“Shrek the Musical” kicked off the Broadway Sacramento 2011-2012 season with a Technicolor extravaganza. Based on the characters and story of the book “Shrek!” by William Steig, DreamWorks adapted the book into its blockbuster hit animated movie ”Shrek” in 2001. With a cast of major film actors voicing the characters the movie became the first of a major film and product franchise. DreamWorks expanded that franchise into their first foray into live productions with the opening of “Shrek the Musical” on Broadway in December 2008. After a very successful run on Broadway “Shrek the Musical” went on a US national tour and a London West End production with continuing changes to the production

A child is reported abused or neglected every minute in America. The Child Abuse Prevention Center is working to change that. The CAP Center serves more than 140,000 children annually and manages the Child Abuse Prevention Council of Sacramento, Inc., Safe Kids California, Lift the Children and Prevent Child Abuse California. Pour for Prevention was a benefit held for the CAP Center that incorporated food, art and, of course, lots of wine, with 100 percent of the proceeds going toward preventing child abuse. Over 16 vintners and eateries participated, and 15 artists displayed works in Jon Stevenson's historic three-story home/gallery/special events venue located on 1724 N St. “Eighty pe

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

Laura Barrett and a dedicated band of volunteers kept the Bertha Henschel Wading Pool open this summer, but now they are faced with a mountain to climb. “We raised money for the past two years to help support the pool and keep it open. Now the need is much more extreme. We are bracing for a possible contribution of $22,000 to keep the pool running next year,” says Barrett, coordinator of The Friends of Bertha Henschel Park. All city resources are dwindling and more and more neighbors and community members are relied on to keep services running, especially in our parks. For Bertha Henschel the news is grim. “At this point the City Parks and Recreation department is saying that there will

The 4th Annual Sacramento Homeless Connect event will take place this Saturday, May 21 at Sacramento City College from 10:00 am-3:00 pm. It is hosted by Sacramento Steps Forward, with support from presenting sponsor The Salvation Army. Speakers at the event include Assemblymember Roger Dickinson, Mayor Kevin Johnson and Supervisor Phil Serna. Over 1,000 homeless guests are expected; additionally the event hosts 500 community volunteers and over 60 different service providers. Project Homeless Connect is a national Best Practice model for bringing services directly to homeless folks. Started in San Francisco, it now occurs in over 150 communities across the country. Homeless Connect events

Today at noon, The Sacramento Bee's Allen Pierleoni will host a live chat with Rick Mindermann of Corti Bros. and John Paul Khoury of Preferred Meats, Inc. Visit sacbee.com/live from noon - 1 p.m. to ask questions relating to "What's new in the Sacramento food scene?" The live chat is a preview of what will be discussed at Table Talk Sacramento, April 13. Read more about Table Talk Sacramento here. Click here to go to the Bee's Live Chat page.

Five months after a consultant released a scathing audit of the city’s Community Development Department, the department is making headway on correcting its practices, according to City Auditor Jorge Oseguera. However, it’s still unclear when or if the city can obtain $2.3 million in developer fees that the department did not collect. Oseguera presented a report on the department’s overhaul to the City Council on Tuesday. The council accepted Oseguera’s report and did not take any formal action on it. The October audit, conducted by Sjoberg Evashenk Consulting, Inc., faulted the department for not collecting more than $2.3 million in fees in recent years. The firm also accused city employ

The Sacramento City Council voted Tuesday to hire an outside contractor for tree pruning and removal work despite opposition from a major city union, Stationary Engineers Local 39. Council members voted 7-2 to pay up to $3.7 million to Roseville-based Jensen Tree Service, Inc., for a contract that could span five years. The contract has a one-year guarantee of work – after that, the city manager will decide each year over the following four years whether to continue the contract, according to Craig Lymus, the city’s acting procurement manager. A representative for Local 39, which represents urban forestry workers, among many other groups of city employees, said the work that Jensen Tree

A redevelopment project being considered by the city could help cement K Street Mall's future as an entertainment district. The proposal that went before the city's Preservation Commission Wednesday night would build a live music club with a roof terrace in the historic Banking Hall building at 700 K St., anchoring a key block across from Westfield Downtown Plaza and St. Rose of Lima Park. The plan by D & S Development, Inc., and CFY Development Inc. – led by David Miry and his son, Bay Miry, and Cyrus Youssefi and his son, Ali Youssefi – also proposes four restaurants with bars for the south side of the block, along with 153 new apartments and a nearly 29,000-square-foot, two-level park

