Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "news"

Juvenile Seeks to Rein in CPS Abuses through Legislation

2012-02-01T20:13:24Z

Now that Eric Smith, (not real name) a 17-year-old foster child, has been declared a dependent of the court, he is on a mission to change the laws that regulate CPS. “No one should have to go through what I did,” he said, citing his nine months in CPS custody last year. “They treated me like I was a villain, instead of a victim. Why? Because they can.” Eric wants to see that stop.

Just shy of 18, Eric is not yet able to fully tell his story. But that is not stopping him from writing letters to political officials and child welfare groups, recounting his experiences and proposing legislative changes. And what he can tell of his story, he does.

On April 1 2011, an emergency CPS social worker was dispatched to Eric’s high school to meet with him. CPS had received a phone call citing concern of emotional abuse in his home.

It was not the first call to CPS as court records would later show. But it was the first call to claim concern that Eric, who had attempted suicide before, might again attempt to take his life. A little-known provision in Welfare and Institution Code 300(c) allows the court to take jurisdiction if a child is suffering serious emotional damage.

The social worker who interviewed Eric that Friday afternoon promised him he would not need to return home. “She said she had a safety plan for me. But first she wanted to meet me at my house to talk with my mom.”

The social worker got to the house first. Eric arrived minutes later but retreated into a hallway at the sound of laughter. The social worker had discovered what Eric knew she would. It was what had kept him from confiding in others for 16 years. Eric’s mother was herself a former CPS social worker. Eric knew he wouldn’t stand a chance of getting the help he needed.

The two women gossiped like school chums, about coworkers, about supervisors, but mostly about Eric. “I knew he was lying,” he heard the social worker say to his mother.

Not less than an hour after arriving at the house, the social worker packed up her bags and closed the case. Before leaving, she placed a phone call. “Is Eric Smith at your house?” she said after identifying herself. “If he is, you need to return him immediately. There is no abuse in this home.”

Eric, crouching in the hallway, bolted.

It would be nine months before Eric would hear the words he’d doubted ever hearing, delivered at the final court hearing: “There is clear and convincing evidence of severe emotional abuse in this home.”

Eric’s story takes twists and turns to outrage even the most cynical. It’s a story he plans to tell in full one day. What he can reveal now is that the initial emergency social worker was removed from his case, a second was assigned and removed, and then a third and a fourth.

“All four social workers assigned to me over the past eight months put me through hours of crude and offensive questioning, consistently siding with my mother,” Eric said.

The second social worker was assigned after Eric bolted from his house. He had sought shelter with a friend until CPS could be notified. Unwilling to relinquish control to CPS, Eric’s mother allowed the second social worker to “voluntarily” place Eric in the Sacramento Children’s Receiving Home. On his second day in the home, his mother cut off all contact with his friends, his therapist, and his adult brother, claiming they had “brainwashed” her son. It was nine months before CPS would allow him contact with them again.

“CPS did not listen to me or believe me. They tried to put words in my mouth. They twisted facts. They tried to convince me of things that were not true and persuade me out of things that were true.”

Mike Johnson (not real name) was one of those social workers. Johnson reviewed the case and questioned Eric repeatedly. “He sat me down and said, ‘I am telling you, you never heard the words “there is no abuse in this home’ that afternoon. Do you understand?’”

“He wanted to cover for the social worker. He tried to tell me that I did not witness what I had seen with my own eyes and heard with my own ears.”

Johnson further told Eric that no court had ever taken jurisdiction under Welfare and Institution Code 300(c) and to expect to be sent back home. Emotional abuse could not be proved. It was his word against his mother’s. He was a teenage boy. She was a former CPS social worker and foster mother.

Thus began weeks of relentless interrogation. Johnson, as well as each new social worker, continued to side with his mother, accusing him of fabricating his story. When Eric asked them to interview his friends and other family members to corroborate his story, the social workers refused, saying juvenile cases are confidential to protect the privacy of the minor. Anyway, CPS added, they are not parties to the case.

“They told me I was lying,” Eric said. “They told me I was having a sexual affair with my friend’s mother. That she was having an affair with my therapist. They told me that my therapist was a quack. That I was not suicidal. If I was being abused, where were the scars? They believed everything my mother said. And they refused to talk to anyone else.”

Eric was put on 24/7 suicide watch for six months and told that “if I tried to run away or contact my therapist or friends, I would be placed in another city in a group home.” Johnson threatened the friend’s family with restraining orders if they so much as tried to contact Eric.

Meanwhile, the boy’s mother was being investigated on a separate matter. Her two-year-old foster child was removed, and she was charged with felony abuse of an adult dependent—her severely disabled adoptive daughter. Still, CPS hammered Eric with accusations. They recommended to the juvenile court that the case be closed and Eric be sent home.

Eric considered appealing to the State Foster Care Ombudsman until he learned that the ombudsman would go directly to the offending social worker to disclose the nature of the complaint as well as the identity of the child. It was a case of the fox guarding the hen house.

After six months in temporary placement—chosen by his mother—Eric finally received court permission to his petition to be placed in a foster home. Eric had been through dozens of hearings and still his case hung in the balance. Still CPS insisted there was no abuse in his home.

In early October, Eric’s foster father received a panicked phone call from the high school principal, followed by several calls from CPS. The police were looking for him. Eric’s French teacher had assigned a ten-minute free writing exercise and become alarmed at what she’d read:

The system has failed me. I have been denied the love, influence, and support from those who mean the most to me. Why? The simple answer is because they can. I am being punished by the very institutions put in place to help me....They say I am in ‘Protective Custody’ (that’s a laugh). I am the only one fighting for me.... No doubt in anyone’s minds why CPS will go to every length to protect one of their own.... I am going to escape. Come and watch the fireworks.

In November, the Juvenile Court declared Eric’s home unsafe to return to, bringing the CPS ordeal to an end.

“I felt trapped in a system meant to help me. Not only was I harassed, disbelieved, and mistreated by CPS, but I was denied access to the people I loved and needed the most. The laws meant to protect me, protected CPS.”

According to the attorney who worked on Eric’s case, “CPS works within a cloak of governmental immunity. Without a change in legislation, what’s hidden in the dark will stay in the dark.”

“Social workers need special training to recognize emotional abuse under WIC 300(c),” Eric said. “CPS put me through hell, and there was nothing I could do.”

With a rueful smile, he added, “I am nameless and faceless now. But in nine months, I will be 18. I will have a face. And I will be able to tell the whole story.”

When things fall apart

2012-01-30T09:40:37Z

Every morning 1,800 employees enter the California State Board of Equalization Building. Past the sliding glass doors, security, then up the elevators to get to work. Most never notice the 2 by 5 signs taped to the glass doorways upfront.

Warning: Chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm, may be found in the facility. California Health and Safety Code Section 25249.6

Though it's not only harmful chemicals, that has plagued the safety of the buiding in the past. Two weeks ago, on January 11, pieces of broken glass fell eight stories to the sidewalk on 5th and N Street.

The sidewalk is still blocked with caution tape and orange cones although the gaping hole between the 8th and 9th floors has been secured with plywood according to the Department of General Services.

Sooner or later the cones and yellow tape will also go away and the employees won't remember a thing. They will go on with their lives, remaining apathetic because, they're just too busy to think about it.

After all, a day without work means no revenue for the State of California. The staff is there to complete the work, not to complain about their environment.

"It's dangerous, really dangerous," exclaimed Phillip Robinson, an IT professional who has worked in the building for more than 8 years. "In the past, they had scaffolding on all four sides. I'm surprised they only blocked off the side where the window fell off."

He glances up at the high rise pointing to where the piece fell off. There were more random pieces that fell down in the afternoon. This prompted the guards not only to close the sidewalk but also the traffic lane adjacent to the building on 5th Street to close.

"We don't know if other debris will fall. There's no guarantee. Watch your head, " a security guard warned.

Tax professionals slaving away at their desk received an email from the union in the afternoon to encourage letters of concern to media.

"No one wants to say anything. Most are afraid to be fired if they did," states Luz Susa who works in the returns support unit. Silence is golden for the golden state.

While it is true. Management does have every intention to move the employees out of the place, they just do not have the funds to do so. The money for relocation would come from the general fund because the owners of the building is the Department of General Services.

With California holding the bag for a $17.5 Bilion deficit, and already cutting jobs and social service programs, there is just no room to renovate the building to code.

Even if civil servants end up with tumors after serving their time, it looks like management will still be at this gridlock.

Historically, the building has had it's string of flaws. People have reported getting trapped in elevators, plumbing breaks leading to floods on the 9th floor, and front glass sliding doors coming loose almost falling on innocent bystanders. Other red flags wave at poor air quality, freezing temperatures that force employees to work with their winter coats on, mold scares, and strange odors that forced entire floors to close.

Still, the managers, tax representatives, and support staff continue to work in hazardous health and safety conditions like it's not any more dangerous working in the BOE building than Fukushima.

Why do they do it? They do so because they have hungry families to feed, because they have no other place to go, and the State of California urgently needs this money. This money that they can't even touch.

The irony is that state workers file in to work with more pressure to collect needed tax dollars so California can be restored to a fully functional budget, not factoring in their own risk in the equation.

After all, is it worth losing a job when your family, sanity, and long term health is really what is at stake?

Maybe we should take the action of the vendor who used to run the cafeteria's example. One day , they just up and left without notice to the Department of General Services.

If it looks dangerous, it probably is.

Run away, really fast. DGS obviously does not care about the people who work in the building. In fact, they're careful to make them stand under more danger while they wait for their lunch to cook.

Disclosure: Author is a civil servant. She also worked in commercial and residential real estate for 7 years prior to joining the state.

Round-up: Recent changes in local news outlets

2012-01-21T02:05:23Z

In a world where nearly everyone has a smartphone or an iPod and news flashes are delivered in 140 characters or less, the landscape of news media is rapidly changing. Here is a quick roundup of recent changes in the local news outlets:

Sacramento News & Review: Looking for a new editor

The Sacramento News & Review has been a print publication since 1989, and Melinda Welsh has been the editor for most of that time. About a week ago, she decided to step down, and now the News & Review is conducting a nationwide search for her replacement.

“I love the job, it’s the coolest job,” Welsh said Friday. “But it’s been long enough. Eighteen years as an editor? It’s time to do something different.”

Welsh said the nationwide search began as soon as she announced her plans to leave, and ads for the position have been appearing in local outlets and across the nation.

Welsh said, so far, there have been some responses to the ads, but the hiring office at News & Review is not yet to the point of conducting interviews.

“We’re targeting other alt(ernative) weeklies and looking for someone with experience in what we do,” Welsh said.

Although the search for an editor is open nationwide, Welsh said the News & Review would prefer someone with ties to Sacramento – especially since the paper focuses on local stories.

Welsh said the News & Review has gone through a number of changes over the years – but that’s the nature of media.

“It’s a time of change,” Welsh said. “I don’t think we’re behind the eight ball. The News and Review is thinner than it’s been, but our readership has increased. It’s just the ever-changing landscape of media.”

Capitol Weekly: Leaving print behind, going to online-only

Jan. 12 saw the print edition of Capitol Weekly – a newspaper devoted solely to politics and governance in Sacramento – delivered to offices in the state Capitol for the last time.

According to the Jan. 17 announcement in Capitol Weekly, the newspaper suspended its print edition in favor of an online-only presence.

Calling it “an essential element of the reorganization of our company,” Editor John Howard said in the announcement that the move was prompted by “challenging economic times coupled with the need for new technologies” to expand the company’s capabilities.

The switch to online-only came with employee layoffs at the newspaper – something
Lilly Fuentes-Joy, former photo editor with Capitol Weekly, said many people hoped would never happen.

“Financially the paper was going through hard times,” Fuentes-Joy said Friday, “but we all thought the paper would pull through.”

Fuentes-Joy said about 10 people were let go from the paper when it halted its print edition.

