Thanksgiving Day usually means eating turkey. But for thousands of local Hmong, it means eating Hmong sausage, grilled pork and sticky rice while attending the Sacramento Hmong New Year celebration at Cal Expo. More than 40,000 people are expected to attend the four-day celebration which begins Thursday and ends Sunday, said John Thao, Hmong New Year Committee board member. The board formed six years ago and consists of one representative from each of the 18 Hmong clans which make up Sacramento's community of approximately 26,000 to 28,000 Hmong. Hmong come from the mountainous regions of China and other countries Southeast Asia. Nov. 14 and 15, Hmong already celebrated the new year at h

 The Sacramento River Cats return home for the final home stanza of the regular season after an amazing road trip in which they went 7-1. The homestand begins Saturday night with a four-game series with the Portland Beavers. The River Cats will be honoring three local heroes in Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, Cincinnati Reds manager Dusty Baker and Chicago Cubs first baseman Derek Lee. The first 1,500 people in attendance will get to choose from the three bobbleheads. The person whose bobblehead runs out first will be named the 2009 River Cats High School Hero. The fans in attendance should be excited to see Dana Eveland (8-4, 4.94) take the mound for Sacramento against Wade LeBlanc (3-9

August is the month where they separate the men from the boys. The Sacramento River Cats look to be one of the upper-tier teams in the Pacific Coast League. Tickets for the first round of the playoffs went on sale Wednesday at Raley Field. Even though Tony DeFrancesco’s club has a 7.5 game lead over their rival the Fresno Grizzlies in the Pacific South Division, Sacramento still feels they must always look in the rear-view mirror to see which team is creeping up behind them. The River Cats begin an eight-game home stand tonight that will go a long ways in deciding who they might face down the road in the playoffs. Sacramento begins its home stand against the Oklahoma City RedHawks. As of

 As the Sacramento River Cats finish up a four game-series with the Las Vegas 51s, the Fresno Grizzlies and Reno Aces are in Sacramento’s rear-view mirror in the PCL Pacific South Division standings. The River Cats are in the middle of a pennant race, and July will go a long way in deciding who wins the division. Sacramento plays Fresno and Reno eight times each in July. Sacramento begins the month with a three-game series at Raley Field against Fresno. As of Tuesday, the River Cats are six games ahead of the Grizzlies in the division. Sacramento then goes on the road for their longest road trip of the season, starting with four in Reno. The Aces trail the River Cats by seven games in th

 The Sacramento River Cats are back home beginning tonight for the start of an eight-game home stand. They begin their four-game series with the Salt Lake Bees tonight as former River Cat and now Oakland A’s second baseman Mark Ellis returns to Sacramento as a River Cat for a rehab assignment. The Bees have suddenly exploded as one of the top-tier teams in the PCL. Sacramento has a much-needed day off Monday before they finish their home stand with another big four-game series with another squad from the PCL Pacific North Division, the Colorado Springs Sky Sox. Sacramento split their last four-game series with Colorado Springs just two weeks ago. The River Cats finished up a quick three-

 After a quick four-game road trip against the Salt Lake Bees in which they won three of four, the Sacramento River Cats returned home for a crucial eight-game stand. Sacramento first are currently taking on the Colorado Springs Sky Sox in a four-game series. The series featured the top two teams in the Pacific Coast League. The festivities kicked off Saturday night at Raley Field with Youth Baseball and Softball Night, and Boy Scout Night. Things did not go the River Cats’ way to begin the series. Starter James Simmons struggled early. He gave up eight hits and seven runs in five innings of work. The River Cats have had a knack for late-game heroics in 2009. They tried to pull off anoth

Monsters vs. Aliens Directed by Rob Letterman and Conrad Vernon by Tony Sheppard Capitol Weekly This is an interesting release for Sacramento, for a couple of reasons. For starters, it’s set in California, with the initial action taking place in the Central Valley and the climax in San Francisco. But it’s also a bit of a departure from the established norm in this market, in that it’s being released in 3D on the giant IMAX screen on the same day as it hits the multiplexes – so you can pick your format without having to wait. Susan (voiced by Reese Witherspoon) lives in Modesto, where she’s about to marry the local TV weatherman Derek (Paul Rudd). Derek is waiting to expand his horizons