“Whose cuisine reigned supreme?” All of the contenders in the 8th annual Celebrity Chef Challenge brought their ‘A’ game and amazed the judges and crowd with their culinary talent. Judges , 2009 challenge winner, Adam Pehal, Regional Vice President Wells Fargo Foundation, Chevo Ramierez, Sacdine.com food and wine blogger, Charlotte King, and News 10’s Bryan May, sat with satisfaction on their faces as they were served succulent dish after dish. “The judges reactions are like little kids at Christmas,” said Sacramento and Company’s Melissa Crowley, emcee for the night. “Oh my gosh, it’s amazing. I love watching the chefs brainstorm.” Hundreds of people came out to the California Auto M

Things are heating up. The 8th annual Celebrity Chef Challenge, taking place on April 30 at the California Auto Museum, is equipped with six new contenders that will have 45 minutes to create three culinary masterpieces out of five secret ingredients. Guests will have front row seats to the competition and free range to all of the goodies including free samples from 100 food and wine vendors, a tour of the hot rod car show and a cake creation demo provided by Crazy Cake Company. One hundred percent of the proceeds will go to InAlliance, a nonprofit foundation providing employment placement and life and work skills training to people with disabilities. According to Jessica Bean, public

 The Matsiko Children's choir will serenade the Center for Spiritual Awareness on Saturday. The choir is made up of 25 orphaned or at risk children ranging in age from seven to 14. These children have suffered the loss of one or both parents to war, HIV and related diseases, according to Georgia Prescott, senior minister at the Center for Spiritual Awareness. "I'm looking forward to seeing them and learning about their lives," Prescott said. Despite their loss the children sing of hope and joy, according to the International Children's Network website. According to Prescott, the children are coming to Sacramento to perform original music and discuss their lives in Uganda and their expe

Every comic character from Pokemon to Care Bears was represented at the Sacramento Comic, Toy and Anime Show held at the Scottish Rite Masonic Center on Sunday. "People come to play games, dress up and buy comic stuff in the dealers hall," attendee Philip Reed said. The rooms were filled with conversations about Final Fantasy, glowing swords, fairy wings and furry pants. A majority of the nearly 200 people in attendance were dressed as their favorite comic book characters as they looked through the thousands of half-price comics.  "It's called 'cosplay' in Japan when everyone dresses up as their favorite character all the time," Reed said. "It's Halloween every day for them."  The main

 Saving all adoptable animals—that's the goal of Mission Orange. The four major animal shelters in Sacramento -- the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Sacramento Animal Cares Services, the Animal Care and Regulations Center and Happy Tails Pet Sanctuary -- hope to make a difference in animal welfare by joining forces in "Mission Orange." Also known as a community initiative, Mission Orange aims to increase the live release rate, or percentage of animals that leave the shelter system alive through adoption or return to owner, and earn a prestigious grant from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "We are combining all of our resources in order to i

 A miniature schnauzer named Maddie stole the heart of PeopleSoft founder David Duffield and his wife, Cheryl, before the dog died in 1997. Duffield made a promise to Maddie that should they ever become well off, their top priority would be to contribute money to animal causes to repay the love Maddie gave them. To keep their promise, the Duffields started Maddie's Fund. It has set a goal of a 100 percent no-kill nation by 2015 by increasing the live release rate, or percentage of animals leaving a shelter alive, and promoting community involvement. The nation's shelters kill 3.7 million dogs and cats, annually. That number must drop to 700,000 to reach the no-kill national goal, accordi

"Water, water everywhere" will be the theme for the fourth annual Organic Capital Sustainability Celebration Dec. 10. Organic Sacramento will be hosting the awareness event that highlights Northern California water issues. "Each year different local issues are addressed and the individuals and groups that have worked with these issues are acknowledged and honored," said William Brooks, Central Coast Resource Conservation and Development Council The event will include food, live music and a silent auction as well as guest speakers. "I'm looking forward to hearing more from the individuals that are personally involved with the issues, and those that have solutions to our current problems

"I'm a 30-year-old man applying for a job as an elf," said the man in the gray hooded sweatshirt, looking less than thrilled about his new position. It was Gary Alan Wright, telling the story of his elf alter ego, Crumpet, and the mischief he got into during his time in Santaland, the mall's winter wonderland. The stage looked the part, with a beautiful Christmas tree, toys and Santa's throne. The lone cast member of "Santaland Diaries" kept the people at the Capital Stage aboard the Riverboat Delta King laughing out loud at the play by humorist David Sedaris. Wright transformed into Crumpet on stage, stripping down to his green knickers and candy-cane stockings. He accomplished this whi

The Sacramento Animal Care Services facility on Front Street rotated dozens of animals and 30 people surrendering pets, filling out missing pet reports and retrieving their animals through the small receiving room on Tuesday. The shelter handles all of the city's animal-care issues, including cruelty investigations, quarantines and licensing, but it still need help with their own deficiencies. "We always need volunteers in all areas — clerical, socializing, feeding, adoptions, everything," said animal care services manager Penny Cistaro. The shelter currently has 175 volunteers, compared to the other three shelters in Sacramento that have over 1000. Their medical care facility and spay/

Journalist Amy Goodman spoke about health care and her new book, "Breaking the Sound Barrier," Saturday at the Coloma Community Center auditorium to an audience of about 100. Goodman's speech about the health-care system in the United States turned personal. It was dedicated to her mother, who died in October of cancer. "I felt like we were leaving signs saying 'Do not harm, do not amputate this, do not mutilate'," said Goodman. "The health-care system is sick." Goodman said her mother, Dorrie Goodman, asked this while being treated in the hospital: "The Chinese learned pain management 3,000 years ago. Why haven't you figured it out?" According to Goodman, the media doesn't cover anyth