Howard said in the announcement that “the economy, changing readership habits and increasing demand for speed and access” spurred the change, and the company wants to focus on how to meet the needs of its readers and advertisers.

“I’ve seen Capitol Weekly go through so many changes,” Fuentes-Joy said Friday, “but not keep up with the changing times.”

The social media aspect of journalism has been key to the struggles of Capitol Weekly, Fuentes-Joy said.

“People still like print media,” she said, “but they want quick fixes – immediate news – but there’s no real depth.”

Capitol Weekly will continue to produce a conference series, special events and its television show, “Politics On Tap,” according to Capitol Weekly Publisher Arnold York.

Capital Public Radio: Moving jazz to sister station, focusing on news

Jazz and music lovers will no longer find their favorite music on KXJZ 90.9, because Capital Public Radio is making some changes to its format.

“Over the last several years, our research has shown a growing demand for news information,” Capital Public Radio General Manager Rick Eytcheson said Friday.

“The way people consume music has been evolving, and that rate of change is accelerating. People have so many options, and a lot of radio stations are struggling,” Eytcheson said.

In response to listeners’ requests and research that the organization did, Eytcheson said, the station moved its popular "Excellence In Jazz" program and several other music programs from KXJZ 90.9 to its sister station at 88.9 KXPR to allow more airtime at 90.9 for news and information programming.

“The news side continues to grow on public radio,” Eytcheson said, “and we’ve seen robust ratings growth. We want to build on that.”

Eytcheson said about two years ago, the station started to stream jazz music online, and managers were pleasantly surprised to see the number of people tuning in. Soon, the station began to simultaneously stream classical music to reach a larger audience.

With the newest format changes, Eytcheson said, he hopes no one loses out: Fans of news and information will get full-time programming on one station, and music lovers will get full-time programming on another station.

“Jazz isn’t going away,” Eytcheson said. “It’s just moving down the dial.”

In addition to the format changes, Eytcheson said, the news station will add new shows including, “The Splendid Table,” “Q” from Canadian Broadcasting Company, “Marketplace Money” and others.

Melissa Corker is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

Editorial Note: Spelling corrections were made to this article after it was posted.

Why we are against SOPA

2012-01-19T01:32:15Z

As an owner of Macer Media, publisher of The Sacramento Press, I have never made a political statement on this site. Today I will, out of self-preservation, and a concern for what is just and good for this site, and the people of this community in general.

Wikipedia went black Wednesday due to its strong opposition to the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). Google also voiced its opposition with a link on its homepage. Many other Interenet companies took similar steps.

So the first question is: What is SOPA?

SOPA is a piece of proposed legislation in the House of Representatives aimed at, you guessed it, stopping piracy. The main proponent of the bill is the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and is sponsored by Congressman Lamar Smith (R-Texas). The bill has both strong bipartisan support and strong bipartisan opposition. In other words, this is not at all an issue divided down party lines. Last weekend, the White House came out in opposition to the bill due to concerns about national cyber-security. A very similar bill is to be voted on in the Senate on Jan. 24, called the Protect IP Act (PIPA).

The bill’s proponents claim that the bill is aimed at stopping the piracy of American intellectual property by foreign agents. The Wall Street Journal has an excellent FAQ covering most of the basics of the bill.

So what’s the harm?

Free speech, due process and commercial viability of Internet sites who accept user-generated content are all at risk due to this legislation.

The trouble is in the wording of the bill, which gives the government and copyright holders enormous new powers to stop sites they believe are violating their intellectual property. And while the bill is targeted at foreign agents, nebulous wording would allow for significant compliance and liability costs to be passed along to organizations such as ours. This burden could easily put an organization such as The Sacramento Press out of business.

Even the well-known constitutional lawyer Floyd Abrams, who was paid by the MPAA to write a letter touting the bill, admits that, “When injunctive relief includes blocking domain names, the blockage of non-infringing or protected content may result.” Censoring a little free speech can’t hurt that much, right?

Why SOPA?

That’s a good question and one of my biggest problems with the bill. The bill is premised on the idea the piracy is rampant AND that it causes material harm to the United States in the form of lost jobs and lost revenue. The question is, where’s the proof? Tim O’Reilly, owner of O’Reilly Books and a successful digital and print publisher (owner of lots of intellectual property) says it best:

“There's no question in my mind that piracy exists, that people around the world are enjoying creative content without paying for it, and even that some criminals are profiting by redistributing it. But is there actual economic harm?”

I believe that it should be the burden of the proponents of the bill to prove economic harm before seeking a legislative solution.

There has only been one significant independent study done on international piracy concerns, and one of the conclusions it makes is, “…we see little reason to think that changes in IP protection or enforcement will significantly affect (international piracy).”

This is bad legislation that restricts our rights, is aimed a problem that possibly doesn’t exist and will likely do little to prevent what piracy does.

For these reasons, our company strongly opposes SOPA and PIPA.

I’m happy to answer any question and concerns you might have in the conversation below. Here is a link to the full text of the bill.

Disclosure: I contribute $10 a month to a lobbying effort known as Demand Progress. It currently lobbies against SOPA/PIPA. For more info, visit demandprogress.org.

Green Sacramento County

2012-01-18T19:08:40Z

New Website Showcases Achievements, Interactive Map and Constituent Resources

Now, there is a new website that showcases Sacramento County’s green strategies, achievements and helpful information. The website – Green Sacramento County – features an interactive map to pinpoint green activity and provides constituents with green news, tips and resources.

“Sacramento County can be proud of its commitment to sustainability and smart environmental practices. Our green practices used within our organization and in neighborhoods across the County save money, energy and the environment,” said County Executive Brad Hudson.

Green Sacramento County Website Features

Green Map is a fun way to see green activity in the county. Constituents will be able to locate electric vehicle charging stations, park and ride lots, light rail stops, ethanol E85 stations, LEED certified buildings, solar projects, green businesses and bikeways, with just a click of the mouse.

SacCounty Grows Greener features some of the County’s top projects and use of green strategies, such as the Sacramento International Airport’s new Terminal B, alternative fuel stations and the Freeport/Vineyard water projects. There are many projects in the categories of Energy, Waste and Recycling, Transportation, Water, and Agriculture and Open Spaces.

You Can Grow Greener has valuable information and services for constituents to use conveniently located on one page. Find out how to make a business green or how to recycle used oil.

Green News & Events keeps constituents informed of local green events and news about the County’s green efforts.

Green Links & Resources provides the County’s green policies and resources at the local, state and federal levels.

“Whether it is biomass power at the Kiefer Landfill or replenishing underground aquifers with the new Vineyard Surface Water Treatment Plant, Green Sacramento County has the information about what the County is doing to harness clean energy,” said Dave Defanti, Sacramento County Climate Action Plan Project Manager.

Green Sacramento County (http://www.green.saccounty.net/default.htm) will be the gathering point for all Sacramento County’s green project implementations, news, events and resources.

___________________________________________

Brenda Bongiorno is the Communication and Media Officer for Sacramento County's Department of Technology. She can be reached by telephone at (916) 874-7798 or by email at Bongiornob@saccounty.net.

Bikers rally at the Capitol

2012-01-11T19:42:12Z

Two bills were on bikers’ minds Monday as they rallied at the Capitol.

Hundreds of California motorcyclists, drivers and passengers, showed up for the yearly motorcycle rally sponsored by the American Brotherhood Aimed Towards Education (ABATE) Monday morning.

They gathered on the Capitol building’s south-side in support of two bills that would change the state’s helmet law and throw out the motorcycle-only checkpoints.

Legislators were scheduled to vote Monday afternoon after rally.

For results, CLICK HERE>>>

More 'Occupy' arrests in Sacramento

2011-10-26T08:57:58Z

Occupy Sacramento participants once again stood their ground at Ceasar Chavez Park in Downtown Sacramento. At midnight, an hour after the park is officially closed, dispersal orders were given and 4 (including one in a wheel chair) were arrested peacfully.

Sacramento's below average readers. Who's working on solutions?

2011-10-18T20:48:45Z

Sacramento, CA | The momentum is building. That was the message that Stand Up, the Sacramento based non-profit organization devoted to reforming education, touted in front of a packed house at the Guild Theater on Monday night.

The event was part of a series of monthly meetings organized by Stand Up to spotlight education improvement efforts in Sacramento. Previous events have brought in former California State Senator Gloria Romero to discuss the “parent trigger” law, the founder of Teach for America Wendy Kopp, and the co-founder of the Knowledge is Power Program, Mike Feinberg.

Local high school students acted as ushers alongside staffers from a variety of organizations including Sacramento READS!, Mayor Kevin Johnson’s third-grade reading initiative, and StudentsFirst, Michelle Rhee’s latest foray into education reform.
Monday’s guest speaker was CNN’s education correspondent Dr. Steve Perry, there to promote his new book Push Has Come to Shove, a warning cry to the “grownups” about our failing education system. Dr. Perry pulled no punches in his address to the mostly welcoming crowd. “Every day you drive by a failing school in your community,” he said, “and you know where they are, you have blood on your hands for not doing something.”

The frankness that won him accolades as “America’s most uncompromising principle” was on display as he excoriated communities for failing to shut down schools, principles for allowing unions to bully them, and absentee fathers to whom he pointedly asserted, “No, we can’t be friends.”

His fiercest criticism, however, was reserved for poor teachers. When asked in the post-presentation Q & A session about disproportionate numbers of minority students facing in-school suspension and other punishments, he laid the blame squarely on the educators. “If my detention hall is filled with student athletes who are doing well in other classes,” he said, “then maybe the problem is [the teacher]. You suck.”

If his presentation had a dose of harsh medicine it only endeared him to the crowd members even more, many of whom were educators and parents struggling with their own classrooms and schools. He fielded questions about boarding school alternatives to public school education, the tendency to blame parents, and the high illiteracy rate in Sacramento County.

Mayor Johnson addressed the audience briefly to tout the progress made in the reading initiative and to thank business partners who adopted schools in which they spent time and money to assist education efforts. In particular, Old Soul Co. was applauded for hosting a book drive and encouraging employees to volunteer their time to read to students at Peter Burnett Elementary School.

Other speakers included the Eric Lerum, the Vice President of National Policy at StudentsFirst, who ran down national mission goals of the organization, and the oldest volunteer in Sacramento READS!, former Queen of the Rose Parade Margaret Huntly. Her personal journey, as a 90-year old former school teacher who still goes back to the classroom to volunteer, drew perhaps the most enthusiastic applause of the event.

The statistic that most participants will walk away with was pointed out by Sacramento Reads earlier in the evening, that “only 37% of our third-grade children are reading at grade-level; the flip-side of that coin is that 63% are not.” Dr. Perry later took the opportunity to expand on that point. “If we are to have a real conversation about this issue, we have to recognize that some of us in here aren’t reading as well as we should either.”

News10 reporter shares tips for video storytelling

2011-09-24T01:10:29Z

“The nature of the media is changing,” said KXTV News10 reporter George Warren at Thursday evening’s video storytelling tips and shortcuts workshop, hosted by The Sacramento Press.

Warren is an Emmy-winning reporter/multimedia journalist. He recently celebrated his 30th anniversary working with News10. He started started creating videos when he was a senior in college and has shot with primitive videotapes and 16mm film.

“The equipment today has gotten so good that it’s easy for one person to go out and produce really good content in just a short amount of time,” Warren told the audience of about 30 aspiring writers, journalists and community members.

Warren used his own recent videos to demonstrate examples of what a single person can do to produce quality videos and tell memorable stories in as little as an hour and 15 minutes.

“You usually want to start with your strongest element,” Warren said. “But on the other hand you want to build to the big finish.”

Warren showed an example of this through his story about a shoplifter caught on a surveillance camera stealing $300 worth of merchandise. The piece began with the footage of the woman filling her bag multiple times with stolen merchandise. It built up to the final kicker: the shoplifter was only caught because, at the end of her spree, she filled out a raffle ticket with her full name and contact information.

