Continued from part one....read part one here Well, things didn’t quite work out that way. We married then quickly divorced, but not before my husband got his green card; I worked for Wired magazine in San Francisco, then left the magazine after two years to work full time as a freelancer once again. It was a rough life, made even rougher by my crazy landlord of seven years plotting to find “legal” ways to evict me. I was in the midst of fighting her insane legal efforts, when I got word that I had been awarded the Knight International Press Fellowship to Uganda in 2003. I promptly dropped my counter-suit against my loony landlady, Manuela, moved back to Sacramento, met my long-time bo

I am year-and-a-half resident of Oak Park. I have lived here that long, at first very reluctantly, then somewhat ambivalently, and now, finally with great enthusiasm. The initial reluctance I blame more on myself, my circumstances in moving here, and my sluggish, even inert, bare involvement in the actual moving process. My then-boyfriend and I had been served notice by his landlord, that they were selling his townhouse in midtown Sacramento soon; we had very, very little time to find a new, comfortable, and appropriate place to live. We are both underpaid freelancers of a sort; he is a bartender/house painter/will be-something-more-fulfilling later in life. I am an avowed, diehard, almo

This is part two of the story about the homeless looking man that is offering a $100,000 reward to anyone who can disprove one fact and that fact is: Charles Nordby turned Tom Raley’s company around when Raley's was going bankrupt in the early '70s. It was his expertise in the grocery business and his proven security program implemented at Raley's back in 1973 that made Raley’s the success they are today.       "There was so much external and internal theft taking place at Raley's back then, they simply could not have stay in business,"     Nordby said before passing away in 1996. In 1973, Nordby traveled from Sonoma County to have a meeting with Pete Stathos, the president of the now d

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

There are two things about the man in the picture that you would not believe unless I revealed them to you in this article. First of all, the man in the picture is not homeless. He is my brother Frank Nordby who has attended a couple of the Sacramento Press' workshops with me. It is hard to imagine just by looking at his appearance that this man is not only training to qualify for the Boston Marathon but he is also offering a $100,000 reward in his race for justice. Frank has been running as long as I can remember. In fact I remember him running after me as a child whenever I would pull some 'little brother" gag on him. Frank was able to palm a basketball in high school and was actually

Aja Uranga prepares for milk to be poured on her head by magician Howdy Do Dat at Relles Florist. Lots of young and old trick or treaters were roaming through midtown Sacramento today. Also at Relles Florist there was face painting, pumpkin art, plus dogs and owners preparing for a parade that ended on L Street. Prizes were awarded at the end of the parade route.   Here are some scenes: This dapper fellow was ready to march in the doggy parade sponsored by the City Animal Care Services.   A costumed youngster does some pumpkin art at Relles.   These little ones wait patiently in line.   Lots of folks trick or treated along J St.   This evil Jester heads into First Unit

The Sacramento Kings campaign, Operation Sellout, sold out the first home game, Nov. 2 against the Memphis Grizzlies. That means the Kings, last in NBA attendance, sold 17,317 tickets for a team that sold out only three games last season. ESPN reported that the Kings averaged 12,571 fans per game, leaving 4,746 seats empty. Mayor Kevin Johnson, an outspoken advocate for keeping the Kings in Sacramento, is involved with the campaign.   “I went to Gavin and Joe Maloof and asked them how I can be helpful,” Johnson said.  “They said the best thing that would help them right now would be to help them sell out the first two home games, get the fans energized, and rekindle some of the energy

 Kate Traci 10/09 The screams came through my headset as I punched on the line. I winced as my eardrum was pummeled by the pandemonium on the other end of the line. I had to get busy. No time to reach over to my radio console and turn down the headset volume. I needed both hands typing fast.  The room was quiet. Call volume is low at 3:30 in the morning. Most in the greater Sacramento area are snug in their beds. My coworkers could hear the echos of the yells as they reverberated out of my ear piece. "Fire dispatch, what is the address of the emergency?" I answered the phone with our standardized question and my voice steadily rose as I tried to be heard over the caller. I could feel

According to the Associated Press, agreement has been reached between senate, white house, and press representatives on a new version of a media shield law "to protect reporters from being forced to disclose their confidential sources in federal court." In brief, it would allow the government to seek a source's identity in instances of security leaks with national security implications, the burden would be on the journalist to justify non-disclosure of source identity in criminal cases, and the burden would be on the state to justify disclosure in non-criminal cases. Of interest to Sacramento Press readers and writers, "The revised bill would also extend protections for freelance or citi

Not really a big fan of football (what’s a touchdown?), it may seem odd to some that I was so excited to find out a famous football hero was coming to town. Most of us have seen the awe-inspiring movie, “Rudy,” about a small fry guy who wants to play ball for Notre Dame. Because of the young man’s dogged determination, drive and passion, he does end up realizing his dream and playing football for the “Fighting Irish.” Ever since that movie, in my mind, Rudy Ruettiger has been my personal icon for perseverance. Needless to say, when I found out the “real” Rudy would be coming to town for a speaking engagement, I knew I had to interview him. Rudy agreed to be a guest on my radio show, “Sa

