The Newton Booth Neighborhoods Association (NBNA) is honoring Mike McKeever, Executive Director of the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG), with the organization’s 2011 Growing Together Award for his role earlier this year as the volunteer mediator in a neighborhood development controversy. The NBNA represents the Poverty Ridge, Newton Booth, and Alhambra Triangle neighborhoods in Sacramento’s District 4. The award will be presented to McKeever Thursday, November 10th, at Newton’s Night Out, a neighborhood event to be held at Revolution Wines, 2831 S Street, from 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm.  McKeever will be in attendance. The Growing Together Award, established in August 2011, is gi

The Sacramento City Council was asked to accept a feasibility study on new river crossings Tuesday night, but council members put off taking any action until they get an acceptable definition of a “neighborhood-friendly bridge.” The nine-month study was a collaborative effort between the city of Sacramento and city of West Sacramento that reviewed alternatives for new river crossings to improve connectivity between the two cities. But the study did not specify a particular design for the proposed bridges, and council members – and residents who came to the meeting to voice their opinions – were concerned that the end result would be a “commuter bridge” that floods residential neighborhoo

The next stage of growth for Sacramento's historic railyards should continue to connect the site with surrounding areas, allowing for smaller-scale development of neighborhoods linked by public transit and an open-space network, urban development experts said Friday at City Hall. An eight-person panel of development and design experts presented recommendations for downtown railyards development to the city. They were brought to Sacramento through a fellowship program sponsored by the Urban Land Institute's Daniel Rose Center for Public Leadership in Land Use. The panelists spent three days working in Sacramento and touring the railyards before making the recommendations. The city and th

Sacramento area residents voiced their opinion on the region’s Metropolitan Transportation Plan at a workshop on Wednesday, and they largely agreed to support a plan that includes greater emphasis on the environment and public transit. This plan, or MTP2035 (Metropolitan Transportation Plan for 2035), is based on assumptions regarding population growth, the economy, transportation, housing, employment, and how infrastructure will need to adjust for the inevitable changes that will occur over the next 25 years. “We’re not shy to give you a lot of information to work with,” said SACOG Executive Director Mike McKeever. Updating the plan, which is a federal requirement, has involved the Sac

Americans have embraced environmentalism as a trendy idea, but they must wage a revolution, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman said in Sacramento on Thursday. Friedman’s speech to about 1,000 people at the Crest Theatre was for “Greenwise,” Mayor Kevin Johnson’s environmental initiative. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author and columnist presented his views on the global environment and economy, and discussed his new book “Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution – and How It Can Renew America.” The event was free to the public and Friedman was not paid to speak, said Johnson spokesman Joaquin McPeek. Friedman’s talk was a star-studded political event: After the author

Business owners, members of various organizations and political representatives attended the seventh Sacramento Sustainability Forum on Thursday at the Sacramento News & Review offices at 1124 Del Paso Blvd. Since August 2009 the SSF has been holding these meetings to discuss local solutions to environmental, economic and political problems. The discussion focused on Senate Bill 375, which calls for lowering greenhouse gas emissions by curbing urban sprawl. The bill would have city and transportation planners achieve this by placing housing, industry, schools and retail in close proximity to each other. The bill is complex and would pertain to many segments of population and organization