“Think about how you’re going to start the story, think about how you’re going to end, and the rest will fall into place,” he said.

Warren added that when planning the beginning and end of the story, the reporter must choose strong pictures for both.

Prosumer camcorders and microphone kits are available in the $5,000 range, though small handheld cameras, camcorders and video phones work well and get the job done.

If using smaller cameras, it is important to invest in a tripod, he said. Smaller cameras are very sensitive to any type of movement – even simply the pulse in your hand, Warren joked.

For those serious about video journalism, it is not ideal to depend on the camera’s built-in microphone, he added. Investing in external wireless microphone options allows for improved audio, particularly in windy or less ideal situations.

Images should be shot wide and should not be head on. The subject should fall off-center onto the left or right third.

“Shooting people wide allows them to use their hands and guarantees they won’t lean out of your frame,” Warren said.

Other tips included: let people and cars in the background enter and exit shots; let shots linger as you film; allow natural sounds in the background; shoot more video than you think you need; avoid excessive head room; film in tight, medium and wide shots; and avoid panning and zooming in and out. These practices allow for best overall footage and edit points.

To narrate the story behind the footage, Warren emphasized the use of an active voice opposed to a passive voice. “To be” verbs such as “was,” “is” and “were” should generally be avoided. Action verbs provide a direct approach to conveying the message and setting the scene.

Narrations should be kept simple and should reinforce the videos. The audio should not retell what is already seen on the screen.

It’s important to have a specific shot in mind for every piece of narration written. To reiterate this, Warren shared the common saying, “If we didn’t shoot it, it doesn’t exist.”

Jason Silva, an architect who often makes videos about future projects, said he took away a lot of information about composing the pieces.

“It’s not just about taking shots and building it later,” he said. “It’s about building it first in your head, narrating it in your head and then filming to match that.”

“While I don’t shoot video,” said Trina Drotar, who recently started writing articles for The Sacramento Press, “I thought there were a lot of really good tips that he gave us for even taking photographs that accompany our articles as well as (for) writing our articles.”

Every year, the number of people watching local news on television drops. Because of this, Warren said there is a move toward experimenting with unconventional methods to present news in videos outside the traditional package.

“They’re encouraging us to kind of push the envelope, to be uncomfortable, to take chances.” Warren said. “Anything goes.”

Chinese Culture Fair

2011-08-30T20:43:30Z

Sacramento, CA | On a very warm Sunday afternoon, many people came out to celebrate the 5th Annual Chinatown Culture Fair. It was a family friendly event that gave young and old a chance to experience the culture of the Chinese-American community.

The fair started off with the sounds of drums and cymbals as a traditional Lion Dance energized the crowd. As the dancers worked their way through the people, younger children seemed to be in awe or not sure what to make of these large, but friendly beast.

Master of Ceremonies, Amy Tong, got things going by introducing some of the members of the Chinatown Mall Culture Fair Committee, who without their time, effort, and hard work, the event would not have been possible.

Miss Teen Asia Sacramento 2011, Christine Yan, along with others, spoke briefly and then turned over the stage for the entertainment portion.

The entertainment, as well as the fair, had a little to offer everyone. From the Ai-Hua Dance Group to Diana Tang who gave a performance on the harp. Singing, dancing and martial arts were almost non-stop throughout the event on the performing arts stage.

There were many more things to see and do beyond the stage. You could try your hand at lantern making, origami, or maybe even calligraphy. Vendors at the event offered an array of services from health needs, insurance, or if you just needed some artwork or plants to spruce up the home or office.

There was an area for children’s activities as well. They could do many hands-on activities such as painting lanterns. Children also had the chance to hear author, Ann Martin Bowler, read her book, Adventures of the Treasure Fleet. Not only did she read the story, but got many of the children involved in helping out with the sound portion of the piece.

At the entrance to the mall on J Street, you could find the Capitol Chinese Orchestra playing for attendees as well as people who were just walking by. In the courtyard, Byron Brown and Edith Bohlke from the United Chinese Martial Arts Academy School put on a demonstration.

Later in the afternoon, Master Lai Hung and his students performed a Lion Dance and martial arts demonstration that attracted a large crowd in the courtyard.

Also throughout the afternoon in the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Museum, there was a lecture series that included, Chinese Restaurants: Three Continents, speaker Cheuk Kwan; Sun Yat-Sen and his US experience, speaker Manfred P.T. Peng and “Flying Tigers” Captain William King, speaker Gene Chan.

This years theme at the fair was, “Bringing the past to the future”, with the many events, activities, entertainment and hard work by all those involved, the past did meet the future in an event that all could enjoy. VIEW MORE PHOTOS>>>

Disclosure: Rusty Kleine is an official photo journalist with MaverickPhotography.us and SacMav.com in collaboration with SacPress.com

Budget cuts impact resources for major hazmat incident in South Sacramento

2011-07-07T01:43:59Z

Sacramento, CA | A level 3 Hazmat situation shuts down a large industrial area in South Sacramento. Budget weakend hazmat team has to reach out with unusual mutual aid requests.

Wednesday morning, the Sacramento City Fire Department was called to Mike and Sons Inc, in the 8500 block of Elder Creek Road, for a commercial trailer fire. When firefighters arrived “they realized the doors were shut and there was a very pungent odor; so they turned this into a level three hazmat which is the highest level of hazmat response that we have”, Niko King, Assistant Chief for Sacramento City Fire Department stated.

As things progressed, they contacted the shipper and the property owner discovering that there were over forty household products in the trailer, King stated. “For some unknown reason, something happened in there and there was a chemical reaction taking place.”

Evacuations began immediately. King stated that as a result of the off-gassing of the product and wind direction, over fifty-five business were evacuated which equated to 520 people. Reverse 911 was utilized to assist with the evacuations. Traffic was backed up all the way down Young Creek Drive as area workers vacated the industrial park. King stated that the evacuation was in place for about four hours. King also stated that a seven digit hotline was put in place to update evacuees and let them know when they could return to their businesses.

One person, who reportedly inhaled a good amount of the vapors, was transported to the hospital via paramedics.

Large fire suppression lines were put in place in the event they had to fight fire, and measures were taken to protect storm drains from potential contaminated water runoff as a result of firefighting efforts.

“What’s unique about this, Sacramento Fire department just experienced some budget cuts; it cut our hazmat team right in half,” King stated sternly. “…so, we had mutual aid resources from Metro Fire, Hazmat 109 come in. And what was really unique, we had to reach out and get Roseville’s hazmat team to come into the City of Sacramento to assist in mitigating this incident.”

It was finally determined that the substance was some sort of refrigerant oil. The assumption is that due to the warm rising temperature in the trailer, the container of product exploded then mixing with other materials in the trailer.

Many agencies responded to this incident to assist Sacramento City Fire, such as: Sacramento Metro Fire, Roseville Fire, and CERT to name a few. The Red Cross also responded with their Disaster Relief unit.

King stated that all the hazards had been mitigated and the incident would be turned back over to the shipping company.

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Access Sacramento Annual Meeting - "LIVE" on Channel 17 Thursday at 7:00 PM

2011-06-15T05:07:07Z

Celebrating our 25th year of incorporation, the nonprofit community media center Access Sacramento hosts the annual membership meeting Thursday June 16 7-8 PM . You are invited to attend the event in the television studio at the Coloma Community Center or just watch the event on cable TV channel 17 or streamed on the web site www.AccessSacramento.org to any computer in the world.

The 15 member Board of Directors will offer highlights of the year past and look forward to another year of Hometown-TV events, Game of Week football and basketball, "Listen Up, Sacramento" local music, and arts and entertainment reporting weekly on "Livewire". Ten new films are in production in the 12th Annual "Place Called Sacramento" film project.

Learn more about the latest project - South Sacramento's five Neighborhood News Bureaus (NNB). To check out new online stories from underserved communities, go to www.AccessLocal.tv and join in the year-round training workshops.

Want to learn more? Tune-in and watch or call (916) 456-8600 ext.0

Violence and bottles break at downtown Parlare Euro Lounge

2011-05-22T01:01:00Z

Sacramento, CA | Fists and bottles fly early Saturday morning at Parlare Euro Lounge, leaving one person in serious condition.

Just around midnight Saturday, a fight started at the Parlare Euro Lounge on the corner of 10th and J Streets in downtown Sacramento.

“The fight spilled out from the club into the street. One of the security guards was hit in the head with a bottle, subsequently fought with the original suspect who in turn, turned and fought with another suspect who was also hit with a bottle,” Sargent Wendy Brown, Sacramento Police Department stated.

Later the area was deemed a tapped off crime scene with CSI collecting evidence and photos as one of the injured person’s condition worsened. Per Sargent Norm Leong, Sacramento Police Department’s Public Information Officer, the subject is now listed in serious condition.

Vist the scene via raw footage and hear from Sargent Brown about the incident>>

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Capitol Garage shooting

2011-05-21T23:52:00Z

Sacramento, CA | Friends were saying good-bye for the evening downtown when shots rang out and two people were injured.

As friends were enjoying the wonderful evening air outside Capitol Garage early Saturday morning and getting ready to part ways, a black male wearing a hoody walked by and shot into the crowed, per Sargent Wendy Brown of the Sacramento Police Department.

Brown stated that two women were struck by the shooters bullets. One sustained a significant gunshot wound to the leg while the other woman was grazed in the leg. They were transported to the hospital via paramedics.

“We are assuming the women were not the intended targets. There were no problems going on at the club,” Brown stated.

Officers discovered one slug that had lodged in the trunk of a tree.

The shooter remains at large on got away in a maroon, four door Dodge Intrepid with chrome rims.

Hear from Sargent Brown and visit the scene [video]

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Unstable air paints beautiful clouds against sky blue canvas

2011-03-22T06:29:52Z

Sacramento, CA | Unstable air in the area paints a myraid of cloud formations in Sacramento skies.

While we enjoyed a breif break from the rain in Sacramento Monday, incredible clouds could be viewed all over the Sacramento skies. The unstable air that produced these sites was also responsible for a low grade tornado that touched down in near by Colusa county and produced a downpour of pea sized hail in Penryn and Loomis areas as well as thunder storms.

Tuesday should yield some more awesome sights in the sky as the next wave of rain moves into the area for another wet week. The National Weather Service has issued this forcast for the remainder of the week:

Tuesday: A 20 percent chance of showers after 11am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 58. South southeast wind between 8 and 13 mph.

Tuesday Night: Rain. Low around 48. South southeast wind between 10 and 18 mph, with gusts as high as 26 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%.

Wednesday: Rain. High near 56. Southeast wind between 18 and 21 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%.

Wednesday Night: Rain. Low around 46. South southeast wind between 11 and 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

Thursday: Rain. High near 55. Chance of precipitation is 100%.

Thursday Night: Showers. Low around 45. Breezy. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

Friday: A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 58.

Friday Night: A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 45.

Saturday: A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 57.

Saturday Night: A chance of showers. Partly cloudy, with a low around 48.

Sunday: A chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 59.

Sunday Night: A chance of showers. Partly cloudy, with a low around 46.

Monday: A slight chance of showers. Mostly sunny, with a high near 61.

Access Sacramento to start Neighborhood News Bureaus

2011-03-12T01:34:13Z

Access Sacramento is putting together a network of news bureaus in the South Sacramento area. The goal is to get youth to report for their communities, producing news stories about South Sacramento. The effort is based around a website that access Sacramento has set up called accesslocal.tv.

Ron Cooper, executive director of Access Sacramento, said that besides being known for negative news, South Sacramento seems to be absent from the news altogether. He wants to help revitalize the area through empowering the youth to become news reporters and serve them by developing their journalism skills.

“South Sacramento is big area with lots of people and lots of ethnic diversity,” Cooper said. “Stories with positives don’t usually trickle out.”

