The Sacramento River Cats improved to 18-11 with their 6-2 victory over the Colorado Springs Sky Sox (13-16) on Friday night. The Cats remain in first place in the PCL South Division with a four-game lead. Visit the River Cats' official site for the full recap. Your red-hot River Cats take on the Sky Sox again Saturday night at 7:05 p.m. for the second of the four-game series.

Sacramento’s city auditor is exploring the idea of creating a whistle-blower hotline for City Hall. City Auditor Jorge Oseguera told the city’s audit committee on Tuesday that he was talking to City Attorney Eileen Teichert’s office about the idea. The audit committee is composed of City Council members Lauren Hammond, Robbie Waters, Ray Tretheway and Steve Cohn. Whistle-blower hotlines are “a common topic right now in the auditing community,” Oseguera said on Wednesday. The plan is in its early stages, Oseguera said, and no details have been established yet on how the hotline would work or when it would start operating. In a Tuesday e-mail, Teichert said she could say only that the pl

On Saturday, May 1st, the River City Gators extended their winning treat to 5-0 by defeating Oakland's Nor Cal Lawmen 30-7 on the road.  The game was played in what can perhaps most simply be described as a hostile environment.  "It's difficult enough being on the road," one player said, as heckles from the crowd turned into personal attacks.  NCFL Chairman Jason Kang expressed unhappiness with the lack of crowd control and security. Let's get a few things straight.  The central part of Oakland, off Broadway and near Oakland Technical High School, is an area I would prefer not to travel through alone at night.  I arrived on scene at 12:30pm and had a number of wonderful interactions with

While 16 teams battle to reach the NBA Finals, nine awards are handed out during the playoffs. So far, six awards have been given out, but fans of the Sacramento Kings, Golden State Warriors and Milwaukee Bucks ask the question: When is the Rookie of the Year (ROY) award going to be announced? When the award was given out last year, it was given to the Chicago Bulls’ Derrick Rose one day before Game 3 at Chicago in the first round of the playoffs. Although ROY contenders Tyreke Evans of the Kings and Stephen Curry of the Warriors aren’t in the playoffs, Brandon Jennings’ Bucks have already played Game 3 in Milwaukee. Unlike Rose last year, Jennings didn’t get a trophy. This seemingly

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson – a three-time NBA all-star point guard for the Phoenix Suns – shared his thoughts on Sacramento Kings Rookie of the Year candidate Tyreke Evans Tuesday morning at a press conference. Johnson officially endorsed Evans last week, and came before tonight’s rally to support Evans. "He's doing some amazing things," Johnson said about Evans' performance this season. "He's on pace to do something only three other (rookies) in the history of the NBA have done in the past – averaging 20 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists (per game)." The three players who Johnson talked about are LeBron James and hall-of-famers Oscar Robertson and Michael Jordan. Currently, Evans is

Despite the Sacramento Kings going 0-4 since the All-Star break, Tyreke Evans is performing consistently. The rookie guard from the University of Memphis averaged 17.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, 6.8 assists and one steal per game since the break. For the week, his shooting percentage was 51.9 percent. Evans is ranked first among rookies playing 36.9 minutes per game and is No. 24 in the NBA The year before at Memphis he was playing 29 minutes per game. Having extended playing time isn't the only change Evans has encountered since joining the Kings. His body has taken a beating with injuries as well. He's fought with a nagging ankle injury throughout the season and suffered a hard fall on hi

Emilio Castillo had no idea his band would last 40 years. "I idolized The Spyders, a local [Oakland] soul band. They got hired to go to Sacramento and play a topless bar for a week. We were like, 'Wow, man, they're going on the road. If we could only get to Sacramento and play a topless bar, we would have made it.' " "My vision was [only] that far," added Tower of Power's co-founder and leader. "I had no idea what I could do. I just knew I loved it, and I would do it until I dropped. I far surpassed my wildest dreams." Saturday night, audiences can get a taste of the Oakland-based 10-piece band when it headlines the 17th annual Bump City Dance Party at the Radisson. Sammie-award-winning

 The Sacramento River Cats return home for the final home stanza of the regular season after an amazing road trip in which they went 7-1. The homestand begins Saturday night with a four-game series with the Portland Beavers. The River Cats will be honoring three local heroes in Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, Cincinnati Reds manager Dusty Baker and Chicago Cubs first baseman Derek Lee. The first 1,500 people in attendance will get to choose from the three bobbleheads. The person whose bobblehead runs out first will be named the 2009 River Cats High School Hero. The fans in attendance should be excited to see Dana Eveland (8-4, 4.94) take the mound for Sacramento against Wade LeBlanc (3-9

A controversial draft? Check. An over-the-hill coach? check. Taking gambles witha possible bust? check. Time after time Oakland Raiders franchise owner Al Davis proves that he has lost his uncanny touch with the game of football. With his 17 hall-of-fame inductees, including himself as a franchise owner, and three super bowl titles, he has, or at one time, established himself as one of the all-time best to ever do it. But maybe its time to pass the baton to the next person. The No. 7 overall draft pick in the 2009 NFL draft may serve as perfect evidence. Passing on the two highest ranked wide outs in this year's draft, including one of the most explosive players to come out of college in