Sacramentans who protect their homes and businesses with fire and burglar alarms may soon pay more for chronic false alarms and see alarm permit fees nearly triple. The Sacramento Fire and Police departments each presented proposals to the City Council’s Law and Legislation Committee Tuesday that would change the current policy on fire and burglar alarm response – and increase penalties for multiple false alarms. The proposed changes to police alarm response will do two things: require alarm companies to step up efforts to verify legitimate alarms, and change the current three-year permit structure to an annual permit. The changes to fire alarm response includes incrementally increasing

With an 8-1 vote Tuesday, the City Council put a nine-month hold on the application and permit process for medical marijuana dispensaries, bringing everything to a standstill. City Councilman Darrell Fong was the only dissenting vote, citing concerns that proximity of dispensaries to schools and parks is not adequately addressed in the ordinance. The freeze left some dispensary operators and medical marijuana patients concerned for the future of dispensaries and of the ability to access medicine. The Sacramento Press asked people for their opinion of the current state of limbo that medical marijuana dispensaries are in. Reactions from Sacramentans ranged from mild to animated – one thin

The state’s Fair Political Practices Commission will decide later this month whether to fine Dan Waters, a former city employee and son of former City Councilman Robbie Waters, $2,500 for his role in altering a permit for a business he co-owned. FPPC staff argue that Waters, the former customer services supervisor at the city’s development department, disregarded the Political Reform Act by improperly interfering with the permit process for Oshima Sushi in Natomas. Waters co-owned LEWA Inc., a cigar business located at a patio at Oshima Sushi. An FPPC report claims that Waters intervened in a permit process in order to improve the business environment for the cigar shop. While staff is

A few more changes are in the works for the Second Saturday Art Walk in an effort to reduce problems and increase the focus on art, city and business leaders said Wednesday. The changes will take effect in April, when the event's crowds are expected to grow as warm weather returns to Sacramento. The city's Second Saturday safety team has come up with some modifications in the wake of a fatal shooting in September 2010. The biggest change is a requirement that vendors, musicians with amplified sound and other street performers who are set up on public property – primarily sidewalks or closed streets – operate from 4 - 8 p.m. Live music is part of a growing music scene that has emerged on

Posted by Sorren Hello officer Michelle, thanks for always answering my potentially pesky questions ;) I have another issue that has been bothering me a lot. As you of course know, some unfortunate kid got killed on campus a couple weeks ago. Three days before that, there were gunshots fired on my block in what I used to think was an upper-middleclass safe neighborhood. I don’t really feel safe anymore, and decided that I’m going to purchase a handgun immediately as soon as I can afford the one that I want. The issue is, that it’s not useful, if I can’t have access to it on a whim. I had my dad’s gun a few years ago when I lived in chicago. No CCW. So I had an unloaded, locked up pis