There are currently five neighborhood news bureau locations. Asian Resources, La Familia, Florin Creek, Pannell Center and Valley Hi-North Laguna Library were selected as the initial locations to host the news bureaus. They were provided with computers, flip cameras and funding for training.

“Young people accept challenges and changes much more readily. That’s always been the case,” said Cooper said. “I like the idea of organizing young people and challenging them to tell the stories of their communities.”

A part of the project is bringing in the technological resources for youth to use. The project is providing computers and cameras to help them report stories. He said that providing the resources and letting youth “play” and experiment will be an important way of developing how the neighborhood news bureaus turn out.

“I’m not launching a five-year plan here. We have some tenets, but it has to be responsive to what we learn along the way,” Cooper said. “Over the next six months, we will gradually widen the sphere and add more neighborhood news bureaus.”

The Sacramento Metropolitan Cable Television Commission provided the initial technological equipment.

“We went to the Sacramento Metro Cable Commission, and they gave the equipment necessary for the initial sites,” Cooper said.

Part of the project is being funded through the California Endowment, which selected South Sacramento as one of 14 neighborhoods across California in need of assistance, said Christine Tien, California Endowment’s Sacramento’s program manager.

“For us, it’s a youth empowerment tool – a good way to generate stories from the youth perspective, especially in the South Sac area,” Tien said. “Currently, the only type of stories coming out of South Sac are crime-related.”

“Part of the grant is for training youth to be community reporters, reporting from their perspective on community issues.” Tien said.

Fong Tran is a youth coordinator at Asian Resources. He works on helping to produce and guide the stories of the young reporters.

“The purpose of the neighborhood news bureaus is to provide an opportunity for grassroots and community organizations to work with youth, and to put out news that comes from the community and the community perspective.” Tran said.

“It’s a chance for, what were marginalized communities, to speak in their own words about events and topics,” Tran said. “It’s a way for youth to get what they want to say out to the mainstream world.”

Access Sacramento is a nonprofit community media organization that provides resources to Sacramento community members to produce independent media. The organization has been producing radio and cable programmes for the last 25 years. The neighborhood news bureaus are the most recent way of engaging the Sacramento community.

To learn more about the neighborhood news bureaus, visit AccessLocal.tv.

Bee announces 32 job cuts

2011-02-01T01:24:20Z

The Sacramento Bee announced Monday it will be cutting back 32 positions, nine of which are in the newsroom.

“It is the price of doing business in this region at this time,” said Pam Dinsmore, community affairs director for the Bee.

“The hope is that this is a voluntary separation agreement,” she added. “There are two reporter jobs that are being eliminated. Outside of two reporters, there are seven others in the newsroom that can opt to take a severance package. Most of those are in the production of the newspaper.”

Monday’s announcement marks the fourth job reduction at the Bee since March 9, 2009, amounting to a total of 214 jobs. Not taking into account this week’s cutback announcement, the Bee currently employs 786 people.

According to the Bee, in addition to the cuts, two full-time positions will be scaled back to part-time.

“We’re still the largest newsroom in Northern California outside of San Francisco,” Dinsmore said. “You cut back on outer areas and try to keep local news and Capitol news thriving.

“As in all media, we are looking forward to brighter times ahead,” she said.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

The Voices of Midtown

2010-10-15T01:31:00Z

A new hyperlocal site aims to bring the various voices of Midtown together, sharing local news, events and discussions of the central city. Sacmidtown.com will celebrate all things Midtown and officially launches Monday.

“Our goal is to provide a forum for those who live and for those who work in, or come to enjoy Midtown,” said Jimmy Spencer, founding editor of Sacmidtown.com.

Spencer was the founding editor of PublicCEO.com and has written for nbcsports.com and sacbee.com.The contributing writers are people who live and breathe in Sacramento. The site will be updated daily, Monday through Friday, Spencer said.

Sacmidtown will cover topics such as crime, trends, dating, hard news, money and sports. “Whatever is floating in the minds of our writers,” Spencer said. “The writers will have free range to a point – we don't want to offend anyone.”

“The idea is not to break news, just to give the pure, unfiltered opinion from those who live in Midtown. That’s where I live,” Spencer said. “I love it down here.”

Spencer collaborated with Geoffrey Sakala to create the website. Sakala is the publisher of ranchocordovapost.com, and Spencer went to him for advice on launching a new site.

“I really just helped him set up the website,” Sakala said.

Armando Gonzalez is a marriage and family therapist who writes for Sacmidtown. Gonzalez has lived in Midtown for 10 years. “(It’s) real Midtown-friendly,” Gonzalez said. “(It has) great potential.”

Gonzalez said he would like to do a piece on (downtown) James Brown, a street performer in Midtown, and put out an untold story about him.

Christina Birdsall will also write for the site. She’s only lived in Midtown for a month and said she likes the concept of Sacmidtown.

“(It has a) more personal note to it. It’s like if you are visiting and you see a local on the side of the street and you ask them a question about what there is to do,” Birdsall said.

Spencer said he hopes to attract any and everyone who visits, lives or works in Midtown. The demographic for writers at Sacmidtown is early 20s to late 40s and 50s.

Currently, there are 30 writers at Sacmidtown, and Spencer said he would like to have 30-40 writers, and they are currently looking for photographers. Contributors will not be paid, so Spencer is looking for those with a passion for Midtown.

“The goal is not to be a money-maker,” Spencer said. “Just a forum.”

Photos provided by Jimmy Spencer

Capital Public Radio’s Annual Used Record & CD Sale

2010-06-15T19:54:10Z

Capital Public Radio’s Annual Used Record & CD Sale will be held Saturday and Sunday June 26 and 27 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. This year’s sale will once again take place at the Howe ‘Bout Arden shopping center, 2100 Arden Way, Suite 172 in Sacramento.

The Annual Used Record & CD Sale offers music and movies for hugely discounted prices. Last year, approximately 1,000 people took advantage of the great deals on vinyl records, DVDs, audio books, videogames, and more.

There are diverse formats of audio and other entertainment to choose from in a variety of genres. From LPs to CDs, video games, and VHS to Blue Ray DVDs, all types of media have been collected over the past months All musical genres are featured, including, classical, hip-hop, country, punk, and more.

Capital Public Radio members receive 20% off all purchases. All purchases are tax-deductible, and every dollar supports the news, jazz and classical music you love. Come early to get the best picks.

WHAT: Capital Public Radio’s Annual Used Record & CD Sale
WHEN: June 26, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
June 27, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
WHERE: Howe ‘Bout Arden Shopping Center, Suite 172 (2100 Arden Way at Howe Avenue), Sacramento CA, 95825

District 3 candidates discuss top priority topics

2010-05-22T07:40:03Z

Top priority topics in the June 8 election for District 3 include the budget, creating more jobs and becoming more business friendly, according to the candidates.

"Unless we grapple with (the budget), we can't get other things done," incumbent Steve Cohn said.

Chris Little said creating jobs is the most important issue.

"(Sacramento is) the Silicon Valley for medicine," he said. "(It's a matter of) taking what we have right here and leveraging it."

Shawn Eldredge said that Sacramento needs to focus on business.

"It's about re-creating a healthy downtown core that's business friendly, for not only large corporations, but all small business, too," he said. "We need to be a city that embraces (business)."

The District 3 hopefuls were speaking at a City Council candidate forum Thursday evening at Mercy Hospital located on J Street. The forum, sponsored by the League of Women Voters and Mercy Hospital, gave the public an opportunity to question the candidates. According to LWV President Lola Acosta, the audience of about 50 people was the second biggest turnout of six forums this election year.

Three of the four candidates were present: Eldredge, Little and Cohn. Jeff Rainforth could not attend.

District 3 Councilman Cohn has served the city for the past 15 years. He said being on the City Council is community service, not a political career. Cohn said he plans to work on the expansion of the light rail and bike trails.

Eldredge grew up in Carmichael and has lived in Midtown 13 years. He owns Capitol Painting & Construction and ran for mayor two years ago. Eldredge said he did so to provide a new voice and to remove the spotlight from Kevin Johnson and former Mayor Heather Fargo. He failed in accomplishing his goal during that race, but is running for He said he is running for City Council because he wants to make a difference.

"I want to see more people become involved," Eldredge said. "I have a passion to do what's right."

Little, a third-generation Sacramentan, owns Little Real Estate Services. He said he understands that Sacramento is struggling but that he has fresh ideas and will listen to voters.

"I expect to get the job done and get it done well," he said.

Eldredge said he's frustrated by years of meetings and talk of visions for K Street with no action.

Keeping Old Sacramento as a tourist attraction is another of his concerns. According to Eldredge, Midtown is concerned about business also and nonresidents tend to have the perception that Midtown is crazy when it comes to the way businesses use their resources. He gave an example of an ice cream sandwich board being used to sell sushi rolls and said it probably detracted business.

"The small things are critical," he said. "We have ordinances that need to be endorsed ... and be more aggressive in recruiting business."

K Street, downtown and Old Sacramento are the areas that Little mentioned as priorities.

Cohn said he does not think that Old Sacramento has a problem and plans to focus more on housing on the outskirts of downtown.

The three candidates agreed that improving K-12 education is a priority. Little said he will focus on creating more before- and after-school programs. Eldredge, who has a daughter studying in Germany, said he will also target the creation of before- and after-school programs. Cohn said he will work with all the schools, including the San Juan School District.

Helping the homeless and needy were discussed. Eldredge said the initial reaction to Sacramento's homeless tends to be negative, but that they should be helped. He said he wants to create a living space for the needy and homeless that also doesn't threaten private property or cost taxpayers.

Cohn said that while something needs to be done, vouchers already are provided for those who are temporarily homeless. He said other jurisdictions need to step up.

Little said groups such as Loaves and Fishes provide wonderful programs.

"The city needs to work with groups and needs to promote (social services)," he said. "Homeless are part of us, too."

The three candidates ended by encouraging the public to vote for them.

"I hope I've earned your trust for one more term," Cohn said.

Little said, "This race is about where we've been, where we're going and how we're going to get there."

"This is not a game," Eldredge said. "Everything affects humans ... (these are) all real issues that affect us."

Other topics at Thursday's forum included the large commercial developments, the strong mayor initiative and the use of public money for corporate interest.

Sacramento resident Denis Scott, 61, said he attended simply to hear what the candidates had to say.

"Being an informed voter is a good thing," he said. "This way, I get to see them live."

Photographs:

1) Shawn Eldredge

2) Chris Little

3) Steve Cohn

Capital Public Radio Unites News & Information Programming, Expands Marketing

2010-05-07T02:53:22Z

With a focus on strengthening and expanding its news, information and public affairs content, Capital Public Radio has named Joe Barr Director of News and Information Programming.

In this new position, Barr, who previously served as Capital Public Radio News Director, will oversee the station’s news and information format, including local news, the daily talk show Insight, the California Capitol Network statewide news service and the Second Opinions health care forums as well as national news programming on CPR.

Capital Public Radio will soon be creating two more News and Information positions: a senior editor and business reporter. The station will be opening a bureau in Stockton later this year.

Capital Public Radio has also expanded its Marketing efforts. Constance Crawford was appointed to the position of Director of Marketing in January. Crawford is developing initiatives to raise awareness of Capital Public Radio in communities across California and northern Nevada.

“Joe and Constance bring essential leadership skills at a time when Capital Public Radio is breaking new ground in community service.” says President & General Manager, Rick Eytcheson. “We’re thankful for the support of our listeners and communities who value a strong and vital public radio station.”

Capital Public Radio serves more than 420,000 listeners per week with classical music, jazz, and in-depth news and information. Capital Public Radio also operates California Capitol Network (CCN) providing California State Capitol news to a network of over 30 radio stations in California, Nevada, and Oregon. The seven listener-supported, non-commercial frequencies: 88.9 FM (Sacramento), 90.9 FM (Sacramento), 91.7 FM (Groveland), 90.5 FM (Tahoe/Reno), 88.7 FM (Sutter/Yuba City), 88.1 FM (Quincy), and 91.3 FM (Stockton/Modesto) are licensed to Sacramento State.

