Photographs are an important part of storytelling and can often tell a story on their own. After a brief workshop hiatus, our first Sacramento Press workshop for 2012 will be on photojournalism. (The Journalism Open workshop wasn't a typical workshop for us.) John Hernandez will teach an introductory photojournalism workshop from 6:30 - 8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 21 at the Sacramento Press office called "Introduction to Photojournalism." Hernandez is a Sacramento-based photographer. He has professional experience in wedding, portrait and social documentary photography as well as various multimedia platforms, including audio slideshows. He has freelanced for ABS-CBN, a Filipino American news ch

Thank you to everyone who attended Jeffrey Callison's workshop on "The Art and Craft of Interviewing" last month. If you missed the workshop, you can read the recap and watch the video here. The Sacramento Press has another first-time workshop presenter for September: KXTV News10 Reporter George Warren. Multimedia journalist Andrew Nixon taught a workshop in July titled "Intro to Video Storytelling;" we'll resume the topic of video storytelling with Warren's workshop: "Video Storytelling Tips and Shortcuts." The workshop will be from 6:30 - 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 22, at The Sacramento Press office. Warren will discuss how to produce memorable stories with minimum time and effort. Warre

I filled in for David Watts Barton Tuesday morning for the weekly segment of The Sacramento Press on Capital Public Radio's “Insight,” and Jeffrey Callison and I talked about chicken keeping, a record-setting City Council meeting on redistricting and a few fun additions to the central city – including a restaurant that serves drinks in fish bowls. The Sacramento City Council may pass an ordinance at its meeting Tuesday night that will allow residents to keep up to three egg-laying chickens in their backyards – as long as the chickens are enclosed and the enclosure is 20 feet away from the neighbors’ homes. Residents would need to apply for a permit and pay to renew it each year. There is

You’ve probably seen cake pops on food blogs or at bridal showers or even at Starbucks. The bite-sized treat is becoming a popular alternative to cupcakes. South Sacramento resident Wendy Bell has made an online business out of her made-from-scratch cake pops called It’s a Peace of Cake! After seeing a cake pop recipe online, she decided to make her own version using her five basic cake recipes: lemon, chocolate, vanilla, red velvet and coconut. Bell crumbles the cake and combines it with frosting, rolling it into a ball and then dips it in a chocolate shell and finishes it off with her signature chocolate swirl. Each cake pop has a different combination of cake and type of chocolate.

The Sacramento Press is excited to announce that Jeffrey Callison will be teaching a workshop at our office in August. Interviewing is part of the foundation of journalism. It’s how reporters get a lot of their information, including the personal angles and anecdotes that make stories come alive. But how do you conduct a successful interview? There are some simple rules, but you also must know when and how to break them. Jeffrey Callison has interviewed many thousands of people over the years – both as host of Capital Public Radio’s daily program “Insight” and as a reporter. On Tuesday, Aug. 9, from 6:30 - 8 p.m., he’ll discuss “The Art and Craft of Interviewing” in a workshop at the S

For John Weed, Eppie’s Great Race – now in its 38th year – serves as a new year’s celebration. The 58-year-old kayak instructor and whitewater guide has competed in the “no-swim” triathlon 35 times. The 38th annual Eppie’s Great Race takes place Saturday along the American River Parkway and is open to athletes of all ages. Weed said almost 40 years ago, he was hit by a semi truck while on his bicycle. Before that, he had been an avid runner. He came from a family of runners and in college would run 200 miles per week. “The doctors told me I’d never walk again, let alone run,” Weed said.  That same year, the Whitewater Slalom was introduced as an Olympic sport. Weed said he watched it

We had a great turnout for our sports writing workshop earlier this month. Thanks to Sam Amick and those who attended. To read the workshop recap, click here. Video is an important part of storytelling that can be difficult to incorporate without the right equipment and editing knowledge. Andrew Nixon will teach a video workshop from 6:30 - 8 p.m. Wednesday, July 27 at the Sacramento Press office called "Introduction to Video Storytelling." Nixon is a Sacramento-based multimedia journalist. He has professional experience in photojournalism, as well as various multimedia platforms, including motion graphics, web platforms, and video journalism. He has freelanced for Patch.com and interned

