A Facebook group has been set up in support of Carmichael Dave, and though its numbers are a fraction of the following he has on Twitter and Facebook, he had this to say on the page: "Wow. Thanks guys! You are the reason I've smiled so much this week after a horrible, horrible event in my life. I cannot put into words what you all mean to me." Carmichael Dave was a radio personality on local CBS Radio affiliate KHTK, and he was instrumental in keeping the Sacramento Kings in the city last year with the Here We Build campaign. Even as CBS Radio and Carmichael Dave remain tight-lipped on the reason for his departure from the radio station more than a week ago, fans continue to support him, 

For the never-say-die Kings fan, Jan. 9 was an important day. It was the premiere of Small Market, Big Heart at the historic Crest Theatre in Downtown Sacramento. A documentary designed, as their promo states, “to share the compelling 26-year story of the people of Sacramento and their battle to get and keep a professional sports franchise” The film played once more on January 21, on KXTL FOX 40, but then went silent. On Tuesday, May 15, the outstanding documentary and collective vision of producers James Ham and Blake Ellington as well as director Tobin Halsey, will finally be available across the nation by way of the Small Market, Big Heart website (www.smallmarketbigheart.com) for th

Sports fans and arena enthusiasts will have to wait a little longer for word on any “plan B’ for an entertainment and sports complex in the railyards – at least until the new city budget is resolved. “I was shooting for sometime in May, but it’s going to take a little longer,” Mayor Kevin Johnson told the media Tuesday. The city spent nearly $690,000 in the past year on consultants and research in preparation for building a new arena in the downtown railyards. When negotiations with the Maloof family, the Kings’ owners, collapsed, Johnson quickly set off in search of a viable ‘plan B’ – with or without the Maloofs. Johnson continues to meet with Tim Lieweke, president of Anschutz Enter

The Sacramento Kings defeated their Pacific Division rival the Los Angeles Lakers 113-96 at Power Balance Pavilion Thursday night in the final game of the season. With the win, the Kings finished 22-44 for the season. The Kings were 16-17 at home and only 6-27 on the road, a number they will have to increase if they want to succeed in the NBA. Prior to the start of the game, Kings star DeMarcus Cousins came to center court and thanked the fans for being a great sixth man all year long, which brought a loud applause from the 16,281 in attendance. Though the Lakers sat all of their starters in anticipation for the beginning of the postseason on Saturday, the Kings began the game strong an

After two days of intense private negotiations, Mayor Kevin Johnson announced Friday that there will be no deal between the city and the Maloofs for a new arena. Citing irreconcilable differences, Johnson said all negotiations with the Sacramento Kings team owners are over and no further discussions are planned. Kings spokesman Eric Rose confirmed in an email statement Friday that they could not reach an agreement with the city. “We know this door is closed,” Johnson said at a press conference Friday, “but, as mayor, I’m going to do all I can to keep an NBA team in town.” Here is how the story unfolded Friday morning in the Twittersphere: <[ View the story "Twitter feed from mayor's

Mayor Kevin Johnson said another meeting with the Maloofs is in the works, but stopped short of promising that the arena deal will be revived – or that a new deal will be struck. “Sitting down doesn’t do anybody any harm – but it won’t be dragged out,” Johnson said. “I don’t want anyone to have false hope.” Johnson told media Tuesday at his weekly press conference that the city’s position on the arena deal remains the same, but the city will still explore all options. “In terms of plan B, we continue to do our internal analysis,” Johnson said. “Our goal is to report back (to the City Council) on May 8.” The sticking point in negotiations between the city and the Maloofs is the revenue

Mayor Kevin Johnson and the owners of the Sacramento Kings, the Maloofs, have crossed paths a few times since the handshake deal for a new downtown arena splintered – and both the arena and discussions with the team owners are expected to be key topics at his weekly press conference Tuesday morning. Here's our Twitter coverage of what they mayor had to say: < n The conference occured after tense words were exchanged in the media between Johnson and George Maloof after the tentative agreement for an entertainment and sports complex fell apart last week – but that didn’t stop Johnson from reaching out to the team owners Friday. According to Joaquin McPeek, spokesman for the Mayor’s Office,

