500 pounds of organic kitchen scraps each week, according to Green Restaurant Alliance of Sacramento co-founder David S. Baker. These hundreds of pounds of scraps, instead of filling landfills, can be used for compost to fertilize the very soil that will produce the next crop of fruits and vegetables. Since March 2010, GRAS, in partnership with Atlas Disposal, has worked toward creating a more sustainable food industry in the city through the use of a “closed-loop” system. “These are valuable resources that would be just going straight to a landfill and serving no use,” Baker said. GRAS is made up of Hot Italian, Mulvaney's B&L, Selland’s

With trends and fashions changing week by week, going shopping and staying in style can be a difficult, time consuming and expensive task. Low cost options are on the rise in the form of thrift stores offering low-cost secondhand clothes, unique vintage apparel and other knick-knacks and accessories. With more than 50 different thrift stores in the greater Sacramento area, figuring out where to go for such thrifty finds can become a overwhelming scavenger hunt throughout the capital city. The Sacramento Press hit the streets of downtown and Midtown to round up a few of the local stores making their marks in the thrift shop scene. This ‘n’ That Thrift and Gift 2590 21st St. 457-1877 Ho

Paces slow down, heads turn and curious shoppers peer through storefront windows to marvel at – not one elephant in the room – but rather 2,772 assorted elephant trinkets, and counting. Sixty-year-old Andy Swan, clown and CEO of the Swan Brothers Circus from North Highlands, has been collecting all things elephant-related for 40 years. He is currently attempting to break the Guinness World Record for the largest elephant collection as a tribute to his late brother, who passed away last December. Swan created a store-sized display case at the Westfield Downtown Plaza Mall for his growing elephant collection. Stuffed animals, statues, models, clothing, pictures, books, greeting cards, post

Conceptual plans were revealed to the public Monday night for the intermodal transportation facility and the entertainment and sports complex proposed for the Railyards site. Think Big Sacramento committee members presented the proposal to about 100 community members. The town hall meeting was hosted by City Councilman Rob Fong and the discussion was led by Assistant City Manager John Dangberg. Attendees had mixed responses to the proposed facility, some questioning the economic viability and some expressing support. Dangberg emphasized that the project would be an economic driver for the region. Fong, whose district the Railyards is in, said the plans are still in the early stages but

Floppy discs, VCRs, phonebooks and payphones – what were once considered staples of everyday life have slowly faded into the background as new technologies flourished. Are books – tangible, printed and bound pages of text – next to be added to the list of obsolete and fading trends? After hearing the news of the Borders bookstore chain selling to a liquidator, which means the closure of all its 399 stores, The Sacramento Press went out to the streets of downtown Sacramento to ask people how they felt about this decision. Robin Louie, 62, a retired homemaker from Roseville, said she thinks that the situation is terrible. “We had a really big Borders and a Barnes and Noble across from th

93% of all American adults adult internet users are now on Facebook. While this is not a surprising statistic for anyone that has fielded a friend request from their mom, aunt or even grandpa, it does make it harder for small businesses to ignore Facebook as a platform to engage their target demographic. The argument that a business targets an older or less tech savvy demo than Facebook users just doesn’t hold water any longer. Businesses without a Facebook presence are not just passing up a valuable opportunity to engage their customers, provide customer service, and gain new consumers; they're falling behind. But just being on Facebook and setting up a business page isn’t enough. A Face

In an attempt to bring vitality to the once desolate K Street Mall in downtown Sacramento, District 30, one of the newest night clubs, is still thriving after four months of business. You can’t miss the bright lights of District 30. The glowing LED projected sign they have at their entrance is enticing. If it wasn’t your friends who lured you there, or what you’ve heard, it was the sign. There appeared to be a hustle and bustle about the area which wasn’t too crazy for a Friday night, but it was still early – 11 p.m. You’re greeted by multiple doormen who guard the black velvet ropes to enter the club. The cover is $15 unless you sign up on the e-mail guest list days in advance on thei

