A Sutter Heart & Vascular Institute worker checks blood pressure during the start of Sacramento's American Heart Association’s Go Red For Women movement at the capitol building this morning. Men and women were screened for heart disease and other health issues.  There was a Heart disease and stroke health disparities briefing for legislative staff by Sutter cardiologist Diane Sobcowicz, M.D., Board President, American Heart Association Sacramento Division. February is Heart Month and Sacramento will show its support for the American Heart Association’s fight against the nation’s leading killer of women – heart disease. Five buildings, including two neighboring structures in downtown Sacr

Occasionally in life you meet someone who has developed such an incredible gift it makes you want to tell everyone else about that person. That is what happened when I ventured into the Sunrise Natural Foods store in Roseville with my girlfriend and she introduced me to a friend of hers that works there. His name is Alden Okie and he is the epitome of  the kind of person people need to see and ask advice of when they enter a natural food health store. Alden, a very distinguished looking man in his 50's, is also a very humble and gentle man who probably never sees himself as a superman. But to the people who have come to know and trust his advice, he is a super man to them. I remember the

                                                                 Sutter Capitol Pavilion The Sutter Capitol Pavilion includes more than 200,000 square feet of new space for physician offices, procedure rooms and ancillary services. The artistically designed and inviting new four-story medical building will be home to 40 specialists’ offices and 128 exam and procedure rooms. In keeping with the goal of delivering excellent care and improved patient convenience and satisfaction, the building also features cardiac rehabilitation and a new all-digital imaging center. Other highlights of this project are a vascular laboratory, and leading outpatient services, including an ambulatory surgery

Submitted by Cassie Piearcy @ Sutter Health Sacramento Sierra Region The holiday season brings to mind family, friends and a jolly good time. But let’s face it: We aren’t all like the Cleavers. Realistically, the holidays also remind us of how much we have to do in what little time there is. And, dealing with all that stress can cause depression and other serious health issues. However, Sutter Health Sacramento Sierra Region – which includes hospitals and doctor groups throughout the greater Sacramento region – has the cure for the “holiday blues.” Sutter Women’s Services is partnering with the Sutter Integrative Medicine team to present “Laughing and Dancing Your Way Through the Holiday

 Tree clean our air and water, store carbon in their trunks, create habitat for wildlife, reduce air pollution, increase property values, and provide countless other benefits. The Sacramento Tree Foundation works to leverage all of the benefits that trees provide to create healthy and sustainable communities through building the best urban forest in the Sacramento region. A major keystone in building the best urban forest is the Greenprint initiative, a multi-decade regional framework created to meet Sacramento's sustainability and livability goals by expanding urban forests and optimizing the benefits of tree canopies. Greenprint partners, comprised of 22 cities and 6 counties, have agree

Joanne Neft is on a mission to change the poor eating habits common in many households today. "We're eating really inappropriately," she explained to dinner guests at her home this past week. She pinpoints Americans' "inappropriate" eating habits to the cause of many problems. "We eat subsidized food because it's cheap, forgetting the huge price we pay for the resulting obesity, diabetes, cancer, and coronary problems. Americans pay a high price for cheap food." She is currently self-employed and owns a couple of commercial properties but these days she is putting most of her energy and passion into a crusade against poor eating habits found in the form of a cookbook. Neft and her clos

 "Block the leg!  Kick the inside!  Knee, knee!" The fervor of audience commentary, at times simultaneously, made it difficult to hear individual commentary, unless it quieted down for a moment.   On Saturday, Sept. 19, male and female warriors sparred in front of an energetic audience at the first amateur "Muay Thai Origins: Battle at the Wat" tournament in South Sacramento.  Promoted and sponsored by Andy Kensamphaph, founder of Sacramento's Muay Thai Lao Kickboxing Academy, the event took place at Wat Lao Saoputh Buddhist Temple in South Sacramento.  As a non-profit fundraiser, all proceeds went to the temple. South Sacramento resident Tommy Prongfah brought his children to show the