If it wasn’t enough that it was Grateful Dead night and fans that bought the special ticket package got to talk to the legendary Bill Walton, members of the band and got a special T-shirt to mark the occasion. Then, the only player in NBA history to average a triple-double for an entire season, former Kansas City Royal Oscar Robertson was being recognized. How about that it was Fan Appreciation Night at the ole barn and nearly half in attendance was rewarded with some kind of prize for being a loyal purple-wearing fan. And finally, outstanding Rookie-of-the-Year candidate Isaiah Thomas was honored as this year’s winner of the team’s Oscar Robertson Triple Double Award during the game. Oh,

As the season winds down, the challenge becomes: How do you keep a 20-41 team still yearning for more wins and team cohesion? How about play the San Antonio Spurs (45-16) in front of a nearly packed house and learn from the seemingly simple way the team from Texas goes about its everyday business? The plan worked for 24 minutes. After halftime, the Spurs decided to lay the smackdown and really show the Sacramento Kings (20-42) how the formula translates on the floor by outscoring the home team 69-42 in the second half on way to a 127-102 rout at Power Balance Pavilion Wednesday evening. The good news was that the Kings took an early 6-0 lead on the backs of Tyreke Evans and Jason Thomps

There may no longer be an arena deal, but Mayor Kevin Johnson said he isn’t giving up on an entertainment and sports complex for Sacramento – not until the city has considered all options, including building an arena without an anchor tenant. “This is not over, in my opinion,” Johnson said Tuesday at his weekly press conference. “It doesn’t do us any good to continue to point fingers and blame. We don’t have the deal we thought we had, so we need to figure out what plan B looks like.” Options to be considered, Johnson said, may include scaling back the original project to cut costs or to build the facility in stages, adding features over time. Building a venue without an anchor tenant i

Tuesday on Capital Public Radio’s “Insight” program, I talked to host Beth Ruyak about the arena deal, a local business’ history, a new bicycle event and the upcoming SactoMoFo 4. With Friday’s dissolution of the arena deal as it was planned, all parties involved are trying to figure out what to do next. While the Maloofs discussed the possibility of renovating Power Balance Pavilion, city leaders and Think Big Sacramento said Monday that they are still looking into placing an arena in the downtown railyards. A local grassroots group, Sacramento Taxpayers Opposed to Pork (STOP), is trying to gather the approximately 21,000 signatures required to place an initiative on the ballot that wou

With the City of Sacramento, the Maloof Family and sports and entertainment developer AEG on what looked like a set deal on bringing a brand new sports and entertainment facility, came to tumoltuous end these past couple days.  The aftermath of the whole ordeal has now left us with a shouting match between both the Sacramento City Mayor Kevin Johnson and George Maloof.   Both of the key figures representing their respective parties are accusing one another as the reason this whole deal has faultered. Let's break this down piece by piece. For years and years the Maloof family has constantly spoken how the current area is inadequate and that a new sports and entertainment complex is needed

Despite the battle between the city and Sacramento Kings’ team owners over a new entertainment and sports complex, City Councilman Steve Cohn is adamant that plans for developing the railyards site for an intermodal transit facility will continue uninterrupted. “Yes, there is absolutely an intermodal without the arena,” Cohn said Thursday at a workshop on the project at City Hall. More than 100 people attended the workshop hosted by the city to discuss the site orientation of the proposed arena at the downtown railyards along with current and future transportation facilities at the site. Until the recent arena deal fell apart, the intermodal project at the downtown railyards was slated