####

Ariana Huffington celebrates the age of citizen journalists

2010-02-27T20:04:14Z

Huffington Post founder Ariana Huffington spoke last night at the Mondavi Center at UC Davis, as part of its Distinguished Speakers Series. Her lecture was a free-flowing, spontaneous take on a variety of topics that fit loosely under the evening’s theme, “The brave new world of the new media: how technology is changing the way we think, learn, play, work, and vote.”

As founder and editor of one of the most highly trafficked news aggregating/blog sites on the internet, Huffington has developed strong opinions about the direction journalism will take in the future. Citing ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus, she told the audience that because things are always in a state of flux, “you can’t step into the same river twice,” meaning that journalists would be wrong to try to recreate news on the web as a slightly tweaked version of news on paper.

Instead, she lobbied for a hybrid journalism emphasizing the “fairness, accuracy and fact-checking” of print and the “transparency, immediacy and openness” of the web. She called this “the age of Citizen Journalists” (Sacramento Press, anyone?) who can report news more accurately, immediately and locally than traditional news organizations, citing the fact that CNN operations were shut down in Iran’s recent uprisings, while independent citizens freely delivered news from that region through Twitter and Facebook posts too diffused for the government to control.

Huffington argued that because traditional news media enjoy far greater access to newsmakers, traditional reporters often fail to accomplish accurate reporting. She claimed that traditional organizations so value their access that they fear to put it at risk by reporting information that might anger newsmakers. As an example, she referred to Bob Woodward, claiming that his unfettered access to the Bush White House lead him to write two books that did not deal meaningfully with the biggest issues of that presidency.

Huffington remained on stage late, answering so many questions from the receptive audience that she apparently had to remove her shoes to keep standing.

CalWatchdog Launch

2010-02-06T03:27:22Z

Navigating a newspaper is tricky. I avoid reading state government news early in the morning so as not to start my day feeling hopeless and impotent. Bring on the funnies.

Who is accountable for state governance?

Thursday night marked a new voice in state news and a new set of eyes narrowed on the Capitol.

About fifty people gathered at Pyramid Ale House to celebrated the launch of CalWatchdog.com, a new journalism venture with a mission of “holding the government accountable for its spending and regulatory programs by exposing government waste, fraud and abuses of power.”

I sat down with Steven Greenhut,, CalWatchdog editor in chief, amid beer, rain and power suits.

Q: What inspired CalWatchdog and what was involved in developing it?

A: We started in the beginning of the session, in early January, and the idea is to provide news coverage, investigative journalism and cover state government. There is a ton that needs to be covered and there is always need for more news coverage in the state.

Q: Do you work with traditional news outlets like print newspapers in Sacramento?

A: Yes, we’re trying to get our stories published in newspapers. I had my columns appearing in The Orange County Register and The North County Times and our cartoonists’ works are in Slate. I’ll be releasing an investigation pretty soon that we’re trying to pitch to different newspapers. We’re hoping to find a new model of nonprofit-funded journalism.

Q: Tell me about the model.

A: We’re trying to be more than a blog. We’re doing fresh stories that haven’t been covered, regional reporting and investigations. There’s always room for that. The more the merrier; it’s a huge state government. I like the new environment but we don’t know how it’s going to shake out yet. Some people have pitched nonprofit journalism as the new model and its probably one new model, but there are all sorts of models out there. What I like is the competition. But we all want the same thing: to see more news stories out there.

Q: What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of working online?

A: I’m new at it as I’ve been in newspapers for a number of years. It’s something different. Journalism is evolving and, while newspapers are still an important source of information, a lot of them have cut back on their state bureaus. But I love newspapers, so I hope to work with more of them. I also like blogs. I think they offer great and important news stories. But we’re focusing more on analysis and fresh stories, not just commenting. We still do some opinion. I’ve been an opinion columnist for so many years that I wanted to continue with that, but it's secondary. News comes first.

Q: Do you have a staff of writers?

A: Anthony Pignataro is our investigative journalist, Katie Grimes is our news reporter and we’re using some freelancers.

Q: Do you incorporate citizen journalism? Public input?

A: The blog that we do is more a developing one based on the work of our staff. But if someone had a good story idea and pitched it to me, we’re certainly open. But, nothing against that, we’re not geared at citizen journalism. I know that’s a good approach and I like it, but it’s not ours. Our approach is to have reporters and more traditional stories.

Q: What made you break out of newspaper and print and come into something like this?

A: I’ve been covering local government in Orange County for a long time. I wanted to come up to Sacramento and focus on state government, which is a mess.

Q: Is this a bipartisan effort?

A: We don’t hide the fact that we’re a project of the Pacific Research Institute, which is a free-market oriented think tank. I’m a libertarian, but my staff doesn’t necessarily share my political views. We’re not trying to do political stories, we’re trying to do serious journalism. I’m not partisan at all. I don’t care for either party! But we’re not going to hide behind a fake objectivity, a “he said, she said.” We’re going to try to analyze stories as fairly as possible, no partisan angle whatsoever, and just get to the bottom of it. We look at fraud, waste, and abuse or misuse of taxpayer dollars. We do fair stories and figure that if you look at those issues, it's certainly going to make my point, which is that government is too big. But we’re not going into this trying to push opinions and try to attempt political slant.

Q: What is involved in your process of uncovering stories?

A: I have my staff always out looking for stories. Katie is up here at the Capitol a lot. Anthony is out looking at public records and I have different freelancers who pitch stories to me. And we’re just getting started. We’ve been up for about a month, so hopefully we’ll be amping up more and more stuff.

Arson Vigil in Oak Park

2009-10-02T21:07:49Z

Dear Friends-

As you may know, a arson fire was set at my home in the early morning on September 21st. My family and I are safe, and all necessary repairs and clean up, and replacements are being handled by our insurance company. We have had a great response from our neighbors and community leaders, who have organized a vigil tonight in front of our home to signify community strength and unity. If you are in the Northern CA area, we hope you can join us.

Vigil Information - 2614 36th Street, Sacramento CA (between 1st and 2nd Avenue). 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.

http://www.inmycommunity.com/imc_joomla/index.php?option=com_jevents&task=icalrepeat.detail&evid=1243&Itemid=0&year=2009&month=10&day=02&uid=b95d207209c10d465088f7c3f1d33d9a

http://www.SacFire.org/indexSub.cfm?page=1003

We are working closely working with the fire and police departments to find the individual(s) that committed the crime. I have attached the copies of the press release sent out by the Oak Park Neighborhood Association and by my organization, Ubuntu Green.

Also, there was a fire bombing that occurred early this morning in another section of Oak Park. The home was vacant, and no one was hurt. A link to this incident is below.

http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/crime/archives/2009/10/arsonist-sought.html

Thank you in advance for all your kind works and support! We are all doing fine and plan to continue to be strong members of our community through our individual work and through our non-profit Ubuntu Green.

Charles

Councilmember Steve Cohn's Monthly E-newsletters - July 2009

2009-07-06T22:21:29Z

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 16th
• SOCA Home Tour – September 20th

NEIGHBORHOOD & BUSINESS ASSOCIATION NEWS

City 2009/2010 Budget Adopted

The City Council adopted the final budget for the fiscal year starting July 1, 2009. In closing a $50 million gap, the Council reduced expenditures by $41.7 million, used $8.3 million in one-time resources, and reduced staffing levels by 383 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions. By reaching agreement with the Sacramento Police Officers Association to extend their collective bargaining agreement by 3 years, the City was able to close its funding gap in the Police Department without reducing any police officer positions. Also, on July 3rd the Sacramento Firefighters, Local 522 approved a deal to freeze their salaries for 30 months and delay a 5 percent raise scheduled to take effect July 14 until January 2012, by doing this, they will save the city $10.8 million. Unfortunately, attempts to do likewise with the other union representing most non-safety departments, including Parks and Recreation, were unsuccessful, and as a result the City will be instituting layoffs.

Sidney Pope Memorial Orchid & Onion Awards Presented at Pops in the Park

We enjoyed unseasonably cool temperatures at the first three Pops in the Park concerts this year. Held each Saturday in June, record numbers of people enjoyed free family events with four different genres of music including oldies, blues, swing and country rock. The East Sacramento Improvement Association (ESIA) announced their annual Sidney Pope Memorial Orchid and Onion Awards at the Bertha Henschel concert on June 20th. The Orchid Award was given to 38th Street Neighborhood for their work on the new Setback Ordinance and their “diligence” in maintaining the historical context of the East Sacramento community. In the fall of 2008, a proposal was submitted to demolish an existing home on 38th Street (south of Folsom Blvd) and replace it with a new home that would have extended significantly closer than virtually all of the houses on the street. The new language proposed by the 38th Street neighbors and adopted by Council will trigger design review whenever a house is proposed to be built or expanded in East Sacramento that would be closer to the street than the average setback of the two houses on either side. Also nominated for the Orchid Award were the Neighborhood Retail Center at Alhambra and Folsom Boulevard, home of Peets Coffee and FedEx, which closely followed design guidelines and historical context for this boulevard, and the beautiful new townhomes that Dyer Construction built at the corner of Mission and J Streets, which look like they were built in the same 1930s era as the quads along I and J Streets.

The Onion Award was given this year for the third time to the blighted site of Express Furniture at 5108 Folsom Blvd. Also nominated was the site of Luis Mexican Restaurant building at 1218 Alhambra Blvd. This award is meant to be a good-natured nudge to folks to spruce up their properties.

Screen on the Green - August

Mark your calendars for Screen on the Green free movies in August at four of our District 3 parks.

August 1, 2009 – East Portal Park, 51st & M Streets - Babe
August 8, 2009 – Grant Park, 21st & C Streets – Bee Movie
August 15, 2009 – Babcock Park, 2498 Cormorant Way – Beauty and the Beast
August 22, 2009 – Glen Hall Park, Carlson Drive and Sandburg Drive – The Parent Trap (1961 version)
All movies begin at Sundown
For Details visit: www.sacscreenonthegreen.com

McKinley Rose Garden Proposed Enhancements Update

A second community meeting was held at the McKinley Rose Garden on Saturday, June 20, 2009, to present the proposed enhancements to the McKinley Rose Garden. The enhancements shared by Parks Staff were the result of suggestions and feedback received to date from a previous community meeting as well as many emails and calls. The plan will preserve the Frederick N. Evans Memorial Rose Garden as closely as possible to its existing, historic condition while updating the irrigation system, improving accessibility, and removing diseased or dying roses. The proposed enhancements include an accessible walkway from H Street to the Tiny Tots building, a new rose garden map (accessible), accessible benches with center armrest, wheelchair spaces, an additional (accessible) drinking fountain, concrete planter curbs, bubbler irrigation system and a new brick entry sign. Located in one of the most heavily used parks within the city, the last major known renovation to the garden was in 1973. After an initial meeting generated controversy, I was very pleased to see a renewed spirit of cooperation among neighbors, the City staff, families of memorial plaque holders, and the Sacramento Rose Society. I look for this to generate a renewed volunteerism to help restore the Rose Garden’s luster. Of course, we’ll need to raise most of the money for the renovations from private funds, including increased wedding fees. For more information, contact Jonathan Rewers at 808-7590 or jrewers@cityofsacramento.org

Free Hours of Bike Rentals

Bikes and Bites located at 1013 12th Street, rents bikes to locals and out of town guests to ride around and enjoy Sacramento and all it has to offer. Recently, the Sacramento Air Quality Air District agreed to underwrite 1000 hours of bike rentals. Renters will now receive one hour of free bike rental, when they rent a minimum of two hours. The bike rental programs will lower Sacramento's carbon footprint while creating economic stimulus in the local businesses. For more details go to www.BikesandBites.com

SHPS/ Mercy Construction Update

Soil remediation on the school site continues and is nearing completion. Upon completion, foundational footings will be dug for the new buildings. Tunnel work between the Medical Plaza and Hospital is expected to be complete by August 2009. This month the hospital intends to go out to bid for the structural steel to be used for the Heart Center building and this fall some preliminary foundation work is expected to begin. Future Neighborhood Advisory Committee (NAC) meetings are scheduled as follows: August 18, and November 17.