"You are super cute," said Lesley Kirrene, as she walks past bright-eyed animals waiting for homes. "Once the animals are on the adoption floor we have made a commitment to them that we will find them homes," said Kirrene, director of public relations for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The shelter is keeping its promise. Cage after cage proudly displays the blue sign reading "On hold," which means the animal is waiting to be picked up and brought home. The lucky dogs for the day were Dorris, Roscoe, Rockie, Dot, Brindle, Fred, Conan, Bob and Kasey, who wagged their tails excitedly, knowing that they were about to go home. The shelter is not considered a "no-kill"

"Oh god, this is gonna be a long night," said radio personality Jack Armstrong as he and Joe Getty kicked off the 11th annual Best of Sacramento party on Thursday. The party, a benefit for the March of Dimes, was full of Sacramento Magazine's notion of the best of what Sacramento has to offer, everything from food and drinks to local media and entertainment. "It's really a huge honor, it's a reflection of the station I work for," said 'Best TV Reporter Team' winner Edie Lambert. "It's a big compliment to quality journalism." Booths filled the Convention Center, and lines wrapped around the exhibit hall as attendees took full advantage of the free food, services and other goodies. Expre

The Coloma Community Center Auditorium will host journalist Amy Goodman Saturday as she speaks about current issues and her new book, "Breaking the Sound Barrier." "Our goal is to help support independent media like 'Access Sacramento,'" said Denis Moynihan, Goodman's editor. Goodman is the often outspoken host of the award-winning daily TV and radio show "Democracy Now!" and author of a weekly column and book titled "Breaking the Sound Barrier." Goodman will be speaking about her book, which is a compilation of her columns with topics including climate change and the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Goodman will be touring two coasts, two countries (US and Canada) and 30 cities including S

The spotlight is on Sacramento at the 'Best of' party hosted by Sacramento Magazine, Thursday at the Convention Center. The winners from the "best of" categories will show what they've got while attendees can try out the best products, services, and entertainment that Sacramento has to offer. The winner for best candy store, Sees Candy and the winner for best regional winery Bogel Vineyards will be a couple of the participating vendors at the party. The winners from the eight categories will be showing attendees what they've got, allowing them to sample products, services and entertainment - the best Sacramento has to offer. Some of this year's winners include , Best New Fun Spot, MIX D

The first Nor-Cal Victory Cup cheerleading competition rocked Memorial Auditorium on Sunday. Power Cheer hosted 1,800 cheerleaders ranging in age from 3 to 18 from the powerhouse squads of Northern California. They were competing for the victory cup and trophies, banners and the title of grand champion. Squads did not compete for a bid to nationals because competition rules have changed and any squad can sign up for the competition. Squads were given two minutes for their routines, which were judged for stunting, tumbling, formation, uniforms, facials and cheer technique. One standout was Fame Athletics Senior level 3 division from San Jose, with its synchronized tumbling and on-point s

The new county animal care and regulation center on Bradshaw Road is providing a more spacious habitat to a wide variety of animals. It houses cats, dogs, rabbits, reptiles, llamas, goats and horses and any other animal that comes through the doors. It also extends many animals' lives. For visitors to the previous county animal shelter, the words 'five days' are chilling. That is the typical amount of time animals live at a government-run animal shelter before they are euthanized. If they are deemed dangerous, diseased, or unadoptable they will be killed immediately. The new shelter allows the animals to have more time. The facility is spacious so the animals are displayed in habitats.

Nearly 100 cheer teams will gather at the Memorial Auditorium on Sunday for the Nor-Cal Victory hosted by Power All-Stars cup cheerleading competition. "All the big power house teams are going to be here at the first competition of the season and are going to be battling it out," said Power Cheer owner John Herbert. "I wanted an effective and fun competition." According to Herbert, 1,800 all-star cheerleaders ranging from 3-18-years-old will be competing for trophys while the level champions will compete for banners as well as the title of grand champions of the competition, but no bids to nationals will be given. "I'm really excited, they worked really hard and they practiced everyday,

A diverse group of people came together Sunday to generate awareness about genocides occurring around the world. The Sacramento Committee on Conscience held a showing of "The Devil Came on Horseback," a documentary on the genocide being committed by the Janjeweed in Darfur, and "Screamers," a documentary capturing the struggles dating back to the Armenian genocide and going all the way up until the present Darfur genocide. After the film, the committee held a panel to discuss the issues of hate in Sacramento and how people can help to stop the trends. "It starts with bullies in school and then people with that mentality end up running a government," said Vice Mayor Lauren Hammond. Hill

Cheer is not a hobby. It is a way of life. Hundreds of cheerleaders and dancers gathered at the Convention Center Saturday for the Jamfest Cheer and Dance competition. The room was filled with bows, glitter, hairspray and mixed techno music as the cheerleaders and dancers laughed and sang to the music played between performances. During the dance portion teams gave unbelievable performances. Royal Dance Company senior division from Sacramento executed a flawless performance, full of energy and dramatic facial expressions. As the dance floor was transformed and the stunt mats rolled out, the sound of cowbells rang through the room and teams got hyped up to toe-touch their way to a bid t

Bob Saget is not afraid of controversy. "I know parents always say 'think before you speak,' " he said. "Well, I take that step out and then do my stand-up," said the comedian and former Full House star. Saget is bringing his form of comedy to the Crest Theatre on Friday. "My mom used to say, 'Don't talk like that, Bobby' and it made me want to do my stand-up more. But now she thinks my stuff is funny so I kind of want to go and do something clean-cut." Saget said he will be taking it easier onstage at the Crest, but that it's not because of his mother. He hurt his knee recently during an impromptu performance on Broadway after friend and former Full House co-star John Stamos brought h