The push to put a city parking lease to a vote fell flat Tuesday as the City Council rejected a motion to put the question on the June ballot. It was City Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy who first suggested in November that the voters should have a say in whether the city leases its parking inventory to an outside company. She conducted a city-wide poll on her website in October, which indicated that 70 percent of respondents favored a public vote on a potential 50-year lease, according to Sheedy. “The (arena) plan hinges on leasing the city’s parking for 50 years,” Sheedy said Tuesday. “I think such a massive public investment warrants a public vote.” Still, after almost an hour of public d

Mayor Kevin Johnson announced Tuesday that with the NBA lockout over – and the Sacramento Kings resuming their season – more than 700 workers at the Power Balance Pavilion will be able to return to their jobs. “We are excited. With the lockout ended you will see people returning to work,” Johnson said. Since the lockout began, Power Balance Pavilion employees have lost a significant amount of work, and businesses that rely on the traffic that NBA games bring in have suffered financially. With the four-plus month lockout and all pre-season games cancelled and a shortened season ahead, employees have missed out on a substantial amount of work. On Del Paso Boulevard, businesses have repor

The Sacramento Kings should be back on the court by this time next month, according to reports this morning that claim that NBA team owners and players are finalizing a deal to bring the labor lockout to an end. If everything goes as planned, the league plans to play a shortened 66-game season with training camps set to open December 9th. The tentative agreement is still only a “handshake deal” at this time, but both sides seem optimistic that a partial season will be salvaged beginning with a marquee tripleheader on December 25th. No word yet on when the Kings would return to Power Balance Pavilion, but today’s news is seen as an early Christmas present for the support staff that work a

After a slightly flawed but excellent nonetheless One Scary Nite 2, expectations were high for the third annual installment of the "Deon Taylor Enterprises presents: One Scary Nite" Halloween party, which went down at the California Auto Museum Thursday night. Familiar attractions returning this year included "Mad Scientist" Jack Sparx with his Tesla coil, huge propane fireballs and deranged laugh, stilt walkers, fire dancers, go-go dancers and many bloody, gory "staff monsters" and zombies who shuffled around the venue with a vacant look in their eyes, grunting at passing partygoers. Absent this year were the red carpet and arrivals, the national musical act (last year it was Bell Biv D

While the National Basketball Association is on lockout and preseason and regular season games are canceled, the Heatwave, the Sacramento professional American Basketball Association team, revs up for a full season. The season will open on Nov. 12 with an exciting double-header against the Richmond Rockets, which defeated the Heatwave in the first round of playoffs last season, and the Bay Area Matrix, last year’s Pacific North Division champions. “With the NBA lockout, we have a good opportunity to put on some great basketball for the city. We can entertain the people of Sacramento and get them excited about basketball again. No NBA, no problem,” said assistant coach Brandon Smith. “I

The City Council will consider approving $550,000 in fees Tuesday to bring in experts on sports finance, parking, investment banking and municipal finance to help dig through the details of a complex – and uncertain – arena financing plan. At the Sept. 13 council meeting, City Manager John Shirey told council members that, in order to “proceed with due diligence” on the proposed arena project, the city would need the help of outside professional services. “The City Council and the public deserve to have good information in order to make good decisions,” Assistant City Manager John Dangberg said Monday. Members of the arena focus group, Think Big Sacramento, presented a much-anticipated

The arena campaign committee, Think BIG Sacramento, hosted a four-county bus tour Thursday to spread the message that a new sports and entertainment facility will benefit not just the city of Sacramento but the entire region. The group released a "Capitol Corridor Impact Report" showing 55 percent of the people going to basketball games and other events at the Sacramento Kings' current facility come from outside Sacramento County. And almost 75 percent live outside the city, committee Executive Director Chris Lehane said Thursday at a press conference in El Dorado Hills. The report was compiled using three years' statistics from the National Basketball Association. Actual numbers of aren

Think BIG Sacramento launched an effort Thursday to recruit 1,000 people from Merced to Redding to rally support for a new arena. The arena campaign committee also announced plans to hold a public design contest for a space adjacent to the new facility as part of that effort. The committee is asking regional residents and community leaders to help spread information and gather supporters for the drive to build a new sports and entertainment complex, state Senate staffer Greg Hayes, a member of the arena committee, said in a Thursday morning press conference outside the MARRS Building at 1050 20th St. Later this month, the committee will announce full details of a contest that could enab

Sacramento Kings star Tyreke Evans, along with VSP Vision Care, hosted a basketball camp for kids Thursday and Friday. The two-day camp was held for underprivileged kids in the Sacramento area, giving them a chance to meet Evans and have their eyes examined for free in a 41-foot mobile eye clinic brought by VSP Vision Care. The camp was a collaboration among VSP Vision Care’s Diversity Council, Positive Coaching Alliance, Dr. Ephraim Williams Family Life Center and Chris Johnson Basketball Academy. Event co-sponsors Family Life Center and VSP Vision Asian Resources Inc. and the Greater Sacramento Area Urban League selected over 200 kids to attend the camp at the Dr. Ephraim Williams Fami

A regional campaign to finance a new arena officially launched Tuesday. A coalition called "Here We Build" will work within a tight, 100-day deadline to evaluate what kind of financing mechanisms, fees or taxes might be used. While the list of 60 leaders is still being finalized this week, the coalition is expected to meet for the first time within about two weeks. The group will be co-chaired by state Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, a Democrat from Sacramento, and State Sen. Ted Gaines, a Republican from Roseville. Steinberg called on the region to unite behind the campaign to boost jobs, economic development and pride in the greater Sacramento area. "It's time for everyone

