Tuesday on Capitol Public Radio’s “Insight” program, I sat down with host David Watts Barton and Sacramento Bee editorial board member Foon Rhee to discuss the Checks and Balances Act of 2012 – more commonly known as the “executive mayor” or “strong mayor” initiative. The mayor’s office rolled out the latest version of the strong mayor initiative Dec. 21 by a coalition of supporters led by Mayor Kevin Johnson’s chief of staff, Kunal Merchant. The issue was scheduled to be on the agenda for City Council discussion Tuesday, and Johnson said he is hopeful that council members will put the initiative on the June ballot. Rhee pointed out that Tuesday’s meeting was the 16th time the issue has

During The Sacramento Press’ spot on Capital Public Radio’s “Insight” Tuesday morning, host Jeffrey Callison and I discussed the Occupy Sacramento movement, early turns in the upcoming City Council elections, a design competition for Capitol Mall and the arrival of a sailing vessel in Old Sacramento. With the Occupy Sacramento demonstration well into its second week, protesters are upset that Cesar Chavez Plaza is closed from 11 p.m. - 5 a.m. due to a city ordinance. Sacramento Police Department spokeswoman Laura Peck said Monday that 58 arrests have been made, and the City Council plans to decide whether to allow the protesters to stay in the park after hours, after they went to City Hal

I filled in for David Watts Barton Tuesday morning for the weekly segment of The Sacramento Press on Capital Public Radio's “Insight,” and Jeffrey Callison and I talked about chicken keeping, a record-setting City Council meeting on redistricting and a few fun additions to the central city – including a restaurant that serves drinks in fish bowls. The Sacramento City Council may pass an ordinance at its meeting Tuesday night that will allow residents to keep up to three egg-laying chickens in their backyards – as long as the chickens are enclosed and the enclosure is 20 feet away from the neighbors’ homes. Residents would need to apply for a permit and pay to renew it each year. There is

If a man is interviewed for climbing Mount Everest and the reporter fails to ask how and why he set out to climb the mountain, then that reporter has missed the most important part of the interview, said Capital Public Radio personality Jeffrey Callison during a workshop at The Sacramento Press. Callison taught The Art and Craft of Interviewing to 41 community members Tuesday. It was a workshop intended for journalists, aspiring journalists and people who are interested in learning how to conduct effective interviews. “You’ll get the meat of the story from ‘the why’ and ‘the how,’” Callison said. “That’s where the story starts to come out. That’s the most important stuff in an interview

Final approval of the 700 block of K Street, a new executive for Sacramento County, local entertainment and building fees going up and a new park proposed for Midtown are among the topics discussed Tuesday by David Watts Barton and Jeffrey Callison on Capital Public Radio's Insight. Tonight's City Council meeting will include a vote on the final approval on the 700 block of K Street. It's gone through every level of approval and this means that they will be able, as Bay Miry told me, to do what we know how to do, which is build stuff. They're talking about 14 businesses on that block, including a tapas bar, a nightclub, restaurants and bars. This has the potential to transform K Street an

Jeffrey Callison, host of Insight Capitol Public Radio’s popular morning live news magazine, was interviewed by The Sacramento Press Editor in Chief David Watts Barton Sunday Evening. The interview was part of the The Sacramento Living Library, curated by Time Tested Books’ Peter Keat and hosted by “Midtown Monthly” editor Tim Foster. Barton had kicked off The Sacramento Living Library 2010 in January, interviewing Tower Records founder Russ Solomon. More on The Sacramento Living Library and previous interviews is available at Time Tested Books’ website. Insight premiered in July 2009 as a half-hour afternoon news magazine. Then the KXJZ news director had been invited by Station Manager

Capital Public Radio Introduces JazzStream 24-Hour Online Jazz Music Capital Public Radio today introduced JazzStream. This new resource explores the vibrant artistry of jazz online, 24 hours a day at www.capradio.org/jazzstream. In addition to the new JazzStream, Jazz fans can find expanded online radio options in the “On Demand” section at Capital Public Radio’s website, capradio.org. Signature programs like Acid Jazz, Classic Jazz and Swing or Mick Martin’s Blues Party are frequently updated. Listeners tuning to Capital Public Radio’s news/jazz stations enjoy public radio’s non-commercial format, and that extends to online and on-demand content. “At a time when commercial radio stati

Wednesday night, the Urban Hive was packed with people eager to hear what local media outlets had to say about the changes they've made recently in response to the economy, technology and social media. Jim Jakobs, Assignment Manager of KCRA, Jon Schuller and Anne Shulock, Office Manager and Reporter of Sactown Magazine, Jen Picard, Senior Producer of Insight, David Watts Barton, Editor in Chief of Sacramento Press, and Nick Miller, Arts Editor of Sacramento News and Review, had a lively discussion moderated by Janna Santoro. Here is the first part of the video from that night. Nick Miller joined the panel a little late. This first segment is before he arrived.    Media Panel video

Many of you have asked about workshops and events being posted on our site in addition to the email invitations. Here is some information about our planned December events. We've organized a media panel Dec. 9. and a Google workshop Dec. 15. The media panel is a collaboration between the folks at the Urban Hive and The Sacramento Press. It will be held at the Urban Hive, Dec. 9 from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. The panel features representatives from each type of news outlet and will focus on the changes each has had to make over the past few years with technology, the economy and social media. Each panel member will also be asked where they see the future of journalism is headed. Attendees will ha