About 600 people wearing blue T-shirts walked and rode bicycles, searching for clues in downtown Sacramento at the Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services’ third annual Race for the Ring event Saturday. Food Bank communications director Kelly Siefkin said the money raised will help support all eight programs, from providing food and clothing to education and women’s resources. “I think it’s a way to involve part of the Sacramento community and people who don’t really know about the programs,” Siefkin said. “We make it a fun day. They want to come back with their families, volunteer and be motivated about the programs.” The event provides a fun way for people to get an “Amazing Race” expe

Parking enforcement officers will now be taking pictures of parking infractions to answer the common question, “why did I get a ticket?” according to the city’s Department of Transportation spokeswoman Linda Tucker. “We get a lot of calls every day and inquiries in our office, as well as people coming down to City Hall asking about why they got a ticket and wondering how they can contest the ticket,” Tucker said. “We wanted to address those questions and concerns and be able to put that information online.” The handheld ticketing device that the 50 state-employed parking enforcement officers currently use are also capable of taking pictures. With the help of a third party vendor in char

The second stage of the Amgen Tour of California ended with Ben Swift winning a wild sprinting contest to the finish line in front of the State Capitol building. Swift, from Team Sky Procycling, raised his arms in victory after crossing a rain-soaked finish line on L Street. Weather delays left Amgen racers longing for a contest after race officials cancelled the first stage in Lake Tahoe yesterday. Today's start was moved from Squaw Valley to Nevada City to avoid snowy conditions. Ironically, the event was moved from February to May last year to take advantage of better weather conditions. Thousands of race fans lined the downtown streets to get a close look at the racers. The cyclists

Tonight, the Downtown Sacramento Partnership (DSP) is adding a new twist to the Friday Night Concerts in the Park. Concertgoers can now compete for prizes in a series of challenges and receive special Concert Deals at local businesses on their mobile phones via the SCVNGR app. Participants start by downloading the free SCVNGR app for iPhone or Android. To play, look for the “Friday Night Concerts” trek and complete a series of quick concert-themed challenges to earn points. Challenges consist of snapping pictures, answering trivia questions, and social check-ins by bumping phones with friends. Challenges will rotate each week throughout the concert series giving players more chances to wi

Downtown businesses are getting in on the underground social media campaign #HereWePurple. They’re supporting the Sacramento Kings while the NBA is in town through displays, specials, deals, freebies and more. The social media campaign #HereWePurple has encouraged Sacramento to show support for the Kings by “painting the town purple” today while the NBA is in town meeting with local business leaders. The facebook event encourages residents to wear purple, sport a Kings jersey, put sign in your windows and cars, put up flags, wear your purple jewelry or whatever you've got all day long. “We've been watching the campaign on Twitter and wanted to get our downtown businesses to encourage Sac

Everyone has thoughts and opinions about the laws we abide by. The Sacramento Press hit the streets recently and asked random people what law they thought should exist in Sacramento. Edward Nelson, 22, who is a musician and writer, said he thought there should be a law for stricter education standards. “There ought to be a law for standards in education that states that teachers who aren’t turning out students at a specific level at the end of each year have to go retest for their teacher’s license again,” Nelson said. “I hear so many stories about teachers trying to go on strike and form new unions to get them more money. My initial response to that is after seeing so many students tha

On Saturday, April 30th, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Woman of the Year candidate Vickie Lee from Sacramento launhes the first event of her campaign to raise awareness and raise funds for cancer research.  The funds raised from this event will offer hope and support for those impacted by blood cancers such as for the local children honorees Kylie(9) from Roseville and Jackson(5) from Folsom.  Both children are going through treatment for Leukemia. With 2 young children, a full time job as an insurance and financial professional, along with the familial duty of  taking her parents to doctors' appointments, many would ask why Vickie is willing to subject herself and her family to the 1