Please join us on Wednesday evening, August 24th beginning at 5:45pm for this month’s 4th Wednesday Design Dialogue (4WDD). “Complete Streets” is the inspiring story of the planning, re-design and transfiguration of West Sacramento’s main street area: West Capitol Avenue. The project completely transformed a portion of old highway US 40 with a wide variety of improvements including new, widened sidewalks, re-structured roads, contiguous bicycle lanes, pocket plazas, landscape plantings and iconic bus shelters which celebrate the City’s unique identity. The re-development of this area has served to foster community spirit by addressing the needs of West Sacramento’s residents and employee

City Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy, along with the Hagginwood community, will be gathering Saturday in honor of a new soccer field recently constructed in Hagginwood Park. The soccer field will be named after Grantland Johnson, a former city councilman and county supervisor representing all of North Sacramento. “We’re expecting about 60-100 people will show up,” said Jim Cones, director for Sacramento’s Parks and Recreation Department. “Recently we had a grand opening of a park in North Sacramento, and there were several hundred people.” Cones said the plan to implement the soccer field came from a survey that was conducted in 2008. “Some of the parks in the city were not as safe as they s

Participants in Thursday’s Community Conversations discussion expressed that a community’s success rests on the shoulders of its citizens. About nine people gathered around a table at Old Soul at 40 Acres to engage in a civic discussion centered around the question; “What should government do for you?” Facilitator Brian Fischer prefaced the meeting’s purpose by saying, “the most important thing is to listen and learn from each other.” Community Conversations organizers are hoping to create an open forum where citizens of all stripes can engage one another in a thoughtful discussion that would help improve the quality of life in Sacramento communities. Thursday’s meeting was Community C

There have been many articles in the Sacramento Bee recently about the fact that CPS is losing all of their funding, the State of CA is not giving them money, and terrifying people by telling them children will be in more danger because there won't be enough people to ensure child safety. However, after researching statistics, it became clear to me that Sacramento County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and Child Protective Services (CPS) are crying wolf just so they have another excuse for their incompetency.  CPS is in desperate need of a "way out". They are blaming their failures on a lack of money because of recent funding cuts instead of taking responsibility and being a

With members of the Sacramento arts community, the local education establishment and a representative of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts at his side, Mayor Kevin Johnson Friday morning announced a major new arts education initiative in Sacramento. Sacramento has been chosen from 27 cities to be the Kennedy Center's first civic partner for the "Any Given Child" program, an effort to match arts groups, school districts and the Kennedy Center itself in the promotion of arts programs in the city's schools. After being developed in Sacramento over the next two years, the program will be rolled out nationwide. "We need to redefine how we look at the arts," said Johnson, stan

The city of Sacramento has won $55.8 million in Proposition 1C funds for infill redevelopment, the city announced late Tuesday. On Monday, the California Department of Housing and Community Development approved money to help fund infrastructure for four projects: the Railyards, Township 9, Curtis Park Village and Capitol Lofts. Proposition 1C was approved by voters in November 2006. The $6 billion Railyards project will get about $30 million, said city spokesperson Wendy Klock-Johnson. The new funding brings the project's total public bond funding to at least $115 million. “This is a step in the right direction for our city in terms of economic development and creation of employment op