The Sacramento Press wants your neighborhood-related questions for Interim City Manager Gus Vina, the city’s highest-ranking official. What issues or concerns do you have about your neighborhood? What do you think the city government should do to improve your neighborhood? Write your questions in the comments section at the bottom of this article. Questions for Vina can also be e-mailed to kathleen@sacramentopress.com. The Sacramento Press will choose several questions from community members for Vina to answer. Vina was chosen as interim city manager by Mayor Kevin Johnson and the eight City Council members and will serve for nine to 12 months. He replaced Ray Kerridge, who resigned fr

More than 125 people gathered Saturday to honor community activist Mary Brill. Brill died Oct. 24 from breast cancer. She was 59. Friends, family, politicians and others active in the community met at Florence T. Clunie Memorial Auditorium to pay tribute to Brill, who co-founded and led the Sacramento County Alliance of Neighborhoods. She led work on issues that included affordable housing, living conditions, transportation and smart growth. State Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg of Sacramento and former Sacramento Mayor Heather Fargo were two of the speakers at the memorial. “She was the bravest person I ever met in my life. She was the strongest person I ever met in my life

From the lofty perches of the power players, in their skyboxes and bank towers, the public may look very small, almost antlike. Deal and decision makers are elevated and segregated from the little people, whose lives they influence. On Thursday, October 29, Mayor Kevin Johnson announced his "Rules of the Game" plan to build an arena and entertainment complex in Sacramento. The press conference was held 25 floors up, with a hazy overview of the city, extending from the historic rail yards to Cal Expo: two potential sites for a new and lucrative sports/real estate venture. In that same sweeping view, the mayor could look down on the central city neighborhoods. From Downtown, Midtown, East

The sudden directive by Sacramento City Unified School District that California Montessori Project must abandon the Old Marshall Elementary School has done more than disrupt the lives of the students, parents and faculty. It has the potential to strike a major blow to the renaissance of the central city. One of the primary reasons families choose where they live is what schools are available. CMP had operated successfully out of the Pioneer Church for eight years. The site did limit the size of the enrollment. When SCUSD deemed Old Marshall School safe for charter school and offered it to CMP, after careful consideration they accepted the offer. CMP was thrilled to have a beautiful buildin

INCLUDED IN THIS E-NEWSLETTER: • City 2009/2010 Budget Adopted • Sidney Pope Memorial Orchid and Onion Awards Presented at Pops in the Park • Screen on the Green – August • McKinley Rose Garden Proposed Enhancements Update • Free Hours of Bike Rentals • SHPS/ Mercy Construction Update • Sacramento Fire Department Open Houses UPCOMING EVENTS • Neighborhood Services Department Community Hours • July 4th Fun and Run in River Park • Friends of the River Event- July 11th • Taste of East Sacramento – July 12th • Friends of McKinley Park Tennis Tournament – August 1st and 2nd • National Night Out – August 4th • Blood Drive in River Park, August 9th • St. Mary’s 78th Annual Festival – August 16

Kings fans welcomed their new players to Sacramento. This was in a small neighborhood Midtown park. Attendance was reported as a few hundred. Pretty low turnout for such an event. The event was arranged at the last minute and in a venue that had never been used by the Kings before.  Another regionally advertised event, The Block Concert Series, was occuring at the same time.  The neighborhood was freaked out when high powered pyrotechnics were illegally fired into the neighborhood at the end of this event. This was callous disregard for the safety of the lives and property of this neighborhood.  To understand the full implications of what occurred, speak with Niko King or Jim Doucette  in

One week after a truck wrecked the front of a historic midtown building, some residents and business owners are saying they'd like a traffic signal for what they say is a dangerous intersection. Several people sitting at Harry's Cafe, a popular sidewalk cafe next door to the damaged building, narrowly escaped serious injury when an Icee truck and an SUV collided at 16th and U Streets and ran up onto the sidewalk. Locals say last Tuesday's accident was one of many that have threatened people visiting businesses or on foot on the busy one-way street. "It's dangerous. I really want to see the city put a stoplight right there," said the cafe's owner, Harry Luong, 53. However, police acciden

Special events like the Midfest Summer Celebration must meet general guidelines available on the city Department of Parks and Recreation website. Applicants are required to notify residents at least seven days before the event. Sending out a team to notify people at their homes or leave information on doorsteps and doorknobs is OK, said Hindolo Brima, spokesperson for the city Department of Parks and Recreation. Residents must be notified in the most heavily impacted areas, which are determined based on how loud the event is expected to be and what kind of parking issues and restrictions there will be, he added. For this event, the residents who have to be notified live in the area betwe

Got questions about what's going on in your 'hood? Got a problem that needs fixing? A city neighborhood resources coordinator just might be able to help. Central city residents will get a chance to discuss concerns and get information close to home next month when the city's Neighborhood Services Department sets up new "community hours" in Midtown. Neighborhood coordinator Janine Martindale will be available at Midtown's Hart Senior Center, 915 27th St. (I and 27th streets), from 2 to 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 2. The department has scheduled drop-in hours throughout the city. East Sacramento residents can visit Clunie Community Center, 601 Alhambra Blvd., from 2 to 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 14. T

Last Night's NAG proves to be informative and contentious. Last night's Neighborhood Advisory Group (NAG) meeting started off with a low key police report and not much news on issue updates. The general plan goes to City Council for review on March 3rd. There will be a session of the Preservation Roundtable on March 14th, The primary announcement was the merger of Marshall School Neighborhood Association and the adjoining New Era Park Neighborhood Association. A presentation by Doug Huston a Program Analyst with the Solid Waste Division on E-Waste removal was the first agenda item. The city has programs to collect batteries, cfls and other florescent lights that can not go into land fil

I recieved this article by email from Martha Damjanovic: On Wednesday January 21, 2009 there will be a meeting at the Washington Elementary School located at: 520 18th street from 6pm to 8pm This school has been placed on a hit list to be closed. The down/midtown neighbourhoods cannot afford for this to happen. How can we become a 24hr family city if we do not have schools for our children to attend. We need to really take stock and find out why the enrollment is down at this school and why at other schools parents are standing in 30 degree weather to get their children enrolled? This school has received several academic awards. The new principal at the school Marilyn Collins has reache

The City of Sacramento Department of Neighborhood Services announces: Good Neighborhoods = A Great City The City of Sacramento's Neighborhood Services Department is proud to present the Neighborhood Summit 2009, a first of its kind here in Sacramento! When: Friday, March 6, 2009 Time: 8:30-4:00 PM (Continental Breakfast/Lunch Provided) Where: Sacramento Convention Center - 1400 J Street Purpose: The mission of the City of Sacramento Neighborhood Summit is to promote communication and partnership between city staff, residents, neighborhood associations, and business owners to help maintain, revitalize, and promote healthy communities. Free Admission: There will be no cost to attend the