The Cave is a new music and multi-use venue coming to Stockton Boulevard, moving in next door to the Colonial Theatre. Formerly a shoe store, The Cave is currently used to hold wrestling events put on by Total Wrestling Federation, and starting Feb. 24, it will be opened to live music, standup comedy, art exhibits and other uses, said Mike Flanagan, who books the venue. “We want this to be a public space where people can come and see a show, hear some comedy or see an art exhibition,” he said. “We have no intention of getting a liquor license, because we want this to be an all-ages place.” Flanagan, who owns Bad Current Records and has been involved with the local music scene, said he w

The 2012 premier of the Ladies Night Out series of events returned to the historic Guild Theater in Oak Park Saturday evening. The headlining act was veteran singer, songwriter, producer and actor Danny Boy. Best known for his work as a backup singer during the heyday of Death Row Records, Danny Boy’s solo music is grounded in his musical roots of R&B and gospel as he ably demonstrated to an appreciative audience. “In 2012 we are taking the Ladies Night Out concept to a new level,” said poet Terry Moore, the T-Mo Entertainment founder who was responsible for bringing Danny Boy from Atlanta to Sacramento. “It is the vision of T-Mo Entertainment to bring outstanding artists to Sacramento w

The Salvation Army of Sacramento is looking for some volunteers to coach in its youth basketball league (13 and under, 10 and under, and 7 and under).   League organizers are seeking individuals with a basketball background and experience managing youth activities. Games are all played at The Salvation Army Ray Robinson Oak Park Community Center (located on the corner of Alhambra and Broadway). For more information, please call 916-469-4620.

A new middle school will open in Oak Park in the fall – the neighborhood’s first stand-alone middle school since 1963. Oak Park Preparatory Academy (Oak Park Prep) is a St. Hope Public School and will open to seventh graders in August. Oak Park’s previous middle school – Stanford Junior High – was burned down by two teenagers in 1963. There are three middle schools in the district that serve Oak Park students – California, Will C. Wood and Kit Carson – but none are located within Oak Park. The Sacramento City Unified School District Board of Education trustees voted to approve Oak Park Prep’s charter Oct. 6, and the new school will serve 60 students the first year. The school’s attend

Boxer, entertainer, activist and undisputed champion Muhammad Ali is being celebrated by artists from across the nation at Oak Park’s Evolve the Gallery, with 24 works of art on display through Jan. 28 to celebrate the boxing legend’s 70th birthday, which falls on Jan. 17. “Every piece except for three was created specifically for this show,” said Evolve the Gallery co-owner A. Michelle Blakeley. Blakeley and her husband, Brady Blakeley, put the call out to artists in August, and Brady Blakeley selected those who now appear in the show, titled “Ali: The Greatest.” “From 1960 to 1981, Ali won 56 of 61 matches, 37 by knockout,” A. Michelle Blakeley wrote in a press release. She added that

Mayor Kevin Johnson opened Monday night’s town hall meeting with a speech on his upbringing in Oak Park. The attendants quickly shifted the mood of the meeting with a flood of questions on issues in Sacramento, and many ethnic communities showed concern for lack of support and communication in the past. Johnson said that early on in his term he made the mistake of thinking that there was only one Asian/Pacific Islanders community (API) in Sacramento, when there are in fact more than 40 communities. Because of this, he said he didn’t attend many of the API meetings held last year. He told attendees that this is something he wants to change. “When I was talking to the API community, I said

From head counts and courtroom drama to Winter Sanctuary and SafeGround – homelessness remained at the top of the list of issues in Sacramento in 2011. Despite data showing the number of homeless in the county had declined over the past year, there were still many people sleeping on the streets each night in 2011. Local charity groups and community service programs struggled through the year to provide for the homeless – including an increasing percentage of families – many of whom were homeless for the first time due to fallout from the housing and mortgage crisis. The alleged mishandling of homeless individuals’ personal property as police enforced city anti-camping laws resulted in a

T & R Taste of Texas opened on Broadway near 36th Street in late October, and Chef Rodney Ray said he thinks the barbecue restaurant will be able to last in the spot that has seen several businesses come and go in past years. “It’s simple, good, home-cooked food,” he said Wednesday. “It’s great barbecue, and we don’t grill it – we smoke it.” All meats are smoked a minimum of five hours in an on-site smoker, and four types of wood are used: apple, hickory, mesquite and cherry, Ray said. Meats and other ingredients come from local restaurant suppliers, and he added that he wants to work with farmers markets to bring in local produce during harvest season. Ray, who is a longtime friend of

For the past few months cities across America have seen crowds of protestors taking to the streets angered by the state of the U.S. economy in the wake of noticeable corporate greed, Wall Street failures, and home lending corruption scandals to name a few gripes. In what has become known as the “Occupy Wall Street” or “OWS” movement, citizen discourse has largely become a protest of “We won’t take it anymore” politics, against the widening wealth divide and continued mistrust of a political system. A type of corporate-political combo agenda that has seemingly sold out main street Americans for the greater catered interest of the top one percent richest people. Now this does not on its surf

For many Oak Park residents crime and violence has long seemed as if it has become a way of life over the past two decades. Oak Park is a community rich in neighborly tradition and serving as a staple of black culture for many within Sacramento, yet hard times over the years has made life more challenging for this ever growing racially diverse community. Gang violence has affected the area and young people have become vulnerable to making fast drug money when jobs are scarce. This is why the timing could not have been more perfect than when the leadership of Kyles Temple AMEZ Church recently invited members of the community to attend a forum against violence and its affect’s on the communi

