Downtown Sacramento’s busiest streets should have bike lanes by August or September, according to city officials. The work will begin in June or July and should take a month to complete, according to Ed Williams, Associate Engineer with the city’s Department of Transportation. The intent of the project is to create bicycle lanes on the most-traveled downtown streets, including J, I, Fifth, Ninth and 10th streets and Capitol Mall, city officials previously told The Sacramento Press. On some streets, the plan is to take out one lane of vehicular traffic as is common in Midtown. Cyclists interviewed Tuesday applauded the city’s upcoming road work, which they said will add safety to street

A specialty grilled cheese sandwich shop called Cheese Louise is slated to come to Ninth Street between J and K streets downtown as early as the beginning of April. Ron Berger, a local veteran of the hotel industry, will be running the shop, and he said the idea is similar to a shop called The Melt in San Francisco, but will be expanded with the addition of soups and a salad bar. “We’ll have various types of grilled cheese, with Spanish, French, Italian and American cheeses,” he said. “We’ll also have soups every day, and we might do specials with a lasagna or something.” Opening at 7 a.m. and closing by 6 p.m., the store, located at 1009 Ninth St., will serve a breakfast selection of h

Replacement of a gas line is postponing the opening of the downtown seafood restaurant Blackbird Kitchen & Bar from Valentine’s Day to Feb. 21, but the restaurateurs are still able to work inside, and the iconic graphic on the front is complete. “The buildout is being done right now, and the menu will be available in a couple of weeks,” said General Manager Shayne “7evin” Iles. “We’re going to open when PG&E finishes the work, so hopefully it’s sooner, or at least on time,” he said. Officials from Pacific Gas and Electric did not return messages left on Friday. Blackbird Kitchen & Bar is located at 1013-1015 Ninth St.

Two historical downtown buildings are being refurbished, and they will soon house Blackbird Kitchen & Bar, a seafood restaurant that owner Carina Lampkin said will serve “gourmet food at hipster prices” and is expected to open in December. The approximately 3,500-square-foot building was formerly two separate buildings, 1013 and 1015 Ninth St., and both date back to the 1930s. “Blackbird is a compilation of all of my experience so far,” said the 30-year-old Lampkin. “I grew up on the East Coast and spent every summer in Maine. In 2003, I moved to San Francisco and went to culinary school.” After spending almost a decade cooking at restaurants in San Francisco, Lampkin made the move to S

Authorities said 20 protesters were arrested at about 12:45 a.m. Friday when they refused to leave Cesar Chavez Plaza, the site of the Occupy Sacramento demonstration. Both police and protesters described the arrests as peaceful. “They went without any problems or issues,” said Sgt. Andrew Pettit, spokesman for the Sacramento Police Department. “They were booked for failure to disperse after a lawful order.” Anthony Bondi, a spokesman for Occupy Sacramento, agreed. “It was completely violence-free,” he said Friday afternoon. “The protesters laid down and chose to be arrested.” Despite what some protesters said they think was an overbearing police presence, Pettit said units involved w

Temple Coffee, a fixture on 10th Street since 2005, moved a block on Wednesday to Ninth Street, where it will have a more open, modern feel, but little else will change. The move from 1014 10th St. to 1010 Ninth St. was something owner Sean Kohmescher said he had been looking to do for some time, saying the old space didn’t fit the needs of the coffee bar. “The design of the (new) space is set up much more for conversations and engagement,” Kohmescher said, adding that the old space felt cramped. Also bigger, at about 2,000 square feet compared to the old location’s 1,450 square feet, the newer one gives a more open feel. Both  seat about 60 people, but the feeling in the new building i

Sacramento’s St. Patrick’s Day party will be held downtown this year instead of on L Street so the event can accommodate the thousands of expected festivalgoers, according to Lisa Martinez, director of outreach and marketing for the Downtown Sacramento Partnership. The downtown organization and de Vere’s Irish Pub are organizing this year’s de Vere’s St. Patrick’s Day Party in the Park at Cesar Chavez Park from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Thursday, March 17. “Our goal is to create a bigger footprint for the event,” said Martinez, Downtown Sacramento Partnership’s director of outreach and marketing. From 5 a.m. to midnight on March 17, Ninth Street will be shut down between I and J streets for