With Halloween almost behind us, now is the time to head up to the Hill. Apple Hill, that is. Sure, the Sacramento crowds are at an all-time high when families head up Highway 50 to pick out the best pumpkin, and as a result, parking is a challenge, lines are long and traffic is thick. While November still brings good crowds (let’s not forget pumpkin pie), the air and the apples are crisper and the parking not as tricky as it is right before Halloween-time. Cinnamon tends to scent the air among many of the stops, making you crave the yummy baked goods that are at virtually every stop. There is every kind of apple one might imagine, and plenty of other things to eat and drink. Having fo

Having lived in Sacramento for nearly 40 years, it’s not like I’ve never read about or seen news coverage on crimes in our town. However, it seems that recent years are introducing a new level of crime that arises from rage. The recent Sac State slaying, where Scott Hawkins was allegedly beaten to death (possibly with a baseball bat) by his own roommate, Quran Jones, speaks volumes. The boys shared a dorm room, went to college and seemed to get along fine. The victim, Hawkins, is reported to have been slightly autistic. The other roommates said that they were completely shocked by the ordeal. In a photograph, the alleged killer, Jones, looks like a clean-cut, serious student. What caused

One month ago it looked like bye bye mural. Today, it was hello new one.   Stephanie Taylor, the artist who created the mural, said at the time the old mural came down: "It is finally being replaced by the vendor, Metromedia Technologies. They printed the original mural in 1996. It lasted many more years than we expected, but finally started to fail in 2007. The Downtown Partnership and the City paid to have it reprinted- it's digital."   Today the mural was reinstalled.   Mike and Karen Winn, Winn Associates, have their office in the Elks Building,  7th floor. Their view of the mural is perfect and they watched the day-long reinstallation.   And they also watched the prepa

Give a man a fish, and he can eat for a day; teach him how to fish, and he can eat for a lifetime. Words to live by and appearing to be the motto of Sacramento Press.. Recently I read the article "Is the Sacramento Press Fostering Civil Debate -- Or Encouraging Hate Speech?", written by Steven Maviglio.. Maviglio writes, "There's some good back-and-forth, and we agree to disagree without name-calling or insults or questions about our motivation. It's free speech -- the kind of debate that is good for this website and good for our city." I agree. The "back-and-forth" without insults or questions about our motivation is good. It is dialogue -- if we plan to only eat for a day, but many of

After nine days of intense deliberations, a jury of seven men and five women today rendered a verdict against a local Sacramento radio station in the civil trial of William A. Strange et al v. Entercom Sacramento LLC and Entercom Communications Inc. et al. The trial was to determine accountability for the death of Jennifer Strange, who died as a result of a water drinking contest sponsored by Entercom Sacramento's radio station KDND. By unanimous vote, the jury decided that Entercom Sacramento was negligent in Strange's death; by unanimous vote, they also decided that the parent company, Entercom Communications of Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania was not responsible. By a vote of ten to two, the

I think the thing about Citrus Heights is that it’s so—real. We don’t put on airs with fancy restaurants and wine bars. We just go down to the one great local white-table-cloth restaurant and get the before-6:30-half-price wine special. (Oops! Booyah closed last year.) We don’t get those European-style flatbread pizzas because Ciro’s traditional is seriously so dang good. We don’t—um. I’m done with this line of thinking. What struck me as strange about the area when I first got here was the strip malls. I mean we probably have more strip malls per square mile than anywhere else in the world. Sure, there are lots of neighborhoods, public parks, trees, but they’re all tucked behind the stri

As a recent escapee from Silicon Valley, I knew it would be different here in the Sacramento area. I got a good house for a good price (just before the market fell off another cliff, landing me in the High Hopes Heap) but I couldn’t quite manage the cute Midtown bungalows I liked. So I landed in Citrus Heights, on a lovely quiet street, backed onto a creek with kid-trails. In my research before buying, the negatives I heard were all about skunks and helicopters, but I knew these were pretty good negatives compared to my former San Jose home on a heavily trafficked street (and I mean that in all senses) that included graffiti and abandoned shopping carts and—well, traffic. I like it here—d

It starts with the premise of caring for high school students’ future by providing them a quality education to be successful. CHAED will deliver innovative methods to improve and achieve academic excellence, reduce the number of high school dropouts, and give students the opportunity to excel in higher learning and compete with today’s challenge. In today’s world, it is important that high school students stay current with technology and information, engage in real life applications, and be discipline in their study in order to be competitive. This school will provide the competitive edge. I think many parents want a public high school to serve the neighborhoods of Midtown, Oak Park, Eas

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

Something is missing on Natomas Unified School District’s campuses that makes it harder to satisfy a sweet tooth: soda and candy vending machines. A 2005 California Health Interview Survey showed that 62 percent of teens consume 39 pounds of sugar each year from soft drinks alone. The research showed that counties with the highest obesity rates had the highest rates of soda consumption. One Natomas Unified School District parent, Heather Reed, said she “agrees 100% with the district’s ban on soda machines” and believes there is a link between adolescent obesity and soda consumption. Reed is in a unique position; not only is her daughter an eighth grader at Leroy Greene Middle School, bu