The Sacramento Artists Council brought together artists and guests to an enjoyable evening during its 1st Annual Masquerade Gala event. This elegant Masquerade is one of two major events held, by this council, during the year to raise funds and support art scholarships for local students. This social event also helps raise grants for artists, musicians and filmmakers in the Sacramento area. The recipient of this year’s grant was Juliana Zachariou. Several outfits worn by those who attended the event spent quite a bit of time creating their outfits for the Masquerade. Several outfits had integrated beautiful designs created by those who wore some stunning dresses. Compliments were hear

Track that was laid to be part of the Trans-Continental Railroad did not fulfill its destiny but it was celebrated as the oldest railroad track west of the Mississippi River this weekend during the Folsom Historic Railroad and Transportation Festival . "130 years ago the track ran from Sacramento to Folsom. The route was changed and now it runs from Sacramento to Auburn and beyond," said Larry Bowler, one of the Festival's organizers. It became only a local freight line and travelled just beyond Placerville. Many years ago the track was torn out five miles west of Placerville. This is the first time the festival has been in Folsom. The past four years it's been held in Ione on a smalle

 Cerrina Jensen, a vocal advocate of cost containment and consumer choice in health care and employee benefits, has joined the Sacramento office of Rood & Dax Advanced Insurance Services, Inc., as an employee benefits consultant focusing on the small group market. “Growing up, I had no idea I would one day be a benefits consultant," she says. “But spending each day helping employers successfully navigate their benefit issues of coverage, cost and human resource challenges is truly rewarding.” Jensen has more than 15 years of experience in a variety of settings in the insurance industry and brings a wide range of knowledge to her role at Rood & Dax Advanced Insurance Services, Inc., where

Sacramento seniors facing economic hardship will have one less place to relax and meet friends. Catholic Charities of Sacramento, Inc., has closed down its Cathedral Neighborhood Senior Center downtown because of a funding shortage, said Beth White, associate director of the nonprofit organization. The center, which is located at 711 J St., had provided a social atmosphere for seniors since 1975, according to White. It shut down March 1. Elderly residents of single-resident-occupancy motels as well as homeless seniors would gather at the center, White said. They would watch television or enjoy a coffee, she said. For example, a group of seniors would come to the center in the morning b

A revised proposal by USA Hospitality, Inc. and their equity partners Consus Asset Management and Industrial General has been submitted for building a Marriott Renaissance Hotel at the corner of 8th & K Street. The new proposal includes a decrease in the number of hotel rooms from 409 to 300, and a decrease in the number of parking spaces from 372 to 350 while adding 100 condominiums on top of the parking garage as a second phase of the project. The total cost to build the project went up from $137 million to $162 million along with the needed city subsidy to build from $31.5 million to $33 million. The developer has asked that the city give them the land which is city-owned for free, and

New digital billboards from Clear Channel Outdoor, Inc., may be placed at city-owned locations if negotiations between the company and the city are successful. The city is pursuing talks with Clear Channel as a way to earn revenue for the cash-strapped city government. The City Council unanimously decided Tuesday to start negotiations with Clear Channel for digital billboard placement. The city is undergoing severe economic problems and recently laid off 135 employees. The digital billboards would be placed at the following three spots: the area following the south side of Interstate 80 and east of Northgate Boulevard; the area of Interstate 5 and Richards Boulevard; and near Haggin Oaks

California's air may start to look a little cleaner, thanks to the California Department of Transportation and its project partners. Caltrans's revolutionary "green locomotive" debuted Wednesday morning at the Amtrak Sacramento Valley station. Members of Caltrans and its project partners assembled within the train station at a press release to make statements regarding the new locomotive, considered a major step toward reducing California's carbon footprint. It is one of the 15 F59PHI model locomotives owned by Caltrans and operated by Amtrak that is now installed with a 710ECO Repower upgrade package. The package is said to consist of the latest microprocessor-controlled locomotive eng