The Sacramento Kings' majority owners reacted positively to a new plan for a proposed $387 million arena project unveiled Thursday, but admitted they're anxious to see whether the plan can be turned into reality. Developers told the Sacramento City Council a $241 million arena, with a total project cost of $387 million, could be built by early 2015 if a mix of public and private funding can be pulled together. During a two-and-a-half-hour presentation, ICON Venue Group President Tim Romani, Sacramento developer David Taylor and others on an arena development team provided the public with many details of the plan. Afterward, team co-owners Gavin and Joe Maloof told reporters they have a

 Developers say Sacramento could build a $241 million arena, with a total project cost of $387 million, by early 2015 if a mix of public and private funding can be pulled together, according to a feasibility report presented to the city Thursday. The ICON-Taylor team says a 675,000-square-foot arena with 18,594 seats, 74 luxury suites, 2,080 premium and club seats and other amenities could be constructed. Power Balance Pavilion in Natomas, the current home of the Sacramento Kings, can seat up to 17,317 and has 30 luxury suites and 712 club seats. A location on city land in the downtown railyards is preferred, but city land in Natomas could also hold a new entertainment and sports comple

The first time Kevin Johnson was involved in the National Basketball Association draft, he was passed over by the Sacramento Kings. Now mayor of Sacramento, Johnson will represent the Kings at the NBA draft lottery Tuesday. The lottery will be televised on ESPN during a pregame show just before Tuesday night's playoff game in Dallas, when the Oklahoma City Thunder takes on the Dallas Mavericks in game one of the Western Conference finals. The draft lottery portion of the show, which determines the order for the NBA draft June 23, could begin as early as 5:10 p.m. Pacific time. In 1987, Johnson was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers, who got the seventh pick in the draft. The Sacramento K

Here's some images from the big Kings rally in Cesar Chavez Park Tuesday night: Read about the Here We Rally HERE

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson will represent the Kings at the National Basketball Association draft lottery next week, team owners and the mayor announced at a Tuesday rally. Johnson and developers representing the ICON-Taylor arena team will meet in Las Vegas Wednesday with George Maloof, whose family controls a majority share of the team, to discuss the arena project. The Maloof family owns the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. On stage at a Kings rally in Cesar Chavez Plaza, Gavin and Joe Maloof asked the former NBA All-Star player to step up for them next Tuesday at the draft lottery at the NBA Entertainment studio in Secaucus, N.J. "I accept! I accept! I accept!" Johnson yelled in

Forces now allied behind the Sacramento Kings gathered steam Tuesday in their collective bid to build a more successful team and move the region closer to constructing a new arena. That effort will be aided by retired Kings player Chris Webber, who said on television Monday night he's lined up private investors to fund a new arena in place of taxpayers. "Within the year, we're going to make some special things happen," Webber said on TNT's "Inside the NBA." "The goal is to keep the team there." Webber hinted about his involvement on Twitter Monday after the Kings' owners announced they'd leave the team here for at least one year to give Sacramento more time to pursue building a new spor

The owners of the Sacramento Kings announced Monday the team will stay put for at least one more season – giving the region and the National Basketball Association time for one final push to build a new arena. NBA officials quickly announced a commitment to make one last effort over the next 10 months to pave the way to replace Power Balance Pavilion. The league is sending nine people to Sacramento Tuesday to provide expert support in the regional effort to construct a new arena and to help the Kings' owners, the Maloofs, lead the team to a successful next season, NBA Commissioner David Stern said in a teleconference Monday afternoon. Kings fans, elected officials and business leaders re

George Maloof's comment this morning that keeping the Kings in Sacramento for one more year is "the right thing to do" struck me as disingenuous.  Since when is "doing the right thing" the way the Maloofs operate? This was not a decision based on principle. It was based on money, and a lot of other things far beyond the M-Bro's control. They simply weren't able to pull the move off. Yet. That said, this morning's announcement that the Kings will be staying in Sacramento is unalloyed good news. Whether or not the Kings staying in Sacramento is ultimately the "right" thing for Sacramento is still up in the air; but today, it is very much a good thing. Whether that remains true going forwa

With just three days to go before the Kings' deadline to file for relocation, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson said Friday he's not sure who has the ball – but Sacramento officials hope a regionally coordinated effort to build an arena will make enough of a difference that the National Basketball Association and the Kings' owners keep the team here another year. Billionaire Henry Samueli, whose company manages Anaheim's Honda Center, upped the ante Wednesday when he offered to personally invest more than $70 million for improvements at the Honda Center and provide a personal loan of at least $75 million to the Maloofs. Samueli, who owns the Anaheim Ducks hockey team, also revealed $30 mill

The National Basketball Association apparently continued weighing Sacramento and Anaheim as markets for the Kings Thursday. Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson jumped off a stage to take a phone call at a groundbreaking ceremony for railyards railroad track relocation Thursday morning. He later said he wouldn't comment on whether the call came from NBA Commissioner David Stern. Shortly after finishing the call, Johnson told reporters he didn't have any word on a Kings decision, from either Stern or Oklahoma City Thunder owner Clay Bennett, who chairs the league's Relocation Committee. "I have not gotten an update," said Johnson, who described the call as "private." "I haven't heard from Clay