For updates on the Neighborhood Traffic Management Plan (NTMP) visit
For more information on the NTMP, visit www.cityofsacramento.org/transportation/traffic-engineering/mercy-ntmp.html or contact Debb Newton at 808-6739 or dnewton@cityofsacramento.org. For questions or concerns regarding construction, please feel free to call the construction hotline at 552-6931.

Sacramento Fire Department Open Houses

The Sacramento Fire Department invites you to come by to meet your firefighters and take a station tour. They are holding several open houses throughout the city. Open Houses still to be held for District 3 residents are:

August 29th – Station 4, 3145 Granada Way (off Alhambra)
September 12th – Station 19, 1700 Challenge Way
September 19th – Station 8, 5990 H Street, 2pm-5pm

For more information call 808-1347 or visit www.sacfire.org

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Neighborhood Services Department Community Hours

For your convenience, Neighborhood Services continues to hold community hours in the neighborhood. Feel free to drop by to ask questions, raise concerns and discuss city issues. The following dates and times are scheduled:

Tuesday, July 14th
2:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Clunie Clubhouse, 601 Alhambra Blvd.

Tuesday, August 11th
2:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Hagginwood Community Center, 3271 Marysville Boulevard

For more questions, please contact Janine at 808-8193 or jmartindale@cityofsacramento.org

July 4th Fun and Run in River Park

Start your morning with the 33rd Annual Free 4th of July Fun Run in River Park. This is a 5-mile run that winds its way through the River Park neighborhood. The runs starts and ends near Glen Hall Park. There is a half a mile kids run (under 10) that starts at 7:45 a.m. and then the 5 mile runs begins at 8:00 a.m. Registration begins at 7:15 a.m. Then mid-morning enjoy the Fire Cracker Parade, the Mere Mortals band, food, games and prizes from 10:00 a.m. until Noon. The parade begins at Caleb Greenwood School at 10:00 a.m. (arrive at 9:30 a.m. to line up). Hot dogs, ice cream and sods will be sold. RPNA is still looking for volunteers for that day. If you are interested in volunteering or would like more information about the event, contact lcortez916@yahoo.com.

Friends of the River Event – July 11th

Friends of the River Banks sponsors a gathering at the American River each Second Saturday at 9 am at Sutter's Landing to encourage people, especially families and children, to enjoy and appreciate the wildlife and to spend a little time with nature. On Saturday, July 11th, Greg Kareofelas will lead a “Dragonfly Walk” where you may also see damselflies and butterflies. Binoculars and insect nets will be available for use. Greg will give pointers on how to use nets properly – a useful skill for budding entomologists of all ages. Recommended pre-walk reading: the “California Natural History Guide on Dragonflies” by Tim Manolis. For more information, contact Laurie Litman at llitman@pacbell.net

Below is an inspiring piece written by one of our 10-year old Midtown neighbors:

Come With Me
by Paloma Freitas

What are you doing on this hot summer day? If you like exploring and having fun, get off that couch and come with me to the American River.

We can swim in the cold water, take a hike, play on the beach, and look for baby clams. If we go on a hike, we can look at all of the beautiful plants. If we go at night, we may spot a coyote, if we are lucky. If we take a hike in the daytime, we might see otters, turtles or birds.

If you go swimming, you will have a lot of fun, but you'll have to be careful. Some parts of the river are deep. If we play in the shallow water, we can look for clams under the sand.

The American River is a great place. It's the best place in Sacramento to have fun. So what are you waiting for? Let's go.

Taste of East Sacramento – July 12th

The East Sacramento Chamber of Commerce presents “Taste of East Sacramento” on Sunday, July 12th from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the Shepard Garden and Arts Center. The event will feature wine tasting along with a taste of some of the best food East Sac has to offer. Tickets can be purchased in advance at Selland’s Market Café, 5340 H Street for $25 or at the door for $30. Proceeds will benefit Pops in the Park. For more information call 452-8011. (note: Limited tickets are available for the event)

Friends of McKinley Park Tennis Tournament, August 1st and 2nd

Support efforts to raise funding for the resurfacing and upgrades to the McKinley Park Tennis Courts. A tournament will be held on August 1st and 2nd at the McKinley facility. Your $75 tax deductible donation includes tournament fee, lunch and a shirt. Checks should be made payable to Friends of McKinley Park Tennis and mailed to PO Box 19463, Sacramento, CA 95819-0463. For more information about the tournament call (209) 483-8430.

National Night Out – August 4th

Join your neighbors and be a part of a nation-wide event against crime on August 4th. National Night Out is a community-police partnership held the first Tuesday of every August. It aims to increase awareness about police programs in communities, promote neighbor to neighbor interaction, and send a message to criminals that they are being watched! If you would like to organize a celebration with your neighbors, please contact Officer Alana Henley, Crime Prevention Specialist, at ahenley@pd.cityofsacramento for more information.

Blood Drive in River Park – August 9th

A Blood Drive will be held in River Park on Sunday, August 9th from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at 5458 Carlson Drive across from the school. Join the group for coffee, donuts and a BBQ.

St. Mary’s 78th Annual Festival – August 16th

St. Mary’s 78th Annual Festival will take place on Sunday, August 16th from 10:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. with lots of attractions for the whole family including arts and crafts, festival booths, bingo, rock climbing, laser tag, water slides, shopping mall, chicken/pasta dinner and other great foods as well as two popular bands, the Q-Balls and Miller Hi Lites.

SOCA Home Tour – September 20th

This year’s SOCA home tour will be held in historic Boulevard Park on Sunday, September 20 (10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.). Tickets may be purchased in advance at several local businesses ($18.00) or at the street fair on the esplanade on 21st Street between F and G Streets on the day of the tour ($20.00). Bicyclists will get a dollar discount ($19.00). Ticket-holders will be given an illustrated brochure with detailed information about the homes and the neighborhood. As in past years, the street fair will feature artisans and information booths. Restored antique cars will be on display throughout the tour’s neighborhood, courtesy of the Sacramento Capitol A’s Model A Club.

The Boulevard Park neighborhood incorporates a mix of late nineteenth and early twentieth-century homes, ranging from single-family residences to the distinctive courtyard-style arrangement of cottages that can be found throughout the city of Sacramento. The homes also vary in size, having served a wide cross-section of Sacramento society, ranging from railroad and cannery workers to doctors, bankers, and businessmen. The core of the neighborhood is a development by a local building firm, Wright and Kimbrough that was constructed on the former site of the city’s race track in the early 1900s. In fact, 2009 marks the centennial for many of the houses in the original Boulevard Park neighborhood, which was bordered by B, H, 22nd, and 20th Streets. The greater Boulevard Park neighborhood also includes some handsome Victorian and Queen Anne residences from the late 1800s. Several homes from the original and greater Boulevard Park neighborhoods have been selected for the 2009 tour. Tickets may be purchased in advance at Joann's Elegant Gifts (1019 L Street), Collected Works Books & Other Fine Gifts (4524 Freeport Blvd.), 57th Street Antique Mall (875 57th Street), and The Avid Reader (16th & Broadway). For more information visit http://sacoldcity.org/?cat=10

NEIGHBORHOOD & BUSINESS ASSOCIATION NEWS

Alkali & Mansion Flats Historic Neighborhood Association. Meetings are held on the Second Thursday of each month, 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Boys & Girls Club, 1117 G Street. For more information contact Sean Wright at (916) 806-8198.

East Sacramento Chamber of Commerce: Second Wednesday of each month at various locations, 12:00 p.m.-1:30 p.m. Cost $15. For details call Lisa Schmidt at (916) 457-2721.

Hagginwood Community Association: Celebrate National Night Out on Tuesday, August 4th , location tba. Next meeting: Wednesday, September 2nd at Joe Mims/Hagginwood Community Center, Tower Room, Meeting Room 1. For more information contact: Bill Maynard, Chair, 508-6025, sacgc@ulink.net or Barbara Stanton, Vice Chair, 927-7446, barbs992@earthlink.net.

McKinley East Sacramento Neighborhood Association (MENA): Board meeting open to the Public, First Wednesday of each month, 7:00 p.m. at Shepard Garden and Arts Center in McKinley Park. Contact: Joe Chavez at chavezjoseph@comcast.net

Midtown Business Association (MBA) Board Meeting – Third Wednesday of each month - 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. – 1400 29th Street. For more information, call 442-1500.

River Park Neighborhood Association – Third Thursday of each month, Block Captains 6:30 p.m., RPNA Board 7:30 p.m. at Geneva Room in the Fremont Presbyterian Church at Carlson Drive and H Street. See www.riverparksacramento.net

Midtown Neighborhood Association (formerly WPCANA) – For Updates visit www.sacmidtown.org

Area 1 NRT – Next meeting: Monday, July 20th, 5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. (preceding NAG) at Hart Senior Center, 915 27th Street.

Area 1 NAG – Next NAG meeting: Monday, July 20th, Pizza at 6:15 p.m. at Hart Senior Center.

Area 4 Community Partnership Meeting – Next meeting: Monday, July 13th, 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. at Robertson Community Center.

Area 4 NRT – Monday, July 13th, 6:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m. (preceding Community Partnership meeting) at Robertson Community Center.

News on paper?

2009-04-27T09:49:17Z

The future of news is not paper. At the same time the future is not necessarily just computers or mobile phones either. These days a new player, in the form of a new medium has entered the fray. That new technology is eInk.

eInk is, much as its name implies, electronic ink. From the eInk website, eInk is described as offering, “...the viewer the experience of reading from paper, while having the power of updatable information.” The key difference between eInk and a computer screen is that it is not backlit like a screen, so it can be viewed in bright sunlight but not in the dark. To retain the image on the screen no power is required.

So does eInk satisfy those that want the feel of newspaper in their hands? No, not yet. Currently it is only available in electronic readers such as Amazon’s Kindle, and the Sony e-Reader. These are rigid products that resemble computers more than newsprint. They are also in a size that is more comparable to a paperback novel than a newspaper. However that may soon be changing, with papers like the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News announcing that they will partner with a company called Plastic Logic on a device that is letter-sized (8.5” x 11”).

Competing technologies will soon bring eInk like materials that are flexible and color, as the currently commercially available devices are all black and white.

Aside from the format itself, the cost saving potential of the medium is evident. Some have estimated that the cost of printing and distributing the New York Times is twice as much as the cost of the Amazon Kindle. With the cost of print rising as well as the price of gas, printing and distribution often accounts for up to 40% of overall newspaper operating costs.

The other difficulty in printing and distributing news via paper is the obvious environmental implication.

In the end, the brows-ability, flexibility and clarity of the printed word still has a large appeal, but new alternatives will find their devotees as well.

While the Sacramento Bee is not currently available on the Amazon Kindle, many papers are moving in that direction. The Sacramento Press is also moving in that direction, as we feel that it is a good contender for being a large part of the future media landscape.

Feb. 2, 2009 Intro to Journalism handout

2009-04-19T04:02:33Z

There’s news right under your nose!
Feb. 2, 2009
Holly A. Heyser, Professional Journalist in Residence, Sacramento State

Questions that help you find news

Do you see a problem that needs to be solved?
Is something happening that changes how you and your neighbors function?
Did you see an unusual event or happening
Can you see a new trend? (Magic Number: 3)
Is there an interesting new business or person in your neighborhood? (Or has one left the neighborhood?)
How are national trends (e.g., the economy) affecting you and your neighbors?
Do you know about something being planned?

