When buildings become slums and havens for gangs, prostitution and drug use, a little-known city program can force landowners to clean them up or – in extreme cases – be evicted. The Justice for Neighbors program began in 2006 and allows multiple departments – including police, code enforcement, the city attorney’s office and park rangers – to focus their efforts on some of the worst slumlords and dangerous properties in the city, resolving an average of 17 cases per year. “Essentially, it’s a public and social nuisance (enforcement) team,” said Gustavo Martinez, supervising deputy city attorney. “We meet every month and evaluate the worst security issues.” Property owners are required

  “10 years ago I was high on crack cocaine, now I’m high on life.”, these are the words from Sacramento native, Bishop Ron Allen, a former crack cocaine addict for seven years, and now one of the must prominent leaders in the country on the war on drugs.   Allen united with law enforcement agencies from all over the world, who assembled themselves in the nation’s capitol last week to share data and strategies to help fight the escalating war on drugs in this country.  The event was hosted by HIDTA (The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program) an organization under the executive order of the White House.   Allen was there with the I.F.B.C. (International Faith Based Coalition),

Posted by venegasn My mother has been trying to force my 27yr old brother to leave her house. He has been there for 6 months. He is a Crystal meth addict, loud, abusive, dirty and just a complete nuisance. She has called the police on him because he repeatedly steals her truck and he has no valid drivers license. He was arrested but released two days later and she woke up one day and there he was again. She’s changed the locks, but he always manages to get back inside the house somehow. He yells at her that she cannot do anything about it and he will never leave. She’s afraid of him and has asked me for help. I hope there is a legal way to get him out. She has a daycare license and she i

John Ross, a local comedian who was born addicted to methadone, a heroin substitute used to treat heroin addicts, discusses his past as an inspiration for his humor.

  "You moved where?"    "Sacramento"  "Why?"         Sacramento is not thought of very highly by a lot of Bay Area-ites.  I'm not entirely sure why.  I suppose many cannot separate the town from the stink wafting up from the State Assembly and Capital.  Politics as a whole is repugnant to your average person, and California's is especially loathsome. It's an unfortunate metonymy, "Sacramento" for the sludge that leaks out of the State Assembly, but it is to be expected.  When one considers "Washington DC", its a rare soul who thinks of the Smithsonian first and the politics second.   I grew up in Menlo Park, decidedly Bay Area-centric.  In the circles I came of age in, Sacramento wasn't

Dear Friends- As you may know, a arson fire was set at my home in the early morning on September 21st. My family and I are safe, and all necessary repairs and clean up, and replacements are being handled by our insurance company. We have had a great response from our neighbors and community leaders, who have organized a vigil tonight in front of our home to signify community strength and unity. If you are in the Northern CA area, we hope you can join us. Vigil Information - 2614 36th Street, Sacramento CA (between 1st and 2nd Avenue). 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. http://www.inmycommunity.com/imc_joomla/index.php?option=com_jevents&task=icalrepeat.detail&evid=1243&Itemid=0&year=2009&month=10&d

#1. WEST SAC- West Sacramento police and Davis SWAT served warrants on several locations in West Sacramento related to recent gang activity occurring in the city including the fatal shooting at the Ortega's Night Club. Two people were arrested and a medium sized marijuana grow was located during the operation. #2. SOUTH SAC- A shooting occurred in an apartment on 44th Ave near 39th St in south Sacramento. The victim was shot once in the leg and transported to Kaiser South Trauma Center. Further details were unavailable at the time. #3. SAC COUNTY- A shooting occurred at an apartment complex on Tuolumne Dr near La Riviera Dr in Sacramento County. One victim was shot in the arm while stand

Oak Park, Sacramento, CA- A warrant search in Oak Park ended with two in custody, one at large today. Sgt. Norm Leong, spokesperson for the Sacramento Police Department, stated that "a loaded gun magazine, scale, packaging and dope were found in the residence". One of the detained was transported to the hospital.   As police conducted a warrant search in the 3600 block of 19th Street, three black, male occupants attempted to flee from police. One was immediately detained, the second was detained after running face-first into the wall he was going to scale, knocking himself unconscious. Transporting paramedics stated that the individual did not remember the incident and had minor bleeding f

Saturday, June 20, men and women will flex their sculpted bods and bulging muscles to compete for what Johnny "The Motivator" Carrero calls "pro-status." This isn't your average bodybuilding competition, however. Carrero, an advocate for drug-free fitness, is holding his annual "all-natural" bodybuilding competition at Folsom Middle School, which hosts the competition every year. "I promote drug-free bodybuilding and show youth and athletes that they can still look fantastic naturally without using steroids or other drugs," Carrero said. Carerro, who's been in the fitness industry since 1993, is a personal trainer and knows firsthand how dangerous drugs like steroids can be. He began us

In federal agencies such as the DEA and EPA there are the bureaucratic employees and the political appointees. The two factions try their best to coexist in times of conflict. With the change of administrations on January 20th, the lines of authority apparently are not apparent. There was a medical marijuana bust on Thursday at Tahoe. Despite the politics involved some drug issues do not lend themselves to interpretation. One example is the continuing problem of methamphetamine use and the toxic results of its manufacture on the environment and the toxic results among the people affected by its use. DEA says on its website, "Every pound of methamphetamine produced can yield up to five p