The Historical Guild Theater in Oak Park featured this year’s final Ladies Night Out event this past Saturday evening. Host Terry Moore put together a program that featured music, poetry, comedy, dancing, a fashion show and motivational speaking. “I listen carefully to the feedback I receive from each event and respond accordingly,” stated Moore when commenting on how he determines the lineup of entertainment for each show. “Our patrons request many of our performers who have been featured at previous events, but I always make it a point to bring in new artists who are working hard and deserve the opportunity to be showcased in front of their hometown,” said Moore. The special guest hos

On Wednesday, City Councilman Jay Schenirer launched WayUp Sacramento, a community development initiative aimed at helping Sacramento’s youth live healthier and prepare for successful careers. The first stages of the program are set to be implemented in Oak Park by the end of this year. Schenirer held a conference on Wednesday to debut the program at the Effort/Oak Park Community Center, 3415 Martin Luther King Blvd. WayUp has been in development for 10 months, however Schenirer said that the ideas behind the project have been with him for much longer. “I’ve been doing community work forever,” he said. “I also believe that all kids should have the same opportunities that my kids have.”

Sacramento, CA | The momentum is building. That was the message that Stand Up, the Sacramento based non-profit organization devoted to reforming education, touted in front of a packed house at the Guild Theater on Monday night. The event was part of a series of monthly meetings organized by Stand Up to spotlight education improvement efforts in Sacramento. Previous events have brought in former California State Senator Gloria Romero to discuss the “parent trigger” law, the founder of Teach for America Wendy Kopp, and the co-founder of the Knowledge is Power Program, Mike Feinberg. Local high school students acted as ushers alongside staffers from a variety of organizations including Sa

The City Council voted 6-3 Tuesday night in its final redistricting vote, keeping a map that has been hotly protested over the past weeks, leaving hundreds of people sad and angry – and ready to cast ballots in June to prove it. With a vote identical to the one on Aug. 23, the City Council approved a final redistricting map – a revised version of a map called “NeighborhoodsTogether 2.0”– that puts the the downtown railyards in the same district as East Sacramento, divides South Land Park at Fruitridge Road and makes the Central City one district. And – against the vehement opposition of residents, business people, students and community leaders – it is a map that takes the UC Davis Medic

On Tuesday’s regular visit with Jeffrey Callison on Capital Public Radio’s “Insight,” we discussed this week’s unveiling of the arena financing deal, the long-awaited passage of the backyard chicken ordinance and the opening of a new gelato shop in Midtown. The highly anticipated report by Mayor Kevin Johnson’s Think Big Sacramento committee should give Sacramentans a better idea of possibilities for financing the entertainment and sports complex the mayor has been pursuing for more than a year. It will be unveiled at a luncheon at the Sacramento Press Club on Thursday, and we will be there. Meanwhile, here’s our most recent story on the subject.  On a much less grand scale, after two ye

Terry Moore Presents brought Ladies Night Out V to the Historic Guild Theater in Oak Park this past Friday night.  This final show of the summer series at the Guild lived up to its billing as a red carpet event complete with celebrity VIP guests and a fantastic show. “We really wanted to show our appreciation to Sacramento for all of the support we’ve received this year by ending the summer with a special event,” stated Moore.  “The most satisfying part of the evening was looking out over the audience and seeing everyone enjoying themselves and having a good time,” said Moore.    The special guest host for the red carpet extravaganza was Courtney Dempsey of Channel 31’s “Good Day Sacram

About 150 people marched through Oak Park Thursday in a “unity march” to fight against the City Council’s proposed redistricting map that would move the UC Davis Med Center out of Oak Park’s council district. “The purpose for tonight is to try to find a hero in this whole controversy, and by that I mean someone who will find a real compromise,” said Michael Boyd, president of the Oak Park Neighborhood Association. The marchers Thursday night walked from the intersection of 34th Street and Second Avenue to the Med Center, chanting slogans and carrying signs along the way as police blocked the streets and kept a clear path. Residents of Oak Park have repeatedly made their voices heard at

Some people say a neighborhood is better defined by the residents who live, work and play there than by physical boundaries, lines on a map or the number of inhabitants. Just ask the people who live in Oak Park – or Elmhurst, or Med Center or Tahoe Park. Glenn Corngold, an Elmhurst resident who spoke at the Aug. 23 City Council meeting, told council members, “Med Center’s dirt is in our yard. It’s our neighborhood.” As the once-a-decade redistricting process for Sacramento comes to a close, there has been a lot of emotion, protest – and, yes, drama – focused on the redrawing of district lines that would shift the UC Davis Medical Center from District 5, where it has been since it was bu

Sacramento, CA | Tim Mason, CEO of California based Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, with Mayor Kevin Johnson, Councilman Jay Schenirer and other community memberrs broke ground Wednesday morning in a well attended ceremony in Oak Park.  The market will be built on the north west corner of Broadway and 34th Street. Mayor Kevin Johnson stated that when he came back from college he said "what can we do with this piece of property? As a year or two went by, you realize that properites this size get into the wrong hands."  Johnson bought the land in 2002 and just held it "till the right person came in or the right company said 'we want to do something that will be an assest to the community.

Breasts have been bared in the name of art for as long as man has been making art. So why not create art in the name of breast health as well? That’s the idea behind the gallery show at 40 Acres Gallery located in Oak Park. The fourth annual Art Bra Show will run from Sept. 8-17. More than 150 pieces of art from 100 area artists will be featured. “Every year we increase the amount of art and quality,” said Kelly Siefkin, spokeswoman for Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services. “I think it’s really grown in terms of scope. A lot more people in the community are aware of it. A lot of people love attending it.” The Art Bra Show will feature sculptures, collages and paintings that are insp