Shady Lady Saloon will add a new white whiskey to its menu called Original Moonshine Clear Corn Whiskey, and to help introduce it, a cocktail competition will be held at 6 p.m. Monday. White whiskey is different from other whiskey in that it hasn’t been aged in the barrel, or if it has, it’s not for very long, Shady Lady co-owner Jason Boggs said. There are no guidelines for the competition – just that the bartenders use the Moonshine corn-based whiskey as the main spirit. Three judges will decide which cocktails win first, second and third prizes, with rewards of $500, $300 and $200, respectively. The three judges are Chris Dooley, head spirits director  bar manager at Ella  L Wine Lo

Thanks to those of you who came to our Bias in Journalism workshop earlier this month. If you missed it, you can read the recap here. For July, we are excited to announce a new workshop presenter – Sam Amick. With the Sacramento River Cats season well under way, the Sacramento Capitals tennis team starting in July and the buzz building for the next Sacramento Kings basketball season – there will be plenty of sports stories to be covered on The Sacramento Press and on blogs, etc. Amick will teach a workshop on sports writing at the Sacramento Press office from 6:30 - 8 p.m. July 12. Amick is currently an NBA columnist for Sports Illustrated at SI.com. He received his degree in journali

Thanks to those of you who attended our review writing panel Thursday with Rachel Leibrock, Carla Meyer and Nick Miller. Read the workshop recap here. We will have another workshop this month titled, "Sac Press Tools and Tricks." Geoff Samek, vice president of product for The Sacramento Press, will highlight some of the newer and lesser-known features of the website. Samek will also give a quick overview of important web technologies that come in handy in the current media world. He will answer any questions you may have about the site and its functionality and features. The workshop will be from 6:30 - 8 p.m. May 26 at our office. Badges will be awarded to participants for attending t

With Concerts in the Park kicking off Friday and the California Music Circus season around the corner, there will be lots of opportunities to review shows, both indoors and outdoors. Looking to share your great or not-so-great experiences with others? The Sacramento Press will hold a panel on review writing at our office from 6:30 - 8 p.m. Thursday, May 12. Three panelists will teach you the do’s and don’ts of review writing and share some of their own experiences. This is a great opportunity to ask the pros how they review concerts, theater, comedy and other performances. The three panelists are Rachel Leibrock, Carla Meyer and Nick Miller. Leibrock writes about arts and culture for t

Thanks to those of you who came to the "Writing about Wine and Spirits" workshop in March. Read the recap here. We have two journalism workshops planned for April. Clare Noonan will teach a workshop on interviewing techniques at The Sacramento Press office from 6:30-8 p.m. Thursday, April 7. Noonan has a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Kentucky. She currently edits 11 East Bay Patch.com sites. She worked at The Modesto Bee for more than 20 years as a reporter for business, news, feature and sports while also copy editing. She also worked as assistant news editor and assistant city editor in charge of the Crime and Safety beat during her time at The Bee. She has be

Today at noon, The Sacramento Bee's Allen Pierleoni will host a live chat with Rick Mindermann of Corti Bros. and John Paul Khoury of Preferred Meats, Inc. Visit sacbee.com/live from noon - 1 p.m. to ask questions relating to "What's new in the Sacramento food scene?" The live chat is a preview of what will be discussed at Table Talk Sacramento, April 13. Read more about Table Talk Sacramento here. Click here to go to the Bee's Live Chat page.