So, what’s interesting? The test is this: Will you mention it to a friend or family member? If it’s worth mentioning to someone you care about, then it’s probably interesting.

What takes this from idle chatter to journalism?
FACTS. You have to know what you’re writing is true. This means you:

Observed it yourself
Were told about it in an interview with someone credible
Verified it with other sources
Found it in official documents

Two rules:

If you don’t know or can’t prove it, leave it out.
Even if you’re writing opinion, you must avoid presenting opinion as fact.

Writing
Getting ready:

Decide what you’re writing about.
Gather and make note of all facts that are immediately available. You’re looking for who, what, when, where, why, how.
Determine what you don’t know. If you can fill in the blanks quickly, great.
Think about how you would share this story with a friend or family member. What are the most interesting parts? They should be your focal point.

Writing

The lead of your story – the first paragraph – should provide key information to the reader. If s/he stops reading there, will s/he at least know what happened?
Write the rest of what you know in a logical order, which may be chronological or in order of importance.
Write what you don’t know. This can be a foundation for further research – or it can invite reader input that answers questions.

The business model of news

2009-04-06T12:39:57Z

The current fear goes something like this: "If the newspapers disappear, so does all the real original reporting with it." The basic charge is that there is no business model for "giving away" news online, because online revenue is too miniscule and newspapers spend an enormous amount to get us that amazing original content.

The trouble is that a lot of those assumptions are just plain false. Once you start delving into the numbers those assumptions begin to wash away.

For instance, what does an average major daily pay, in terms of a percentage of its overall budget, for its editorial department? While one's inclination may be to assume that it is a huge portion, the reality is that the number averages between 7 and 10 percent. That means the rest of the cost of running a paper is tied up in printing, distributing, marketing and selling that paper.

Considering those percentages, let's look at McClatchy's 2008 numbers. McClatchy as an organization reported total earnings of approximately $1.9 billion. They also reported online advertising revenue of approximately $180 million. Some quick math indicates that about %9.5 of McClatchy's total revenue came from online advertising. Sound like a familiar percentage?

But that's McClatchy, what about the Bee? While numbers haven't been published breaking down the Bee's costs specifically for 2008, we can make some estimates and compare those with revenue numbers. The revenue numbers can be broken out of the McClatchy reports. Of the $180 million that McClatchy makes in online ad revenue, approximately $30 million comes from California and of that, slightly more than half comes from The Sacramento Bee.

That means that The Sacramento Bee has about $15-16 million in online ad revenue. And if I had $15-16 million dollars I could provide Sacramento with one really stellar newsroom and mountains of daily reporting on the region. But you don't have to take my word for it. In fact the Bee already does provide stellar coverage for near that amount. With approximately $211 million in revenue, it is likely the Bee's editorial department costs in the neighborhood of $15-20 million.

In a recent Bee article Al Tompkins, a Poynter faculty member, was quoted as saying, "Who's going to cover the planning and sewer commissions?" The answer: Geoff Doughtery plans to. Geoff Dougherty of chitowndailynews.com is building a newsroom for approximately $2 million. Click on the link to check out his extensive coverage.

While this analysis is not done by a professional economist, or accountant, it is clear that in general, the news about news, is not as grim as some make it seem. My aim was to ground this panic with a few numbers that make sense of the world we live in, so that we will begin to be able to figure out the new world we are heading for.

Statistics sited in this story can be found in this press release from the McClatchy website.

Community discusses role of local media

2009-04-03T05:50:30Z

Representatives of local media outlets and community members came together Thursday night to discuss how to make local media better and more reflective of the community. The meeting was organized by the Sacramento Media Group, California Common Cause and Access Sacramento.

There was discussion and debate about the role and responsibility of our local media. Ron Cooper, executive director of Access Sacramento, summed it up when he said, “Media and your influence over media is really a local issue.”

The event was well attended by a diverse mix of community activists, students, and stakeholders. There were representatives of local broadcast stations, newspapers and online ventures.

The debate was lively, civil and structured. The most contentious issues surrounded bias, balance and facts presented by local media.

Another major topic of discussion was the lack of breadth or depth of local coverage.

Surprisingly, there was a lot of debate about the formation of community advisory boards to help media organizations be more responsive to the needs of the local community. Many thought the boards might have too much influence over coverage, and that their roles would have to be narrowly defined.

There was very little talk of the changes in our local media landscape brought on by technological innovation and the recession. But the structure and form of the discussions kept the focus on constructive criticism of the current state of local media.

The event was held at the Coloma Community Center.

All participants were asked to sit at tables based on their interest or primary media of choice. There were tables for TV, radio, newspapers, internet and general media. Each table had seats for 12, and all were filled.

The format was simple. Each group held structured discussions on public affairs, diversity, political coverage, community input and broadband internet access. Then, after the discussion, moderators from each group presented to all participants. Finally, there was time for individuals to speak to the whole group.

There will be a full report detailing the conversations of each media group, and when it is available, I will link to it.

The night was a great jumping-off point for discussions about local media, particularly the challenges that lie ahead.

More importantly, what do you think? Please continue the conversation below.

The future of news, part 2, one week of The Bee

2009-03-30T15:20:48Z

As it is today, could the Sacramento Press replace The Sacramento Bee? In a word, no. However, one word is far from the full story.

In my last installment of this storyline, I outlined the course I was taking in discussing the future of news, with an emphasis paid to local content, since that is what this publication focuses on. Over the course of the last week, I embarked on the rather epic and tedious task of quantifying exactly what is in a week's worth of The Bee.

In order to do this, I purchased a copy each day and as meticulously as possible recorded how many pieces of content The Bee wrote versus content drawn from other publications, and of that content, how much of it was local. The full results of that survey can be found in the article posted previous to this one.

Overall, it is quite impressive how much content that a major daily can put together on any given day of the week. The Bee covers a wide range of subjects and a substantial geographic area. However, it has good days and it has bad days.

If you simply looked at a Monday paper, it would appear that in terms of sheer quantity, The Bee does not necessarily produce more local content than a publication the size of the Sacramento Press. Last Monday, The Bee produced approximately 16 original articles about our region. It produced another 11 about matters beyond the region and filled nearly 62% of its editorial space with content from other publications.

But Monday is far from the full picture, which is why I chose to dissect one week's worth of content and not just one day. On Tuesday, The Bee produced nearly double that many local original pieces, and on Friday nearly 40%, or 49 of 124 pieces, of The Bee was original local content.

If we were to lose that much content today, I think it would be a great loss to the community. However the numbers found in the survey I did are not impossible to achieve with a citizen journalism effort, whose base is the whole of the Sacramento region.

Much of what is reported locally is not muckraking, or in-depth investigative journalism. Much of it can be found in the crime logs and brief digests of events in the region. These are topics which citizen journalists can not only report with equal ability, but with greater interest and passion.

While I am humbled at the monumental effort it takes to put together The Bee every day, and admire the work that goes into it, I do not think it is a resource that is impossible to replicate.

This may even be more the case as of this week. That is because, as David Watts Barton reported here, many of the names I saw last week when compiling my survey will no longer be names I see in the paper, due to layoffs at The Bee. So perhaps last week’s effort is a bit of historical trivia. Time will tell, just as it will confirm my point of view or disprove it.

Please take a close look at the survey and let me know what you think of the results below.

Bee survey

2009-03-30T15:10:10Z

This survey was conducted of The Sacramento Bee, from Monday, March 23rd to Sunday, March 29th. The aim of the survey was to pinpoint how much of the written content of The Bee was written by The Bee and of that content how much was local and how much was not.

Each day was divided into the sections of the paper. Sections of the paper that had no attributable articles were simply not included. Within each section, all the different publications were separated out on to their own lines, with special lines for local Bee content and McClatchy content (from the Washngton bureau, or a foreign bureau).

Each mark per line denotes an attribution for a piece of text.

Shortcomings of this survey:

While thorough, I am not a professional statistician
Images were NOT included as a part of this survey
There was lots of content that had no attribution and was likely organized by editorial staff
Weather was excluded from this survey
There is some degree of subjectivity as to what is local or not, I tended to err on the side of counting more as local

Monday, March 23, 2009
Total: 70
Bee: 27
Bee/Local: 16

A) Front (Total: 25 Bee: 7 Bee/Local: 1)

The Sacramento Bee: ||||| |
The Sacramento Bee Local: |

Associated Press: ||||| ||||| |||
New York Times: ||
Miami Herald: |
Washington Post: |
Oakland Tribune: |
Special to the Bee: |

B) Our Region (Total: 9 Bee: 9 Bee/Local: 9)

The Sacramento Bee:
The Sacramento Bee Local: ||||| ||||

C) Sports (Total: 25 Bee: 5 Bee/Local: 4)

The Sacramento Bee: |
The Sacramento Bee Local: ||||

Orange County Register: ||
Associated Press: ||||| ||||| ||||
Newsday: ||
New York Times: |
San Jose Mercury News: |

D) Books & Media (Living Here) (Total: 11 Bee: 6 Bee/Local: 2)

The Sacramento Bee: ||||
The Sacramento Bee Local: ||

Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Total: 84
Bee: 46
Bee/Local: 30
McClatchy: 4

A) Front (Total: 28 Bee: 11 Bee/Local: 2 McClatchy: 3)

The Sacramento Bee: ||||| |
The sacramento Bee Local: ||
McClatchy: |||

New York Times: ||
Washington Post: ||
Associated Press: ||||| |||||
Los Angeles Times: ||
National Review: |
Special to the Bee: |

B) Our Region (Total: 27 Bee: 24 Bee/Local: 21 McClatchy: 1)

The Sacramento Bee: |||
The Sacramento Bee Local: ||||| ||||| ||||| ||||| |
McClatchy: |

Associated Press: |||

C) Sports (Total: 18 Bee: 7 Bee/Local: 5)

The Sacramento Bee: ||
The sacramento Bee Local: |||||

Associated Press: ||||| ||||| |

D) Living Here (Family) (Total: 11 Bee: 4 Bee/Local: 2)

The Sacramento Bee: ||
The sacramento Bee Local: ||

Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Total: 118
Bee: 49
Bee/Local: 34
McClatchy: 3

A) Front (Total: 45 Bee: 11 Bee/Local: 3 McClatchy: 3)

The Sacramento Bee: |||||
The sacramento Bee Local: |||
McClatchy: |||

New York Times: |||||
Associate Press: ||||| ||||| ||||| ||||| |
Los Angeles Times: |||||
Washington Post: |
Kathleen Parker (Washington Post?): |
San Diego Union Tribune: |

B) Our Region (Total: 32 Bee: 24 Bee/Local: 21)

The Sacramento Bee: |||
The sacramento Bee Local: ||||| ||||| ||||| ||||| |

Associated Press: ||||
Fresno Bee: |
New York Times: |

C) Sports (Total: 19 Bee: 9 Bee/Local: 7)

The Sacramento Bee: ||
The sacramento Bee Local: ||||| ||

Associated Press: ||||| ||
Newsday: |
Ventura County Star: |
San Jose Mercury News: |

D) Food & Wine (Living Here) (Total: 8 Bee: 5 Bee/Local: 3)

The Sacramento Bee: ||
The Sacramento Bee Local: |||

New York Times: |
Washington Post: |
Chicago Tribune: |

E) Fun & Games (Total: 4 Bee: 0 Bee/Local: 0)

Universal Press Syndicate: |
Horoscopes: |
MarketWatch: |
Gloria Glyer: |

Thursday, March 26, 2009
Total: 89
Bee: 53
Bee/Local: 34
McClatchy: 5

A) Front (Total: 27 Bee: 14 Bee/Local: 4 McClatchy: 4)

The Sacramento Bee: ||||| |
The Sacramento Bee Local: ||||
McClatchy: ||||

Los Angeles Times: |
Associated Press: ||||| ||||| ||||| ||
New York Times: |||||
Washington Post: ||
Denver Post: |
Public Policy Institute: |