TEAM MARIA set out early Saturday, September 12 on the fundraising bike ride from Carmel through Big Sur to Hearst Castle Beach in support of Best Buddies International, a community for helping people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. TEAM MARIA exceeded their goal to raise $30,000 for Best Buddies by earning $80,000 in only six weeks. TEAM MARIA had riders on each of the four distance legs of the race – all riders completed the Challenge. TEAM MARIA includes Capitol insiders: Former Speaker Fabian Nunez; Staff from Dewey Square Group and Lucas Public Affairs and First Lady Maria Shriver's friends, family and staff.  For more insight on The Audi Best Buddies Challenge an

SACRAMENTO – In a new twist to the benefit walk, area residents who support the health of our region’s children will walk Arden Fair Mall on Saturday, Oct. 17, as part of Together for Kids’ fund-raising campaign called Walk Across America. A full 100 percent of the funds raised during the local walk will go directly to the specialty care services at the Children’s Center at Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento, where many of the children throughout the region and beyond receive their care from birth to 18 years old for conditions ranging from low birth weight, cancer and brain tumors to diabetes and congenital heart defects. The goal of the Sacramento walk is to help bring better health care

  Rollin' on the BikeCrawl II The 2nd "bicycle-themed" Grubcrawl is Wed. Aug. 26, promptly at 5:30 starting @ Bikes and Bites, 12th & J st, Downtown Sac..... Grubcrawlusa.com in partnership with Bikes & Bites presents the second of many Bikecrawls, rollin' spot to spot enjoying free appetizers and drink specials all night long! Soooo,....Bring your cycles, trikes, and appetites! Join us @ Brew It Up, Sofia's, Three Fires @ the downtown Marriott, Table 260,...and other Sacramento Hot Spots. See ya there! Rent-A-Bike or bring your own! Bring your tour cycle, beach cruizer, road or mountain bike, or tandem to the starting venue at 5:30 pm, with $25 and your appetite! Or for an additional

I walked onto the quad of Bella Vista High School on a Sunday afternoon to a sight of 20 or so men climbing walls, running like cheetahs on all fours and swinging from trees. This was the Sacramento regional parkour practice, led by a SFparkour.com representative, Victor Lo Forte. He has been a practitioner of parkour, or traceur, French for tracer, for three and a half years and has led the Sacramento group for about two years. "From what I understand, it's basically the discipline of training one's mind and body to prepare oneself to overcome obstacles in an environment," Lo Forte said. Parkour is said to be rooted in early 20th century French military practices. Georges Hébert, a Wor

This is the second growing season that Sacramento residents have been able to grow vegetables, fruit trees and other food plants in their front yard thanks to a revised city ordinance. After a three-year effort by food activists, the city's Front Yard Ordinance was reworded in 2007 to specifically allow veggie gardens in that soil near the sidewalk. That change has enabled more and more Sacramento homeowners to grow their own food in an edible landscape, mingling [with] or replacing decorative foliage. Blueberries with your zinnias, perhaps, or tomatoes with your chrysanthemums, or lettuce where that brown scrubgrass used to be. The original FYO was written into zoning code in 1941 and ac

The City of West Sacramento Fire Department wants everyone to know to use life jackets during water recreation! Keep your kids safe. Free, loaner life jackets are available at the following West Sacramento Fire Stations: • Station 41, 132 15th St. • Station 42, 3585 Jefferson Blvd. • Station 43, 1561 Harbor Blvd. • Station 44, 905 Fremont Blvd. • Station 45, 2040 Lake Washington Blvd. Also, the Bridgeway Lakes Boathouse office, 3650 Southport Parkway! For more information, contact the West Sacramento Fire Department at  (916) 617-4600 . The free life jacket rental program is sponsored by both the City’s Fire and Parks & Recreation Departments.  

