Sacramento County is increasing opportunities for small and local business to do business with the County by enhancing its procurement and contracting program and streamlining the process for vendors. Increasing the dollar threshold for incentives from $250,000 to $1 million and increasing the local business preference percentage from 3% to 5% will increase the number of vendor contracts to which the program can be applied. “The County purchases more than $100 million each year in goods and services with about half of that expenditure directed to small and/or local businesses. Expanding the opportunity for additional businesses to participate in the program will have a positive impact on

Local indie bands offered up a hearty dose of energy and a touch of theatrics to the 1,000-plus-person crowd at Cesar Chavez Park Friday night for the latest installation of the Concerts in the Park series. On the sidewalk leading up to the stage area, vendors were selling gyros, drinks, necklaces and earrings. The CHP had a tented booth, as did radio station Radio 94.7 FM and The Sacramento Press. The night’s diverse crowd included families, neon-haired teens and seniors, all basking in the glow of live music and sunshine. Friends spread out islands of blankets on the grass, and children ran around with balloons attached to their wrists. Siblings Juli and Tyler Lydell of The Dreaded Di

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

Visitors to Cal Expo smell greasy food and fresh manure, which can mean one thing: The Sacramento County Fair is back. Fair manager T.J. Plew said that this year’s fair features some fun, new and exciting entertainment. “We have the safari theme and with that we’ve booked a camel show, an urban jungle bird show, an actual safari exhibit with some fun creatures from around the world, and a monkey show," she said. All the shows provide fairgoers with interesting animal facts and let them see unusual tricks. The camel show featured a demonstration on how to milk a camel. Observers learned that camels give milk for only 90 seconds at a time. Once it started flowing, the fun began. Children

The Summer Gospel Fest Concerts are a collaboration of talented gospel music artists, poets, comedians, and dancers who will perform their talents on Saturday, June 12th at William Land Park, Village Green Area, located at Freeport Blvd. & Sutterville Rd., Sacramento. Families, youth groups and entire congregations will be attending from the Bay Area, Stockton, and throughout the Greater Sacramento area. The public is invited to come and fellowship at the event – one of three scheduled over the next three months. The Concert is FREE and begins at 11:30 am and ends at 7 pm. People of the Way Ministries, a non profit organization, will also be hosting concerts on July 3 at McClatchy Park a

 I love baseball.  I love watching it, playing it, listening to it on the radio – whatever.  So when the Sacramento Press editors asked me if I wanted to cover any games, I jumped at the chance.   All right, maybe they didn't so much ask me as I harassed them until they gave in. They finally tired of the flow of sad, slightly creepy voicemail messages I'd been leaving on their machines:   "Hi, it's Lindol. I just wanted you to know that I'm free for every River Cats home game, and if you want, I could, maybe, I don't know, go and write about it?"   “Hey, Lindol again. I just wanted to say that I had a really nice time at the Kings game, and I really like baseball, and if you wanted I

So -- you like Second Saturdays? Do you like the way this local arts night has morphed into a street fair? Have you watched the event grow so big that you've hoped it could take over the central city more than once a month? Your prayers may be answered this month when a new Saturday street fair debuts in Sacramento. Sponsored by Sacramento News & Review (SN&R), "Design Downtown" will bring mostly locally made or "do it yourself" (DIY) fashion and art to the K Street Mall from 3 to 9 p.m. every third Saturday starting July 18. "We looked at the success of Second Saturday and said, 'Maybe that's something we can build on,' " said Clay Nutting, the sales and marketing manager for the paper