B) Our Region (Total: 32 Bee: 26 Bee/Local: 20 McClatchy: 1)

The Sacramento Bee: ||||| |
The Sacramento Bee Local: ||||| ||||| ||||| |||||
McClatchy: |

Associated Press: |||
Fresno Bee: |
Washington Post: |
San Jose Mercury News: |

C) Sports (Total: 21 Bee: 11 Bee/Local: 8)

The Sacramento Bee: |||
The Sacramento Bee Local: ||||| |||

Washington Post: |
San Jose Mercury News: |
Associated Press: ||||| |||

D) Outbound (Living Here) (Total: 9 Bee: 2 Bee/Local: 2)

The Sacramento Bee:
The Sacramento Bee Local: ||

Friday, March 27, 2009
Total: 124
Bee: 68
Bee/Local: 49
McClatchy: 1

A) Front (Total: 34 Bee: 13 Bee/Local: 5 McClatchy: 1)

The Sacramento Bee: ||||| |||
The Sacramento Bee Local: |||||
McClatchy: |

New York Times: ||||
Associated Press: ||||| ||||| |||
Los Angeles Times: |
Anna Tuttle Villegas (individual): |
Washington Post: |
Tribune Media: |

B) Our Region (Total: 31 Bee: 27 Bee/Local: 26)

The Sacramento Bee: |
The Sacramento Bee Local: ||||| ||||| ||||| ||||| ||||| |

Associated Press: ||||

C) Sports (Total: 26 Bee: 8 Bee/Local: 6)

The Sacramento Bee: ||
The Sacramento Bee Local: ||||| |

Associated Press: ||||| ||||| |||||
Washington Examiner: |
San Jose Mercury News: |
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: |

D) Drive (Total: 3 Bee: 0 Bee/Local: 0)

Wheelbase Communications: ||
Click and Clack: |

Ticket (Total: 6 Bee: 4 Bee/Local: 4)

The Sacramento Bee:
The Sacramento Bee Local: ||||

Tribune News: ||

Movie Guide (Total: 9 Bee: 4 Bee/Local: 1)

The Sacramento Bee: |||
The Sacramento Bee Local: |

Associated Press: |
Orlando Sentinel: ||
Miami Herald: |
St. Petersburg Times: |

J) Style (Total: 15, Bee: 12, Bee/Local: 7)

The Sacramento Bee: |||||
The sacramento Bee Local: ||||| ||

Washington Post: |
Horoscopes: |
United Media: |

Saturday, March 28, 2009
Total: 100
Bee: 48
Bee/Local: 32
McClatchy: 2

A) Front (Total: 30 Bee: 10 Bee/Local: 2 McClatchy: 2)

The Sacramento Bee: ||||| |
The Sacramento Bee Local: ||
McClatchy: ||

New York Times: |||
Associated Press: ||||| ||||| ||||
Los Angeles Times: |
Special to the Bee: |
National Review: |

B) Our Region (Total: 25 Bee: 21 Bee/Local: 16)

The Sacramento Bee: |||||
The Sacramento Bee Local: ||||| ||||| ||||| |

Associated Press: |||
New York Times: |

C) Sports (Total: 26 Bee: 11 Bee/Local: 9)

The Sacramento Bee: ||
The Sacramento Bee Local: ||||| ||||

San Jose Mercury News: |
Associated Press: ||||| ||||| |||
Special to the Bee: |

D) Home & Garden (Living Here) (Total: 14 Bee: 6 Bee/Local: 5)

The Sacramento Bee: |
The Sacramento Bee Local: |||||

Heloise.com: |
UC Cooperative Extension: |
Baltimore Sun: |
King Features Syndicate: ||
Creators Syndicate: |
Orlando Sentinel: |
McClatchy Tribune: |

E) Fun & Games (Total: 5 Bee: 0 Bee/Local: 0)

Sunday, March 29, 2009
Total: 134
Bee: 57
Bee/Local: 35
McClatchy: 3

A) Front (Total: 28 Bee: 5 Bee/Local: 0 McClatchy: 3)

The Sacramento Bee: ||
The Sacramento Bee Local:
McClatchy: |||

Associated Press: ||||| ||||| ||||
Bee news service: |
Los Angeles Times: |
Fresno Bee: |
Washington Post: ||||
New York Times: ||

B) Our Region (Total: 13 Bee: 12 Bee/Local: 11)

The Sacramento Bee: |
The Sacramento Bee Local: ||||| ||||| |

Oroville Mercury-Register: |

C) Sports (Total: 29 Bee: 8 Bee/Local: 7)

The Sacramento Bee: |
The Sacramento Bee Local: ||||| ||

New York Times: |
Newsday: |
Dayton Daily News: |
Associated Press: ||||| ||||| |||
News & Observer: |
Denver Post: |
Dallas Morning News: |
Los Angeles Times: |
Charlotte Observer: |

D) Business (Total: 13 Bee: 0 Bee/Local: 0)

Associated Press: |||
Los Angeles Times: ||
The Motley Fool: |
Wall Street Journal: ||||| ||

E) Forum (Total: 12 Bee: 6 Bee/Local: 1)

The Sacramento Bee: |||||
The Sacramento Bee Local: |

Special to the Bee: ||
New York Times: |
Washington Post: ||
Miami Herald: |

L) Health & Fitness (Living Here) (Total: 18 Bee: 11 Bee/Local: 5)

The Sacramento Bee: ||||| |
The Sacramento Bee Local: |||||

New York Times: |
McClatchy Newspapers: |
United Feature Syndicate: |
Universal Press Syndicate: |
Washington Post: ||
Horoscopes: |

Explore (Arts & Travel) (Total: 21 Bee: 15 Bee/Local: 11)

The Sacramento Bee: ||||
The Sacramento Bee Local: ||||| ||||| |

The future of news

2009-03-23T05:45:51Z

Newspapers are in peril. There is very little doubt about that, and if you are somehow doubting that, I point you to last week’s news that the revenues of the world’s most-read newspaper, USA Today, are likely down year over year 30%. Aside from industry-wide declining revenues, last week also saw the closure of the Rocky Mountain Post News and the end of the print edition of the Seattle Post Intelligencer.

From these events a heated discussion was born. What is the future of news, and if newspapers are heading the way of the Dodo, who will report the news? The goal of this storyline is to address those very serious questions, especially from a local news angle. Over the course of the next few weeks I intend on exploring, in great detail, the nature of the problem, how it affects our local news and eventually why the sky is not, in fact, falling.

In this process I want to present opinions from many perspectives, but I want to be very clear that I do not see a future for printed media delivered each day to millions of homes covering a wide variety of general interest stories. This is of course an editorial, and that is my perspective. With this loss I don’t see an end to the reporting and journalism that is vital to our society.

This optimism may cause some to inform me that I should put my money where my mouth is. In this regard I have already gladly obliged. I am the editor in chief of this publication, and the co-founder of Castle Press L.L.C., the company that publishes it. With that company and this publication I have done exactly what many critics have suggested someone with my viewpoint do – take action.

While publications and companies may fall, the news never dies. Quality analysis and reporting no more requires printing presses and the companies that run them, than transportation requires horses, buggies and the companies that bred and manufactured them.

To do this I plan on addressing the problem by discussing these points:

What we stand to lose in terms of information, by precisely recording stats from one week of the Bee.
What the current business model of newspapers is and how this can be covered online. A general overview will be given as well as a close look at the Bee specifically.
What do we lose in terms of the medium itself, paper, and what are the options: paper, computer screen and ePaper/eInk.
Our vision of the future incorporating all the points made in the previous articles and discussing the role of citizen journalism

This is a contentious issue and I would love to have the feedback of our readership to help me shape this storyline and how it is written. Please share your comments below and do your homework by reading some of the opinions that are currently out there, as linked to below.

Clay Shirky, Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable
Mark Morford, Die, Newspapers, Die?
Steve Johnson, Old Growth Media and the Future of News
Dave Winer, If you don’t like the news

H Street Fire 12-30-08

2008-12-31T19:37:26Z

Yesterday afternoon I had just sat down for Coffee at Peet’s on J Street with two of our Battalion Chiefs when the call came in for the apartment fire on H Street. The two Chiefs and I responded and were on scene right after the first arriving fire company. Heavy fire was engulfing the upper floor of the Victorian building. It was a good thing that our Firefighters were able to arrive on scene in about two minutes!

A second alarm was requested and our Firefighters went to work protecting the two adjacent buildings and attacking the main body of the fire. It took a few minutes but our crews were able to knock down the fire and prevent it from spreading to the adjacent buildings and to the lower floors of the Victorian.

Victorian style buildings as well as many of the older style construction that we see in the downtown area of Sacramento, make our job as Firefighters a little more difficult. A lot of these buildings are over 100 years old and many are built with what we call “balloon” construction. That means that the walls of the building run continuous from the ground to the attic with no fire breaks inside the walls. Basically you have a chimney from the basement to the attic and the fire spreads very fast. Fortunately, over time the building codes have changed and this type of construction is not allowed anymore. Another issue we face in the downtown area is how close these old buildings are to one another.

I get questions all of the time about why we send so many Firefighters to the downtown area on a fire. In the City a typical first alarm assignment for a structure fire is to send three Fire Engines, Two Fire Trucks, (Engines carry hose, water and have the pump, and the Trucks have the big ladder on top and carry the rescue equipment.) one Medic, (Ambulance) and two Battalion Chiefs. On all structure assignments downtown we send five Engines, three Trucks, two Medics, three Battalion Chiefs, and the EMS Captain. As you can see that is a lot of manpower and equipment! We have learned over time that it is better to send a lot of resources on downtown responses, and if they are not needed, we can easily turn them back!

Our Firefighters did a great job on this fire! This fire could have easily destroyed the entire building as well as the next door units. The Firefighters who work for you take their job very serious and we constantly train and do our best to be prepared for fires like this and for the every other type of the 70,000 plus calls we have every year!

The Sacramento Fire Department is one of the nation’s busiest Fire Departments. Fortunately we do not have these types of fires every day; however we typically have one or two structure fires each and every day somewhere in the City. We appreciate the support and comments we received yesterday from the fire victims and the people who were watching the fire. Our job can be very difficult at times, but all of us love doing it and we love serving this City.

Everything is news

2008-11-19T09:32:04Z

I challenge you, the readers of our publication to see the news that is going on all around you.

Kevin Johnson thanked his supporters on the corner of 5th and I Street 500 feet from the front door of our office.

Several weeks ago the entire Sacramento Federal Courthouse emptied out for a fire drill and marched across the street invading the local Starbucks and our parking lot.

The last Friday of every week all the air raid sirens positioned around Sacramento blare loudly at 11 A.M. Have you heard them? Did you ever ask why?

The picture above depicts all the construction going on at the Amtrak station, which is undergoing quite a transformation.

The Sacramento Press is a place for you to ask questions. It's a place for you to get answers. And most importantly it's a place where you can tell everyone.

A question that people frequently ask me is, what can I write for your paper? The simple answer is any local news.

What qualifies as local news? Just about everything.

Do you dislike the fact that your neighbors leave their trash cans out too long? Contact The Sacramento Press about who you can call to do something about it. Then write about what you found out.

That is news, and it's news that you can report on.

Prop 8 attracts hundreds

2008-11-04T21:43:38Z

On November 3, 2008 I found myself on Greenback and Sunrise joining a crowd of people advertising their beliefs...

There were tons of wild people, thousands of signs with different hilarious and descriminating slogans (from both parties), cars decked out in their signs, and cops rolling their eyes.

Sure - I bet a lot of them didn't even know what prop 8 was, they just wanted something to do, but regardless, it was quite the experience.

Check it out! As the night rolled in, so did the people.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-qKvS12-HY

Know what you're supporting - one way or another :)