Caltrans and the City of West Sacramento have jointly announced that on July 29, 2009, Caltrans will begin construction on improvements to the Harbor Boulevard interchange that crosses U.S. Highway 50 in West Sacramento. The scope of the project includes new alignment and realignment of the freeway ramp access, widening of the roadways, removal of pavement, and overcrossing structure work. The project is designed to accommodate increases in traffic activity on the Harbor Boulevard interchange. An information open house will be held in room 157 of the West Sacramento City Hall, 1110 West Capitol Ave., on Monday, July 27, between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., and the admission is free. Caltrans sta

He woke up this morning, finally, but he can’t remember much of the night before. He can’t remember the shouting match with his mother, telling her to “F” off and that he’ll do drugs as long as he wants too. Or the fight with his girl friend that ended with him passing out on the couch. His name is Christopher, he’s my seventeen-year-old son, and he’s a drug addict.  No, he’s not the kind of addict depicted in the movies or on television. He doesn’t sleep in alleys and creep around trying to find his next “fix.”  He’s not disheveled or unwashed, though the clothes kids wear today kind of express that.  No, he’s a middleclass kid from the suburbs that got off the road somewhere and can’t

EARTHLINGS FREE • LIMITED SEATING • ONE NIGHT ONLY • DON’T MISS IT • FREE www.earthlings.com Where: SACRAMENTO BICYCLE KITCHEN 1915 I Street (between 19th and 20th, along the railroad tracks). NOTE: Seating is limited. Please bring a lawn chair or two if you can. When: FRIDAY, July 17, 2009 Time: 7:00-10:00 PM Director’s featurette at 7:30 EARTHLINGS at 8:00 About the film: EARTHLINGS (95 mins), written and directed by Shaun Monson and narrated by Joaquin Phoenix, is about the suffering of animals for food, fashion, pets, entertainment, and medical research. Considered the most persuasive documentary ever made, EARTHLINGS is nicknamed “the Vegan Maker” for its sensitive footage shot at

There was reason Saturday for double celebration at Sacramento's Safetyville USA. It was not only the 12th annual Family Safety and Health Expo, it also marked Safetyville's 25th year of teaching safety and life skills to more than 200,000 children to date. The free event hosted around 3,000 children and their families for a fun-filled day of learning and celebrating. In the middle of the expo, birthday festivities took the main stage and were led by Liz McClatchy, President and CEO of Safetyville Center Incorporated (SCI) and Terry Polvado, Vice President of SCI. Children sang "Happy Birthday" to Safetyville and were introduced to the new and yet-to-be-named mascot of Safetyville, a dog

  Women crowded the State Capitol on Sunday as they vowed to stand and run to raise money for WEAVE (Women Escaping a Violent Environment), Sacramento's primary provider of domestic violence and sexual assault services.   The Nike Women's Fitness Festival, which is also known as "Sacramento's Largest All Women's Walk," took place at the Capitol on Sunday, June 7 from 7:30 a.m.-11:00 a.m. The whole event was presented and sponsored by WEAVE Inc., the Mercy Women's Health Pavillion, Nike, Fleet Feet Sports, Blue Diamond Almonds and, among others.    This was the fifth annual festival benefitting WEAVE. Serving the Sacramento area for over 30 years, WEAVE offers a 24-Hour Crisis Line, Sa

Come Fall 2010, Sacramento State University’s student, staff, faculty and alumni will enjoy a wealth of recreational activities and health services from one facility: The Well. The Well, originally called Recreation and Wellness Center, will combine a multitude of departments in Sacramento State to deliver a healthy lifestyle to those in the campus. The Well will join the University Union, the Riverfront Center and the Hornet Bookstore as the main facilities at Sacramento State that give the students of the support they need. The Well is Environmentally Friendly Norma Sanchez, the Public Information and Leisure Service Manager at the University Union says The Well “will be a state of th

The next time you find yourself unable to stop worrying about something at work, try doing some yoga or meditation right in your workspace. That’s right – you don’t need to go to the gym, take numerous classes, or have a private office or yoga mat! You also won’t feel awkward doing it at work. Yoga and meditation instructor, Shakti, joins me this Sunday on “Good Work NOW!” on Channel 17 at 7:30 PM. I first met Shakti in 2004 when I took a yoga class as part of my grief recovery when my partner died suddenly in 2003. That class was a positive, healing experience. The words that come to my mind that best describe Shakti are calming, centered, peaceful, uncomplicated and wise. On Sunday’s