In a city that boasts a thriving community of locally owned businesses, artists, musicians and writers, it’s no wonder that Sacramento has a stunning array of public art displays that have taken the form of murals on the sides of buildings throughout town. The works are concentrated in Midtown and downtown Sacramento, where the eclectic collection of stores and businesses creates the ideal canvas for some of the most visually impressive pieces of public art. Local artist Skinner – born Warren Davis III – said he thinks Sacramento needs more work like the mural he painted on the side of the Java Lounge on 16th Street near Broadway. Skinner said he’s commissioned to do work all over the w

Sacramento International Airport’s new Terminal B opened to the public on Sunday to give locals a preview of the $1.03 billion project before it opens for air traffic on Oct. 6. Airport spokeswoman Karen Doron said nearly 4,500 people made reservations to observe the terminal's new art and its elaborate design. “It’s beautiful,” said Merrilyn Hirsch, a 65-year-old retiree. “They really got their money’s worth.” Starting at 10 a.m., guests lined up to be the first to see the architectural feat. They were led onto the trains, called “people movers,” and brought from the terminal’s “land side” to the “air side.” The trains sped across the airport and went back and forth every two minutes, b

Sacramento International Airport's nearly $1.1 billion Central Terminal B complex is expected to open this fall – months earlier than originally scheduled. When construction began in 2008, the terminal project was expected to cost $1.27 billion and was scheduled to open in spring of 2012. The project will open months ahead of that because of changes in construction plans due to the recession. Plans for a hotel and new parking garage were dropped to save money. A new garage will be built once there is enough need. Other cost savings were found during a simultaneous design and construction phase, , airport spokeswoman Gina Swankie said. The construction schedule was later revised to refle

Imagine the perfect french fry. For me, it’s medium-crispy on the outside, hot and creamy inside, generously salted and with a distinctive freshly-fried aroma. Sacramento is blessed with many such perfect fries and my Potato Posse and I set out on a mission to find them. We limited our search to casual eateries that are local to Sacramento. We focused exclusively on basic fries – no blue cheese topping, pungent garlic or dipping sauces to mask their essence. Just the potato and maybe a little seasoning. Size and shape didn’t matter in our survey– the fries could be regular, thick-cut, shoestring, curly (senseless mutations of perfectly good fries) or crinkled. After much arduous research

Eat from 20 of Sacramento's downtown restaurants with the purchase of one ticket supporting a 10-year-old boy fighting secondary cancer. The For Ben Food Crawl is from 2 to 5 p.m. on Feb. 28.  Each restaurant will have  drink specials, a taste of their food, and tons of great people exploring the grid of Sacramento while supporting Ben and his family. Beating levels while playing Nintendo DS, building cities with Legos, and making people smile are just a few of Ben's talents. But, that is not all he does. Ben has survived a brain tumor two years ago and now is battling secondary cancer in his spine. Intense treatments, intelligent doctors, unlimited prayers, and his close family and frie