Think Big Sacramento Executive Director Chris Lehane said Monday that Friday’s spat with the Maloof family does not spell the end for an arena deal in downtown Sacramento, but that it was a setback that can be overcome. “First of all, we’ve continued to believe that a downtown-based entertainment and sports complex makes tremendous sense for the city and the region for jobs creation and economic development,” Lehane said. “All of that continues to exist, and I think we need to explore alternative ways to move forward.” Lehane said one option would be to follow the model of Kansas City, in which an arena was built without having a professional sports team as a partner. Another way could b

Sacramento Taxpayers Opposed to Pork (STOP) announced Monday that they will continue gathering signatures on a petition that would require large public expenses on a project in the downtown railyards such as an arena to be approved by a public vote. “We’re going to get this thing qualified for the ballot,” said spokesman Richard Tolmach. “A lot of people are stepping up and want to help us.” The group began gathering signatures over the weekend, and Tolmach said there are currently about 1,000 signed petitions. To qualify for placement on a ballot, the petition must have about 21,000 signatures. Placement on the November ballot was previously a top priority – and STOP would have needed

City officials had the last word of the day Friday on the failed arena deal between the city and the owners of the Sacramento Kings – and that word was “disappointed.” “We are profoundly disappointed that the entertainment and sports complex project is not moving forward,” City Manager John Shirey said Friday. “We had great hopes, and there was great jubilation just a few weeks ago that a deal had been struck.” Assistant City Manager John Dangberg and City Councilmen Rob Fong and Steve Cohn joined Shirey for an impromptu press conference Friday in response to the sudden failure of a deal between the city, the Maloofs, arena operator AEG and the NBA to build a new arena in Sacramento. “T

Friday’s news that the deal for an entertainment and sports complex is essentially dead isn’t stopping a grassroots effort to ensure large public expenditure on private ventures be vetted through a public vote. Sacramento Taxpayers Opposed to Pork (STOP) announced their goal of collecting enough signatures to give the public a vote on the arena financing last month, and they now have the petitions in-hand to start gathering signatures. “We’re still concerned that even if this plan’s dead, there may be another plan that’s either as bad or worse to spend public money on a private venture at (the downtown railyards),” STOP spokesman Richard Tolmach said Friday afternoon. The grassroots org

Mayor Kevin Johnson admitted defeat Friday as the deal to build a new arena and keep the Kings in Sacramento failed despite the “blood, sweat, tears and effort” that Johnson said went into it. “Is the deal as we know it dead? Absolutely,” Johnson said. In what turned out to be the third major press conference in New York Friday regarding the arena deal, Johnson told media that he is baffled by the Kings owners, the Maloofs, and he doesn’t understand how things fell to this point. “We felt we had an agreement (in Orlando), they didn’t feel that we did. That’s a pretty fundamental difference,” Johnson said. “It became very clear by their actions today that they didn’t want to make a deal.

After a year of negotiations, economic reports and financial cartwheels by city officials and Sacramento Kings owners, NBA Commissioner David Stern said it appears the deal for a new Sacramento arena is dead. “I am extremely disappointed on behalf of both the Maloofs and the city of Sacramento,” Stern said at a New York press conference Friday, “but I think there is nothing further to be done.” Stern said the NBA Board of Governors met Thursday with the Sacramento Kings team owners, the Maloofs, and – after hearing a “detailed and thorough” presentation – Stern said the board came to some simple conclusions. “(In Orlando) we had an agreement in principle – a framework, a handshake deal

Here are some tweets taken from the Sacramento area mentioning the words "Maloofs," "Kings," and or "arena" between 6 a.m. Thursday and 1 p.m. Friday. The Sacramento Press used a beta version of iWitness to compile this list of tweets.                "Kings Blog: The Morning After: Kings effort, basketball smarts, lack consistency sacb.ee/HNTi7m" — The Sacramento Bee (@sacbee_news) April 12, 2012   "City Beat: Maloofs respond to criticism of Sacramento business leaders sacb.ee/IbmrFP" — The Sacramento Bee (@sacbee_news) April 12, 2012   "City Beat: City: Maloofs' records request created perception they want arena to fail sacb.ee/IbBjUz" — The Sacramento Bee (@sacbee_news) April 12