Monday night, a huge Dia de los Muertos caricature welcomed guests to Tequila Museo Mayahuel on 12th and K streets. Inside, sugar skulls, candles and marigolds transformed the new tequila museum and restaurant into a Dia de Los Muertos party, called “Subterraneo” put on by Jose Cuervo Tradicional tequila. The party was a sneak preview of the not-yet-open Tequila Museo Mayahuel. Only those in the restaurant and bar industry were invited. Jose Cuervo Tradicional is touring cities around the country with the Dia de los Muertos party and selected Sacramento to host Monday’s event. According to Gina Castillo, tequila ambassador for Jose Cuervo and Don Julio Northern California, Tequila Mus

Do you love talking about food? Do you flip to the food section of the newspaper before even reading the front page? Is a trip to the grocery store an excursion? For all you foodies, bloggers and lovers of Sacramento’s restaurants and food: The Sacramento Bee and The Sacramento Press have teamed up to bring you “Table Talk Sacramento: The region’s food community comes together for an evening of lively discussion.” There will be two panels addressing different topics, including “What Sacramentans Eat” and the quality of local food writing. Chris Macias will moderate the food writing panel. Macias has served as the Bee’s food and wine writer since 2008. The panelists include: Niesha Lofin

The Sacramento Press will be hosting a new workshop for the month of March. We are excited to have our first "Writing about Wine and Spirits" workshop, taught by Rick Kushman. The workshop will be at the Sacramento Press office from 6:30 - 8 p.m. Thursday, March 24. Kushman will discuss techniques for writing about wine and touch on how to write about spirits and beer. The primary focus of the workshop will be wine. He will also discuss terms and phrases to avoid when writing about wine or food. Kushman is an award-winning journalist and former columnist for The Sacramento Bee, where he spent two decades. For the last five years he wrote about wine, food and life in Northern California.

The next workshop hosted by The Sacramento Press will be on opinion writing. It will be held at our office from 6:30 - 8 p.m. Feb. 24. Sacramento Press Editor in Chief David Watts Barton will discuss the importance of backing up your opinion, doing reporting and keeping your column focused. Barton worked at The Sacramento Bee from 1985-2007. He was the pop music critic until 1994 and in addition to writing reviews, he wrote weekly columns called Poplife and The Beat. As editor in chief of The Sacramento Press, Barton writes editorials on a regular basis. Badges will be awarded to participants for attending the workshop. To become a verified community contributor, please bring a governm

We have two new workshops scheduled for the month of February. The first is scheduled from 6:30 - 8 p.m. Feb. 16 at The Sacramento Press office. JT Long will teach this workshop, titled "Write Smarter." Long is an independent journalist and SEO copywriter for publications such as Engineering News-Record, Comstock's Magazine and PublicCEO. She creates communities by telling stories. Long will discuss how to get the most out of your stories so you can use them in different publications. She will cover how to improve your interviewing skills, so you can gather enough information for multiple stories, how to come up with targeted leads and other tips that will benefit freelancers. Sacrame

The procrastination must come to an end. There are only hours left to enter The Sacramento Press Journalism Open 2011. Entries must be published by 11:59 p.m. You must tag your article open2011. There are hundreds of dollars in prizes waiting to be doled out to the winners. First place prize is $700, second place is $500 and there are cash prizes for photos, too! If you would like to have your article copy edited, it must be sent to journalism@sacramentopress.com by 6 p.m. Any articles sent after 6 p.m. will have to be published without copy editing. One last thing: there are three judges for this year's contest. One of the judges changed from what we announced at the Journalism Open W

The Sacramento Press Journalism Open is well underway and we're very pleased to see new bylines popping up on our site because of the contest.  The contest ends at 11:59 p.m. Jan. 31, so make sure you've posted all of your entries and tagged them open2011 by that deadline.  First place wins $700, second place $500, and there are many other cash prizes, including prizes for best photos. For those of you who have questions about the contest, we will host a workshop Wednesday, Jan. 12 from 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. at our office. We will be happy to give advice and suggestions on how to develop your story ideas. Our office is located at 431 I St., Suite 107, in the Amtrak station. We are in the sa